Hey gravel nerds figured I’d share a bit of my story.
I raced triathlon professionally for 12 years. In my first season, I got hit with cancer fought through it, kept racing, and stayed in the game for over a decade. Then in 2019, while training for a race, I got run over by a car. That crash ended my career, and honestly, I didn’t ride for almost 3 years.
What finally brought me back? Gravel.
The quiet, the dirt, the people it reminded me what I loved about being on a bike in the first place.
My buddy and I just wrapped up our first Gravel Sherpas Camp down in Southern Utah, and it was everything I’d missed about endurance sport, community, challenge, and adventure.
Curious, what got you into gravel riding? Adventure, cross training, chasing something new?
by Clean_Currency_8017
6 Comments
Fuck yeah man. This is awesome to hear!
👏 👏 👏
I’ve ridden and raced every discipline; road in college, Ironman after, MTB enduro races, ‘cross. As we got older it became clear my wife, who was a roadie, was not so comfortable on the road anymore. So in Covid we bought used gravel bikes to ride rail trails together. I have of course since gone nuts and upgraded my bike and done some long races, but having something we can ride together where she feels good was the original motivation. I’m 50 and as I got noticeably slower was feeling a bit down about my riding future, but gravel really made me love cycling again, including on the road. I’m happy you found your way back as well!
One of my mates started doing some longer bike packing stuff. I’m early 40s and some injuries meant I needed to find a new hobby. No more crossfit or BJJ. Turns out riding is phenomenal. Just completed my first longer bike packing adventure and absolutely loving it.
Never raced but did a ton of MTB and road. Literally saved my life as it got me to quit a 2 pack a day cig habit. Dirt and MTB was always the bigger love although cutting corners at high speed on a road bike is pretty awesome too. Dropped 30 lbs too. Then got married and had two kids. Both bikes sat until they got stolen. Tried a nice but heavy steel commuter type bike. Hated it. Really really hated it. Especially in NYC where I used to ride my light ass racing road bike. So stopped riding more or less for around 7-8 years. Then I just stopped in to the local bike shop in the suburban town I just moved into. Took a test ride on a gravel bike they had. DAMN!! Was so much fun riding on an old aqueduct trail. It was like all the good fun I used to have just came back and hit me all at once. Bought the bike on the spot and been riding again since. With a big ass smile. Brought back the woo hoos!
I was hit by an SUV, was thrown a long distance, broke a shitload of bones and almost died. The pain was awful and I didn’t sleep properly for almost a year. Part of me wanted to get riding again as soon as possible, and I did. But it was a mistake. I never properly dealt with the trauma, and it all came to an end when I heard tires squealing behind me on a ride. I had to stop, sit on the curb, and cry my eyes out for a while. I gave up riding completely for a year and then bought a mountain bike. Being out in nature away from the cars was a revelation! I could enjoy riding again. Then I got a gravel bike and started stitching together on and off-road segments. Now, 12 years after my accident, I finally feel comfortable being on the road again. But I do it on my gravel bike!