Dirt Bag Results

Lacking some real epic conditions, unless you count a little wind, the Dirt Bag was run on a fast and scenic course.

We had 56 riders on the mass start. 3 did the 35 Mile, 20 on the 62 Mile and 33 62 Milers. My finish line recording was analog and lacked technology so if there are corrections (anticipating a couple like Jared Gazda) please let me know and I'll bring it to the competition committee. 

Many thanks for the swag offered up by Kyia at Podium Wear, Matt at Donkey Label, Ben and Mike at Revolution Cycle & Ski, and the Nots snacks.

Also these events don't happen without the support and assistance of great folks who give their time and talents so a place in Dirt Bag heaven is reserved for Ruth, Chris, Sekura, Josie, Bethany, Jeff and Greg. My wife ladled out a lot of good stuff at the finish that was made with love. You got a taste of it, I've had it most of my life. She's awesome!

Thanks for enjoying our little corner of gravel and hope to see you on the road.

35 Mile

3:08    Bruce Weinke

3:08    Roger Landers

4:32    Marilyn Crandall

62 Mile

3:40    Emily Flynn                        1st Woman

3:40    Charlie & Connor Schad     Tandem

3:49    Jay Dellis                             1st Man

4:05    Doug Krone

4:05    Andy Williams

4:06    Dan Cruser

4:06    Brent Vacinek

4:10    Joe Bischoff

4:10    Ed Matthiesen

4:10    Patrick Kinney

4:29    Philip Carlton

4:29    Kristin Johnson

4:31    Jennifer Cary

4:31    Neil Cary

4:40    Timothy Jung

4:50    Bryan Rolph

5:11    Matt Sundquist

5:13    Brian Boehmer

5:13    John Rammel

5:31    Daniel Davis

85 Mile

4:34    Jim Bell                                1st Man

4:34    Matthew Dowling

4:36    Joshua Schneider

4:46    Matt Nikodym

4:46    Sam StPierre

5:02    Noah Middlestaedt

5:06    Brent Lien

5:08    Quinn Williams

5:10    Brett Sloma

5:22    Kelly Hines

5:26    Steve Yore

5:29    Jeff Buschendorf

5:35    Kurt Stunek

5:45    Connie Wansberg                 1st Woman

5:45    Brad Berlin

5:55    Tim Boyd

5:55    Cody Condon

5:55    Phil Nicolas 

5:57    Greg Knoll

5:57    Gary Lindberg  

5:57    Jill Koski

5:58    Michael Latsch

6:04    Erik Nelson

6:04    Joe Bruentrup

6:38    Jere Mohr

6:38    Erik Iker-Coleman

6:38    John Loye

7:24    Bryan Amo

8:48    Danny Deetz                         Corky's Tour

8:48    Jon Riggs                              Corky's Tour

8:48    Jay Plummer                         Corky's Tour

DNF   Joel Dahlin

????    Jared Gazda

No DNF's

What a great day to gravel! 57 started and no DNF's. Congrats to a generous group of riders. Big thanks to the early rising volunteers who worked to help make the day. 
Results are being worked and hope to be up in the next couple days.

 A few items got left behind...

Drove the first 20 miles of the course this morning.
Hard packed and fast. Some washboards and loose gravel in corners and hill bottoms.
The pavilion at Sportsmans park is ours and bathrooms are open. Running water and electricity which means hot food and tunes. Bring a towel if you want to wash off the dirt.
See you gravelers in the morning!

Swag.....!

Dirt Bag 2014 Information

8 am    Registration and Check-in at Sportsman Park just outside of Clearwater south of CR 75 on CR             143/27th Ave.
            Limited parking will be available in the park. We will leave parking spots open for other park             goers. Additional parking at Riverside Park a short distance away on the bike path as well and
            Coborn's and the post office should have spaces if needed.      

9 am    START for all rides.

Dirt Bag 85 Mile will take you across Hwy 55 to the south routing back N to French Lake, South Haven and Fairhaven.

