Virtual Turkey Burn Reports: Ben Petty

 Welcome to this "Virtual Turkey Burn Report". The idea was floated out a week before Thanksgiving 2021 that if you had a 'neglected bike', or if you just wanted to participate in a virtual gravel ride style deal, you could. The stipulation being that to be a part of things you had to send me an image and a few words about who you are and what the ride was about. So, with that I received a few reports, which this is one of.

I have edited lightly for clarity, but I have striven to retain the writer's voice in each report. Enjoy!

Ben sent in this report from an event he created to be held on the weekend after Thanksgiving. Ben does little gravel events like this quite often around here and is a valued member of the riding community in this neck of the woods. 

 From  (the) Dig Inn Dirt Incident. 100K ride.I almost cut it a bit short to join the 40 milers back at the Dig Inn, but wanted to get the 100K / 62 miles in if I thought I could make it, and your post about this helped me make that decision to push it a little further!  Thanks for all you do with your gravel blog and the motivation; 

Thanks Ben! here are some images from the Dig Inn Dirt Incident.

The ride started in Reinbeck, Iowa at the Dig Inn

 

Most of the ride was in Tama County which is well known around here for its dirt roads.

A good show of sportsmanship and self-sufficiency!

The dirt roads looked to be in fantastic shape for the Dig Inn Dirt Incident.

Ben had some refreshments cached at a spot on the route for the riders to partake in.

Ben added: Between the 42 mile, 62 mile, and 100 mile options, there were 16-17 riders that took off from the Dig Inn in Reinbeck.  I did the 62 mle / 100K route - headed southeast to start with, looping around, then into Traer, then taking Ridge Road west and on towards the Lincoln area, where there was a "redneck aid station" set up in the ditch at the start of a fun stretch of dirt roads on 110th St.  That 100K route had 14 miles of dirt roads included.  A fun and challenging day - weather was relatively mild, making it into the 40s, but the wind heading west did take a toll!

Thanks Ben! That looked like a really fun day out on the bike. Kudos for motivating nearly 20 people to get out to ride! 

That's a wrap for today on the Turkey Burn Reports! Thanks to all who submitted entries and to you readers for checking these out!