Has anyone done any riding in the Chatham New York area. New ride for 2015, called the Farmers Daughters gravel ride. All dirt,62 miles and 6,100ft of elevation.
Hi, I'm one of the organizers for this event, and would love to have you participate. Please let me know if you have any questions, I'll try to answer them promptly.
One minor correction: the howler is empty, but you do get a free Chatham Brewing beer at the finish (assuming that you're 21 or older), and it is probably possible to have your howler filled, but you'd have to pay something for that. Chatham Brewing is putting out some really nice ales and beers, so it would definitely be a good first use of your new howler! I'll speak to the owner of Chatham Brewing, I may be able to get us a special price for a howler fill.
The riding in this part of Columbia County is indeed wonderful. We have a great course lined up, with a mix of dirt roads, minimal paved roads, and some great off-road stuff as well, from mowed field trails that include a couple of wider "skinnies" to non-technical singletrack to (probably) a spot or two that you'll need to hike-a-bike. Also a great aid station provided by Bountiful Bread of Albany, mechanical support from one of the area's best bike shops (Steiner's), some great company on the ride including several regional elite riders, great raffle prizes at the finish, gourmet food and ice cream trucks at the finish (you pay, but great food), a t-shirt you'll actually want to wear, and more. All for $40 entry fee if you register by the end or April.
I should add that a howler is a half growler, thus 32 ounces capacity. I didn't know that until a few months ago, maybe I'm the only one who didn't know .
I probably need to collect a list, will work on that and publish what I get on the website and Facebook. It's a pretty rural area, so I don't think there are any major chains right in or around Chatham. There is one place I know of that looks nice and is just off the highway about 15 minutes drive Northwest of Chatham. I marked it on Google maps for you, you can check it out here. It's a Comfort Inn and Suites, has got good ratings, and seems pretty reasonably priced. If that doesn't work for you, keep an eye on the site or Facebook page for a posting on this matter.
Great! It was a big success in its first year, and we've got an even better event in the planning phase for 2016. We've just set the date recently, it will be May 15, 2016. Please keep an eye on http://www.farmersdaughtergravelgrinder.com for updates, or like our facebook page Farmer's Daughter Gravel Grinder. I do get notifications from this forum and a couple of others, too.
I am co-founder/organizer of the Farmer's Daughter, and follow this forum, so if you have any questions you can ask them here as well as on the event website or facebook page. I'll answer promptly.
I hope to meet some of you there, I can guarantee you a fun and challenging experience!
For any of you whom I haven't already reached via the event's facebook or web pages, I thought I'd let you know that registration is now open for the 2016 Farmer's Daughter Gravel Grinder. You can register at http://www.bikereg.com/farmersdaughtergravelgrinder. We've raised the participation cap to 400 for this year's event. We're confident that we can still provide a fun and friendly atmosphere at that level. Interest is high, though, so please register early to ensure your spot (and save some money!). We've kept the pricing the same as last year. We're looking forward to seeing old friends and making new friends for a great day of cycling, food and drink, and friendship on May 15th!
If you have any questions, e.g, what the course is like, what bike to use, etc., feel free to ask them here, on the Facebook page (search for Farmer's Daughter Gravel Grinder on Facebook), or on the website (www.farmersdaughtergravelgrinder.com), and I'll get back to you quickly. There is a lot of information on the website pages as well, you might find your answer there immediately.
We got nothing but great reviews for our inaugural event last year, and we've got some stuff in the works to make this year's even better, and we'll be using the same beautiful course.
Hope to see you there, cyclecuse! It's shaping up to be a great event this year. We'll have live entertainment from 2PM until at least 7PM, the local rotary's specialty is chicken BBQ and they'll be there, as well as other good food vendors with omnivore, vegetarian, and vegan offerings. The fantastic aid station at mile 28 will be back again, with a variety of gourmet energy food thanks to our sponsor Bountiful Bread, and of course Chatham Brewing will be there again with a variety of their award-winning brews including the eponymous rye IPA, the Farmer's Daughter. We've got a really nice jersey for sale at our cost this year, too, hope to see a number of them at the event. Take a look at the website (www.farmersdaughtergravelgrinder.com) or our facebook page (search for the event name on facebook). It is a challenging, fun event, suitable for cyclocross or gravel bike, but also hardtail MTB, and we'll have a pretty big contingent of fatbike riders there this year. I'm pretty certain that it will fill to capacity, so please register soon to guarantee a spot!
