Road Less Traveled

Drugged Afternoon Ride

GRVL DRMA VI 2025

Tornado Warning Break-in Ride

Afternoon Ride - Xert

Well... that was a once-and-done ride! 🤪 This is more or less the Horribly Hilly Hundred... but, on gravel! 😄(if you know you know) I think my favorite part of the ride was "Rustic Road" that went past the American Legion post. The gravel there was different compared to the rest of the route and the stream/creek crossing (about 5 of them) were a fun bonus. 

Speaking of the gravel... a blessing and a curse... it rained the night before so it was not dusty (something that might have been a problem considering the strong winds), but, being wet, it was also "squishy" for a lot of sections. Kind of like riding through wet beach sand. Firm enough to not sink into, but squishy enough that it feels like you are riding on a flat tire.

Also, the weather... WOW... it was cold out! 🥶I brought some extra layers to stay warm... but it was not even close to enough. To put it in perspective... I had a 3 hour drive home where I had the heat on the whole time... took a hot shower when I got home... and I still felt cold when I crawled into bed!!! 🤪 I was told that last year it was 85F during the event. So, yeah, quite the change when we were standing at the starting line with it being all of 45F! 😝

Beyond that... like I mentioned earlier... it's a very hilly route. One thing I noticed was that if it was a steep hill (say +8%), then it was a paved hill (of which there were a lot of). The other bits of pavement were mainly restricted to a few high traffic roads. The rest of the course was gravel. And, speaking of paved hills... the last big climb that's about 5 miles from the finish line... just WOW... that was a monster! I didn't/couldn't ride straight up it.. I was doing switchbacks all the way up. Even doing switchbacks I was showing +16% grade on my head unit. That hill was brutal! #MasochistHillClimbing 😈

All said... I'm glad I did it... *once*. I don't think I'll come back for a repeat effort though.

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Craig Haydock

GRVL DRMA VI 2025

8 Photos

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Road Less Traveled

Drugged Afternoon Ride

GRVL DRMA VI 2025

Tornado Warning Break-in Ride

Afternoon Ride - Xert

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