A Dirty Experience: DK200 2012

This is going to be rather different. I did not take any photos. This is the one long event where I wanted to actually race and I knew the camera would become a time suck. Instead I saved my energy and focus for pedaling. So instead of a long rambling narrative about how each mile went I'll give you a semi-sequential perspective of thoughts that passed through my head at various points.

Leg 1

• Damn, I forgot the map of leg one in the motel room.
• Wow these guys are fast!
• (standing up) Is that the front? How far back am I? Is the group splitting up yet?
• Why is that guy riding towards us?
• 3 minutes pass
• Now why is this second guy riding towards us? "Wrong way?" Response "Yeah, you're off course."
• Why didn't I ask the first guy that?
• "Hi, are you Matt?" Yup.
• (Pass Chamois Butter crew.)
• Oh, this must be the big hill I saw in the elevation profile. Nice views.
• Da na na na, na na, na na. Can't touch this. Why is MC Hammer in my head? Must be this fun rough descent.
• Ouch! Bottoming out on this rough descent. I need to back off or I'll crush these rims.
• That rear sounds a bit flat-ish. (Stops to add air)
• There go those Chamois Butt'r guys
• 10 min pass
• Ha! Caught the Chamois Butt'r crew
• That rear sounds a bit flat-ish again. (Stops to try adding air, uses up another CO2, gives up on hoping the Stan's will seal, adds tube. Press on.)
• Gee, everybody has been really great about asking if folks need help when they flat.
• Sigh, there go the Chamois Butt'r guys again.
• I should have added more air pressure.

Leg 2

• This really isn't a ride, it's a race. There seem to be a big number of folks "racing" this year and not just doing it to finish. 
• Hello Chamois Butt'r. This is like some crazy Easter Sisyphean torture - The CB kit looks like an Easter egg and I keep collecting the eggs only to lose them later and have to collect them again. Sheesh.
• Ya know those CB team guys are probably the nicest team I've meet. Really they're genuinely just really friendly. :)
• I kinda suck at riding in a pace line. Not like I've ever done it before, but I really could improve here.
• Aaaaaaaaacck! (A wasp or bee or something ran into me and immediately stung me!)
• (5 minutes later) Ow, F#$&! What the hell is that! (Something different was inside my jersey and under my bib strap and biting or stinging me. Pulled over to remove the bugger. Press on.)
• 40c seems to be the sweet spot for tire size. Not required, but it would allow me to go a lot faster on some sections and be slightly less careful selecting a line.
• Huh, I haven't looked looked anywhere other than 20 feet down the road for the last 30 miles; I wonder if the scenery was worth a look?
• Ok. I think the flint of the Flint Hills is a bit overrated. The roads are certainly rockier than I expected, and that's something I didn't account for, but the rock doesn't seem as heinous as a lot of folks have made it out to be. A pinch flat seems like a bigger issue than getting a sliced tire from a razor sharp rock. ...or I'm just cashing in a bunch of good karma chips I suppose.
• (entering Florence, KS) Man this place is all boarded up. half these buildings are abandoned. Did the zombie Apocalypse happen on that last leg?

Leg 3

• Damn...it got hot.
• Why is the gravel here so bright? Perhaps I should have used darker lenses in my glasses.
• Riding solo in the second half, in the heat, means riding in the hurt locker - much more focus on what hurts.
• (after catching Paul Errington) Hi Paul. 
• Having good company keeps focus less on the brutality of it all.
• I'm not hating this, but I'm not sure if I'm 'enjoying' it.
• There are far more B roads than I expected.
• I'm tired. It's hot. My feet hurt. My hands hurt. (repeat)
• Oh, a stream! I'd like to put my feet in there! That would be nice.
• (at 8:50) This isn't good. Usually food starts to taste like poo at 9 hours and I've still got a long way to go.
• (Entering CP3) These people cheering me on are pretty darn cool. I'm pretty wasted though. I hope they see my half hearted wave and feeble smile as exertion and don't think I'm a jerk. I don't really have the sauce to react fast enough to wave before I pass some of them. 
• Me not think so well right now. (At he last CP after garbeling a few words and forgetting something 3 or 4 times)
• PB&J tasts WAY better than anything in my feed bag right now.
• I'm so glad Eric and Nick are there at the CPs supporting me. That really helps a lot. (as I write this - I think I said that to Eric at every CP! I wonder how I looked to them at this one as I fumbled around?...)

