Author: Bob

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2019 Dirty Race Recap

Many thanks to our generous sponsors for the prizes.

Race Recap

By EdC & JustinJ, The weekend of the inaugural Clean & Dirty races exceeded our expectations in every way! The weather was fantastic (if you don’t mind a little sunburn), there were no serious incidents; even the holiday traffic was not too bad!
 
We got off to an easy start at 7am. For the Clean riders this entailed a steady long climb up the first hill, followed by a long rolling downhill winding down the valley to Qiandao Lake. A brief respite on a flat section around Weiping lead to the second long climb and descent, which deposited riders at the bottom of the infamously grueling “Forbidden by the coach” climb out of Shitan village. A technical descent took riders to the start of the “rubbish ride”, with only two more smaller and easier to negotiate hills before galloping home. Finishers started to roll in mid-afternoon. The event was won by Scott & Nicole, with some additional special prizes awarded for some not-so-serious categories. 
 
Dirty riders also began with a big effort, gaining 700m elevation to climb into an isolated valley with beautiful concrete road descents, a brief section of hike-and-bike, and ending in flowing riverside singletrack. After converging briefly with the Clean ride, the Dirty ride took a scenic detour along a flagstone path, before rejoining the Clean ride to attack “Forbidden by the coach”. The fun was only just beginning for the Dirty riders, however, as they faced a further 3 challenging climbs: the “Red rocks” dirt road grinder, the “Pig” climb that finishes off steep concrete switchbacks and steeper gravel with some pig-dodging, and finally the exhausting effort of the “B*****d lite” climb (yes, there’s a harder one) that took riders high above Sanyang village. The descents from these climbs offered little respite, with sections like the descent from Poshan really testing riders’ offroad handling skills. Everyone pushed to their limits; the suffering was truly sincere, as was the sense of accomplishment in finishing each section and the race. Josh B. came first, Jerry 2nd; and Sara and Olivia were awarded joint “DNF” winners 🙂
 
Riders were met by blue skies, sun sets, mountains, rocks, streams, ancient hill villages, rivers, forests, wetlands, birdsong, inquisitive and helpful locals, and tasty coffee, sandwiches and homemade energy bars and cakes.
 
All in all it was a great day out! We hope next year is even better than this year. Dirty, now described as “The Most Challenging 1 Day Cycle Race In China”  tries to combine adventure, wild scenery, and varied experiences all within easy accessibility from the major cities of the area.
 
Various road and adventure rides were enjoyed before and after the main events; along with lots of beer, coffee, and food.
 
🙂 Next up – a 24hr race, combining north and south sections with culinary and cultural stops 🙂
 

A fun and inspiring video recap & vlog by Zhou Chain

Gallery

Photos of the 2 races. Many thanks to the particpants who also took the below pictures / video especially Miles & cZhou. Video links will be uploaded soon.

 

Some info / routes / gps of the two rides.

There Where Two Races

The Dirty

  • 8-10h of punishment and beauty.
  • 165km of mixed-surface riding; from tarmac to single track and everything in between.
  • Includes short sections of steps.
  • Not flat.
  • Mountain bike shoes required. 
  • Road bikes are not advised.

The Clean AKA Nearly Dirty

  • 8h of laid back cat and mouse.
  • 180km of tarmac and concrete road.
  • Not flat.
  • Road bike and shoes are advised.

Final course routes and distances are subject to change. GPX & course notes will be provided the day before the races after a final inspection. Heavy rain on the day will alter course and race formats.

Sunday Relaxed Ride

Chilled group Sunday ride with possible extensions. Stay longer and experience some of the great routes in the area.

Thanks for some great prizes

Prizes where given by some fantastic sponsors to the days top achievers. See info on the great prices and sponsors. A participants memento was also provided to all finishers.

Many thanks to our generous sponsors for the prizes.

 

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MSR – Mixed Surface Riding

A brief intro to the types of surfaces we will be riding for the Dirty Ride and the gear we suggest. For the Nearly Dirty Ride road bikes and road shoes will be fine.

Our Mixed Surface Riding / Adventure Riding / Gravel Riding is all about:

Interesting and technical routes, with a bit of road, off road, and some short hikes.

MSR are about touching the local environment through your bike, experiencing different Surfaces, Different Grades, Different Obstacles and Different Views. Its not about coming first, DNFing is not an issue, its not about cutting it short, thats all fine! Its about Resilience, overcoming challenges while experiencing a beautiful rural environment.

Surfaces & Obstacles

From great roads through to single track.
Following paths that provide great views of the landscape.
Various types of obstacles and challenges to overcome.

Gradients

Flat:If we remember there might be some flat sections but not sure. Maybe 400m.

Gentle Up:5% or below. Yes there is some on great tarmac.

Hard Up: 8% to 12%. Quite a bit on concrete. 

Extreme Up: 25% or thereabouts for some special sections. 