Dirt Bag 62 Mile follows the same route as the 85 mile but turns N before Hwy 55. This will bypass Fairhaven and Corky's unless you decide on a course deviation around mile 47 and continue on CR 44 W apprx. 4 miles to Fairhaven. Portions of this are newly mapped and untested so anyone who takes this route please give me you impression.

Dirt Bag 35 will double back on itself at apprx. mile 24 but still traverse some great gravel sections along horse farm and fields. Chances to be first in for the hot soups and beer are pretty good.

On the course there will be a store at mile 13, our rest stop at 32, Lantto's store at 52 and Corky's at 63. I put in a call to them to ensure that the Sweet Child of Vine is available.

Cue sheets will be available for all rides. You are self supported. No sag wagons on the course. Help each other where needed. Road conditions are good.

Have fun!

Dirt Bag 2014 rider List is posted below. If your name is not on it, no worries. You can walk up at registration Saturday morning and sign in for any ride.

Altrichter, Carrie

Amo, Bryan

BSD

Berlin, Brad

Bischoff, Joe

Boehmer, Brian Boyd, Tim Bruentrup, Joe

Buth, Jordan

Carlton, Philip

Crandell, Marilyn

Condon, Cody

Cruser, Dan

Dahlin, Joel

Deetz, Danny

Dowling, Matthew

Fetzer, Matt

Flynn, Emily

Knoll, Greg

Krone, Doug

Hines, Kelly

Hurst, Sarah

Johnson, Joe

Jung, Timothy

Kinney, Patrick

Kvittem, Brent

Lien, Brent

Lindberg, Gary

Matthiesen, Ed

Middlestaedt, Noah

Mohr, Jere

Mueller, Big Bob

Oney, Ben

Nelson, Eric

Peterson, David

Pettes, Jeff

Plummer, Jay

Rammel, John

Riggs, Jon

St Pierre, Sam

Schad, Charlie & son

Schneider, Joshua

Sill, Kai

Sloma, Brett

Stunek, Kurt

Sundquist, Matt

Tocko, Michael

Vacinek, Brent

Wanberg, Connie

VanVleet, Steve

Wilson, Kurtis Williams, Andy

Williams, Quinn

Yore, Steve

Dirt Bag 35 Mile course

This is the shortest gravel course for this Saturdays 5th running of the Dirt Bag.
Cue sheets will be up the next day or two.

Weather couldn't be better for this ride in the country.

Link to Dirt Bag 62 Mile Short Route

Here's the short route for the DB for those who want to gravel a bit less. It bypasses both Havens and Corky's, but will still give you a fine taste of county's Wright and Stearns backroads.

Long range forecast shows some very un-DB like weather.

Shorts today!

Link for MapMyRide Dirt Bag 2014

More cards...

The nips are in the morning air these days. That means a few things are coming...Holy Spirit Bouja day, ski season (let's not rush things) and the Dirt Bag.

MN Gravel Championship is this coming weekend and the long range weather forecast looks ideal if you're into sunny sky and moderate temps for a gravel race.

Still 2 weeks for epic conditions to arrive.

Enjoy this fall.

What the Heck?

Ugh! Sucked at the Heck. On a brighter ride...
33 humans signed up for the DB so far. The average age demographics are:
Males - 43 years and 6 months; Females - 46 years.
Noah has skewed the average for the boys.
Keep those cards coming!

If there was a Best Penmanship category.....

Yesterdays card....

Keep them coming...

Road Report

Road condition report:
About half the route. was ridden today and I can report that the gravel is hard packed and fast. There are a few loose stones laying on top and a couple points of washboard.
As always, past performance is no guarantee of future results
Enjoy the 10 day forecast.
Local Forecast

Dirt Bag 2014

Oct 25

Sportsman Park, Clearwater

Cards are coming in...

Okay folks...
Registration is now open for the Dirt Bag.

