Gravel History With Guitar Ted: The Eras

Welcome To Gravel History With Guitar Ted! This will be a random series here on the blog where I will give you my take on the history of gravel riding and racing in the modern era.* 

There may be a "Ted-terview" or two where I speak with those from the early days of the Modern era of Gravel as well. 

Finally: This is my perspective, but I welcome other perspectives, even if they oppose mine, and in the end, we maybe can sharpen the focus of what really did happen versus fiction, lore, and speculations.

* The "Modern Era of Gravel" started when Trans Iowa was concocted by myself and Jeff Kerkove in the Fall of 2004. From that point forward what became known as a new niche of cycle-sport and cycling culture was born.  For more on this, see the following.....

Jeff Kerkove at Europa Cycle and Ski, circa 2004. Image by Paul Buchanan

 

The Beginning: 

 As stated above, I hold that the Modern Era of Gravel started in November of 2004 when Jeff Kerkove, along with myself, cooked up a crazy idea for a gravel event called Trans Iowa. This was to be a cross-state, point-to-point traverse of Iowa on mostly gravel roads, unsupported, and limited by a time cut-off of 34 hours to complete a 310-ish mile course navigated by paper cue sheets.

Why was this the beginning of the Modern Era of Gravel? This was true for many reasons, but most of all, the influence of this decision to put on an event of this type moved many others to start thinking about riding/racing on gravel. This move happened due to the timing of Jeff's and my decision to do this thing. This is of utmost importance to this discussion.

In 2004, the world was in the throes of getting interconnected via the World-Wide Web. Computer sales were at their zenith, and everyone was starting to find on-line communities of similar interest to "chat" with digitally. This was very true of the niche of cyclists known then as "endurance cyclists". Jeff was a well-known personality within this tight-knit community. His blog was a well known and well read blog by these endurance "freaks" as they often called themselves then. When Jeff broadcast the idea of an ultra-distance gravel race, others got wind of it and quickly were formulating plans of their own. Perhaps of these motivated people, none became more famous than Joel Dyke and Jim Cummings.

Joel Dyke (seated-middle) and Jim Cummings (seated-right) were co-founders of the DK200 (Image by Michelle Davis)

It was Jim and Joel who started an idea to mimic what Jeff Kerkove and I were doing in Iowa that became even more influential to the gravel scene . Their "Dirty Kanza 200" gravel event spurred others to do events on gravel, and more importantly, it motivated people to import the idea to their areas and duplicate the gravel race/event in new and exciting ways. 

Between these two seminal gravel events, a beginning was delineated which is hard to deny. These events caused a ripple effect to grow outward and those waves reached to corners of cycling that no other events on gravel before can lay claim to. Again, it is obvious that other gravel events happened before 2004. These should be celebrated and marked for what influences they did have, The individuals deserve recognition that had impact of any sort, but it is also true that many cycling events that did happen on gravel before 2004 did not move the needle, so to speak, and were forgotten. There is a reason for that. This does not diminish those events, but it does help show what reality is in terms of history for those events. 

The Discovery Era: 2005 -2012: 

Cues for the 2009 Good Life Gravel Adventure which became Gravel Worlds in 2010

From 2005 onward to 2012, people were discovering gravel events and the buzz around events like Trans Iowa, the Almanzo 100, Barry-Roubaix, The Good Life Gravel Adventure/Gravel Worlds, and the Dirty Kanza 200 grew and influenced even more people.

The folks who were discovering the gravel event scene came from all walks of life, all parts of the country, and even overseas, gravel events were becoming a thing for many cyclists. The Melbourne Gravel Series in Australia was one such bit of the evidence of gravel's appeal in this time period. 

This was also the time period when the cycling industry started taking note of the growing popularity of gravel events and started formulating plans to bring specifically designed-for-gravel bicycles and tires to market which would, in the future, help propel the gravel sector to ever new heights.

The starting line at the 2016 Gravel Worlds

The Growing Up Era: 2013-2019: 

Gravel cycling took a turn in 2012 and went from being an odd-ball Mid-Western thing to a genre of cycling which thousands of people were participating in and, more importantly from an economic standpoint, were spending lots of money to participate in the sport. This caused more interest from every sector of the cycling world. Businesses were now striving to come up with product and services which were specific to gravel cycling. Even municipalities were being impacted by the tourism and the dollars spent in the host towns. This fueled the gravel scene to reach places never dreamed of by the early adopters of the sport. 

It was during this time period that the sheer number of gravel events grew from a little over one hundred in 2013 to upwards of 600+ by 2019. Attendance grew at some events to the point that lotteries were formulated to facilitate the high demand for roster spots at some of the more popular events. 

By 2019, there were several choices in tires, bicycles, and accessories geared specifically for the gravel cyclist. Ten years before this, there was nothing at all. Quite the growth there!   

Riders gathering in Emporia, Kansas in 2022. A couple days ahead of the Life Time Unbound gravel event

The Era Of Gravel's Maturity: 2019- to Present -

As the twenty-teens came to a close more corporate and elite level interests came into the gravel scene. With that these entities brought a heightened sense of professionalism, business principals, and larger-scale organization. Things that had been previously facilitated with a pen and clipboard with paper cue sheets and handmade number plates were now done with high-tech devices and slick looking customized fare for the riders. 

Pro-level series with high-dollar payouts came to be and pro/sponsored athletes exerted more influence over many high-profile events. This on top of a still growing grassroots base which shows no signs of fading away in 2023, nearly 20 years after the start of the Modern Era of Gravel. Now there is a Gravel Cycling Hall of Fame, and cyclists are choosing a career in gravel promotions, marketing, competition, and more. 

The Future of Gravel Cycling:

If there is one thing that will keep the Modern Era of Gravel going it has to be the people involved in it. All the people. The basis of the grassroots gravel movement has always been one of inclusivity, but in 2023, this has never been more the case. These efforts on the part of promoters and organizers of gravel events have reached many individuals once left on the outside looking in when it came to other forms of cycling. The welcoming and inclusive nature of gravel riding at all levels is enhanced even further by a focus on fun and community values while fostering personal growth and overcoming challenge. 

As long as these elements remain the core values of gravel cycling, I can see no reason why it wouldn't continue to grow and flourish for many years to come.

_________________________________________________________

That's my take on the timeline of this deal we call "gravel cycling" up to the present day. If I am allowed, I will add to this if it seems necessary. But I think this is a good "fly-over" of the years since 2004 and should serve as a basis for how we look at what has happened since then. 

In future installments of "Gravel History With Guitar Ted" I hope to break down the different elements that went into making gravel cycling what it is now and as stated above, have some chats with different personalities who were there and contributed to the path along the way.