News: Pedal Club Lunch (August ‘23)

At the August Pedal Club luncheon, the club’s speaker for August was Jacob Vaughan who gave a talk on gravel racing.

News: Pedal Club Lunch (August ‘23)

The club’s speaker for August was Jacob Vaughan who gave a talk on gravel racing. Although only twenty four years of age Jacob is an established competitor of some standing: he won the British Junior Road Championship (2016) and has had successes in Belgium as a member of the Lotto Soudal under 23 team. He now sees himself as something of a gravel specialist.

Gravel racing must be a new concept for many senior members of the cycling world, and it appears to be so new that it has not yet fully defined itself. Even so, it is now recognised by the UCI and last year saw the first UCI World Championship (Jacob Vaughan rode this event).

This discipline is a US import – it originated in the Mid West about fifteen years ago, with races typically covering big distances, mostly off road. In densely populated Britain it is not easy (or even possible) to find suitable courses, so most events here use a small circuit. The sport is not sure where it begins and ends; obviously it’s somewhere between mountain bike and cyclo cross racing, but what about the Strada Bianche and the Transcontinental ultra endurance races – are they gravel? Vaughan’s biggest race so far this year has been the gruelling 360k Traka event based on Girona (Spain) which was very ‘multi surface’, even including flights of stairs within the city.

It has been claimed that gravel racing offers an opportunity for all to compete, but it is not cheap – entry fees are in the £100 range, and since there are few proper races in Britain and these are generally a long way from big cities there will usually be a long journey and overnight accommodation to be taken into account.

The club wishes this new sport well, and will watch its development with interest, but some members, who started their competitive careers with club evening ten mile time trials, must be wondering how an ordinary young would-be competitor is ever going to afford gravel racing.

This meeting was again held at the Civil Service Club and attracted 36 members and guests.

from Chris Lovibond