Fort Collins is a platinum-rated bicycle community, with hundreds of miles of dedicated bike lanes and marked trails. Gravel riding is a bicycling excursion somewhere between road riding and mountain biking, and it has become increasingly popular over the last several years, and many members of the Cohere Coworking community have been exploring the gravel trails in Northern Colorado.
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What is Gravel Riding?
Gravel bike trails are mostly unpaved with a gravel covering. They often include either paved sections or sections of unprotected dirt trails as well. Bicycles designed specifically for the challenges of a gravel trail tend to make the ride smoother but are not strictly necessary. Most bikes can handle gravel trails, although the narrow tires of a road bike may be difficult to control. Purchasing bicycle tires designed to handle a gravel path can help mitigate this difficulty.
Benefits of biking on a gravel bike path
There are several benefits to exploring gravel bike paths. For one, the majority of gravel paths traverse less populated areas with more exposure to nature. Exposure to nature is essential for entrepreneurs and remote workers as it not only supports our mental health, but also improves cognition, increases attention span, and reduces the risk of psychiatric disorders. In addition, riding on gravel trails avoids the majority of dangerous encounters with traffic.
Fantastic Gravel Path Resources for Fort Collins
Finding a great gravel path to explore is fairly easy in Northern Colorado. When we asked our members to list their favorite resources for finding local gravel routes, they shared these sites:
- Your Group Rides, a Fort Collins Cycling news site, has a plethora of biking information for Fort Collins and surrounding areas. Their section on local gravel routes is especially helpful, with notes about how much dirt to gravel ratio on each path, how much time it takes to ride them, elevation, and climb rate. It’s also somewhat amusing to peruse due to trail names like Pain in the Ass Pass, The Only Flowy Part of Michaud, and Gravel the Bruce.
- The Dirty Roads website lists trails throughout Colorado, including multi-day rides. Detailed information on the site includes the length of the trail in miles, the elevation, minimum recommended tire size, and which months are best for that particular trail.
- The website for Bike Sports Colorado includes a robust guide to gravel trails in the area under the listing Gravel Graceland, where you’ll find a variety of trails, from short routes to WTF Routes. It even has a section with some of the best classic road routes in Fort Collins.
Recommended Gravel Groups, Events, and Instagram accounts
Gravel biking is well suited to group rides and community involvement, which Cohere supports wholeheartedly. Riding a gravel path alone is typically a wonderful experience all on its own but the camaraderie that occurs when a group of riders gather to celebrate the passion they have for the sport can be even more rewarding. Many groups and events have developed in the Fort Collins area.
The biggest gravel biking event in Fort Collins is the FoCoFondo, which was held on the 21st of July this year. Not only did participants have fun and get plenty of exercise, but this year they managed to rescue a family of kittens along the way.
Groups and Instagram accounts recommended by Cohere members include:
- Fort Follies– A non-profit women’s cycling team that focuses on riding, racing, and community involvement.
- Queer + Bikes– A Northern Colorado cycling community centered around queer folks and their allies. This group also runs a mutual aid gear garage that trades everything from bike parts to bike clothes.
- Fort Collins Gravel People– A casual party-paced group with a weekly gravel ride on Tuesdays (that ends at a brewery).
- @Queerplusbikes
- @FortFollies
- @GravelFoCo
- @YourGroupRide
- @CyclingforLongevity
Still Curious?
We’d love to meet you and share more information about coworking, community, Fort Collins, and yes, even gravel bike riding.
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Penny Leigh Sebring is a Cohere member, experienced freelance writer, neophyte speculative fiction author, founder of Kiki’s Castle Independent Press, LLC, in Fort Collins, CO, and a gatherer of information and imaginary friends.