Gravel Culture: #travelgravel
Posted By Gravel Union
On 26 July 2021
For reasons we don’t entirely understand, most of the large/famous cycling tour operators haven’t really ‘got’ the gravel bug and many are only just dabbling their toes into our world. Others though have seen the light and are hoping to offer your perfect #travelgravel trip once the time is right.
Over the past 18 months, for many us, travel has been very much of the armchair variety, rather than the pack-everything-into-a-large-bag-and-head-somewhere-exotic type. As the CV19 situation slowly improves though we’re starting to focus our attention on ‘getting away’ again, and as super-keen gravel riding fans, a gravel riding holiday would be very near the top of our wish list.
We’ve seen massive growth in interest in gravel bikepacking trips recently and for many of us, the idea of being self-sufficient, loading our bikes with whatever we need and heading off on an adventure is exactly what a gravel holiday is all about. For other gravel riders though, a proper gravel holiday means travelling somewhere unknown and balances riding with relaxing. for those of us who feel that a glass of chilled white wine would be higher up the list of priorities than a can of pop sitting in a petrol station forecourt, a guided gravel bike tour is worth considering.
You might be thinking why the heck should I pay someone else to organise a gravel riding trip for me, which is a good question, so we put that to Marc Gasch, who is the Gravel Division Manager for Thomson Bike Tours and asked him what made Thomson different and why we should book with them.
Gravel Union: What are the benefits of booking a guided gravel riding trip, rather than a DIY gravel holiday?
Marc: Not everybody has the time (or is interested in) going on a 4 week solo expedition to Patagonia, so joining a guided gravel riding trip might be a good introduction to gravel traveling for most people. Our aim is to not molly-coddle you and we would love you to go home with a sense of adventure from your trip, but we will help manage it to make it fun, but safe.
Our ride-leaders (as we call our guides) are gravel riding experts and will take care of all the issues that might happen along the way on a typical DIY holiday, like routing problems, a non-functioning GPS, serious mechanicals, choosing the best hotels and using our local knowledge to find that perfect coffee. Our support vehicle will be following us, a few kms behind the group, in case someone’s not feeling well, or there’s a major mechanical etc. So, you are always covered, but without losing the sense of adventure. Vehicles are always kept far enough away from the group, so that you are not annoyed with the noise of the engine, but close enough to be able to help in case there is a problem.
The “broom wagon” (generally a 9 seater van) will be meeting us on the road-dirt crossroads in case someone needs a transfer to the hotel , as well as taking care of cool picnic lunches in the best spots. But we won’t let you hitch a lift in in the broom wagon van unless you are really, really, really tired 😀
Gravel Union: Tell us a little about your role at Thomson Bike Tours?
Marc: After managing the XPDTN3 project for 5 years and traveling the world in search of the best gravel routes, I joined Thomson to expand their trip catalogue and to infuse a bit more of dirt and adventure into the company with the launch of their “beyond tarmac” trips. I switched from the 3-day bikepacking trips I was designing at XPDTN3, to a different format of 6 day hotel-based trips, but I’m trying to keep the same spirit of adventure and love of the outdoors.
Gravel Union: How do you choose which destinations to feature in your range and what research do you do when setting up a new trip?
Marc: Destinations are chosen by our gravel team, initially sitting around a table with a good coffee and dreaming about perfect gravel terrain. We also take in consideration some of the iconic road trips we have done in the past at Thomson (Ventoux, Tuscany), but try to do them on a gravel bike, looking for gravel roads, more nature and less asphalt.
We also use our friends and contacts around the world for suggestions on possible routes. Then we do our classic research online, with maps, and then we start creating the first template of the tracks via komoot and their planning features. The final stage is always traveling to the destination with a team of 4 ride leaders to reccie and ride the actual route ourselves, making changes as we go, and coming up with the final routes that we later upload to komoot to share with the clients.
Gravel Union: Who are your trips aimed at?
Marc: Our “beyond tarmac” gravel trips are classified in a 1 to 3 level of difficulty, so people know what to expect in terms of required off road skills. Some trips like Tuscany are mostly on easy rolling terrain, rideable even with CX tyres, while others like Morocco will be more suitable for high volume knobby 650b tyres (and some off-road skills and experience…)
There will be a trip for everyone, from the roadie that wants to try gravel for the first time (Tuscany or Portugal) , to the mountain biker that wants to travel to an exotic destination for some ‘different’ adventure (Morocco or Iceland)
Gravel Union: What’s your one top tip for someone considering coming on a guided trip for the first time?
Marc: Be honest with your self-assessment of your fitness and off-road skills before choosing a destination. Pushing yourself a little is part of the challenge, but needing to get off to push your bike on every climb is no-one’s idea of fun!
Gravel Union: What direction do you see the future of gravel riding going?
Marc: I think gravel is becoming an established category-sport now, so as it usually happens, that means it’s going to start to split into different categories itself. In the beginning it was just “snowboarding” and when it started being a legit sport in the 80’s, it turned out into categories like “freestyle", “freeride", “halfpipe”, “slopestyle" etc. I think for gravel it will be the same - there is a big difference between racing Unbound Gravel on a super-fast 7kg carbon race bike, or going on a guided or DIY week-long adventure to Mongolia, but it’s all gravel in the end. The differences will probably be most evident in terms of gear and equipment. In the end, the most important factor in gravel riding is “fun” (not performance or results) and that’s what people love about the sport.
Gravel Union: What’s your top tip for someone looking to book a trip for autumn this year?
Marc: In the current situation, I can only say try to get your bike and gear dialled as soon as possible. We all know how much it takes to buy even a single tyre (not to mention a complete gravel bike) in the post-Covid19 cycling crazy world…Use the summer holidays to hone your gravel skills, and don’t be afraid to try new gear (wider or narrower tyres for example, embrace tubeless, etc ). Finally, joining the trips with a friend will also make it more fun - part of the excitement of traveling , at least for me, is the preparation of the trip and that’s even more fun done with friends!
If you’d like to find out more about Thomson Bike Tours gravel trips, you can check out their website here.