KG4.0a Recap - A Truly Fantastic Weekend

Wow, what can I say? That was an amazing ride, an amazing series of rides and a truly fantastic weekend. I'm humbled by the many that came out and made this return to normal, return to humanity a possibility. I literally get choked up thinking about it and the incredible joy in brought when compared to the profound darkness that was last year for most of us. The Phoenix is risen and all I can hope is that everyone had as good a weekend as I did, as we did.

Huge amounts of gratitude to my mom, Donna for the hard work on the amazing mac-n-cheese that she made and then delivered while we were out riding and to my aunt and uncle Colleen and George at Top of the Mountain Vegetable Farm & Bakery for the mid ride salvation. And of course, to Cathy for all the cooking, cleaning, keeping me focused and not only allowing but encouraging me to keep the party going. 

And thank you all for bringing food and drink and making the post ride feast and fest over the top. Grassroots events like this are where we all started; where it all started. They often represent the best of us, what we can put together on our own with a little bit of planning and teamwork. 

It takes a team. It takes a family.

Here are a few images from the weekend of rides. I literally laid awake the following evening, starting to plan the #KG5 route in my head. Expect some changes for that ride; departures from the norm that I hope will make it even more fun. Also expect some more organized group rides and adventures as well and even some road trips to exotic new locations (for some maybe).

Thank you all!

Pre-ride the evening before:

KG4.0a:

 Day 2 ride of the weary:

The KG4.0a Routes

 OK, here are the overall route descriptions for the KG4.0a. We will have three ride length options centered around the base route, which will be ~85 miles long. There will be various extra credit sections adding another 15 miles to the base route and bringing climbing up over 11,000' of vertical in the ~100 miles. There will also be a shorter route, that will bypass sections of the base route and being making a ~70 mile route.

The route design will hopefully make for numerous sections of rider overlap between the various groups, which makes it feel more like we are all riding together. This has worked well in the past couple of iterations and will hopefully work well again this time.

Additionally, there are multiple stores along the route to replenish fluid and nutrition. As always, the event is un-lead, un-supported and un-marked. Navigation and support are up to you. This means technical support as well so prepare for everything.

KG4.0a Route Preview

After much consideration, recon and planning I've got a set of routes together for the KG4.0a. Here is a sneak peak at the KG4.0a extra credit route. I'd considered going remote again this year but between the challenges for lack of support which have been exacerbated by the loss this past year, some of the only remote stores near the potential route coupled with the fact that we have all spent the past year in isolation, I decided to stick to some more chosen paths. 

This affords us the luxury of passing by multiple stores where one can restock on fluid and nutrition. It also allows us to once again plan the main rest stop around my aunt and uncle's Top of the Mountain Vegetable Farm + Bakery in Walden. I've also planned the route choices, of which we have three of varying length, so that we should have lots of overlap throughout the day. The routes will be roughly 70, 85 and 100 miles in length. Climbing of course will be stout, above 100' of gain per mile. But it is VT afterall.

As always, we have to limit the number of participants for this event due to a lack of parking at the start. We'll be getting a registration sheet with contact info as well as an event waiver together this week. I highly recommend an RSVP as soon as possible if you are planning to come. As always, we also have limited space available at our place, the start and finish, for folks who would like to stay. Additionally, there are spots available in which to tent.

More info coming shortly.

KG 4.0a

We are confirmed. The Kingdom Graveleur KG4.0a gravel epic will be held in person on Saturday June 26, 2021 from the Kingdom Graveleur Gravel Camp in South Kirby, VT. As always, there will be one base route used with an additional route that has extra credit sections to add some distance and likely, elevation. The base route will be about 85 miles with the extra credit sections bringing the bonus loop to about 100 miles. Expect over 10,000' of elevation gain for the bonus loop all told.

Additionally, we will be making a true weekend of it and are planning a Sunday June 27, 2021 ClassIV and Mixed Trail Ride as well that will be more suited for a monster or MTB.

More info to follow in the coming days and weeks. As always, this event is grassroots, free and unsupported. Space however, is limited as we have a very finite amount of parking available.

More info as well as contact details can be found at the Kingdom Graveleur Facebook Page.

KG3.0 Wrap Up

What can I say? It was pretty much the perfect day. The day that you literally wish would never end. That is how the Kingdom Graveleur KG3.0 ride played out this year. Absolutely perfect day of weather, a challenging variety of routes that kept the groups close together and overlapping while providing incredible vistas for everyone.

In going back through the images that Cathy and I took throughout the day, the one thing that strikes me the most is the number of images that show folks taking in the views, appreciating the ride, stopping to take pictures. This is what the KG is meant to be, this was what we hoped for. A ride, not a race, an adventure or even an expedition. We got lucky and I think that we nailed it this time.

The ride was incredible with climbs, views, a fantastic stop at the ever gracious Top of the Mountain Vegetable Farm followed by fun and food prepared by Cathy and my Mom. An incredible day that lasted later into the evening than any of us completely exhausted folk ever thought that it would.

Many, many thanks to all those who attended, who brought food and drink and supplies to share. To those who helped setup and cleanup and made the day and the event the best one ever.

Truly a memory that will last a very long time.

And thank you all for supporting a reincarnation of how playing bikes used to be. Taking it back to what I hope to be the future of non-competitive cycling events, showing that you don't need to pay a fortune to see the sights and experience the love of the ride, with others.

Now to start work of the routes for the KG4. I love this part.

#KingdomGraveleur #KG3 #EverydayCyclingAmbassador #SharingTheLoveOfCycling

KG3.0 Route Recon - All the Rest

Over the course of a few days we got out and did a recon of the proposed Kingdom Graveleur KG3.0 extra credit route and some of the full route non extra credit sections. All in all, the route is looking fine and the gravel is coming along quite nicely after the long hard winter and spring. Even the ClassIV sections were not that bad all told and with a few weeks still to further settle we should be in great shape come June 22nd.

It's looking like the full route is going to come in at a respectable 97.2 miles with just over 10000' of gain spread pretty evenly throughout the course of the day. The extra credit route will top that at 114.3 miles and just a hair under 13000' of gain with the tipping point that jumps it up from just about 100' of gain per mile come in at mile 88 with the day's optional out and back ascent that garners about 1800' in about four double digit average percent grade miles. But hey, then you get a really long descent. Nice thing is that you can take it or leave it at any point based on how you are feeling.

There are a few ClassIV unmaintained roads that the route will hit. Most of these are easily passable but all require attention. Ride safe, ride smart especially on the multiple long descents after the first rest stop which will be at Top of the Mountain Vegetable Farm, which as the name implies, is at the top of a mountain which you will have the opportunity to climb. The ClassIV that gets us back to civilization is remote and rustic. The descents are steep and in cases, loose. Treat them with the respect that they deserve. I posted a video compilation of the Coles Pond ClassIV Descent.

After last weekend I modified the routes to avoid a couple of the longer and steeper descents that were on the initial proposed route. They added nothing and had more risk than reward.

I still need to do a little more recon to look at some of the minor points but I think in general we are in good shape. The route visits many, many scenic vistas with incredible views. Enjoy those views and the route and don't treat this as a race. The reward is in the ride itself.

If you are not on the notification email list for the ride, which is how all notifications, plans and invitation are handle, and you would like to be shoot us a message and we will get you in the loop as appropriate. You can also contact us through our social media presence at Kingdom Graveleur.

For now, here are some images of the route from last week.

Enjoy and see you soon!