I think it would be better off, and more welcoming to mass participation if it did not emulate pro road racing.
That said, don’t say there are “no rules”, then whine (and whine) about how some unwritten rules are broken. Honestly, if stopping at neutral aid stations is important, require a 1-3 minute stop at all stations. If you want it to be a rule, make it a rule. Don’t whine about someone riding gravel differently than you - I really thought that was the whole point. I am much more turned off by the whining about what he (Adam?) did or didn’t do than his actions in the race.
I think a lot of this problem is caused by making pro/sponsored gravel racing a thing. That’s where I think this is going wrong as far as keeping gravel ‘cool’. I don’t know if this can be avoided or not as the status and prestige of some of the events keeps growing.
Maybe have the lead group pick the ‘real gravel’ winner, rather than having it be who crosses the line first. I’m only half joking here - if the winner is defined by who crosses the line first, then that is what will be prioritized in the racing, as was done in the race that is causing all the drama. If they do it right, being picked as the ‘king or queen’ of the race by the people at the pointy end could end up being more prestigious than being the person who crosses the line first.
What was gravel from your perspective? I’m honestly curious. Is “how it was” a function of it being ‘gravel and different’, or “small community with common values”, as one of these won’t survive significant growth.
He’s not really “playing” innocent if he doesn’t think he did anything wrong though is he? As we’ve seen from this thread there’s a lot of people with differing opinions.
I think from Ten Dams comments from Gravel Locos, he’d have been happy to carry on. Someone like that is happy to give up his advantage because he knows he’s a class above and it’s not going to alter his race outcome. Someone like Adam, or any other slightly less strong rider, might have had to really optimise a lot of factors to try and make a break from the field. That’s racing.
It’s a bit like Triathlon. You don’t penalise the athletes that actually practice transition by stating that everyone must take as long as the group/average/whatever.
I don’t think it’s community spirit being so much greater in gravel racing (past or present) I think it’s a lack of depth of field. Mountain Bike Marathon and Gran Fondo races etc still have a community feel and there’s plenty of people there for the social side, but as interest and entries increase it’s inevitable that you attract more and more competitive people. So many athletes are type A personalities and want to do the best they can.
I don’t personally know Colin, but I have raced/ridden with him a bit and he’s a pretty well known quantity in the Austin cycling scene. While you can’t ignore the dollars at play here, I don’t think dollars or his desire to win races are the primary motivators for his comments. He’s a bit of an idealist when it comes to gravel and cycling in general. History of riding fixed gears, borderline hipster. He turns his own wrenches and you wouldn’t know he’s a “pro” from the way he carries himself at local races (until he starts ripping legs off).
My perspective might be swayed a bit since he’s a local guy, but I think most of the criticism he got from the velonews thing is misguided. I read that piece and I didn’t see what all the fuss was about. He wants to keep the cool vibe of gravel racing and doesn’t want it to turn into road racing. Maybe that becomes self serving since gravel racing is now his profession, but it’s not that different from any of us protecting something we enjoy and not wanting it to change.
I do think it’s cool to race gravel and mix it up with the “pros” for a while. But if you put the 50 sponsored riders at the front and sent them off 10min earlier it would make the amateurs have less ambition to put themselves in a bad spot and really get in the way of the “race”
It won’t be road racing for most of us, but the top 10-20 riders, at Unbound, are racing for a paycheck… be it sponsors or reputation to get more clients for coaching / charge more.
The difference here is that you are lumping together rides AND races….they aren’t the same things.
Yeah, if some guy is sitting in constantly on a group ride and then coming around for any of the sprints and thinking he is top schitt, I’ll probably think he is a douchecanoe and I’d even call him out on it.
If some guy is just sitting in during a race and comes around to take the win, only sticking his nose into the wind in the last 50-100m, I’d say he was a damn smart racer.
for a fuller explanation of my views.