HOW TO LEVEL UP YOUR GRAVEL RIDING IN 2025

Gravel riding has seen an explosion in recent years. Emerging from a space between mountain biking and road riding, gravel allows for the distances, speed and touring aspect of road riding, combined with the off-road exploration of mountain biking. Of course, riding beyond smooth paved roads is nothing new, with classic events like Paris-Roubaix pushing road riding to the extreme for the last 130 years, but with worldwide events like Unbound and The Traka, the discipline has truly taken on a life of its own.

We're sure that everyone reading this will be somewhat familiar with gravel riding. Here at Signature, many of our staff are enthusiastic riders, and are now gravel evangelists. With the right experiences, we’re sure that you would fall in love with gravel too, as we have. But what are best ways to discover gravel, and get bitten by the bug in 2025?

Discover More

One of the best, and most unique aspects of gravel riding is the capacity it has for exploration. Road riding gives you the ability to cover great distances, but you’re confined to the road, with traffic to contend with. Whilst mountain biking gives you greater freedom, the bikes aren’t built for longer journeys and longer exploration, more for short downhill trails.

Gravel riding gives you the ability to explore nature more than any other discipline. It’s less about the riding itself, and more where you can go with the riding. At Signature, riding some of the world’s best gravel events has brought the most adventure and exploration — from the Rift in Iceland, to our personal favourite, The Traka in Girona.

This race, held in the cycling Mecca of Girona every year, transforms the city into the centre of the gravel world. Catering to all abilities, with multiple distances and routes, the course takes you through some of the most beautiful trails in the Spanish countryside.

Having attended this race last year, this year we wanted to share this unique experience with you, and have partnered with Thomson Bike Tours again to host our Girona trip, which includes exclusive entry to this race. An extremely popular event, the Traka 2025 has now officially sold out, but thankfully our reserved spots mean that you can still sign up now and race.

Be Part of the Team

With an often solitary sport like cycling, it can be difficult to learn new skills. For a diverse discipline like gravel riding, a much greater breadth of surfaces leads to a greater range of styles and skills needed.

Joining our upcoming Girona trip is an amazing way to learn all the ins and outs of gravel riding, thanks to our partnership with the Movistar pro team. As part of the trip, as well as riding with the team, staying in the same hotel and having access to their nutrition, massage therapy and mechanics, you’ll recieve evening masterclasses on gravel riding, on topics like gravel equipment, techniques, and the nutrition needed to go full gas on long gravel rides.

As well as this, here at Signature, we always have you covered. As well as a huge depth of knowledge present in our staff, who have competed at many of the best gravel events in the world, we often host gravel events and masterclasses, like our rides with pro riders Nathan Haas and Raylyn Nuss.

Ride More

All of this leads to our best piece of advice — to ride more! The more you ride, the more likely you are to discover more about your local area, your riding preferences and favourite surfaces. Gravel rides run the spectrum from rough roads passable on a road bike, like those seen at the Strada Bianche, to tough woodland trails and river crossings found at UNBOUND. The more you ride, the more you’ll discover your favourite style, and the more you can specialise in gear built for you.

We can guarantee that the more you ride, the more you’ll come to love gravel as we have over the last few years.

And if you’re looking for the truly ultimate, pro gravel experience, join us in Girona with the Movistar team, this April, from the 29th until May 5th.

Click here to read the full itinerary and book your place, or click here to reach out to us and find out more.