Send your postcard to:

Dirt Bag 2014
c/o JJ Egbers
800 12th Ave S.
St Cloud, MN 56301

Please include: your name (real or imagined);
Gender (real please);
Age;
What you are riding (multi gear, single gear, tandem, fattie)

Plan on the same 85'ish mile course as last year.

We may have the kitchen open and a pot of chili and Bouja on simmer. Anyone want to bring something to share?

Enjoy the great cycling weather,

Dirtbag 2014 is scheduled for the 25th of October. Plan on a 9am start from the same Sportsman Park. I should have the shelter open and the coffee on. Also will be putting out request for some hotdish's at the finish. 
Plan on the same course as last year with the possibility of a bailout route of 40'ish in case folks want to do shorter or the weather is harder than we.
Stay tuned.

Start line selfie.

The GravelFest was run in mini-epic wind and rain. Glad to have a few new gravel riders out and finish the course along with everyone else.
My apologies for the couple of cue card misdirection's and resulting extra miles put in by the lead group.
Please submit any grievance to the rules committee within 24 hours... Oh, sorry. Too late.

First place Mens went to Greg "The Diesel" Knoll who completed the appropriate course in 4 hours time.
First place Womens went to Kyia "Sunshine" Anderson who, despite the racing neutralized in the park violation, still garnered fastest woman. The rules committee was going to impose a time penalty but the point would have been moot with being the only women and all.
John and son Alex were the fastest tandem.

One of 2 dogs that just wanted to follow our riders. They must have ended up far from home.

Thanks to: Lantto's Store for allowing us the use of their parking area and donating the top prize; Greg for providing refreshments; my wife Susan for the cookies; and Revolution Cycle for donating the swag. Another big thanks to Chris for all his mapping and assisting on the route.

Hope to see you all at the next events coming up on the GravelGrinderNews

Good work and heart displayed to keep up the spirit of the gravel riding scene. Look for DirtBag in October.

Updated 8PM:

Gravel Fest Registration as of 7/26

  Name                         Age     Gender                        Cat.                 Dist.                Ride #

1) King, Kurt              52        M                     Gear                Longer            

 2) Glasser, Susan         49        F                      Gear                Long

 3) Vigil, Bobby           58        M                     Gear               

 4) Bernhardt, Greg                  M                                             Long

 5) Boehmer, Brian       32        M                     Gear                Longer

 6) Sloma, Brett            45        M                     Gear                Long

 7) Jung, Tim                51        M                     Gear                Longer

 8) Stunek, Kurt           56        M                     Gear                Longer

 9) Amo, Bryon            43        M                     Gear                Longer                         9

 10) Amo, Sheila          49        F                      Gear                Longer                         6

 11) Rammel, John       30        M                     Gear                Longer

 12) Fish, Rick              43        M                                             Longer

 13) Anacker, Rod       46        M                     Gear                Longer

 14) Knoll, Greg           46        M                     Gear                Longer                         1

 15) Ross, Pat              

 16) Kendall, Tom        67?      M                     SS                    Longer

 17) Taylor, Tom          67        M                     SS                    Longer

 18) Falloon, Tom                     M                     Gear                Longer            

 19) Stoffel, Patrick                 M                     Gear                Longer

 20) Kvaal, Chris                      M                     Gear                Longer                         2

 21) Dahlin, Joel           37        M                     Gear                Longer

 22) Anderson, Kris                 M                     Gear                Longer

 23) Anderson, Kyia                F                      Gear                Longer

Cue cards, numbers, map, (gotta get waivers), parking done. Number rags ready.
Plan on arriving around 8-8:30am for a 9:30 rollout.
I'll post the rider list tomorrow. 

The local gravel kings will be notably absent so the podium is ripe for ascension.

