Even if you're new to cycling, you've likely heard about 'gravel riding'!
For those who have been riding a while, you'll have seen gravel EXPLODE as a discipline, especially with the first first UCI Gravel World Championships taking place in Italy in 2022 (won by CWRB fave Pauline Ferrand Prevot).
If you are interested but not really sure how to get started on gravel, you've come to the right place!
Of course, even within each cycling discipline you can find many sub-disciplines (take track for example!) - GRAVEL essentially encompasses the space between road cycling on paved and asphalted roads, cross country (XC) mountain biking, and cyclo-cross.
This means you'll be exploring unsealed (gravel) roads or purpose-built gravel singletracks. Some tracks may be relatively smooth, but in general you should expect potholes, rocky sections, grass and mud, sand, and potentially a combination of all of the above - even on a single ride!
Essentially, gravel riding shares the distance of road riding, while embracing the technical skills of off-road cycling.
5 Top Tips to Get Started in Gravel Riding
1/ The right bike is the one you already have
Though the correct number of bikes to have is n+1 (where n = the number of bikes currently owned) - unless you plan on racing right way, the best bike is the one you already have for getting started on gravel.
Many hard tail mountain bikes can be used 'as is' to get out on gravel, but if you're looking to venture out on a road bike, make it more 'gravel ready' with the following adaptations:
- Tyres with some grip: The amount of tread depends greatly on the type of gravel you’re riding. If you're converting a road bike to be gravel friendly, head to your local bike shop and check out their cyclocross tyres as these are typically 32-33mm wide and will fit in a wide majority of road bikes.
- Durable wheels: If you're running a road bike with super lightweight or expensive carbon fibre wheels, you may want to think about swapping them out for tough and durable wheels that can take a few knocks
- Bigger cassette or smaller chainrings: When riding on gravel, you'll likely encounter lots of different types of terrain, including sometimes steep and unsteady climbs. A bigger cassette or smaller chainring will increase your range and give you the lower gears you need.
- Mudguards: There are plenty of clip on and removable ones which attach to your seat tube or saddle rails to keep the worst of the mud off you without hampering your ride.
- Saddle or handlebar bags: These nifty bags give you the ability to store your repair and first aid kits, extra layers, snacks, sunscreen and other bits and pieces. Make sure they're secured to your bike as they’ll be shaken and bounced around a lot, and also check they're durable to withstand being splattered with mud and gravel on your adventures.
- GPS unit and/or maps: When going on a gravel adventure, you may find that - due to the nature of the paths and service roads - the usual road signs don’t exist to help you navigate if you get lost. This means that having a GPS device or map is essential. Remember also that mobile signal may be non-existent, so have at least one offline map and get comfortable using whatever navigating device or map you’ve got with you.
2/ Get familiar with trail side repairs
It shouldn't come as a surprise, however riding on gravel means your bike will come into contact with many more sharp and pointy bits of rocks and debris than if you are riding on asphalt or even sometimes smooth single track. This means that - whether you are running tubes in your tyres or have converted to a tubeless setup - you should get familiar with performming minor fixes on your bike, such as:
- Changing a punctured tube
- Fixing a broken chain
- Plugging your tubeless tyre
Carrying a repair kit that includes a patch kit, a boot, a chain tool, CO2 with a mini-pump, spare tubes and a tubeless plug kit, as well as a gear cleaning brush, a roll of duct tape and some zip ties is a smart place to start!
3/ Brush up on your first aid
The beauty of gravel riding is heading out on advenntures which may take you into the wilderness and far from home. Of course, we should always aim to ride within our ability and plan ahead, however it's never a dumb idea to brush up on your first aid just in case you need to administer to yourself, or someone else.
Most outdoor and bike shops will stock a wide range of compact and ultralight first aid kits. At minimum, bring along antiseptic solution, paracetomol and ibuprofe, a snake bandage (especially in Australia), a silver space blanket, and a fire-starter flint.
4/ Learn how to route plan
As much as setting off on an adventure with minimal planning may sound like a romantic idea to capture the nostagia of your childhood, you'll likely have a much more enjoyable day if you plan your route in advance, taking into consideration what you want and what your equipment and fitness are like.
This is for a few reasons, namely the amount of elevation in a route will drastically impact how much energy it takes out of you! Anyone who has ever underestimated the amount of climbing on a ride that seemed relatively short will know what we mean here...
It's probably the most obvious thing to do, but start with Googling "best gravel routes in [your area]". This will almost certainly give you a bunch of options to see if there's anything local.
You might aready be using the likes of Strava, Komoot, Trailforks or Ride with GPS - if not, download them now. These apps offer TONS of route planning options and allow you to choose the surface type, distance, elevation, and much more once you get the hang of it.
When planning a route, it’s good to not only check the surface type, but also the heatmaps. Using this map layer you can see if other riders have done the section you’re about to ride - and if it seems like many have, it probably is very rideable, or at least hikeable.
5/ Find a gravel riding buddy
As with any type of riding, but particularly those discpiplines where you may be quite far off the beaten track - safety is paramount. At a MINIMUM you should always let someone you know and trust the route you plan on taking as well as how long you'll be gone.
Better yet is doing the above AND finding a ride buddy to go with you - not only to share the awesomeness that is riding gravel with a mate, but to have someone there to help if you become injured or lost.
If you're searching for a ride buddy on gravel, look no further than our CWRB app - designed to help you connect with likeminded women who ride, all over the world.
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