To Find ‘Freedom,’ They Ditched the Road for the Gravel

Abi Robins was elated by the email. It was March 2021, and Robins had been training for nearly a year to ride in Unbound, one of the largest and best-known gravel riding competitions in the country. In the email, Unbound’s organizers announced that they were creating a nonbinary category for the first time. The organizers wanted all riders to feel welcome — so long as they were willing to endure 25 miles or more of grueling, muddy and rocky bike riding.

“I’ve been out as nonbinary for four to five years now. When you live your life outside of traditional categories, you sometimes feel like no one can see you,” Robins said, continuing, “But then I get this email, and I get the chance to compete in a category that actually aligns with who I am. I was so outrageously and pleasantly surprised.”

Inclusivity is one of the keys to understanding the steep rise of gravel riding as a major cycling category. A midpoint between road and mountain biking, gravel riding has been around for as long as there have been bicycles. But it has become especially popular in the United States, where there are almost 1.5 million miles of unpaved roads.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/07/sports/cycling/gravel-biking-unbound.html