All food services on route are on Route 58, including a variety of country stores and convenience stores with restaurants at the Grayson Highlands General Store and in Independence. Various AirBnBs and HipCamp locations farther from Route 58 provide additional options and unique experiences. Most of Grayson County is rural, so most services are clustered along Route 58. Lodging, camping and resupply at the Grayson Highland General Store & Inn (Mile 21) With steep downhill grades, be sure to test your brakes’ function well before attempting Grayson County’s hills. Reliable, strong brakes (disc preferred).Some climbs reach 15% grades for short stretches. Low gearing: less than a 1:1 ratio of smallest chainring to largest cassette ring.The ideal bike would have these characteristics: All roads are legal for e-bikes and open for vehicular traffic between the two rail trails on the Traverse route. The unpaved roads are generally in good condition and non-technical in nature. The optimal bicycle for this route is either a gravel bike or road bike with wider tire clearance (a mountain bike is also suitable–suspension not necessary). The Grayson Gravel Traverse is a hilly mixed-surface road route connecting the best dirt and gravel roads across Grayson County, VA. What type of bike to use (tires, gearing, etc.) Summer months bring warm weather, though much of the route is shaded and benefits from the cooler temperatures that come with higher elevations compared to other parts of Virginia. Spring colors usually peak in late April, and fall foliage in October. The best months to ride in Grayson County are April through October, with spring and fall days having the possibility of colder temperatures overnight and even the possibility of snow at higher elevations. RWGPS offers free subscription levels to access information and use its website and application. Ride with GPS (RWGPS) is a popular digital mapping and routing website and mobile phone application that lets cyclists find routes that are relevant to their interests, see its details (distance, elevation profile, road surfaces) and points of interest, as well as navigate the route either using the RWGPS app or by syncing it to their own cycling GPS (Garmin, Wahoo, etc.). View a Collection of Grayson Gravel Routes: Camping at Comer’s Rock Trip Planning In addition to the Grayson Gravel Circuit, another option is to use the TransVirginia Bike Route for a northern return loop from the New River Trail at the Byllesby Dam back to Whitetop Station farther north. Endless options to explore Grayson Gravel beyond these routes exist, with Independence as a great basecamp location for day trips. Longer options exist to tour or bikepack the 72-mile Traverse as either a 143-mile circuit returning back to Whitetop Station via a northern route in the Jefferson National Forest, or a point-to-point 150-mile “Long Haul” from the western terminus of the VA Creeper Trail in Abingdon, VA to the eastern end of the New River Trail in Pulaski, VA. This overlooked gem of Virginia presents some of the best gravel cycling in the state, mostly unridden and undiscovered. The route follows optimal west-east gravel corridors just south of the Grayson Highlands area, in the foothills of Virginia’s highest peaks, criss-crossing the creeks that carry water from the high mountains down to the New River. There is a $10,000 cash purse for the event, so the top ten men and women will be getting paid.The Grayson Gravel Traverse is a 72-mile mixed-surface gravel bike route that connects the Virginia Creeper Trail and New River Trail over well-maintained and remote roads featuring a variety of challenging climbs. We anticipate the first finishers to complete the course in 8-9 hours, averaging roughly 20 MPH, perhaps even faster. While we will have a few aid stations on the course, it’s important to get your fueling and nutrition dialed in to avoid any bonking or stomach distress throughout the day.įor those looking to be competitive, it will be a face-paced race and most contenders will be running aero bars. We do recommend a 12.5 MPH average to complete the race before it gets dark. So race-specific training shouldn’t require much climbing, but rather flat, higher speed sessions.įor beginner athletes who are just getting into long course gravel bike racing, it would be wise to get at least a couple of century rides before the event. There’s about 3K feet of climbing across the entire route. Tyler: The inviting aspect about the MORAN 166 is that the course is relatively flat. Gravelstoke: 166 miles is a big ride! How should someone think about training for this race in a way that may be different from other endurance gravel events over 100 miles?
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