Glorious Gravel – The Forest of Bowland
Posted By Gravel Union
On the 17 June 2021
We’re pretty sure that your local bike shop is supposed to sell you stuff, but this time it’s been the customers selling the gravel bike concept to bike shop mechanic Patrick at Blazing Saddles in the UK. He’s recently completed his first gravel event with Glorious Gravel’s Forest of Bowland Gravel Sportive and we asked him if he would share his experiences with us.
I bought a gravel bike with the idea of maybe riding some gravel, perhaps having a go at some CX racing and also because it could be used as my road training bike. After fitting some skinny tyres and riding it on the road, it looked as if the only off road it would be doing would be on my driveway at home, between the garage and the road.
And then I had my arm twisted into entering my first gravel sportive. The advert said 65 miles (100kms) of mixed road and gravel with some rocky off road sections where you might have to carry your bike and 7000ft (2133m) of climbing – not a sportive for beginners then! So, what could possibly go wrong?
Well first was the age-old question of what tyres should I use. I made the mistake of asking on a gravel forum and of the nearly 50 replies, no two people were using the same tyres - so that didn’t really help. Considering my strength was on the road (I am a closet triathlete after all), I thought I’d choose some with a smooth central rib to help me on the road sections and some knobbly bits on the sides to help with the gravel sections and ended up with some Specialized Pathfinder Pros and I wasn’t disappointed – they turned out to be the perfect choice!
I’m struggling to remember the finer details about the ride though – maybe I’m blocking them out – it all happened a bit quickly and a bit faster than I had predicted. Starting in Slaidburn, the first 30 minutes were on some undulating roads that swiftly turned into some hilly off road grassy rocky stuff – a bit of a hike a bike, a bit of grunting, a bit of gate opening, a bit of swearing and big deep puddle to top it all off. Nothing too technical though and nothing that I wasn’t expecting.
Then came the first feed station, where the organisers had laid on a nice spread including some lovely cheese and pickle sandwiches which went down a treat – as did the toilet in the village hall. Deciding not to stop too long, I was soon back on some undulating roads which took us past Pen-y-Ghent and then once again turned into some pretty grueling rough, rocky gravel stuff, some smooth gravel stuff, some more gate opening and some heavy rain……didn’t last long, but was enough to give me a thorough wash. The views made up for it though as we rode past the Ribblehead Viaduct.
At around 45 miles, the final feedstop appeared where I refueled with a lovely sugary waffle thing (I wish I had sneaked another of these).
20 miles to go – how hard could it be – I’d managed to survive so far!
10 miles on the road they said, and then 10 miles of gravel. They never said it would be in sideways wind and up 17% gradient climbs – thanks god for the waffle! The road section seemed to go uphill forever and I was pretty broken by the time I got to the top where the road had turned into loose gravel and lots of people were walking and pushing their bikes. And then the thirty thousand false flats of the Salter Fell Road seemed to carry on going up forever until eventually……it turned into a downhill section that was not the comfiest on a gravel bike, but seemed to bring some energy back, well enough just to keep rolling to the bottom of the hill and to the finish.
Did I mention it was undulating – by that, I actually mean bloody hilly so take head if I ever ask you to join me on an undulating ride….
Will I ever do a CX race? Probably not. Will I re-fit my skinny road tyres? Probably not. Have I spent some time looking for another gravel event? Hell yeah – bring it on!
Patrick took part in the Glorious Gravel’s Forest of Bowland Gravel Sportive. You can find out more about their other gravel events on their website.