The way I see it, it’s only a matter of time. I haven’t met someone yet that doesn’t at least like the sound of riding off into nowhere on a knobby tired bike that can also handle itself on pavement. Put that together with a swim in a remote lake and a trail run… sounds like what dreams are made of.
I figure it hits the perfect balance of adventure but attainability in terms of gear and skills. I’ve always felt that the reason Xterra never exploded is because it’s logistically too hard for most people to train for and the skill set of a mountain biker rarely comes with that of your typical triathlete. “Gravel” on the other hand can be found almost anywhere, and even ripping across a field or through an otherwise un-rideable back alley can be done by anyone on this new breed of bike.
Anyway, philosophical rant aside, we (TransitionFour) did a second version of our “Overland Triathlon” in St George, just a couple days after the half ironman, and experimented with riding some much more extreme terrain, mixing up the order of events yet again, and ultimately just seeing how much fun could be had with three sports in a fun location.
The gravel community has never really appeared to be all that into competition. Just look at the uproar from the hipsters when pro teams showed up to DK with aero bars on their bikes. I can def. see gravel bike/trail run being appealing to a certain crowd. Hell, maybe a few more triathletes might even learn how to change out a tube.
Of all the multisport events to set up, this (the gravel DU) has gotta be the easiest. And for a lot of North America, would be a hella long season, March-May, September-November. Will this inspire a few new race directors out in ST land?
My $0.02, there’s a big future for gravel triathlon. I agree with your sentiments regarding Xterra: the learning curve can be steep. You can take a FOP triathlete with average road bike handling skills and they’ll get absolutely trashed by someone who’s comparatively overweight and out of shape but rides trails every weekend. I’m not using that as an example to say road triathletes can’t compete, I’m just saying that the skill gap is significant. Just the nature of the beast. As you point out, gravel doesn’t have that problem.
From an RD’s standpoint, permitting and logistics for a gravel race should be easier too.
Personally, I’d prefer to do a gravel triathlon. Even though I’ve never had a run in with a car on the road (touch wood) I’ve had a close call and seen too many a-hole drivers around cyclists (that’s Florida for you) that I’ve lost all interest in road riding/racing.
Yeah, I was wondering why it has to be a gravel tri? Don’t get me wrong, gravel tri sounds fun, but might there be a market for gravel/trail duathlons? And I don’t mean a triathlon with a du attached like an ugly step sister.
I don’t have my finger on the pulse of the endurance sports crowd or anything, but it seems like they could be pretty in-expensive to pull off, and current gravel cyclists who don’t swim my still enter?
Wow, loved the video! My husband and I are both waiting for gravel triathlon to take off. When I’m done chasing Ironmans and a certain goal, this is what we would love to do next!! I adore mountain biking but would never do an Xterra because the bike would be too stressful for me even with my off-road skills from years past. But I am in love with gravel riding! And it’s also so much safer to ride on gravel roads compared to the busy paved roads. And who doesn’t love trail running?! I hope gravel tris take off soon! Can’t wait!!
Proud member of T4 here, and I love this idea. My biggest issue I see would be the technical skill for trails. If this, or more than most of the races, are on dirt/gravel roads that limit the single track technical parts then I feel it would take off. Once the possibility (or inevitability) of a crash increases, mainstream interest won’t be there. Crashes scare the “average joe†and those are the ones that will make this sustainable. But I sure love the idea, and love these videos.
first 2-3mi paved please… so I can dry a little from the swim
and I agree with C22 above… people crashing is a way to turn ppl off. Some sections off that video would be too much for 90% of the ppl. It would need to be more fireroad-ish
My $0.02, there’s a big future for gravel triathlon. I agree with your sentiments regarding Xterra: the learning curve can be steep. You can take a FOP triathlete with average road bike handling skills and they’ll get absolutely trashed by someone who’s comparatively overweight and out of shape but rides trails every weekend. I’m not using that as an example to say road triathletes can’t compete, I’m just saying that the skill gap is significant. Just the nature of the beast. As you point out, gravel doesn’t have that problem.
I’m not really sure FOP road triathletes staying away from Xterra because they can’t handle getting beaten by someone with greater skills is a “problem”.
Proud member of T4 here, and I love this idea. My biggest issue I see would be the technical skill for trails. If this, or more than most of the races, are on dirt/gravel roads that limit the single track technical parts then I feel it would take off. Once the possibility (or inevitability) of a crash increases, mainstream interest won’t be there. Crashes scare the “average joe†and those are the ones that will make this sustainable. But I sure love the idea, and love these videos.
Yeah I would second this. Some of the technical parts looked a bit too “scary” for a gravel bike (those trails look fun for a mtn bike however). BUT sometimes it looks worse than it actually is and I’m sure I would have at least given it a try on my gravel (cross) bike if I was riding with this impressive group
Yeah, I was wondering why it has to be a gravel tri? Don’t get me wrong, gravel tri sounds fun, but might there be a market for gravel/trail duathlons? And I don’t mean a triathlon with a du attached like an ugly step sister.
I don’t have my finger on the pulse of the endurance sports crowd or anything, but it seems like they could be pretty in-expensive to pull off, and current gravel cyclists who don’t swim my still enter?
The one I’ve done is only 2 years old and very beginner friendly. It was just a 2 mile run. 8 mile bike. 2 mile run. All completely contained within a park I’m sure super cheap to produce. I think it had 150 participants this year. Up from like a 100 from first year. Being such a short distance event probably not much more room to grow with participants but I nice short day of like an hour.
Proud member of T4 here, and I love this idea. My biggest issue I see would be the technical skill for trails. If this, or more than most of the races, are on dirt/gravel roads that limit the single track technical parts then I feel it would take off. Once the possibility (or inevitability) of a crash increases, mainstream interest won’t be there. Crashes scare the “average joe†and those are the ones that will make this sustainable. But I sure love the idea, and love these videos.
I agree crashes scare the average Joe and I don’t like the idea of crashing in a pack on gravel. But crashing on gravel, similar to mountain biking, is pretty common but often times it’s slower speed like sliding on gravel making a turn or getting bogged down in sand. I agree you can’t make it too technical but honestly in gravel events it is common for some hike and bike sections. For me, riding in a pack on gravel can be super nerve wracking as holes, ruts, sand, rocks, can come out of nowhere or just throw you way off your line. But gravel biking is super fun.
My $0.02, there’s a big future for gravel triathlon. I agree with your sentiments regarding Xterra: the learning curve can be steep. You can take a FOP triathlete with average road bike handling skills and they’ll get absolutely trashed by someone who’s comparatively overweight and out of shape but rides trails every weekend. I’m not using that as an example to say road triathletes can’t compete, I’m just saying that the skill gap is significant. Just the nature of the beast. As you point out, gravel doesn’t have that problem.
I’m not really sure FOP road triathletes staying away from Xterra because they can’t handle getting beaten by someone with greater skills is a “problem”.
How on earth did you get that out of what he said?
I took it as “skill†and experience will be much more valuable in these races. And as we see often, that is usually the lacking aspect for most beginners/“just want to participate triathletesâ€, which makes up a significant portion of the participants. You’ll need those people to participate for this to catch on and be sustainable.
maybe even 30’s