Vermont's 6 Gaps ride is iconic, mythic, a rite of passage. But we'd done it, and were left wondering, what if? What if there was a 6 Gaps route on dirt? What was possible?

Riding bikes doesn’t have to be just about riding bikes. These machines are catalytic; they open and expand possibility like no other technology can. Sometimes the adventures they underpin unfold as planned, but if we’re honest, these aren’t really adventures, are they? Our day spent riding, scrambling, and hiking from Bordighera to Limone Piemonte, Italy, was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Do I really need to care how many people go into the first mud-chute? No, I don't. The final climb isn't my forte, but the preceding mud chutes and trail are, so my best strategy is to arrive at the entry to the first chute as fresh as possible and drill it from there.

The crushed gravel under my tires replaced hardened steel and creosote-marinated wood years ago. Today's remnant of an artery once vital to eastern Canada's transportation network recedes into the horizon ahead, cool, yet infernal wind pushing against every leeward, straining square millimeter of my body. This is bike racing. This is why I'm here. This hurts. I want to stop.

The final piece in a series of deep-dives into my titanium dream bike, T-Lab’s X3. Fully custom designed and built to thrive across a broad range of riding conditions, my build biases toward reliability under heavy and frequent use in harsh environments.

Tire construction influences steering dynamics more ‘strongly’ as volume increases. You WON’T see this jump out from the numbers, and this phenomenon, which has pushed folks away from 650b wheels/tires, is not widely understood.

Through thick and thin, trials and tribulations, why is cycling a life-long passion for so many people. Why do many of us refer to ‘riding like a kid again’ as an experience that renews our love of riding bikes when we find ourselves struggling? Is there a spark at the core of the matter?

Here’s the thing. GRINDURO is not ‘gravel.’ ‘Gravel’ is not a thing. It’s also not nothing.

The second in a trilogy on the process of designing a dream gravel bike, this piece walks through the way I refined my thinking and design for my custom T-Lab X3 modern gravel bike build, translating principles into specific decisions.

The first in a three-part series on the process of designing a dream gravel bike, this piece walks through the way I conceived my custom T-Lab X3 modern gravel bike build. This is a principles-based approach, which is meant to support decision making that lands riders on bikes they love.