Gravel cycling

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Gravel cycling" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (February 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Gravel cycling

Waiting for Dirty Kanza (now Unbound Gravel) bike race to start at sunrise
Highest governing body	UCI
First played	Since beginning of cycling; modern era began around 2006.
Presence
Olympic	No

Gravel cycling, gravel biking or gravel grinding^[1] is a sport or a leisure activity in which participants ride bicycles, mostly on gravel roads. The marketing man would have you believe that one must own a specially designed gravel bike to participate, when in fact any bicycle capable of covering the terrain can be used.

Gravel cycling bridges the gap between road and mountain biking,^[2] combining the efficiency of road cycling with the capability to ride on rough and loose terrain of mountain biking. It allows riders more freedom to choose routes than road cycling, without many of the physical and equipment-related barriers of mountain biking.^[2] Gravel cycling is nearly as old as cycling itself, with most significant developments in the racing side having occurred in the 20th century. Gravel racing as a discipline has its own global series and world championship.