What would you do if you flew to the other side of the world to take part in a gravel event and your bike didn’t make it onto the flight with you? You could rant and rave at the airline. You could cross your fingers and hope it turns up in time. Or you could use the power of the gravel community to help get you back on the trail again. Shimano Gravel Alliance rider Florian Nowak had exactly this problem recently and, of course, the gravel riding community helped to save the day. 

As the saying goes, sport has the power to unite people in a way that little else does. Having been a pro road racer in an earlier chapter of my life, this is something that I can definitely attest to - especially if you look around my close friendship group, which is almost exclusively formed from a love for two wheels.

Now fresh from a trip to the United States, I continue to be amazed at the intense friendships that arise when you’re on a bike or doing other sports. 

For 2023, I wanted to do something memorable, so I planned a trip to America, the unofficial homeland of gravel, where I hoped to get first-hand experience of the dirt road community that I’d heard so much about. While flagship events like Unbound Gravel do feature on my bucket list for the future, I began by trawling the internet in search of smaller gravel events so that I could get a real taste of the kitty litter-style dirt roads and regional gravel scene.

Stetina’s Paydirt in Carson City has a segment-style format that ticked all the boxes. My decision was made easier by the fact that I was already familiar with the race organiser, Pete Stetina. We’d raced against each other on the roads but had never been introduced to each other. After a few quick emails, he threw out an invitation to the race and I started looking at flights.

I’d been in San Francisco for a few days before the event, where I’d been twiddling my thumbs waiting for my bike. After countless calls to the airline, it turned out that the bike hadn’t even left the ground in Munich. Fortunately, over in Carson City – about four hours from San Francisco – Pete jumped into action to source a loaner bike for me to ride his event. To say I was relieved was an understatement. 

You see, even though travelling with my bike has become fairly routine, I always have a sense of dread, or rather, apprehension, at what could go wrong. I was exceptionally lucky that Pete could find a loaner bike because if I’d turned up to any other new event where I didn’t know anyone personally, it could have been a lot harder. 

On the day before the race, I travelled inland to the race location in Carson City, Nevada and immediately felt like I was where I belonged. Within minutes, I had the loaner bike, a chilled beer in my hand and a bunch of new, friendly faces around me. In this moment, it confirmed all the reasons why I love this sport so much. 

The good vibes continued right through to race day. At 112 km with around 1,500 metres of climbing, the route included all forms of gravel. The first segment came pretty soon, splitting the big group as we climbed on firm, hard-packed gravel. This long segment required you to stay in the red for almost an hour and threw in some surprise riverbed segments that interrupted your rhythm. The pace slowed as I reached the first feed station and I found myself cruising along to the next segment in a really nice group with some strong women riders, like Heather Jackson. Party vibes kicked in at the second feed section, where hotdogs were being served alongside standard mid-ride nutrition for the perfect lunch break.

The third timed segment was completely unlike the first two - super technical singletrack that rippled like waves under your tyres for at least half an hour. This section was more like a flow trail than anything else and plastered a permanent grin on my face as it wound its way through the landscape. After this there was another feed station before the fourth and final segment. Another flow trail, but this time we had to go against gravity and climb 600 metres of elevation in the scorching midday heat of Nevada. I got to the segment finish eventually and started the mellow drop down towards Fuji Park to get a cool beer and post-ride food.  

Images courtesy of @flonowak

Breathtaking would be one way to describe the whole route, but that’s probably better used to describe the four segments, which were full gas to the line (for some of the field, at least). I came away in seventh position but will most treasure the good time I had with the other riders, rather than the times I clocked on the dusty dirt roads. 

I’m really glad I made the decision to travel so far for gravel. If it’s taught me anything it’s that you’re never alone when you’re riding gravel. 

Images courtesy of @topo.collective except where credited.