The Path To Discovering Gravel: Part 5

Riders in the first Trans Iowa 2005 (Image courtesy of Joe Pqrtridge)

 This is Part 5 of a mini-series of posts telling the story of what it was like to attend events in the early days of the Modern Gravel Era.In today's post I wanted to cover some of the gear used by folks competing in gravel events before there were gravel bikes, gravel tires, or "gravel anything" to buy. 

Early on the bicycles used for most gravel events were mountain bikes. This was likely due to the usage of mountain bikes on gravel roads for training rides in the Mid-West, and because cyclo cross bikes were rare in the Mid- West at the time. 

Not surprisingly, most of those mountain bikes were 26 inch wheeled bikes. 29"ers were still fairly new, having debuted in 1999, and were not widely available in 2005 - 2007 yet. But there were some 29"ers at every early gravel race I was at in the early years of gravel grinding.  

Constantine Peters single speed at T.I.v6 (Image courtesy of A. Andonopoulos)

 One of the early trends in bicycles for gravel racing in the early days was single speed. From the jump, single speed bicycles, and in some cases, fixed gear bicycles, have been a theme. Drop bar, straight bar, 26", 700c, or 29'er. Single speed was preferred by many riders for the reliability factor, their ease of in-the-field repair, and because extreme conditions did not foul their drive train. 

A drop bar single speed from T.I.v2 in 2006 Image by Jeff Kerkove

 Many ideas flowed into gravel cycling from ultra-distance mountain biking and the Great Divide/Tour Divide style events. Bags to carry extra gear are not a new thing! Top tube bags, feed bags, frame bags, and seat packs were all in existence at the onset of gravel events and helped gravel events be a possibility as they were formeatted back then. Shorter gravel events which popped up did not force this sort of adaptation, but the events like Trans Iowa, DK200, and later, Gravel Worlds, did push boundaries and innovation followed. 

Take fork mounted water bottles. These water bottle bosses are now ubiquitous features on many adventure/gravel bikes. These mounts did not exist on bicycles before around 2008 with the introduction of Salsa Cycles' Fargo model. Before this, riders could be seen using hose clamps to put water bottles on fork blades to increase water carrying capacity and to provide an easier access to water while riding. I would have to think what Salsa saw at early gravel events was responsible for this, now common, feature of gravel and adventure cycling. 

HED's Andy Tetmeyer's bike at the 2017 Almanzo 100

From the earliest days of gravel brands have used events to test product. This was evident from about 2008 onward. 

Salsa Cycles was probably the forerunner in these areas, but other brands like WTB, Clement/Donnelly, HED, and even Shimano were testing product on gravel early on. Shimano's participation in gravel eventually led to the first gravel-specific group set for bicycles in their GRX range of componentry. 

So, it was fun for the eagle-eyed to spy new tech being tested at gravel events. This development led to things gravel riders expect as stock features on their 2026 gravel bikes. Carbon wheels, tubeless tires, wide range group sets, and accessory mounts. All things which did not exist in the 2000's at gravel events. 

Can you even imagine such a time? You show up at an event with a biccyle using either a mixture of road and MTB gearing, or on a mountain bike. This bike has maybe three  bottle mounts and that is it. You have to figure out how to carry enough water to get through the event. There are no GPS tracks, so you have to use cue cards and how do you manage mounting those? Lights were nothing like today's amazing technology, so how do you get lights good enough to see going downhill at 35mph and last for eight hours? Where do you stuff all the food you need because there are no aid stations? How many tubes do you carry and what patch kit do you get? 

These and a hundred other questions no one has to ask anymore were regularly asked back in the early days of gravel. It was certainly a wild time in the sport's history. 

The Path To Discovering Gravel: Part 4

Unidentified rider skirting a muddy road during Trans Iowa v2 2006

 This is Part 4 of a mini-series of posts telling the story of what it was like to attend events in the early days of the Modern Gravel Era. In today's post I wanted to continue with a view to how the events were looked at by riders and what was important from a rider perspective. I think you will find things were very different 20 years ago!

When gravel events started to show up in 2005 and afterward for several years, it was a niche of cycling competition which drew heavily from endurance mountain biking culture. In the early to mid-2000's, the heyday of 24hr MTB events, certain ways things were done were taken for granted by the riders. Some of this culture was transferred over to gravel, certainly, and was done so in an unspoken way. However; the real emphasis philosophically was for gravel was drawn from the unsanctioned, off the grid ultra-mountain biking events. 

Self-sufficiency in those events was paramount. Not only was a rider expected to be able to do repairs in the field, but riders were also tasked with something else which caused no end of debate in the endurance community at the time. This debate also was a large part of early gravel events. The debate? It was centered around when a rider should abandon an event and how not to be a burden on the event. 

From T.I.v8 Image by Steve Fuller

Riders wanted to go as far as possible, at least this was the thought before an attempt at an event. Race directors did not like the idea of having half-dead, dazed and confused riders wandering around out in the wilds. What was the middle ground? 

I recall during the first Trans Iowa in 2005 reports coming in to me concerning a cyclists wandering far off course. It wasn't 100% known for certain if the rider was in Trans Iowa or not, but in all likelihood, the rider was probably in the event. I mean, who else goes wandering about in Iowa on gravel in late April in 40mph gusty Northwest winds? 

Obviously I was shocked and very concerned, but being I was the only functional person running the event, it was not possible for me to do much about this. Eventually the rider was corralled and brought back to safety by his support people, but I am not 100% sure how it happened at all, even now. The thing is, there was responsibility on both sides. Mine, because I wasn't able to keep track of every single rider, and on the rider, because they pushed too hard into a heavy wind, got dehydrated, disoriented, and lost. 

This was the debate. When to say when. Not to burden the event. This meant every rider was on their honor to "pull the plug", get themselves extracted from the course, either self-sufficiently, or by support people called in, and report their status to the event director. This was the operational rule in many early gravel events. It is echoed in the oft still used "You Are Responsible For You!" tagline you may have seen before on certain registration pages or event sites. 

An exploded rear derailleur on the course of Trans Iowa v4. Image by Rob Walters

The philosophical tenets of early gravel events were far different than today's events. Now event directors cater to their "customers" in ways which were never dreamt of as Modern Era Gravel got going. Aid stations, support for hire, course sweepers, media vehicles, and more leave little room for danger and self-reliance in the field. 

Some may see this as an 'improvement' over the old ways and think early gravel events were not 'real racing'. On the other hand, it was challenging, a thrill, and a different sort of 'fun' to ride in an event which placed the burden on you, the rider, to make it out the other side safely. You can still find some semblance of the old philosophy in events like the Arrowhead 135 and the IDITAROD Trail Invitational fat bike events., But in gravel, it is very hard to find this style of event in 2026. 

Things have certainly been changed to where the burden lays at the feet of race directors when it comes to rider well-being and success.