Welcome to Gravel Camp
There are very few places in my life where I feel like I fit in, where I feel like part of the group. I have always felt like an outsider, so I generally just ignore and accept it and move about my life awkwardly and uncomfortably with an underlying constant buzz of anxiety.
But as I was sitting in a circle of riders in the warm sun and soft grass drinking beer and eating tacos in the mountains of Southwest Virginia after a day of gravel rides, I noticed something. This was one of those rare moments where everything just felt comfortable and right, and I could tell that others—who probably also felt like they never quite fit in—felt it too.
And rather than just accept and enjoy that feeling, that feeling that seems the common thread through every gravel event I have ever attended, I had to try and understand why. I had been resisting the gravel trend and would roll my eyes at the term “the spirit of gravel.” But I was starting to get it. Until this point, I had been wondering, “why gravel?” and “why now?” I suspected this sunny warm feeling with friends had something to do with it—not just for me, but for everyone. Rather than accept that answer, I had to try and figure it out. .
A very short and mostly made up history of gravel (that’s also true)
Gravel as a discipline is not new. People have been out there riding gravel in different ways on different bikes since the invention of the bicycle. I’ll admit that I made that fact up, but it makes sense. The first paved road in the United States was in 1870 in Newark, New Jersey, which is only 15 years before John Kemp Starley perfected a “safety bicycle” with two wheels of the same size that replaced the popular penny-farthing. I can’t imagine that many miles of roads were paved in this short timeframe between inventions, so I would expect that all bicycle riders in the early years were “gravel riders.”
In Europe, the classic cycle races have included cobbled roads and historic gravel since those races started in the late 1800’s. Cobbles may not be gravel, but they are not pavement either. Which as far as I can tell, riding over any surface that isn’t pavement is the actual definition of gravel riding.
Cyclocross started out in the 1900’s a lot like what we now know as gravel racing. And cyclocross racers have been “gravel riding” for training since about that time.
Fast forward to the early days of mountain biking. Before there were mountain bike trails, there were dirt roads and hiking trails. And you know that friend you have that likes to explore unpopular places on a bike not designed for the terrain they are riding? That friend has also been around since the invention of the bicycle—likely exploring dirt roads on the newly invented bicycle.
And what is a gravel bike really? No one really knows for sure yet, because in general, any bike that can get you across the terrain you are riding is a gravel bike in that moment. Some gravel bikes look a lot like road or cyclocross bikes, and others look a lot like the very early mountain bikes. In 1991, the first winner of the Wilderness 101 backcountry mountain bike race in Coburn, PA, Harry Winard, rode a Bridgestone MB-0 with 38mm tires and aero bars—it was essentially a gravel race at the time, and his MB-0 doesn’t look a whole lot different than a “modern” gravel bike race set up.
No one has put the gravel rider in a box (yet)
Traditional cycling likes to put people neatly in boxes of what kind of a rider they are, but like most other things in life, people rarely fit in boxes. Yet we sill try. But as far as I can tell, no one has put the gravel rider in a box yet.
Since both our very early road and mountain cyclists also appear to have been gravel cyclists, it only make sense that if you have all these people coming together from multiple disciplines, that there is no single answer to what a gravel rider should look like or what a gravel bike should look like. And I think people are getting tired of being put in boxes and told what they should wear and how they should act.
In road riding there is literally a set of “rules” that dictate what one should wear and carry, how they should act, and what their bike should look like. While these rules are extremely comprehensive, the only “rule” that seems to not be documented, but can seem inferred, is that you should also be a white man. Local road races all over the country also happen to be shutting down and not coming back.
Mountain biking seems a little more laid back, right? Maybe. But also maybe not. Find yourself wearing cross country style spandex and clipless pedals in a group of flat pedal riding and baggy short adorned enduro riders and be ready to get some looks as people judge how fast you can go downhill based purely on appearance and how much suspension you have.
Where everyone is welcomed
And this is where I began to understand the question of “why gravel?” The spirt of gravel began reveal itself to me, as I went deep into the gravel experience at Gravel Camp. I happened to be the organizer of Gravel Camp, but in a classic case of the mentor becomes the mentee, I think I learned more from these riders than they learned from me.
We didn’t all know each other before Gravel Camp, and there would be no reason for many of these people to have ever met or maybe even be friends. We had new riders, experienced riders, and industry professionals all hanging out like a group of new summer camp friends. We played games, went tubing, ate tacos and peach cobbler, and had a few beverages. Some people rode 18 miles, some rode over 50. Some rode carbon gravel bikes, some rode steel touring bikes, some rode mountain bikes, and some rode eBikes. Some people wore baggy shorts and t-shirts and some wore team kits. But none of those differences mattered. Everyone’s accomplishment was relevant and experience the same—they pushed themselves, tried something new, and had fun in the process.
But most importantly, everyone was welcomed—all you had to do was step into the circle.
A spirit of inclusiveness
I think the spirit of gravel is really a spirit of inclusiveness. I saw all sorts of riders come together, and all feel like part of the crew. Through this, I learned that gravel is no rules and good times. Wear whatever you want, ride whatever bike you want, put squishy bits on your bike, wear a pack, don’t wear a pack, cover your bike in bags, put a dog in one of those bags, it’s all good. And so completely refreshing.
Cycling should be the sport where everyone can feel like they belong. People love bikes, and every kid wants a bicycle. Families of all backgrounds and socioeconomic statuses like to ride bikes together (when they have a safe place to do so). Cycling is a sport that everyone learns, very few stick to, and where many feel intimidated to return as adults.
Keep it going
We have a choice, keep cycling inclusive or maintain the cliques and rules and groups and exclusiveness. It doesn’t take much for someone to feel excluded after a bad cycling experience. It takes even less effort to make them feel welcomed. So if you are a gravel rider out there, I am officially putting you in charge of maintaining gravel culture. Talk to a new rider, ride with someone with a different kind of shorts than yours, and welcome everyone equally. For the good of all of us.
