CRUSHER IS BACK
CRUSHER IS BACK. Register TEN THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW #1 CRUSHER IS CELEBRATING TEN YEARS OF FUn … and to help you celebrate we’re creating new MS and EX courses, and adding a MS350 option (this year only). See #4. #2 SELF SUPPORTED ETHOS The spirit of the event is straight forward. We’re not here to help you. You and 399 other people are out there on their own. You need to be prepared. Carry the recommended gear. Plan for the worse, and work together. GPX is required. Course signage is not provided. No one is coming to save you. #3 AID STATIONS / NEUTRAL SUPPORT Don’t look for aid stations – you won’t find any. You may find unofficial aid out there. Don’t thank us, we had nothing to do with it. Neutral support is allowed but must be offered to anyone requesting it. It’s you against us. Work together. #4 MS350 100 spots. Point-2-Point. 350-miles. Starts on Friday. Cutoff IS 5:30 am Sunday morning. Where you start and when is TBD. That’s all we are gonna tell ya. #5 HOW TO SECURE A CAMPING SPOT AT OTTER LAKE CAMPGROUND Spots are gonna go fast. They’ll probably be gone within the first hour of registration opening. Don’t call Otter Lake Campground. You can select your site when you register on bikereg. When the sites are gone you can put your name on the waitlist (also found on bikereg). Otter Lake Campground will start reaching out to folks who secured a site by mid-January. Camping is a community event. You’ll be sharing sites and space with others. If you’re looking for a secluded romantic getaway, get a hotel. #6 WE’RE BRINGING THE FOOD TENT AND BEER SHARE BACK What did we do when we lost the food truck? What Crusher always does… ADAPT. We had so much positive feedback on the tent that we decided to bring it back in 2024. The only thing more popular than the food tent was the “enhanced beer share”. We asked every Crusher to bring their favorite six-pack or a six-pack from their hometown to Otter Lake as a contribution to the community coolers. It. Was. Awesome. So we’re gonna do it again. #7 PLAN FOR THE WORST Do yourself a favor and take this advice: Train like you’re gonna have to ride an extra fifty miles, and pack your gear based on the absolute worst case scenario. If you do, you’ll be prepared no matter what happens. #8 Field Manuals We take everything you need to know about Crusher and put it in a Field Manual. We won’t release the 2024 CR24-MOD1 Field Manual until mid-late June, but you can visit the website (www.crushergravel.com) and get a copy of the manual we used this year. It is a great starting point for someone that is new to Crusher. Also, you should join the Facebook group, Crusher: Enhanced Gravel Discussions. The Crusher community is an invaluable resource. #9 CHECKPOINTS For god’s sake don’t miss a damn checkpoint! Crusher is more than a race. It’s an adventure, and checkpoints help level the playing field. Ya gotta collect all of the checkpoints. If you don’t you’ll be disqualified. Everything you need to know is in the Field Manual. Read it. #10 THE PARKING IS TERRIBLE Just Kidding.
Crusher 2024
2014 – 2024 TEN YEARS. STILL CRUSHING IT. REGISTRATION OPENS DECEMBER 31ST AT 9:06 AM Days Hours Minutes Seconds PASSPORT Register “Where we’re going, we don’t need roads.” – Dr. Emmett Brown Celebrating ten years is a chance to wax poetic about how great it’s all been, but we’re not gonna do that today. We’re gonna look forward – to the next ten years. We’re gonna keep challenging you and others to get outside their comfort zone and crush it. That’s what we’re here to do, and we’re AFI. Are you? Crusher isn’t like other gravel events. That’s not us bragging, it’s a fact, and yes, it should scare you – It’s meant to. Crusher is an event you might not finish. That’s Bottom line. There’s a chance you’re going to quit, and that’s really uncomfortable for a lot of people, but overcoming is what we’re built to do, and we need to practice. You might call Crusher the “Dr. Phil” of gravel – doling out “tough love” with a smile. For a lot of folks out there the hurdle isn’t the route, navigation, or equipment, it’s the self doubt. It’s being surrounded by the wrong people. You get comfortable, makes excuses, and play it safe, or convince yourself “all that hard core stuff is for crazy