Tuesday, November 14, 2017

Gravel and dirt road conditions.

The conditions at the Carlton Reserve keep getting better and better! The county mowers are doing their thing and mowing the network of old roads on the property. There are over 80 miles of old ranch roads crisscrossing the 38 square miles of the available land. Every year, we ride all of them and select the best combination for the 60 mile loop of Piggy's Revenge.

This year the conditions seem favorable to include a few new sections that we have not been able to use for last few Piggy years. Expect to ride multiple surfaces from a well maintained gravel road to long abandoned sections where we will mow a narrow path. Expect rough challenging sections with patches of pig damage, some really smooth fast sections, grassy fields and maybe a short section of asphalt.

The best bike for the 60 mile loop would be a monster cross rig, great for the fast smoother sections or a 29'r to get you through the rough stuff but would be slower elsewhere. The truth is, no matter what rig you run nothing beats a big motor. So we will continue exploring and evaluating until we finalize the route in December.

The 20 and 40 mile options are going to be mostly single track with some gravel connectors; the best ride for those is definitely a Mountain Bike and for the purist, a rigid single speed would be a option too. We don't have any hills here but we make it up with a lot of twists and turns.

The Sag Stop: "Tom's Oasis" will be back this year. The usual shenanigan's will be going on and new for this year, help from the Real Bikes Venice Special Assistance Crew (RBVSAC).

GET SIGNED UP TODAY and get a Piggy's Revenge T-Shirt in your size. After the 20th of December no t-shirt, but you will be able to sign up until 6:00 pm the night before the event. We have a field limit of 300 this year and no day of event registration.

A nice straight and fast section.

Freshly mowed section there is a good hard line but it's hidden by the cut grass.

The south Power line trail looking west.

Maintained gravel road.