Wow! I just watched the replay of the Gravel Seminar and it was SOOOO good! Thank you @matt limbert and @Emily Brinkley and EVERYONE else for your input.
I literally know nothing about gravel riding/racing... But I actually just bought a new gravel bike a couple of weeks ago that still isn't completely built yet. A gravel bike was an n+1 bike that I didn't even know that I didn't even need until a buddy of mine had a smoking deal on one in my size and I started trying to figure out how I would use it. There is a ton of gravel around me, but I have largely avoided it until now.
Just for fun, I'll mention how I justified buying a gravel bike (there's always a way to justify a new bike)... First, a couple months ago I went down some YouTube rabbit hole and stumbled across this video comparing gravel bikes to old school (vintage) mountain bikes that got my gears turning on possibilities:
Since I have recently retired from Ironman (again), I intend to do only MTB races next yr. I have good fitness, no fear, and very below average MTB skills which is a pretty bad combination. My 11 and 13 yr old boys are also on our school's MTB team and my wife and I are coaches. In their "off-season" I have been riding single-track with them, but given the huge disparity in fitness/strength levels I have been getting very little "physically" out of these rides (other than the awesome bonding of riding with my kids, which is really awesome). So I've decided that if I ride a gravel bike on moderately technical single-track when I'm riding with my kids it will create a whole new level of challenge for me and hopefully accelerate my balance/skills learning curve. And I can focus on staying upright and developing perfect form when I'm going a bit slower than if say I was out shredding the trails with really fast peeps on my FS MTB. I'm not sure if this is a great idea or a really bad idea, but only time will tell. I'll report back when I actually receive the bike AND the snow finally melts around here...
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Thanks Scott. I added you to the Gravel GroupMe too.
Wow! I just watched the replay of the Gravel Seminar and it was SOOOO good! Thank you @matt limbert and @Emily Brinkley and EVERYONE else for your input.
I literally know nothing about gravel riding/racing... But I actually just bought a new gravel bike a couple of weeks ago that still isn't completely built yet. A gravel bike was an n+1 bike that I didn't even know that I didn't even need until a buddy of mine had a smoking deal on one in my size and I started trying to figure out how I would use it. There is a ton of gravel around me, but I have largely avoided it until now.
Just for fun, I'll mention how I justified buying a gravel bike (there's always a way to justify a new bike)... First, a couple months ago I went down some YouTube rabbit hole and stumbled across this video comparing gravel bikes to old school (vintage) mountain bikes that got my gears turning on possibilities:
Since I have recently retired from Ironman (again), I intend to do only MTB races next yr. I have good fitness, no fear, and very below average MTB skills which is a pretty bad combination. My 11 and 13 yr old boys are also on our school's MTB team and my wife and I are coaches. In their "off-season" I have been riding single-track with them, but given the huge disparity in fitness/strength levels I have been getting very little "physically" out of these rides (other than the awesome bonding of riding with my kids, which is really awesome). So I've decided that if I ride a gravel bike on moderately technical single-track when I'm riding with my kids it will create a whole new level of challenge for me and hopefully accelerate my balance/skills learning curve. And I can focus on staying upright and developing perfect form when I'm going a bit slower than if say I was out shredding the trails with really fast peeps on my FS MTB. I'm not sure if this is a great idea or a really bad idea, but only time will tell. I'll report back when I actually receive the bike AND the snow finally melts around here...
sadly I think I am going to have to forfeit my BWR entry this year as I don't think my body is going to cooperate. I have hopes for next year though!