End winter with a nice surprise!!! Bring your bike, bring your family, bring your dog and have a fun day out. Cycle in the morning, grab some lunch and then go for a walk, horse or ATV ride or wander over to the bird reserve down the road.
Chongming Island, Shanghai 2025-03-22
- Chongming Island, Datang area, Shanghai. 1h drive from downtown.
- 22nd March 2025, 9am start.
- 75KM Gravel Bike Challenge or Open Fun Ride.
- Gravel Bike Challenge with awards.
- Open Bike Fun ride starts 5 minutes after Gravel Bike Challenge.
- 70% gravel 30% road.
- Open road. Saftey is first!
Route Intro
Both the GBC and OBF will take place on the same route. Its very low traffic and about as safe as you can get on open roads. The route will be marked with simple markers but you must use a GPS and load our course. THERE ARE ROAD CROSSINGS with public traffic so please be extra careful at intersections. Its flat and a mix of gravel, tarmac, sand and some mud. You should be able to ride 100% of the course!
A drinkstand is located approximately halfway around the course.
We will send out a GPX with waypoints 1 day before the event.
A quick video of the course, taken in bleak winter!
Some photos of the actual route during our exploration. A good guide to what tires you need!
Itinerary
- 0730 to 0800 arrival.
- 0800 to 0830 check in, race numbers and coffee.
- 0830 check in closes.
- 0850 mandatory gear check, get into two groups and wait inline!
- 0900 Gravel Bike Challenge starts
- 0905 Fun Ride starts. 5h cut off time.
- 1400 Awards time; 2pm.
- 1200 to 1430 Lunch time.
Gear
Mandatory Gear; we will check each rider and you will not be able to start the Challenge or Fun Ride without the following:
- A pump & spare tube.
- A waterbottle full with water.
- A helmet.
- A GPS bike computer or GPS watch with the course loaded onto it.
- For the Gravel Challenge, a drop bar bike with at least 35 tires. We recommend 40 to 50 for this ride due to some of the chunkier stuff. We will check your tire width and extra tube before you take part!
We also suggest everyone use mountain bike or gravel shoes. It might be muddy in areas so road clip in shoes are really not suggested. Reasonably priced MTB shoes and peddles last a long time and also great for touring and long rides!
Please test all your gear before the challenge and also get your bike properly serviced.
Sign up
Please click the below links to sign up. You will be added to a wechat group closer to the time and we will contact you regarding insurance and to sign a waiver.
Gravel Challenge: 168 RMB.
Open Fun Ride: 98 RMB
Price includes;
- Route
- Challenge and Fun Ride completion gift.
- Awards and Surprises.
- A lunch box and 1 free beer or soft drink. More can be bought onsite.
- Insurance
Awards
The Gravel Bike Challenge we will have the following categories based on the fastest time from start to finish. We will only calculate the top 3 in each category, Strava can calculate the rest.
- Ladies: 18 years + , first 3 riders.
- Male Kids: 18 years to 39 years, first 3 riders.
- Male Masters: 40 years +, first 3 riders.
Top places will have their GPS checked. A motorbike marshal will also be checking placement along with support people to make sure no cheating takes place :).
There will NOT be any awards for Fun Open Ride.
Stay
Come a day earlier or stay over Saturday night at the Starry Night Camp, our Challenge start and finish location. A fun tented experience in the green area of Shanghai, camp fire BBQ;s, beers, walk, horse riding, ATV circuit and walks around the nature reserve. You can book the room in Mini app ”海上星空营地” or search on Trip.com “Starry Night Camp”. If you bring your own tent they will charge 150 RMB for a tent (including toilets / showers / camp fire etc).
Getting there and away
A 1h drive from downtown Puxi or Pudong. An easy drive from Suzhou.
Start / Finish location: No. 88, Yingchen Road, Chongming District, Shanghai, 上海市崇明区瀛陈公路88号
Some of the Shanghai shops will organise bus transport for bikes and people to the venue. Please contact us for more info and let us know your location so we can put you in contact.
Q&A
Q: What kind of bike shall I prepare for the Gravel Challenge?
A: As long as your bike can use 35mm plus wider tires, especially a gravel specific ones, your bike should be okay for the challenge.
Q: Can I do the challenge with my road or mountain bike?
A: If it has 35mm plus tires and a drop bar on it then yes. Otherwise No No No and please join the run ride. No ebikes on the Challenge but they are fine for the fun ride.
Q: Is the road are close to the public and traffic?
A: Although most of the route is on small trails, the road condition is open, and every rider has to pay attention to traffic and assume there are cars at crossings. Plesae be considerate of pulling other riders through crossing with traffic. We have marked dangerous points but at the end of the day you take all risks. Please please be careful.
Q: Is there any backup during the challenge? Like flat or mechanical issues?
A: Like most of gravel challenges or races, riders have to rely on themselves. Riders need to change the inner tyre and repair their bikes themselves. We encourage cyclists to help each other but it’s not everyone’s duty. A bike mechanic and pump will be avalible at the start / finish and drinkstand area. A bike wash will be provided at the finish.
Q: How are the road conditions?
A: Gravel in China has a bit of everything and is not grade 1 gravel but more grade 3 and 4. There is double track and single track of path and road surface types, including gravel, mud, sand and broken road surfaces. Its all fine with the right tires at the right pressure.
More Info
Check out more info about our challenges at www.dirtyclean.cn. Our next Challenge is for Road bikes and will be held at Wildhomestay in April! Check out the DirtyClean Bible if you have not done one of our challenges before and also this on multi surface gravel riding.
dirtyclean 7th year
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