Will Gravel for CX

I love riding gravel. I love riding dirt and single track trails. I love racing cyclocross. What's the best, most fun way to drop weight and get fit for the 2019 cyclocross season? RACE GRAVEL! This idea came to me in November 2018.

Living in Texas, the gravel race season starts almost immediately in January. Two weeks of flu and chest cold bouts stopped me cold in Jan.

Goals for this season are to have FUN, hit some big races like LandRun 100 (GULP!) and Coast-to-Coast in Michigan (DOUBLE GULP!), and challenge myself at many smaller races near home. Maybe even add a few regional or other national races? Send me suggestions!

That means riding more, watching my changing diet. 

I've done good so far on changing what I eat. I've cut out processed food, bread/pasta, and dairy.

Surprisingly, frequent bike riding and training have been a challenge. Partly from colds and flu. But partly because Austin has become a dangerous place to ride bikes on the road. I regularly drive out of town 45 minutes to ride or carefully ride to dirt trails in town.

Another lame excuse: I'm struggling with time shifting my schedule so I can start training at 5 am several times a week. I'm a night owl. This is my personal challenge. I think the first test race of the season will properly kick my ass into gear.

These are my real life challenges as of Friday night, Feb. 8.

Here's my tentative 2019 gravel race schedule:

• COME AND GRIND IT - LEESVILLE, TX - FEBRUARY 16, 2019
• STOCKDALE GRAVEL ROUNDUP - STOCKDALE, TX - MARCH 9, 2019
• LANDRUN 100 - NORMAN, OK - MARCH 16, 2019
• THE WIZZERVILLE HAULER - MCMAHAN, TX - MARCH 30, 2019
• CLICK THE WIRE DONKEY - NEW ULM, TX - APRIL 27, 2019
• DIRTY KANZA - SUPPORTING AMANDA NAUMAN & CTS ATHLETES (NOT RACING)- EMPORIA, KS - JUNE 1, 2019
• COAST TO COAST GRAVEL GRINDER - POINT AU GRES MARINA, LAKE HURON, MI - JUNE 22, 2019
• UNPAVED - SUSQUEHANNA RIVER VALLEY, PA - OCTOBER 13, 2019

Let me know what other national and regional races I should add to my schedule. There are tons I know. I'd like to do Castell 100 in TX but the race filled up in Nov.! I need to heavy up in April, May, and into the summer.

And yeah UnPAved is smack dab in the middle of CX season but I wanna put out there as a marker. Also, those PA bike peeps RULE.

REMEMBER: My goal with my gravel season is to have FUN and get fit for cross. #WillGravelForCX

A super shout out to my amigos at SRAM who've supported Grimpeur Bros. and helped us with LandRun. SRAMies are the best!

TIME TO GRAVEL!

Send any questions, thoughts, post suggestions or feedback to dan at grimpeur bros dot com. Ride your bike. Drink great coffee. And always support your local coffee shop and local bike shop.

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Dan Manco is the founder of Grimpeur Bros. Specialty Coffee (https://www.grimpeurbros.com). Founded in 2012, Grimpeur Bros. is a cycling-centric specialty coffee company that sells some of the best fresh, roast-to-order specialty coffee in America. Dan loves all things cycling-related and is dedicated to supporting the companies, media outlets, bike shops, bike racers, mechanics, and people that support growing cycling as a sport, healthy lifestyle, and transportation method. Follow Grimpeur Bros. on Instagram and Twitter.