Take a man who, up until 13 months ago, had never raced a day in his life and add the inaugural Gravel World Championships into the mix, and you have a David and Goliath tale of epic proportions. Meet Metheven Bond, Ribble showroom assistant by day and Gravel World Championship debutant at the first time of asking. Read on to discover the incredible story of how he came to find himself representing Team GB at the inaugural Gravel World Championships aboard his Gravel SL.
A photo opportunity not to be missed. Metheven's Gravel SL on the streets of Veneto, Italy. 📸 Gina Ball/ginabphoto-cycling.
Words: Metheven Bond. Images: Gina Ball
How I came to represent Team GB at the inaugural Gravel World Championships
If somebody had told me this time last year that I would be representing Team GB at the inaugural Gravel World Championships, I would have told them to pull the other one. And yet here I am, sitting in a café‚ a couple of days after the race, sipping on a fresh and much-needed Cappuccino, writing about my experience in Italy and reminiscing on my journey up to this point.
So who am I?
My name is Metheven Bond, and I currently work as a Senior Sales Assistant in Ribble's Clitheroe Showroom. Like many of the stories you hear nowadays, mine also starts with the impact of COVID. Previously I had worked as a Photo Manager aboard Cruise Ships, where I got to travel the world and explore new and exciting places.
I was lucky enough to be allowed my bike onboard and loved nothing more than riding off the ship in the morning, spending each day exploring new roads in strange new lands.
Then seemingly out of the blue, COVID hit, and the Cruise industry all but crumbled overnight. The following 12 months were spent wondering if I would ever work at sea again or if I should start looking elsewhere. In the meantime, I made the most of all my free time and started to train on the bike. This not only helped me physically but also mentally. It gave me structure and focus in an otherwise chaotic time.
Then an incredible thing happened. The more I trained, the more I realised just how much I loved cycling. Eventually, I figured I should stop waiting for the call to go back to sea and look for a new career in another area I am passionate about. I applied to work at Ribble, and here I am, selling dream bikes just over a year later.
The road to racing
I have always loved riding my bike, and lockdown allowed me to do this more than ever before. In the first lockdown, I was just heading out and riding my bike as much as I could. It was one of the only ways to get out of the house. I started to use Strava KOMs as a goal within my rides to push myself to my limits.
This approach apparently worked wonders for my fitness, and I started to rack up the local KOMs in my area. Racing was obviously banned at this point, so it was the closest I could get to that sense of achievement for pushing myself on the bike.
The Strava community unsurprisingly responded to their KOMs being taken. It wasn't long before I received several messages inviting me to meet up and join fellow riders who also liked to push themselves. Riding with others not only pushed me to ride harder but also allowed me to learn new skills from more experienced riders.
When I started working for Ribble, I still had no specific cycling goals. Other than I loved riding my bike, and the more I could push my limits, the better. On seeing my Strava stats, several friends and colleagues asked why I wasn’t racing. At first, I laughed it off and said that riding my bike was one thing, but racing was a whole different ball game.
But truth be told, I was afraid of putting myself out there. I just didn’t think I was good enough, or young enough, to try and compete. And I didn’t see the point of racing if I didn’t think I could win. After being told in no uncertain terms by several people to stop being stupid and that I had nothing to lose, I nervously signed up for my first race.
The small matter of the UCI Gravel National Champs at Kings Cup in 2021. So it turns out everyone had been right all along. I absolutely loved my first race at the National Champs. Not only had I rocked up on a rather heavy (and basic) Gravel Bike, but I had also managed to finish 12th against some pretty hard-hitting competitors.
It turns out I wasn’t so bad after all, and suddenly I was hooked! Almost as soon as the race finished, I was ready to sign up for the next one. And that’s precisely what I did, signing up for Battle on the Beach in South Wales just a couple weeks later.
Left: Metheven prepares to take some nutrition aboard. Right: A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to race through the historic streets of Veneto. 📸 Gina Ball/ginabphoto-cycling.
New Year, New Beginnings
For 2022, I decided that I was going to focus on Gravel racing and see just where it could take me. This started with me approaching Ribble and asking if I could represent the company by racing on a Ribble at my next event. Having seen my initial results, Ribble didn’t hesitate to agree and gave me a rather fancy Gravel SL frame to race on.
My first significant result came early in the year at The Dirty Reiver. One of the UK's most gruelling gravel events, it's a 200km gravel race around Kielder Forest, with over 4,000 meters of climbing. There were some big names there, including several riders from the Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling team. I planned to make the front group and see how long I could stay in touch.