Leg 4

• This rail trail is nice, but why did we leave it for gravel only to cross it two more times??? Perhaps it's a sinister plan to keep us out of the shade...
• I could easily be pushing a bit harder and easily do this in under 14 hours. 
• Aero bars. Next time I need aero bars.
• Company makes the ride more pleasant. Sometimes I'm coasting waiting, sometimes I'm struggling to keep up. I wonder if I would be faster solo, or if this is actually faster?
• Would I want to just push myself the whole time? The company is nice and I really enjoy that experience. I feel conflicted on this point more than any other. 
• Huh. My legs don't hurt that much, but my hands and feet are killing me. (It's the reverse 2 days post race)
• Should we be drafting? Ride side by side is more social...even if we're both tired and not talking. It's solidarity. 
• Wow, even the tiny seams at the edge of my chamois are starting to rub me wrong.
• Somehow I seem to be doing just fine on the hills still but the flats seems a like a lot of effort.
• Oh neat! A little town.
•  ...are we supposed to be on pavement here? Perhaps we should check the map. (checks and turns back around to the little town)
• Strange that I don't have a craving for any particular food. Usually I'm dreaming of ____ for the last 50 miles.
• Sigh...these miles aren't rolling by fast enough.
• I reallllllllly want a root beer. Ice cold. Yeah root beer. 

Finish

• Wow!!! The folks honking and cheering are great! This is awesome. 
• (one of the race directors to me) "Do you have support here?" (ME) I don't know if they're here yet. "Here let me take your bike. I'll put it here. Can I get you a Coke. Do you want to sit in the grass? I'll be right back, you just stay there."  Hmmm I must look not so good right now. (Lays back in the grass, slightly panting.) I feel like I could very easily pass out right now. Should text Eric and ask for stretcher. 
• (Hearing riders come through the finish) Hey I know that name! I read their write up of a previous DK ride. Hey that person is from Colorado. 
• That Coke helped a lot! I want another.

After the finish

So, yeah. That was it. I never really felt like quitting and always knew I would make it. I was surprised by a few things and learned several things. A friend at the finish commented that he was "One and done." I tend to agree...mostly. The DK was a great event but there are simply so many other events and places I want to ride. Seriously training for something this long takes a lot of time and means skipping out on many other things. I really had to take it this seriously this year because of my lack of experience and fitness. It worked and I'm quite happy with how well I did. My goal was 15 hours, and I finished in 14:22. Not bad.

The only reason I would come back is to be competitive. I could have  pushed and gone faster. I also could have done slightly quicker turnovers at the checkpoints. I honestly think I could reduce my time by at least 30-45 minutes at my current physical ability. In the road and weather conditions of this year I might have been able to hit 13:30 if time was my sole focus. I was actually really surprised at this. On the other long rides I averaged 13.8 mph, and at DK it was 15.2! A big bump. It's even more surprising to know I could have done sub 14.

With another year or two under my belt my speed and endurance will naturally increase. Heck if I go again in 2014 that would literally double my time riding! Hopefully I'll also have my nutrition completely dialed in by then too (so I can find something I can still eat after 10+ hours). All of which would help me go even faster. So, will I ever go back? I don't have any immediate plans, but if I did it would be with an eye on the podium.

Survivor's guilt

I feel just a little bad. I really don't think I suffered too much out there. Everything I read about DK made me believe that it was a long evil road covered in razor wire traversing hell's hottest and most remote acres where demons would sneak up and dash any and all remaining hopes with monsoon rain, lightning to frighten the keys off Franklin and winds to blow you into Missouri. The truth is, that wasn't my experience at all.

