Never stop doing Rad Shit

 Ted King to be inducted in the Gravel Cycling Hall of Fame

The Gravel Cycling Hall of Fame (GCHOF) today announced its fourth class of inductees: Ted King, LeLan Dains, John Hobbs and Amanda Nauman-Sheek.

These four gravel specialists were nominated by the public and selected by a group of more than 60 electors made up of past Hall of Fame inductees, GCHOF board members, independent athletes, promoters, industry professionals, and fans of the sport.

Jason Strohbehn, director of the GCHOF, commented that each inductee has made an "indelible mark on gravel cycling, inspiring countless riders and embodying the adventurous spirit that defines the sport. Their passion, dedication, and achievements serve as a testament to the transformative power of two wheels.”

The Gravel Cycling Hall of Fame was launched ahead of the 2022 Unbound Gravel event in Emporia, Kansas, to recognize and celebrate those who explore, endure, overcome, and inspire in the sport of gravel cycling.

The class of 2025 will join an impressive list of previous inductees, including the likes of Alison Tetrick, Yuri Hauswald, Dan Hughes, Kristi Mohn, Rebecca Rusch, Bobby Wintle, Selene Yeager and Nick Legan — many of whom you can read about in our article about gravel's pioneers and legends.

Meet the 2025 Gravel Cycling Hall of Fame Inductees:

Ted King was the first to show his fellow WorldTour riders that gravel could serve as a viable off-ramp from elite road racing when he retired from Cannondale-Garmin in 2015 and went on to win Unbound Gravel the following year. King won the race again in 2018 and took the inaugural victory at SBT GRVL in 2019.

King is credited for raising the bar for the professionalism required to win big gravel events. In addition to Unbound and SBT GRVL, his gravel racing palmares also includes wins at Grinduro, Rasputitsa, Vermont Overland, and UnPAved, among others.

Competition aside, King is recognised for his contributions to the gravel community.

"Through his genuine interactions with riders and racers of all abilities, King is a constant source of positivity and encouragement," the organisation stated.

"He freely shares the lessons he’s learned on his YouTube channel and on his podcasts, and his humility, sincerity and professionalism serve as a strong example for aspiring cyclists to emulate."

LeLan Dains 

LeLan Dains has long been on a mission to showcase the best gravel riding the middle of America has to offer.

The Emporia, Kansas native is a former co-owner of the famed Unbound Gravel and is praised for growing the event into the prestigious, world-class race it is today.

Dains was also one of the leaders in the creation of the Great Plains Gravel Route, a nearly 4,000-mile network of gravel paths spanning six states. He now spearheads the Gravel Kansas initiative, a project that empowers riders to explore the 98,000 miles of unpaved Kansas roads and the communities surrounding them.

He's also a founding member of the Gravel Cycling Hall of Fame, and continues to demonstrate his commitment to preserving the rich history and legacy of gravel cycling.

Amanda Nauman Sheek 

is a celebrated gravel cyclist and a two-time champion of Unbound Gravel, including a legendary victory during the notorious “mud year” of 2015.

Beyond Unbound, Sheek has enjoyed success at some of the biggest events on the gravel calendar, including Mid-South, Unbound XL and Belgian Waffle Ride California.

In addition to her on-the-bike achievements, Sheek is recognised as a thought leader in the sport. She co-hosts the long-running podcast Groadio and is the co-organiser of Mammoth Tuff gravel event that is now part of the UCI Gravel World Series.

John Hobbs

was an early visionary in the sport. As far back as the mid-1980s, Hobbs was hosting formal “rough road rides” in the southern Flint Hills of Kansas.

His rides eventually evolved into the Kansas Death Ride, an event that ran for 22 years and was known for being rougher than most mountain bike races. The ride would attract as many as 600 riders per year, demonstrating a growing desire for roads less travelled.

It was, in fact, the success of this Kansas Death Ride that inspired a group in Emporia to create Unbound Gravel in 2005.

The new inductees will officially be inducted into the Gravel Cycling Hall of Fame during a ceremony to be held May 29, 2025, in Emporia, Kansas.

