The Gravel North Test Event Is Starting To Feel Real

June 2026

By Kat

Things are coming together for our test event in September! We have finalised our preliminary routes and have been blessed with introductions to partners who will all help us this year and going forward!

We’re thrilled to welcome www.weareogt.com as our official nutrition partner for Gravel North. We feel that there is strong alignment with what we are trying to create, and their product. I’m sure all of us have been shocked by the amount of plastic wrapper waste we see out there. Whether in a race or just a training ride. OGT was born as a product that was completely plastic free, with a fully natural, edible beeswax-based coating!

We can report after vigorous testing at the 312 in Majorca this year as well as long windy training rides in our home county of Yorkshire that they are not only tasty but provide a sustained energy boost! And the bonus of not having to faff with a fiddly plastic wrapper is an added benefit – just cram them into your mouth right out of your jersey pocket.

Our second brand partner comes in the form of www.spatzwear.com – the best cycling apparel for all seasons and used by the Alpecin Premier-Tech cycling team. If it’s good enough for Mathieu van der Poel... We were kindly provided with WINTR jackets for our first reccie trips that were definitely needed let me tell you!

Meanwhile the roster of riders for our test event continues to grow…previous winners of The Gralloch, Olympic and World Champions, World Tour pros, enthusiastic amateurs, high performing age groupers…but perhaps most importantly we have secured the services of our head Chef – Kate Archer – who is herself an established ultra-runner having won many of the longest and most arduous ultra-trail races the world over and so any complaints could be met with little sympathy!

Plenty more to come…