Gravel Grinding In The News

 The rising popularity of riding gravel and back roads is catching the attention of more mainstream media types. Today we have a couple of links to share that will show you this gravel scene is getting noticed in a lot of places.

First up, we have the Dirty Kanza 200 promoter, Jim Cummins, who was recently host on the Ciclirati podcast featuring the DK 200. In the podcast Jim opines about the rising popularity of the gravel grinding scene. Click the link and give it a listen. The peice runs about 13 minutes in length.

Next we have a famous Iowa related artist. Brian Duffy has been penning cartoons for the pre-eminent paper in Iowa, The Des Moines Register for about as long as I can remember. In recent years, the award winning cartoonist found out about the joys of gravel. Check out his peice entitled "Vitamin G" here.

Finally, even the pro level cyclists are getting their "Vitamin G" in the Montepaschi Strada Bianche which was recently held in Italy. Cycling News has a great photo gallery of the event showing the pros shredding some pretty steep gravel descents.

Race Discussion: April Events

First of all, before we get into the April events, let's give another nod to the late March event that debuted on GGN just last week to be held out in the state of Washington. The Grand Fondo Ephrata is taking place on the 21st and registration is open.

Now let's get on with the April events.......

Sometime in April the Pirate Cycling League will be doing the "Tour Of Dirt Roads". Stay tuned for this ride that will be going out of Lincoln to............somewhere.........

Next up we have the Canadian event, Paris To Ancaster which takes off on April 18th. This is a long running, popular event in Canada with some killer scenery and some real rustic, barely there sections that look like a lot of fun.

April 10th is the date for the AGRS series second event, the Ragnorok 105. The event is a bit over a century in length and traverses some pretty steep Southeastern Minnesota terrain.

Next up we head out East to Vermont for The Gravel Grinder Spring Classic. It's put on by Bike29.com and is a fun ride, but on a very challenging course that takes in all the "named" hills around Waterbury, Vermont.

Now we're heading to Wisconsin for the "B.A.L.L.S. Ride" (Big Ass Long Loop Shindig) This two day event includes a sleep over! Good times on some of Wisconsin's bicycle trails and backroads. The event will take place April 24th-25th.

Finally, the sixth running of Trans Iowa will take place starting and ending in Grinnell, Iowa on April 24th and 25th.

Event Report: CIRREM

<====Image courtesy of Steve Fuller

CIRREM, the metric century gravel grinder event that kicks off the AGRS gravel road race series in Iowa and Minnesota, took place on Saturday, February 27th under sunny but cold skies. The event is in its second year and attracted a starting field of 64 riders.

The event is done as a loop which begins and ends in the rural Iowa town of Cumming. Gravel Grinder News in race reporter, Steve Fuller, had the following to say about the event before the start:

Typically these events start between 6 and 8 AM. As we were standing around and talking, the little voice in the back of my mind kept saying "You're wasting time. Get out there and ride." The temps were in the mid teens at when arrived, and were slowly climbing every minute that we stood around, making it more and more likely that we were going to end up in some slop along the route.

And ride in the slop they did! (See Steve's Salsa La Cruz above) The gravel unfroze in many places caking onto the riders bicycles, which hindered their progress and caused a few mechanical issues as well. Steve notes his own issues here in the following comments:

I was out of water as of mile 45 and starting to have issues with changing gears. I finally looked down and noticed the thick layer of frozen crud that had built up on my top tube and seized up my deraileur cables. Stopping briefly to chip that off, I managed to reset my odometer. This wasn't a huge deal as I was on relatively familiar roads by now.

Coming out of temperatures at the start that were ranging in the upper teens, the event ended up experiencing temperatures above the freezing mark, but cold metal re-freezes the gravel slurry on contact and even messed with the riders nutritional supplies, with Steve noting that, " The food that I had brought with me was either frozen solid or extremely thick. For anyone wondering, Clif Shot Bloks take 10 minutes to go from frozen to chewable once they are in your mouth."

The winning time was carded by Benjamin Doom, Jerome Rewerts, and Michael Woell who all rolled in at 3 hours 54 minutes for the metric century distance. Despite the difficult conditions, 57 of the 64 riders finished and Steve's time was a respectable 5 hours 15 minutes for 34th on the grid.

Afterward the weary riders all enjoyed food and drink together at the Cumming Tap which played host to the event. For more on the CIRREM results and for more images of the event, see the CIRREM site. Thanks to Steve Fuller for the reporting and the image here. For a detailed look at Steve's race, go to his full report here.

New Additions! Gran Fondo Ephrata

A tip from a Gravel Grinder News reader has led to the addition of the Gran Fondo  Ephrata in Washington state coming up later this month. This event is held in central Washington and will consist of mostly remote gravel roads. Set to take off on March 21st, the "gran fondo" nature of the event means that it is open to all cyclists and is not necessarily a race, but times will be kept.

The website for the event has the following to say:

The course will for the most part go out Baird Springs Rd and return on Palisades Rd. It is designed to give riders a glimpse of some very remote, out of the way parts of central Washington. In the spirit of remote and rustic central Washington, much of the route is primitive gravel roads. There will be at least one well stocked aid station at approx. the half way point as well as sag wagons for additional assistance.

Go to their website for a link to online registration here. Pre-registration cost is $40.00 and day of registration is $45.00. Pre-registered people will get a t-shirt celebrating this event which is 78 miles in length.

Update!: Dirty Century

Colorado's Dirty Century has announced a date and registration is now open. The date is set at June 27th, (a Sunday), and registration is by online entry or by snail mail. Check out the latest here.

Gravel Grinder Gear: Singular Cycles Gryphon Frame/Fork

Singular Cycles in conjunction with their U.S. distributor, The Prairie Peddler, has provided a Gryphon frame and fork for test and review on Twenty Nine Inches. Since this is a drop bar specific, rigid only design, it would also be a great gravel grinder rig for many riders.

Due to that fact, I will be writing about this Singular model here as the testing progresses on Twenty Nine Inches.

Now, for some brief details and why it is my opinion that this bike should be here.

The frame is double butted steel with a Reynolds steel fork that is designed to be used with an off road type drop bar. It can accept tires up to 2.3" in 29"er size, or be run with tires as skinny as 40mm with tons of mud clearance. The frame is fitted with an eccentric bottom bracket and the insert which is provided, is a Phil Wood unit. This would allow you to set up the bike as a single speed/fixed gear, or there are cable guides and a rear derailluer hangar for geared set ups.

The versatility of this design makes for a great choice for gravel and back roads. Single speed and fat tires for winter training, then set it up with gears for your summer events with 42mm fast tires.

The frame is disc only, 135mm spaced in the rear, has forward facing drops on the fork, two water bottle mounts, a 27.2mm seat post diameter, and comes with the Phil Wood BB insert and a seat collar. Stay tuned for further updates.

Note: This frame and fork were provided at no cost for evaluation and review. Twenty Nine Inches, The Gravel Grinder News, or myself are not being paid, or coerced to write a favorable review. An honest and accurate opinion will be given to the best of my ability.

Update!: Bike 29's Gravel Grinder

It's been a few days since this was up on Bike29's blog, but there is an update on the Gravel Grinder Spring Classic that will be taking place in Vermont soon. The event will have a rider limit of 150, and according to Geaorge Wissell, the event co-ordinator, the roster still has spots open.

This will be a social ride with food and beverages afterwards, so if you are looking for a good time out East and gravel grinding is your thing, check this out. Here is the link for the update again.

As an aside, Gravel Grinder News wishes all the riders in CIRREM tomorrow a good ride. This event kicks off the AGRS series and will be a tough, chilly, early season test of peoples fitness.