 

 

 

 

 Tom Pryce

R.I.P

 

 

 

 

 

 

 The weapons from Bonnie and Clyde’s car  

 

15. Some Mucklehead in Dearborn tried to sell clapped out Lance Armstrong replica bikes for the price of a good pair Hollywood breast Enhancements 

14. Aten just barely misses The coveted Barry win.

13. Drew Cummins saw the pavement more times than I saw my max wattage numbers above 1100

12 the Pony was in the house most of the fall

11 Team Turbo supported by Base Media announced the return of the red kit

10 David Brower , rolled like a pure bad ass early season

9 Barry Roubaix saw the return of what would be called the a Michigan podium

8 the scene sadly loses some very good people

7. Team EVO kept roadies happy with another edition of the M1 classic

6. Nick Stanko top tens Lumberjack 100

5. John Osgood was sadly MIA all cross season

4. Stranger things, Lako signed up for nearly every CX race but was a no show nearly all fall

3. Even stranger things was a rare occurrence of a big group wads it up at Gratten 

2. All time Zwift basher Igor Wornaceck is gifted a smart trainer for Christmas 

1. No one died at the Cow Pie classic crit…

Big 100 

left overs 

 

 

Oreo is releasing this flavor for the first time ever

 Oreo is partnering with singer Post Malone for its next limited edition cookie, featuring a first-of-its-kind filling for the brand.

For a limited time, Oreo is selling a cookie created with Malone that has a swirled creme filling, which mixes salted caramel and shortbread flavor creme and is sandwiched between a chocolate cookie and a golden cookie. The cookies are engraved with nine designs inspired by the artist, such as vinyl records and a guitar pick.

it’s the newest creation for the Mondelēz-owned cookie, which regularly releases flavors to keep the 110-year-old brand in the cultural zeitgeist. In 2020, Oreo partnered with Lady Gaga to release pink cookies that became a viral sensation.

“Flavor innovations and collaborations, inspired by fan behavior, have become a mainstay in our playbook as a way to maintain relevancy across our portfolio of snack brands,” said Tanya Berman, senior vice president at Mondelēz, in a press release.

The “sweet new collab” goes on sale February 3 nationwide.

Collaborations, including ones with Coca-Cola and “Star Wars,” resonate with customers and boost sales, executives said on an earnings call last year. Oreo is also one of Mondelēz’s biggest brands, topping $4 billion in sales revenue in 2023.

Mondelēz reportedly explored an offer to buy its rival, The Hershey Company, last year potentially to create one of the world’s largest candy companies. However, the offer was too low and rejected. Hershey’s shareholder trust, which owns the vast majority of the candy giant’s votes, has been reluctant to sell the brand.

 

size matters

 Could bigger wheels improve your gravel riding? I tested 750d rims to find out

The world of gravel cycling has recently seen the introduction of a bigger wheel standard, called 750d.

Having thought road and gravel bikes had largely settled on 700c wheels, I wondered what all the fuss was about.

With that in mind, I set out to analyse the theory behind the new standard and find out how these wheels ride.

First though, let’s get up to speed on what 750d wheels are, their positives and negatives and what you’ll need if you want to try them yourself.

When 29-inch wheels entered the world of mountain bikes, the internet melted.

Although they promised faster speed, and better rolling over roots and rocks, many decided they hated 29ers before they’d even tried them – as with most new standards in the cycling world.

Eventually, though, the benefits became clear and 29ers were widely adopted – mostly by the Lycra-clad XC crowd.

According to their proponents, such as WTB, Moots and Merit – which makes the Jumbo 750d gravel bike I used for testing – the theory behind 750d wheels for gravel bikes is essentially the same.

The larger 660mm rim diameter (compared to 622mm for 700c wheels) is meant to roll more easily over rough terrain, for example.

The additional inertia of the larger wheel could also help retain speed.

Because they have a larger contact patch, 750d wheels are also claimed to increase grip, leading to better braking and handling.

Bigger wheels are also meant to help custom builds for taller riders. Merit, for example, feels that “in L-XXL sizes the [Jumbo gravel] bike looks best with 750d [wheels]”.

How are 750d wheels different from 700c wheels?

When paired with 750d gravel tyres around 40mm wide, 750d wheels are designed to have an overall diameter similar to that of 29in mountain bike wheels with larger mountain bike tyres.

A standard 700c or 29in wheel has a rim diameter of 622mm, while a 750d wheel has a diameter of 660mm. Other than that size difference, though, 750d wheels are similar to regular 700c wheels.

The Merit Jumbo bike I rode uses road Boost spacing. This equates to 110mm at the front and 148mm at the back.

The spokes are a bit longer than you’d usually find on a rim of this depth, but the internal rim width is a rather standard 25mm. The wheels are also tubeless-ready. 

Unfortunately, the bad news is you’ll almost certainly need a new bike to fit 750d wheels.

The Merit Jumbo 750d I used for testing was designed specifically for use with 750d wheels. As with bikes designed for 700c and smaller 650b wheels, though, this bigger frame enables you to fit standard 700c wheels too.

