The Reggie Awards are our playful nod to registration excellence. Each month we spotlight an event director from the athleteReg community who creates extraordinary experiences. These passionate individuals share their stories, strategies, and the magic that make their events uniquely special.
This month’s winner stands out for exceptional marketing creativity and smart promotion, proving that innovative funding and targeted advertising can expand an event’s reach and boost participation.
Event Overview:
Event Director: Betsy Barfield
Event Name: Dirty Pecan Gravel Ride
Event Website: https://www.dirtypecan.com/
Event Registration Site: https://www.bikereg.com/dirtypecan
How many years have you been organizing this event? 2026 will be our 11th year.
How many participants attended your most recent event? 497
Tell us about your event in 3-4 sentences: Dirty Pecan is a one day gravel ride the first Saturday in March – 75% gravel – in beautiful north Florida. Routes 40-60-80-100-150-200 miles – are in the red hills plantation gravel roads in Monticello/Jefferson County FL and South Georgia/Thomasville, GA. We donate all proceeds to 4-H 🍀. The event is inexpensive, groovy and has very few rules.
How to Secure Tourism Funding for Cycling Events
You successfully applied for Tourist Development dollars. Can you walk us through that process and what advice would you give other event directors looking to secure similar tourism grants?
Yes. First, you must prove your event is putting butts in bed. You must have the correct lodging questions set up on BikeReg. Be sure to meet with the Tourism staff to get their advice/help.
The reason we are so successful in receiving Tourism grants is because we are able to capture where our riders stayed overnight. For 2026 we secured two hotels with block rooms.
Additionally, using the BikeReg heat map demonstrated the riders locale.
For the tourist development folks, the most important factor is butts in bed and using their logo prominently on all material.
Learn how event directors like Betsy use tourism grants to grow events!
Outside Advertising for Gravel Events
You invested your tourism funding in Outside advertising, which helped double your registrations. What made Outside the right choice for reaching gravel cyclists and how did you structure your campaign?
The reach for gravel riders is tremendous for Outside Magazine…targeted audience. It is important to note that Jefferson County/north Florida has amazing weather in March; while, up north, it is cold, wet and grey. Welcome to sunny Florida. ☀️
Our structure is word of mouth, Outside, FaceBook and Gran Fondo. We invested in a new logo, updated website and beefed up our in-line presence. All of these contributed to doubling our success. Oh, and it was our 10th anniversary too.
And, I think that the fact that Dirty Pecan donates all proceeds to 4-H 🍀is a big draw. I would say that at least 80% of our riders have participated in 4-H🍀, whether themselves, family, friends. It is a proven strong leadership program for kids.
On our BikeReg page we offered the opportunity to donate directly to 4-H 🍀. Just from this opportunity our riders donated over $1,000. Now, that is saying something.
Facebook Marketing Strategy for Cycling Events
Facebook promotion was part of your successful marketing mix. What Facebook strategies worked best for promoting the Dirty Pecan and how did you target gravel cyclists on the platform?
Dirty Pecan has a FB page. We used tourism dollars to push out to our followers registration for promotion for Dirty Pecan. We spent $500 on advertising with FB. I believe this was very powerful in getting attention. We were not sophisticated enough to do FB target marketing; however, in 2026, we will!
Just for fun
The Dirty Pecan has clearly created a loyal following in the gravel cycling community. What’s the one signature element that makes participants eagerly register again and recommend your race to other gravel cyclists?
Ok- while we don’t advertise this, we have very little rules. Additionally it is only $25 to register. For this fee you get digital route maps and a port-a-potty at ride start…and that is it. No SAG, no help, no rest stops; you are on your own. And, people like our moniker – ‘If you need a juice box and a hug every 20 miles, this ride is not for you-stay home.’
If folks want to purchase SWAG, then those are available for a fee.
Our riders like the participation of our local 4-H🍀clubs at Dirty Pecan. The 4-H🍀 kids park the cars, direct people to ride start and serve the lunch. I believe our riders love to see this 4-H🍀community participation. And, again, they love that all our proceeds are donated to 4-H 🍀.
And by the way, over the last 10 years, Dirty Pecan has donated over $200,000 to 4-H🍀. We have also created an endowment for Jefferson County FL 4-H. The endowment was initially funded with $30,000. We set up this endowment through the 4-H 🍀Foundation.
We are very grateful to EVERYONE that is part of our Dirty Pecan Family. We could not do this without every single person that gives from their heart to this program. Thank you, People !🥰
