Gallery: Special Blend Gravel

Three days of building confidence, stoke, and friendship on the bike

Putting on a bike clinic, or camp, is tricky. How do you provide a worthwhile experience to 20 people of varying abilities and expectations, feed them healthy yet interesting food in a comfortable setting, provide structure (but not too much), and also differentiate yourself from the rest?

It takes a special blend.

Read also: Letter from camp: Special Blend Gravel

Last week, pro mountain biker Serena Bishop Gordon hosted the first-ever Special Blend Gravel, a three-day gravel camp for women. Based out of the Balch Hotel in Dufur, Oregon, the camp included seminars on nutrition and sleep, as well as on-the-bike coaching (Bishop Gordon was joined by Sarah Sturm, Janel Spilker, Sarah Max, and Yuri Hauswald as instructors), fully supported training rides, and entry into the Gorge Gravel Grinder.

While the tangibles helped sell the event, the intangible energy of new friendships, energy, and curiosity on the bike was the real success in the end.