2018 Black Fly Challenge
#1
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Thread Starter
2018 Black Fly Challenge
Who else is doing the 2018 Black Fly Challenge in the Adirondacks? The ONLY source for official race info! ? Always the Second Saturday in June
This will be my fifth year; I invariably have finished at the 3 hour mark +/- a few minutes. So it's entirely a recreational race for me, not like those sub-2-hour riders. :-)
For those who haven't ridden it before, it's about 25 miles of fire road/gravel/sand, and 15 of pavement. Tons of fun! In previous years people have ridden everything from unicycles to a guy who did a couple of rides with a tandem pulling a trail-a-bike, though unfortunately they appear to be disallowing "unusual" bikes this year.
If you happen to be in New York on June 9th, come have some fun!
This will be my fifth year; I invariably have finished at the 3 hour mark +/- a few minutes. So it's entirely a recreational race for me, not like those sub-2-hour riders. :-)
For those who haven't ridden it before, it's about 25 miles of fire road/gravel/sand, and 15 of pavement. Tons of fun! In previous years people have ridden everything from unicycles to a guy who did a couple of rides with a tandem pulling a trail-a-bike, though unfortunately they appear to be disallowing "unusual" bikes this year.
If you happen to be in New York on June 9th, come have some fun!
__________________
Knows the weight of my bike to the nearest 10 pounds.
Knows the weight of my bike to the nearest 10 pounds.
#2
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Location: Syracuse, NY
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Bikes: 2018 Lynskey R 260 Disc; 2008 Trek 4.7 Madone; 2017 Framed Minnesota 3.0 Fat Bike; 1984 Nishiki International
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This will be my first. I'm riding it on my road bike with 32 tires and I'm hoping that works out ok. Quite a bit of climbing and descending on loose gravel I'm told.
#3
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Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Syracuse, NY
Posts: 1,018
Bikes: 2018 Lynskey R 260 Disc; 2008 Trek 4.7 Madone; 2017 Framed Minnesota 3.0 Fat Bike; 1984 Nishiki International
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That was seriously fun but if I do it again next year I'll be riding my fat bike instead of the road bike with wider tires. One minor crash but plenty of scary downhills with thick gravel and rocks. 2 hours, 38 minutes.
#4
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My 17-yr-old came in around 2:50; he got delayed by a troublesome flat for about 10 minutes, unfortunately.
The narrowest tires I've ridden before have been 32's, and that was seriously painful, and a royal PITA in the sand on the plains. Since then my 42's have worked quite nicely, but yeah, the number of fat bike riders have exploded in the last couple of years on the Black Fly.
I'll hope that the weather is as nice next year!
__________________
Knows the weight of my bike to the nearest 10 pounds.
Knows the weight of my bike to the nearest 10 pounds.
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johngwheeler
Cyclocross and Gravelbiking (Recreational)
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10-06-18 08:06 AM