Gravel Event and Race Calendar on Riding Gravel

I haven't updated this blog for a VERY long time because we moved all the AntiEpic information over to Riding Gravel. If you haven't been over to Riding Gravel in some time, you should head over because there have been some big changes going on.

AntiEpic 2015 - What's Up?

There will be a 2015 AntiEpic and we will confirm that date soon. We may break out the long ride from the short ride. The long ride will likely stay the same weekend as it has every year. Stay tuned to the Riding Gravel "News and Reviews" section for that. Also, be sure to check back to the ride page here.

So, what's up with Riding Gravel? Here's a list of what's up!

A Merger - The Story Behind It

I created Riding Gravel as a place to host the information, routes, etc. for the gravel events that I put on back in the fall of 2013. The rides became popular and I noticed that there were a lot of questions, comments, and general chatter about getting out and doing "gravel grinders." So, with all of that going on, I decided that it would be a good idea to cook up a small site to bring those together. The forum got more and more popular, people asked for more information, and I quickly felt that more needed to be done, so I added some more details to the site and starting sharing more information that wasn't being done elsewhere.

All of it was coming together while making a effort not to step on the toes of what GravelGrinderNews.com was doing. Guitar Ted is a friend and I definitely didn't want to cut in on the great resource that he created. He had built a full gravel ride/race/event calendar that was the best place to go for anyone who did these kinds of rides and races. Additionally, he was continuing to provide helpful news and reviews of topics related to gravel and general off pavement riding.

I was up late one night updating the site and all I could think about was going to sleep. I kept thinking to myself, "Why am I staying up late doing this? Why am I putting in all this work, likely scouring the same information that Guitar Ted is, and then checking his to make sure I'm not doubling up? What are readers going to do with going to two sites? What is the future of gravel grinders and all of this stuff? What am I going to do?"

Then it hit me! Maybe Guitar Ted is thinking the same thing. Maybe it doesn't need to be two separate one-man shows. Hmmm... I couldn't wait to wake up the next morning and give him a call.
The morning came and I called him to ask if he wanted to go 50/50, combine efforts, and make one site with all the information. To my surprise, he had similar thoughts and the rest is history.

We officially announced the combination of Gravel Grinder News and Riding Gravel back on December 3 in this post. The response has been humbling. We have some great people in our corner and it's greatly appreciated. We really look forward to the future!

If you want to hear me and Guitar Ted discuss all of this in a podcast, so click here for Episode 1 of the "Riding Gravel Radio Ranch"

Gravel Event Calendar

The Gravel Event Calendar is growing daily and currently includes over 50 events for 2015 from around the country. Are you looking for a ride to do or put on a race yourself? Have a look and let your friends know! Hey race directors, we'll post your event for free, just Submit Your Race HERE.

Find out what riders will be checking out in 2015 on the Event Calendar here.

Riding Gravel Forum 

The Riding Gravel Forum is a great source of information about everything from tires to frames to places to ride and races to race. The discussion continues to get broader and more interesting as more people join in. There are currently, as of today, 591 members and 1715 posts.

Check out the forum here.

News and Reviews

The News and Reviews section is the place that you'll find out about things going on in the world of gravel grinders, gravel rides, and any other mixed or non-paved surface riding. Guitar Ted will provide reviews of products and we may have contributors checking in occasionally as well.

Check out the News and Reviews section here.

Podcast

As mentioned earlier, we will be doing a regular monthly podcast about gravel/offpavement/whatever terrain topics called the "Riding Gravel Radio Ranch." It will include interviews with guests, recaps of what's up on the website, and discussion about whatever is going on in the world of gravel riding. It's fun to do a different take on a cycling podcast and it should be interesting to see where it goes.

Stay up to date on the podcast, by checking back on the Riding Gravel Radio Ranch podcast homepage here.

The Guitar Ted Show

Guitar Ted is back on the air with another new episode. GT and co-host, Ben, just released another episode of "The Guitar Ted Show" on Mountain Bike Radio.


In this episode they discussed some hot cycling topics from this year's Interbike; fatbikes, 27.5, and GRAVEL!

Courtesy of Gravelgrindernews.com

There has been a pretty big ongoing discussion about "gravel" bikes lately, including a healthy set of posts and comments over at Guitar Ted's blog. Guitar Ted brought up a very good point - the term "gravel bike" could be and, from our point of view, is limiting to this style of bikes. A reader also touched on it in saying that these are the style of bikes that most people should probably be on. Not the race inspired, light-as-a-feather, laterally-stiff-vertically-compliant, TdF machines, that most are looking at for road.

