Debbie's story: Dirty Dutchess

BaseCamp athlete Debbie Kirkhus shared her experience at the 2025 Dirty Dutchess event in New York.

What a difference a year of training and coaching makes. This was my first ever gravel event that I had done last year right after I bought my gravel bike. Last year I did the 40 mile ride, this year I chose the 60 mile route.

More miles (my longest ride), higher elevation (my best yet), and so much faster speed than last year. It was a beautiful mixed road/gravel course that took us through many back roads and farms in my area.

I can’t tell you how much I appreciated the detailed course recon I did with my coach Greg last week. I think all the tips, tricks, and warnings (particularly about the sharp turns on gravel descents) saved me from wiping out on a nasty one and helped make this an overall success for me. I still need to work on controlling and pacing power on a steep portion of a climb. It’s a work in progress.

It was nice meeting Jim Brochin, who is a fellow BaseCamper. Jim has done the Farmer’s Daughter in the past and was giving me some good info about that ride, which is my main spring event coming up in 2 weeks.