A hidden gem in an overwhelming catalog of Minnesota gravel ride offerings
Easy on paper – challenging when the rubber meets the gravel
Anyone who rides gravel events enough knows it’s best to look at two key metrics when deciding if they (and the bike they want to ride) are up for it: distance and elevation. With a stated distance of 63.6 miles (barely a mile past a “metric century” of 100 kilometers) and an elevation gain of just 442 feet, the Rosewood Gramble’s 100K Gravel Route, at first glance, seems like it would be fairly easy compared to, say, the Filthy 50 in the Lanesboro area that has 13.6 fewer miles but around 2800 more feet of climbing. However, just 20 seconds into the Rosewood Gramble and you’ll discover that the route creators for the had much more in store for us than first impressions.
About a dozen riders gathered at the start at Northland Community College to embark on the second annual ride. Many, like myself, had traveled significant distance to be there. I took advantage of the discounted rate for a Friday night stay offered to riders at the Thief River Falls AmericInn which I was happy to discover was a reasonably walkable distance (about 40 min) to the downtown area. After dropping some items in my room, I strolled out to meet up with many of the folks who put on the ride from Bike Thief River Falls at ride sponsor Rivers and Rails Brewing the night before.
Northland College Check-in. Hey Look, it’s BikeMN Executive Director Michael Wojcik.
The longest of the Rosewood Gramble routes.
Let’s Ride! Got Single and Double Track?
The ride organizers presented riders with swag bag with commemorative long sleeve active shirt, chapstick/sunscreen, hand sanitizer and local business guide and coupons. We were also invited to fill up on water/gatorade and help ourselves to a table full of snacks many filled their jersey pockets with to stay fueled during the ride. I filled a ziplock bag with trailmix and tossed it in my frame bag after I munched a few donuts before lining up with some fellow riders.
After a short roll out of the parking lot led out by Todd (pictured below on the right – a local and possibly only 100k rider last year!) at Northland College, riders encounter a fun little “bandit trail” of single track that dumps them onto a short gravel road before hitting County road 77 which turns to gravel shortly after crossing the Red Lake River. At mile 8.6 the real fun begins = a two mile stretch adjacent to the rail road tracks of grass and rolling ruts that test even the best bike handler’s skills if you attempt it at speed and make you wonder if you’ve found yourself on the Oregon Trail.
Shortly after, the course gives way to a barely more established gravel trail that eventually brings you by a wingless Northwest Airlines Jet, and I couldn’t resist the photo opp. (I think this would make a great Air BnB!)
After visiting the plane, the course settles into some of the longer stretches of gravel roads. These varied wildly from fast hard packed roads that mimicked fresh asphalt to loose chunky sections where I found myself thinking a Fat bike wouldn’t have been overkill compared to the 35 mm tires I was running on my single speed All City Nature Boy. Incidentally, I’m pretty sure I was the only one with rim brakes, and certainly the only one with a front basket! #humblebrag
Rest Stop – Bethlehem Church
At the 30 mile mark riders are provided a minimally stocked rest stop to fill up water bottles and use the bathroom. I was trying to catch up to the lead rider so rolled past just before encountering a farm combine that took up the entire road (and then some!).
It’s hard to tell in the photo, but to either side of the road is a fairly muddy ditch. I slowed my pace as I approached not sure how best to proceed.
I made eye contact with the driver who waved and tilted the threshing/header arm (rural folks, feel free to correct me on any of my farm equipment vocabulary here) just enough so I could pop off my bike cyclocross style and duck under it and continue along the road to a smiling thumbs up from the combine driver and trailing pickup truck driver. I’ll cross that off my bingo card!
I settled back into a groove of around 14 mph picking good lines around the washboarded sections from farm equipment and a staple of gravel rides: a “minimum maintenance road – travel at your own risk” that was actually better than many of the other sections I’d traversed previously.
I also encountered a pillar of the Bike Thief River Falls organization, Glen Kajewski, twice on the route. Once he waved from his truck and took some photos and once on his Salsa Cutthroat bicycle checking on the riders’ progress along the course.
A adventurous finish indeed!
Barely a mile from the finish at Northland College your GPS will tell you to prepare to turn left but the “road” won’t be obvious until you’re nearly right on top of it. This path gives way to a similar double track section we encountered at the beginning (but even more overgrown in a few areas) before leading riders back to the punchy single track section through the woods back to the start. My final ride time was 4 hrs and 22 minutes averaging 14.5 mph. Kudos to the ride organizers, riders and sponsors for giving me a great excuse to visit the area. I wish the team at Bike Thief River Falls great luck in building upon the ride and continuing to do such a great job putting on activities for the community. Congrats to all of the finishers and Happy Grambling everyone!
Your humble author sporting the BikeMN/MN Flag Impel active shirt available again soon!
Some Final Grambling thoughts
The Rosewood Gramble is actually a series of paved and gravel rides (note: not races) departing from Northland College including: the 1 mile family-friendly college loop, sweet 16 paved route, Rosewood 30 paved route, the Gramble 40k gravel route and the one I rode, the Gramble 100k. I know the organizers are still working on the identity/branding of their ride to see what’s most appealing to riders and I know firsthand how challenging it can be to appeal to a wide range of abilities and comfort levels. If you have a club or team that would like to ride a future Gramble at a discounted rate or be a sponsor, please reach out to info@bikemn.org.
Why “Rosewood?”
I had the same question until I zoomed out from the map and noticed the routes generally encircle the “unincorporated community” of Rosewood just northwest of Thief River Falls.
Thanks Bike Thief River Falls!
Bike Thief River Falls (BTRF) is a chapter of the Bicycle Alliance of Minnesota and always looking for more folks in the area to be a part of their group. Follow BTRF on Facebook to keep up with the latest and learn more about BikeMN’s chapter program here.
