Thierry Bonnaire said:

I just signed up for this one on June 9th.
https://www.bikereg.com/french-creek-iron-tour

I'm open for company.

DK200 red hook crit cred. that’s all. 

https://www.instagram.com/p/ByLuoDKnnLf/?igshid=1x17d4ylz8duf

Very cool !
100 miles solo

Sorry guys, no OCA for me this weekend. 

Aiming for OCA on Sunday 6/9 - there's going to be a group of ~5,  no22 riders - everyone is welcome. Bike should be built up by then, it's like 90% done - fun, rewarding process to do myself

Mark Taylor said:

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/ef-education-first-ready-to-race-off-the-beaten-path-at-dirty-kanza/

This is awesome , but I can’t help thinking that Trek are really missing out on press for Pete Stetina’s win at the Belgium waffle ride
btw
Ted King must be pissed 

I find Ted's public begging of pros not to use aero bars at DK a bit hypocritical.  He used them last year and won.  Now he thinks aero bars are a bad idea.  I don't think he explained his change of heart.

BTW, So many ironies at DK.  The EF guys wearing baggy t-shirts, while the winner went with aero clothing and helmet.  And the winner, despite his aero rig (yes, he had aero bars on), seemed to have attacked with his hydration bag unzipped at the top.  Little coverage of Phinney's four-flat, four-hours in arrears day.  In many respects, that experience could be far more interesting than the win, and EF was all about the experience.  I'm assuming their film crew was on hand, as they didn't send the film team to the Giro.

Too many of DK related posts are people trying to push what they think it should be. Kabush in particular seems like a old fart looking for shit to complain about.

At the risk of doing exactly the same, seems that what makes this event successful is, well, that at 200 gravel miles, doesn't matter who you are and what place you are in, aero be dammed, at some point you are only racing yourself and your demons.

On a cool note, Kissena Alumn, Peta Takai, finished 11 in the women's field. Firah!

BrianStan said:

Aiming for OCA on Sunday 6/9 - there's going to be a group of ~5,  no22 riders - everyone is welcome. Bike should be built up by then, it's like 90% done - fun, rewarding process to do myself

Im a maybe for this , what's your meet up plan

Ah, sorry, I missed your note @Mark Taylor. It was a solid day - a few minor mechanicals, but great weather. 

I'd like to know what bike computer is lasting for 12+ hours out there. My Edge 520 has a hard time getting past 3 or 4.

Jules said:

I'd like to know what bike computer is lasting for 12+ hours out there. My Edge 520 has a hard time getting past 3 or 4.

Wahoo bolt can definitely reach the 8 to 10 or more hours mark, altho you have to be smart about settings, 3 sec vs 1 sec, LED/Screen light up, etc...

For long gravel rides, like DK200, most riders carry an extra lithium battery they plug into the head unit at some point.

https://youtu.be/qP0_7TXl19Y

That makes sense. I can't imagine what kind of complete meltdown I'd have if I did a ride like that and lost the data

Jules said:

I'd like to know what bike computer is lasting for 12+ hours out there. My Edge 520 has a hard time getting past 3 or 4.

https://www.newpower99.com/Garmin_Edge_520_Battery_Replacement_Kit_p/garmin edge 520.htm

JohnMalcolmson said:

Jules said:

I'd like to know what bike computer is lasting for 12+ hours out there. My Edge 520 has a hard time getting past 3 or 4.

https://www.newpower99.com/Garmin_Edge_520_Battery_Replacement_Kit_p/garmin edge 520.htm

Wow. I had no idea.

I’m thinking about dipping my toes in a gravel grind and making a weekend out of this event up in VT.

Sounds like 100+ miles of variable roads. Looks like it might be some type 2 fun. Any interest? 

https://www.bikereg.com/irr8

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=p5Cfsp-NZhc

The event notes on bikereg is nuts! lol

Haha yeah it sounds pretty ridiculous. I appreciate the “every bike is the wrong bike” bit. 

Considering and likely I'll head out to the JAM Grand Fundo on Sat July 13th

https://www.bikereg.com/jam-fund-grand-fundo-10th-edition-with-new-adventure-options

Will probably sign up for the "Cyclocross Adventure Ride"

Any takers?

Looks like an awesome ride, but I'm not sure I'm ready to get another bike that can ride that course. If for some reason you decide to do the less technical route, I'd be down.

