Parsnip Totin Jack ★ Posted October 29, 2020 Share #1 Posted October 29, 2020 @Razors Edge I don’t know if you know the VeloPigs, a local cycling group with a FB page. A Loudoun County farmer and cyclist is doing a 300 mile gravel ride this Saturday 10/31, to raise funds and awareness to preserve the gravel roads in the county as historical preservation against the suburban push to develop and pave the gravel routes that date back to before the Revolutionary War. Here’s a post from Plum Grove Cyclery: This Saturday the 31st, our friend Kasey Clark is doing a big fat gravel ride for sure. A ride to benefit the preservation of the beautiful historic gravel roads, a ride to benefit anyone who has ever had the pleasure to be on one of these hilly winding ribbons of grit. Kasey is a dear friend and partner to us at Plum Grove with the velopigs cycling club, thanks to him we are lucky to know and have relationships with such a great bunch. So please root Kasey along, and for him, for you, for everyone,please donate to americasroutes.com/events/ link in bio #velopigs#loudoungravelroads#gofarmergo#halloweenride 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Razors Edge ★ Posted October 29, 2020 Share #2 Posted October 29, 2020 15 minutes ago, Old No. 7 said: @Razors Edge I don’t know if you know the VeloPigs, a local cycling group with a FB page. A Loudoun County farmer and cyclist is doing a 300 mile gravel ride this Saturday 10/31, to raise funds and awareness to preserve the gravel roads in the county as historical preservation against the suburban push to develop and pave the gravel routes that date back to before the Revolutionary War. Here’s a post from Plum Grove Cyclery: This Saturday the 31st, our friend Kasey Clark is doing a big fat gravel ride for sure. A ride to benefit the preservation of the beautiful historic gravel roads, a ride to benefit anyone who has ever had the pleasure to be on one of these hilly winding ribbons of grit. Kasey is a dear friend and partner to us at Plum Grove with the velopigs cycling club, thanks to him we are lucky to know and have relationships with such a great bunch. So please root Kasey along, and for him, for you, for everyone,please donate to americasroutes.com/events/ link in bio #velopigs#loudoungravelroads#gofarmergo#halloweenride COOL! I have visited the "America's Routes" site before, and watched some of the related videos. It really is a neat endeavor - 300 in a day of riding gravel is at least - for me - 20+ hrs in the saddle (more like more than a day). Hopefully, he posts the ride on Strava or gravelmaps or similar so I can see what ones he hits that I haven't yet. I think I'm only in the approaching 100 miles range of those 300 as I often cover some of the same ground just getting to the new pieces. Of course, that's just Loudoun and on the ride this weekend, I was briefly in Fauquier County when I got near Middleburg, and that has to have a ton of gravel as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Razors Edge ★ Posted October 29, 2020 Share #3 Posted October 29, 2020 He even has a @dennis favorite Salsa! Crossing at Whites Ferry, no less. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Razors Edge ★ Posted October 29, 2020 Share #4 Posted October 29, 2020 And looks like he has it "down" to 286 miles which makes sense if you are trying to avoid dead ends and such as much as possible. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dinneR ★ Posted October 30, 2020 Share #5 Posted October 30, 2020 Looks awesome. He's got the right bike. 300 miles in one roll of the dice is hard. I did a 340 mile gravel ride once. It took me 33 hours. Riding alone in the dark is mentally challenging. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dottleshead ★ Posted October 30, 2020 Share #6 Posted October 30, 2020 I was good for a hundred miles on a road bike ina day. I can't imagine doing a gravel ride for ~300 miles. Rock-and-roll. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
petitepedal ★ Posted October 30, 2020 Share #7 Posted October 30, 2020 Kinda like doing the GAP and the C &O Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parsnip Totin Jack ★ Posted October 30, 2020 Author Share #8 Posted October 30, 2020 1 hour ago, petitepedal said: Kinda like doing the GAP and the C &O In one day... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Razors Edge ★ Posted October 30, 2020 Share #9 Posted October 30, 2020 2 hours ago, Old No. 7 said: In one day... And with 5x the elevation gain. I think GAP-C&O is ~3,500' and C&O-GAP is ~5,500'. He is saying his route is in the 23,000' range. It is nutty either way as just the GAP-C&O route is an adventure over several days, so I think he'll has a heckuva a LONG DAY (and night) ahead of him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parsnip Totin Jack ★ Posted October 30, 2020 Author Share #10 Posted October 30, 2020 Thanks for adding that. It’s a lot of climbing. He is estimating 24 hours to complete. Friends and family will help supply him on the route. Hot pizza and local beers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Razors Edge ★ Posted October 30, 2020 Share #11 Posted October 30, 2020 4 minutes ago, Old No. 7 said: Thanks for adding that. It’s a lot of climbing. He is estimating 24 hours to complete. Friends and family will help supply him on the route. Hot pizza and local beers. I have some routes in Strava for the roads he'll be covering, and it is close to 90'-100' per mile, his estimate seems pretty spot on (and looks like it is built using an app that would calculate the gain). That being said, I don't fry my legs in the same way a road ride can with similar elevation. But that's down to my slower speed and better gearing. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Razors Edge ★ Posted November 2, 2020 Share #12 Posted November 2, 2020 Well, he made it! He also was on NPR last week. Good for him! He started at 6 am on Sat, and almost 29 hours later, he was done! I wonder how it handled the 2am is 1am DST switch? Adds an hour (or two)? Subtracts an hour? Smart enough to handle it? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Razors Edge ★ Posted November 2, 2020 Share #13 Posted November 2, 2020 I guess this map shows how things were and what is trying to be preserved: 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisL Posted November 2, 2020 Share #14 Posted November 2, 2020 1 hour ago, Razors Edge said: I guess this map shows how things were and what is trying to be preserved: I always found it interesting how the roads in VA (back in the mid 80’s) seemed to go on in no organized fashion. I always figured they were old foot/horse paths that just evolved into roads. Unlike SoCal that was developed with a plan and the roads being in a grid system. Im sure it has changed over the years though. My MIL hated freeways with a passion but could get to just about anywhere in VA taking side roads. Was really odd but she got there... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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