French Lake CR 3 & CR 37

Making the final recon of the long course in the morning to QC the trail portion of Stanley-Eddy. More folks are signing up and expressing their newbyness but willing to try which is just what we want. More converts to the gravel! 
Here is the latest from Weber's Deck FB for the show located across the street from our finish line... "Looking forward to our Sunday July 27th show at Weber's Deck!! 1pm-5pm!! Family friendly, so bring the kids, a lawnchair or blanket, and a cooler of your favorite beverages!!! Bands will be: Peewee Moore & The Awful Dreadful Snakes (Chatanooga, TN), The Hobo Nephews Of Uncle Frank (Holyoke, MN), and Javier & The Innocent Sons (Minneapolis, MN! Looking forward to seeing y'all out for a great day of music, and friendship!!!!"
This is the first running of this course and coupling with Weber's. It will make for a full day of fun so come prepared.
Stay tuned... JJ

Dirt Bag

presents

Gravel Grinder Music Fest

Sunday, July 27th

Put this date on your calendar and send me an email (JavaJohn) for entry with the usual info:

    Category - Geared/Single Speed/Tandem/Fat
    Gender
    Age
    Distance - Long/Longer

This is going to be a laid back, music in the grass, drinks in the cooler at the end of our gravel ride event. Route and distance is being plotted but plan on 60 miles with a turn off for a shorter ride. Short by grinder standards but this is a good opportunity to bring out the kids/friends/people interested in checking out the fun without having to commit to a long grind.

Start and finish in French Lake at Lantto's. They have made parking available to us in the field on the south side of the store. They are well stocked and the rollerdogs are a staple.

Weber's Deck is right across the street and will have music starting at 1 PM. It's an outdoor venue, literally a deck on the back of his house, and it's lawn chair seating. Some info on what Casey Weber is doing for the Americana music scene can be found here ReverbNation  and here Weber's Deck FB.

Planning on a 9 AM rollout which should give us enough time to wrap up this activity and get  you set up for the next.

I'll be updating via this blog and FaceBook.

Gravel on,
JJ

Here is the MapQuest link to the park off of CR 75... Dirt Bag Start  It's the first left after the Clearwater river about 1/2 mile NW of town.

There is parking and bathroom facilities there. Grocery store and Nelson Bros. is just off I-94 to the north.

Text or call 320-224-7938 if you have questions.

Training Ride on the Dirt Bag course

We're 5 months away from the 5th running of the Dirt Bag. Greg and I took off on a beautiful, sunny and warm day to run the course from last year. It is a wholly different experience when it's not cold, windy and blowing sleet.

We stopped at mile 65'ish at Corky's in Fairhaven  for a PBR, it seemed like a good idea. Then I had another idea... We make Corky's the finish line and use a shuttle bus to haul everybody back to the start.
Probably the PBR talking.

Another idea... There will be a training ride on the Dirt Bag course this Saturday, May 10th.
Meet at the same park and we'll plan on rolling out around 9-9:30am. The weather forecast looks like partly sunny and 67. We should roll back in around 5 hours later.

It's short notice but perhaps a good warm-up for the following weekend happenings in Spring Valley.

Gravel on friends,
JJE

Dirt Bag 2014

Hello friends of Dirt Bag,

I've volunteered to run this years event so Mr. Doom can go on sabbatical. But don't worry, he's promised to make himself available for consulting and will not be far away.

Thinking that there will be plenty of time to get this years edition into the planning stages, I just got looking at the calendar on GravelGrinder and surprised to find that October weekends have quickly filled up. Not wanting to make anyone choose between events I consulted the Farmers Almanac for MN (slightly warmer and drier than average) and decided to go for the 25th of Oct. So far this puts us as the last gravel ride of the season.

Not planning on re-inventing the wheel on this one. Look forward to the same course as road conditions/changes allow but hope to find the funds to open up the shelter and have a hot meal and beverages when you finish.

As always, the emphasis will be on fun so perhaps you could wear a costume but if not, please wear something just in case the Farmers is wrong.

What's the internet equivalent of "stay tuned"?

Keep cranking,
John