Bike Events
We’ve spent the better part of three decades searching out the best riding in our rural corner of southern New Hampshire, and one weekend every year we hand the whole thing over to you. Gravel, forgotten town roads, panoramic views across the valley, and a post ride celebration with live music, new friends and as much wood-fired pizza and apple crisp as you can eat.
Sunday, September 5, 2027
Orchard Hill Breadworks, 121 Old Settlers Road, East Alstead, NH
CLICK HERE TO REGISTER
Rides from 28 – 70 miles.
Camping and a Saturday night feast
A raucous midday family / kids ride
About the Routes
Across New England, threading through the landscape, along brooks and streams, up mountainsides and cutting across long stretches of undeveloped forest, are public ways that towns stopped maintaining decades ago — many of them in continuous use for a century or more before that. In New Hampshire they’re called “Class VI” roads, in VT they’re “Class IV” but whatever you call them, they are at the heart of what makes each gravel event special and unique.
They’re legal, they’re public, and they are not graded. Expect loose rock, ruts, roots, and grass growing down the middle. Some sections are smooth doubletrack through the woods. Some are not.
Our excitement about sharing them with you is a big reason this ride exists. They are some of the quietest, most beautiful miles we have, and until GPS put a map on everyone’s handlebars they were known to almost nobody outside of town. Chris and Noah have spent years finding them, and the Dirty Pizza is us handing over the stash.
Come with tires and expectations to match, and it’s the best day of riding in three states. Come on 35s expecting a dirt-road century and you’ll have a long day in the saddle.
Not sure about the rough stuff?
Ask us! The Class VI sectors are the heart of these routes, but they aren’t compulsory. Email before the event and we’ll send you a version with less technical riding.
What you’ll get back isn’t a generic short course. Some of the most technical bits are climbs where the hard part is two hundred yards you can walk, and what’s on the other side is the prettiest forest road on the course. We’d rather talk you through that than have you skip the ride.
The Four Loops
All four start and finish at the bakery and share the same feed stop at Bascom’s Sugarhouse.
The Good
- +/- 42 miles
- +/- 4,500 feet climbing
- +/- 6 miles Class VI
- 45mm tires recommended, 50mm tires if you have them.
Back-roads gravel, panoramic views across the valley into Vermont, and six unmaintained sectors spread through the day. Hard enough to feel earned, short enough to be back for pizza at lunch time.
The Bad
- +/- 55 miles
- +/- 6,000 feet climbing
- +/- 6 miles Class VI
- 45mm tires recommended, 50mm tires if you have them.
Everything The Good has, with an extra thirteen miles and considerably more climbing makes for a longer day in the saddle but two stops at the feed (with minimal overlap of course) mean you’ll be fueled for the ride.
The Ugly
- +/- 70 miles
- +/- 8,000 feet climbing
- +/- 10 miles Class VI
- 45mm tires recommended, 50mm tires if you have them.
The full stash, including one continuous Class VI stretch of nearly five miles, this ride will exhaust even the fittest riders, but leave everyone who finishes it with a sense of accomplishment to match.
Type 1 Fun
- +/- 28 miles
- +/- 2,500 feet climbing
- 0 miles Class VI
- 32mm minimum tire 38mm to 42mm if you have them.
About equal parts paved and gravel, but most of the great views, quiet back roads, same excellent feed stop, a fraction of the type 2 “fun” of the other loops.
Just Pizza / Joining the family ride
Just coming to enjoy a day of bikes, music and great food with the kids? An all abilities, family friendly paced ride with a shorter 4 mile option around the lake, and a slightly longer and more hilly 6 mile option for the 7 – 10 year olds. Sign up and pay for pizza, sign the online waiver and you’re all set!
The weekend
Saturday
- Camping check-in opens
- Swim in the lake
- Wood-fired feast at the pavilion
Sunday
- Complimentary coffee, oatmeal and fresh-baked goods
- Check-in and t-shirt pickup
- Sign-in closes
- Rider meeting — please be there
- All rides start
- Feed stop opens
- Pizza
Navigation
The courses are self-navigated, and there is little to no marking on course. We like arrows, but we share these roads and trails with a wide range of other users, and it’s become clear not everyone shares our enthusiasm for them. No arrows beats wrong arrows.
GPS files and cue sheets go out by email two to three days before the event. Ride with a navigation device. Printed cue sheets are available at check-in, and we’d encourage you to take one even if you’re sure you won’t need it — batteries die, units freeze, and there are no arrows to fall back on.
All roads are open and no intersections are marshalled. Cars will not stop for you.
What to bring
- Good, Bad and Ugly: 45mm tires recommended . 50s if you have them.
- Type 1 Fun: rideable on 32mm, better on 38 to 42.
- This ride is self-supported. Bring what you need for flats and minor repairs, including two tubes.
- SAG is available on call, but on some sections that means walking a while to find cell reception or a road.
- Pizza is wood-fired with a range of toppings. Gluten-free crusts available.
- BYOB.
Why we ride the old roads
If route design were mail: state highways are the glossy catalogs everybody throws out unopened. Paved town and county roads are the mail you open because you have to — a notice from the bank, a birthday card from an aunt you never quite got to know. Backwoods gravel is the good mail, the passport that finally showed up, a check for something you sold back when people still sent checks.
But good Class VI is the handwritten letter from someone you love. You read it twice, you put it in a drawer for safekeeping, and you go back to it for years.
That’s what we’ve spent years collecting. That’s what you’re signing up for.
CLICK HERE TO REGISTER
Questions about the routes, the roads, or which ride is right for you? — just ask. noah@orchardhillbreadworks.com