I do realize how seriously lucky I was to run this race for the first time in near perfect conditions. There was vary little wind, the temps were not above 90 and there was not a drop of rain all day. To top it off we did have a light rain the night before which kept the dust down and improved the roads. On the other hand, it was still over 200 miles, the flint and rocks were still there, and there were still over 200 people who did NOT finish. I had a flat but it was nothing like the sidewall tear and multiple flats experienced by folks like Tim Eki. Really with a bit more tire pressure I could have avoided even this flat (i.e. it was operator error).

I don't feel guilty really. I'm quite happy that the weather turned out so well. I've had some (i.e. multiple) incredibly horrendous experiences climbing that were all out epic sufferfests and literal near death experiences. So yeah, I fell just fine about a mild sunny day. My performance out there does however make me think of "what next".

Fortes fortuna adiuvat 

I think I made the decision to do DK 2012 sometime in January. Previous to this I was familiar with the event, but the distance and reputation made me think I wasn't ready, and wouldn't be ready to tackle something with the reputation that DK has (See Survivor's guilt above). I've only been riding just over a year. Is that too soon to do this? I pushed and went big at the High Cascades 100 as my first year riding goal. I finished, but paid for it with an avulsion fracture. For some reason I went for it. It helped me to have a big goal (a BHAG if you will).

"Chance favors the prepared mind" - Louis Pasteur
I found a training plan. I rode my ass off. I passed up invitations to go on fun MTB rides in Moab and Buffalo Creek so I could focus my training. I nervously worried about and experimented with my nutrition. I got a bike that worked for me. I researched the hell out of tires, equipment, and the experience of other riders. I went in so prepared that there really were very few surprises. I got damn lucky that I went with two great folks who did an amazing job of supporting me at the CPs and were a hell of a lot of fun to hang out with. It all worked.

I have a few other races this summer and I have R2G2 in the fall. I've decided to keep R2G2 as is for this year and have the full 200 next year (the history of this idea here). Doing the full 200 will be a gonzo goal, one that will be a big effort filled with a little suffering, but it's doable. After DK I'm already reevaluating myself and my abilities. I have a very interesting project I'm now involved with that involves foreign travel, stage racing, economic development, and a route section with the ominous name "the soul collector". For me that's not the gonzo goal. Will it be the AZT 300? Coconino? the CTR? I'll make that decision in the coming months, but there will be something big and it will probably involve fatter tires and an overnight.

going farther...

Last weekend I didn't get to scope the full route for R2G2 due to some mechanical issues in the car. But I did get to scope the first leg - it's pretty damn awesome and I'm very excited about it. I've thought of doing a shorter version to attract more folks, but with Dirty Kanza coming up I had another idea, and I'd love some feedback.

The gravel race scene is exploding. There must be over 100 events now. The thing is, most of them are in the Midwest and remarkably similar in style and length. I love riding among the cows and farms, but the stuff I saw on the SPDF and in my R2G2 scouting trip is radically different; it's really something special. I'm also seeing that big and gonzo attracts a certain crowd, but those events with the most mystique are in Kansas/Iowa/Minnesota. Why not have something truly incredible here? Something that's an enormous challenge. Something very different from the gravel on DK200, Almanzo, Trans Iowa etc. Something that's worthy of the name "epic" - a true test of endurance that will attract a wider crowd willing to test their mettle. It's not to say that these events aren't great, but the point is rather to say, "Hey, thanks for the inspiration. You've got some great stuff there. We do too, and it's pretty different. Are you up to testing yourself on our alpine gravel?"

Right now the R2G2 is 170 miles, which is a big day. But for some reason we're attracted to numbers and 200 has a more worthy sound to it. Add in that it would be mostly over 8000ft and include probably around 18k of gain and the list of folks for whom this is a reasonable route dwindles; for the rest of us this would be a massive challenge.

 To this end I present the routes I've developed:

Route	Distance	Elevation Gain*	Link
Rampart 200	202.29	16,132	http://bikeroutetoaster.com/Course.aspx?course=404523
Rampart 170	170.65	12,822	http://bikeroutetoaster.com/Course.aspx?course=404532
Rampart 140	139.48	10,627	http://bikeroutetoaster.com/Course.aspx?course=404526

*all of these are likely UNDER estimated. 