Down:What goes up goes down. Some 10km fast descents on perfect tarmac. Some other stuff too………. New brake pads are seriously recommended.

Some flat but mostly little hills.

Equipment choices

We are receiving lots of questions about the kinds of bike that are suitable for Dirty Weekend. Of course, a dedicated mixed surface race (MSR) or gravel bike is great; but is in no way a requirement. A mountain bike, touring bike, cyclocross bike or lightweight road bike (with some minor modifications) will all work. Overall, MSR bikes will be quicker due to their combination of low weight, greater comfort and more stable handling (due to wider tires run at lower pressures and typically longer geometry), and stronger stopping power from disk brakes. However, the type of bike you turn up on matters less than your experience and resilience. That being said; here are three key gear choices that we think are the most important when tackling events such as Dirty Weekend.

1. Shoes

MSR rides are not suitable for road shoes! There are numerous slippery or uneven surfaces on the course (including some minimal walking on stone steps) that would be a nightmare to navigate in road shoes. And if mud gets in the cleats, your pedals will likely stop working.  We recommend mountain bike shoes and cleats (there are many cheap options, and they are great if you are considering future touring and adventure riding). Otherwise, flat peddles and hiking shoes or sturdy trainers work.

2. Tires

The best tire choice for an event is often a source of endless debate. There is no right or wrong answer; although wider and tubeless is better for MSR events. Of course, your tire choice is dependent on your bike: mountain bike tires are too wide for a CX frame, for example.

Here are your options, in (approximate) order of preference:

  1. MSR tires such as WTB Riddlers or Panaracer Gravelkings are usually semi-slick: they have no tread or only shallow knobs in the middle, and larger knobs on the sides for cornering traction. They work well on roads, excel on hardpack trails, but lose grip in muddy conditions.
  2. Mountain bike tires (these days, typically 2.2 inches or wider) are available for all types of off-road conditions (from hardpack to deep mud). However, the control gained from the larger knobs and increased width will also increase the rolling resistance on roads. We recommend that you choose a tire with a dense central tread pattern, as it will roll better on tarmac. 
  3. Knobbly cyclocross tires. Similar to MSR tires, but usually much narrower (33mm is the usual maximum width). Faster on roads than MSR or mountain bike tires, but will offer less stability and control in rockier conditions due to the narrower width and corresponding higher air pressure. 
  4. Road bike tires (especially wider foul condition tires such as Specialized Roubaix or Continental 4 Seasons) are workable, but you will be forced to dismount more frequently due to lack of traction. You will also probably puncture more often. However, you will make up time on good road surfaces. It will be uncomfortable but just about manageable on some of the rougher descents.

We suggest you go tubeless, especially with anything at or above 30mm in width. This will almost eliminate pinch flats, smaller punctures will seal themselves, and you can run much lower pressures for better traction.

3. Gearing

There is plenty of climbing on the Dirty Weekend course. Most elevation gain is from sustained climbs on shallower gradients, but there is also a number of shorter, sharp ascents (around 200m elevation gain) with gradients hitting 25%. A decent climbing gear is highly advisable! We recommend:

  1. 1*11 – 1 to 1 gearing. We like 42 front 10-42 rear.
  2. Road compact. An 11-28 cassette will be a grind; fit an 11-32 if you have one. 
  3. Mountain bike gearing. Excellent for the rough stuff, but you will spin out on long downhills (and flat roads, if you are a strong rider).

No matter how light or strong you are; it’s always nicer to be able to spin up the last hills, rather than be too tired and have to push. 

Equipment choice is a personal thing, and it will be interesting to see what works best on the day. The right equipment is important, but at the end of the day it’s your legs and resilience (plus enough food & water) that will get you through the race. 

Various other things are important to get correct on the day:

Tech: We need your GPX / GPS files so please use Strava or similar. Routing will be done through a GPX file we give out 24h before the race. Our timing will be done by a simple stop watch with checking of your GPX file for the top 3 positions in each category. There are two check points you will need your cards stamped. Otherwise you could try cutting corners and taking shortcuts but that will end up in very long walks over mountains. We suggest you bring a well charged phone with wechat so you can chat with us if any problem. A small battery bank for phone or other charging is also nice to have.

Spares – 2 tubes, pump and tools etc. Usual Stuff for a long self supported ride.

Food / Drink – Snacks and water will be provided at some stops and there are shops along the way. Nutrition and hydration will be key to how you perform on the day and should not be under estimated.

Lights – Some people might need so best to bring. Flashlights can be bought from local stores along the way but really only as last resort.

We will provide a GPX route and printed map the day before. This shows the drink stands / check points and key climbs and sections of the courses.

More Q&A’s will be provided by EdC and JustinJ along with some of our sponsors. Email or wechat us any questions. More Information on the Dirty and Nearly Dirty Races – www.wildhomestay.com/dirty/

Many thanks to our generous sponsors for the prizes.