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★ Cycletowns Original
The boom reshaping where — and how — people ride, and what it means for the towns at the end of the road.
Gravel has moved from niche to a defining part of modern cycling, and it is changing travel with it. Riders who once planned trips around famous climbs are increasingly planning them around unsealed backcountry: quieter, cheaper, and far more likely to pass through small towns than a coastal tourist road.
That shift matters to the places on the receiving end. A gravel rider stops more often, stays longer and spends in towns that never appeared on a cycling itinerary. Several of the towns we rank are on this list precisely because of it — Beechworth, the Adelaide Hills, Bentonville.
The catch is that gravel is harder to plan than road. Surfaces vary wildly, resupply is sparse, and local knowledge matters more. It is the part of cycle tourism most in need of good information, which is a reasonable summary of why this site exists.
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