The Dirty Clare

Get off the beaten track with the Dirty Clare

The Dirty Clare is a gravel grinding event that is being held during the Clare Classic, at Clare, 145km north of Adelaide.

This gravel event is a part of the Clare Classic, a Gran Fondo style event through the spectacular wine region of the Clare Valley in South Australia. The Clare Valley is a popular area to visit and is located about 130km north of Adelaide. You can learn more about the other rides at the Clare Classic here.

Starting from Clare Town Oval in Clare, South Australia, the 80km gravel course will take in the undulating climbs around Spring Gully Conservation Park. With its natural Australian fauna and wildlife, the course also offers sweeping views of the Clare Valley plains.

This course has it all, from 891m of climbing, to longer descents where you can freewheel on the gravel to plenty of flat sections to recover. For the most part the course is not too technical, however there will be some challenging sections through the Spring Gully Conversation Park. These sections will be sign posted so you can ready yourself for some challenging terrain.

There are some bitumen sections in between around 8km in total.

At the Hoyleton Hotel there will be a Hydration Station where you can fill up your bidons and grab a lite snack.

From Hoyleton, the course continues on the flats towards Herds Hill Road where the dirt road gradually climbs at 5% for 3km before turning onto some tarmac 400m and heading back towards Clare. This is a very scenic dirt road in a gorge with several creek crossings to tackle. Note: the creeks are empty at this time of year but the thrilling sensations still remain.

From Lower Skilly Road, riders will head onto the Riesling Trail towards the finish line where you will be able to enjoy the fine, car-free gravel paths this well-kept trail.

Note on bike requirements: This gravel course has been designed so it can be ridden on a road bike with 28-30mm heavy duty tyres. This is no country for light weight tyres. Gravel & Cyclocross bikes will make the journey even more comfortable. It can also be completed on a Mountain Bike or e-Bike. If you are keen to take in a challenge on the Saturday then this weekend of cycling can all be done on one bike with a change of tyres.

You’ll find other cycling events, like the Dirty Clare, in our online Cycling Event Calendar.

Enjoy!