I love riding on dirt and gravel roads and racing on them can be just as cool. Sadly, as I look out my window it is snowing yet again, adding more inches of the white stuff on to the many layers of ice and snow that have been on the ground since Thanksgiving. So, any riding I do in the next few weeks will probably have to be done with four-inch wide tires.
That is not to say that SOMEONE isn’t going to be riding and racing on dirt in the coming days, including many of the top Pros in the world at the 2014 Strade Bianche semi-classic in the Tuscany, Italy.
While not 100% dirt or gravel, racers will ride over 10 sectors containing totally over 45 km of gravel during the 200 km race. To me that’s not as cool as some of the races we have here in the States like the Crusher in The Tushar, Hilly Billy Roubaix or the Almanzo 100, but as far as Pro road cycling in concerned it is pretty cool.
Here’s a look at last year’s Strade Bianche race:
Given the current weather and long-range forecasts for here in Michigan, I don’t know if you can call the races below dirt road races, but they are technically ON dirt roads… they just may have a few inches of ice and snow on top on race day.
- Melting Man – March 9th
- The Barry Roubaix – March 22nd
- The Lowell 50 – April 5th
- The HellKaat 100 – April 19th
I’d like to say I was definitely doing some of these races, but sadly 42-year-old men on blood thinners have to pick and choose which races they risk it at. My racing may have to be confined to those in which ice is not a factor. We’ll see.