These are all solid. Barring a forest fire they are all on open, maintained roads. I am trying to contact some private land owners so that I can run the route past the Bucksnort Saloon, which is simply a cool place along a pretty amazing road. I'm not sure if this year is or is not the best time to do this. I'd do the 200 starting at 4am and expect to finish around midnight (my own personal time estimate) - that's a lot of night riding in late September. End of June might be preferred. Of course late Sep means all the Aspen are changing (bonus) and the dark would add to the challenge - a la Vaportrail 125. This could go under the Endurance series heading, but I could see this also being something a bit different at some point. I'd also kinda want to change the name a bit. Something that throws down the gauntlet. Perhaps the Rocky Mountain High Gravel Challenge. One option is to have all these as options - another is to only have the 200 (my preference). 

So this is where my brain is going... Any thoughts, opinions? Think I'd get folks to do this? September vs June? Do it this year? 

R2G2: Scouting Leg 1

We're getting down to the wire on DK. By this time next week I'll be back here, the race will be over and I'll be on to other things. Ironically the race it self doesn't seem like it's as big a deal anymore. My training has been going so well that I although I know 200 miles in the heat will be an endurance challenge, I know it's well within my range. I suppose something else that reduces my enthusiasm for DK is my excitement about other things. I was beginning to get a little burned out on the long distance gravel. This scouting mission was just the ticket to bring that back. Since I wanted to do very little riding I left the bike at home to avoid temptation.

I had planned to drive down through Woodland Park Saturday check out the town, get some details about resources etc, then drive the first half before camping and driving the second half on Memorial Day. Well, since I didn't get my CV joint fixed last week I was only able to do a day of driving - I didn't like the sounds I was hearing and I didn't want to risk needing to call for a tow way out there. I was able to get some good info on our start location.

The first leg up Rampart Range Road (RRR) is pretty awesome. There is just a bit of pavement for the first 5 miles or so and an initial climb accompanies this. Up on the ridge there are many miles of scenic views, rocky crags, and quaking aspens. This is gonna be pretty darn cool in late September when the leaves are beginning to change.

RRR is very well maintained. There are a few lengthy sections of washboard, but it always looked as though a bike could find a smooth path. There were also several sections that were a bit more rough, but they never lasted very long and a cross bike still seemed plenty adequate. It's hard to tell exactly what shape the road will be in over the next four months. I've seen a road near Mead go from loose fresh gravel with washboard to concrete hard and smooth in the span of a month.

Coming down towards the Platte River I found that The Sprucewood tavern should still be open from 11am-8pm when we're racing. You'll only hit it around the 40 mile mark, but it's nice to know it's there in case something happens. Going down Pine Creek Road is an interesting affair. There's a half mile section that pitches down at a 15% grade with a cliff to fall off on the left and rock walls on the right. It's over quick and you're rewarded with a very gentle grade in the amazingly gorgeous Platte River Canyon. The current plan is to go through Foxton to Buffalo Creek, which is rather nice, if paved. However, I'm working on contacting some private land owners to see if they'll allow us to roll on their road. It'll will take us past the Bucksnort Saloon on one of the most amazing jaw dropping roads out anywhere.

For now enjoy the images and some damn good reasons to be excited about the backroads here.

The steep bit on Pine Cr Rd. 

Gravel with Altitude: South Park Dirty Fondo

The South Park dirty Fondo (SPDF) was new this year and run by Brian Behn. It's a great route with some serious climbs and a lot of time over 9000ft, but you're rewarded with amazing views and some very cool towns (? towns might be a bit generous) that you go though.




Salida, CO
I rolled into Salida early to check out the town, the local bike shop and Amica's. Absolute Bikes was first on the list. They're a full service shop with pretty much everything you might need last minute. There even have a few things from Relevate Designs just in case you need a frame bag. Downtown Salida is a great little place to wander - you won't need more than an hour though as it's not that big. However, I did manage to find Subculture Cyclery, Salida Bike Company and the local hostel. Of course I stopped in Cafe Dawn (the meeting place for the start of the race) for a quick hour before a pizza dinner at Amica's.