To test out the theories, I took the Merit Jumbo 750d for a short spin at Ashton Court – a trail centre in Bristol. It has plenty of tarmac paths, open gravel roads and some excellent blue mountain bike trails.

I went straight onto the stony trails, which – covered by leaden skies and thick tree cover – were slick and strewn with puddles.

Despite the conditions, traction was good both when coasting through corners and under heavy braking. The WTB Nano tyres, supplied in a 45mm size, bit well, but I wouldn’t say there was a huge difference in traction with the 750d wheels compared to 700c ones.

The trails provide plenty of flowing and techy corners, and it was here that I noticed the bike felt unusually tall. I didn’t feel able to move myself around the bike as I typically would.

Getting my centre of mass lower in faster corners and back for more technical terrain is how I would usually ride, but with the larger wheels, I felt more like a passenger.

As a rider of average height (173cm), I may be more sensitive to the feel of larger wheels, so this would be something I’d advise watching out for if you’re under the 6ft mark.

To test the wheels’ ability to absorb shocks, I took the bike over as many rough sections as possible and even hopped down a few drops. Was the latter strictly necessary? No. Was it fun? Yes.

Over rougher parts of the trail, where smaller rock sections were exposed, the 750d wheels seemed to soak up a good amount of chatter. That said, they weren't a great deal better than 700c wheels and, as ever, tyre size and tyre pressure optimisation matters more.

Onto some more open gravel stretches and the bigger wheels seemed to confer a small speed benefit. However, I wasn’t transformed instantly into a pro racer, and I’d need to do some comparative testing before concluding 750d wheels are measurably faster than 700c ones.

One thing I did notice, however, was a slightly sluggish feeling when trying to accelerate from slow speeds.

Finally, I took the 750d wheels over as many roots and rocks as I could find. In these scenarios, the larger wheels felt less susceptible to getting bogged down in rooty sections at slow speed.

Big impacts still come through the bike when riding at higher speeds, though. If you’re looking for proper bump-taming, a gravel suspension fork is still the way to go.

Do we need 750d wheels for gravel bikes?

With my short ride done, I was left seeing some potential benefits, but the question remains whether they’re enough to warrant investing in an entirely new bike.

That said, there isn’t anything wrong with having a choice.

Taller riders, for example, might enjoy the most significant benefit from the larger wheel size, enabling them to ride a bike with similar handling characteristics to smaller bikes and 700c wheels.

Whether there are enough tangible benefits for riders of more average height is unclear, though, especially because you’ll likely need a new bike to even try it.

In my experience, 700c wheels aren’t noticeably hard to handle over technical terrain, and offer a good balance between speed and acceleration. Given this, it’s likely going to be hard to convince many riders they need to buy a new bike just to get slightly bigger wheels.

It’s hard to see any serious momentum gathering behind riders switching until more brands support 750d wheels.

But what happens if the bike industry simply decides 750d is a better standard for all gravel bikes, regardless of size? It happened with disc brakes, after all…

Maybe next time you upgrade your gravel bike, you’ll have a choice to make.

For now, though, I think 750d wheels are something to keep an eye on. I certainly don’t feel the need to rush out and replace my Specialized Crux just yet.

 A former French professional cyclist was issued a 10-month suspended prison sentence and a €5,000 (£4,230 / $5,209) fine in a doping trial on Wednesday.

Marion Sicot, who competed between 2013 and 2019 and represented the national squad, tested positive for erythropoietin (EPO) in 2019. She was initially banned following the anti-doping control, and has now been sentenced in court for the import and possession of doping products.

The 32-year-old’s suspended sentence means she will not go to prison unless she commits another crime in the next 10 months.

Sicot’s trial began in November and took place in Montargis, south of Paris. During the proceedings, the court heard that she had taken prohibited substances, notably EPO and the fat-burning drug clenbuterol, between 2016 and 2019, during which time she rode for Belgian UCI team Dotcini-Van Eyck Sport.

Her positive EPO test came after the French National Road Championships in 2019, where she finished ninth. Sicot originally denied using the drug, and received a reduced two-year ban. This was later extended to the full four-year term, which lasted until March 2024.

During her trial, Sicot spoke of the “ease” with which she was able to take banned substances. She also said that doping formed “an integral part of this sport”, even if she experienced “no personal gain” in her career.

“I regret cheating and lying. I dirtied my sport,” she said. “I took the easy way out.”

