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The Ronde is a competitive event for everyone involved, regardless of if they are racing at the front or battling the course itself. What will remain the same, however, is the overall format.
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“We want to have this be an event where you are mostly self-supported, but there are checkpoints and aid stations.” In addition to more comprehensive on-course support, future editions of the Ronde will support drop bags to more completely serve riders. The area is so remote that I don’t think we can do it completely unsupported,” Gamm explained. “The other events that are wholly unsupported appear to have greater opportunities for store stops, water stops and such, that just sort of exist in the area that they’re traveling through. With race day temperatures in the upper 90s, additional water was made available, but participants remained very much on their own otherwise. While the first year was billed as a self-supported race, there were two planned water stops on course. Future editions will also feature greater rider support on course. In addition to the adjustments surrounding off-the-bike logistics, the future of the race will include Masters and Singlespeed race categories. We had some things that we know we’re going to have to revise and adjust for next year.” “We learned many, many lessons,” Gamm told Cyclocross Magazine. Particularly, using Kenyon College facilities to house and feed participants proved to be a bigger organizational challenge than initially thought. As a first running, some aspects of the race were as much proof of concept as anything else. In its first year, the event drew a modest 71 pre-registered participants, which proved to be a perfect size according to race director and Red Kite coach Gamm. #RedKiteRonde #DontDieinJuly #RondeRabbitRondeĪ post shared by Ohiocycling on at 6:15am PDT Reported to have exceeded expectations on many fronts. The facilities at Kenyon College are capable of supporting a much larger event of at least 600-1000 participants, which allows plenty of room for the Ronde to grow. “Kenyon College and Gambier were, by far, the clear winner.”
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“The Ronde has been in the works for about two years and we were in conversation with a number of different towns and institutions as a start/finish point because we wanted to have a start/finish that had full resources to house people from out of town, have good food, be comfortable and have a community that could be involved in it,” Gamm explained. One of the most compelling features of the Ronde is its start location in Gambier. Additionally Kenda Tire, Hyperthreads, ESI Grips and Black Diamond Bicycles provided support. Smanie saddles, whom Red Kite athlete Jen Malik has done design work with, acted as presenting sponsor for the event. Red Kite Coaching also hosts a cyclocross boot camp in August and a weekend of cyclocross racing in the fall to support the Fund.Īs an event of the Red Kite Fund, the Ronde brought several industry sponsors who were on hand in Gambier. The race is intended to operate as a fundraising event for the Red Kite Fund, which helps athletes transition from the U23 to Elite category. It would not have been what it was without him,” race director Ryan Gamm said. “I need to give Matt Kretchmar credit for helping design the route. The route was developed with help from local riders over the course of the last two years. Overlapping routes of other staples of Ohio gravel and mountain bike racing such as the Black Fork Gravel Grinder, Baitin’ the Shark, Funk Bottoms Gravel Grinder and Mohican 100, the Ronde featured a 70% unpaved route that started and finished at Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio. Last month, gravel enthusiasts in the Midwest took part in the first-ever edition of the Red Kite Ronde, a 200km adventure race in the remote areas of Knox and Coshocton Counties in Ohio.