Is Gravel Racing Getting Stale?

The pro competition is predictable, and my own ambition is meh

What can we expect from gravel racing in 2024? When I saw my friend Betsy Welch recently, we puzzled over that question but didn’t land on a great answer. (Well, Betsy probably did, and you’ll read about it when she writes her season preview for Velo.)

This validated a feeling I’ve had for a while. Gravel racing doesn’t have the same sheen it did 10 years ago. It doesn’t seem as mysterious and entertaining as it once did. Another friend and journalist, John Watson, founder of The Radavist, recently told me he doesn’t bother covering major gravel events these days, because his audience has lost interest.

Granted, John’s audience is quite specific and less competition-oriented. And Betsy and I are both a tad jaded. I think there’s a kernel of truth here, though.

When you look at the elite level of gravel racing, little has changed in the last few years, and I don’t expect a huge shakeup in 2024. As for the participant side of things — the most important side, I’d argue — the experience can be a bit formulaic, and it isn’t getting any cheaper or easier to participate.

So what can we do about it?

Roadies Are Already Here; Let Them Do Roadie Stuff

Elite results from the last two years of the Lifetime Grand Prix don’t hold many surprises. Four out of five of the top finishers in both men’s and women’s categories were the same between 2022 and 2023. Unsurprisingly, this series comes down to pure endurance performance — the strongest usually wins.

From a participation standpoint, that’s fine, but any sport that is entertaining to follow and watch isn’t strictly won or lost by talent. Tactics, experience, creativity, and smarts lead to unexpected outcomes.

Does that happen in gravel racing? Occasionally, but not often. On the other hand, watch a road race and you’re far more likely to be entertained. (That’s why they’re televised.)

As much as it might anger the brooding Spirit of Gravel, road tactics would make elite gravel racing more unpredictable. After all, there are plenty of ex-pro roadies at the gravel races already, and looking back over the years, you’ll find that roadies have always been there.

Now wait a second, wasn’t I the one arguing that gravel racing doesn’t need to be TV-friendly? I was, and I still hold that opinion. I’m not interested in watching the action blow-for-blow, but I am curious to see if a strong, well-organized team can give a one-man wrecking crew like Keegan Swenson a run for his money.

We want entertainment, right? If we didn’t, why would Lifetime and other events set aside thousands of dollars in prize money every year?

Embrace Championship Events

I’ve always been leery of governing bodies getting into gravel. USA Cycling, UCI, and others serve a purpose, but I’m not sure if that purpose serves grassroots gravel. However, at the elite level, national and world championship gravel events are a chance to add more intrigue and excitement.

Again, considering other cycling disciplines, you see riders prioritize championships because everyone wants a shot at the jersey. You consolidate all of the top talent on one start line. This doesn’t currently happen at either U.S. gravel nationals or UCI worlds. Most of the best riders turn out for Lifetime Grand Prix events, but not all. Some stand-alone events like Mid South get terrific turnout because they’re popular or conveniently scheduled.

The second advantage of a true gravel championship is that the venue can rotate to different locations, introducing new challenges and racing dynamics. Climbers will get their chance one year, then maybe sprinters, then maybe in-betweeners. While gravel hasn’t reached the level of specialization that road has, you can expect a certain type of rider to win a classic midwestern race, like Unbound, even if the course changes regularly (more on that in a moment).

All the top riders in one place, racing unfamiliar courses: it is bound to provide some intriguing results, at least one day out of the year.

Maybe We Were the Ones to Blame All Along

As a participant, gravel racing is feeling a bit stale for me too. Chances are that isn’t true for you, based on how many people sign up for registration lotteries months before a major event. We shouldn’t always count on it feeling fresh, new, and motivating though.

I’m often reminded of cyclocross, when I think about my own experience and the broader ebbs and flows of cycling event mania. For myself (and many others), cyclocross went from a grassroots lark with a tight-knit scene to a serious grind that was hyper-specialized and expensive.

I’ve been to a number of gravel events, and they’re starting to blend together in terms of terrain and experience. It’s also becoming all too common to see super-serious faces on the start line and cutthroat battles for trivial positioning. And yes, stingy old Spencer balks when the registration price is counted in hundreds of dollars, no matter how long the event.

So what can we do about it? A lot of it falls on us, the riders, to seek out new events and keep the culture alive, to avoid devolving into an office-park criterium. Change in the car, warm up on the trainer, race, and leave — no thanks. Personally, I have done a few things to freshen up what might be a typical gravel event.

I’ve tried racing on my mountain bike instead of my gravel bike. Ned Gravel has a pretty rough course (or it used to), so while the mountain bike made the day more interesting, it was even advantageous at times.

This year, I rode the shorter course and didn’t “race” at Spirit World Gravel. This gave me a chance to look around a little more and tour a completely unfamiliar place.

I swear I’m trying, but my inner competitive urge is hard to restrain.

We should (I should!) embrace race promoters who make the event more experiential and communal. Spirit World has music every night at one central hangout spot, encouraging mingling, not dispersing to the nearest Chili’s. Mid South also has music all weekend, and there’s also a special magic that tends to pull people together and bring out the good vibes. Participation should go beyond simply riding the event.

For as much as a Goliath as Unbound is, you have to give them credit for substantially changing the race route on a regular basis, something that other events do as well.

Organizers and riders alike need to find ways to avoid falling into a rut. It’s a challenge because cycling can be so routine-driven.

So How Are We Feeling?

I can’t tell if talking writing through this has made more or less hopeful. More or less motivated to race gravel in 2024. I’ve had some of the best days of my life at gravel events. It’d be a shame if I couldn’t recapture the feeling.

The solution doesn’t come down to just race organizers, or pro riders, or amateur riders, or bike companies, or whatever. That’s tricky. There’s room for improvement on all sides of the equation. The only clear takeaway I see is that we can’t let gravel racing become routine. We have to seek out new events to experience, which I did twice in 2023. We have to be cool to each other and remember that, for the most part, taking it more seriously makes it less enjoyable.

But maybe, every so often, we need to take a break and not keep grinding away when the payoff isn’t coming. I’m definitely registered for a few mountain bike events in 2024. As for gravel, we’ll see. But I’ll be around.