You don’t expect steel bikes to be ridden to the top steps of the podium in international races any longer these days, but that’s exactly what happened last weekend when the UCI Gravel World Series came to Collingwood in Ontario (Canada).
Blue Mountain Gravel was the last opportunity in North America to qualify directly for the UCI Gravel World Championships. In addition to the best racers from Canada, the race attracted some of the best racers from all over the world: Spain, England, the U.S., Colombia… It was a hard day or racing, on a challenging course that took the riders on a circuit up and over the escarpment, through a bog, and across some scenic gravel roads.
The men’s race was won by 16-year-old Ashlin Barry—on a steel bike (more about that later). Catching up with Ashlin after the race, he explained: “The race was awesome! It went as good as it could have for me. I was really happy with how I performed, and I had a super fun time out on the course. It was a hard, hilly, 120-km course with 3 laps of a circuit that contained a challenging and technical muddy section around 15 km from the finish line. I made all the front splits as the peloton slowly came apart. Then I attacked the final front group of three as we entered the last mud section. I went solo to the finish from there.”
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Photography by Jody Wilson
