GRUSK stands for “Gravel Ride Up Spruce Knob” and has attracted increasing numbers of enthusiasts in each of the 10 years in which it has taken place. Centered around the Experience Learning campus on the mountain, it brings thousands to camp, eat, commune together, and also enjoy a number of different ride courses that offer different levels of challenge.
For four days, this piece of semi-level ground south of the lake area serves as the largest city in Pendleton County.
Travis Olsen of Marion County organized the event. He shared that “I grew up in West Virginia. My Dad and I loved going fishing in the area” near Spruce Knob. Olsen remembered bicycle rides to fishing holes along country roads and how he developed a fascination for exploring them.
And as John Denver would agree, something about those “Country Roads” keeps bringing people back.
One of Olsen’s first adventuresome forays involved gathering his hardiest companions and enduring New Year’s Eve bicycle treks from Whitmer to Spruce Knob. As more grew interested in joining him, “I decided to do this in summer when it was not so cold and miserable,” he said.
As he explored ways to set up an event, he “found out about Experience Learning” and asked to partner with them. The organization has a campus on the mountain composed mainly of high elevation friendly “yurts” for living, conferences, and rentals.
Olsen remarked, “This venue is amazing!”
“I started small,” he remembers, with 113 riders in the first year. While looking back, Olsen thinks he “bit off more than I could chew,” as it has grown substantially over time. He reckoned that attendees from 17 different states converged last week to enjoy life on the mountain for four days. About 600 alone came to ride with many others coming along to enjoy a few Pendleton County summer nights.
“A lot of folks are coming to beat the heat from DC,” he said.
Like Moto Giro, the small motorcycle ride event that traversed Pendleton County and the Potomac Highlands in June, GRUSK started as a race and evolved into non competitive enjoyment of people and place. GRUSK offers multiple rides routes ranging from beginner level to those designed to offer challenge to the most experienced and fit riders.
A beginning ride takes place mostly on a road with less of a grade to conquer. The long low grade is doable for those who do not ride often. One of the more challenging options runs 50 miles through Whitmer while another runs nearly 90 miles and goes through Glady. Options start at 25 miles and range up to 89.
The hardiest of riders can elect to take on a route of more than 200 miles during a two-to-three-day period to get what Olsen called “a real tour of the mountains.”
Some bicyclists will stay in lodging along the way while others prefer “bike packing,” putting a back pack on and traveling by bike, camping where allowed.
“It’s not really a race at all,” stated Olsen. “It’s more of an organized group ride.” He explained that the focus on community to the exclusion of competition has fueled much of the interest.
Of course, so does the food. On one night, Experience Learning volunteers cook probably about 50 pounds or more of lasagna for hungry riders and whoever else has come to join the party.
“We put on a safe event, but we put on the best after party,” he said.
Community also brings people out in huge numbers. The collection of recreational vehicles, campers, and tents becomes a big party where attendees gather around campfires in the sometimes chilly night air. They share food and drink, but also stories of the road.
Planning for the event that attracts many hundreds comes from “a very small core group of people.” Olsen directs day-to-day needs while also promoting the event in other areas.
