Gravel Ride of the Week: Dirty Kitten Gravel Race
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links, through which we earn a commission.
Time to get your funky 80s-themed socks on, we're going gravel racing! Oh yes, we're back with another Gravel Ride of the Week and for this edition we head to the Dirty Kitten Gravel Race. I was definitely excited to be back at this awesome race venue and my eagerness to compete translated into the best performance I've ever had at a gravel race to date. I'm not going to spoil the ending and you'll just have to see how it all played out by following along with the action in this post and the video that goes along with it. Let's get stared!
We travelled back to the Locust Hill Preserve, just outside of Culpeper, Virginia, for the Dirty Kitten Gravel Race (DKGR). It was our third trip to this beautiful farm after attending the DK Gravel Grinder and DK Gralley Cat events in the past. The Dirty Kitten productions team, consisting of husband-and-wife power-couple, Chris and Alex, truly have a passion for the sport of gravel cycling and their events are always filled with loads of character. The DKGR was no exception and the careful planning that went into this day once again made for a super fun day out on the bike.
The course for this race consisted of a 20-mile loop around the privately-owned farmland that stretches over 5,000 acres. I entered for the 60-mile race, comprising of 3 laps around the course. Longer, as well as shorter events also took place at the venue throughout the weekend.
The property where the race takes place is only accessible to cyclists during the Dirty Kitten gravel events, and with the experience that I’ve gained from prior Dirty Kitten events, it almost felt like having some home turf advantage.
The most notable preparation that I made for this race was to opt for a more aggressive setup on my bike. I knew that many parts of the course contained loose and chunky gravel sections and therefore, I made the strategic decision to run my 650b wheels, with the Pirreli Cinturato Gravel M 50mm tires. This was a decision that most certainly paid off in the end. The extra comfort and stability that I got from my setup actually gave me a bit too much confidence through some of the technical sections. In places like a grassy field and the rough gravel forest trails that followed, I got way too eager and found myself leading the charge for extended periods at a time. If you who watched my GRUSK Gravel Ride of the Week video then you’ll know about my dropped chain issues during that event. You’ll be happy to hear that my Wolf Tooth Gnarwolf chainguide was most certainly fitted this time around.
I was feeling remarkably good during that first part of the race, and it finally felt like I was actually in it, to win it. Normally I'm just surviving somewhere in the back of the pack, but this time I was mixing it in with the action, chasing down breaks and stirring up the tempo near the front of the group. Race mode activated!
In the video that goes along with this blog post, I provide a detailed play-by-play breakdown of how the race unfolded. Be sure to check that out to see all the action from the day. You'll see how I drew on all my previous racing experience and deployed tactical attacks, countered race winning moves and used hard accelerations up steep climbs to battle my way through to my best finish yet at a gravel race.
The 60-mile race that I was competing in was, of course, only a small part of all the racing taking place on the day. Elsewhere on the route the 80-milers were duking it out in a hotly contested race, while many other riders were also putting in excellent performances around the challenging course. Given the dry and dusty conditions that could be found around this course, everyone who finished can say that they lived up to the Dirty Kitten hashtag: #RideDirty. Congratulations to everyone who got it done.
I got a podium!!
In the end, I managed to secure a third place in the men's 60-mile elite category and couldn't be happier to get my first taste of a podium at a gravel event. What a fun day! It's always great to be back at Locust Hill Preserve and all the Dirty Kitten events are surely worth adding to your 2022 race calendar. Many thanks to all who made this event possible!
-Wiehan
