Kofi - Traditionally I’ve always been riding on the road but when the invite came along in January from Grinduro, I really started to think about it and was like yeah, why not. I’m still smiling - it was such a great weekend. It was an amazing experience, literally I was on the biggest comedown on Monday ever.

Vera - Yeah, ignorance is bliss! I’ve always been a road rider and was lucky enough to win the Pan Celtic Race Ultra Distance Scholarship. I received a bike from Cloud9Cycles bike which is capable of taking wider tyres and thought why not enter, but then at the last minute chose a borrowed MTB. I feel like my experience would have been slightly different as a beginner, I would have been walking a lot more sections and it would have felt maybe a little less enjoyable.

Lex - Yeah, this was my first gravel race, I loved it but it definitely challenged me. It’s a lot hillier than my local Norfolk trails!

Vera - Yeah, it was nice. I think it helped the feeling by going with a bunch of mates. It made it extra special compared to maybe just signing up for something. I also think we're at a stage where we sometimes need those extra bits of incentive to get the ball rolling. I would have probably never found out about Grinduro or would have found out quite late had it not been for Kofi, who asked me. I was like, oh, what's this Grinduro? And I Googled it. And I'm like, Yeah, I'll come along!

Kofi - I think that for me, a big part of the enjoyment was having the Ride For Unity and Steezy Collective there. It's the first time I'd been to an event where I didn't stick out. Having arrived as part of the Ride For Unity group with Kofi and the rest of the crew, I suddenly was like, oh, yeah, I've got I've got a crew. I wasn’t there feeling a bit lost, but I don’t know if that would have been different if I’d have entered on my own.

Vera - There were twelve of us in total and it was a really good balance. 71% of the crew were women and that's almost unheard of. Having that nucleus in the collective allowed us to go and do other things, meet new friends and talk to other people. It just gave you that kind of safe space.

Kofi - It’s necessary to have that initial reach, to ensure that you get the right sort of promotion and then the representation that follows that. I've had so many messages from folks saying, “Oh, my God, that looks so awesome. I'm signing up for next year as soon as I can.” I think brands are starting to recognise that cycling is for everyone. Thanks to the likes of Ride For Unity, it's opening up cycling - not just to the brands who are trying to encourage people into cycling, but individuals who want to get into cycling. It's making it more accessible.

Vera - This was my first gravel experience, my first race experience, to be fair. I can honestly say at no point, I mean, apart from the physical aspect and the technical aspect of it, at no point did I ever feel awkward or uncomfortable or, you know, I don't really belong here in this world or anything like that, whereas I think maybe five years ago it might have been a bit different, I think there's definitely been a shift.

Vera - I got really excited. I came back from the weekend at Grinduro Wales searching for other gravel events. I’ve entered the The Kings Cup Gravel Festival in September and Brother in the Wild, another two day gravel event.

Lex - There's one in Suffolk I’m thinking of entering, which is almost as flat as Norfolk, where I live, but I'm just going to play it by ear. There's a couple of local road events that I’m interested in towards the end of the year as well.