By Bill Plock
Races and Events reflect the person who had the idea and makes sure they come together in a fun and safe way. Here is a question and answer with Old Man Winter’s Josh Kravetz.
1. How many years has Old Man Winter been running and how and why did it start? This will be the 7th year for Old Man Winter. I’ve always been a fan of winter riding. It must be something about breathing the cold air or gearing up for a ride when everybody else is staying inside. When I was a pro MTB racer in Austin, we just to get a big crew together in winter to do our annual “600 minute” ride. I loved the camaraderie of this – riding all day, stopping for lunch, and getting in some great training. This is one of the feelings that inspired the Old Man Winter Rally originally.
2. What do you love most about Old Man Winter? I love bringing the riding and running community together for a relaxed and fun approach to staying motivated and fit during the winter. The journey to the start line is a lot of the fun and seeing hundreds of people at our training events makes me really happy. It’s also awesome to see the energy of everybody on race day – especially when we have wintry conditions. Everybody looks around at one another, thinking how crazy and cool it is that we’re all out there for an epic winter adventure.
You can still register, go Here: https://www.oldmanwinterrally.com
3. You have an extensive background in mountain bike racing and event management. Talk about how your career as a mountain biker transformed into event management and what do you love about putting on events, especially thinking as a former pro racer? My degree is in marketing and I originally worked in the dotcom industry. When that bubble burst, I wanted to find a way to support my cycling habit (since being a mediocre pro didn’t pay the bills). I had a ton of experience participating in all sorts of events and they really influenced me as a person. At first I thought the event industry was saturated, but then I really started thinking differently. For better or worse, I’ve always enjoyed putting on unique events. Sometimes it takes awhile for the events to catch on since they are often first of its kind. For example, the first event I ever produced was the Urban Assault Ride. It was a bike adventure race, where people race to checkpoints around a city and complete crazy challenges. For this event, I wanted to combine what I loved about bike racing (going fast), adventure racing (racing as a team), and backyard parties (telling stories of your adventures). It ran for over 10 years and was great way to show people how to use bikes as transporation. We kinda lured people in with big wheels and beer, then taught them a whole different way of life.
We’ve created a lot of events for craft breweries and these events really need to allow for the breweries to stand out. Throughout our 18 years of Adventure Fit productions, we’ve put together some really fun and funky experiences. Our events have included: roller coasters, a 30’ tall bonfire, nationally touring bands, the poop fairy, 20,000+ pink tutus, Olympian participants,15,000 tacos (in a day), well over $100k in non-profit donations, a huge blizzard, and many many crazy stories. That’s what I loved the most – creating experiences that are some of life’s best moments.
4. You also have put on the Gold Rush Rally and the Burning Can Festival locally. You seem to put on events that aren’t typical. Is that been your background in events since the beginning, what other kinds of events have you put on? (answered this above)
5. This years’ Old Man Winter is quite a bit different than previous races because of Covid, can you offer a brief overview of what folks should expect?
Our 2021 format spreads out participants for social distancing, but allows for runners/riders to take on our iconic courses in small groups, with the same level of food/medical support. When signing up, you’ll choose a weekend day and time and we limit the number of registrations to make sure there are not too many people. We are offering the same prize purse (over $10K in cash and prizes) and we will use the Ride with GPS event service to show a live leader board throughout the week. When participants finish, they get a bowl of chili and a beer at Oskar Blues in Lyons. It’s not the raging after party that we normally throw, but there is still a celebration and reward.
6. You seem to love history and Boulder. What are some things people should know about the history or points of interest of where the routes of OMW take them? One of the coolest parts of Old Man Winter Rally is the Rowena trail on the 100K course. It was not very well known prior to our race and now riders often make it a part of their training loops since it connects Lefthand Canyon and Sunshine Canyon. It was once a gold mining railroad line, just like a lot of the route on the Gold Rush Bike Rally. We try to showcase some of the area’s history with the event. I often think about what it would have been like at the turn of the century, navigating these trails on horses, without lights or weather forecasts. It kinda puts things into perspective with our wireless electric drivetrains and GPS routing!
7. Talk about the process and hurdles you had to overcome and make OMW even possible. It was featured in Bicycling Magazine and is gaining national attention, probably in part because of all you changed to make it happen. What are you most proud of?
I really missed connecting with the community in 2020, so that’s what was my gal. We initially rolled out a plan for a 2-day format (Saturday for runners and Sunday for riders). However, when Boulder’s COVID numbers increased in Fall, that was not a possibility so we had to go back to the drawing board and come up with a new format. Personally, I was not into ‘virtual’ events. I wanted a way to ride with friends, with support, on an actual course, with real results. So, we came up with our current format, which hits these marks. I’m sure there are some folks that are not yet comfortable riding with others, but I think a lot of folks are really ready to get back to experiencing the energy of events. We’ve figured out a way for 1000+ athletes to do what they love, safely, during the pandemic, so that makes me happy 😉
8. Is there a vision of OMW becoming bigger or different in the future (covid notwithstanding)? OMW is growing every year (well – maybe not 2021 since its size has to be limited) and our goal is for it to be the kick off to the gravel bike and trail running season. We’d love for it to be a motivator for athletes all winter and be one of their favorite events all year. Boulder County is a mecca for the country’s top athletes and gravel riding and OMW (and Gold Rush) will be synonymous with Colorado gravel racing. I can see these as 5000+ person events.
9. What’s next for Josh Kravetz and what keeps you motivated?
This year, I’d love to continue to grow our Colorado races and be ready to put on some amazing festivals when we are allowed to produce multi-thousand person events. I really love bikes and beer and I have a feeling my life will always include these passions. My young kids enjoy working our events (maybe just for all the snacks) and it would be really cool to see them taking over the events one day. Personally, I want to stay fit, race my bike from time to time, and always be curious about new experiences we could create through Adventure Fit events!
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