In many parts of the United States, gravel is all the rage. Not only is gravel much safer than riding outdoors, but it also provides an immense sense of freedom and exploration. While not all of us know it, most of us are surrounded by gorgeous gravel routes - we just have to find them.
Thankfully, tech is rapidly evolving and there are now tools to help cyclists find stunning routes near them. In this article, we will be going over 3 ways that you can find gravel near you and some best practices for gravel riding.
Komoot:
Komoot has quickly become one of the most widely used route-planning tools for cyclists. In late June, Komoot announced that they created 160,000 gravel routes for users to explore - chances are, you’ll find one right in your backyard!
Komoot lets users easily filter between gravel, off-road, and pavement in order to make the route-searching process as smooth as possible. In addition, Komoot syncs with most cycling computers (ie; Garmin, Wahoo, etc).
Strava:
For Strava premium subscribers, full mapping functionality is available. For many cyclists, Strava is one of their most used apps - having navigation built into it is a no-brainer! Strava has several filters and route recommendations to make finding a route as easy as possible. Riders can filter by length, surface type, and more.
BUY PERFORMANCE RECOVERY SYSTEM
Gravelmap:
The app is pretty self-explanatory - it’s essentially a map full of gravel segments and routes for cyclists. Using this tool, riders can see a very visual map of where there is gravel around them. Similar to many of these platforms, riders can create and share their own routes. However, Gravelmap does not have integrations with Garmin or Wahoo, making it harder to use the app for navigating on the fly.
Overall, Komoot still stands at the top in terms of the top apps to help navigate the world of gravel cycling. Its ease of use, multitude of integrations, and hundreds of thousands of pre-made routes make it the top choice for many cyclists.
Now that you have the tools to start planning your next gravel adventure, it’s time to discuss the best practices to prevent injury and stay healthy. No matter how fit or unfit the rider, recovering between hard rides is crucial. Many of the top gravel cyclists in the world use recovery technology like Speed Hound’s Pro Performance Recovery System. This system uses dynamic air compression to aid the body’s natural recovery processes, allowing riders to be back to shredding the trails quicker than ever.
In fact, Speed Hound is the official recovery partner of the SBT GRVL, one of the largest gravel races in the world.
You are now ready to hit the trails. Riders - stay safe, healthy, and most of all, have fun.