Gravel Ride of the Week: DIY Gravel Rooted Vermont
One way to stay motivated as an athlete is to constantly look for ways to reinvent yourself. During the challenging times we are faced with (when just about all the races are cancelled), it’s important to find creative and fresh ways to challenge yourself. Back in May, I posted about the Dirty Kitten Gravel Race Strava challenge that I used as a way to keep motivated after a few of the spring races were cancelled. I’ve built up some nice fitness over the summer, but with no races any time soon, I once again had to think about a new way in which to put my form to the test.
That brings us to Ted King’s DIYgravel challenge. If you’ve never heard of this, then be sure to pop over to his website to read more about it. What this challenge basically involves is that you create your own version of a race that would have been on Ted’s racing calendar this year. Cyclists get to replicate the races for themselves, be it through distance, elevation or other attributes about the race, and then stand a chance to win some swag from Ted King’s sponsors. He kicked off this challenge in April at the time when the Rasputitsa gravel race should have taken place. Other races like the Belgian Waffle Ride and Dirty Kanza have since then also featured in his challenge.
Rooted Vermont is one of the races that I was planning to attend this year. The race takes place in Richmond, VT, organized by legendary gravel racers Ted and Laura King. I’ve been following their status updates on social media closely throughout the year, with the hopes that Rooted Vermont could still take place in 2020. Unfortunately, health risks didn’t improve, and sadly this race too had to drop from the schedule. As such, Rooted Vermont became another race that was included in the DIYgravel challenge. I decided to use the Rooted Vermont challenge as inspiration for my Gravel Ride of the Week video and went out on a gorgeous August morning to capture some footage. Be sure to check out the video that goes along with this post to see my ride in action.
Ride of the Week
If you’ve heard of the Rooted Vermont race, then you’ll know that they are big on the “mullet protocol.” This refers of course to the “business in the front, party in the back” style. The Kings focus on creating an event that caters not only to the hardcore gravel racers (business up front), but also want to create a fun day for all, by keeping the party spirit high throughout the day. The DIY Rooted Vermont Challenge encouraged participants to follow the same mullet protocol, while attempting to recreate the Rooted Vermont course for themselves. While I can’t say that I nailed the hairstyle or hipster clothing on the day, I did at least try to give my ride as much of a Vermont flavor as possible. I did this by including as many barn sightings as possible along my route - something that Ted is well-known for, whenever he goes out on a Vermont gravel ride.
My DIYgravel ride kicked off in Leesburg at the Loudoun County High School. The ride started off with my version of “the business in the front” and followed the paved W&OD bike trail for the first 4 miles. After climbing to the highest point on this trail, the route soon hit gravel and the real fun began.
You can see the basic outline of my route displayed on the map below. A more detailed view of the route can be found by following the link to my Strava activity. In total, the route stretched over 48mi/78km (the distance of the shorter course at Rooted Vermont). Elevation on the day came in at roughly 3400ft/1030m.
Wrap-up
The weather played perfectly into my favor on the day and the fresh cool air that followed tropical storm Isaias really added to the enjoyment of my DIYgravel Rooted Vermont ride. Days like these are the ultimate for a cyclist! The big focus that Rooted Vermont places on the “party in the back” links in perfectly with how I felt on the day – it really is all about getting out on your bike and having a good time. Ted and Laura, we hope to see Rooted Vermont back in full swing in 2021. Until then, we can all still enjoy a ton of really awesome rides by creating our own DIYgravel races.
Leave a comment and let us know what DIYgravel rides you’ve done lately!
-Wiehan
