Gravel Grinder News: Thoughts On: Popularity

With the start of the 2010 season one thing really jumped out at me. That was the overwhelming demand on any and all gravel grinder events and on "non-traditional" endurance racing in general. Rosters have been filling out in record time, waiting lists have burgeoned to triple digit figures, and for those events that have no roster limits, the field sizes have doubled or even tripled!

So what's the deal? Why now and why gravel/ultra-endurance? I've been asking that question of a lot of people and so far it seems that shrugged shoulders and quizzical looks are all that can be proffered as answers. One thing for sure and this seems unanimous across everyone I've asked- No one saw this coming.

Sure, folks figured on growth, to be sure. Dirty Kanza 200 promoters Jim Cummings and Joel Dyke were thinking that their expansion from 100 to 150 riders would be more than enough to cover any demand increases. They were floored to find out that the event sold out in 14 hours and that they have a waiting list of riders nearing 100. That event isn't the only one seeing this sort of demand either.

The Almanzo 100, which is a May event up in Minnesota, is a free, no roster limit event. In the past they have drawn in the neighborhood of 100 participants, more or less. This year the roster soared to 450 riders. The Barry-Roubaix, which was run yesterday, had a roster of just over 200 for the 2009 running. Yesterday they saw over 500 take the start. (Picture on today's post courtesy of Barry-Roubaix's site)

Not only have established events seen growth, but the genre' as a whole is expanding. More events are cropping up, and gravel road and "back road" events seem to be striking a nerve amongst cyclists all over North America. Speculations on the reasons why this is run from the economy's status to cyclists annoyance with high entry fees. Bigger challenges are another reason stated for these increases we are seeing. Whatever the reasons, it is a good time to be a gravel grinding freak!

Update!: Trans Iowa V6 Announces "Industry Cup" Category

Today Trans Iowa V6 announced a new category in the event geared for "industry" types. Basically the category is populated by individuals who work at companies connected to sponsorship of Trans Iowa V6. Called the "Industry Cup", it is a category that is hoped will bring some more attention to Trans Iowa V6 supporters/sponsors.

In other Trans Iowa news the event also announced that some free camping spots are available for racers which will be located at the Poweshiek County Fairgrounds in Grinnell where the event will start and finish.

Check out the T.I.V6 website for more. Trans Iowa is set to go on April 24th and will carry over to the 25th.

Support Your Local Gravel Grinder Promoter!

The Almanzo 100, which is set to be run May 15th, is a totally free event put on by selfless promoter Chris Skogen. These sorts of events don't "put themseleves on" and if I know anything about that, (Running Trans Iowa, I think I do), then I know Chris is putting in a lot of his own personal time and money into The Almanzo for zero tangible rewards.

I think I also can say that the gravel freaks out there are a giving bunch that recognizes a good thing when they see it. To that end, several of you racers out there have shown Trans Iowa some much appreciated love. In that same vein, you can show some love for The Almanzo by clicking the link and buying one of the special limited edition posters to help keep The Almanzo's wheels greased for the near future.

I'm pretty sure Chris would greatly appreciate it!

Update:! PCL Tour Of Dirt Roads Date Announced

The Pirate Cycling League has made known that it's Tour Of Dirt Roads will happen on April 18th of this year. No destination or route has been decided upon as yet, but in typical Pirate style, they will most likely set sail depending on the direction of the wind and on the weather. Keep checking back with them at their site for further updates as the day approaches.

New Addition! Polk County Wildflower Ride

Missouri will host A fun, mostly crushed limestone metric century on June 5th. The Polk County Wildflower Ride will be an unsupported trek down the Frisco Highline Trail and back. The ride will feature panoramic views of the Ozarks in full bloom with a total of 16 bridge crossings. Check out the ride details on the webpage.

The event has registration live now and cost is $25.00 which can be sent in by mail. Day of registration will cost $30.00.

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.