You’re cautious and if that’s your reasoning you’re opening a huge can of worms of equipment restrictions if you applied that logic.
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Which tire size do you think the UCI will limit gravel bikes to? 
While I don’t personally enjoy the gravel thing*, I don’t understand all the butt hurt.
Besides the fact that we all knew this was going to happen…so what? I do mountain bike races all the time that aren’t sanctioned. Are they more, or less fun than the USAC/UCI races? They are the same. The USAC/UCI races I do locally are sometimes run by the EXACT SAME PEOPLE who are running the local non sanctioned races. Same atmosphere, but there might be some details missing from the non sanctioned race that you just plan around. The sanctioned races usually have better trail markings as an example.
I am racing my MTB this Saturday, non sanctioned. Small local series that feels small and local. Most of the people I will be lining up with I will see at the sanctioned races too. I will be doing a 24 hour race with a friend in a couple months that will not be sanctioned. I am racing Sea Otter in a couple months which is.
There are also a couple crit practice races (underground racing?) and a couple weekday worlds where you don’t even sign up, you just show up and race. No rules, just a course that you have to follow someone else on until you learn it. I have raced harder on those than any real road race so far since there are no categories. You want a freestyle gravel event, go make one.
*I did do BWR a couple years ago. It was an experience, but I have no interest in doing it again. And I own a gravel bike because I thought it would be something I would like, but I don’t. The gravel thing isn’t for me.
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Aren’t all the current and former WT pros who race gravel on a lark ruining Colin’s retirement plan? 
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It seems like regulated gravel racing is getting bigger and bigger. It will be interesting to see how this plays out in the US and what happens with the unregulated scene.
Filippo Pozzato put on the first pro-only gravel race called Serenissima Gravel.
The Netherlands just had national gravel championships:
Not taking the UCI long to try and turn gravel into “road racing on dirt”….
“Also it should be on wide, open, existing gravel roads, no singletrack, and no technical downhills,” he said.
I’ll give them credit for explicitly saying they don’t want to just repeat Strade Bianche (which is NOT gravel), but what they have laid out so far confirms my original concerns.
I am ALL in for these UCI races and the new Lifetime series. Why? Because they are not going to ruin gravel, they are ensuring gravel racing exists in the way that I love it in perpetuity.
By drawing attention to a small cadre of events, the ones I love will likely not be overrun by those who are just dying to get dropped by Ted King or Stetina.
Gravel started as a need for a road bike with wide(r) tire because riders were tired of riding on crowded roads with cars (for the most part) and wanted to be able to connect asphalt to dirt and back again … by extension, gravel racing started out of the love of this non-crowded riding and organizers found that there was less permitting needed for gravel races because roads didn’t have to be closed and/or traffic wouldn’t be disrupted because there wasn’t much traffic.
In short, gravel IS road racing on dirt … it always was. Roadies just wanted to ride on less crowded roads and they happened to not be paved. No one, really, would choose to ride on gravel if the paved roads were deserted and safe … if they did they’d be mountain bikers. Then mountain bikers showed up to gravel and tried to pull the game towards singletrack … and that was really starting to depart from the point. It’s not uninteresting, it just wasn’t organic.
I don’t give a poop about any of this gravel racing nonsense, because it pulls a bunch Johnny Try-Hards away from the events I like which happen to be fast and fun and, for the most part, not asshole-ish … and the Dirty Kanza, or Unbound or whatever you want to call it has been striving for peak asshole-er-y for about 5 years. See Payson McElven, et al circa 2019 at the deserted podium.
The UCI and Lifetime, etc., has guaranteed that will continue. BTW, I’m not “against” doing the DK/Unbound … it just serves as a beacon to let me know where the potential a-holes are going to be … I’m not saying everyone who does it is an a-hole, I just know the a-holes are going to be there and now they’re easy to avoid - because the UCI and Lifetime have drawn them like a magnet.
