As a triathlete you have likely heard some things about gravel cycling but maybe haven’t tried it yet. As a triathlon coach for over ten years, I’m here to tell you – there are many reasons to check it out and here are the top 5.

As a woman getting my PhD, I had plenty of doubts – most of all wondering if I really did belong there. Finding triathlon, however, was different. First, when I started in 2014, I had no idea what I was doing and that was a bit of a blessing in disguise, when you don’t know what you don’t know, it's hard to question it. Second, it was just for fun, a new hobby, and outlet for energy. Third, it turned out I was fairly good at it, the swim was hard, but I could make up for that on the bike and the run, of which especially the last came a lot more natural to me. As I progressed to the 70.3 distance, and the realization came that I could compete at the top end of the age group field grew, the pressure did go up a bit. I was however still so new at all of this that the elements of joy and surprise outshone any doubts I had about myself.