During the inaugural Wednesday night ride of the season, the cold temps and stiff northerly breeze could not touch the warmth of the afternoon sun and excitement to be riding as a group again. Faces that had not been seen for months rolled up to the host’s driveway. Jokes about the weather, fenders and the bikes that are ridden in April in the Northland were flowing. It had been years since I rode with this notoriously fast group of locals and I was excited to see how I stacked up this year. Billed to have a “gentleman’s” pace tonight, I was seasoned enough to know that would probably last for all of 100 meters. It was a welcoming gesture, though.

We rolled down the first few miles of gravel and more than one rider passed me admiring and commenting on the navy blue, steel bike that I use for most of my riding these days. My bike, or any bike, clad in fenders does not scream speed. But it is a classy ride. A custom rig that has carried me over thousands of miles and some of them in races such as the Trans Iowa and longer. I’m old enough to know that most of the time it is not the bike but the engine that gets one to the finish with speed or some semblance of grace.

But EVERYONE noticed the beautiful black carbon wheels I was rolling that night. And just about every one of them wondered why those wheels were part of a steel bike with fenders.

In particular, the wheels were HED Cycling’s Emporia GC3 Pros. The GC3’s are HED’s flagship hoops for gravel cycling and rough road riding. They are carbon works of art that look as good hanging on the wall as they do on a bike. For years, I was hesitant to ride carbon thinking it would not stand up to events like The Heck of the North or flint hills of Kansas. But I’m a notoriously late buy-in. I’m just now convinced that front shocks are not a mountain bike fad. So there’s that.

It’s a fair question, I guess. The short answer is that they are the wheels that I have right now for that bike. I’m a believer in ride what you got and what I got are these beauties. But beauty is not just about looks to me. It is equal parts function. In fact, beautifully designed tools are beautiful because the do the job they were designed to do extremely well.

Like all HED products I have ridden over the years, I have full confidence that they will stand the test of time and gravel. I’m a believer in this company because they have been with me and Heck of the North Productions since our beginning in 2009. They are Minnesota made and have been creating beautiful wheels for road, gravel and snow for decades. They have pioneered many aspects of wheel design that other companies were wise to adopt.

This is a rare, shameless nod to one of our sponsors. I’m OK with that every now and then. And I’ll be the first to admit that I might have been overdressed for an April group ride with friends. But if you’re lucky enough to have hand-tooled Italian shoes, it’s officially OK to wear them with jeans to the local dance.

HED is generously giving Le Grand du Nord and The Heck of the North a set of Emporia Wheels to be randomly gifted to a very lucky rider during each event. Thank you!