Ladies and gentlemen. I'm in my 40s now, but I used to do quite a bit of bike touring back in the day — abroad, New Zealand, Europe, Asia… I used to carry what felt like half a house on my bike during my travels: musical instruments, golf gear, full panniers, racks — the whole setup.
Then came family and kids, and I cut it down massively.
This year, however, the midlife crisis finally hit (haha, I guess?) and instead of a sports car and a secret lover, I bought a gravel bike from Decathlon.
I moved my old MTB with the rack setup to our cabin, and started slowly adding bags and pouches to the gravel — but carefully, because I realized this bike is the most fun when it’s light. So I’m playing around, tweaking, testing.
These photos are from a little weekend ride. I left around noon, did 80km over a beautiful mix of backroads, forest trails and gravel roads, then slept on a bench at a hiker’s shelter (it rained and I had no tent). The next morning I rode another ~80km and was back home in time for lunch at my favorite pub right next to our house.
Gravel biking is amazing — especially after 20 years on a mountain bike.
by ctothez2018