Skill Check
Master these essential gravel bike-handling basics, with help from a pro.
Handle a gravel bike like a badass. Photo: @petermorning
By Amanda Nauman
@amanda_panda_
It’s not road riding, and it’s not mountain biking—much like cyclocross, gravel cycling requires an entirely different skill set. Modern geometry on today’s gravel bikes have given a wide range of cyclists the ability to steer into the dirt and on more adventurous paths. But with this freedom comes the responsibility to respect your wellbeing and the safety of others around you. There will come a time when the terrain you’re navigating would be better suited for a mountain bike, but you’re being asked to pilot this narrow-tired bike through the dirt and rocks. If you’re not prepared to safely pedal your way through the gravel, there are a few ways to practice and improve your skills. And even if you think you are well-versed in the language of dirt, there are always areas to improve.
I was lucky enough to grow up mountain biking recreationally with my dad and this seemingly normal activity for a kid set me up to be very comfortable riding on dirt and even more so as I began racing. The best analogy I can use here is teaching an adult who didn’t grow up swimming how to swim all four strokes properly. If you were an age-group swimmer there’s just an inherent skill and muscle-memory that never leaves your brain, and the strokes are effortless. The work and practice were built into this foundation that you can use as your launching pad. A similarly fit adult who did not grow up swimming has to spend more time in the pool to learn to be as efficient. It’s not impossible to reach the same level of efficiency, but it takes practice, patience, and time to devote to building that foundation.
I swam competitively all through college. Swimming was my life and it set up a huge base for my eventual shift into bike racing after my academic endeavors. Today I’m more widely known for pedaling hard on a gravel, cyclocross, or mountain bike. But the reason I share my background as a swimmer is because of that sport’s focus on technique. There was never a practice where we didn’t set time aside for drills. Because of that, I believe in cultivating safe, efficient, and practical skills on the bike. Whether it’s your first ride on a gravel bike or you’re a five-time finisher of Unbound (the race formerly known as Dirty Kanza), setting time aside to practice skills is so important.
Listen up, she’s a two-time champion of DK 200! Photo: @petermorning
Here are a few tenets when it comes to handling your gravel bike:
Look where you want to go. Your body will follow your eyes.
Shift your gears with the terrain.
Outside foot down when cornering.
Be one with the bike. Don’t fight it.
When in doubt, lean back. Move your center of gravity.
Know your braking power.
Know the capabilities of your tires.
Pedal while standing and seated.
Find balance at low speeds.
Maintain control at high speeds.
Once you’re comfortable repeating these cues to yourself while you’re riding, you can move on to creating a routine of drills to run through at the beginning or end of a ride. Do a self-assessment if any of those cues made you uncomfortable, and write them down. Then come up with a list of drills to focus on those weaknesses. For example, if you’ve found it awkward dismounting or getting off your bike when you come to a sudden obstacle in the trail, then find some grass and practice the movements over and over. Knowing how the combination of braking power and tire choice respond over varied terrain and distances is critical in riding safely. Simply hoping that you will magically stop quickly and dismount safely the next time there’s a huge branch in the trail without ever practicing it is not realistic. And if you choose to ignore that you’re not good at this skill, then you’re jeopardizing your wellbeing and the safety of everyone around you.
Now that you’ve accepted that practice is the key to safety and success, your body will thank you for giving it the repetitions needed for building muscle memory. The cues listed above will force you to start thinking about how your body navigates the terrain beneath you. You can take each of them and create drills to hone in on any limitations you find. In my next post I will share some of my favorite movements and repetitions.
Think of this time as an investment in being respectful to your body. You are asking a lot of your mind and body every time you pedal your bike, so it’s fair to give it the attention it deserves by nurturing your handling and efficiency through practice.
Amanda "The Panda" Nauman can often be found racing on two wheels somewhere in the gravel or mud. An affinity for the dirt led her to multiple UCI podiums, World Cup appearances, and a brush with the European racing scene in cyclocross. This cx-savvy panda also plays on mountain bikes and racks up the miles on gravel bikes around the country when she's not at work. The two-time champion of the DK 200 isn't afraid to push the limits at endurance events and balance out the racing with long, epic adventure rides. As co-founder of the Mammoth Tuff gravel event, she continues to work towards welcoming riders to this gravel community and inspiring adventure.
