In today’s hyper online world, a website begetting a book — and a series of them, no less — might read like putting the cart before the horse.
Yet, delightfully, the popularity of Dirty Freehub — the result of a married duo’s passion for route scouting, mapping and storytelling — has inspired this retro-tech arc.
The nonprofit is releasing its fourth installment of a series of gravel route booklets — this one dedicated to gravel rides within the vast Deschutes River Basin, which will hit shelves (mostly those of bike shops), in May.
Dirty Freehub founders Kevin and Linda English will host a book release party at Silver Moon Brewing on May 3. Guests will receive a complimentary guide booklet and a complimentary beverage, courtesy of Visit Central Oregon, a Dirty Freehub partner. Kevin will host a trivia contest, using the new guide booklet as a source text.
Spanning about 60 pages, the full-color pocket booklet is a selection of Dirty Freehub’s online trove of about 350, curated gravel loops that cover roughly 14,000 miles in Oregon, the greater West and international destinations. (Up for a gravel adventure in Tasmania —anyone?)
The Englishes began Dirty Freehub in 2014, later establishing it as a nonprofit. They’ve published these guide booklets in partnership with Visit Central Oregon; previous volumes are dedicated to gravel on the Oregon Coast, published in September 2024 and Western and Eastern Oregon, two booklets dropped in tandem in April 2025.
While the booklets are available in Central Oregon bike shops, the intended audience is bike-shop regulars throughout the West. The guidebooks’ intent dovetails with that of Visit Central Oregon to get people to, well, visit Central Oregon. Staging a gravel adventure here benefits the local economy, the logic goes, yet also the bottom line of out-of-state bike shops that carry the literature.
“These booklets put Central Oregon on the map as a gravel destination,” Kevin English says. “A customer goes, ‘Wow, I’m going to take a trip to Central Oregon’ and then, ‘Hey, I’ll need a tune-up.’”
As with their website, Dirty Freehub’s guide booklets foster an appreciation for a route setting’s natural history and human heritages. Another emphasis is stoking a sense of land stewardship in gravel riders, along with financially benefiting rural economies.
Each Dirty Freehub booklet features illustrations of a different local artist. In the instance of the Deschutes River Basin Guide, Powell Butte-based visual artist Jennifer Ware-Kemcke lends her watercolor talents to the routes’ unfurling scenery. (She will also attend the May 3 book release party, along with Dirty Freehub board members.)
The Englishes dedicate one entry in the Deschutes River Basin Gravel Guide to a route they charted and dubbed Rajneeshee. Along with a map and pertinent riding info, the passage details the area’s history with the Rajneeshpuram, a cult in the early 80s that incorporated a compound near the hamlet of Antelope. The 65-mile loop traces a majority mix of chunky gravel with some pavement, gaining 7,000 feet through Central Oregon’ wild outback. (There’s a shorter loop option, as well.)
The Englishes introduce the Rajneeshee loop thusly: “…wild is not a metaphor here. In a single ride we saw antelope, coyotes, deer, hawks and snakes: constant reminders that this is still very much open range. You are a visitor in their habitat…. there is virtually no cell service and no services along the route. Once you roll out of town, you’re on your own until you return. Self-sufficiently isn’t optional — it’s required.”
If, from that passage’s adamancy, it seems the Englishes run a tight ship, well, that’s not for nothing: Kevin, 62, is a retired nuclear submarine officer. As in naval command, a strict respect for preparation and consequences (proper fitness, hydration and nourishment and mechanical know-how) is key to enjoying gravel riding — ideally with a group of friends.
“One of our goals is bringing people together,” English said.
Dirty Freehub” Deschutes River Basin Gravel Guide Release Party
https://dirtyfreehub.org/events/drb-gg-launch-party/
May 3, 6-8pm
Silver Moon Brewing
24 NW Greenwood Ave., Bend
Free
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