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ripping yarns

the advent of the gravel bike has created a potential case of 'smoke and mirrors', a perception that i admit, might be well wide of the mark, but until provided with concrete evidence to the contrary, i'll happily live with my own misapprehensions. quite plainly, the uk holds far fewer gravel trails than across the pond, the very place from which the gravel bike has arisen. though i've no real desire to reprise my continual praise for rapha's orginal, north american continental, from the images i possess sent by originator, daniel wakefield pasley, there are more than enough lengthy gravel trails in north america to justify the genre's invention (though why the archetypal cyclocross bike, also finding great favour in the usa, would not have sufficed, i know not).

if evidence of a conspiracy theory need be tested, i would cite the alteration of specialized's crux, from one genre to another. i have just such a machine in the bike shed, which, at the time of receipt, was classified as a cyclocross bicycle and reviewed accordingly. the latest version, according to reports, has left the world of one hour muddy races behind, now promoted as a gravel bike, leaving us to wonder where the diverge fits in.

but, nomenclature aside, are there 'real' gravel hunters in our midst? despite magazines, blogs, websites and youtube videos abounding with gravel this and gravel that, is anyone actually gravelling? i recall the invasion of the mountain bike in the early 1980s, when everyone, including yours truly, eagerly adopted a knobblier existence, despite rarely, if ever, traipsing offroad, never mind scaling mountains. the triple chainset had a lot to do with that, sporting a wide range of gearing that suited far more folks than did a 42/52 campagnolo crankset; aside from which, they were mostly built like brick outhouses, less tha prone to damage and adopting the stance of a two wheeled land rover.

gravel has not had quite the impact felt in the 1980s, if only because we still have the mountain bike in all its endless variations and wheel sizes. as i've stated before, the invention of bikepacking seems the ideal sibling to offer justification for the birth of gravel, but is that actually the case, or has the media simply gone overboard in favour? and whatever has happened to the recognition that this has all been done before? if we've all forgotten, we must thank the heavens that max leonard quite obviously hasn't.

he has just published the second volume of images from the rough stuff fellowship in a volume entitled 'further adventures in rough stuff'. these include vintage photographs, hand-drawn maps and ephemera drawn from the 1920s to the 1990s, providing stories and ride reports of classic routes around the uk and farther afield. according to max, since the first book was published several years ago, the archive has increased with the addition of more than 25,000 slides and other material.

"the new book is organised by the different regions of the British Isles, and abroad, where the club members rode, and features images of beach riding from the 1920s, Alp-climbing in the 1950s, hike-a-bike in the 1970s and chain walks in the 1980s, as well as accounts of classic rough-stuff routes.
"Alongside the photos, it includes writing about classic rides such as Lairig Ghru in the Cairngorms and the Wayfarer Pass in the Berwyn mountains in Wales".

so perhaps i should be less concerned about the advent of gravel, no longer keeping myself awake at night, wondering whether there is any substance behind the facade. demonstrably illustrated by books such as mr leonard's further adventures in rough stuff, riding 'off piste', so to speak, has been going on for generations, in the days prior to mountain bikes and on velocipedes that admirably preceded gravel and bike-packing. specific types of bikes foisted on an unsuspecting public by the world's bike manufacturers are hardly necessary, it would seem, to enjoy the great outdoors and the bits of it that feature no sign of a metalled road.

though certain bicycles may be better suited to specific purposes, the lack of marketing and construction of such in the earlier (and, to be fair, more recent) years of the bicycle's history, seems not to have been a barrier to exploring that which had need of being explored. and there's not a mention of 'dude' to be found.

'further adventures in rough stuff' is published by isola press, with award-winning design by this-side. the limited edition hardback is available from isolapress.com at a price of £32, while the widely available softcover version is priced at £28. gravel riding before it was gravel riding.

friday 19 november 2021