Racing Dirt Roads in New England Part 2.

Since my post last week about dirt road ronde's in New England, two more events have come to my attention. Unlike the more casual touring style of some of the other events, both of these are races.

Morning miles at the GMDC

First, the Green Mountain Double Century. June 15-16th. Technically this event is a race, but in the brevet ultra challenge sort of way. Sandy Whittlesey designed this event to be an uber D2R2. He sets the course, the date, and the rules. I do not think he hands out bib numbers, but honestly, that's not needed. The course covers 208 miles in southern Vermont, 24,000 feet of climbing, almost all on dirt roads. The time limit is 40 hours. The Ride Studio Cafe team of David Wilcox, Matt Roy, & John Bayley hold the record at 16+ hours. Natalia Boltukhova did a great job of documenting their record setting ride. Sandy requires each participant to complete a 300km brevet or a double century before entering the GMDC. Some folks attempt this course in two long days by sleeping over night at a B&B mid route. If I thrive at the Dirty Kanza 200, this may go on the bucket list of races. Email Sandy for info or an entry application.

the beauty of North East Kingdom dirt roads

Second, the Dirty 40 Race, August 31st. This is a new event. I believe something like it was organized last year or the year before, but not as a race. The race starts and ends in Newport, VT. The course is 60 miles with 40 miles of dirt road. The promoter is putting up a bunch of pictures on his page but other than that, the event is a complete unknown to me. So of course I already registered for it!  The Kingdom Trails is sponsoring it, so it has to be legit, right?

BTW: it looks like the dirt road ronde-gravel grinder scene is getting something like main stream press. Pretty soon this type of riding might even be as popular as cyclocross. So there goes the neighborhood.