As we learned in the post about Drawing with Strava, a portmanteau is a linguistic blend of two words. Taking full advantage of this language trend is a new cycling activity: The Grinduro™. This is a mix between a gravel grinder and an enduro, apparently. Complete with it's own website, the discipline is taking off!
What, you ask is a Grinduro™? As the name suggests, the format follows an enduro style, with short timed segments interspersed with longer time capped segments.
Looking at the pictures, you could easily mistake this for a Fondo, a more casual ride. A large group of riders taking off up a hill, mixed gender and age.
But woo ho, dear reader, check out this action:
The event outline I looked at looks like a lot of fun: One big, 60 mile loop with about 7,500 feet of climbing. The whole loop is not timed, but four segments throughout are. Each timed segment is about 5-10 minutes. I am not sure how timing actually works; through timing chips or what. Here's an example of how the course shakes out:
I think this sounds awesome, and if one came to Boulder, I'd definitely enter. You could ride as a group, hitting the timed sections hard and regroup for the untimed areas. As pointed out in this article, bike selection would be paramount! Sure, a hard tail mountain bike might be miserable for the untimed sections, but if the timed section is a rolling single track, you'll wish you were on a mountain bike.
Grinduro™seems like a perfect way to spend a day - get some racing in, and a good long ride!
Grinduro™!
What, you ask is a Grinduro™? As the name suggests, the format follows an enduro style, with short timed segments interspersed with longer time capped segments.
Official Grinduro™Logo
Looking at the pictures, you could easily mistake this for a Fondo, a more casual ride. A large group of riders taking off up a hill, mixed gender and age.
Grinduro™
But woo ho, dear reader, check out this action:
Single track on the drop bars
The event outline I looked at looks like a lot of fun: One big, 60 mile loop with about 7,500 feet of climbing. The whole loop is not timed, but four segments throughout are. Each timed segment is about 5-10 minutes. I am not sure how timing actually works; through timing chips or what. Here's an example of how the course shakes out:
Timed areas Untimed areas
I think this sounds awesome, and if one came to Boulder, I'd definitely enter. You could ride as a group, hitting the timed sections hard and regroup for the untimed areas. As pointed out in this article, bike selection would be paramount! Sure, a hard tail mountain bike might be miserable for the untimed sections, but if the timed section is a rolling single track, you'll wish you were on a mountain bike.
Grinduro™seems like a perfect way to spend a day - get some racing in, and a good long ride!
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