Gravel Grinder News: Events, Wool, and Wheels

Gravel Grinder News: Events, Wool, and Wheels – by Guitar Ted

Here at Riding Gravel, we get press releases and offers for you, the readers, to consider that, on their own, do not really warrant their own stories. However; from time to time enough things stack up to make it worthwhile to take up some bandwidth, (and to clear out my in-box), so here we go with some news on events, a wool jersey giveaway, and a wheel trade-in program.

Event News: recently a new event was announced, which isn’t really so much a new event as it is a combination of two existing events. The SBT GRVL and the Leadville events happen on the same weekend, so they figured that maybe some folks might want to try doing both back-to-back on bicycles. Dubbed the “Leadboat Challenge”, riders would take on the Leadville 100 and follow it up with the SBT GRVL Black event, all on the same weekend, for a total of approximately 244 miles. Interested? Slots on the roster are by application only. See the site here for details.

Truckee Dirt Fondo Adds E-Bike Categories: As e-bikes gain in popularity, some gravel events have introduced e-bike categories to their events. Probably one of the highest profile events so far to do this is the June 2020 Truckee Dirt Fondo, held in Truckee, California. The 2020 date will be June 13th.

The event press release states that riders will have three route options which can take you over 8000 feet on gravel that goes over Sardine Peak through Tahoe National Forest. As for how an e-bike will fare, the Truckee Dirt Fondo folks have given this consideration by offering optional battery drop-points and a strategic battery-pit time penalty system. The hope is that this will infuse the event for e-bikers with a strategic/logistical element.

For more on the e-bike category and other elements of this event, see the event website here.

ANTHM Wool Jerseys: With the turn from Fall to Winter weather in much of North America, thoughts have switched over to wool clothing and warmth. Wool isn’t some “old man’s legend” clothing choice. It is a real, smart, and sustainable material that does a great job. Especially Merino wool, and a company out of Portland, Oregon is touting its jerseys as being some of the best you can get.

The ANTHM Saltzman Wool jersey is feted as having details and care in manufacturing that place it above the rest when it comes to wool jerseys. You can read about their process here. What is interesting now is that ANTHM is having what they call the “Saltzman Sweeps”. It’s a way that you, the reader, could score a couple of these jerseys for yourself.

Here’s how it works. First you have to follow ANTHM Collective on Instagram. Next you have to sign up here. Hurry up, because you’ve only got till the 24th of November to git’er dun. (Terms and conditions apply)

Enve Wheels Trade In Program: Got some old carbon wheels kicking around that you’d like to convert to something more up-to-date and relevant to gravel? Well, you might be interested in Enve’s “Trade-In, Trade-Up” program. Here’s the pitch from the press release we got:

No need to wait for Black Friday, from November 19, 2019 until January 3, 2020 customers will receive a $900 credit for trading in an ENVE wheelset, or $600 for non-ENVE carbon wheels. The program is offered through ENVE retail partners or direct at ENVE.com (available in US only). More info is available at https://www.enve.com/en/lp/upgrade

Trade ins can be applied toward any Enve M Series, G Series, or SES road wheel sets. Enve takes the old wheels traded in, refurbishes them where applicable, and resells them, donates them, or in the case of wheels that are too far gone, they recycle those. Last year with this program Enve donated to cycling programs in developing nations, high school mountain biking and road development programs.

That’s a wrap for Gravel Grinder News! Note- Information and images supplied for this post came from the respective companies and marketing departments for the brands mentioned in the post. Riding Gravel is not connected to any give-a-way, trade-in program, and is not responsible for any issues arising from entering the giveaway or using the trade-in program mentioned in this post.

Share:

Author: Guitar Ted

Guitar Ted hails from Iowa. Home of over 70,000 miles of gravel and back roads. An inaugural member of the Gravel Cycling Hall of Fame and Co-creator of Trans Iowa in late 2004- Guitar Ted has been at the forefront of the growth of gravel events and riding since then. Creator of Gravel Grinder News in 2008, he produced the premier calendar of gravel and back road events. GT joined forces with Riding Gravel in late 2014.

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.