2019 was the YEAR OF GRAVEL. Well, except for 2018, which was also kind of the YEAR OF GRAVEL. And if we are being honest, 2020 will probably be the YEAR OF GRAVEL as well.
Anyway, 2019 was the YEAR OF GRAVEL in some capacity, and accordingly, the Groadio podcast felt it deserved the first-ever (as far as we know) gravel awards show. At least, the only gravel awards show you should care about.
In the last episode of 2019, the Groadio gravel-knowers Amanda and Zach made their picks for the 2019 Groadies awards, and curious newb Bill served as the ultimate arbiter. Hopefully he did a better job than the NBA Dunk Contest judges, amirite?
The 2019 Groadies cover key topics such as Rookie of the Year, Rider of the Year, and of course, Controversy of the Year. If you missed it, you can check out the full episode via the WideAnglePodium website or at your favorite podcast repository.
And if you are asking, why are you publishing this in February 2020 when you recorded it like 2 months ago? That is an excellent question.
First, I am now a retired journalist and current hobby-blogger with time on my hands, and second, we wanted to have the Groadies in written word form because it seems inevitable someone will copy the idea at the end of 2020 and get all the credit unless BIG CYCLING MEDIA can do a quick search for words instead of listening to the pod.
So here we go, or to rip off Jon Rothstein, kinda:
Rookie of the Year
Nominees
Sarah Max
Sarah Sturm
Jacob Rathe
Peter Stetina
Winners
W – Sarah Max
M – #peteruinedgravel
Rider You’d Like to See Do MOAR GRVL
Nominees
Rebecca Fahringer
Jess Cerra
Georgia Gould
Eric Marcotte
Curtis White
Winners
W – Jess Cerra
M – Eric Marcotte
Favorite Controversy
Nominees
Kabushed: The 2019 DK200 aerobar dust-up
The DK200 Men’s podium no-show
Neutral support moto at New York’s Durty Bikes series
Power-rankings-gate
Winner
Durty Bikes moto
Breakout GRVL Event
Nominees
SBT GRVL
Oregon Trail Gravel Grinder
Winner
Sabit Gurvel
Best International Event
Nominees
Winner
ICLND GRVL
Best Social Media Use
Nominees
Rooted Vermont’s Mullet Protocol Award
SBT GRVL
Winner
Business in the front, Party in the back
Performance of the Year
Winners
W – No one (CXM) believed in Nina Laughlin at the Land Run 100
M – Colin Strickland goes full send from 100 miles out at DK200
Graveleur of the Year
Nominees
Kae Takeshita
Katerina Nash
Sarah Max
Colin Strickland
Winners
W – Kae
M – Colin