It seems that, for a large part of the population, they are looking to get their asses on some more comfortable and functional bikes. This is apparent in the recent adoption of "endurance" road bikes for the roadie crowd. Further, there is a large group of cyclists who care more about their ride around the bike path to get in shape than shaving their legs and sharing their Strava results and they have been buying recreational/fitness bikes (I prefer upright road bike, so people don't get the idea that it's a 35 pound old grandma bike) in droves. The bikes being used for gravel "grinding" are a great mix of comfort, performance, and function. Riders can put their wider tires on for normal, everyday riding, and then switch out to the skinny skinnies if they want to head out on the big century of the summer.

Anyhow, they discussed all this in the new episode, so go have a listen to the episode and you can hear Guitar Ted's take on the situation.

Happy riding!

Front Range Gravel

If you haven't checked out the new gravel riding scene in town, check out Front Range Gravel (FRG)

What is FRG and why would you care?

Front Range Gravel is the beginning of a gravel community with several rides throughout Colorado's Front Range. In it's early stages right now, it's two rides - the Pedal 50 on October 5th and the Greenland Gravel Grinder on October 19th. There are some talks about some others in the works, so we'll see if those come to fruition this fall or if they are in the cards for 2014 instead.

While it's been brewing in the background, "gravel grinding" has hit mainstream. Several companies have released "gravel bikes" and the ride/race calendar around the country has exploded. Gravel Grinder News has the full gravel event calendar. Colorado, especially the Front Range, seems to have overlooked the riding opportunities east of I25. Perhaps it's due to all the other great riding or just not being "a thing" or something else....we're not sure. But, that's about to change. 100's of miles of lightly traveled gravel roads with rolling hills and spectacular views of Longs Peak, Mt. Evans, and Pikes Peak just beg to be explored.

That's the goal of FRG - help you explore and share another fantastic aspect of life in Colorado.

You may care because the AntiEpic 50 will be part of the series. We've been happy to have a committed group of crazies the last two Aprils who have gutted out 160+ miles of gravel riding and are looking forward to bringing more of it all together.


Want to get involved with FRG?

If you have any questions, ideas, want to put on an event, need help putting on an event or want to get your company's/shop/product/service's name associated with Front Range Gravel, shoot an email to info@getoutsideradio.com and we'll see what we can help you with. 

Also, don't forget to mark your calendars for April 5th, 2014 for the AntiEpic 50 and 160 Gravel Grinders!

A Case for Suffering Race Report

I'm happy that someone else with some real writing skills has taken on the AntiEpic, was successful, and was willing to both get on the air and write about it.

Chris Case, the managing editor of Velo Magazine, recently started a column called "A Case for Suffering." The column is part of Chris's quest for suffering and delight. Read the first post of the column HERE to get an idea of what Chris is up to.

This quote from "When epic isn't enough," the second installment of the column, is a good example of the quality of the writeup and a good view into the mind of someone who suffered through the AntiEpic:  "I don’t believe that it’s healthy to suffer for the sake of suffering. But it can be illuminating to inspect what suffering means to oneself, to get uncomfortable, then understand how to make that state comfortable once again. Then, you go beyond that to the unknown once more, slowly ascending the invisible staircase of self-understanding. You learn who you are and what it is to be human. You learn that we, humans, are capable of staggering things. What we think is our utmost is rather easily turned into another segment on the gran fondo of our evolution."

Go read the rest of "When epic isn't enough."

Also, Chris discussed his ride and thoughts recently on XXCMag.com Radio.

AntiEpic Race Results, Pictures, and Thoughts

Thanks to all of you for making this what it was - a great time and a good challenge with some crazy, like-minded, cool ass people.

Ok, first....

The Results.

This list does not include the people that opted for less than 150 miles. Although going 100 miles or more is pretty damn good, it wasn't technically the recommended 150. Good job to Adam and Chad - those are the two that I know of that did it. We started with 30-35 people I think (didn't get a total accurate count).

Sorry to any of you that I forgot first or last names. I had a lot going on and met a ton of new people in the course of a day.

