Church bells announced the start of the first Nepomuk Narly Gravel Grinder Bike Race in Pisek on Oct. 2. Racers gathered from as far as Colorado and Virginia to participate in this first of hopefully many races in the small northeastern North Dakota town. Over $7,000 of real gold and silver was given to the top three men and women in the 25- and 50-mile gravel trails north and south of Pisek. About 110 kids participated in the Ice Cream Division, a six-mile loop west of town.
The day also included a street fair with vendors, face painting, bouncy houses, and food trucks. Nearly 60 businesses showed their support.
“Everybody was just so happy with it,” said Father Jason Lefor, pastor of churches in Pisek, Lankin, and Bechyne. “People came out of the woodwork to help and volunteer and be hospitable. To prepare for the event, the townspeople filled potholes with gravel and helped tear down the house across the street from the church for a parking lot. They worked hard to make it happen. I’ve been involved in a lot of big events and I’ve never had so much fun putting something together and doing it. From the first moment, it was blessed.”
The event started as a “crazy idea,” but every time Father Lefor told someone about it, the idea was met with enthusiasm and more ideas. The name Nepomuk Narly was inspired by the name of Pisek’s church, St. John Nepomucene. The goal of the event was simple: to celebrate life.
“One of the reasons this came to be is because the farming economy is bad, crops were bad, the weather was bad, and politics were bad. And I thought, ‘can’t we just have one day where we all come together where we don’t have to think about any of that and celebrate life together?’ And we did, right in the middle of harvest season.”
Father Lefor began planning by having an open meeting every Sunday at noon. Anyone who wanted to be a part of the event could come any time. Each Sunday, more people came.
“We did it in a month,” said Father Lefor. “G.K. Chesterton said, ‘anything worth doing is worth doing badly,’ so I thought well, if nothing else, we can just do it badly. But it went well. We had a really great time.”