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. Maybe the RV place will be nice also (or better), we shall see. I hope it’s not just a money grab thing. The RV park has jacked up their rates for the week and is also requiring a 2 night minimum to stay. I was going to spend Friday night there in the van, but couldn’t stomach paying a jacked up rate for 2 nights when I really just wanted a parking spot for a single night. Maybe this event is getting popular and has high demand, but I’d honestly be surprised if that’s the case (most of the folks I know racing next week choose bentonville over gravel locos). I’m not hating on Gravel Locos, it just feels like they are trying to position it as a “destination” event before they gave it a chance to grow into that. $185 entry fee, trying to sell $500 VIP packages to eat and pre-ride with the pros. If you are Leadville, BWR, or Unbound, you have the juice/history to get people lining up for that, but I don’t know if that works for a new-ish race.
Pulling in some big names and making it free in year 1 was smart to get the race on the map, but I’m not sure about their current path. But what do I know, maybe it will be a huge turnout this year and continue growing. More power to them if they can make it happen.