TBD loves gravel. One new event to pop up on our radar this year was the Jersey Gravel Grinder Deux, the “deux” (“two” to those of you who are not sophisticated enough to know how to count in French) deriving from to the fact that the same promoter ran a similar event in May. Searching for an affordable, chill, close-by, and low-key event, AImee, Steph, and Liz snagged the opportunity to participate in the event in late September. Here, AImee and Liz recount their experiences.

Recap from Aimee:

The Jersey Gravel Grinder Deux took teammates Steph, Liz, and me on some incredible dirt roads in the horse country of NJ. Beautiful rivers, adorable bridges in the woods, and incredible estates and horse farms. I have to admit, even Trump’s golf course which we rode through was pretty incredible. Unfortunately, I took a wrong turn about 45 miles in on one of the timed segments (attempting to catch my spouse, Alex) and ended up missing the end of the segment. I didn’t know I missed the turn and drilled it for another 3 miles before coming up on the next segment. I felt my phone buzz and figured it was Alex telling me there was no sign between the two segments… so I ignored it. I felt it again 1/2 up the climb and finally answered. He informed me that I was lost. After yelling at him, because of course this is somehow his fault, I told him to ride with Steph and Liz and I would limp along waiting for them. Apparently I’m bad at waiting. Next time we all saw each other again was at the finish line. So amazing riding but Steph and Liz wanted to strangle me for missing that sign because had I not we would have been 1, 2, 3 on the podium. Waaawaaa

Recap from Liz:

While most folx like to dig into cx in the off-road-season, I like to get a few gravel grinders on my calendar to stay motivated to train. Bonus: because I don’t race them, I actually get to enjoy the scenery. As the Jersey Gravel Grinder date approached, the stoke level remained high. Not only was the weather forecast promising excellent conditions, I hadn’t gotten to spend much time with Aim and Steph in AGES, so I was excited about spending the day with them. Oh yeah, and Alex (Aimee’s husband) too :)

The event did not disappoint! The roads were great, featuring a healthy variety of pavement, chunky gravel, hard pack dirt, and fish tank gravel. And, the Jersey Gravel Grinder brought the best scenery that NJ has to offer! Horse farms, quaint bridges, creeks, and rolling hills dotted the landscape to round out a lovely course. The course looped back on itself in a few places, but it never felt repetitive. And, for those who cared to race, the timed segments, clearly marked by signs, kept things interesting.

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Well-stocked rest stops, friendly volunteers, and a pizza lunch and a free mug at the finish line made for an overall great experience. 10/10 I would do this event again. I just hope that next time, the promoter adds more toilets at the start! And, if the event is actually to be taken seriously as a competitive event (again, I could take or leave this aspect of gravel grinding), I would suggest they hire an actual timing company. Instead, participants were asked to run RideWithGPS on their phones while riding. Doing that drained my phone and also made the finishing places a little unbelievable. Because….apparently Steph and I podiumed? lol I’ll take it!