5 mistakes to avoid on your first gravel adventure

Gravel is attracting more and more fans in search of adventure, nature and freedom. The versatility of a gravel bike makes every ride unique, blending roads, paths and trails - you choose. But there’s some mistakes that are easy to make when you’re just starting out, so here’s 5 of them to avoid to make sure your first forays into gravel are a resounding success.

1. Don’t underestimate the value of good kit

Choosing the right bike for you is crucial to both your safety and enjoyment of every ride - the parts on your bike (like good brakes and the right gears!) make all the difference. Make sure your bike is in good working order with chunky enough tyres (between 38-45mm is ideal) for you to feel comfy on the bike, and that you have enough gears to allow you to pedal up the hills you’ll encounter with making your legs explode. Gear ratios that are too hard will make climbs torture or even unrideable, especially to begin with.

Set your bike up for YOU.

Having your saddle or handlebars in the wrong position can bring on all sorts of discomfort in your knees, wrists and back, not to mention your rear end. So it’s really important to take the time to set your bike up before your first ride, and to tweak it as needed on the subsequent rides. There’s no need to put up with pain or discomfort!

• Saddle height - with a friend holding your bike for you, jump on and drop a pedal to the bottom of the pedal stroke. Your knee should be slightly flexed when your foot is horizontal.

• Saddle and handlebars angle - make sure both are angled right for you, which might take a bit of time. Theres shouldn’t be excessive pressure points in your hands/palms or your private parts!

• Hoods on your handlebars - can be moved so make sure your hands are comfy on them and theres no strain on your arms/shoulders to enable this.

It’s worth getting a professional bike fitting done if this is your first bike or you’ve been out of the game for a while. In the meantime you can have a read of our dedicated advice article “How to avoid pain and discomfort on a gravel ride.”

2. Check your tyre pressures!

Many people ride with over inflated tyres to begin with, which makes for a bumpy ride and less grip off road - not ideal for confidence building at all. Conversely, riding with your tyres too soft risks punctures, so theres a fine balance to find.

You’ll need to tweak your tyre pressures depending on the terrain and conditions, as well as your weight, riding style and actual tyre. As a rule of thumb:

• On rolling terrain (roads and smooth compacted gravel) - 3-4 bar or 40-55 psi

• Varied tracks and trails - 2.5-3 bar or 35-45 psi

• Rough technical terrain - 2-2.5 bar or 28-35 psi

It’s a good habit to check your pressures and adjust as necessary before every ride. You can read all about it in our Tyres 101 article, where we cover everything in more detail!

3. Prepare your route

Heading out blind is a classic mistake - on the road it’s one thing but on the trails with no signposts and a lot of junctions it’s very easy to find yourself lost.

Luckily there’s plenty of apps that can help you plan your route beforehand, and navigate with through your phone or a dedicated gps bike computer. Komoot and Strava both have gravel functions to prioritise gravel tracks, and komoot takes it one step further with MTB trails too, to help you avoid roads and anything too technical.

OpenRunner has particularly good mapping - whichever you use you’ll need to check carefully the terrain on your route to avoid long hike a bikes or dead ends. Although sometimes these are part of the adventure! Check where any resupply points are along your route as well as any escape routes if you need to cut it short for any reason.

Top tip - for more detailed advice on all things navigation have a read of our dedicated route planning article here.

4. Don’t overestimate your ability!

Whilst we want to encourage everyone to get out there and explore their limits, we also don’t want to break anyone mentally or physically! Riding gravel is much more physically demanding than on the road for many reasons, and the added concentration needed on technical terrain adds another level of fatigue to your body AND mind.

Some tips:

• Start with shorter rolling rides before tackling more difficult terrain or heading in to the mountains.

• Plan regular stops to avoid finding yourself too tired far from home.

• Listen to your body - and take your time to see how you go rather than fixing too many specific objectives form the beginning.

A good way to progress is to add just a little more technical difficulty, a bit more distance or a longer/steeper climb to each ride, rather than adding too much challenge in one go. Most importantly remember to enjoy the ride!

5. Don’t forget your spare kit

Even if you’re only heading out for an hour, finding yourself hungry and tired deep in a forest with no phone signal, a puncture and no spares isn’t fun. So be prepared - always have food and water with you, as well as a basic repair kit. We’ve put together the complete guide of what you’ll need for a gravel day ride in our journal which you canread here.

In a nutshell here’s the minimum to take with you:

• Spare inner tube and/or tubeless repair kit.

• Pump or CO2 cartridges

• Multitool with a chain breaker and chain quick link

• Tyre levers

• Windbreaker jacker

• A snack and enough to drink - a good rule of thumb is to drink every 15-20 mins and eat something every hour, depending on the weather of course.

Don’t forget your fully charged phone with an external battery if needed, and to have let someone know where you’re going beforehand.

GravelUp guide you

Here at GravelUp we know that launching into the world of gravel or riding off road can be intimidating to begin with, which is why we run guided gravel trips for ALL levels. Our small group trips are led by a qualified, experienced and professional guide, who is there for much more than just showing the way. They will explain everything and help you with bike technique, as well as managing your efforts and riding efficiently and happily all day long. We take care of everything so you can relax and enjoy your ride!

On one of our “everything included" adventures, you can ride from the get-go free of stress or worry, exploring some great gravel trails along the way.

So are you ready to get started? Have an explore of our 11 destinations and pick your favourite!