Dearly beloved gravel, we are gathered here today to tell you we love you.
You are so much to so many of us. We buy new bikes for you. We take uncharted gravel roads for you. People make careers out of you. We lower tire pressure and break rules for you. You are edgy, cagey, unpredictable, and a whole lot of audacious fun.
It is like shopping at Hot Topic when I was in high school but without the eyeliner and cheap fishnet tights. But there can be eyeliner and fishnet tights if that is what your heart desires. But it’s about the miles on miles with a chosen family of like-minded adventurers and individuals.
We love you. You are worth it. Hell, we even pay to ride unmarked courses that require hike-a-bikes through terrain that will certainly cost us a slashed tire or at least damage an ego or two while pushing ourselves to limits we didn’t know we were testing. Normal relationships would make us go to therapy with or for you. But you are different. I carry all my baggage with you, and you accept every bit of it.
Which is what brings us together today.
Gravel is a beautiful dance between adventure and challenge and an arduous love affair that can be a sizzling and beautiful mess of bonks and exploding sealant.
It’s exciting and a bit chaotic at times, like us. But let’s not forget our foundation. The gravel roots are real. All are welcome, period. Ride fast or slow, enjoy technical trails or wide-open fire roads – road bike, mountain bike, gravel bike, or even NO bike. Show up with open arms and you are a part of the community. Our pillars are built on equality, inclusivity, diversity, and the more the merrier. And even if there is prize money or points or prestige, a competition in gravel is still friendly competition. And we love that too. There is an equal podium for all.
You have been changing, my dear gravel, and growth is okay and cheered for. We all change over time, that is the point of time. We don’t want to be exclusive. You change with us, and we’ll change with you. The one thing that remains the same, is that we are here.
We will all toe a starting line for whatever the day holds. And if that’s different than what we expected, thank you for something new because that is what you bring. Something new…
In the dawn of the UCI Gravel World Championships, we are all still here. Some are watching. Some are racing. Some are judging. But I hope we all applaud the people participating for their bravery in tackling the unknown…
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