Bossi Grit Ti

THE GRAVEL BIKE PHENOMENON has well and truly arrived Down Under. Gravel events like Wagga Wagga’s Gears and Beers are popping up all over the calendar, there’s a gravel National Championship, and groups like the Central Coast’s Graveleur collective organise regular rides and bikepacking trips on a weekly basis.

There’s no denying there’s an allure to the gravel dream: pack up a swag, hop on your bike and leave the lights of the city behind for the road less travelled (as long as there’s a pub somewhere near where you’re camping). It’s a type of riding that particularly suits the Australian terrain. However, for many of us, that dream is just that: a dream. Real life commitments mean that the opportunities for adventures like these are few and far between – instead, we’re snatching one or two hours between ferrying the kids to footy practice