Recap: Roughneck Gravel Roubaix
Event description
Come join us in the valley that changed the world! Titusville is home of the modern production oil well, Drake Well. On every route, you will get to experience some of the same gravel roads that the Roughnecks working in the oil fields experienced then and now!
This epic gravel grinder will be hosted in the beautiful oil region of Titusville, Pennsylvania featuring beautiful scenery, challenging roads, wildlife, hills, and lots and lots of the fresh outdoors.
FRIDAY - Kari’s recap
Asking a teacher to attend an event the day after the last day of school is a stretch! But when Adam reached out to me about bringing more women and juniors to the event, and asked me if I’d help lead the women’s shake out ride, I couldn’t say no. It’s not a bad drive from Columbus, only four hours, and you get to stay in a caboose! What’s not to love?
We arrived Friday at the Titusville Iron Works for packet pick up made super quick and easy by the amazing volunteers. I met Kaitlyn who was going to lead the ladies ride with me and got changed to head out.
Adam supplied us with a nice 13 mile loop that included the first two climbs of the race for us to preview. 5 of us headed out and after the first climb and descent, we decided to take the bike path back to the venue and rest our legs because with non-stop climbs like that, race day would be no joke!
FRIDAY - Ray’s recap
I headed to Titusville, PA to join friends to race the Roughneck Gravel Roubaix now in its second year. From Columbus it is about a 4 hour drive. I headed north and then east through Akron and Youngstown before leaving 80 and taking 8 north.
I setup camp at Oil Creek Family Campground. The campground is about a 10 minute drive south of town. I visited Cindy and Rod Berard at their campsite and then we headed into town. The Titusville Iron Works Tap House is the main event space for Roughneck hosting the Friday evening Ladies Ride, packet pickup and festivities before and after the event. We stopped to get our packets and met others for a hearty and delicious meal at Maria’s Italian Restaurant a block from the Iron Works.
Some of our group stayed at the Caboose Motel on the grounds of the Oil Creek & Titusville Railroad just a block from the event space. The motel is comprised of 21caboose cars converted into private rooms. It’s another lodging option for event guests.
“Titusville is known as the birthplace of the American oil industry and for a number of years was the leading oil-producing region in the world. It was also notable for its lumber industry, including 17 sawmills, as well as its plastic and toolmaking industries. ”
SATURDAY: Kari’s Event Day Recap
We opted to head for a local diner, Missy’s Arcade Restaurant, for breakfast instead of taking advantage of the breakfast provided by the event. Missy’s was delicious, fast, and cheap. Definitely check it out if you head up that way!
My teammate and I lined up for The Colonel Drake ~75 Miles p/b Poppy's Place at 8:00am with about 75 other brave souls and headed out with a police escort. The pack broke up pretty quickly after the start of the first climb. There were residents standing outside their homes cheering for us which was really neat. All day on course there were locals out cheering and offering water or snacks. I’ve never experienced that at an event before. I did not have a single negative car or dog interaction on this whole route - a rarity even on the best of routes! All of the roads were dry and dusty; many were flat pack and fast with some pretty bumpy and loose sections. There were three aid stations on the 71 mile route and each station was well stocked with snacks, drinks, and helpful volunteers.
Right around mile 12, I noticed my bottle cage was loose in the frame. I stopped with a photographer and tightened everything up and headed onto the bike path for more fun. Around mile 18, I noticed it was loose again but I didn’t want to lose any more time and I thought I’d be able to make it to the aid station. I was wrong. Within the next mile, in the middle of a steep climb, it came completely off the frame and swung down in between my crank arm and the frame. Luckily I was climbing so I was moving slowly and able to stop before I got hurt. Several riders stopped with me to help me figure out what was going on, but the bolt appeared to be stripped and I didn’t trust it to stay on any longer. I threw my bottle in my back pocket, hand tightened the cage back on, and hoped for the best. By the time I hit the next aid station, my back was crampy from the bottle sitting on it so I asked the volunteer to zip tie the cage onto the frame so I could hopefully finish the race without having to carry the bottle any longer. This ended up working out super well and got me through to the end!
I spent most of my day leapfrogging with the fabulous Cindy Berard and made a new friend who helped pass the tough middle miles. We hopped on the bike path for a brief moment before finishing on the BMX track which I personally loved. What a unique way to finish!
This race is not for the faint of heart. With 71 miles and over 7,800 ft. of elevation gain, it will test your legs and your capacity for suffering. I’m convinced there isn’t a single stretch of flat on the Colonel Drake route until you hop on the bike path in the last mile. The scenery is amazingly beautiful, the race is extremely well run, and everyone was friendly and helpful. I will definitely be returning for 2024!
SATURDAY: Ray’s Event Day Recap
On late Friday evening Eric Tippett arrived to stay at my site. He headed out early for breakfast and then I followed a little later. Across the street from Iron Works is a large parking lot. It was in the mid 40’s and chilly but spirits were high among the crowd. I chose The Ironworks - 40 Miles p/b The Titusville Ironworks which is actually 42.5 miles and our start time was at 8:30am. From what I could tell The Ironworks route was the most popular option with The Colonel Drake ~75 Miles p/b Poppy's Place being second most popular. We received directions from Adam Diem, the race organizer, and then we were off.
A police escort led the group south out of town and then an immediate climb that turned into gravel halfway up. Locals cheered us on as we passed. The 40 mile route has two aid stations located at 13 and 33 miles. The 13 mile stop is at Historic Pithole City, a boom and bust oil town that once had 15,000 residents. I stopped for some snacks and water refill. Temps were climbing along with the elevation gain. The gravel roads were all dry, fast and super dusty. We did encounter some sections recently graded with some scatter gravel on top. Our route featured three major climbs (my Garmin said 13 total climbs) with one dropping us down into the valley and skirting the town of West Hickory before climbing almost 4 miles. On the downhill I stopped to help a rider with a flat tire. Once his wife showed up with the proper tools I kept moving. I stopped to say hi to Noah Hutson, who was taking photos at the top of the climb.
The second aid station (mile 33) was on Otto Rd, a somewhat rutted and rocky jeep road in the middle of the forest. This station was shared by other routes so I witnessed a lot of people who were feeling the climbs. I believe this station was around mile 52 for the 70 mile route. I grabbed some salty snacks, Hammer Nutrition gels, banana and rolled on. This point in the route had some smaller climbs and then stayed on the ridge through the town of Pleasantville. After the town we started descending to the river valley and then crossed over the river to join the Oil Creek State Park Trail. We jumped off the trail and finished up on the Drake Well/Titusville BMX track, which proved to be quite the challenge for some at the end of a long ride. The event was streamed live (see recording below) and Aaron from Kenda Tires was interviewing many of the finishers which was a nice touch. We hung out watching friends finished their races and navigate the BMX track and then headed over to the Iron Works for post race festivities. The podiums were hosted at the Iron Works and we grabbed food and drinks as we wound down the day.
Big thanks to Roughneck Gravel Roubaix for offering a registration discount for 2023 and don’t forget to save on Kenda Tires with our OGG discount.
Photos by Noah Hutson
Photos by Ray George
