Posts

The (Tandem) Day Across Minnesota - The DAMN 240mi Gravel Bike Race (2024)

Image
MINNEAPOLIS, United States (GNN, the Gravel News Network) -- Gerasimos G. The DAMN Is Back I don't remember the day, or the time, or where I was, but I remember the feeling.  Sometime late in 2023, I learned that the DAMn was once again alive. And, yeah, something touched me deep inside.  The DAMN is the Day Across Minnesota, a 240-mile (or 243-mile) gravel bike race across the state of Minnesota. It starts at the strike of midnight in the small town of Gary, SD, which is just an arm's length over the western border of Minnesota and traverses the state west-to-east to the finish line on a small island in the Mississippi River in Hager City just over the eastern border from Red Wing, MN. Riders have 24 hours to finish the route. The fastest riders clock in around 12 hours (yes, 20mph average!), and the last rider usually arrives just a few clicks before midnight earning the honor of the "Lantern Rouge" -- the red lantern award. After a few years off, and the release of
Post a Comment
Read more

DAMn 2021 - The Last Day Across Minnesota (14aug2021)

Image
   MINNEAPOLIS, United States (GNN, the Gravel News Network) -- Gerasimos G. "A pilgrimage is a journey, often into an unknown or foreign place, where a person goes in search of new or expanded meaning about their self, others, nature, or a higher good, through the experience. It can lead to a personal transformation, after which the pilgrim returns to their daily life" Photo:  Markman Outdoor Photography . Prologue My feet swung over the side of the bed  and are now on the floor.  It's somewhere between 3 and 4 in the morning and the crickets' hum pulses outside my window in Minneapolis, inhaling and exhaling, just the same as two nights ago, as my feet  were locked into the pedals of my bike, flowing and pressing, rolling smooth tires over a long string of gravel roads, following the subtle traces of the riders ahead of me.  The  meteors above brushed fiery white lines fast across the night sky, blazing pathways between stars.  Beneath them were the riders, snaking
2 comments
Read more

RACE REPORT (05jun2021): Spring Valley / Almanzo 100 -- Meteor Theory v. Heat Wave, Gravel v. Skin

Image
  MINNEAPOLIS, United States (GNN, the Gravel News Network) -- Gerasimos G. "If nothing goes wrong, there's nothing to write about." Quick Background on Almanzo (and Meteor Theory) The Almanzo 100 was one of the first gravel events in the midwest to be attracting 1,000+ people. I did this event for several years in all sorts of weather (some race reports here in The Gravel News Network ).  This year, the city of Spring Valley took the lead on the event, renaming it the Spring Valley 100. The date of the event, normally the first Saturday after Mother's Day (in May) meant the weather had varied from the 30s to the 80s, cold rain to hot sun, mostly wind and sometimes calm. This year was in June, yesterday, June 5th, and temps were in the 90s with winds gusting up to 25mph. Perhaps it's also useful to briefly share the "Meteor Theory" that I apply in pretty much every event. It is a plan to go out hot, hotter than what can be sustained, and then slowly peel
3 comments
Read more