Grasslands Triple Crown
Competition Rules
Updated: Wed Feb 26, 2025
Three West River gravel events have routes that include a USFS National Grassland. The Grassland Gravel (Ft. Pierre National Grassland), Thunderhawk Wide Open (Grand River National Grassland) and Wheelin’ To Wall (Buffalo Gap National Grassland) events are offering a Grassland Triple Crown points series competition for the 2025 season.
Format
Each event will include 3 STRAVA segments for which riders can earn points to win the Grassland Triple Crown. Rider points for the 9 segments will be totaled to determine the winner for each race category.
Note: riders get point multipliers for entering 2 or more events. Details below under Points System.
Cost
There is no additional fee besides event registration to be included in the Grassland Triple Crown points series competition.
Event Registration
Riders may enter as many of the series events as they wish, using each event's registration site.
Riders must be registered for one of the two longest-distance routes offered for each event but may enter different distance routes between series events (segments will be on shared route sections).
Note: Only the two Saturday gravel distance routes at Wheelin’ to Wall qualify for the Grassland Triple Crown.
Eligibility
A rider must be registered for the event to be eligible to earn points for that event.
Only rides completed during the 2025 series events will be included in scoring.
Event rides must be on one of the two longest-distance routes for each event (segments will be on shared route sections).
Note: Only the two Saturday gravel distance routes at Wheelin’ to Wall qualify for the Grassland Triple Crown.
Entering the Competition
Riders will be automatically entered if they upload their event ride to STRAVA following completion of any of the 3 events.
Riders must upload their event rides to STRAVA no later than 1 hour following their completion of the ride.
STRAVA uploads must be publicly visible in the segment leaderboard on STRAVA.
Rider Categories
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Men's Open, ages 18 - 49
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Men's Masters, ages 50+
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Women's Open, ages 18 - 49
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Women's Masters, ages 50+
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Age category is determined by the rider's age as of the first series event the rider enters.
Note: each event may have different age/gender categories, but the points series will be calculated independently.
Points System
Top 10 segment finishers within each rider category earn:
1st = 13 points
2nd = 11 points
3rd = 9 points
4th = 8 points
5th = 7 points
6th = 6 points
7th = 5 points
8th = 4 points
9th = 3 points
10th = 2 points
Riders earn multiplied points for entering more than one series event:
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First event entered: 1X points
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Second event entered: 1.5X points for that event
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Third event entered: 2X points for that event
Ties
On the segment: If two or more riders in the same category finish the segment with the same time (to the second), each rider will earn the total points for that place. For example, if two riders tie for first place on the segment, each will earn 13 points. This does not affect points available for other places on the segment.
For the series total: If two or more riders in the category finish with the same point total, the tie will be broken by the cumulative total time of the riders’ 3 segments at the Wheelin’ to Wall event. If a tied rider does not participate in Wheelin’ to Wall, the tie is won by the rider who does. If no tied riders participate in Wheelin’ to Wall, the tie will be broken by the cumulative total time of the riders’ 3 segments at the Thunderhawk Wide Open.
STRAVA Segments
There will be 3 STRAVA segments per event designated for the Grasslands Triple Crown competition.
STRAVA segments for each event are selected by the event’s director.
STRAVA segments will be on route sections shared by the 2 longest-distance routes for each event. Segment competition will be among all riders within each age/gender category.
STRAVA segments will be publicly identified prior to each event and provided to event registrants in advance with other event rider information.
Prizes
The top 3 finishers in each category will win a custom trophy prize.
All riders who complete all 3 series events will receive a special swag item.
E-bikes
Event rides on E-bikes are not eligible for the Grassland Triple Crown points series. E-bikes are otherwise welcome at each event according to the event’s rules.
