Drew Chapman and Greeley”s Bike Peddler will be hosting the 2nd annual Weld County Gravel Stage Race again this summer.  Just like last year, there will be a new Strava timed stage posted each month through the end of summer. Each stage will also include timed segments. Categories will be decided and announced by the organizers at the conclusion of the first stage. Each stage must be completed between the first and last day of the given month.

Same general format as last year (see the rules below) with only a couple changes:
1. This is the WCGSR Covid-19 edition, solo attempts only, unless you are members of the same family or household, group stage attempts will come with a time penalty.
2. the KOM competition is now a general Points completion, combining both prime segments and KOM segments, depending on the course.


Stage 1

Drones: a prologue

Stage one will be a short prologue down to Platteville, which should be a fast one.
https://www.strava.com/routes/26192873
A GPX file is available upon request

Start: CR46 & CR29
head south on CR29
turn west on CR40
turn north on CR25
turn west on CR40.5
turn south on CR23
turn east on CR38
turn south on CR25
turn west on CR36
turn south on CR23
turn east on CR32.5
turn north on CR25
turn east on CR36
turn north on CR25.5
turn east on CR40
turn north on CR29
Finish: CR46 & CR29

The prime segment for stage 1 will be on CR23, between CR36 & CR32.5
Crazy Vaclav’s Place of Prime p/b Thrillhousecycling

2020 primes and KOMs will be sponsored by Thrillhousecycling!
Make sure to follow @thrillhousecycling on Instagram for some cromulent cycling memes, and shop thrillpool.com for all of your Simpsons/cycling needs!

Categories
At the moment categories for 2020 will remain the same as last season.
Young Bucks
Old Stags
Ladies?
Please add one of these categories to your ride title when you upload to Strava, it will help to get the stage 1 results posted faster.

Send all questions, comments, and the like to Drew at
bikepeddler3663@gmail.com with the subject WCGSR

Stay safe and healthy out there y’all,
-Drew


Weld Count Gravel Stage Race Rule Book


1.0. All riders must obey all traffic laws, at all times, period.
2.0. For a rider’s time to be counted, the course must be ridden in its entirety.
2.1. There is no limit on stage attempts, the best attempt by each rider will be recorded for GC at the end of each month.
3.0. All rides must be uploaded to Strava in order to be counted.(if it’s not on Strava it didn’t happen)
4.0. Each stage must be completed between the first and last day of the given month.

Guidelines

*Know the course. Orienteering is part of this race, being able to properly navigate the back roads of weld county is what this “race” is all about. The course will not be marked or marshaled, know where you are going and where you are at all times.
*Be prepared, many courses will have you riding in remote areas with no resupply stops, and very little cell phone service. Make sure to have plenty of nutrition, and supplies to be self-supported.
*Tell someone where you are going, have a bailout plan.
*You are responsible for yourself, obey all traffic laws, and practice safe cycling

Categories/Races

5.0 GC(general classification) Awarded to the ride with the lowest cumulative time over all stages.
5.1 GC will be counted for any and all categories/age groups
6.0 Stages can be completed solo or as a group, all times will be recorded individually(there is no team timing)
6.1 COVID-19, NO GROUP ATTEMPTS ON ANY STAGES ARE TO BE MADE DURING THE 2020 EVENT.
6.1.2 Time penalties will be applied to riders attempting to race any stages in a group. (-10 minutes)
7.0 POINTS COMPETITION, each category(or age group) will be able to compete in not only GC but points as well, through mid course prime/KOM segments. Points segments will be announced monthly along with the course.
7.1 Only KOMs made for the stage will be counted, most courses will have multiple existing KOMs on them, only KOM segments announced with the stage will be counted.
7.2 points will be awarded in each race category as follows;
1st place 5pts
2nd place 4pts
3rd place 3pts
4th place 2pts
5th place 1pt

8.0 MVP will be awarded for each for each stage. Our MVP award will be completely unrelated to GC or KOM points. While out on course do something cool, impress us with some flashy photos or videos maybe, be creative and have fun. Maybe it should be MFP(Most Fun Player) instead of MVP…

9.0 Categories will be determined by participation numbers.
Categories will be decided and announced by the organizers(via email) at the conclusion of the first stage(when we know who’s participating).
Possible categories may be; under 65-over 65, Ladies, MTB(all stages must be completed on mtb), Tandem…who knows tell your friends to race to the more racers the more categories and fun stuff we can do.


***Organizers side note***
Go have fun, yes this is a race, but its also just about getting out and exploring some dirt roads.
Have fun, don’t be too serious about it;)