Despite a dropped chain, a puncture, and a crash, I stuck with the group much longer than I initially thought I would. I just missed out on the breakaway for the lead group but stuck it out in the chase group. To my total surprise, the numbers kept dwindling. But I just kept riding, and before I knew it, I crossed the line to finish fourth overall and first in my category. I couldn’t believe it and was buzzing for days.
From my first race to the Gravel World Champs in 13 months
Still relatively new to the world of racing, I was relying on word of mouth and random cycling articles to hear about gravel races. One such article I stumbled across mentioned that a certain bikebrand we won't mention was planning to launch the inaugural UCI Gravel World Championship Series.
Better still, the date for one of the qualifying races was my Birthday. I could think of no better way to celebrate my 30th birthday than to go and have some type two fun smashing myself around a savage gravel course in the South of France. So that’s exactly what I did!
I only signed up just to say that I had given it my best shot and had done something more memorable on my birthday than just stuffing my face with cake and beers. Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined that I would finish 20th overall and 13th in my category.
Especially considering the fact that I was racing some of the best riders in Europe. Including the likes of non-other than former Paris Roubaix winner Niki Terpstra. Just as importantly, I had finished well within the top 25% of my age category. This meant that I had automatically qualified for the Gravel World Championships. I could not believe it.
My confidence was now building, and I was beginning to see results for my efforts. This was proved the following month when I achieved my first podium finish. I came 2nd overall and 1st in Category at Grinduro in Wales. Unlike the previous races I had completed to this point, Grinduro suited me well. It was less about race experience and tactics, and more about your personal power for the individual timed sections.
With the Gravel World Championships fast approaching, I was surprised to learn about a last-minute change. There would now be a separate Elite/Pro category to each age category. With the Elite/Pro race competing for the official World Title and Rainbow Bands Jersey. Initially, I thought I wouldn’t have a chance.
Part of the requirement was to either hold an elite race licence or to be part of a UCI-registered team. Neither applied to me. However, on closer inspection, I read that several ‘Wildcard’ places were available but they were totally at the discretion of the rider's National Cycling Federation.
So, with nothing to lose, I decided to write to British Cycling and apply for the Wildcard position that would allow me to compete at the highest standard. Somewhat unsurprisingly, British Cycling's initial response was a definitive no. After all, I had only received my first racing licence earlier in the year, and this was only Cat 3 following a couple of Crit Races.
Not to be dissuaded, however, I sent them the results of my gravel races along with my key cycling stats. Having read the terms of the Wildcard, British Cycling agreed to enter me and I was to officially represent Team GB in the first-ever Gravel World Championships!
Game on!
If I hadn't felt out of my depth before, I definitely did now.
Metheven Bond
Final Preparations
For the first time since my race debut, I started to doubt if I really had the right to be competing at this level. I was probably the only rider in the Elite race who was not a “Pro” or at the very least, riding for a Pro Team. But then I realised that British Cycling wouldn’t have agreed to put me forward unless they believed there was a chance I could compete at this level.
The other realisation that came from planning for such a big event was that I suddenly felt very alone. Unlike the majority of riders who had the support of their teams or who had years of experience, I was learning everything for the first time.
I reached out to several other riders who also had qualified for the worlds and whom I had raced earlier in the year. Being so new to racing, I was worried about being seen as an outsider. But I could not have been more wrong! Everyone from Mikey Mottram, Maddy Nutt, and Travis Bramley of Team Spectra Wiggle Vitus to Jacob Vaughan of Saint Piran was friendly and more than willing to share their tips and advice wherever possible.
With just under 2 weeks to go, I managed to get my kit organised, flights booked, and accommodations sorted. There was no backing out now!
Kit Check
The Bike
- A Ribble Gravel SL frame courtesy of Ribble
- SRAM Rival 1x mechanical gearing
- Mavic Cosmic SL 45 Wheels (courtesy of Ribble)
- Absolute Black Oval 44T chainring
- Quark power meter
- Hope rotors
- Specialized Pathfinder 700 x 42 mm tyres
The Kit
Official Team GB race jersey and bib shorts.
Nutrition
- 4x High 5 gels
- 3x standard and 1x caffeine SIS gels
- 2 x SIS energy bars
- 2 Super Dextrin drink sachets
Racing a Gravel World Championships
I used the two days before the race to recon a couple of key sectors of the course. This consisted of riding the final lap with Mikey and Travis on Friday and then the first 15km of the course with Jacob on Saturday. Race day had finally arrived, and there was no backing out now.