Race time!
The morning came bright and early and Brian and I headed over to Cafe Dawn for a breakfast burrito and some hot bean juice before the race. I have to say I loved Cafe Dawn. Even if you don't start a race there the coffee, food and ambiance are all fantastic. Everyone I met that worked there was also pretty friendly and interested in the event. When I came in Sunday morning they even asked how the race went. Good peeps - go see em. Just remember to brig cash as they don't do plastic.

As the small crowd of racers rolled in Brian gave the course preview and description of some critical points of the course. He was kind enough to distribute maps of the course, but like any route this remote and this length a one page printed map is only a rough guide. Mounted on our respective steeds we rolled out to a neutral start - all ten of us - on the far side of the one and only bridge in Salida that crosses the Arkansas River. I lagged back to take a picture so began back o the pack.

Aspen Ridge
Weather predictions had shown we might have a high anywhere from 50 to 65 and might even see snow somewhere in the day. Te race began bright, sunny and warmer than expected. The first leg is a major ascent of nearly 4000 feet in 15 miles up Aspen Ridge.  I stowed my shell after about three miles and kept on rolling. I'd need it later though as it rained near Hartsel where the wind also picked up and the temperature dropped to around 40.

I knew I had passed a couple folks in the back, but had no idea how many people were ahead of me. Somewhere around mile 5 I caught up with Drew and we rode together for about five miles. Drew was in his full Chamois Butt'r kit and I found out that we'll meet again at DK200 in two weeks. I broke off at around mile 10 to go at my own pace and kept heading up. In those first 15 miles the road goes from paved to gravel to double track to rather rough double. Nothing ever gets so bad that you'll need more than a CX bike however. (No pix of the bumpy stuff - I needed both hands on the hoods.) The scenery also changes as you head up from the arid canyon bottom to the Aspen covered ridge passing quarries and many rocky crags along the way. It's a fantastic segment and you'll feel great when you realize you've done nearly 40% of the elevation gain for the entire course in the first 15 miles.

Gang of four
Gasping, puffing, wheezing and generally doing my Darth Vader impression I gained the high point at a bit over 10k feet. I arrived just in time to see two other riders begin the drop off the back side. I was so excited to see other people I didn't stop to take in the scene, and instead began the chase. It took me another 11 miles to catch up, but I finally managed to connect with Aaron and Eric. Within 10 minutes Drew joined us. We were all rolling about the same pace and ended up essentially riding the rest of the route together.

The descent off Aspen Ridge is a fun downhill heading north. After a very brief stretch on the highway we were rolling on some fun and smooth double track headed towards Antero Reservoir. This portion of the route is wide open and the wind easily found us. We only had rain for a brief spell but the temps dropped and the wind howled from the reservoir all the way into Hartsel.

Hartsel
Hartsel, Colorado is your first refueling option and it appears at about mile 50. We only made a brief stop long enough to get water, use the restroom and roll on. We stopped int the first (only?) convenience store gas station. At the end of the 6 building town it looked like the old Mercantile was closed. Continuing down the plains we had fantastic expansive views, some of which included pretty ominous looking dark grey clouds. Fortunately we never caught any of those clouds and the wind even died down as well.

Guffey and Rita's
The route from Hartsel winds south of Eleven Mile State Park and over Thirty Nine Mile Road to get to Guffey at 83 miles.  Thirty Nine Mile Road is  decent climb but you get to enjoy a brief high speed drop into town. Most of this is pretty mellow before the climb so I was able to take more pictures.

Riders on the storm

The road to Thunderdome

Apparently what looks like a fist there is Eric providing a one finger salute. Not sure why I have that look on my face... 

