Grumpy Grind 8 - May 3rd, 2020
109 Miles! It's a fun distance. Really!
Grumpy Grind 8 is on!!! After a year of brooding over bad weather essentially canceling the 2019 ride, I've finally decided to give the old Grumpster another go. I apologize to those who like a crisp riding calendar to plan for, but that is all I'll apologize for. I have a great route planned, full of noteworthy views, hills, and maybe some more hills. There are still some details about the ride that I've yet to iron out, so you will have to be patient with me on that and check the website for weekly updates.
Grumpy Grind 8 will start and finish at a great new location in Sterling IL, and will be an approximately 109 mile ride. The event will be FREE, as always, and riders will still be completely responsible for themselves. There won't be checkpoints or "bail out" options. There won't be sag support. I won't be doing cue cards this year either, but instead I'll be posting the route the week before and have riders be responsible for downloading the route or printing off their own cues. Yes, I'm abandoning my traditional ways of cue cards and joining the modern era. My goal is to provide a great ride, and I'll let you do the rest of the work.
Just like in years past, there will be no field limit or deadline for registration. The proper etiquette for pre-registration is to mail in your postcard, which will then put you on the "official" 2020 Rider List. I'm excited to be giving this ride another go in 2020, hopefully you'll choose to come ride.
Grumpy Grind 8 will start and finish at a great new location in Sterling IL, and will be an approximately 109 mile ride. The event will be FREE, as always, and riders will still be completely responsible for themselves. There won't be checkpoints or "bail out" options. There won't be sag support. I won't be doing cue cards this year either, but instead I'll be posting the route the week before and have riders be responsible for downloading the route or printing off their own cues. Yes, I'm abandoning my traditional ways of cue cards and joining the modern era. My goal is to provide a great ride, and I'll let you do the rest of the work.
Just like in years past, there will be no field limit or deadline for registration. The proper etiquette for pre-registration is to mail in your postcard, which will then put you on the "official" 2020 Rider List. I'm excited to be giving this ride another go in 2020, hopefully you'll choose to come ride.
Why so Grumpy?!
The beautiful silence of a bike.
A Little Grumpy History.
The Grumpy Grind really isn't Grumpy at all. It just started off as a catchy name back in 2013. I first started this event when I was super excited from my experiences of doing rides like the Gravel Metric (Dekalb IL) and TransIowa (Grinnell IA). Our local area had plenty of gravel and I thought it would be cool to put on a little event myself. My goal for the Grumpy Grind was, and still is, to put on the type of event I would like to ride myself. Over the course of years, the number of gravel grinding events has exploded. Gravel, a venue for riding that was once misunderstood and considered ridiculous has now become mainstream. I've personally grown a little weary of all the experts and opinions surrounding gravel and it's place in the bike industry. Gravel isn't complicated. What I do know is there are some less traveled roads out there that are awesome to ride. Riding those gravel roads is something I enjoy, and there's nothing complicated, or Grumpy about that!
