09/05/2026
Well, that's a wrap on the Gravel in Paradise series!
Yesterday, Cycling Otago sent us off to finish the series in style on the lumpy White Rocks Circuit near Oamaru. And when they say lumpy, they mean it. 1,150m of climbing packed into 65km. My legs are filing a formal complaint as we speak.
120 riders turned up, all shapes, sizes, abilities and motivations and every single one of them was an absolute legend.
The racing was brilliant. But honestly? What will stick with me longest happened at the prizegiving.
I've been around cycling for a long time. I've seen a lot of prizegivings. Most are good. Some are forgettable. And then every now and then, one moment comes along that reminds you exactly why we all do this.
The major spot prize for the series a $10,000 bike from Euro Cycling , went to a rider who'd been doing rounds on a $500 mountain bike. New to the sport, just out there giving it absolutely everything she had. Her reaction when her name was called? Completely, utterly, genuine. The kind of joy you simply cannot fake. The whole crowd felt it. It was brilliant.
And that right there is the whole point, isn't it?
For so many riders, it was never about where you finished or who you beat. It was about getting yourself to the start line in the first place. About doing something that scares you a little. About grinding up a hill you weren't sure you could climb, and finding out that you absolutely could.
It's about riding alongside other people strangers who become mates by the end of the day and remembering that shared suffering is basically just friendship in disguise.
Sure, some of us race hard and love the competition and that's brilliant too. But what makes an event like this genuinely special is that it belongs just as much to the rider at the back pushing through their own personal challenge as it does to the rider winning at the front.
Huge thanks to Cycling Otago for another incredible series, and to everyone who came out and rode. You're all champions. (Yes, even those of you who muttered very colourful words on the climbs. Especially you.)
See you next season. My legs said no but my head already said yes.
