Why do you like gravel?

[alejoeder]

A comment to anyone saying "gravel was ridden well before the sport was even invented": It was not a discipline. Anyone could ride a regular bicycle on surfaces that were available at those times. It was not making it a distinct sport or distinct bikes or specific ethos. The same: anyone could ride in the mountains but it was not MTB.


As I said, there are many styles or flavours. Unplanned rides for adventure? Fine! However, gravel cycling is the sports discipline most relying on GPS navigation. As a GCN presenter once said: 'The GPS navigation has totally changed the cycling. Now, you can ride for hundreds of miles never stopping, and you will always make the correct turn!' Fancy a group of several hundred or even a thousand of riders of both sex. They follow a 100+ or 160+ or 500+ or several thousand km course, and they are always on course (or are disqualified). It is often the SOLO category (where a rider is 100% self-supported and has to maintain a separation from any other rider except for the feeding zones). In the OPEN category, the riders can help each other but only can get any external help in the feeding zones.

Gravel cycling as a discipline means: "Ride far and ride fast. Be self-supported". The Ultra riders often use dynamos to keep their navigation and lighting (as well as the phone) working!

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A girl on a 500+ kilometre course. The bike GPS computer is clearly visible.

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Many gravel riders wear hydration packs (as well as carry extra water bottles). The GPS bike computer is even not optional!

Gravel cycling is very different from road cycling. In road cycling, it is a peloton. In gravel cycling, a group is only formed on leisure rides (coffee rides) or by several strong riders on the race. Drafting is very difficult in gravel cycling.

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Lithuanian Express, or a team of three Lithuanian racers who once dominated the Staged Race format.

Unlike in road racing, there is a great sense of camaraderie in gravel cycling. Also, the "being self-supported" is the thing. Once, riding in cold, wind and pouring rain on a gravel race, I saw a man running with his bike in the mud! I, and several other riders stopped and had a chat with him in English. The Lithuanian hero had his drivetrain damaged beyond repair. He couldn't be helped so he was running with his bike in the dire conditions for 12 km to the finish line! And he had a podium in a 3-day Staged Race!

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Anyone can present own youth pictures riding gravel on a regular bike. Anyone can flash some historical photos from the times asphalt wasn't even a thing. Nothing of that makes one a gravel cyclist. Participating in the sport does.

2026 UCI Gravel World Championships, Nannup, West Australia.

Wow you shared a plenty of facts that were unknown to me before, thank you. The story of the man that ran with his damaged bike is crazy! My respect to this man. Epic.

 

[PedalUma]

I enjoyed @stompandgo distinction between sport and competition. I like the intrinsic aspects of sports like sailing a small boat, cross country skiing in nature, fishing in a stream, or riding a bike. I am not at all into the extrinsic aspects of competitions. That is not any fun. Judges, rules, scores, referees, all of that stuff takes away my motivation.

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

A similar thread here...

The Sound of Gravel

Anyone else out there who just really enjoys the *sound* of gravel? Not sure why… there’s just something supremely satisfying about that soft continual *crunch* I feel and hear on a great gravel trail. I’m not typically someone who pays a lot of attention to such things, which is why I mention...

forums.electricbikereview.com

The perfect companion to this thread! I'm going to add a link to it in the original post.

 

[DaveMatthews]

The perfect companion to this thread! I'm going to add a link to it in the original post.

Good idea!

 

[jabberwocky]

Another attraction is the equipment itself. A non-MTB that's reasonably competent on gravel is generally reasonably competent on pavement as well. The explorer in me just loves that flexibility and finds it well worth all the compromises involved.

Yeah, this is a good point. Modern gravel bikes are just good general purpose bikes. They tend to have more relaxed, comfortable geometry than road bikes, they have clearance for wider tires, usually have mounts for racks and extra bottles, etc. I do think some of the popularity of modern gravel bikes is just people looking for a good general purpose enthusiast bike.