Meet Rose Barcklow And Laura Karpinski | Gravel Bikers and Outdoor Adventurers

We had the good fortune of connecting with Rose Barcklow And Laura Karpinski and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Rose Barcklow and, maybe we can start at the very start – the idea – how did you come up with the idea for your business?
We like to joke that the first time we went out gravel biking in Colorado we nearly died. It is a bit of an exaggeration, but we had been road cyclists where long rides typically included easy access to coffee shops, bike shops and gas stations for support, and the road surface was never really ever a factor of consideration.
We set out on a 60-mile gravel ride (a distance that was typical for us on paved roads), and quickly realized we were dealing with a whole different animal. We were in a remote (and exposed) area where we needed to carry all of our water and supplies, plus the looser, rockier surface reduced our speed and required much more time, focus, fitness and endurance. We ran out of water, the ride took much longer than we had anticipated and we were hot, thirsty, dirty and exhausted!!

We immediately loved the challenge of gravel biking and found it to be extremely refreshing to get to such remote and beautiful areas by bike, and of course we loved being away from busy car traffic, so we were hooked! However, as we tried to do research prior to starting a gravel ride, we ran into more difficulties.
Maps from services like Strava, Gia or Gravel Maps only told us where dirt roads might exist, and what the elevation and gradient might be, but left almost everything else to the imagination. We quickly understood that dirt/gravel can come in a huge variety of conditions like smooth packed dirt, loose chunky gravel, washboards and deep sand. Routes might also include wide forest service roads, overgrown double track, technical singletrack, etc.… We also discovered that maps don’t always indicate private property and aren’t always updated even many years after damage from forest fire.
When you are twenty miles into an isolated forest road, about to run out of water, exhausted from brain-rattling washboards, or dangerously sliding on steep and sandy surfaces, and then your connecting road to make a loop turns out to have a gate with a no trespassing sign, life gets serious!

The more we plotted routes and explored, the more we wanted resources that showed us vetted and “safe” routes so that we could anticipate and prepare for what we were about to get ourselves into. Then we started paying more attention to the gravel biking community, and we noticed that most of the rides were curated and led by men. So of course, we wanted to get in on the action and lead by example.

What started as a spreadsheet with personal notes on routes we had done, turned into a blog, then a few years later became a full-fledged self-made website with a route index of more than 200 vetted and reviewed gravel routes across the country with a map, downloadable GPX file and specific route notes on thing such as surface condition, where to park, bathroom and water availability, etc.
The website also allows users to create a profile where they can mark routes as a “favorite” so they can easily find a route when they are ready to do it!
We also support and promote gravel events, organize gravel travel group vacations, and lead local group rides. We hope that the tools on the website and services we provide help to build community by giving all cyclists the confidence to see what is possible, get inspired and ultimately plan their own adventures.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Gravel Bike Adventures is our passion project which we do “on the side” while also maintaining “real jobs”.
Laura is a Pilates and Yoga Instructor of 20+ years and she owns her own private-practice business Align.Move.Breathe.
Rose is a design thinking consultant where she has a passion for helping social impact businesses and organizations tailor products and projects to meet the needs of the users.

While creating and maintaining Gravel Bike Adventures is not “easy”, it involves going out into nature and exploring which is something we truly love! If anything, we only wish we could spend all of our time traveling, biking, adventuring and engaging with the outdoor community.

One of the most valuable outcomes of the website has been the friends and community we have gained. Some of our best friends have been those we originally met at a group ride or on a gravel-travel vacation. They are now a part our “family” who we go to when looking for partners in crime when planning an adventure.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
If our best gravel biking friend was visiting the Denver/Boulder area for a week long trip in the spring or summer, we would of course go biking (and there are too many fun things to fit into just one week!!)
“Locally”, we’d take them on the fun gravel paths around Cherry Creek State Park to the southeast of Denver (https://www.gravelbikeadventures.com/route/cherry-creek-state-park). We’d also take them along the High Line Canal Trail to Chatfield and Waterton to see the Big Horn Sheep in the Canyon. (https://www.gravelbikeadventures.com/route/dirty-chatfield-loop-waterton-canyon)
In our opinion, no urban gravel ride is complete without a coffee/bakery stop and favorites include Corvus Coffee, Detour Bakery and GetRight’s Bakery.
For a bigger outing, we’d drive out to Boulder and bike up Switzerland Trail to Gold Hill General Store for “The Cookie”.
(https://www.gravelbikeadventures.com/route/four-mile-canyon-switzerland-trail-to-gold-hill). We’d make sure to make a stop at Cassiopeia (https://cassiopeia.cc), our favorite women-owned bike shop and cycling cafe to have a post ride snack or watch a stage of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift.
If we had enough time to do a little bit of traveling in Colorado, we might take them to Salida for a little overnight bike-pack- perhaps but Marshall Pass (https://www.gravelbikeadventures.com/route/marshall-pass-out-and-back) or Aspen Ridge (https://www.gravelbikeadventures.com/route/aspen-ridge).
No one would get away without a little bit of exploring “new” gravel trails or dirt roads with us, so we’d inevitably take our friends on one of our scouting rides which always includes a little bit of extra spice and adventure!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Girls Gone Gravel is a huge resource for women in gravel cycling (www.girlsgonegravel.com), and they have been an inspiration in how they have brought together community and resources. Their founder, Kathryn Taylor of Feisty Media has similar values to ours and she has been very supportive of our endeavors.

In general, we encourage each other and have drawn on one another’s strengths to keep this project going over the years. Rose is the idea generator who thinks up loads of fun stuff and is the great connector and communicator in our team. Laura is the one who does the checklist of tasks, handles the social media creation and makes things look beautiful. We need each other to make the magic happen and most certainly couldn’t do it alone!

Website: https://www.gravelbikeadventures.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gravelbikeadventures/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gravelbikeadventures/

Other: Strava: https://www.strava.com/clubs/gravelbikeadventures