Gravenger Hunt 1.3 Ravensdale Wrap-up

Hi Everybody!

It's January 4th, the day after closing out the riding part of the Gravenger Hunt 1.3 Ravensdale.  

The course is still up for the moment.  The weather is crummy, and I rode it on Saturday when it was really bad, so I thought I'd wait until Wednesday to take it down.  Holler if you'd like to join me!

THANKS

Thanks to you, it was an overwhelming success!  I had over 70 registered riders, and in spite of challenging riding and challenging navigation, everyone had some successes, and some struggles, but seemed to have a good time.  Negative feedback has been noted, and will be used to improve rider experience, but the response was overwhelmingly positive.  Big special thanks to everyone who rode the course AND THEN told their friends to register.  I didn't do any marketing besides posting to the FB NW Gravel Riders group, so word of mouth really means a lot.  Believe me, it was really scary sending a bunch of people I didn't know out into the woods to get lost.  

SAP CONTEST AND PRIZES

I'm sorry for any confusion, but it turns out that all 5 Situational Awareness Prizes were out on the course, but I still don't know where SAP 3 is!  That's how well I hid it.  I know there's 5, because someone reported all 5 of them.  If you found 5 of them, please submit your answers via email.  If you didn't find any of them, the Green QR codes had a theme of Christmas movies.  If you found 4, submit your list anyway!  I might come up with something to either raffle or split with teams or riders who found 4.  

COURSE COMPLETE

I don't want to make too big a deal about finishing, but I'd like to hear from people who finished the entire course, because I wasn't tracking who was out there too closely.  I'd even like to hear from you if you made it as far as the suggested bailout at North of Landsburg Road.  Also if you didn't ride at all, I'd like to know about that.  

IMPROVEMENT

I'll say it again, but this was my first venture as a promoter, so there were some things I had to learn and figure out as I went along.  One of them was the capacity of the Webscorer email system.  Figuring out how to tell you what you'd need to know could have been done better by setting up a website in advance.  Maybe this Blogger account will serve that function, or maybe I'll have something more custom.  Having some cash on hand from GH 1.3 to do things will help.  

I'll also be putting out a survey, and that will give me some feedback on how to handle the next ones.  At the very least, I expect to have more than one distance next time.  The GH 1.3a short course was within easy reach to create, but I (correctly) focused on getting the longer course set up, and in better shape for the riders after the feedback.  I'll have lots of questions asking for a rating between 1 to 5 with 1 as "too easy" and 5 as "too hard".  That doesn't mean that things will necessarily be any easier next time, because the location and the course will determine a lot of that.  But I still want to know what you thought of GH 1.3, so please participate and provide some thoughtful responses - good or bad.

THE COURSE

Here's a link to the route in Ride With GPS.  It's a great tool for planning rides.  If you're into gravel, I'd recommend a subscription and the app.  

RWGPS Link

Checkpoints aren't included, but I'll send those separately to anyone who asks through email at gravenger.hunt@gmail.com.

I'd be thrilled if you want to save the course and go out and ride it at a later date.  Maybe you had challenges navigating, and want to see what I intended.  Maybe you completed it, and want to go over where you rode.  Maybe you just want to ride it in better weather or more daylight or on a different bike.  

HOWEVER - I'm asking that you keep the course route somewhat private.  Any future GH courses in the area will be very different, but I might need to use some of the transitions again, and I'd like to preserve the "freshness" of discovery for the next group of new riders.  And if I use some segments again, you'll have a leg up on everyone, right?  Added value for you early adopters!  You don't need to hide your Strava records or anything, but just don't publish to social media it as the GH 1.3 course or even send your friends to ride it without you.  I'd just like to keep it our little secret for now.  Ok?  

I'm not posting it on social media.  Copy, save, or favorite it when you can, because I might shift it back to Private in a few weeks.  

WHAT'S NEXT?

GH 2.1 isn't announced or even named yet, but the success of GH 1.3 has definitely inspired me to try more, so thank you for stepping up and trying something completely new.  

I'm working on a course in Stanwood.  It's definitely more gravel logging road riding, and less single track, but there could be some of that too.  But that doesn't mean it will be easier riding.  It will almost certainly have more vertical, and a goal of 60 and 30 mile options.  I'd like to have something happening in March or April, but that means I need to get my act together.  

I'm also exploring something in Eastern Washington, and I'd like to take advantage of the weather window over there.  April or May - when it's still gray and wet here in Western Washington, but sunny and not too hot over there.  This would be more of a traditional gravel course, like 50 and 80 mile options.   Fewer checkpoints.  Some degree of support like a feed stop.  

And if I get too bored, or something bigger seems out of reach, running something in the Thrilla area is quick and easy.  Any one of these could be GH 2.1.  And if you have locations in mind, let me know about that.  

I'm also planning on adding new things to the experience - maybe something competitive for those who care about bragging rights or times.  And a payout to go with it.   But I'm also really digging the non-competitive vibe, so I want that to always be an option.  Expect the mechanics and tech to change a little bit next time.  

THANKS AGAIN

The turnout and positive feedback was tremendous for a first time endeavor.  It's been extremely rewarding to conceive of something that's fairly detailed and intricate, put it together, and have it work out so well.  Because of you, I'm excited to work on new and different experiences for the coming year, and I'm hoping these catch on enough to still be fun when we can get together and have it be an actual event with things like a finish line and predictable taco trucks and a beer garden with dirty people recounting their adventures and laughing at wrong turns.  Dreamy, right?  

As always, hit me up with questions or comments.  

Reeve Geary
GHA