God, Gravel, and the future of Cycling
With the explosion of gravel cycling in the states, is cycling's final frontier actively changing the landscape of the sport?
Hello all! I know it’s been awhile. I’ll spare you an excuse or explanation. Lots has happened. Lots is happening. Lots will continue to happen. This ain’t dead yet. Hope you enjoy.
If you ask the average American what comes to mind when they think of cycling, they'll likely give you one of a few answers: dudes in skin-tight lycra, Lance Armstrong, and people that annoy them when they're trying to text and drive. Though Armstrong once joined Greg LeMond as the only other American to have won the world's most visible bike race, his role as the most infamous athlete of all time has left LeMond atop that lonely mountain once more.
Americans and cycling- it's something that hasn't mixed for quite some time. Be it the difficultly those at the highest level face achieving success in the sport to the car-dominant infrastructure of this enormous nation; cycling is little more than a niche hobby in the states. At least, it was until the pandemic. With the explosion of the bike industry due to the proliferation of the novel coronavirus in 2020, interest in cycling has risen to previously unimaginable levels. Of course, what no one told cyclists as they enjoyed empty roads and reduced traffic amidst varied and wavering lockdown measures, was that those thousand-pound death machines would be back with a vengeance. With the increase in cyclists and a decrease in road space for all living things, a relatively new aspect of cycling has seen the most growth.
While not all that new in the world of cycling, gravel riding is very much in vogue. And for good reason. Cyclists old and new are finding that competing for pavement in a country where the automobile industry has successfully lobbied for the past hundred years isn't all that appealing. Add on the fact that the states seem tailor-made for this problem of its own creation and cycling's new favorite son has seen a major uptick over the past year.
For the uninitiated, gravel riding effectively marries two bike disciplines. While there are many terms for whatever people were doing with off-road bikes, be it mountain biking, tracklocross, or something else, what gravel riding does, at least in the purview of this wave of cycling advertising, is taking the swift, race-y aspects of road riding and put them on a bike capable of dealing with a few bumps and bruises. Think road bikes but with more tire clearance. What that simple change has opened up is a world of seemingly infinite possibilities.
Where weight weenies and minimalism once reigned supreme, putting a week's, sometimes even a month's worth of the bare essentials on a bike is what sits at the extreme end of this new gravel trend (technically called bike packing). Specificities aside, however, whatever people want to do within this newly exploited vein of cycling seems to align perfectly with the material and geographic characteristics of a country that, for all intents and purposes, has looked to reject it. While the roads and those who inhabit them may forever look disdainfully upon those looking to traverse them of their own volition, the amount of single-track, fire road, and gravel roads that make up urban environments in the states provides a whole new world for those willing to ditch the pavement. Not only is that making cycling more accessible for anyone with access to these environments, but it's also making cycling more relatable.
In an age where marketing's drive to associate success with whatever product or company happens to pay the most, it's fair to say that a good portion of non-mainstream sports have become almost entirely impenetrable. While the introduction of big money has taken nearly every sport in the world to an unforeseen level of competition, what few failed to consider is that said performance would be largely unrelatable. This isn't to say that the spectacle of human achievement at the highest level doesn't draw interest the world over—quite the contrary. Rather, the institutions and sports themselves have moved so far away from their origin that they're barely recognizable entities.
Even as a bright-eyed and excitable new fan, flicking on The Tour these past few summers has been an increasingly difficult watch. While the sport in and of itself may lack some degree of confrontational excitement, a la soccer or basketball, why pro cycling fails in mainstream appeal seems to have more to do with the state of competition. Watching a Frenchman and a Colombian who weigh a combined 76 pounds soaking wet do tactical road battles that fail to yield any discernible result for roughly six hours isn't particularly appealing.
‘oh it must be hard for people to understand… this’
What gravel riding, specifically American gravel riding, is saying:
‘When you explain the Tour to somebody it’s like, it’s 21 days, and there’s this green jersey and this yellow jersey… and then you explain Kanza, and it’s like, yeah it’s 200 miles on farm roads and you have to bring your own snacks.’
Take Colin Strickland, for example. He represents something of an anti for the typical European pro. After winning a number of gravel-centric events in the late 10's, Strickland was offered a spot on cycling's most media-friendly and modern team- Education First. Rejecting a chance to race on a team set to compete at the front in most European classics would probably seem insane for anyone at that level. But for Strickland, it seemed to represent the kind of cycling he had looked to get away from. The simplicity and agency provided by the calendar of events formed around the explosion of the gravel discipline in the states is more attractive than the traditionalism that defines, and often chains, the world of World Tour level cycling.
As Lachlan Morton, a pro for Education First and one leading alternative calendar riding puts it;
‘When we had the first conversations about coming to Kanza, I was immediately like, I don’t want skin-suits, aero bars, or a team bus. We don’t want to take World Tour cycling and impose it on this race.’
The desire to get away from everything that defines professional riding is nuanced. It varies based on background and introduction. Nonetheless, people are finding common ground in their effort to reject it. Even within the world of road riding, American-based cycling talents are finding ways to inject fun back into the monotony. As if it were written in the prose of a Greek myth, Safa Brian’s legendary descent videos subvert the traditionally accepted nomenclature of old-world cycling. Where ascents and the speed at which they’re traversed sits at the heart of what tends to be celebrated by the UCI, Safa’s focus on descents and the sheer spectacle and skill required to merely survive at these speeds has inspired thousands to get back on a bike.
Pushing yourself to the limit is a concept that sits at the heart of most physical competition- and cycling is no exception. The events that have formed around gravel riding and racing seem to put that basic concept at the fore of this new style of riding. Be it ultra-distance, 2-400 mile gravel rides, or something in-between, cycling's drive to get closer to the fans is being driven by fan and pro alike.
Directly or indirectly, the popularization of gravel riding has been a breath of fresh air for a sport that seems hamstrung by its own tradition. Looking at the world's most well-known cycling event as a centrifuge from which its rigid sense of tradition emanates, the Tour de France started as little more than 'let's see if we can.' The open-ended question sitting at the heart of what inspires many to ride a bike got lost somewhere among the power meters and carbon fiber. Returning to that simple question is easier said than done, but perhaps cycling's newest venues and participants can help it get back to where it all began. By going where few bikes ever dared to go, cycling can go back to where it should have always been.