We officially started at 6:45ish. For the times, I just noted the time that you came in approximately. We didn't want to sit out at the intersection any longer because it seemed to be windier over there and we didn't want to deal with it any longer. Plus, the party was back at the lot, so we hung out with some people there afterward. Please note that the time that you came in is only approximate, based on what I could gather best. I have the order correct, so it really doesn't matter too much anyway. Also, if you're really that worried, you may want to head over to the disaster of a discussion among the roadies over at  http://303cycling.com/2012-Boulder-Roubaix . Seems that they don't like the timing chips... anyhow....

1. Jonathan Davis, 3:50 pm
2. Trapper Steinle, 5:21 pm
3. LeRoy Popowski, 5:25 pm
4. Pat Coady, 5:44 pm
5. Kevin Thomas, 6:10 pm
6. Eric Schraufnagel, 6:30 pm
7. Trent Hovenga, 6:30 pm
8. Brian Sells, 6:31 pm
9. Shane DeMars, 6:40 pm
10. Aaron Weinsheimer, 7:25 pm
11. Dan Miller - Lionberg, 7:40 pm (fixed gear)
12. Raphael Cletero, 7:40 pm (fixed gear)
13. Chris Hall, 7:40 pm (singlespeed I believe)
14. Bill Ruth, 8:30 pm
15. Mike Beck, 8:35 pm (singlespeed)
16. KT DeSantis, 8:40 pm
17. Marc Kriewaldt, 8:40 pm
18. Brian Behn, 9:15 pm
19. Pete Schuster, 9:30 ish pm
20. Dan Hickstein, 9:52 pm (singlespeed)

I don't have the list of 100milers or dnf's.

Reports.

The day started with a beautiful sunrise and moonset with fantastic views of a snow-capped Pikes Peak...oh, and temperatures hovering in the upper 20's. While we had been experiencing temperatures in the 60's and 70's, Mother Nature decided to turn the air conditioning on and keep the thermostat stuck in the mid 50's for the majority of the day. As riders filled the parking lot and quickly kitted up in the cold, there was a good sense of prerace nerves and uncertainty of what the day would bring.

Many of the racers had never ridden 150+ miles in one continuous push. Some of the riders that showed up are experienced endurance athletes, having competed in 24 hour races, the Dirty Kanza 200 gravel race, Vapor Trail, and multiday races like the Colorado Trail Race. Other riders treated this as a great opportunity to prepare for the 2012 Dirty Kanza in June. We even had a group of 8 travel all the way from Salida!

I led them out on a 2ish mile rollout out of the parking lot to the official start. I always like races with rollouts, so I wanted a chance for all of us to roll down the road before everyone went tearing down the road. Once we got to the starting spot, I stopped the group to remind them about the gate at the "B" road (it can be tricky because it doesn't look like a legal road). It must have been a good time to stop, because a bunch of guys to the stop to make it a nature break.

As soon as I said go, it was a blur. The leaders were off and tearing down the gravel road. I hung back to take some pictures and talk to some of the guys that weren't going down the road at 25 mph. It was nice to ride and talk and not race. There are some good perspectives from cool people out there. Everyone has a different background and come together with a common goal.

It seemed that most people rode in groups for the first part of the ride. Some groups would stop to strip off layers as the sun quickly warmed the treeless landscape and others would then join them. Then, hills would pull people apart and others would join. I bounced around the groups to talk to people and after the first couple hours, I turned west as the route turned easy to finish off a 5+ hour loop for myself so I could get back to the parking lot, eat, and get out on course to offer up cookies, licorice, and coca cola and take pictures.

I managed to get out on the last 30-40 miles of the course to catch the top people as they headed for the end. There was a good mix of emotions out on course - some were totally suffering, while others were suffering with smiles on their faces. Fun does indead hurt.
For a better perspective from actual racers, check out these stories:
Shane gives a really good report: http://gravelquest.blogspot.com/2012/04/antiepic-trip-report.html
Noah rehashes his DNF experience: http://bicyclepiracy.blogspot.com/2012/04/nobody-likes-dnf.html
Shane and I talk about his thoughts on Mountain Bike Race Minute:

Listen to internet radio with Mountain Bike Race Minute on Blog Talk Radio

Jason and I also discussed the AntiEpic in the first episode of the XXC Magazine Podcast.

Pictures.

Thanks to everyone for coming out and plan on AntiEpic II on April 6th, 2013. Same place, same time. Stay tuned to the next XXC Magazine issue for a story about the AntiEpic Gravel Grinder.