Gravel Culture: Gravel Culture – Ever decreasing circles
Posted By Gravel Union
On 23 October 2020
What if you were restricted to gravel riding within 5km of where you live? Is that enough to survive on? Olly gives it some thought…
How big a geographic area do you think of as your patch? What if I offered you a nominal 5km radius from your house which was the maximum extent in which you could ride your gravel bike? I got thinking about this after a recent news item - would I be able to ‘survive’ as a gravel rider if this limit was imposed on me? Just for illustrative purposes, I’ve used the home of Gravel Union in the UK, rather than my actual home, but the principal is the same.
When we choose where to live, I suspect that for the vast majority of ‘normal’ people, access to local gravel trails to ride on is not something they would really consider as a factor. My feeling is that cost, size of the property (and its facilities/amenities), type of neighbourhood, vicinity of schools/shops, proximity to friends/family and a variety of other factors are more likely to be on new resident’s “must have” list. But, we all know that gravel riders aren’t normal people – we may well consider quality of the local riding as a priority when buying/renting a property – I know I did when my wife and I bought ours!
When we chose the location of the UK Gravel Union office we did so knowing that there was a network of urban/gravel trails within 30 seconds ride of the front door of the office. That wasn’t the main reason for choosing the office, but it was certainly a part of the decision making process. The local trails are not in any way RealGravelTM they’re a mix of historical legacy (ancient, time-worn cobbles), socio-economic factors (old industrial land which has been abandoned/uncared for until the last decade and is now littered with ‘desire-line’ trails made primarily by dog walkers) and topography (short, sharp climbs including some concrete steps). It’s not a pristine rural environment covered with a network of manicured gravelly loveliness, but there’s enough riding right on our doorstep to keep (urban) gravel riders entertained for a few hours.
Like many cities in the north of England, Newcastle upon Tyne was built on industry – ship building, coal mining, glass making, steel forging, brick making – all of the heavy industry you can think of was what brought employment, wealth and prosperity to the region during the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries. From a gravelly perspective, this industrial heritage has left us an incredible legacy of trails to ride – with a bit of trail radar employed it’s pretty easy to find fun, safe gravel riding even right in the heart of the city. The industrial heritage is also visible (and perfect for gravel riders) through Victorian-era philanthropy.
Although the Google map excerpt with the 5km radius drawn on it doesn’t highlight it very clearly, Newcastle is an impressively green city – everywhere you look there are pockets of green space full of trails, most of which were dreamt up by Victorian industrialists such as William George Armstrong. While Armstrong made his fortune as an arms manufacturer (we’ll quickly gloss over that…), his work as a philanthropist is worth celebrating. From a gravelly perspective, in the 1860s he created a beautiful wooded park running north from the River Tyne known as Jesmond Dene. The park was given to the people of Newcastle and feels like a rural oasis in the middle of an urban environment. Although relatively small in area and busy with families during weekends, if you visit out of peak times and avoid the main thoroughfares, there is some really brilliant urban gravel riding to be found.
When I ride here, I have a fairly set pattern – a short, hideously steep climb out of the base of the valley, a few seconds to get your breath back and then a root-strewn trail beside a boundary fence – challenging enough on a full-suspension XC MTB let alone on a gravel bike, a quick left-right to cross a road and then a crazy narrow section that runs along the top of an ancient sandstone quarry, a short blast with handlebars practically brushing a metal fence and then 90 degrees left down a chute with a couple of greasy wooden steps and back to the valley floor. The whole thing is less than 2kms but offers an incredible range of trails and challenges. In the dry and in daylight there’s nothing too challenging, but in the dark or when the trails are wet, the level of difficulty ramps up pretty dramatically.
With Newcastle’s heavy industry all but shut down from the end of the 1980s, the local authorities had to come up with other ways of generating income for the city and tourism was an obvious one. Although it’s only in more recent times that cycle tourism turned into the vast industry that it is today, back in 1994 the local authorities in the region recognised that getting cyclists to visit the area would bring in extra revenue, so they set about putting infrastructure in place – the most famous of which is the Coast to Coast path. This 230km long route runs roughly west-east across the north of England and runs slap bang through the middle of my 5km circle as it follows the course of the River Tyne through Newcastle and on down to the coast. The surface varies from tarmac to concrete pavers to crushed limestone, so isn’t a ‘proper’ gravel trail, but it’s mainly traffic-free and particularly if you follow the southern variant, which runs on the Gateshead side of the river, it offers enough undulation and change of surface to be a fun trail to add into a local loop.
The 1960s are widely recognised as an era of architectural sabotage in the UK and the authorities in Newcastle were as guilty of this as anyone – they decided that building a four lane motorway right through the very heart of the city was a wise choice and while this concrete-eyesore is something to avoid at all costs from a gravelly perspective, along the periphery there’s some really fun riding to be found. My bike commute to/from the Gravel Union office can be made significantly more fun by taking in some of this urban riding. My favourite section is just over 1km in length, around 50cm wide and very slightly downhill on the way to the office. It runs between an avenue of broadleaf trees and is carpeted with daffodils in the spring, sprinkled with dappled sunlight in summer and strewn with leaves in the autumn. Ridden sedately, you’ll wonder at my enthusiasm, but ridden full-gas the trail comes alive – the surface is gently rippled with roots and the gradient exactly right to inspire you to attack it. Luckily long sightlines and only one pedestrian crossing point mean the visibility of other trail users (generally restricted to runners and dog walkers) is really good so you can safely push the pace as high as your legs will cope with. It’s a very odd sensation, riding as close to race pace as you dare along a strip of perfect singletrack, yet with four lanes of traffic roaring down the motorway located a matter of a few metres away to your left hand side.
Sitting here, reflecting a little has made me realise how fortunate I am. I live in a green and pleasant city. I’ve got fantastic urban gravel riding right on my doorstep. House prices are significantly more reasonable than cities in the south of England. I do a job I love. Even my commute to the Gravel Union office is fun! If I was suddenly geographically limited in the extent to which I could ride my gravel bike, I’m going to be alright.
All this soul searching made me realise a couple of things – make the most of what you have and don’t take anything for granted. But also, be grateful for the escape mechanism that a gravel bike offers us. No matter how dark the current times are, a blast on a gravel bike on a sliver of urban trail is something to be treasured. While it isn’t going to fix all of the world’s woes, a 5km radius of gravel riding will go a long way to making your own world a happier place.
If you’re interested in discovering some new gravelly riding, check out some of our route suggestions on our komoot account. They won’t necessarily fit into a 5km radius, but might give you some inspiration to head out there on your gravel bike and explore your local gravel riding world.