Hello, Welcome to:
Ogden, Utah
The high alpine setting of the ENVE Grodeo will challenge all your skills, while the amazing views along the route will remind you why you love gravel.
ENVE GRODEO
Welcome to ENVE Composites’ hometown of Ogden, Utah. While most associate our town with outdoor adventure, it’s our wild west heritage, freethinking, and pioneering spirit that makes the Grodeo riding experience so special. Ogden is a town of contrasts, driven by it’s evolution from a frontier trading post, to railroad transportation hub, and later bootlegging mecca. A town that has always stood out in Utah and beyond. Prior to European American arrival of “Mountain Men” to Ogden-Weber County, it was inhabited by nomadic people. Native American tribes, including the Paiutes, Utes, Shoshones, Goshutes, and Bannocks all lived here. The Shoshone referred to the area as “Opecary”, which meant “stick in the head.” The original trails Natives pioneered connected the greater region and later contributed to the roads of today.
The Most Notorious Mountain Town
Colorful Tales of a Gravel Destination With a Freethinking HERITAGE and Pioneering Spirit.
Prior to European American arrival of “Mountain Men” to Ogden-Weber County, it was inhabited by nomadic people. Native American tribes, including the Paiutes, Utes, Shoshones, Goshutes, and Bannocks all lived here. The Shoshone referred to the area as “Opecary”, which meant “stick in the head.” The original trails Natives pioneered connected the greater region and later contributed to the roads of today.
By the 1820s trappers arrived seeking to take advantage of the rich harvest of beaver furs found along the Weber River. This era was a time where the nomadic ways of Native Americans and trappers converged and led to the establishment of Fort Buenaventura. It was an 84 acre tract of land where mountain men traded with tribes, and mixed ethnic families emerged. The fort was the basecamp from where they headed out to trap beaver and live off the land. Fort Buenaventura's early days were legendary, as it quickly became a place to annually trade furs for supplies, demonstrate wilderness skills, and to eat, drink, and share tales of adventure. In 1847 Mormon settlers purchased the fort for $1,950 and this led to Ogden incorporation as a city in 1851, only one of three west of the Mississippi River. (San Francisco and Salt Lake City being the other two.) Achieving city status is largely why Ogden eventually became a strategic point in the quest to build the Transcontinental Railroad that linked the eastern railroad system from Council Bluffs, Iowa to Oakland, California.
By 1869 four towns, Corinne, Promontory, Uintah, and Ogden all vied for the chance to be the train station that would serve as the junction point for cross-country railroad travel. Promontory was where the 17.6 karat Golden Spike (Last Spike) was driven and which ultimately connected the Central Pacific Railroad from Sacramento and the Union Pacific Railroad from Omaha. Both Corinne and Ogden built train depots in advance of this event, with Union Station Depot at 25th Street and Wall Avenue in Ogden being selected. On March 8, 1869 the first train arrived, kicking off decades of population and business growth as the town welcomed people from around the world. While Union Station experienced devastating fires requiring it to be rebuilt over the years, it has continued to be a cultural hub of activity in down town Ogden. There are a number of museums and art galleries utilizing the space today, including the Western Heritage and Utah Cowboy Museum. Currently Union Station houses approximately 25,000 objects of diverse pieces, including prints, photographs, decorative arts, costumes, paintings, sculpture, toys, and railroad memorabilia.
In connecting the north-south and east-west rail lines, Ogden earned the nickname “Junction City”, and experienced its first economic boom (1880-1905) as people from around the world converged on the Wild West. A number of new residents and visitors found their way to town. Ogden quickly became recognized for having world-class hotels, restaurants, and shopping, while also gaining notoriety for being a place of crime and vices, like gambling, prostitution, narcotic sales, robbery, rape, and murder. Shootouts were a common occurrence, which contributed to the town earning a reputation for being rough.
Ogden’s Wild West character lasted well into the 1920s, as Prohibition (1917 to 1933) did little to temper it. The business of bootlegging boomed despite alcohol consumption being illegal. One Italian business owner went as far as to build a false wall in the basement of his soda shop, placing a copper still behind it. A faucet in the bathroom poured whiskey. This type of behavior inspired men and women all over town to jump in on the action. For example Greek and Italian women would soak raisins in a corked jug for 21 days until they were plump enough to process into wine.
