Don't Shoot The Messenger.

From Lance Armstrong's "X" account.

Long time readers know my thoughts about the term "gravel" as it applies to cycling and what the idea that "gravel" embodies is something limited by the name and something that just doesn't quite hit for many people around the world. 

That's why when I saw a social media post by Lance Armstrong recently that I was encouraged and saw the brilliance of his take on how this whole gravel thing should be seen by all of us. Namely as a way to explore more terrain on a reasonably lightweight, fast bike. 

Now, you may grouse and dismiss this take because of where it comes from, but you would be unwise to do so. This summarizes exactly what I and others were aiming to do with an idea for a bike we were trying to describe by a different name back in the late 2000's. 

As the youth say, "I've got receipts", and they are on this blog if you care to find them. I don't feel the need to push all that up again, but I did think that what Lance Armstrong said, and how he said it here, was more on the mark than not. 

In fact, it is very appealing to me because of the way he carves away the racing aspects of "gravel" and focuses on the real, core reasons for this type of riding. Many cyclists and cycling journalists would do well to understand that part. That's my take.