It was seven years ago when the organizers of SBT GRVL identified Routt County as a “gem of a location for cycling.”

They realized that having the lodging and infrastructure required to host high-volume events, paired with the beauty of the rural county roads, is something not many other ski towns in the country can provide. 

“Steamboat really lends itself to this type of event,” said SBT GRVL founding partner and CEO Amy Charity on Tuesday. “When we decided to put SBT together, our thought was how do we showcase this amazing town and also bring cyclists from all over the world? We wanted to go big from the beginning and that was very intentional.” 

Charity comes from a bike-racing background. She pointed out that cycling typically revolves around a certain look and body type. 

“We wanted to really disrupt that,” Charity said, explaining her hope to create a cycling event families wanted to come to. 

Since its first event in 2019, SBT GRVL has grown massively in recognition and popularity. It is now one of the largest gravel rides in the world. In 2024, Routt County Commissioners updated the county’s special event permit rules, calling for some changes to the familiar event. 

This year’s event runs June 26-29 and will feature 1,800 riders in Saturday’s recreational rides around Routt County and 750 professional and amateur riders on a more condensed circuit loop in and near Hayden on Sunday. 

The roughly 39-mile loop begins and ends in Hayden, taking riders south of town. Amateurs will race two laps and the pros will take on three, measuring to 79.3 and 116.9 miles, respectively. 

Charity said that loop was selected for a mixture of its beauty and the minimal vehicle traffic it sees on a given day. 

“We were looking for something that does not cross U.S. Highway 40, doesn’t cross (Colorado Highway) 131, and an area that is remote,” she explained. “Hayden has some incredible gravel roads so our thought was in our first several years we were going north with our route, let’s go west.” 

Sunday’s race will be run with rolling enclosures, meaning bikers will be protected inside a ring of motorcycles and cars, momentarily stopping any traffic that may be coming onto the course. Some bikers who fall out of the “bubble” will need to abide by the general rules of the road. 

The race begins and ends in Dry Creek Park with roughly 30 vendors by the finish line. There will also be a spectator zone at the Routt County Public Firing Range for cycling enthusiasts and family members to view the race. 

Saturday’s recreational rides include the 99-mile Blue Course, 56.7-mile Red Course and 36.5-mile Green Course. Each ride begins and ends on Yampa Street, taking riders through rural county roads. Each rider on Saturday is responsible for following the rules of the road. 

SBT GRVL Weekend Schedule
Thursday
FLM FST — Bud Werner Memorial Library, 10 a.m.-noon
SBT GRVL Expo — Yampa Street, noon-5 p.m.
Wahoo Dunk Tank — Yampa and 10th Streets, 2-4 p.m.

Friday
Trail Run with Anna Gibson — Little Toots Park, 8-9 a.m.
Breakfast Bash — Little Toots Park, 8:30-9:30 a.m.
Toddler Bike Race — Little Toots Park, 9-10 a.m.
SBT GRVL Expo — Yampa Street, 9 a.m.-3 p.m.
Canyon Costume HLL CLMB — Howelsen Hill, 5:30-6:30 p.m. 

Saturday
Blue Course Start — Yampa Street, 6:30 a.m.
Red Course Start — Yampa Street, 7 a.m.
Green Course Start — Yampa Street, 7:30 a.m.

Sunday
Amateur, GRVL Femmes and Junior Start — Dry Creek Park, 7 a.m.
Open/Pro Men Start — Dry Creek Park, 8:15 a.m.
Pro Women Start — Dry Creek Park, 8:20 a.m.

“Anything on the schedule that is not the ride or race is open to the public to participate,” said Ryan Steers, SBT GRVL marketing director. 

In the wake of controversies over impacts on the local ranching community, Charity said the event’s changes this year did not seem to rattle too many participants. Some opted not to register because they were unsure if they were more of a rider or a racer. Others could not make it work due to the change from a traditional August race that is now being held in late June in order for the event to not coincide with the Routt County Fair.

That being said, Charity believes this year’s professional field is “just as strong as ever.” 

Beyond the pros, the SBT GRVL team made a more concerted effort to boost its female and junior participation this year. 

Roughly 30% of ridership in the SBT GRVL recreational rides consists of women each year, and that holds true for 2025. On race day, participation from women was far below that mark and something organizers felt was important to address. 

The solution was an initiative called GRVL Femmes, a race for amateur women to compete on teams of three racers or more. The event will have a cross-country scoring style where the top three women from each team are scored based on finishing place. 

“It has been a really cool initiative that has opened the door,” Charity said. “Now, our woman percentage is 32%, which is as good as we’ve ever seen for the race.” 

For junior riders, SBT GRVL will be part of a series that includes other gravel events including Gravel Nationals. 

Young riders have also come to the forefront of SBT GRVL’s fundraising efforts. This year, SBT GRVL has partnered with Point6 to create a pair of socks representative of gravel riding and Routt County. 

In collaboration with Totally Kids in Hayden, the sock design was created by youth artists in West Routt County. 

“Every year we have a sock and a portion of the proceeds benefit a local nonprofit,” Steers said. “We had kids from Totally Kids put together a design and we combined them all. We’ll have them for sale at our expo.” 

Organizers plan to keep track of any wins and challenges that are presented throughout the week and are using Sunday as a way to test the circuit race model. Reports collected during the rides and races will then be discussed during a Routt County Commissioners meeting in late July, when the organizers will form their 2026 permit application to continue the event’s tradition.

“I know at its core, SBT does incredible things for people. All you have to do is stand along the finish line and see some of the people who took a year’s journey to prepare for it,” Charity said. “I can stand there and feel good about what we’re doing because I know our intentions, I know what we are trying to do and I know it’s positive.”