Dirty Turtle Gravel Grinder

The Dirty Turtle Gravel Grinder is a multi-distance gravel cycling race held in the Turtle Mountains of Bottineau County.  The start/finish is located at the Carbury Dam Campground approximately 8 miles Northwest of Bottineau, ND.  The race weaves in and out of the foothills though a lush, wooded area filled with lakes and wildlife.  You will have three distances to choose from (23 miles, 50 miles, and 100 miles)  Fully supported aid stations with drop bag options will be provided on course.  

The Dirty Turtle is a 100 mile race with roughly 6,000 ft of elevation! The course will weave in and out of the foothills of the beautiful Turtle Mountains. Racers and riders will be treated to countless views of lakes and wildlife along the way.

The middle distance race, The Dusty Turtle, is 50 miles and has around 2,300 ft of elevation gain. It will essentially footprint its bigger brother, but will cut back West much sooner.  This race will be a good challenge for most.

Last but not least, The Dainty Turtle will be 23 miles and around 1500 feet of elevation. After the first ascent up the foothills, riders can enjoy a roller coaster ride back down the Svingen Road followed by a flat straightaway to the finish line!

FREE KIDS RACE DEPARTING AT 1:00PM.  THIS WILL BE AVAILABLE TO KIDS 10 AND UNDER. PLEASE SEE VOLUNTEERS AT THE RACE FOR MORE INFO. Sign up will be the day of at the start/finish line.

Please come out in May and support the biking community in the Bottineau/Turtle Mountain area! We are capping this race at 200 and we hope you all help us fill up. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to email me at dirtyturtlegg@gmail.com

Schedule of Events:

Friday, May 17

4:00pm-7:00pm – Packet pick-up and registration/social time at Maries (605 Main Street Bottineau, ND 58318)

Saturday, May 18

                6:45-7:15am –Day of packet pickup/registration.

                7:25am –Pre-race meeting for 100 mile riders at start line

                7:30am –100 mile race begins

                9:55am –Pre-race meeting for 50 mile riders at start line

                10:00am –50 mile race begins

                11:55am –Pre-race meeting for 25 mile riders at start line

                12:00pm –25 mile race begins

                12:30pm- Lunch begins

                1:00pm NEW- Kids 10 and under race.  FREE

                3:30-4:00pm –Awards sometime in this time frame

Lodging information:

There are a few options for lodging.  If you would like to camp, the start/finish line is located at Carbury Dam Recreation Area.  This is an excellent first come, first serve campground with power hookups for RVs.  A little further out of the way, but also a good option,  The Lake Metigoshe State Park also has camping available through reservation.  They also have a few cabins that are available for rent as well.

There are also a handful of hotels in town that you may take advantage of. (Cobblestone Inn, Turtle Mountain Inn, Super 8). 

For all registering please use an email address that you check frequently as there will be occasional emails with information you must know for the race.

Day of registration will be accepted, but will be upped $10.00 from pre-registration pricing.

DROP BAGS

-There will be 2 locations to utilize drop bags. You will pass by these locations at multiple points in the race.

--The DIRTY Turtle passes by AID STATION "A" at mile 15.5, and 83, and  AID STATION "B" is passed at mile 47 and 71.7.

--The DUSTY Turtle passed by AID STATION "A" at mile 15.5 and AID STATION "B" at mile 35.1

--The DAINTY Turtle does not have any drop bag options, but does pass by AID STATION "A"  at mile 15.5.

All drop bags need to be labeled with racer name, bib number, and which location you would like your bag(s) to be dropped at!!! We will not accept bags without proper labeling!

There will be cutoff times for all of these races. 

--For the safety of our racers and for the sanity of our volunteers, we will be enforcing cut off times for all races.

----Dirty Turtle cutoff time - 9 hours

----Dusty Turtle cutoff time - 5.5 hours

----Dainty Turtle cutoff time - 4 hours