Anti-doping in France is managed by the independent body Agence Française de Lutte Contre le Dopage (AFLD). According to the country’s law, use of doping substances is not a punishable offence, but the trafficking and possession of such substances is.

Laws are stricter in the USA, where use of performance-enhancing drugs is also punishable. In the UK, doping in sport is not a criminal activity.

Sicot was given a one-year suspended sentence on Wednesday, backdated two months to the beginning of her trial in November.

Also convicted in the case was a friend of the Frenchwoman, a former semi-pro cyclist accused of importing and possessing doping products. He received a 10-month suspended prison sentence and a €10,000 (£8,460 / $10,418) fine.

A 51-year-old doctor suspected of forging prescriptions likewise stood trial. He, too, was given a 10-month suspended prison sentence, a heavier fine of €20,000 (£16,920 / $20,836), and a six-month ban from practising medicine.

 

This country is banning time trial bikes for juniors

 Cycling equipment is expensive enough, and winning shouldn't only be for the wealthy

Last week, in a bid to instil fairness for up-and-coming racers, Cycling Canada announced plans to outlaw time trial bikes in junior events.

The restriction will be applied to the National Road Championships in June, and will mean Canadian under-17s and juniors have to rely on “only one bike frame” for all racing categories – in other words, their road bike. They will also not be allowed to use extension bars or disc wheels.

Why has Cycling Canada done this? Well, they hope it will “ensure consistency, fairness, accessibility, increase participation and talent identification, and improve transport efficiency.” I, for one, am fully on board.

It’s no secret that cycling is a heavily-engineered sport, and where there’s tech, there’s a market for expensive gains. Today, a decent time trial bike can cost anywhere between £3,000 and £12,000. Add that to the outlay of a similarly priced road bike, and the sport quickly becomes a playground for those who can afford it.

I never raced bikes as a kid, I played football. My parents used to buy me top-of-the-range boots, and quality clothes to train in, but I think if I had asked instead for a £6,000 time trial bike, I’d have been told where to shove it.

This is where Cycling Canada’s wish for greater accessibility, fairness and inclusivity comes in. Teenagers should not have to engage in an arms race to compete in time trials, nor should they start a race feeling that they are at a disadvantage. Winning should not only be for the wealthy.

Of course, this is not always the case. Children of well-to-do families do tend to get a leg-up in cycling, as they do in the rest of society. To try and level the field, we see other parents stretching beyond their means.

I remember reading a Twitter exchange late last year in which Michael Tarling, father of former European time trial champion Josh and IPT Academy rider Finlay, called out someone for saying bike racing is for people who are “posh as f*ck”.

Tarling replied: “We’ve sacrificed, scrimped, begged and borrowed to help our lads get where they are. We’ll be screwed financially for years as a result. Would do it again in a heartbeat.”

In another post, he added that the family had “remortgaged multiple times” and loaded credit cards, often relying on second and third-hand equipment. The extent the Tarlings went to to give their sons a chance is hugely commendable – but should parents really have to go through this? I worry it's not a sustainable structure for junior racing, particularly as equipment gets more expensive.

From a talent-spotting perspective, too, banning time trial bikes makes sense. Riding at 250 watts over 25 miles, a rider on a road bike will lose almost six minutes to a rival doing the same on a time trial bike, according to an experiment by MyWindsock. So significant are the aerodynamic gains, that the two equal riders would finish tens of places apart in a event.

National squad spots are often decided on results. Likewise, teams, scouts and agents look for victories when seeking out promising riders. Is the one who wins the race generally the strongest? Perhaps. But similar talents who can't afford the equipment are falling through the cracks. What does that teach about fairness?

I’ll admit, I’d be ignorant if I didn’t say there are other sides to this argument. With Cycling Canada’s new ruling, there is a risk that Canadian juniors will be at a disadvantage in international competitions, where their opponents will have trained and raced on time trial bikes all year. Moreover, inexperience using time trial bikes could hold them back when they graduate from the juniors. To that, I'd say that the vast majority – those who don’t go straight to pro level as teenagers – can still rely on their under-23 years to get up to speed.

There’s also the question of where we draw the line. Banning time trial bikes would be one step, but what about time trial helmets and state-of-the-art skinsuits? The British amateur scene has taught us that road bikes can be aero-optimised to such a scale that they start looking, and acting, like time trial bikes. Would the unfairness only continue? Maybe, but it certainly won't be as stark.

The reality is there are so many entry barriers for those wanting to race bikes and make a career out of it. If banning time trial bikes removes one of them, count me in.

 

 

 

 NOYB

stay in your lane and shut the fuck up..