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.