Recap: Loudoun 1725 Gravel Grinder

Middleburg, VA   6/09/19

Recap:Rod and I traveled to Middleburg to be part of this inaugural event. I was a little worried about it being their first time of running the event, but not to worry, the ride did not disappoint. Roads were well marked, lots of volunteers that monitored you coming into the aid stations, so they knew where everyone was. Aid stations had a good variety of food, even dixie cups with apple pie in them! The route was beautiful, option of 40, 60, 80 miles. We opted for the 60 mile, since rain was forecasted for most of the day. We ended up getting rained on last 5 miles, so a good day, would have been in a lot of rain on the 80. The ride supports the preservation of the gravel roads in Loudoun county. Lots of stone fencing and horse farms.The hills are not as steep as we are used to on most of OGG rides.We had around 4200’ of climb in 60 miles; it did not feel that we climbed that much.I would definitely recommend this ride; Middleburg is a nice small town, there are numerous wineries and good hiking in the area.Keep it in mind for next year!This ride did sell out at 500 riders, keep that in mind. Pictures of ride are at brucebuckleyphotography.com.  This guy was everywhere and did a great job on the photos.