You're invited to the 2024 Peckerhead
Last year, I told you all about the Peckerhead Invitational. I told you about Jay Allred, the Chief Peckerhead — the conspirator, the man, the organizer.
When Jay started this zany thing, it was about getting friends together to ride bikes for a while. To shoot the shit. To pretend like they had all been “training.” And then to commiserate at the finish line with laughs and slaps on the back and beer.
It grew into something bigger than him. There were sponsors, race kits, merch, raffles, a blog — one summer he hired a band.
It gradually became too much, he told me last summer. So they took it back to the core: friends riding bikes.
“Gradually, we went back to the core of the event: get people together to remind them why they started to ride bikes in the first place. I mean, that’s why I did it. To remind myself. And I think that always ringed true with people,” he said, sitting relaxed in his office one recent Friday.
He sat there in all his cool, approachable bossness. Donned in jeans and a black, graphic tee. He sat with one leg crossed, resting on his knee. The position revealed a colorful bike sock protruding from his hi-top Vans.
That’s when he started reminiscing on all the good memories over the years. A guy named Neil pedaling up so slowly on Dill Road that he fell over. Another guy, he remembers, fell sound asleep in his yard after the ride. One of his old friends got so drunk one year he wanted to wrestle Jay. His neighbor decided to ride it one year on his 1957 Humbert with a basket on the front.
He laughed at the image. “I always loved those people who …”
And then, a lightbulb shone over his shaved bald head.
“Those are my favorite memories, like when people are clearly in over their heads. Hubris. Like, you think you can do shit you’re not qualified for. And they come back and they’re just shelled. But smiling. They had just done something they thought they could do but it was really hard. They’re beat up but also they feel good.”
Hubris. Maybe that’s my condition for taking this Peckerhead thing on.
Here’s to hoping we all come out on the other side, shelled but smiling.
And so, without further adieu … you’re invited.
What: Peckerhead 2024
When: June 15, 2024
Where: 451 Davis Road, Mansfield OH 44907
How much: Free (donations welcome)
Why: Because.
So I thought about adding some new elements. And then I read the thing above about going back to the core of the event.
And so the Peckerhead will be free. The Peckerhead will feature three routes: This one, this one and this one. (These links are from last year … the routes are subject to change. More to come.)
The Peckerhead will have beer and other refreshing beverages. The Peckerhead will have weenies and other grilled foods. The Peckerhead will have music.
The Peckerhead will have bikes. And lycra. And colorful socks. (But you’ll have to bring all those things yourself.)
Cycotherapy will be your HQ for information regarding this year’s Peckerhead. Look for more communication in the coming weeks/months.
In the meantime, take 8 seconds to register. And invite your friends!
Dillon, I wish for a well-attended Peckerhead. I've done it a couple times and had great fun. It is a stellar event. My absence this year will be for the same reason I've missed it in recent years. Unfortunately, Funk Bottoms Gravel Grinder is the same day and I commit myself to that thrashing.