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.

All AntiEpic Info Has Moved

Please go to Riding Gravel's AntiEpic page for all of the information.

There you will find all of the course information, details, picture, and everything else.

The AntiEpic rides will be moving....

Both the AntiEpic 50 and 160 will be moving over to RidingGravel.com. Stay tuned to Riding Gravel for more information soon!

Meanwhile, head over to the only off-pavement/gravel - specific forum, The Riding Gravel Forum.

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!

The AntiEpic 50 Is Born

There was interest in shorter routes and this is it. 51+ miles. Same day as the biggun.
It's here. It's limited. Get in now.

Also...the Pedal Gravel 100 ride has been changed and will likely be 50-ish miles and part of a series coming soon.

It's all cooking.

Pedal Gravel 100

The idea has been conceived. From the evil gut of the AntiEpic, a kinder, less harsh version has been born. Details will remain sparse at the moment, but stay tuned. A 100-miler and 50-miler may be coming soon to the same area.

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 Report

If you're looking for any race reports, you don't need to go any further than Mountain Bike Radio.

In the latest episode of "XXC Magazine Radio," Jason interviews Ben Welnak and Chris Case.

Listen in

What is Mountain Bike Radio?
Mountain Bike Radio is the premiere network of online radio shows and podcasts focused on cycling that is not road riding. If it's dirt riding - singletrack, gravel, fatbikes, enduro... it's all there.

Pictures on Race Vista

Pictures now posted!

Results Posted and Info

The results are posted HERE.

The pictures that I got during the ride will be posted, so please stay tuned.

If you have pictures and/or gps/Strava that you'd like share, please email me ben@mountainbikeradio.com and I will post it.

I want to again say thank you to everyone for coming out and riding all day.

Last Minute Thoughts

Hey everyone....

If you're making one of the biggest hurdles....getting to the start line, here is some information that you'd probably like to know/be reminded of.

Check in. I will be there early with a roster. Check in with me. I want to make sure there is a list of people so that I can get this site updated with proper info.

Weather - According to NOAA, we're in for a pretty good day.

• Start at Greenland Open Space at 6:30am:
• Low of 34 degrees tonight. That specific spot seems to sit in a little hole though. It was about the same forecast last year and the actual temperature was more like 25. So, plan for a cold start. I would also expect some west northwest wind in the 10 mph range until the sun warms things up. However, west wind would be a tailwind... Then it's supposed to be calm.
• Mid-Race - looking out between the Elbert - Deer Trail area - around 6,000ish feet
• Partly sunny with a high of 61. Northwest wind 5-10mph becoming light and variable. Well, without the sun, it probably won't quite reach or feel like the 61 degrees. Also, keep in mind that "light and variable" out there means that it won't be blowing you off your bike. Still, even if it feels like 51 and the wind stays ok, it's still nice. The rain showers seem to be holding off mostly.
• Later-Race - Looking at the later parts of the course. 5500-6500 ft or so. 10% chance of showers after noon. High near 64 with light north wind. Good stuff. You don't have a south wind, you should be happy.

Course - Go here for all the course info.

Results - The end of the race will be at the Greenland Open Space sign. It will not be like last year. You will now get the downhill feeling of rolling all the way back to the open space. Yeah, it pushes it to a few miles over 150 miles, but you can always quit. When you get there, you will need to sign your name and time on a sheet. My wife will be there in a white mini van for those that roll in before me. I will be hanging around for a while after I'm done, so just look for me.
***If you don't check in and sign the sheet, you won't be listed in the results***

Awards - I have made up trophies for the Top 3 men and Top 3 women (if 3 don't show up, I'll just hold on to them). I also made a trophy for the last place person.
Here's what they look like:

Pictures - Check Race Vista for all the pictures.

Roster - Here's the final as of 12:00pm today.

I'm going offline at 5 today and will no longer be responding to anything. I have a show to cohost at 6:30pm. Drew is leading a special episode of "The Dirt" discussing today's UCI/USAC clarification.
You should listen to the LIVE SHOW.

Pictures and A Short Course Video

Just a reminder AntiEpic'ers! This Saturday, April 6th at 6:30am at the Greenland Open Space.
The weather forecast is looking pretty good.

I got out for a little while and drove around and got some pictures this afternoon.
I've updated a post on Mountain Bike Radio with them.

I've also added a short video to give you an idea of the course. Check it out here!

Roster Updated as of 3/31

I just updated the roster to add two more riders.

Check the full details HERE.

Snow

There was a lot of snow that just fell on the AntiEpic course over the weekend!
It looks like the forecast is for highs in the 50's for the week, so with the higher sun and the 50's most of the week, the course should be melting off and drying up over the next week.

However, there is one stretch of road that is 3-4 miles that I expect to be muddy. Sticky, clay-like, mud. It will destroy your drivetrain should you decide to ride through it. The rest of the course should be good.

I will be getting out later this week/early next and checking the course, taking pics, and giving you a general update.

If bad weather (worst case plan):

If we receive similar snow in the days leading up to the race, you are more than welcome to do the 150, but we'll figure out an alternative route. If it's too crappy, it may be necessary to push just push it off a week until April 13. I want it to be a good, fun race. There are no checkpoints and if it turns into a 20 hour slog through mud with no checkpoints, that's not good. This is keeping in mind that the Durango Gravel Grinder is also that weekend.

Gear Junkie Listed the AE

If you're reading this, it's probably not surprising that "gravel grinders" are coming on strong.
Gear Junkie just posted a good preview of gravel racing.

Check out the article

That's awesome that they listed us! It's getting closer....going to start working on the trophies this week. Stay tuned on that.

More Course Updates

Just a quick post.

If you haven't checked out the course details yet, you should. I've added a Strava link from the 2012 winner, a link to the Garmin Connect file, as well as a link to the Bike Route Toaster site and turn-by-turn info.

Go to COURSE DETAILS.

Oh, and updated the roster. We now have two women!

One last thing....be sure to check out Gravel Grinder News on Facebook.

Things Are Heating Up

It's getting close. Only one month until April 6th!

To get your blood moving a little quicker, I'll share some NAHBS pics. Enjoy. If you want to see more NAHBS pics, check out the gallery on Mountain Bike Radio.
Oh, and the course information is up. Go here!

Sunday Heat

Sunday it was really nice - temps in the 60's. Today snow. I snapped this one on my ride Sunday afternoon.

Hope you're out getting your miles in. You'll need it come April!

Two Trek Colorado Race Team riders did the full course on Sunday. They're pretty nuts - training for solo attempts at the 24 Hours in the Old Pueblo. Check out the Facebook page HERE and then check out their website HERE .

Mountain Bike Podcast

Just in case you haven't seen it yet....
Mountain Bike Radio is a network of shows that have everything to do about riding on dirt.

It has information and interviews about gravel grinders, endurance and xc mountain biking, products, and everything in between. It includes a mix of live and podcast formats and brings in some of mountain biking's best personalities.

Check it out to here from Trans Iowa racers, Dirty Kanza racers, and much more!