March 2024 sees the launch of a gravel riding event on the beautiful island of Sri Lanka and the text sounds like something from the brochure of a luxury travel company, but with a firm emphasis on travelling by gravel bike.

"Nowhere else on earth will you see such diversity as in Sri Lanka, and there’s nothing more special than seeing it from the saddle of a bike. But not only will you get to ride the most amazing terrain, you will also get to stay at the most amazing locations."

Ride Sri Lanka 2024 is the creation of Sri Lankan Airlines and MTB Worldwide, an events company who organise the world-famous Yak Attack high-altitude MTB race in Nepal and who used to run a multi-day MTB event in Sri Lanka. They've taken their combined experience and knowledge to create Ride Sri Lanka, a multi-day gravel riding adventure which will take participants through the incredibly diverse landscapes of Sri Lanka.

Entry for the inaugural addition is an incredibly good value £890 and Sri Lankan Airlines have a small number of heavily subsidised flights on offer to participants too. To find out more details, head over to the event's website.

We realise that it's nearly Christmas so many of you will be frantically busy finishing off your last few jobs before switching on your Out Of Office and heading home (as will we!), but we thought we'd dangle an early Christmas carrot in front of you, which you can think about for the next few weeks....

In our Gravel Union Member's newsletter in January we're going to be launching our next competition and the prize will be a free entry into Ride Sri Lanka 2024 and a set of return flights from London Heathrow, courtesy of Sri Lankan Airlines!

We'll announce all the details in January, but in the meantime, here's a bit more visual inspiration.

The competition will only be open to Gravel Union members, so if you fancy being in with a chance of winning, if you haven't signed up already, head over here to do it.