After some 360 miles and more than 30,000 feet of climbing over five days, Michael van den Ham, of Chilliwack, British Columbia, and Evelyn Dong, of Park City, Utah, emerged as the overall winners of the Oregon Trail Gravel Grinder bike race.

The race started Wednesday and ran through Sunday on gravel and dirt roads throughout the Central Oregon Cascade range.

The fully supported race (riders were set up with tents, gourmet food, etc. each night) included miles of forest, rivers and two historic wagon roads.

Van den Ham finished with an overall time of 16 hours, 6 minutes, 49 seconds. Cory Wallace, of Jasper, Alberta, placed second in 16:17:12, and Matthew Bird of Australia took third in 16:44:30 to round out the all-international podium. Bend’s Carl Decker finished ninth in 17:37:47.

Dong, a former Bend resident, posted a women’s-winning time of 18:32:45. Stella Hobbs, of Whitefish, Montana, finished second in 18:58:09, and Kaysee Armstrong, of Knoxville, Tennessee, took third in 19:04:35.

Bend’s Serena Gordon finished fourth in 19:15:57, and Rebecca Fahringer, also of Bend, was fifth in 19:20:13.

The Oregon Trail Gravel Grinder concluded Sunday with the 82-mile fifth stage (La Pine to Sisters). The course took riders up near Mount Bachelor and then down the Tumalo Creek drainage. The finish was at the Village Green Park in Sisters.

Saturday’s Stage 4 (Oakridge to La Pine) was the Queen stage of the Oregon Trail Gravel Grinder. The race website calls it “one of the most spectacular days of gravel riding in all of North America.” From Oakridge, cyclists climbed into the heart of the Cascade range and topped out at 6,500 feet. The course was nearly 95 miles with 10,000 feet of elevation gain.

Friday’s Stage 3 was a 47-mile route around Hills Creek Reservoir near Oakridge. Thursday’s Stage 4 was a 61-mile route from Sisters to McKenzie through the dense Willamette National Forest. Wednesday’s 75-mile Stage 1 (Sisters to McKenzie) featured sections of the Santiam Wagon Road and views of the Three Sisters, Mount Jefferson and Mount Washington.

The Oregon Trail Gravel Grinder is organized by Chad Sperry’s Bend-based Breakaway Promotions, which formerly organized the now-defunct Cascade Cycling Classic, a road cycling stage race that was held for 39 years in Central Oregon but has not been staged since 2019.

The Oregon Trail is part of Breakaway Promotion’s Gravel Grinder Series. The Gorge Gravel Grinder was staged in April in Dufur and the Cascade Gravel Grinder in May in Bend. The Ochoco Gravel Grinder was set for July 8 in Prineville but has been postponed until 2024.

For more information, visit oregongravelgrinder.com.