Recap: 2023 Barry Roubaix
I love riding my bike and I can be competitive, but for whatever reason, I’ve never had any desire to get into racing. I guess I fear that my favorite pastime could easily become a chore and something I would begin to resent. So when I signed up to ride the 2023 Barry Roubaix, I didn’t really know what to expect. Would people laugh at me and my clunky steel bike? Would I get run off the course by the other racers? Spoiler alert I had a blast.
The Barry Roubaix is a yearly gravel race held in Hastings, Michigan (outside of Grand Rapids) that offers 4 distances. 18, 36, 60 and 100 mile course. Each course is well marked with permanent signs, so you could ride the route anytime of year. I chose to ride the 36 miler that cam with 2300 ft of climbing. There were a few other OGG members riding as well and it was great to see familiar faces out on the course
Hastings totally embraces the race. The city is completely over run with over 4000 smiling cyclists and the townspeople are nothing but inviting and friendly. The hotels fill up fast, so I chose to camp a few minutes away at Gun Lake’s primitive camp ground. I only wish I would have also brought my mountain bike as the campsite is also the trailhead to what seemed to be a pretty popular trail.
The day of the race is pretty chill, at least for the 36 and 18 miler. Music is blasting, people are smiling and believe it or not, I saw all kinds of bikes. Fat bikes, Hybrid bikes, 90’s mountain bikes, adventure bikes, single speeds and tandem’s. Cyclists in full on racing kits to jean shorts and tank tops. I quickly realized this is a race that embraces cycling in general. The race MC’s bragged about how this is one of the only races that allows recreational cyclists to race with professional riders. I felt right at home at this race. It was not what I expected. It was awesome. Any nerves I had, quickly turned to excitement to ride.
The 36 mile route is a great ride. You start in the city of Hastings in a huge group and in a couple miles you are riding on nice smooth sandy gravel with nice punchy hills. After the second hill (mile 3), the peloton and adrenaline definitely are reduced and you can get into your rhythm.
The route takes you through pine forests and personal camps with many residents cheering and some even giving away water and beer! There is a small paved section that of course is up hill, but the majority of the route is gorgeous gravel.
My favorite section of the route is about half way through on Sager road. It is a double trash Jeep road with massive sand pits. So as you expect, I saw a number of wrecks as racers hit sand going full speed. Frankly, I just found it fun. Sure, you have to walk a bike a touch, but unless you were trying to win the race, you were nothing but smiles. To me, that added a bit of unknown and adventure to the ride and made it more memorable.
As the route comes to an end, you ride an 11% grade hill called The Wall. It sounds worse that it is. With all the people cheering, there was no way one can’t make it up. After that climb, its pretty much rollers and down hill and more spectators giving away beer and water. Soon you find yourself riding back into town with the street lined with people cheering you on. Now its time for that beer!
As I’m sure you can tell, my anxiety was for for nothing. This was a great time and I strongly encourage anyone looking for a fun cycling event to attend. I intend to do the Barry Roubaix every year I can. And maybe, just maybe I’ll even enter another race in the future!
Ride Safe!