people”. Well, that’s BS. Crushers are a bunch of orindary people doing extra-orindary stuff, together. Never Settle. See ya in 24’. Todd Poquette CRUSHER-MS Date: 12.22.23 Join the Crusher Facebook group. It’s the best source for up to date Crusher information and help from the community. Go join it today. Signage: There is none. GPS is required. Routes: We’re working on them, but they won’t be available for a while. That’s part of the Crusher charm, we keep ya guessing. The MS350 will travel point-to-point, and start on Friday morning. Spots will be limited. It will end at Otter Lake Campground with the rest of the events. Everything else starts and ends at the campground. Oh, we will probably use trackers for the MS350, but not the rest of the MS events. MS stands for Mass Start. Got it? Good. If you like the excitement of being around other people, are new to gravel, like to hang out and camp, or just aren’t sure yet about EX, this is the format for you. Is it hard? Yes. Is there a chance you might fail? Absolutely. That’s why you should do it. Is it hard like the EX? No. It’s a stepping stone. Self-supported/Neutral Support. You’re expected to be fully self-sufficient and carry all recommended gear. We’re telling you up front no one is coming to save you. Be prepared. If your not prepared stay home. Checkpoints. Are required. Reference the field manual for details. Distances (in miles): 40, 100, 175, 350, a 50-mile NFR, and Team Event. Refer to the manual for details. Date: 7.20.2024 Location: Otter Lake Campground, Munising, Michigan. Camping: Is very limited and on a first come-first served basis. Camping will likely sell out the first day registration opens, so don’t delay. Timing: Superior Timing. Wanna visit their website? Google it. Photographers: Ryan Stephens Photography, Rob Meendering Photography, and Fresh Coast Exposures. Crush or be crushed! It was great until it wasn’t. CRUSHER-EX Date: 12.22.23 Signage: There is none. GPS is required. Self-supported/Neutral Support. You’re expected to be fully self-sufficient and carry all recommended gear. We’re telling you up front no one is coming to save you. Be prepared. If your not prepared stay home. We’re gonna say this once, and it’s not meant as a comparison of the two formats, but it has to be said: EX is gnarlier, harder, and much more remote than the MS. Go into it fully prepared to be tested in ways you haven’t been tested before. Checkpoints. Are required. Reference the field manual for details. Distances (in miles): 40, extra 40, 100, 225, and a 50-mile NFR. Refer to the manual for details. Date: 7.01.2024 – 9.30.2024 Location: Start locations vary. See manual for details. Camping: Not provided. Timing: Trackleaders. Beacons are required for this event. See manual for more details. Photographers: You JOIN THE GROUP Join the CRUSHER: ENHANCED GRAVEL DISCUSSIONS Facebook group. Learn about Crusher from the people who do it. We’ll provide the basics: who, what, when, where. You have to figure the rest out on your own or with the help of the Crusher community. There’s a lot to learn: how to navigate, checkpoints, the gear. It’s the perfect challenge for a new year. Now get after it. JOIN THE hall of pain THE TRILOGY The Triple Crown consists of three of the toughest events on bike or foot. From the grueling singletrack of Marji Gesick, the relentless wilderness of The Crusher, or the unpredictable weather of The Polar Roll, 906 Adventure Team events are no walk in the park. Athletes that complete one from each of these three events below are granted lifetime entry into our Hall of Pain and are eligible to attend our annual “secret event.” You do not have to complete all three challenges in the same year, you just have to complete one of each sometime in your lifetime. “BEGIN WITH THE END IN MIND.” When you step outside your comfort zone to crush it, you’re helping us show kids (future Crushers) they can do the same. 906AT events challenge adults to “find their limits” and “finish what they start,” your participation in those events has made it possible for us to establish eleven youth resilience development Adventure Teams around the Midwest. Life is an adventure; it’s up to us to ensure youth are prepared, one adventure at a time. LEARN MORE
Why Todd? Why do you love to watch people suffer!?
