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The Karoo is not flat, both in personality and profile. The Road to Desolation gravel race seeks to capture the essence of the Karoo—the idiosyncratic small towns, the solitude of its expanse, and the way the bicycle represents the ideal vehicle for navigating the internal and external challenges of the terrain. Simon Pocock photographed the inaugural edition of the event in 2023 and writes about the Karoo’s imposing appeal.
ENVE‘s open house, framebuilder showcase, and tough gravel ride weekend, dubbed Grodeo, has been featured every year since its inception here at The Radavist. The weekend takes place in Ogden, Utah, at ENVE’s HQ and takes you deep into the mountains on a 92-mile ride. The field size is limited to 150 people and registration is now open, so roll on over to BikeReg to sign up.
See our related content in our archives below!
The FoCo Fondo (July 21st, 2024) heard that gravel lotteries are super hot right now, so the Fort Collins gravel ride decided to make its own Fake A$$ Lottery. All currently registered riders, will receive their scratcher in the mail in the coming days. The team at FoCo Fondo hopes to see you scratching them on the Internets.
Two lucky dogs will receive a grand prize — either a VIP ticket to FoCo Fondo or a jersey of choice, so check your scratcher closely.
Don’t worry, everyone’s a winner at FoCo Fondo. Register at BikeReg.
Check out our FoCo Fondo Reportage here:
The Arna Westfjords Way Challenge is an ultra-endurance cycling race that traverses the seaside perimeter of Iceland’s Westfjords region in four stages over five days with 600 miles of mixed surface riding and 37,000+ feet of elevation gain. The route was originally established by accomplished endurance cyclists Lael Wilcox, Chris Burkard, Payson McElveen, Nichole Baker, and Rugile Kaladyte and formatted into a stage race by the team at Cycling Westfjords in 2021. Now in its second year, the event features a variety of innovative aspects that make it unique in the world of ultra cycling, which benefits the local communities and also the riders’ experiences. Josh Weinberg was on the ground covering this year’s event and, below, shares an insightful event recap and massive image gallery from this strikingly beautiful part of the world.
After an almost-decade long run, the Lost & Found Gravel Festival continues to provide adventurous-minded riders with dynamic and challenging terrain in northern California’s Lost Sierra Mountains. Registration for any of the event’s 100-mile, 60-mile and 35-mile courses goes directly to supporting the Sierra Buttes Trail Stewardship‘s Lost Sierra Route, a route that seeks to connect 15 mountain communities and foster economic prosperity through recreation. Billy Sinkford joined in for the mixed terrain fun this year and shares moments from the race along with photos of the Builders’ Bazaar.
There’s more than 4,000 miles of graded dirt roads in Plumas National Forest connecting a dozen quaint and remote mountain communities across Plumas and Lassen County, California. The landscapes are stunning, from majestic mountain meadows bursting with wildflowers to craggy granite peaks and glacially carved mountain lakes. Hidden cabins and remnants of the Gold Rush can be found everywhere along the way. The only thing you don’t see much of in the backcountry of Plumas County is people, which is why this region is quickly becoming known as The Gravel Capital of the West.
This fall, take to the Upper Peninsula to ride 166 miles through untamed Northern Michigan. The Moran 166 is comprised of lush evergreen-lined gravel roads, deep forest two-tracks, and pristine natural scenery. Beyond an epic adventure, the Moran 166 is a high-stakes bike race with $10K prize money. Sign-up and line up on September 11, 2021…
-$10,000 cash prize purse for top 10 men/women of the Moran 166 main event. Prizes for top 3 men/women of the 64-mile short-course event.
-300 racer limit for 2021 Moran 166 (150 racer limit for the Moran 64 short-course).
-Moran 166 main event starts at 7 AM. Moran 64 short-course starts at 9 AM.
-Moran 166 has restored and have secured the old Mackinac County Fairgrounds for the Start/Finish. 550,000 sq. feet. Plenty of parking.
-This will be a mass start event but all riders who feel they can complete this in 10.66 hours or less will be staged at the front. If you are staged at the front & finish in over 10.66 hours you might be publicly humiliated.
-There will be 3 aid stations & staff to manage road crossings. (There will be no aid stations for short-course racers).
-The event will be timed by Superior Timing and Moran 166 are working on live video & tracking to be displayed at the start-finish as well.
-The average high temp on September 11th is 70 degrees F. The average low is 53 degrees F.
-The bugs have generally stopped bugging by mid to late August here, so we should be good.
-Packet pickup will be at our Moran 166 HQ (one of the last buildings standing in Moran) Friday afternoon/eve.
See more at the Moran 166!
After 2020, I wasn’t sure when I’d be back at events documenting bikes, races, and places. So far in 2021, things seem to be picking up steam and this weekend I found myself in Ogden, Utah at the ENVE Builder Round Up Open House and Grodeo gravel race…
