If you're a keen cyclist, you may have heard about gravel biking or gravel cycling. But what exactly is it? The easiest way to describe it, is the step above road biking but not as intense as mountain biking. It offers a bigger change of scenery without needed some of the higher technical skills of mountain biking.
You can class graveling cycling as riding on anything that isn't a road/tarmac. This means you're spending more time in nature and the outdoors, a nice change from cycling for your daily commute.
Why Should You Try Gravel Cycling?
Biking (overall) is a great low impact (and low intensity if you want it to be) form of exercise. It's an easy way to explore and gets you from A to B faster than walking and even sometimes faster than public transport.
Gravel biking means going off road, finding trails and tracks in natural where you more than likely aren't going to be bothered by cars and vehicles. You've got a different level of freedom when you're out gravel riding, and it also means you can takle your time and explore. It's a more social form of cycling as you and your friends can cycle alongside each other whilst you're out on the ride.
Do You Need Any Special Equipment to Go Gravel Cycling?
You can buy specific bikes that have been created for gravel riding, but that doesn't mean you have to go out and buy one just for these rides. The only change that you may want to look into is the type of tyres you have on your bike. Tubeless tyres are recommended for routes that are off road as they have less of a risk for punctures. This doesn't mean that they can't puncture though, so we always recommend taking a puncture and tyre repair kit with you, whenever you're planning a bike ride. No matter what terrain or where you're going.
For any bike ride, you'll need the essentials which includes hydration and snacks, the amount of each can vary depending on the length of your ride. A repair kit (like we've previously mentioned), waterproofs/extra clothing layers, sun protection, first aid kid and some form of map. If you're going to be using your phone for navigation, then it's worth bringing a back up charging source and to download the map so you have an offline version just incase you lose signal.
