Dishing the dirt
Does the rise of gravel riding threaten the purity of our sport? Does it hell, says Frank Strack
Dear Frank
More and more of my riding friends are turning to gravel riding and buying gravel bikes. I quite like the look of it, but I worry that it’s a step too close to mountain biking for comfort. What’s the Velominati’s ruling on this subject? Joseph, London
Dear Joseph
I’ve been a mountain biker all my life, beginning in the late 1980s as the sport was first coming into existence. I watched the first Mountain Biking World Championships on television, as John Tomac and Ned Overend duelled for the first crown.
It was an exciting time in our sport in general. Innovation was rampant on the road, on the track and in the dirt. Tomac was a special kind of rider who, like Greg Lemond, embraced any technology that might give him an advantage. He used suspension forks, disc wheels and drop bars off-road, all in an effort to gain a few extra seconds. What an era!
Mountain biking in those days was a different sport to what it is today. Rigid frames were the norm and if suspension was involved it was relatively ineffective if not an outright hindrance. We learned to ride light on the saddle while pushing a big gear, and to read the terrain. Staying loose, alert and sharp in order to choose the right line through roots and rocks was the key skill involved. That, and being able to turn over massive gears at high speed.
The bike-handling skills I learned during this time were invaluable and unique to the era in which I learned them, as the advancement of mountain bike technology towards heavy, fullsuspension beasts meant an ever-increasing focus on descending over climbing, as well as indiscriminately riding over the terrain rather than picking a tactical line through it.
An inarguable advantage mountain biking holds over road cycling is the fact that it takes place away from the traffic that every day becomes more distracted, thereby making our beloved sport ever more dangerous. Mountain biking can uniquely carry us far from the inattentive eyes of the dreaded texting driver and into the serenity of the wilderness.
On the other hand, mountain biking is a far less civilised sport than road cycling. Baggy shorts, saddle bags, hydration packs – the sport lacks the hundred years of history that lends us a deep cultural context that informs our etiquette as road cyclists. Unlike our mountain biking brethren, we are not savages.
There is also a grace to riding a road bike that is lacking in mountain biking. We hover a metre off the ground, pedalling away at speed with the wind in our face. The smoothness of the tarmac allows the rhythm in our legs and lungs to bring us into a trance-like state. This kind of harmony simply does not exist on a mountain bike.
Gravel riding, on the other hand, brings us to an interesting middle ground. The gravel carries us away from the dangers of traffic, but still allows us to ride what largely amounts to a road bike, in civilised kit and in a road position. We can still find the harmony and grace of the ride while enjoying the luxury of riding close to nature on deserted roads and trails.
My only concern when it comes to gravel is the entire industry of bikes that has cropped up around it. Not that I have anything against buying more bikes (Rule #12: The correct number of bikes to own is n+1 ), but the gravel bike industry seems to be diluting its road cycling roots with things like suspension, widely spaced gears and upright riding positions. Ultimately, a standard cyclocross bike holds everything in its design needed to enjoy countless hours of riding gravel. We really needn’t make things any more complicated than that.
Be that as it may, as long as it gets people excited about riding and out on the bike, I’m a supporter. In the timeless words of The Prophet, Eddy Merckx: ‘Ride as much or as little as you like, but ride.’
Gravel carries us away from the dangers of traffic, but still allows us to ride what largely amounts to a road bike, in civilised kit and in a road position