Why Todd? Why do you love to watch people suffer!? hahahaha and of course we love to follow along as if part of our brain is missing… My crusher letter, followed by pictures: It’s taken me five days to finally come to terms of what happened last weekend. I’ve been trying to find the words to accurately describe the event and I don’t think I will ever find them, but I’ll attempt it. It’s what I do. I attempt things, I set goals. Four of us went up to the UP to ride 237 miles, with a cutoff of 40 hours. This event is called crusher EX (EX is for expedition/adventure). An event that involves gravel, nasty green ponds/river/puddles crossings, 10% grade climbs and a ton of hike a bike. Miles and miles and miles of climbs and miles and miles of true suffering. It’s a sufferfest out there with close to 15K of elevation gain! If I’ve ever wanted to find my limits, trust me I did. My lack of “preparation” a couple of days before the race didn’t help, it’s been a busy summer. Three days before the race, I spent a whole day in bed sobbing over having a cold, thinking of the possibility of having to “quit” the race, before even starting it. The night before the race I got no sleep (maybe 2 hours max) nerves, getting up to the UP late, still needing to prep food/bottles/bike, you name it. I had failed myself even before starting the race. 50 miles in, and the whole time my brain wasn’t with it, a strange feeling, I’ve never felt like that on a bike, but honestly the lack of sleep and not riding my bike for two weeks (due to trips) was getting to me. I didn’t want to verbalize it, but I wanted to quit. How was that even possible? An event I had been looking forward to for months, and only 50 miles in! But the odds seemed to be against me. I have now sat down to do the math, and realized I was up (minus a 20 min rest where I tried to nap and maybe fell asleep for a few min on the side of the road, on the dirt, on top of gravel while the mosquitos swarmed my head) for a total of 60 hours. I highly do not recommend ever trying that! Let’s just say that it is almost possible to fall of your bike due to having the feeling of sleeping while riding. Not to mention the horrible mental breakdown I had earlier this week. I love riding my bike guys! It’s one of my joys in life. It’s where I find myself, where I talk to myself for miles and miles, where I find what makes me. I know, it’s weird. As much as I love riding my bike, I’ll be honest, this ride broke me a bit. 237 miles plus a few extra ones of type two fun! Hundreds of mosquitos and horse flies (that bite really hard through your clothes!) followed us through the course. We wore mosquito nets as we rode, we applied and reapplied mosquito repellent. I’ve always loved adventure. I’ve always loved hard stuff, why? Because for some of us, is an inner battle, it’s me against me. Just like in life, not everything is easy, so why add more pain you may ask? Because it’s what builds me, builds character, builds confidence in myself. Helps me feel truly alive. I love a good challenge. This ride was by far the hardest thing I have ever done in my life, harder than when I lost my knee to “canyon knee” in Grand Canyon while backpacking 54 miles on rim-rim-rim. Harder than climbing Mt Rainier and thinking I may die if I stepped off the ledge. Harder than when I got mild frostbite on my fingers after riding 60 miles in the dead of winter in the UP in -15F (and colder). It’s hard to say that if I had had better prep before the race and not gotten a cold and had a full night of sleep before the race it would have been easier. I don’t know. I may never find out! Because so far, the “trail of no return” in which I pushed my bike up hill through massive rocks on a 9% grade for a whole mile keeps me pondering if I would ever do the 225EX again. As my friend Molly mentioned while riding, we are fortunate, blessed that we get to ride, do the event! I am blessed guys! I am blessed that I get to explore this earth in places so remote, with my bike. Growing up, I could have only dreamed that one day I would be doing this – more on that on a different note coming in November. I am blessed to have a husband who supports my riding, friends and awesome sitters (Tessa), Neighbors (Karen) that help me with the kids so I can get rides in and take adventures like this! One day, I will have to explain to the kids the massive guilt I felt while leaving them to go on these trips, but how I needed to do it for myself to, honestly, be a better mom to them. It’s a massive challenge to find the time to train and ride when I have two little monkeys, getting three rides in a week is nearly impossible, not to mention that every time they pick up a bug, I get it too (it’s impossible for a 2yo to not sneeze all over my face) HUGE thanks to my riding partners, Molly, David, Fredrick, because in those moments when I thought I could no longer go, you all became an inspiration to me, that I could keep pushing! Thanks for letting me rest on the side of the road for 20 min, you truly saved my life (my brain was super
Recommended Gear
You agree to abide by the self supported ethos and to obey the rules at all times. You should carry all items on the recommended gear list. You should not plan to share gear with a partner. You have to be fully self-sufficient. Things go wrong. Gear breaks. Friends quit. Redundancy = having a backup plan. GPS units crash. The weather will turn. Trying to save ounces could cost your life. The recommended gear list covers all MS and EX events.