One more year goes by in what seems like the blink of the eye.
In November ’22 I was sat at my PC, bored, trawling the internet looking at cycling events to ride this year. I fancied riding some ‘gravel’ or offroad for a change and there wasn’t much about locally. Maybe I was trying to justify owning two gravel bikes? Lol. Specific gravel events were elsewhere in the UK and expensive. I think I was missing riding in a group and I hadn’t really ridden with anyone properly since before the pandemic. I used to commute to work regularly with my mate Barry. I missed that and I still do but while reflecting on an awesome 120 mile group ride with colleagues from work I’d organised, in 2018, that circumnavigated the City of Birmingham, I wondered whether I could do the same but predominantly offroad? I pulled my suite of route creation tools together (OS Maps via plotaroute.com, Google Maps, Streetview + Satellite, Strava Heatmaps & Komoot) and had a look. In short, it was a yes and it was really close to bang on 100 miles too. Perfect. I decided I’d publish the route and share it and see if anyone else fancied a crack. I studied the calendar and picked a date (May 20) that avoided other rides. I needed a name for it too. It didn’t take long. A gravel ride. 100 miles. 100 is a ton. So I simply called it The Gravelton.
After I published my idea, the reaction locally was quite positive. It seemed others were craving the same thing which made me even more itchy to put some more on. I kept them simple, on routes I knew and then an actual calendar of events for 2023 began to come together.
Fast forward to May 20 this year and the inaugural Gravelton.
The Gravelton
After months of painstakingly reviewing and revising the route (I am that anal!) and with the help of some local riders, I’d come up with a 100 mile, 75% offroad route that skirted the City of Brum anticlockwise. The day of the ride was perfect, warm weather and on the whole I rode it alone but did catch up with some others and the Gorillaz on Cannock Chase for a bit which was really cool. I’d be lying if I didn’t underestimate the day. It was very long and very hard. Much harder than I expected and my own fault in part, particularly the frankly ridiculous climbs over Clent and Waseley at the end. It was the first one though and in admiration of everyone else that rode it I was really keen to get some feedback. I got a real sense of achievement out of it so I was straight back into the maps looking at another way of doing it without a straight repeat. More on that later.
The G60
After The Gravelton, I hastily pulled together a ride for June. Keeping it simple I went for a mix of offroad routes around North Worcestershire I regularly ride around Lickey, Clent and Hagley. This inevitably made it it quite lumpy and a punchy 60km long. The name The G60 was easy to come up with but lazy too.
On the day a small group rocked up at The Nailers Arms. We all rolled out together and rode round in smaller groups. The stand out ride was big Matt on his single speed. I don’t know how he did it but he and the rest of us put a shift in on another warm day and I just wanted more.
The Tardebig-G
July’s event was another simple 60km route but a bit of a turning point. In hindsight, the ride was probably a little bit too simple and boring. The Tardebig-G started in Tardebigge, hence the name, and took riders down the canal to Worcester, did a quick loop along the River Severn then back onto the canal and home. No one turned up on the day, however, others had ridden the route up from Worcester which gave me the idea to not concentrate on the mass start element. From then on, I was happy to just publish the route so riders could ride as much as they wanted, when they wanted and just share their ride with us. It seemed a much easier way to operate. I didn’t want to organise rides and ask riders to enter. Too much hassle and responsibility for me. I just wanted to inform riders where I and others would be riding and we’d come together in a more social way. And that’s how it is. The start time is just a guide when I’ll be there now. Nothing official.
Wyre We Riding
By now I was looking at a ride a month and I’d decided to stretch the legs again with a ride over to the Wyre Forest in August. It was a ride I’d done a few times and thoroughly enjoyed, so time to share it. I’d ran a short competition to name the ride with Martin winning. Wyre We Riding was a poignant phrase on the day given how wet it was. My memory of riding the second half of the Forest in torrential rain will never leave me. It was a tough day out for me too. I got around in a small group, popped with a few km to go and was smashed to bits by the end. Out of all the Gravelton rides this year, this was probably in the top two for hardest I’d done. Definitely harder than The Gravelton.
The Gravelton Rewind
Not long after The Gravelton in May, I’d come up with the idea of going again but the other way around in September as some way of rounding the Summer off with another big one. Based on feedback I’d re-routed the climbing which was now at the start. Still hard, not ridiculous but enough to soften us up and I spent a lot of time taking out around 5 miles of towpath that pulverised us all in May.
On the day I liked the new route but I suffered again and by the outskirts of Birmingham I was toast. I struggled to eat and drink properly all day and paid the inevitable price. By far the hardest ride of the year for me but I wasn’t put off I still had more planned.
The FoD Plod
Earlier on in the year I’d realised that if I wanted to publish a ride a month I was going to have to look a bit further afield. We’d done my local routes to death and The Forest of Dean seemed an obvious choice as I’d ridden it last year and had a route ready to go. So I did and I called the ride the same as my blog post The FoD Plod. Simple really.
On the day I couldn’t ride as I was ill and the weather didn’t help which I think put others off too. A shame but it’s definitely back on for 2024.
The National Forest Explorer
Earlier in the year, Chris had contacted me after riding the Gravelton and asked if I’d be interested in a route around the National Forest. I thought it was a great idea to end the year on. Finally, something to ride that was new for me too! Based on the Hicks Lodge Cycle Centre near Ashby de la Zouch, the ride, despite being a waterlogged, mudfest was a real treat. I had no idea how good the trails were around there and for most of it I rode with a lovely couple (Mike and Steph) who probably thought they were holding me up but actually helped me a lot that morning as I was in quite a dark, unhappy place when I started. Company and a bike ride was exactly what I needed.
It was a great way to end the rides for 2023 but I’d decided to do one more for Xmas but focus on it being social rather than the route.
The Crimble Bimble
Last weekend a group of 9 of us ‘bimbled’ 40km around the outskirts of town and enjoyed a good mix of trails and terrain over 3hrs. We even got the ride on film from Darren which you can watch below. Thanks Darren.
2024
Gravelton Events are now taking a break for a couple of months and I plan to pick them back up in March. The calendar for next year includes a lot of the rides from this year with more planned.
A ride to the Severn Bridge and back is on the cards as is the Peak District and we will definitely be going back to The National Forest for more too.
It’s been a great first year. Thank you to everyone that has supported the rides. Feedback and suggestions are always welcome as are rides and routes if you want to have a crack at one and get it in the calendar.
People that know me, know I don’t take myself too seriously. I just want to enjoy riding my bike with others and talk about it. If that’s what you like, tell your mates and get them to join my mailing list. More riders = more fun.
Happy New Year, see you in 2024
Sounds like a great success 👏👏👏
Happy New Year 🥳 🥳 🥳
Sounds like a great success 👏👏👏
Happy New Year 🥳 🥳 🥳