I really didn't know what to expect, yet I wasn't as nervous as I thought I might have been. I was just enjoying the moment and making the realisation that just getting to the start line was an achievement in itself. But then the countdown began, and it was time to focus. We were off! I made up several places on the first section of the first climb, but then disaster struck!
The rider in front of me swerved, causing me to catch his wheel, resulting in the rider behind me slamming into my ankle joint so hard that it made my foot come unclipped. I jumped back on, but the damage had been done. Not only had I missed the leading group, but my ankle was now in agony*, and I still had 191 km to ride. But nothing was going to stop me finish this race!
*Edit: It now transpires that Metheven did, in fact, fracture his ankle in the incident described above. So, he completed the majority of the race with a fractured ankle!
Despite the pain, I persevered and formed up with a group of riders near the back of the race. I'd be lying if I said I wasn’t just a little bit disappointed not to have made the front group. But I had to remind myself that simply competing here was in itself an incredible opportunity.
From this point, we pressed on through the fantastic Verona countryside. The gravel was flat, fast, and frantic, with the race feeling more like a 192km off-road grit race than your typical gravel race. With 80 km to go, a rider blocked my path at a feed zone, causing me to lose the wheel of the group.
Gravel World Championships teammates: Metheven Bond, Travis Bramley, Michael Mottram and Jacob Vaughan. 📸 Gina Ball/ginabphoto-cycling.
Two other riders suffered the same misfortune, so we formed our own little group and pressed on. It soon became evident that these riders were getting tired and relying on me to take big turns. I was not gaining anything from being in the group, so I decided to break away and go it alone.
I dropped the hammer with the intention of reeling in the group in front. After riding solo for 20 km, my plan worked, and I caught a small group of riders. With 60km to go and two laps of the finishing loop to go, my legs got a second wind, and I began to find my rhythm.
Before I knew it, I was on the final lap and feeling better now the end was in sight. I began to take bigger turns on the front and put the pressure on. This resulted in us catching another group of 4 riders with approximately 5 km to go. Spurred on by this, I dug deep to form a gap with two other riders leading into the final 2 km.
Then we entered the castle grounds of Cittadella, and the final countdown began. We rounded the last corner heading into the final sprint, and I was just behind a South African. He launched his sprint, and I followed, but just a split second too late, missing out by just 0.02 of a second.
I had done it! My first ever Elite race, and better still, I was not last! Out of 138 riders on the start sheet, I had crossed the line in 91st place. I may not have been the fastest (finishing just under 40 minutes behind the winner), but I had accomplished the seemingly impossible. I had successfully represented Team GB at an elite-level race in just 13 months of racing.
A time to chill out and reflect
The last year has been a steep learning curve, to say the least, and has been a journey I have had to make primarily on my own. However, I must thank all those people who have offered encouragement and advice, as well as helping with transport along the way. Ribble Cycles has also played a key role in providing me with a bike worthy of racing at an elite level, and for that, I am incredibly grateful.
I would also like to give a very special thank you to all of the guys at Team Spectra Wiggle who helped me. I came to the Gravel World Championships entirely on my own, with no support and was expecting to have to stop at the feed zones to take on additional water and nutrition.
They very generously offered to pass me bottles during the race despite my not being associated with their team. Without them, I genuinely do not believe I would have been able to finish. I would almost certainly have been dropped instantly at the feed zones. Their generosity and support truly represent the “Spirit of Gravel.”
I still can’t believe that I can now officially say I am ranked the 91st-best gravel racer in the world. Better still, I now have the bragging rights to say I have officially lined up alongside the likes of Mathieu Van Der Poel, Peter Sagan, and Lachlan Morton, to name just a few.
What next?
Rest!
I have barely taken a day off the bike in over 13 months. So, whilst I’m in Italy, I
decided to take an extra couple of days to relax and finally reflect on what I have
managed to achieve.
My next goal is to try and find a Team. The one lesson I have learned over the
last 13 months is that trying to organise and fund everything yourself is
exhausting. It's incredibly hard to stay motivated at times. I believe being part
of a Team would allow me to push my racing to the next level and allow me to
continue doing what I love.
When I get back to the UK, I shall start looking for my next Gravel Adventure
and see what other racing opportunities come my way. So if anyone knows of
any races or challenges, I should attempt, please don’t hesitate to let me know.
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