Gravel Biking Tips for Beginners

Things I wish I knew on day one of gravel biking:! I’ll start by saying, my parter and I were completely new to gravel at the same time, so we learned as we went. We’ve been casual bike trail riders for years but gravel is a whole different ball game. Here are more details on tips I shared with one bonus tip at the end! 🛞 Changes your tires to tubeless ASAP! Take your bike to a bike shop where they’ll convert them for $30-$50. Why tubeless? Any teeny tiny puncture in your tire will cause tubes in tires to burst, meaning you’ll have to stop and change out your tube. If you’ve never tried doing that, let me tell you, its a pain the the butt. Tubless tires have sealant in them which expands so tiny punctures get sealed up immediatley. Pro tip: Always add air to your tires with the valvle facing down, otherwise the sealant will leak back into your valve and cause blockage 📉 Phewwwie the variation of gravel can make every single decent different and scary. I went to a gravel clinic with pro-racer @whit.allison who taught me, but up and back, arms bent and loose, look to where you’re going, not at the ground. At the end of the day, getting comfortable on different terrain just takes getting more miles and practice in 🌬️ Also learned this at the gravel clinic! I was running my tires on more than double the recommended PSI for gravel. You want your tires to be quite low so they can take impact and will catch better on varying gravel terrain. If your tires are super full, they basically stay on top of the gravel the whole time, giving you less control. Google “gravel bike psi chart” because your ideal PSI will vary based on your tire size and weight. Bonus tip!: Riding on pavement is great but is no substitute for riding on varying gravel terrain. If you’re training for any kind of long ride or gravel race, make sure you’re switching it up and riding on.. duh, gravel! Did you learn anything new?! If you’ve been graveling for awhile, give us your best tips :))