Guffey is an interesting place. I wish I could have spent more time taking pictures there as we passed all sorts of weird stuff including the skeletal prison wagon (image below) and a tribute to Elvira, which I missed. The main attraction in Guffey, however was Rita's. Rita's is a haven. I walked in not knowing what to expect and was shocked to see an offer of not only pastries such as chocolate raspberry bunt cake and rhubarb pie, but also espresso! With three more big "rollers" and 5000ft of climbing to go I elected for the espresso. While we were inside feeding ourselves the rains came - hard. For about 15 minutes we had a little deluge. Once that was done we mounted back up and headed out.

Cotopaxi
Cotopaxi is the last stop before rolling back into Salida. We knew that the store there closed at 6pm. Now we leaving Rita's at 2:30 which gave us a lot of time to make it from mile 83 to 128, BUT the rollers stood between us and Cotopaxi. The 15 miles before Cotopxi are one long descent dropping around 3500 feet - big fun - but the rollers lead up to that descent. It's not really fair to call them rollers in the traditional sense that this means. You'll find rollers on the AntiEpic and I imagine on DK200 but there were three successive hills, fairly large steep hills. Hes they were a bear, but you get through them. Aaron was right, the segment was pretty gorgeous and while it doesn't completely distract from the pain, it does help... a little.

View from the top of the second roller.

We made it to Cotopaxi 20 minutes before the store closed. While I only needed water I indulged in a bag of chips as well. We only had 24 miles to go to the finish, but for some reason stayed at the store for nearly 20 minutes. Eric had been riding his single speed and of course spun out on the long drop. It'd didn't take him too long to catch up - perhaps 4 minutes - but he decided that the last flat bit along the river didn't sound like fun on the SS. Since a friend appeared at Cotopaxi Eric took the opportunity to exit stage left. The gang of four broke up and we were a trio to the end.

The road to the finish
While parts of this last leg were actually fun (enhanced by a mild tailwind) others were certainly not. There are two brief sections of perhaps 3-4 miles each where you must ride US 50. Some portions of which have no shoulder and nowhere to bail if two opposing tractor trailers are passing. Fortunately those segments are brief and easily forgotten. The canyon from Cotopaxi to Salida is quite nice and would be even more enjoyable fresh.

Between the two brief paved bits are two sections of gravel. This first is your standard well maintained gravel road. The second quickly becomes rocky double track which is quite rough at times including a crossing of Badger Creek. Since Drew was on a 29er and Arron riding wider 40c+ Schwalbe Marathons I had to slow quite a bit on my relatively delicate Small Block 8's. These two could smell the barn though and we raced into the finish. Ninety minutes after leaving Cotopaxi we were back at Cafe Dawn signing into the log book and posing for our Finish Photo. A three way tie for "first".

After a droppign off the bike and a quick change the real finish was perhaps at The Fritz. While the place was packed and a band was raging on the patio, I managed to get the last table, where Aaron Drew and I were able to quaf a tasty beverage, toast our outstanding day and enjoy a very tasty burger. Two thumbs up for the Fritz.

Conclusion
This is a great event. The route is pretty amazing with overall good roads and great scenery. I loved the fact that there are three places to refill food or water if you are so inclined. I highly recommend the event and the route, but you should be aware of the level of commitment this route brings before you go. There are very few places where you will have cell phone coverage on this route, so if the unexpected happens you might be walking for a long time. Additionally, while there is a bail out option it doesn't save a ton of time or mileage. The nature of this course just means that there are not a lot of roads in the middle of this loop where you can bail. Lastly, like all courses of this kind you need to be prepared for navigation. A GPS is probably your best option, but have a backup and realize that roads often don't have signs and mileages might be slightly off.

As a last caveat there is one major difference between this and most gravel grinders: altitude. An enormous portion of the course is at or above 9000ft. I moved from Portland (70 ft) to Boulder (5500 ft) about 7 months ago. I finished in good time but didn't realize the effect the altitude was having on me till later in the game. I didn't suffer from sickness or anything but I do think it led to more fatigue than I've experienced on similar rides such as the Buckhorn route. Just something to note.

