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1. Taking 10 cent returnables back
2. Talking to Dave Nadinger
3. Trying to reason with a half wheeler
4. Self checkout lanes at any big grocery store on a Friday at 5:25 pm
5. Standing in line at the Shell station while someone is trying to decide what winning lottery number there gonna play
6. When you hydrate too much
7. Owning any form of Power Meter, and never testing
8. Paying full price for any Zipp components, unless your doctor, dentist or lawyer
9. The McDonalds single cheeseburger, buy the double you cheapskate
10. USA cycling license, juniors and or if you live in an area full of USA creditable events exempt
11. Seeing any concert no matter who they are at a big arena, you spend more time watching a the big screens..dumb
12. Android phones
13. Trying to get in and out of Meijers in less than 15 minutes
14. Trying to come up with a Friday fifteen
15. Visiting this shitty blog
Waste of Time n Money
‘You never forget the first time you pee in your bibs’ - the unglamorous side of gravel racing in the pursuit of speed
You never forget the first time you pee in your bibs.
To quote Billy Madison, "Everybody my age pees their pants, it's the coolest." As an adult, it’s not really something I thought I would have to do for my job. Yet, here we are.
If you follow the timeline of when riders started peeing in their pants in off-road racing, you’ll inadvertently parallel the saga of gravel racing, maybe even more specifically that of women’s gravel racing.
In 2019, Specialized turned my UCI cyclocross team into some version of a drop-bar, off-road endurance program. Soon after, I raced my first-ever gravel race: BWR San Diego. I showed up the day before on a bike (a Specialized Roubaix) I had never ridden before, and my jersey pockets full of peanut butter & jelly sandwiches with potato chips stuffed in there – you know, for electrolytes. I didn’t have a mechanic, no support crew, no nutrition plan, not even a head unit. I had absolutely no idea how to race for 140 miles, only athleticism, an unwavering competitiveness and the excitement of the unknown but that’s about it. Not to mention the toe spikes I never took off my shoes from Cyclocross Nationals the year before. In these modern times of gravel, 2025, that would never secure the win. But back then, it did.
That first gravel race changed my life. Contracts were signed, plans were made, and racing was on. I signed up for more endurance races that season, one of which was The Leadville 100. I distinctly remember battling for first place with Rose Grant and leapfrogging. We passed each other on the iconic Columbine climb as the other one was off peeing in the woods. It's a fond memory I will cherish as it’s become a luxury of the past.
We’ve all watched gravel grow from the grassroots, resurrected spirit of American bike racing into a strange yet exciting amalgamation of road, mountain biking and perhaps even some triathlon? The growth has been accelerated in the women’s field as we’ve seen the progression of separate women’s starts and, ultimately, separate races. The pro fields have only gotten faster, some in part due to technology, but a lot of it has been the athletes pushing the envelope.
We have taken advantage of the evolving rulebooks and are doing inventive, albeit often gross, things in the pursuit of speed. Take the high-carb hype for example. In some ways, the amount of sugar we consume is far grosser than the pee problem. Over the span of just four short years, I’ve gone from not knowing what a carb really was to fueling my entire Unbound race on gels and drink mix. Aero equipment is evolving to skinsuits designed to hold hydration bladders, tyres are getting wider, suspension is getting better and lighter, and aid stations seldom see a foot unclip.
“One of the great gifts of growing older is to discover the exquisite art of being alone. What used to be an uncomfortable silence, is now a luxury. The house is peaceful, and I can dance in the kitchen without being judged or just doing nothing. My best company is myself, with a coffee, a good movie and the freedom to be, because solitude is not absence, it is fullness and peace of mind.”
Helen Mirren
Rangda is the Queen of cannibalistic witches who practice black magic and eat corpses, called the Leyaks. In dances, she is usually portrayed as a nearly naked woman with huge breasts, long white hair, claw-like nails. Her mask has large eyes, tusks like a boar and a long tongue.
According to legend, Rangda was once a Balinese queen who was exiled for practicing black magic on her husband’s second wife. When the king died, Rangda takes revenge by bringing a plague that kills half the population.
Origin: Balinese mythology
Type: demon queen
