Velocio co-founder Andrew Gardner enjoys biking in many different forms, and earlier this fall, he and Jonathan Ellsworth went on a gravel ride through New England — which Jonathan, something of a gravel biking skeptic, found to be delightful. So Andrew, Jonathan, and I sat down to talk about gravel riding and how / why mountain bikers might find it to be more enjoyable than we think; the ways that the various biking communities silo themselves off, and how that serves many people poorly; why “gravel” riding is a lousy term; and a whole lot more.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Jonathan’s introduction to gravel riding (4:50)
- David’s (lack of) gravel experience (9:58)
- Andrew’s background in all bike disciplines (12:11)
- Why the term “gravel” isn’t very accurate (20:36)
- Gravel as a race discipline vs. just a way people ride bikes (24:35)
- Identity as a bike rider & siloed cliques (31:22)
- Re-defining the term “gravel” (35:17)
- The case for mountain bikers trying gravel riding (44:17)
- Velocio (54:53)
At HANDUP we call them Adventure bikes.. we say we’re going adventure biking.
– redefining the word “gravel bike”
About the whole name:
First of all, most of the time, “gravel” bikes DO get ridden on what is called ‘gravel roads’. The fact that the gravel might be mostly pushed off, down to dirt, sand or clay, doesn’t change that they are still called gravel roads. Paved roads, and gravel roads. Those are the two options. Perhaps the county road department has different words, but in normal speech, that’s what we call them.
And yes, most rides also include pavement.
I agree, that all-road would be better, but we are stuck with Gravel.
I don’t like adventure as a term, because lots of times, people do not want an adventure. They just want to get out and ride for an hour, or two. All this focus on ‘adventure’ can intimidate exactly
the type of people David is not seeing: the people who don’t want adrenaline, the people for whom this is their first ‘serious’ bike. Casual riders.
And most importantly, you don’t find it funny that you are arguing about the term ‘gravel’ bikes, while whipping out the term ‘mountain bikes’ without a thought?
After all, I’d argue that the percentage of gravel bikes miles ridden ton gravel roads, is way, way, bigger than the percentage of mountainbikes Miles ridden on mountains.