Ok enough of that - it IS a fantastic route and I do recommend the SPDF. While I've done long solo rides and loved those it's a completely different experience doing the ride as an event. In the AntiEpic I rode with many different people for a dozen miles each. This time I rode with a group for over 100 miles. It's a completely different experience and I enjoy both for different reasons. Go out there and have fun.

Packing with friends

The inaugural South Park Dirty Fondo is tomorrow so I'm headed up to Salida today to check out Absolute Bikes, Amica's and get a sense of the town. I'm fortunate enough that I'll be staying with the event director, so I hope to get the inside scoop on how to dodge raindrops and lightning at 10,000 feet (yeah there's a decent chance of rain). I have a couple new things I'm bringing which may get a first test run here.

The packing ritual is getting to be routine and no longer something I stress about too much. I do spend a bit of time the week before the event doing some planning such as looking over the route, planning how long segments will take, where I'll be able to refill water, how much food to bring and what to wear.

I do however have a new pleasant packing ritual - XXC Podcasts. The podcasts almost always consist of XXC front man Jason Mahokey, along with Ben Welnak and Zander Benedict. Often there are guests discussing events they host or have participated in, but there's always plenty of time where the three stooges generally ramble about topics somewhat related to endurance racing (e.g. nutrition and Zander's idea that Pop-tarts or gas station donuts are excellent pre-race fuel) to topics almost completely unrelated (e.g. Amish Cocaine, and sex with armadillos). Personally I get more than a few laughs out of the show, and sometimes I even learn something (gasp!). Highly recommended for your packing day ritual.

While this is a gravel related blog I'll be switching gears to follow singletrack just after DK200. I've been having an inner debate about how to handle this switch on the blog given the gravel in the title. Ben seems to think the gravel grovelers are really mountain bikers on a wider trail. One of Ben's recent projects Mountain Bike Radio has provided another interesting perspective on a variety of events. I'm blaming two of the podcasts from the AZT 300/750 for my recent purchase of a Relevate seat bag. I'm told there will be a website soon, but for now check it out on Facebook - I'm sure MBR will increase those stock offerings you just purchased.

Off to the race.

I swear it's under there...

Really, this is a great mostly dirt route...it just happens to have a bit of snow on it. Of course I knew it would have snow and I've been wanting to check out one of the fat bikes, so I reserved one from University Cycles (great folks by the way).

Salsa Mukluk 3 on the Teller Farm path. 

The route heads out Gunbarrel ranch to connect with Teller Farm. The return is via the Boulder multi-use path and the Cottonwood Trail. Most of the route is mellow soft surface, but there is a mile or two of singletrack on a portion of the Teller Farm trail. Without snow I regularly do this route on a CX bike although the Vaya would be fine as well.

The ladies were unimpressed.

View on Strava

Foxton South Platte

Stellar route! Overall more pavement than gravel by far, but the scenery was amazing.

I discovered this route from reading CDRR - many thanks! There's a great write up of his blog so I won't rehash an already fantastic ride report. The route follows the South Fork of the South Platte river beginning at Foxton, heading to Buffalo Creek on to Deckers and back to the car at Foxton. There are plenty of places to park along the road. While you could certainly do the loop in either direction, the benefit of going counterclockwise is doing the one big hill early.

 I traded pictures with some motorcyclists on the false summit and was rewarded with this odd smirk. 

This ride is about 75% paved and 25% very easy gravel. I was a bit surprised to find that the gravel portion actually has a layer of pavement that comes and goes. Even when it goes the road was well packed. I rode Virgil (my Salsa Vaya) with 42c Continental Tour Ride tires and it seemed like serious overkill.

There are several additions you can make to this route that would increase the gravel and extend the ride. First is an obvious gravel turn off to the East on CO Hwy 67 from S Platt River Rd. A right turn here then a left on W Pine Creek would easily add another 5-8 miles to the total distance, increase the gravel ratio and add a bit more climbing. There are also options to the West that involve heading towards Wellington Lake. I'll need to get up a bit earlier or get a better lighting system to work those in. Something I'm likely to do in the near future if the weather holds.



View ride on Strava.