Dirty Reiver

[Oxoman]

Anyone doing it this year on here. Looking to do the full 200k this yr as a last blast before I'm 60 and slowing down a bit. Done the Dirty 130 the last 2 yrs so hopefully do the big one this year.

[fatbikephil]

No, (sorry!) but in a fit of socialising I've entered 'Gravel Foyle Grand Old Dukes' in June - https://www.dukesweekender.com/ Looks like quite a nice route (cue thunderstorms)
Whitestone on here has done it, supposed to be good fun....

[whitestone]

Yeah I did it in 2018 on a singlespeed On-One Pompetamine with 39:20 gearing, let's just say that was a little on the high side I did walk a few of the climbs in the last 30km or so. I had double handlebar tap which helped a lot with trail vibration.

There was one very short section on the 200 that was technical, it was actually on one of the MTB trails, I just hopped off and walked the four or five metres, other than that the roughest bits were also on the shorter route.

[Oxoman]

For the last 2 yrs I've seen all sorts of bikes doing it. By far the most stupidest was 2 young lads on fixies, going down hill they just unclipped and kept there legs out the way. Bloody frightening when they flew past me at nearly 30 on one bit. I'd not heard of the dukes one till you mentioned it, you never know maybe next yr.

[fatbikephil]

For the last 2 yrs I've seen all sorts of bikes doing it. By far the most stupidest was 2 young lads on fixies, going down hill they just unclipped and kept there legs out the way. Bloody frightening when they flew past me at nearly 30 on one bit. I'd not heard of the dukes one till you mentioned it, you never know maybe next yr.

I read a blog from those guys - one of them was on a Surly Steamroller which I have but set up as a road bike. I've never tried the feet off the pedals fixie descent thing....

[Leerowe76]

Not at them prices

[thesloth]

I'm down for the 200.
I signed up for this a few years ago, but DNS because I couldn't find any other will any other willing bodies to make the long drive up from the south.
Looking forward to it. I hope it will truly be gravel and not mud.

[Oxoman]

Firstly good luck. Did 130 2023 and it was all 4 seasons in one day, mainly minging till midday. First time I did it on panaracer semislicks, big mistake. 1 grassy / muddy ish single track section with no traction. Where the log piles had be stacked some mud / ruts from logging activity 2024 was a big wake up call as everywhere was white over with frost, bloody cold till late morning. Gravel was great all be it frozen to start with, washed out on a frozen corner and survived guy in front did his collar bone. Again a bit of semi decent single track with mostly gravel with bits by log piles a bit muddy. The weather makes or breaks it tbh. Hence I've only done the 130s, attempting the 200 this time but will play it by ear on the day. Epic well organised event. Advice for the day, let the racing snakes go as it can get a bit congested at the start in places leading up to the start zone and also afterwards on some zigzags.

[PeddarsWayJason]

Did the 200 a few years ago on an XC hardtail running Thunderburts and it was perfect. My old wrists and neck can't cope with a day off road on a gravel bike. Really enjoyed it apart from a section that turned into a massive headwind for about 3 hours which was absolute hell. Like towing a caravan with the handbrake on.
One thing though; a day spent passing a non-stop stream of riders fixing punctures has made me think Gravel was invented by inner tube manufacturers trying to shift old stock ;-)

[whitestone]

Ha!

When I did it the number of mechanicals in the first few kilometres was unbelievable, that and the number of horrifically adjusted drivetrains.

[Oxoman]

Several other tips.
Tubeless rocks and make sure the gunk is recently topped up. Decent bottle holders required and don't use 750mm bottles they flip out of the cages. First few fast downward sections are usually littered with them and bike parts.
Decent padded gloves and bartape and lower front tyre pressure a bit. 130 / 200km on a gravel bike is brutal. Expect pain.

[Dyffers]

No, (sorry!) but in a fit of socialising I've entered 'Gravel Foyle Grand Old Dukes' in June - https://www.dukesweekender.com/ Looks like quite a nice route (cue thunderstorms)
Whitestone on here has done it, supposed to be good fun....

Also signed up for the Grand Old Dukes this year to bookend a week of Munro bagging.

Years ago I signed up for the Dirty Reiver thinking Kielder was just north of the Peak district... Gave my entry away in the end rather than drive from Dorset for a day ride. It's still languishing on my bucket list, currently beyond the event horizon.

[fatbikephil]

Also signed up for the Grand Old Dukes this year to bookend a week of Munro bagging.

Years ago I signed up for the Dirty Reiver thinking Kielder was just north of the Peak district... Gave my entry away in the end rather than drive from Dorset for a day ride. It's still languishing on my bucket list, currently beyond the event horizon.

Found last years route which I guess will be used this year. All looks good (I've ridden it all many times!) and actually meant for a gravel bike
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/42454443?lang=en

[Oxoman]

They've supposedly moved Dirty Reiver to another area so should be a different route. Should anyone want the route i should still have previous yrs gpx files.

[PeddarsWayJason]

Is it still in Kielder forest? The one slightly negative thing I found was that the landscape is very similar for a lot of it, with the lines of forestry-planted trees all looking the same. Towards the end it was getting a bit monotonous ( I took about 9 and half hours to get round - that's a long time to look at rows of Pine lol).

[Oxoman]

Still in and around the forest, but your in and out of areas that have been harvested plus there's various art installations to break it up abit. TBH I tend to ride and take it as a challenge rather than site seeing.

[boxelder]

For the last 2 yrs I've seen all sorts of bikes doing it. By far the most stupidest was 2 young lads on fixies, going down hill they just unclipped and kept there legs out the way. Bloody frightening when they flew past me at nearly 30 on one bit. I'd not heard of the dukes one till you mentioned it, you never know maybe next yr.

I read a blog from those guys - one of them was on a Surly Steamroller which I have but set up as a road bike. I've never tried the feet off the pedals fixie descent thing....

Those lads regularly come and ride the Reiver and are always great value - super keen riders, with a great sense of humour and know how to do an event weekend properly. Really hoping they come again this year.

[boxelder]

They've supposedly moved Dirty Reiver to another area so should be a different route. Should anyone want the route i should still have previous yrs gpx files.

Nope. Very similar to last year and certainly still based at Kielder Castle. Why move?

[Oxoman]

What is meant was that the start and finish are the same they just go off in different areas to mix it up.