I’VE BEEN MOUNTAIN BIKING FOR OVER 30 YEARS, for much of which time I could regularly be found between lines of race tape. The events in question varied from Lycra-clad cross-country slogs to white-knuckle down hill races, along with some multi-stage enduros thrown in for good measure. But not once, in all those years, had I ever raced a bike with a drop bar. Until, that is, I agreed to enter the Dirty Reiver.
For those not in the know, the Reiver is a timed gravel event on a 65km, 130km or 200km course through Kielder Forest, which spans the border of England and Scotland. Just how different could it be? And what, after three decades of racing mountain bikes, could I learn from 130km (yes, I didn’t do the full 200km) of gravel-bashing, to pass on to