The oldest, biggest (I think?) gravel race in the country is not a part of any of these series and I couldn’t be more thrilled … and that’s while I’ll be there. It’s one of my favorites.
TL;DR … gravel racing is road racing on tires that make gravel feel more like a road and less like a washboard. So be it. I don’t want to race against pros. I know how it ends. I love gravel racing because of the volume of events to choose from due to easier permitting, not because of the roughness of the road. I love smooth asphalt/tarmac like a drug, but nobody “rolls coal” on a gravel road. If trucks used them in volume they’d be paved. Good luck to all🤘
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You make some interesting points by viewing the changes from a totally different angle. I find myself in agreement with most of what you posted. In essence the prize money and regulation will only “ruin” the events that were somewhat well down that path anyway for those who aren’t world class level.
Most of my local gravel races in the midwest are just so much pure fun, and this might keep them that way. Prizes are bragging rights and literally a baby food jar of gravel. No heavily sponsored racer is going to come to these races from out of state unless they just like the people and atmosphere - in which case the more the merrier.
Do we take our local gravel races seriously? Sure, we do. We all want PRs or a podium. We want to beat our friends (and almost everyone who shows up ends up being a friend) but at the same time we stop to check on any mechanicals or spills and are more than happy to laugh at our bad luck if we bonk or flat. No worries on being passed by Mr. illegal substances since a large purse or contract is not at stake. We cheer as a couple of the local ladies with better pacing and smarter fueling again smoke us in the last few miles.
In short the Lifetime series really will attract more of the youtubers (with click bait such as “I passed Ian Boswell at Unbound!!” - leaving out it was on a shake out ride the day before) and leave me with more of the original gravel vibe at the remaining races. Nothing against Youtubers, I’m the first in line to watch Dylan Johnson’s race recap videos and I would love to watch some of these races in real time if they can ever develop decent coverage.
So thanks for that fresh view. I do agree. Except for one part. In no way would I prefer road over gravel even if there was no traffic. Plenty of pavement around here with very little traffic. However, I love the unpredictability of gravel, how it can change from week to week. How it slows you down so that aero isn’t quite as important as road. How the 42mm tires are more comfortable all the way around.
Other than that you are right on the money.
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This is exactly my point. Well said. Couldn’t agree more🤘
I’m in the Midwest as well … what races do you do?
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A few of the ones in this area include:
Badlands Gravel Battle in Medora, ND
Pine Island Gravel Odyssey in Spearfish, SD
Burleigh County Cup north of Bismarck, ND
and many smaller ones have cropped up in the last few years.
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They can have UCI/US Cycling classes and everyone else that’s just there for a good time.
Oh man, my homeland! I moved away, but I’m so happy to see cycling growing there now.
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I want to like and agree with all that you’ve said, but some reads a bit overaggressive for someone calling everyone a-holes lol.
I definitely agree with the fact that UCI involvement isn’t a negative impact on racing except for Gravel race organisers wanting to control their own sandpit (which they still can).
What was the guts with the 2019 podium thing, I tried to Google it without luck.
I didn’t call everyone an a-hole, I just know what attracts them and then I know where they’re going to be … I’m not trying to be a jerk, but we all kinda of know that cycling can be incredibly inclusive and friendly … and it also has its share of, um, characters.
Re: the dust up at DK 2019:
This is the epitome of BS that I don’t need or want at a race, and yet it attracts other types of amateur riders. To each their own. I like my lane🤘
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The only a-hole I see in that article is the guy who portends to be the gatekeeper for gravel……
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I’ll be there along with a good contingent from Manitoba!
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Supposedly the series has been leaked…and Trek is reportedly sponsoring the series, but nothing has been confirmed.
FWIW, I can’t find anything official about the 2 US qualifying events. No websites exist that have any official details or registration information.
I mean, I’m not advocating for the UCI, or any other governing body, but categories can also be nice if you want compete against people at your level.
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