Dirtbag Gravel Tour 2020

So before this whole clown car went off a cliff into a dumpster fire my good friend Roger and I were planning on kicking off Dirtbag Gravel Tour 2020. Honestly we have been on a DBGT for about a decade. It feels sort of like when Delta House was brought into Dean Wormers office. Fat, dunk and stupid is the only way to go through life in my opinion. I am pretty sure we have been on double secret probation since Waffle Cross made a special visit to Lowell CX. I had nothing to do with those 4 loco hand ups. That is my story and I am sticking to it. Anyhoo so in the short span of a decade Gravel has blown up! It used to be something you would do just for an adventure. See if you could destroy your fancy lightweight CX rig. We got the idea to do the Ronde de Rosey about ten years ago as a reaction to a certain "road" race that shall remain unnamed. We did it once as a team and had an amazing time. It was literally one of the most painful things I have done in my life. But it was beautiful in its suffering. It was my one and only "road" race.

Let's just leave it at the promoter perhaps pissed off a few of my friends to the point that they decided to hold a bandit "race" on the same day. And thus the Ronde de Rosey was born. The OG Dirtbag Gravel Race. The first RdR was held on Sunday March 21st 2010. The format was lifted from the Rapha Gentleman's Rides which arguable made gravel riding cool. Those were the first organized epic dirt road rides I can recall. I am sure there were events that predate the Rapha rides but Rapha made it cool. So the format which I still love was that the rules were simple. Teams start and finish together. Dropping a rider = DQ. That simple rule forces people to get out of race mode and into ride mode. You are only going to go as fast as your slowest rider. Self supported. That really was it. The first Ronde's were done via cue sheet. I know what is a cue sheet? Well guess what sparky we all didn't have Garmins back then. We may have marked the route with surveyors ribbon as well. Which forced teams to really work together to navigate. It was beautiful. And of course the level of destruction to people's bikes was epic.

It was pretty clear after that first year we should not call it a race. Anytime you call anything a "race" bikers are going to make really bad decisions. Even when you don't call it a race cyclists will race. They are probably the most competitive hobbyists on the planet. Are fisherman competitive? I honestly only have had one hobby so I don't know. Maybe people are just by their nature competitive. So leave it at after year one we decided to be really clear that racing was a bad idea. It probably took 2-3 years for that to sink in. It is funny to me now that gravel racing is a thing. I love gravel. No matter how you define it. Whether it is a dirt road ride or a legit off-road adventure I love it. But I really don't like the idea of it being a race. Too many bad things can happen when you are in race-mode. But I digress. For a decade I have been participating and helping organize and promote gravel rides/events. After a decade I have come to realize that the ones I truly love are more low key. And have that unknown to them. It is supposed to be an adventure. I don't mind getting a bit lost or discombobulated. As long as I am with a good crew it is all worth it.

The more I have done these rides the more critical it is for me to roll with a good crew. To me it is not how fast you are but what you are made of. Will you freak out when we are lost. Will you lose your shit when we run out of water. Will you point fingers when the cops show up? I guess you see what I am cooking. The friends I have surrounded myself with over the years are of the same mindset. In the early years people's melt down would be epic. Full reality TV show style. I can't honestly remember anyone losing it in the last five years. Maybe we are all seasoned DBGT pros now. I think so.

So when Roger and me were talking about the DBGT 2020 we had lots of great events planned. Greasy Joes, Mixed Tape, Ronde obviously, some DIY ideas. All the good stuff. The main criteria was it had to have a good dollar to mile ratio, be grassroots, have some DB street cred and not involve too much travel.  That all went up in flames on 3/13. Who knows when an organized ride will be held again in 2020. I honestly don't think it is happening. Maybe in September. So many events are moving to the Fall. GROSS season as I am coining it is going to be bizarre. Gravel + Cross = GROSS. It is going to be really weird seeing how this works out. Throw in all the MTB races that are likely moving to the Fall and it is going to be a relative all you can eat buffet of bike racing.

But the more I think about it DBGT 2020 is a go. A bunch of virtual Tours/races have popped up. My good friends and co-conspirators created an asynchronous redux of one of our old rides. Again, I was pretty skeptical and resisted until I saw them posting photos and like I usually do caved and went out and did a version of what they had cooked up. Then the Tour of Boston became a thing. And I followed that a bit. Still wasn't ready to join the party but was ToB curious. Then they added Pony Henge. And Ted King launched his own DIY Gravel project. That pushed me over the limit. So DBGT2020 is being rebranded. Or maybe relaunched. It will be an asynchronously contested tour. But I know it can work. First Stage of this DBGT2020 will be my own Pony Ride. I have some thoughts. I will go with Ted's DIY idea and make it the Rasputitsa short course distance if possible. No way the elevation will be near the same. I mean metro west is flat. But it will give my mind something to focus on other than this horrific situation we are in.

In other gravel news Jake Wells will be screening his Unknown Country this Monday at 8 am PST on Shimano's gravel site. Check it out if you haven't seen it already. Would people be interested in doing a virtual Ronde de Rosey as a benefit for the Washington Tavern and Beaver Brook Bottles? We could do a pretty cool event. People could pick their favorite RdR route. If you lived too far from Brookline you could do your own and post it up. I think the concept should be No Cars, No Gnar, and Not far. Stole that from Singletrack Magazine FYI. Say 40 miles. If you live near the Tavern or BBB perhaps see about some take out or delivery. If not we will ask for a donation to help them through this. Could be gift card purchases etc as well. If you need help figuring out a route we can do that as well. I hope everyone is staying safe, riding solo, and being healthy. We will get through this my friends.