William, GET THE BIKE. GO TO REDBEARD TODAY. BUY IT. DO IT. YOU ARE READY. DO IT TODAY.

Headed out the to the Jam Fund's Grand Fundo, Jessica signed up for the Mini-Fundo, I would set out to ride the Cyclocross Adventure Loop.

The mini at 45ish miles, including tons of gravel and the steeper harder climb of the day, did not look all that mini.

The adventure sectors were crazy town technical, full on true MTB roads, eye opening, in that if this is where the Northampton crew goes training, no wonder they kill at cross races. The rides connect to each other so was great to start with Jess and later re-connect with her at the first rest stop.

A cool combo of east coast cross peeps were present, Britt-Lee, Myerson, Durrin, Anthony Clark, Cassie Maximenko, Shane Ferro, and of course, Jeremy Powers, who honestly made the effort to chat with every single person out there, while riding full GCN kit and the most sick Pinarello gravel frame. 

Took about 340TSS, basically the same as Farmer's Daugther, altho I would say this was a bit more technical. Also, Farmer's Daugther gears were 38x12-30 (1x), but here I brought a 38x11-34, pretty sure some of the adventure technical climbs would not have been rideable otherwise.  

All that written, it doesn't really report on the day: MOST AWESOME SOLID DAY OUT IN HOTNESS FIRE MASSACHUSETTES SWEETNESS. Also, Ice Cream rest stops are the best.



let's go ride bikes!

They should hire you for PR photos. Looks Fiyah

Jules said:

They should hire you for PR photos. Looks Fiyah

Thanks, Meg McMahon was on hand taking photos, so even that they had covered...

That’s funny I was just catching up on the twitter and saw that. Zoomed in looking for one extra sharp dressed lad but didn’t see him...

Sort of gravel-adjacent, but I loaded up my cross bike with some basic camping gear to give bikepacking a try. I think my road season is pretty much done with Floyd finishing up last week and L&C closing out on a weekend I wont be home, so it was fun to do bikes but different. 

I rode up 60ish miles to Harriman and stayed in a lean-to that wasn’t too far off the road (though next time I think I’ll look for a spot to lock up the bike at a trailhead). On the way I hit a few of the off-road paths that I didn’t really know existed. I missed out on that crazy thunderstorm thankfully 

I got up early and hopped over to Bear Mountain from here and debated going up the hill but decided against it with everything strapped to my bike. I took a fairly similar route home, trying to get off the road as frequently as I could. One of the mechanics at Piermont Bikes said he passed me coming down 7 Lakes Drive in the morning on his motorcycle. The routes are all on Strava! 

If you’re on the fence about bikepacking, I would totally recommend it. Especially if youve ever enjoyed backpacking or camping in general.
 

Sweet !

Am posting this in both the gravel & cross threads to hopefully get an evenly spread opinion =p

Which path is better taken? Throwing down in gravel races and dabbling in cross? Or the opposite?

So D2R2 was maybe the most fun and definitely the longest most vertical day I’ve ever had on a bike. Also maybe the easiest pace and most food I’ve ever consumed on one ride (hence the fun). I rode the 180k ride with my friend Tom and we knew it was going to be a super long day regardless of effort so we agreed to keep things casual and regroup whenever we got separated. D2R2 is totally not a race in any way and we were fine keeping it that way on the flats and downhills.

I think there was one small section of flat road but the rest was either up or down (as evidenced by the bonkers elevation gain). It was also ~80% dirt which is amazing for a 110mi ride. It really felt like every inch of the course was super well thought out and there were no boring sections (also amazing for a 110mi ride). The climbs were challenging and at some points very steep (27% apparently) and the descents were all pretty safe and very fun. There were only a few tiny technical bits, but mostly buffed out dirt road fun. 

There were so many different ride options and each one seemed challenging on it’s own. They didn’t overlap a whole lot but they met at one aid station for lunch which was really cool. I 100% want to go back next year and hope others will join! 

Now for the fun part:
-110.4 miles 
-12,303 feet of elevation 
-9.5 hours on bike (4hrs under the cut off which tells you how long a day some people had)
-6,763 calories burned 
-42x36t (not) easy (enough) gearing
-16.5 hours on the bike this week with 2 days off
-Uncountable amount of Nutella and white bread sandwiches 

That sounds and looks awesome, what an epic day!

Definitely want to do it next year. It’s be great to have more Kissenas out at these events.  Speaking of which, waiting for my gravel bike in the mail...