Gravel grinding meets enduro at California’s Grinduro
Grinduro brings together the best parts of a gravel grinder and an enduro (click to enlarge). Photo by John Watson – The Radavist
From the folks who put on the Downieville Classic and the Lost & Found, the Sierra Buttes Trail Stewardship (SBTS) is launching its third bike event called Grinduro on October 10 in Quincy, California. Sponsored by Giro Sport Design, SRAM and Clif, Grinduro takes the best parts of a gravel grinder and an enduro event and mashes them up into a two-day festival in the Sierra Nevada mountains filled with gourmet food, free camping, live music, a handbuilt bike show and art show with some of the industry’s most talented names.
Entry fee is $200, which includes two free nights of camping at the fairgrounds (RV hookups are extra), a catered breakfast, lunch and dinner on Saturday by celebrated chef Chris DiMinno, beer from Sierra Nevada and wine from GRIP and Dunn Vineyards.
As the very first event of its kind, Grinduro will feature four timed segments over a 60-mile loop with 7,500 feet of climbing and a Gran Fondo-style mass start from Quincy. Because placing will only be based on the four timed segments, just like an enduro event, Grinduro promises to be a great day on the bike with friends, socializing in between moments of pain and glory. The course features a mix of surfaces including dirt, gravel and pavement, with the highlight of the course being the last timed segment of the day; a ripping 3,000-foot singletrack descent down the new Mount Hough Trail back into Quincy.
The event features a 3,000-foot singletrack descent off Mount Hough (click to enlarge). Photo by John Watson – The Radavist
The most common question people are asking about Grinduro is what kind of bike will be best. Although the course was designed with cyclocross bikes in mind, a lightweight rigid mountain bike would also work great. The trails around Quincy are fast, fun and flowing much like trails in Oregon. But that’s not to say there are no rocks. There definitely are. Tubeless tires and disc brakes are highly encouraged as there are rockier sections and long descents, one of them that trends downhill for nearly 30 miles. I will personally be riding a cyclocross bike with 35c tubeless tires, hydraulic disc brakes and yes, a dropper post.
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For those who’ve never visited, Quincy is a quaint logging town of about 5,000 residents in Northeastern California set right at the transition between the Northern Sierra Nevada and the Southern Cascade Range, a town that’s home to more than 50 new miles of multi-use singletrack on the Mount Hough/South Park Trail System, built by the SBTS on land managed by the Plumas National Forest, Mount Hough Ranger District.
Grinduro will showcase this burgeoning region with not only world-class riding, but also with world-class catered food and live musical acts. The event will be held at the Plumas-Sierra County Fairgrounds, home to the famous High Sierra Music Festival.
Continue to page 2 for more info on the inaugural Grinduro. »
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