Makeover your bike love

Try a new race

Not feeling excited about race season? You don’t have to switch sports, just sign up for a new style of race. Road racer Robert Gutgesell’s specialty was the time trial – spending hours every week practising specific wattages for specific times in straight lines on perfectly paved roads. After years of road racing at a high level and of maintaining the necessary commitment to his sport, he was getting worn down. On a whim, he signed up for a gravel race, and everything changed. “The gravel courses are way more fun,” he says. “After years of racing around a small circuit, long, interesting gravel roads were such a great change and challenge.”