We’ll take riders up Newtondale and Cropton Forests, which are unique due to being on hillsides, so you have these amazing vistas. Colorado combines wide open spaces with big skies and mountain vistas. Despite the highest point being 475m, the course also packs in around 3,800m of climbing, about the same as the Fred Whitton Challenge. We’d recommend being self-sufficient as places to eat are few and far between along the route, unless you dip into nearby towns and villages. In fact it possesses more miles of unpaved roads than it does paved.Â. Given the nature of the ride you don’t see much in the way of cafes or pubs along the route, so take the opportunity to refuel at Stan’s Bike Shack in Horsham. Blessed with endless miles of forest and estate tracks threading their way through hills and glens, the Trossachs are a gravel paradise. On any given day you’ll see commuters navigating the city streets, club riders heading out to the country lanes and mountain bikers taking the short route to Ashton Court and its trails. Titsey Hill Smash Up. Variety nicely mixes with familiarity in this part of the country. With gravel bikes filling the void between road riding and mountain biking, so must gravel bike clothing. CX riders and mountain bikers have long used the network of trails in Leigh Woods to hone their skills. The 100-mile route I’d requested – based on what I was used to on the road bike … Subscribe today and get the next 3 issues of your favourite cycling magazine for just £5! Cick the link to see them plotted or select from the links to the right to filter. Gravel riding has become so diverse that it’s almost genre-defying in its sheer breadth of terrain and experience. You may even have time to stop and enjoy a wee dram after a dip in the ocean. >>> Why are road cyclists riding gravel bikes when hardtails could be faster? It’s about exploration, too, just going anywhere, and that exploration has led to us setting up our own gravel event, Yorkshire True Grit. Made accessible via its vast network of traffic-free dirt roads is what makes it a dream for cyclists. Staying on forest tracks and keeping your eyes glued to the wonderful views over the Trossachs ahead, you drop past the brilliantly-named Loch Drunkie to Loch Venechar for yet more speedy gravel trails along the waterfront. Britain's Best Selling Road Cycling Magazine. Get £10 off the fantastic 1000W Cooks Professional Stand Mixer, Whip up some of your best bakes yet with this powerful and easy-to-use stand mixer. While the concept of gravel riding originated on the hard-packed dirt roads of the United States, exploring on bikes specifically designed to take you off the beaten track has captured the imaginations of riders the world over. The 26-mile Old Croton Aqueduct Trail (OCA) provides many miles of packed dirt to explore. Shirley Chisholm Park in Brooklyn is home to 10 miles of fresh gravel paths built on a former landfill site. Gravelmap is a tool for finding and sharing local gravel roads for biking, gravel grinding, exploration and more. I’ve been mountain biking in north Yorkshire for over 20 years and the arrival of gravel bikes has taken me back to those early days. The latter offers miles of undulating gravel trails and beautiful views from the Shawangunk Ridge. We will publish new routes here regularly. The country is full of spectacular routes but if you’re new to the region following an established trail makes sense. Other nearby gravel getaways include Harriman State Park, near Sloatsburg, and Minnewaska State Preserve, near New Paltz. You need that to get back down to the Pennine Bridleway into Hayfield. Bristol’s reputation as a ‘cycling city’ is well-earned. You don’t want to roll a road bike down a singletrack, for example, and you don’t want to ride a downhill mountain bike … I’ve ridden it in decidedly damper conditions and the weather makes such a difference. Hope that helps! The Brecon Beacons and Snowdonia are better known, but mid-Wales is an area that will put a smile on any gravel rider’s face. The road predates the stone circles of Avebury, Wiltshire, which is its starting point in the west; in total, the Ridgeway stretches 140km, all the way to Ivinghoe Beacon in the Chilterns. The state boasts a number of significant gravel events that showcase the variety of gravel riding available. Britain may not have the extensive network of gravel roads found in the US and other parts of the world, but there’s still plenty of opportunity to head out into the wild, from the prehistoric Ridgeway route in the south of England, to the forest tracks of the Trossachs in Scotland. The final half of the route, the Downs Link, is well documented, but the challenging bit was connecting that with our start at Hampton Court and it took some trial and error to hook it up. The Mendips are an ideal spot for an over-night bikepacking adventure. Like Scotland, Wales offers gravel cyclists a chance to get out and ride in some pretty remote areas. As cyclists we find ourselves in an exciting place, reaching a confluence where mountain bikers and roadies meet and are then free and uninhibited to decide which tributary to explore. London to Brighton Off-Road series - choose from cycling this classic route by day or through the night - now with gravel and mountain bike options. Yorkshire True Grit. Back then I was still wet behind the ears when it came to the unique demands of gravel riding. It’s here that you also pick up the trickiest section of singletrack in the route – a challenging trail from the old slate quarry back towards town. You can race, hit the local trails and tracks for a few hours, or head off into the wilderness for a multi-day bikepacking trip armed with a fly rod, a bivvy sack and an insatiable desire to get lost. The ride fulfils that want well by sticking to the limitless web of access roads in Kielder Forest, the UK’s second largest, and which carpets the remote low-hilled borderlands between England and Scotland. Elevation gain: … Gravel bikes have made the job much easier though, the control you get with disc brakes and what bike gurus can do with modern carbon fibre works like magic. Let us know in the comments below. The nearby Mendip Hills are reachable from the city on two-wheels, showcasing the versatility that gravel bikes offers. The Cheshire Cycleway is a 283km (176 miles) way-marked circular route around the county of Cheshire covering a wide variety of terrain ranging from steep climbs in the Peak District, through a network of quiet country lanes across to the Wirral Peninsula. There’s no single tough section, its difficulty is with the cumulative effect of all the climbing. Journey Planner . There are some routes that are made classic by their sheer perfection, and others by races. We have ~100 routes on our worldwide bikepacking routes map. Don’t discount a few stream crossings and a bit of hike-a-bike, too. >>> Should your next bike be a gravel bike? I’ve often considered riding home but once you sit down on the sea front and enjoy a few beers the urge to ride back subsides exponentially! The Dirty Reiver is not a race, but there is a timed sector, sponsored by Lauf, who make suspension forks. Riding here is, naturally, hot work. There’s much more besides that too, so you’re spoilt for choice when it comes to a gravel deep dive. By entering your details, you are agreeing to BikeRadar terms and conditions and privacy policy.  The area boasts around 600 miles of world-class gravel riding. I would do it on my cyclocross bike before even mountain bikes existed, and we’d jump off and carry our bikes over any bits that they couldn’t handle. So we cooked up plan B, which I’m actually happier with now. Cycle routes in Dorset whisk you across swathes of colourful heathland, rolling chalk hills, old forests and even past an ancient carved hill figure in his birthday suit. The Ridgeway is more popular with walkers than cyclists, and you’re still more likely to see mountain bikers than gravel bike converts. And with good reason. The region – less than an hour by train from Grand Central Station – provides an easy escape from the stresses of city life for many NYC cyclists.Â. Mixing forest roads with cycle paths, quiet country roads and some single track, it passes mountains and lochs and sees riders enjoy both woodland coastline. The Ridgeway is more popular with walkers than cyclists, and you’re still more likely to see mountain bikers than gravel bike … If you’re looking for a scenic country ride away from the constant flow of traffic, then some of the UK’s railway cycling routes might be up your street. End point: Brockley. After a ride on a canal towpath, we turn off and begin climbing into the high peaks, joining back onto the Pennine Bridleway. The Centennial State is front and centre of the gravel boom and with good reason. Scott Sports, Six British gravel playgrounds for you to try out…. Will make the going far more enjoyable an bikepacking adventure aren ’ t forget bring... 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