Gravel Race Up Spruce Knob (2019)

[consularrider]

Why is there no 60+ category for the Classic Route?

[Sunyata]

Why is there no 60+ category for the Classic Route?

Why is there no 60+ category for women? (Welcome to my world!)

The Classic route is much shorter and tends to have much lower registration, so the organizer breaks it up into less groups. There is not even a single speed category for the shorter course.

[secstate]

Also, for anyone contemplating the two-day ride, it seems there will be a shuttle to ferry camping gear from the ride start to the Day 1 ending point in Davis. I'm guessing they'll also shuttle gear back to the start after camping but that's not explicitly mentioned in the e-mail. So, if a worry about how to carry your gear is an obstacle to registering, looks like it won't be an issue. Bikepacking without the packing!

[Sunyata]

There are also a couple of hotels and several Air BNB's in Davis if camping is not exactly your style. Come ride bikes, drink beer, and eat burritos (and ice cream) with me!

[secstate]

The 158-mile route was a wild ride with a huge range of conditions, from fast, paved downhills in the fog to an abandoned stretch of forest service road ridable only with a mountain bike (or, as we discovered, a highly modified Subaru). It was also a wonderful tour of that part of West Virginia.

[drevil]

The 158-mile route was a wild ride with a huge range of conditions, from fast, paved downhills in the fog to an abandoned stretch of forest service road ridable only with a mountain bike (or, as we discovered, a highly modified Subaru). It was also a wonderful tour of that part of West Virginia.

What was your bike and tire setup? (For you, and anyone else that did the GRUSK and doesn't mind sharing. Pics don't hurt also )

[josh]

What was your bike and tire setup? (For you, and anyone else that did the GRUSK and doesn't mind sharing. Pics don't hurt also )

Didn't do the Grande/Loco, but the ~75 mile Epic race. My do-everything bike: Santa Cruz Stigmata cross bike, 38mm tubeless Schwalbe G-Ones (~40 psi front, ~44 psi rear), 50/34 x 11-32, MTB pedals (hi Subby), 2 water bottles. No flats, high enough gearing so that you're not spun out stupid quickly on the paved descents, low enough gearing on the other end that the gravel climbs out there are as minimal a problem as they'll ever be -- what more could you ask for? I didn't crash on the grassy doubletrack this year (or at all), so I'm happy about that.

[Sunyata]

Bike: 2019 Salsa Warbird frame with SRAM Rival 50/34 x 11-36 with Force hydraulic brakes and Stans wheels (front is an Iron Cross, rear is a Grail since I destroyed the Iron Cross at DK)
Tires: Maxxis Ramblers 40mm, tubeless with Finish Line sealant
Pedals: Time ATAC 8's (again, Hi Subby!)
Bags: Apidura frame bag, top tube bag, and front roll; Revelate Terrapin seat bag
Hydrations: Two bottles and my trusty Source hipster

It was an awesome two day event. I learned a lot about fully loaded riding on a drop bar bike (especially when it comes to pushing it uphill thanks to FR 244 being completely washed out and my rear hub blowing up with 2.5 miles to go).

Final numbers:
156.46 miles
11,181 feet of elevation
6,662 calories burned
12 Subarus attempting Canaan Loop Rd
1 Hellbender Burrito
10 trophies on Strava
1 busted Stans 3.30Ti hub

Once I actually have time to sit down and write up a race report, I will share it.

[secstate]

I have only one bike, so I used it!

The Space Horse worked just fine with Schwalbe Marathon Mondial 35mm tires and a light hand to feather the cantilever brakes well in advance of hard turns.

[Subby]

I did the grande loco and the epic and my main recommendation would be to not do that? Or do it but don't be fugging dumbass and use road pedals. And if you use road pedals, don't have them ratcheted down so high that you cannot unclip as you slide into a ravine (theoretically). Also don't use road pedals just because they happens to also be tiny power meters bc no one gives a shit about your power and the most you are going to do with that number is look down and see it and go "hmmm that's interesting" and then you will ride through bb-deep creeks and short them out anyway.

bike: giant revolt advanced 0
gearing: 50/34 and 11/34t in the back (comes 48/32 stock up front but echoing what Josh wrote I wanted a little more for the flats - also the 34t is completely unnecessary and I will swap it for 11/32 as soon as it wears out).
tires: 40mm Giant Crosscut gravel - tubeless (I ran Donnelly 36mm last year and I think I prefer those - 40 is a bit much for the paved and hardpacked gravel stuff)
bike color: all black (this is the most important thing)

Here it is in it's office post-race and post-wash