On Saturday 500 graveleurs crawled out of winter hibernation to kick-off the State of Michigan’s gravel cycling season at The Dirty 30 Gravel Grinder in Ionia County, just outside Grand Rapids USA. With fourth wave coronavirus cases surging in the state and the potential for another lockdown increasing, cyclists did not waste time and rode The Dirty 30 like the world championships.

The 30-mile main event included 3 miles of asphalt and 27 dirty rural miles of Michigan gravel, plus Ivan The Terrible – one of the dirtiest, meanest, soul crushing, leg breaking climbs in the region.

Starting in temperatures just above freezing, a quick pace, flat roads and a bit of sun kept riders tightly packed and toasty. Just over an hour later, a large pack of 20+ riders rolled back into the town center of Saranac to sprint for The Dirty win.

Ted Schneider got The Dirty deed done, besting all challengers, winning the sprint with a two arms-up victory salute and crossing in 1:23:38. Stephanie Ditmer won The Dirty Women’s race in 1:24:23 with a 5 minute lead over the next rider.

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In a new 50-mile event, Scotty Albraugh soloed in with a time of 2:11:51 to win, with Joseph Bianchini and Jesse Seimen taking second and third place respectively a minute later. Page Boldt finished in 2:23:14 as the first women.

Photos © Dirty 30

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