Dirt and paved on tap for two new pro-backed public rides

Two American riders, one retired roadie and one dominant ’crosser, announced intriguing events they’re backing this July. Burke Swindlehurst will host a unique dirt/paved race, the Tushar Crusher, in Utah on July 16. In Massachusetts, Jeremy Powers will head his second annual J.A.M. GrandFUNdo July 30.

The Tushar Crusher will run 79 miles from Beaver, Utah, to Eagle Point ski area over a near even split of dirt and paved roads. The Crusher course includes more than 12,000 feet of climbing and tops out above 11,000 feet in elevation in southwest Utah.

“The concept of the ‘Crusher’ has lived in my head now for more than 10 years and I have long dreamed of the day when an event would incorporate the incredible terrain and breathtaking scenery afforded in the surrounding Tushar mountains,” said Swindlehurst. “Upon my retirement from professional racing in 2010 I decided it was time to make that dream a reality.”

Riders will compete for Rockwell timepieces in the king and queen of the mountain atop Utah’s highest road, the dirt Big John Flat Road, and cash purses for top finishers in a number of categories.

Powers’ J.A.M. GrandFUNdo debuted in 2010. The event will again raise funds for young cyclists in the Massachusetts’ Pioneer Valley. The 65-mile route climbs nearly 3,000 vertical feet and includes a mix of dirt and paved roads. The new GrandHundo will add 20 miles in 2011.

The fund supported two young riders this year in attending Powers’ Jelly Belly-Kenda professional road camp in southern California. According to a release, riders “can come to the GrandFUNdo for many reasons: the ride and the challenge, the food and the laughs, or the passion and the cause. But we will all come for one, main reason: the FUN!”