What I Did Last Year - Grassroots Gravel

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In the cycling world, gravel has become all the rage the last few years. Our veterans/first responders group, Project Hero, along with our Community Partner, Adaptive Adventures, has been all over it. We manage a few gravel rides a year, and last year, we showed up at a couple of gravel events. One such event was just last October, when we did the Grassroots Gravel race in Pueblo, Colorado. Grassroots Gravel is a well-organized 2-day gravel festival that features food, live music, and some tasty gravel routes. It’s a laid-back affair, as the organizers say, “For Everybody.” Yes, it’s a race, and there are some serious gravel competitors going head to head, but many choose to ride it at their own pace (much like what 5K’s have become in the running world.) (Just in case you are curious, gravel races are on routes that are part pavement with lots of gravel road sections.) On Friday night, there was a fun community shake-out ride, co-sponsored by Adaptive Adventures and Ride For Racial Equality. Also a party with live bands if you chose to stick around. Saturday was the race, covering various distances, with award ceremonies (and live music) after. And free lunch! With a free beer! Project Hero sent 3 of us to represent, riding as part of Adaptive Adventures. I rode the shortest course, 19-mile, as a buddy rider for a member of the AA team. She rode a recumbent trike, I rode with her at her pace. We did okay - she won her division in that distance, I somehow placed 5th in mine. Not bad considering that we weren’t actually racing (and, briefly, wandered off course coming back into Downtown Pueblo and had to backtrack.) That was a blast, and I can’t wait to do it again this year! Photo is my official race number, from my wall. Link is to a video the event organizers made about last year’s race. I’m not in it, but people I know are (you’ll see Adaptive Adventures shirts throughout:)