STAY HYDRATED

It’s going to be a hot one, ladies and gentlemen.
Plan to carry as much water as you can.
Bring 2-4 FULL waterbottles or a FULL Hydration pack to the start.

This is a self-supported ride.
We will have some water at the checkpoints (we’re not inhuman), but everyone should plan to carry what they need. Although the above picture is hilarious (if you’ve seen UHF), we would like to say that this is not a joke.
It’s looking like Sunday will be the hottest day in 2012 thus far, so plan accordingly.

Love,
The GM crew.

Le Wristbands & Fatty’s After.

Pay attention.
At sign-in, you will be endowed with a green wristband.
At each checkpoint, you must stop and get the wristband punched.
Each checkpoint will have a different hole punch.
This is what the wristband will look like at the end of the ride.

Riders planning on racing the ride will want to plan for the bottlenecks at the checkpoints.

The wristband will also get you your free beer at Fatty’s, so don’t gnaw it off at the finish line.
When you get to Fatty’s , head to the back room or the patio – those are reserved for us.
The wristband will get you one free Daisy Cutter. Everyone is responsible for their own meals, and we beg you to be patient and tip your waitresses well. It’s not often they get hundreds of starving and thirsty, yet svelte and charming customers coming in all at once.
We highly recommend the Cajun Potato Salad (1/2 order will do – full order will hurt).

We’ll be giving out raffle tickets at Fatty’s and we’ll start swagging when the room is full.

Over.

Cue the Bandannas.

Our Gravel Metric Cue Bandannas were delivered this morning. They’re even better in real life.

Ross models the Mustache.

The Cue Sheet looks great. It might get a little blurry, though, when you’re pedaling your eyeballs out.

Looking goooood.

These are well worth what we’re asking for them. In addition to getting you from start to finish and covering your face in the dusty wind, we’ve compiled these other great uses for the bandannas:
Flag
Tourniquet
– Compress
– Poultice
Blindfold
Wipe (what have you)
Ascot
Hobo Sack (b.y.o. stick)
Coffee Filter
Diaper
Pocket Square
Junk Mitten

We are also offering a free Bandanna to anyone who can tell us a legit story using every word in that list.

See you Sunday.

Salsa Metric Bottles

Free for all riders.

Deetz.

OK. Now that the video is out, let’s move on to the actual ride – yes, there’s a ride – it’s called the Gravel Metric. This is the website.

Route:
The route is finalized. We’re happy with the minor changes we’ve made. We circumvented the landfill, added a mile of unroad, and kept the rest the same. We’re going to have the turns marked with stakes. The stakes will have one bar for right turns, two bars for left turns, and will be marked with brightly colored tape. There will be no other route markers.

Cue Sheets:
We are screen-printing bandannas as cue sheets. These are going to be super cool. We’ll be selling them for $10 to raise money for our new non-profit (AXLETREE). If you’d like to download the gpx for your GPS, you can find it here. If you can’t afford a $10 cue sheet (a sweet, handmade, reusable bandanna cue sheet), or if you have something against non-profits, you can print out your own cue sheet here and then go get a job.
We do not plan on having paper cue sheets, so you’ve been warned.

Parking
In years past, we’ve had the luxury of using the Post Office parking lot next door, but they’ve gated it to thwart vandals (correlation?). We have permission to use a few of the surrounding lots and we want to reserve open spots for our neighbors, so please park in the green lots:

If you park in a red lot, we will call you out with the bullhorn at the start of the ride and the start will be delayed until you move your car. Friends don’t let friends park in the red lots.

Staging
After you’ve parked, come into the shop to sign in. Be sure to print out your waiver and complete it before you get here. When you’re ready to ride, line up in the “Staging” lot behind NCC. We’ll be rolling out at 9am from that lot. We’ll have a police escort through town. The route officially begins when we reach Twombly Rd.

Doing your business
This year, we’ll have Port-a-Pots ready for your business needs. Please use them. Please refrain from using the restrooms in NCC.
If you… bullhorn… etc.

The Gravel Metric Three

MAY DAY MAY DAY

Twenty-six days until the Gravel Metric. Here’s a kung-fu update:

1. The route is final – it’s still gravel, and it’s still mostly flat.

2. We’re going to need you to fill out a waiver. It’s available for download here. To keep the lines short, please print it out, complete it, and bring it with you. This will help us all.

3. The entry fee is still $0. This is the best amount. This leaves you much more cash for buying goodies (posters, t-shirts, bandanas – yes, GM bandanas) and tipping the waitress at the pub.

4. If you haven’t already, please let us know you’re coming on Facebook. Don’t have Facebook? Good work.

5. The Bird Machine has made an edition of fantastic prints for the Gravel Metric.
They are in very, very short supply. These will be available for sale to raise money for AXLETREE. More details soon.

aaaaaaaand

6. The video is almost done. Seriously. You think you’re excited? We’re more excited. Trust. me.