Advertised as “A Gravel Bike Race and a Dang Good Party,” the Fist Full of Dirt gravel fondo in the wild west town of Cody, Wyoming attracted world class riders and ushered in the long awaited restart of gravel fondo racing in the United States.
With three distances (The Good, The Bad and The Ugly) the 123 registered racers could choose how much dirt they wanted to tackle.
In “The Ugly” 100-mile race, 73% of it dirt, Peter Stetina and Kathy Pruitt came out on top, each winning their first Fist Full of Dirt.
Peter Stetina, 33, is a former World Tour road racing professional turned champion graveler who made the trek to Cody for the race after cancelling his own Stetina’s Paydirt event due to COVID-19. By averaging 3.93 w/kg he “easily” won in 5:08:39. Barrett Brandon was next at 5:27:17 with Paul Thomas third in 5:43:39.
Kathy Pruitt, from California, is a professional mountain biker with multiple national and world titles who won in 6:23:55. Alysha Krall was second in 7:09:00 followed by Myranda Hamel at 7:48:30.
Barb Shellenberger won the The Bad Women’s 60 mile gravel race with Paul Plourde winning The Bad Men’s gravel race.
Afterwards, everyone enjoyed a socially distanced bluegrass-country-folk concert, along with a beer garden and food trucks.
Proceeds raised through the event support local youth riding and racing opportunities.
Complete Fist Full of Dirt gravel fondo results here.
GRAN FONDO DAILY NEWS 