Dirty Freehub routes aren’t crowdsourced in the usual way. While platforms like Ride with GPS and Strava rely on publicly shared routes, Dirty Freehub routes are carefully vetted and built through a step-by-step process to ensure quality, safety, and ride experience.

That process starts with the community.

Beta Routes: where community ideas begin

When you submit a route idea to Dirty Freehub, we tag it internally as a Community-Submitted Route and place it into our Beta Route system.

Beta Routes are not public yet. Think of them as our “testing ground” — a large collection of potential rides that we make available to our Dirty Freehub Development Team.

When a Development Team rider rides a Beta Route, they submit a ride summary. The most important question they answer is:

Does this route have the potential to become a 5-Star Dirty Freehub route?

If the answer is yes, the route moves forward.

Development Routes: public, ridden, and still in progress

When a Beta Route shows 5-Star potential, we publish it to the Dirty Freehub website as a Development Route.

A Development Route guide is intentionally lightweight. You’ll usually see:

  • A short introduction
  • 4–6 photos
  • A start location
  • Basic notes on riding and terrain

Development Routes have been ridden by our team and have a baseline level of vetting — but they’re still being shaped, refined, and tested.

Once a Development Route is public, we ask the riding community to help make it better.

Community feedback is a core part of the process

Development Routes are built with community input. We’re looking for:

  • Rider experience and ride notes
  • Photos that show what the route really feels like
  • Points of interest (historic buildings, viewpoints, landmarks, kiosks, local stories)
  • Anything riders want future riders to know

Typically, a route stays a Development Route until we receive at least 10 rider comments.

At that point, we take a second look — not just at the route itself, but at what the community is telling us about it.

5-Star Routes: fully documented, fully featured, and truly special

If a Development Route continues to meet our 5-Star criteria, we move it into full production.

That means a Dirty Freehub Team member rides it again and fully documents it to build a complete, polished guide — the kind of ride experience Dirty Freehub is known for.

A 5-Star Route is the final result of:

  • Team vetting
  • Field testing
  • Community feedback
  • Full documentation and storytelling

This is why Dirty Freehub routes feel different — and why riders trust them.

Why does it take so long?

This process — from a community-submitted route idea to a fully documented 5-Star route — typically takes two years or more.

We’re serious about what we publish. We don’t just want a route that works — we want a route that delivers a standout experience every time someone chooses it.

How to submit a route idea

If you have a route you believe belongs on Dirty Freehub, we’d love to see it.

Please email Routes.Director@DirtyFreehub.org with:

  1. The route GPX file
    (or a public Ride with GPS / Strava link — if you use a link, please confirm it’s set to public)
  2. A short narrative (1–3 paragraphs)
    Tell us why this route has 5-Star potential. What makes it special? What does it showcase? Why should we pursue it as a premier Dirty Freehub ride?

Thank you for putting in the work — and for helping grow the routes, stories, and ride experiences that make this community what it is.