Japan has a rich culture, with traditions and a powerful language. They have an extensive dictionary of words, some with a clear meaning and others that we cannot directly translate to another language. These words have a more comprehensive and deep meaning.

“Komorebi” is one of them. The Japanese people use this term to refer to that magic moment of a sunny day when the sun’s rays filter through the leaves of the trees. The light produced at this exact time is unique and fleeting. Inspired by that meaning, the guys from Velodrom used “komorebi” to create a series of gravel events with the aim of providing an unforgettable adventure to all participants.

Komorebi Gravel Series

A few days ago, we visited Velodrom’s leading shop in Barcelona, and we had an insightful conversation about the event with David Mateu, our friend and one of the co-owners of this game-changing company.

The message is clear: they want to avoid organizing gravel events in which racing is the most important thing. They want to promote this cycling discipline, but they want to do it by following a perfect formula: nature, pure gravel routes, a friendly atmosphere, top-quality food and drinks, some music, and passionate cyclists.

“Komorebi is like a wedding, a big one of close friends. It’s a great party where everybody enjoys a lot, and nobody wants that to end.” – David Mateu.

It is a series comprised of four single-day events in four places around the Barcelona and Girona provinces. Each event has limited slots, which contributes to ensuring the quality, safe environment, and overall success of the day.

After the series’ first event, which started from the Sant Gregori castle last December 2nd, the first stage of the current year takes place on January 27th on the east side of the Montseny mountain range. Once spring comes, in March, Komorebi’s third episode will be at Empordà region, in Girona. The last stage is scheduled for May when participants will ride from Barcelona to Girona through the best gravel paths in the area and end with a big party.

Details make the difference

There is a lot of work and effort behind this. The Velodrom crew has curated every single detail of this project: locations, routes, distance, elevation gain, checkpoints, media coverage, and many more things to keep the quality standards high.

All chapters, except the last one, are a circular loop. The start locations are beautiful and well-chosen, all aligned with the rest of the event. For the pre-ride, they have a big breakfast ready one hour before the route starts with many food options (real food, not just nutrition bars), specialty coffee, and other drinks. Once it is time to start, the participants can choose between different groups based on the pace they want to complete the route. Regarding the tracks, they are about 80-100 km long, not so technical, but not super easy either. They require a certain skill and physical level.  The organizers try to find the balance for an enjoyable event where everybody can have a good experience.

Lastly, when the participants arrive at the finish line, they have a hearty lunch, plenty of drinks, and live music, everything included with their event registration fee. Special mention goes to the possibility of bringing your close family (wife/husband and children) with you, and while you ride, they can wait for you at the finish venue, living the event from a different point of view but all together.

Community is the goal

Far from focusing on revenue in a project like this, Velodrom hopes to make the gravel community bigger and give everybody, without exception, the opportunity to live such an excellent gravel day.

“We don’t want to be competitors of events like The Traka. We love it, and we want to keep enjoying racing events like that one.” – David Mateu.

Taking part in a Komorebi event is less expensive than you might think when you see everything is included in the price, which is around 35 – 50 euros. On that note, those who take a significant position are the project’s supporters and partners. Important brands like Enve and 3T, the two main sponsors of Komorebi, are essential to preserve the high quality of all this.