Gravel Locos, Hico 2023

[jmm]

@grwoolf

One week out and weather looking pretty decent (around 80F and 35% chance of rain). I’ll take that over 100F for sure. Only bummer is it’s looking like a north wind, so a good bit of headwind most of the way home. I always prefer the headwind early where you are more likely to be in bigger groups.

Also, they moved the venue from the local park right in town to an RV park 6 miles out of town. I’m not sure what happened there. For me, having the event in town made for a really cool vibe. Not sure if they had a fallout with the city or what’s going on with that.

North wind - good: lower humidity probably. Bad: headwind coming in.

I think a reason for the move might be the huge steak cooking contest going on in downtown. I was a little concerned how Hico might accommodate both. It is a unfortunate for family coming along that they can’t simply hang out downtown though.

We have family coming in so we have an AirBnB in Glen Rose for a short drive in.

I did notice in reviewing the courses that they really did not add aid stations. For the shorter routes no problem but anyone doing the 110 or 150 needs to pay attention to hydration and carrying enough to make it through.