When we say Matty Cranmer will ride just about anything – we mean anything! When he's not on a BMX or mountain bike, Matty is putting on some serious mileage on his Mongoose Guide Sport gravel bike to train for adventure races that push his endurance to the limit.
After successful first race in 2024, Matty decided to tackle the punishing Croatan Buck Fifty once again – a 110-mile gravel race along North Carolina's eastern seaboard. Because Matty can't have all the fun, Mongoose's very own Leigh Ramsdell signed up as well to ride the 50-mile route in the single speed class on his trusty (and newly modded) Mongoose Guide.
And, Alex Johan, owner of Chain Reaction Action Sports, joined the party and rode a 100% stock Guide Sport, including all the reflectors, in the 50-miler 40+ class.
The day of the race started off foggy, but once that cleared out it was a great day to pedal gravel bikes! Matty was joined by his good friend Vinni Mannino in the 110-miler, and they both finished toward the front of the pack! Matty beat his previous year's time finishing in 8th place with a time of 5 hours and 52 minutes! While not as fast as Matty, the rest of the group gets major props for finishing this grueling race.
Check out some photos from the event, and hear was Matty had to say about his race!
“The Croatan Buck 100 was so much fun! It was such an intense race, and I gave it everything I got to crawl across that finish line. My bike is disgusting. It was a dusty ride out there, but it held up so good. I can’t wait to come back again next year!”
Photo Credit Bruce Buckley
