Empire Gravel

July 07 2024

Carmel Hamlet NY

Unconfirmed

Distances: 63, 108 miles

Difficulty: Difficult terrain with longer, steeper hills

Limited to: 200 Participants

You'd better be, as this year's Empire Gravel Mega route is no joke. You may have to give in to the dark side to complete the MEGA 100+ miles of mixed surface riding and 10,000+ feet of climbing (or ADVENTURE 63 miles / 6,850 ft). Within the course is close to nine miles of incredible multiuse trails in Fahnestock State Park as well as many other surprises to challenge riders.

Empire Gravel doubles as a fundraiser for Project Echelon who's mission is to help veterans find community and healing through exercise and competition. We've kept registration fees as low as possible to cover permits, insurance, etc and encourage you to donate via PledgeReg to Project Echelon.

The first 50 sign ups will get a limited edition Empire Gravel super soft T shirt included for free ($20 value).

It's been close to a year of work developing this event. While we were looking to provide both a start to finish chip timed race as well a Gran Fondo experience, it's just not in the cards this year. So just to be clear, we're structuring the event as as a ride not a race, though we're sure many of you will ride it hard.

This event is different from all of the other Ready Set Go Adventures gravel events. Signage will be minimal and you will be using your bike computer or RideWithGPS to navigate the course. We will arrange for some basic aid stations along the route for you to refill water bottles, but beyond that you should be self-sustained. Plan is to have post ride food and drinks (most likely a food truck like we had at Jersey Gravel).

While much of the course is on unpaved roads and trails, you are riding on open roads and expect to encounter cars, cyclists, hikers and maybe even some storm troopers. Please be extra mindful and respectful of others, as this year's ride is a test to hopefully enable Empire Gravel to become a fully realized race and fondo experience in the future. For those that would like to compare their times with others, we will set up leaderboards on RideWithGPS and segments on STRAVA. You will aslo be able to view segment results in the Ready Set Go Adventures Strava club.

Empire Gravel