AntiEpic Gravel Grinders - Colorado

The long course AntiEpic Gravel Grinder is in it's 3rd year this year. All 160ish miles of it in early April at 6,000ft above sea with views of three 14er's (Long's Peak, Mt. Evans, and Pikes Peak).

This year we've added a 50 mile course for people to enjoy.

Share your pictures, thoughts, questions, or anything else you'd like that is specifically about the rides.

Rode the front 66 miles of the AE on Saturday. Windy to start, but good conditions most of the time. First 4k+ elevation gain ride of 2014 was tough!

Couple notes:

• Before getting to Maul Rd there's an erosion ditch across the road that's a bit of an eye opener!
• The Hill is still steep
• Co Rd 74/82 and Co Rd 82 were covered in melting snow which made that really slow/tiring
• E Smith Rd & E Cherry Creek Rd was graded so the brake bumps are mostly gone!

 

First RidingGravel post, so excuse me if there is an answer to this out there somewhere already. I did look. Signing up for the 160, woo-woo. Figured this'd be good training for my 3rd (non successful yet) Colorado Trace Race attempt. Anyhow, are there any Garmin GPX files out there of the 160 course?

Thanks,
Matt

Rode 125 miles of the route yesterday. Boy, the monster wind, the loose sand that was everywhere, and the bottle loosing chatter bumps. Probably going to go with a mountain bike if there is no moisture by Saturday.\nI used 35mm Maxxis Raze on my cross bike and they were great for most everything except the loose sand which was a lot. So that's why I am thinking of a MTB with wider tires. I will also helped with the sand wells that suck you into them. Damn near washed out a dozen times. \nThe wind was 20-30 mph from the south the whole day, so going out was great. However, coming back was a major challenge. It kept pushing me across the road into the gutter as well as through the loose dirt. Which lead me to go slower on the downhill sections. Going uphill into the wind made the climbs, no matter how short, almost impossible. \n\nThe B road was pretty good, rideable,the whole way with no water. It was pretty cut up in certain sections, so if there is water this week it may be tricky. \n\nAnyway enough of the whining, all in all it was great to get out there. See you Saturday.\n\nPat.

Things could be interesting this weekend with all this snow we got.  Anyone know how much snow Monument got?

I'm in Southwest Colorado Springs and we have 4 inches. So there is at least that up there, but the roads are dry
here as the ground temps are warm. I think the snow will be off the roads but the roads may still have moisture in
them and make for some soft gravel riding.