Decades ago, no one could have seen it coming, yet here it is, with plenty of room to roam and grow. Gravel is a phenomenon that has surpassed expectations and still seems far from its peak. Could anyone have anticipated the birth of MTB back in the day in California? But what people did back then on drop bars would become the most significant trend in cycling a few decades later. And with trends come parodies, sarcasm, hyperboles, drama, and any other rhetorical figure humans have at hand to deal with the unknown (that often overwhelms us all).
Images by Kike of Cynthia Carson, Mie Nordlund Pedersen, Javier Campllonch, founder of Velodrom & Nils & Yannik of Cycle Zirkus
In the cases of Traka, part of the drama comes from whole populations being invaded by flocks of cyclists who leave increasingly more than gels and bidons behind. On the bad side: gentrification, soaring prices, angry pelotons riding fast through farming lands, and many more. On the good side: money, growth, and plenty of other capitalistic perks.
There is a sweet spot and reality between this good and evil: happy people riding bikes through nature, celebrating life, challenging themselves, going to bed early, and avoiding other touristic activities like public intoxication.
Yes, Girona is totally booked during Traka. It's full of bikes, and there may not be much public intoxication, but there will be plenty of public spandex exhibitions. However, if you look around cities within a two-hour drive from there, that's not the worst you'll see.
We spent some time with locals, speaking Catalan with them, and the answer was clear: we like cyclists. Apparently, not just locals but also the local council agree with the bike party.
Freddy Ovett, Niki Terpstra, Nathan Haas. Geerike Schreur by Kike Molares
If you haven't checked out the new Velodrom shop in Girona, please do so. Gironina, another local business and sausage sandwich chain, also wanted the venue, and the council decided to give the project to Javier Campllonch's team so they could move ahead with the cycling shop.
Yes, sure, in a way, the city switched from a quintessential cultural activity like theater to âjust another sports shop', but the alternative wasn't a highly cultural public space, it was another sausage factoryâ almost literally.
And we can use this to reflect on gravel. Roadies will say it's just early 1930s TdF with an extra dose of Yakima Valley hops. MTBikers will laugh at everyone's handling skills and say it is a diluted experience. Still, the reality is that the alternatives are way less exciting than a comfortable off-road experience through stunning landscapes. As many memes as we keep throwing at it, Gravel will ingest them all and stay as a discipline, and Traka and Girona will keep growing for the next decade.
What do we do about the gentrification of places like Girona, though? Well, gentrification is not a kind of mold that grows with humidity; it's an outcome of being willing to pay more without caring much about what's happening in the place we're heading to. I mean, we're in control as individuals and as a community, and we can get to it and solve it.
Girona and Traka will find their saturation point, and maybe in a few decades, gravel will become something closer to the TdF that we'd all like. We all will have very valid opinions, but new places, new disciplines, and new interesting proposals will be found that will bring a lot to the table.
As a cycling community, we can not continue to trash other people's work just because we haven't been invited to the party. Maybe it's better to stay curious, listen to those riding those races, and learn. If we had done that, these âunexpected trendsâ would have been way more logical to all of us.
After Traka, I opened my eyes to gravel; Girona, or better, LâEmpordĂ , has been in my heart since the first time I was thereâeven with all the nasty tourism I hated so much because I suffered every day and night in my own hometown and around any Mediterranean coastal town.
Velodrom. Yannik Gather, Jaime Pintado, Freddy Ovett, Niki Terpstra & Nathan Haas by Kike
With Traka, Girona has celebrated a week of gravel cycling, with three races as the epitome of the party.
The trend is growing fast, and with the trends come the memes, and the offline self-parodies that spread over town, to end up being the meme itself.
But that's normal, and as Jon's reply to Joe Laverick's notion that gravel is a meme in Twotone Newsletter Issue NÂș337 conveyed:
"Gravel is always a meme" â ha! Yes, but so is cycling. Hell, so is life. Gravel should take itself seriously because it is seriousâ.
Unbound started in 2006, which means Traka and Europe are thirteen years late to the party. Most importantly, there is still room to grow. See you there next year! : )