Heck Of The North Registration Details Announced.

The October 1st running of the Heck Of The North should be a fantastic event. The event organizer, Jeremy Kershaw, has announced the registration details on the Heck Of The North's site.

The roster has been expanded from 75 to 100 with guranteed spots for past finishers. A lottery will be held to fill in the remaining spots on the roster. Check it out now. The registration process begins April 1st.

The Big Mick: In South Dakota!

Gold mines, tunnels, scenic vistas, and a ton of bridges all are awaiting you in South Dakota if you join in on the fun during June 18th's Big Mick event.

The Big Mick is a ride on the Mickelson Trail for 109 miles from Lead to Edgemont, South Dakota. Along the way on the old railroad bed, you will see some pretty spectacular stuff. I've been in the Black Hills on an old rail road ride and it is awesome stuff.

Find out more by checking out their website here.


Shorter options are also available.

Melbourne Gravel Grinders: #2 The Finest Grind

The Aussies are doing it again on Sunday, April 10th. What are theyt doing? Why, gravel grinding, of course! What did you think? Cricket?

No way! This is another of the Melbourne series and takes place at a different location, self supported, as always. The course description starts out with the following:

"This ride will take in some of the best parts of the Mount Dandenong area."

Austrailia has some of the coolest place names!


Anyway, go to the site here for more details and get yer gravel on down under!

Frostbike 2011

Hey folks! Here is my report from Frostbike 2011 in regards to gravel grinder type bikes and equipment that might be of interest. First up is Salsa Cycles, who do support gravel grinding in a big way, so make sure you check them out for your next bike.

The Salsa Cycles Vaya comes in two colors for 2011. In the complete, or frame only you have the Vaya in orange as shown here, or.....

.......as a frame set in this dark charcoal with metal flake color, or you could go whole hog and ante up for the very nice........

.......titanium Vaya!

All these should be available in 2011, (the orange is coming in any day now).

Here's a better look at that gray-ish charcoal Vaya color. It goes nuts in the sun, let me tell ya!

And a better look at the orange color for the Vaya. I love that woodcut look with the pepper.











Salsa Cycles should have all the racks in very soon. Minimalist racks are already out there. Check with your local Salsa Cycles dealer for more.

All City, another QBP brand, has already been getting some raves on the "Nature Boy" cyclo-cross bike which is becoming a favorite for some gravel grinder folks. Now they've upped the ante with a Columbus tubed Nature Boy in a classy looking paint job. This new model will have a PressFit 30 bottom bracket, and has claimed clearances for up to 38mm tires. The fine looking red steed in the backround is All City's road bike which also features bigger tire clearances.

Here is a closer look at the Nature Boy with a typical cyclo-cross tire mounted to a Hed rim. (Click to enlarge any photo, by the way)

All City also has this 700c based "fixed gear free ride" bike called the "Def Wish". You might be wondering, "Why would Gravel Grinder News care about this?" I would answer, "Scorcher, dude!"

In fact, All City's Jeff Frane mentioned that a Def Wish with lighter tubing, bottle mounts, and a couple other mods might be on the way sometime in the future. Ultimate gravel grinder fixie/single speed? Could be.

You can check out All City and their products here.

Finally, on the bike side, Civia Cycles, (yes- another QBP brand!) has a cool rig called the Kingfield.

This rig has a pretty good set up for gravel grinding, even though it is billed as a commuter rig. (What they don't know won't hurt them!)  Click the Kingfield link above to see what I mean.

I spoke with the Civia folks about it and they hadn't really thought of their bike in that vein, but said it makes sense. With stable geometry and tire clearances for up to 42's without fenders, I think that it is really dialed. What's more, you have a trick drive train set up in the belt drive with a bar end shifter on the drops. Canti brakes are light and work just fine for gravel riding in most situations, plus a belt may avoid getting gunked up with dust and chewing up a drivetrain. Hmm...

Look for a possible test on this rig in the future. No promises, but we are talking....

Tires: With commuter tires being the rage now with manufacturers, a lighter, performance tire with high TPI casing and high tech puncture resistance is hard to come by. Nothing new on the horizon out there right now. I will tell you that tire prices are set to go up by double digit percentage rates from all manufacturers this season, so if you need tires........

