Like a circular firing squad of mutual respect, all of the gravel route makers I’ve spoken with variously point to one another as sources of inspiration and motivation. Quinn Dusenberry stands out as the one with the most mentions.
Most notably, Quinn set up the popular Northwest Gravel Riders Facebook group, and the Ride with GPS Northwest Gravel Rider Route Collection. His intention, especially with the RwGPS group, was to set up a way to crowd source new routes. As it turns out, he estimates 95% of the folks in these groups are “followers” looking for ready-to go, established gravel routes.
Lucky for the rest of us these groups exist and make it easier to enjoy otherwise difficult to navigate off-road routes. As Quinn rightfully says, “most people aren’t willing to wing it.”
Quinn’s cycling progression is similar to that of most avid riders. He says he was a late bloomer, first as a bike commuter on a hand-me-down bike. He progressed to some sprint triathlons and longer rides. He rode the 2009 Seattle to Portland (STP)–“never doing that again.” Next was an experiment with cyclocross, which led to thinking about the possibilities with wider tires, and trying some of the Vicious Cycle gravel events.
In the late 2000s, GPS was still being adopted, and heat maps did not yet exist as a route-discovery resource. So, Quinn simply ventured into areas that looked interesting. He gradually built routes through a progression of trial and error. In the beginning, he also leveraged Roger Burton‘s gravel riding route knowledge (“Roger was a mentor”), and has enjoyed the ongoing support of his cycling buddy Rick Heckenlaible.
Now that GPS heat maps have been established, Quinn (and most of the other route makers) look for places off the heat maps as the basis for establishing new routes.
“We live in an area that is chock full of potential routes. The gravel stuff is like the wild west…10 years in we’re still just scratching the surface. Only down side of gravel is the amount of driving to get to most routes…”
Quinn noted that folks recently paid $4000 to do a route in Montana that he set up just looking at a map.
I asked Quinn about the factors that make a good gravel route:
–About 1000′ of climbing per every 10 miles of cycling
–Grades of no more than 15%
–Views or some other kind of reward: “Loggers are our best friends–they are creating the roads and the views”
–Distances depends on weather/season, but he prefers routes under 60 miles
Quinn hates hates riding rail to trail conversions. He looks for routes with “frequent changes in scenery with little goals–like nibbling your way through a ride with rewards along the way.”
Quinn’s Recommendations
“Do interesting things. Follow and ‘stalk’ riders who are doing things you want to do.”
Ride with GPS Gravel Collection
Northwest Gravel Riders Facebook group
