Another Case For The Existence Of The GCHoF

A week and a half ago or so I was contacted by the event director for an Arizonan based gravel race and he asked me if I was willing to speak to a reporter from the "Arizona Republic" about the origins of the modern gravel scene. His concern was that the reporter had no clear idea about how the scene got going and his thought was that I, a person that was there at the time, could set the record straight. I agreed and I was put in touch with reporter Sarah Lapidus. 

I enjoyed about a 40 minute conversation last week with her and the subsequent article Ms. Lapidus wrote was enjoyable. (You can read it here) Ms. Lapidus wrote from the perspective of an Arizona resident and how "gravel riding" has been becoming a thing down that way. 

Okay, so why does this point out the need for a "Hall of Fame" for gravel cycling? Because someday, I won't be around to "set the record straight" and more reporters, story-tellers, and just interested folk will come along in the future and fill in the blanks if there is no historical record. I feel that gathering that record is the main mission of the Gravel Cycling Hall of Fame. 

You might remember my post from Saturday where I lamented the fact that the author of that article did not do his due diligence and look into Trans Iowa more carefully, nor did he contact me for the article. This is why historical repositories exist for researchers who need to "get the story straight" for anything they are writing, or basing stories around. 

The GCHoF should not exist for reasons of popularity of personas, popularity of events, to feature brands for the sake of their existence, or to do anything besides record historical, impactful moments in the modern gravel timeline. Certainly, you have to look at how the influences of different aspects of cycling, culture, and innovations came to create what we know as "gravel" now as well. 

The pioneers and people who know are already falling away or have died. The days are growing long and shadows increase. Without a historical recording of this scene, you'll have people who invent tales that are not true. And that matters because the narrative going forward needs to remain that of inclusivity, openness, simplicity, adventure, self-support, and community. The things that made the scene tick and that made it attractive to get the attention of people, which lead to the attention of the cycling business, and ultimately to what we have now as "gravel". 

What we don't need is for an exclusive, top-tier athlete, money-driven, team based, intense, closed system type of racing community that has already put a bad taste in the mouths of ordinary cyclists. Cyclists who are not necessarily against that, but don't want or need that to be the dominant, driving forces of the gravel scene going forward. A gravel cycling hall of fame helps us to keep that 'grassroots" perspective alive. 

That's my case for a GCHoF.