Wheels: Velocity has a cool new wheel set available in the A-23. It features a slightly wider rim that supports tires better, and comes in three levels as a pre-built from Velocity U.S.A, or you can get rims in 28, 32, and 36 hole drillings and have an excuse for a wheel building party. In talking with the Velocity folks, one of the guys slipped up and told me he put rim tape in a A-23 for tubeless use. Hmm...... While not an "official endorsement", by any stretch, it does make one think, doesn't it?

Look for more on the A-23 here soon.

That's a wrap on Frostbike 2011!

More Blacktop to Gravel: Iowa And Nebraska

We've covered the move across the nation to convert old, blacktop, or chip-seal roads to gravel before here, but those stories were about roads out east. Now we're seeing this happen in the Mid-West too. The "Omaha World-Herald" has an on-line version of the newspaper called "Omaha.com" where it is being reported that Iowa counties are already converting miles of chip-seal to gravel roads again, and that Nebraska counties are considering doing the same.

In this story posted on "Omaha.com" it is described how a chip-seal or blacktop road can cost upwards of $50,000 per mile every five to seven years to maintain, while a gravel road mile costs $5000 to put in and maintain a year.

Interestingly, it is noted in the article how cyclists in the late 1800's were the ones that pushed for paved roads in the first place. While that is still true to this day, cyclists now push for pavement reserved for use by cyclists and pedestrians only and not to be integrated with automobiles as much. Even bike lanes reflect this sort of mentality these days.

We at Gravel Grinder News and cyclists that are like us are excited about seeing more gravel road opportunities. Even though we share the road with ag equipment and traffic, the traffic counts are so low as to be a non-issue most of the time.

Gravel Ride for Maisie's Pride

On May 7th, 2011, there will be a community fundraiser ride in the Flint Hills region of Kansas to benefit the community pool in Eskridge, Kansas.

The ride will be done over some of the beautiful roads through the Flint Hills and should be approximately 40 or so miles in length.

A "Bragging Rights" option of almost 70 miles will also be offered to those looking for some good DK200 preparation. Both loops will happen out of Eskridge, Kansas and the fee for the 40-ish mile event is $35.00 per person to benefit the community pool fund. The pool was helped to be put in place by a local resident by the name of  Maisie Devore who collected cans for 30 years to help fund the pool in the first place. This is an important fund raiser for the people of Eskridge and the rides would be excellent prep for the Dirty Kanza 200, since the event happens about a month before the DK200 in June.

Look here for more details.

The Green Mountain Double

Well, the hits just keep on a-comin'! Here we have another event based out of Vermont. Well, the image pretty much says it all!

You can hit up their site here for more details.

Chucky's Challenge Report

Despite recent massive snows in Missouri, the Chucky's Challenge went off without a hitch. First time "Chuck", Ben Bolin, sent us an image of his bike parked against one of the big snow drifts out on the course. We call roads with drifts on both sides like this, "roads with tunnel vision".

You can check out more of the results and details surrounding the recent Chucky's Challenge here.

Melbourne Gravel Grinders: Hurtsbridge #1 Report

Well, the Austrailians know how to have some fun on a gravel grinder. The first Hurtsbridge event went off with nary a hitch and by all accounts, it seems that a very good time was had by all.

Check into the event results and story here.

The course was rained on heavily in the days leading up to the event, and sprinkles were seen and felt during the event, but being hardy cyclists, they persevered onward anyway. Here are a few words from one of the reports, telling of one of the competitor's bicycles:

"Completing the course took it's toll on a fair few people, Justin did it on a fixed gear  with 25s and a single front brake. And then was only minutes off the front group despite 2 flats. Bravo!"

Bravo indeed!  The event was such a success that now more are being planned. (Note: Photo credit to A. Blake)

Ragin' Raisin Dirt Classic

Here's news of another event in Michigan set to get going on April 16th, 2011. It's the ragin' Raisin Dirt Classic, and in comparison to a lot of events on our calendar here, it is a mere sprint. 36 miles comprises the two lap course over some hilly dirt and gravel roads near Manchester, Michigan, which is near Ann Arbor.

Registration is open now for individuals and there is also a Team competition. Check out all the details here.

Blood+Sweat+Chemo

Hey everyone, take a few moments to check out the video and please: Click This Link. Meet Andy. Andy is a rider from Minneapolis. The link tells his story.

Please consider coming to an event being held in his honor in Minneapolis, MN on February 20th.

For more information on One Rock Rally, please click this link. Hope to see you there.