The Dirty Reiver

As I once again check on the weather app on my phone, I reflect back on a day almost 2 years ago when the seed of the latest “epic” adventure was sown. It was the Rouleur show in London in November 2019 and all the talk was Lachlan Morton and his epic gravel exploits on YouTube, the Dirty Kanza – a 200 mile epic in the American mid-west; his unbelievable solo effort in the GBDuro – Lands end to John O’Groats off road, mad rides that the team at EF Education First thought would be such good publicity that they let a World Tour rider have the freedom to do without the constraints of a normal road season program – challenging rides, mad rides that ignited an interest that slowly caught hold. GRAVEL.

Well, it’s just a bit of Ruff Stuff and we’ve done that for years on club runs – what’s all the fuss!

In the belly of Victoria House in London the Hope Olympic machine played second fiddle to the plethora of new lustrous and sleek gravel bikes – bikes specifically designed to ride our “Ruff Stuff” – sleek lines with the latest technology, a far cry from the winter bikes of our club runs…

… and then someone did it! The gauntlet was thrown down, the challenge was made (and in my mind at least accepted). “We’re riding the next Dirty Reiver” it’s 200km of gravel riding in the remote Keilder wilderness. You have a lot to answer for Jo Yates!

Scroll forwards almost 2 years, the original date postponed due to COVID-19 and then postponed again and again we finally find ourselves making final arrangements for our trip to Keilder in September 2021.

The intervening 2 years has seen a massive increase in the rise of gravel riding as a separate discipline in the sport. The club has a dedicated weekly gravel ride; members regularly ride gravel specific events; gravel trips away have been organized like the King Alfred’s Way and have gone down in the club annuls as classic adventures. But, constantly looming in the distance like a grey cloud over the dark Pennine hills has been the challenge of the Dirty Reiver.

So, it’s with an air of trepidation and excitement that Jo, Andy (nee Danny!) Mandy and I pack the van we’ve borrowed to travel up to Keilder. Andy Bolton has taken Danny’s place and has, in a very gentlemanly gesture, opted to accompany Mandy on the Dirty-Sixty-Fiver, the short route option of the three rides. Jo and I had got our sights firmly fixed on the full deal, the Dirty Reiver 200.

And so it is, 3 ½ hours later we find ourselves on a campsite infested with midges in the shadow of Keilder Castle (actually a c.18 shooting lodge). Having signed on and collected our numbers and timing chips we valiantly braved dining al fresco trying to eat a last supper of chili and rice before having to ignominiously admit defeat to the midges and retire to the only safe haven available – the pub!

If you know Andy, he’s a cheery chap, and non-more so than at 6 o’clock in the morning. So, we were up early ready for breakfast – only to find that a local fox had decided that it was more deserving than we were and had made away with the eggs – oh well I’ve only 200km to ride.

And that is how we came to be on the start line for the Dirty Reiver gravel ride.

Jo and I sit pensively at the back of the group ready to roll-out at 7:45. We’re here for the ride not to race we convince ourselves – we mustn’t be giddy and get carried away at the start overstretching ourselves in the first 30 Km. So we roll out at the tail end of the group for the 2km “neutralized” section before the timed start commences… and we’re off. Starting towards the back has its advantages, plenty of riders to reel in, but on the single-track fire roads through the forests its difficult to get past groups of riders travelling at slower speeds on the shorter routes. Short intensive efforts on the steep climbs to get past are not what we’d planned!

The gravel roads are good. Well maintained hard packed roads used by the forestry commission, but if you’re not on the racing line it’s rocky and dangerous territory. We pass more and more riders at the side of the road fixing flats, keeping our fingers crossed that we don’t join them I was really glad I’d put new tyres on and gone up a size to 700×45. And it’s hard intensive work, either steep climbing or fast descents so you need to keep your wits about you all the time. It’s also vastly different to our normal gravel rides too. No micro breaks, opening gates, regrouping and chatting – just full-on intensive riding.

We reached the first feed station at 45km and quickly refilled our bottles grabbed a bit of food and pressed on. The climbs kept coming and the day was warming up too and after only 50km the intensity of this mammoth challenge was starting to hit home.

At 63km the route split, the riders on the Dirty-Sixty-Fiver peeled off to the finish and we embarked on the second section. By now I was struggling with my back due to the intensity of the climbing and a part of me was envious of Andy and Mandy who on reaching this point would be heading back to a warm shower and an afternoon enjoying the sunshine on the campsite – it was time for a reset. After walking a short steep section to give my back a rest, Jo broke out the paracetamol and along with the Moam sweets picked up from a bucket at the top of timed climb section, it was just the tonic I needed to gather myself together and press the reset button.

The next 40 km were tough but not as severe as the first section. The hills were more of a long grind followed by super-fast sweeping descents, just like climbing Blackstone Edge and then descending down the other side – but all on gravel trails.

As we dropped down to the shores of Keilder Water, the largest man-made lake in Europe, we picked up a fantastic swooping twisting path along the shore riding in the dappled sunshine under the shade of the fragrant pine trees. A clash of dates with a charity dog walking event called for steady riding on the easiest trails of the day which was a blessing and meant we rolled in to the second feed station at 103km feeling in good spirits and ready for a break. Sat in the clearing in glorious sunshine, having overcome the last 100km of grueling gravel, the next 100km now seemed achievable. With a quick look at his Garmin Jo commented that we had done 2100m of the 2750m of climbing in the event, so with the comfort that the majority of climbing was done we embarked on the second half.

And indeed, the route profile eased. After a long climb the fast gravel descents seemed to go on for miles and reaching speeds of 60kph on loose gravel trails was a little alarming. But the tough early pace and vicious terrain had taken its toll and we were flagging as we neared the last feed at 147km. Jo had started to cramp, so salty minestrone soup was a welcome change to the standard sugary morsels as we took a short break.

The last 50km was a slog. Jo’s Garmin now showed well over the total elevation for the whole event and as we crossed Keilder water again with 18km to go and were faced with a 20% climb we realized the easy finish we’d hoped for wasn’t going to materialize – event organisers aren’t that kind! But battle on we did and eventually the route dropped down again to the shores of the lake, and we were rewarded with the last few kilometers along the water’s edge to a rousing finish back at Keilder Castle cheered in by Andy and Mandy.

Riding the Dirty-Sixty-Fiver, they had been unfortunate to be amongst those at the side of the trail with a total of four punctures between them. Thanks to the service team at the feed station, they were able to restock on tubes and continue with their ride. As we sat in the pub for the second night due to the vicious midges and reflected on the weekends rides Andy almost bought some prize leeks in the pub auction! That really would have capped the weekend. Anyone for Dirty Reiver 2022?