Racing, Selling Granola & Finding Our People at Village Gravel
There's a particular kind of tired that comes from riding 30 miles of gravel alone, and a particular kind of joy that comes from crossing the finish line to find your husband waiting for you, camera up, cheering. On August 22nd at Village Gravel in Flagstaff, we got both, plus a booth full of granola, three days at Village Camp, and a whole lot of new friends in the gravel community.
This was our first time at Village Gravel, and honestly, our first full season figuring out where Biker & Baker fits in the gravel scene at all. Turns out: pretty well.
Packet Pickup, Day One
The event started the day before the race, with activities at Village Camp and packet pickup, which meant Adam and I spent Friday at our vendor booth talking to nearly every person about to race the next day. There's something great about meeting racers before the race, when everyone's still nervous energy and pre-race carb talk. We handed out samples, talked through our three flavors (Original, Turmeric, and Chai, in both sizes), and heard a lot of "oh, we need this for tomorrow morning."
Race Day
Saturday morning, the start time was 9:30am for the 30. This was only my second gravel race, my first was the Belgian Waffle Ride back in February, where I rode 40 miles. I'd actually set out months earlier to train for Village Gravel's 60-mile route, but life got in the way of training, so I made the call to drop to the 30. No regrets, it was the right call, and it meant I actually got to enjoy the course instead of surviving it.
I rode it on my mountain bike, in flats, which I always assume is going to make me feel out of place at a gravel race. It never does. There are all kinds of bikes and all kinds of riders out there, and it made the whole thing feel completely comfortable, mountain bike and all. I'd pre-ridden the course two weekends before the race, so I felt genuinely prepared going in, and it showed. The views were beautiful, conditions were great, and the course itself was really well designed. Two hours and forty-five minutes later, I crossed the finish line, and Adam was right there waiting, having watched me take off that morning and now watching me come back in. He caught it on video too, and it might be my favorite moment of the whole weekend.
Big shout out to Audra Adair, the race director - the whole event was clearly put together with a lot of care.
Why Gravel Races Make Sense for Us
This year taught us that the gravel scene fits our brand really well. Our granola is built for exactly this: real fuel before a long day on a bike, nothing overprocessed, nothing you can't pronounce. And the community around gravel racing is the kind we want to be part of - welcoming, a little scrappy, genuinely happy to see new faces.
That's really the throughline for us this year: showing up at events we actually enjoy, meeting people, and, now, racing them ourselves instead of just vending.
The Best Part Wasn't the Race
As good as the ride was, the highlight of the weekend was everything around it. Vendor life has a way of turning into its own little community, and this weekend was a great example of that: supporting each other, learning from each other, and sometimes just trading products because that's part of the fun.
Big shout out to Rogue Panda, I am obsessed with my new snack bag. FAAST Wax Chain Lube connected with Adam over all kinds of shared interests, turns out there was a lot to talk about beyond bikes. Huge thanks to Absolute Bikes for the pre-ride tune up that had my bike race ready. And to Peak Performance Recovery for the recovery compression session! Braven Energy Bars was set up right next to us and shared a ton of great information with Adam. And thank you to everyone else who fed us, shared your passion, and made the weekend feel like a real community.
What's Next
You can find Biker & Baker granola online anytime, but if you want to say hi in person, we'll be at Oktoberfest in Flagstaff October 3rd. And as for racing, I'm already eyeing the 60-mile route at Village Gravel next year, and we'll likely be back at the Belgian Waffle Ride too.
See you on the course, or at the booth. Probably both.
Shop our granola here or come find us at our next event.