A Call to Support and to Mentor

Architect:  Just how long do you think this peace is going to last?
Oracle:  As long as it can.

The Matrix Revolutions (2003).


The gravel scene has been percolating on the back burner of the cycling world for years, marginalized and misunderstood by the powers that be. But the vibe created and nurtured at gravel events drew cyclists from all corners of the cycling world. Numbers grew organically, persistently, quietly. That's what happens when something genuinely builds from the ground up.

Now it's 2017 and gravel events seem to be everywhere, all over the country and even abroad, with all sorts of newcomers to the scene. New riders, new races, new sponsors, new interest in a different mindset. For the most part, these events are still grassroots at their core, so you see a wonderfully creative variety of races and people. For the most part.

Cruising the early miles at the 2015 Gold Rush Mother Lode, with Jason Thorman and Luke Medina.
(photo by Randy Ericksen)

The gravel scene is worth protecting.

If you're a gravel veteran, please support the folks putting together the events that connect with you. Ride those events. Bring a friend. Tell others. Spread the word on social media. When patronizing event sponsors, thank them for supporting a valued event. Contribute to the organizers some schwag, some dollars, some brewskis or some other tangible thanks. Be part of making it happen.

Equally important, continue to welcome newcomers, as I know I was welcomed. Keep hanging out at the pre-race gathering. Keep helping each other out on the course. Keep sticking around a little after the race. Keep sharing your experiences. Keep listening to the stories of others. Keep mentoring newcomers of the vibe that makes the gravel scene special. Keep adding them to the gravel clan. Keep it going.

If you're a gravel newcomer, please leave at home your expectations of conventional bicycle races and launch into a brave, new world of self-sufficient discovery and interdependence with fellow racers. Accept the event for what it is and experience all that it offers, especially those aspects that seem foreign, quirky, or even non-sensical. Pedal out of your comfort zone. You may find something out there worth exploring, in body, mind and spirit.

It's not for everyone. That's OK. If you ride a gravel event and prefer the trappings of sanctioned bicycle racing, there are plenty of those races for you to enjoy. Return to them. If, instead, you try to graft the gravel scene into the tyrannical bureaucracy of homogenized USCA racing, expect to encounter resistance. Grass roots riders are a force. A friendly force, but a force nonetheless.

Back in 2014, I wrote an introduction to gravel road bicycle races that was published on the website and social media of ChristianCycling.com, a group with members all over the United States and throughout several other countries.  Gravel Grinder 101. At that time, very few of those avid cyclists had even heard of, let alone experienced, the grass roots phenomena of gravel races taking root in the Mid-Western United States. This was the gravel scene as I had experienced it at such races as Almanzo, Dirty Kanza, Gold Rush, Gravel Worlds, and Odin's Revenge. Like a well worn saddle, I think it still fits.

Protect the grass roots gravel scene. And enjoy it as long as you can.