I'm happy to answer any questions you may still have, just reach out here.
jstillman wrote:Hope to see you there, cyclecuse! It's shaping up to be a great event this year. We'll have live entertainment from 2PM until at least 7PM, the local rotary's specialty is chicken BBQ and they'll be there, as well as other good food vendors with omnivore, vegetarian, and vegan offerings. The fantastic aid station at mile 28 will be back again, with a variety of gourmet energy food thanks to our sponsor Bountiful Bread, and of course Chatham Brewing will be there again with a variety of their award-winning brews including the eponymous rye IPA, the Farmer's Daughter. We've got a really nice jersey for sale at our cost this year, too, hope to see a number of them at the event. Take a look at the website (www.farmersdaughtergravelgrinder.com) or our facebook page (search for the event name on facebook). It is a challenging,
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\nI just gotta say that this was a great and epic event....as tough as the d2r2 and wonderfully designed, planned and executed. I was completely wrung out and came in on fumes but here it is 4 days later and I am wishing I was still out there on those beautiful roads.
\nHats off to Jon and crew!
For those of you who on this forum who have participated in the Farmer's Daughter Gravel Grinder in its first two years, we'd love to have you back again on May 21 in Chatham NY. And for those who haven't given it a try yet, please consider us this year. We've quickly reached the point where many consider this a must-do gravel event in the Northeast. It's fun, challenging, reasonably priced, and all proceeds beyond our costs go to land preservation, youth cycling development, and trail building efforts! You can learn more at http://www.farmersdaughtergravelgrinder.com, or just ask me, I'm co-founder/organizer of the event.
Registration is open as of today (Feb 1, 2017) here:https://www.bikereg.com/farmersdaughtergravelgrinder. The participation cap remains at 400 cyclists for this year’s event. Please register early to ensure your spot (and save some money during the early registration period, which ends March 31st).
Those of you who have participated in past years will notice that the entry fee has gone up by $10. We’ve decided to provide a full barbecued chicken dinner (with vegetarian/vegan alternatives also available) at the finish this year. This change enables our meal providers to better plan for the event so that everyone gets a great meal. All of that $10 goes to the meal provider, and all their proceeds go to charitable purposes. We’ll provide details as we firm up the menu.
We’re exploring some new venue options for 2017. Stay tuned for information about that. We will not be using the Columbia County Fairgrounds, but whatever venue we choose will be in or around Chatham, with quick access to the dirt roads we’d all like to ride on.
The course will undoubtedly have a couple of changes, too, in part because of the change in venue, but we expect the course to be very similar to that of past years.
We’re looking forward to seeing old friends and making new friends for a great day of cycling, food and drink, and friendship on May 21st!
This looks like an awesome event. I'm just curious if it's possible on a road bike? I have a Ridley with 28s and have ridden deep gravel with it many times. Are there any hike-a-bike sections?
Much of the course is on dirt roads, which are usually in fine shape but can have the occasional deep or soft spot depending on how wet the Spring has been or whether the roadbed has been graded recently. You'll be fine on those with your bike, assuming that is geared appropriately for a bit course. There are also several off-road sections where you'd want at least file treads, and would probably be more comfortable with a wider tire than a 28. Normally, I wouldn't recommend a road bike, but the closer it is built up to a cross bike the better. I've ridden on courses just as challenging alongside people on similarly equipped road bikes. I have written a description of the course, including the off-road sections, here: http://www.farmersdaughtergravelgrinder.com/course/. Take a look. The single and double track sections may have you walking here and there, it depends on your level of confidence, but that also holds for many on cyclocross bikes.
\nI hope that's helpful, let me know if you have any other questions.
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