Countering illicit actions was the law. It was reported that Weber County Sheriff David F. Steele possessed an unusual talent to bust two stills a week. He would cruise with his window rolled down and use a keen sense of smell to detect fermenting grain. While the intent was to stop the ‘evils’ of alcohol, Prohibition had the opposite effect in and around the 25th Street district. It reinforced a culture of crime and nefarious behavior, while also inspiring a period of business competition and innovation. Even notorious gangster, Al Capone, famously suggested Ogden was too dangerous even for him. After Prohibition (1930 to 1960s), the mafia quickly made its criminal behavior felt on the culture of 25th Street for a significant part of the 20th century. Today, Ogden’s freethinking and pioneering spirit continues to evolve. It has become an internationally recognized outdoor recreation destination, which now includes miles of gravel roads to explore. The Grodeo rally will see you venture out on a number of side roads, through small towns, around reservoirs, and through Wasatch Front mountain valleys and passes. All of these roads hold fascinating and gritty stories of Ogden’s Wild West past. After all, you’re traveling on the same paths as Native Americans, Mountain Men, and Bootleggers of yesteryear, only now you’re not evading local authorities. All of this spirited past is why ENVE Composites believes this community delivers the best Grodeo ride event experience.
A LOOK AT THE NUMBERS:
Between 1925 to 1932, Federal Agents in Utah seized an assortment of nefarious items:
• 400+ Distilleries
• 25,000 Gallons of Spirits
• 8,000 Gallons of Malt Liquors
• 13,000 Gallons of Wine
• 332,000 Gallons of Mash
Route Map
Ride with GPS
Enjoy the Routes
The several routes on this map are a collaboration with ENVE. They are available for you to explore at you own pace. Grab a friend, get on your bikes and set off for a fantastic road trip to OGDEN, Utah. This is a hard ride you will need to be 1000% self reliant. bring tools, food and water. For Reals... Click theRide With GPS LOGO for the ROUTE LANDING PAGE.
We recommend that you ride the Upper Loop section. See the QR code and parking icon for reference for the start of the Upper Loop. You will find several spots to tent camp or van camp near the parking are at the start of the North Loop... The Full Grodeo Route rolls up Ogden Canyon Road. The Canyou is closed to bikes and you can not bike the lower Canyon section outside of the event. This narrow road has no shoulder and is closed to bikes for several miles. Thank you.
HIGH VOLUME GRAVEL WHEELS
You might think that with wider carbon wheels and higher volume gravel tires you should turn the dial past 10, and go to 11. But, hold on. In this case, higher volume means more air, and more radness might not be the result of more air pressure. The crew over at ENVE Composites know a thing or two about this science. Everything about the design and construction of a wider internal rim measurement, matched with a higher volume, tubeless gravel tire, exists for a purpose. Stronger. Faster. Lighter. Too much pressure and you could have a nasty, jarring ride. While too little pressure might not transfer your valuable energy into momentum. We have a chart that can help. See where you fit in these numbers. Start with the chart and go for a ride… release some pressure and ride some more. Test it on another ride. Run the tire pressure that you like the best, just mind the max inflation ratings of your rim and tire. Lower air-pressure might be your new normal.
For more information on dialing in your tire pressure visit www.enve.com/learn/tire-pressure
MORE COOL STUFF
THE FOUNDATION AG SERIES: R & D
The Gravel Adventure Field Guide sat down for a beer with ENVE to get some back story on their gravel wheel development, testing, and how that led to the GRODEO. Grab a field Guide for the Q&A
Special thanks to ENVE for supporting this project!
HANDMADE IN THE USA
ENVE is proud to manufacture its rims, wheelsets, drop bars, frames and seatposts by hand in Ogden, Utah. Everything related to production is under the roof of a new state-of-the-art facility: manufacturing, assembly, design, R&D, our test lab, customer support and the business team. It's pretty bad ass places. We got hooked up with a set of AG28 650B wheels and had the chance to ride them for the Grodeo event, and while we travel to new locations to create more of our field guides. The stability, quick acceleration, wide-hookless beed technology and carbon strength makes them then best wheels we have ever ridden. Look for a demo at you local shop, and you can check them out for yourself. Amazing.
