jgoral@mihomepaper.com

For Nathaniel Langlie, representing the United States runs in the family.

This October, just over 40 years after his mother, Mary, competed as a race walker during the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, Langlie, who works at Main Street Bicycles in Lake Orion, will race against cyclists from around the world at the UCI World Championship of Gravel Racing in Belgium on Oct. 5-6.

Popularity of gravel cycling and bicycles rose together in the mid 19th century because almost all of the planet’s roads were dirt, according to the gravel cycling hall of fame.

While paved roads are prevalent today, the Federal Highway Administration still recorded more than 1.3 million miles of unpaved roads in the United States in 2012. In other words, even without considering gravel trails, American gravel cyclists have plenty of places to ride.

Another factor, Langlie said, is that American roads and drivers are not used to road bikers. This makes riding bikes on roads in the United States “not as conducive” as it can be in other countries.

“And so gravel bike racing was born here in the United States through huge, huge races,” Langlie said. “It’s become kind of the discipline that was U.S. started and U.S. established. And now (that) I get to go and represent us in the discipline we started within cycling, (it) is kind of cool.”

Langlie only cycled in his first race two years ago. He grew up running track and cross country in his home state of Wisconsin. In high school, he became the 2015 Badger South Cross Country individual champion.

Langlie began his collegiate career at Northern Michigan University in 2016, and transferred to Oakland University in 2019 to continue running, according to his OU profile. Other top performances in addition to his 2015 championship include completing a 3,200 meter run in 9 minutes, 54 seconds, a half marathon in just over 1 hour, 14 minutes and more.

Despite his first grave race being in 2022, Langlie said riding served as cross training for running, and that he previously rode in triathlons.

“(Through) the background in running and training,” he said, “I had a physical base built up so that a lot of going over to cycling was more learning a new way for my body to move and a little new discipline, and less of … starting from ground zero.”

Being in shape allowed Langlie to focus entirely on aspects of this new discipline like learning to read a race and eating, hydrating and more while riding. The biggest thing Langlie said he learned was that cycling is not about being the strongest competitor. Instead, it is about expending the least amount of energy during a race.

It also helped to be in this part of the country.

“We have so much to explore by bike in Michigan, and especially kind of in this area of Michigan,” Langlie said.

Other than having “all the gravel roads around that you could want,” Lake Orion’s proximity to both the Polly Ann trail and Paint Creek trail offer more gravel miles to ride, while mountain bike trails at locations like Bald Mountain and races in Grand Rapids give riders even more options.

Even with the trails, roads and races, it was the local community who encouraged Langlie to race.

If there were no races to compete in, Langlie said he would still be riding.

“What motivates me, and what pushes me to even go out to events is knowing how cool and good the gravel cycling and that community is around here,” he said.

Part of that support is seen through a fundraiser fellow cyclists Mike Warner, Teresa Rutt and Gena Welch created to help Langlie and his bike get to Belgium. It will be held at Opa Food & Spirits on Friday Sept. 6, at 6 p.m. in Lake Orion. Langlie also mentioned the owners, Steve and Anne Marie Gealy, of the bike shop he works at as providing support.

“It’s things like that that I’ve discovered a lot through the whole experience and just lead up to the race that how much love and support there is out there amongst this community and amongst each other,” Langlie said.

Before the fundraiser and once the community encouraged Langlie to race, he became used to driving to Grand Rapids to compete. So, when qualifiers for the world championship drew near at roughly the same distance away in Canada, Langlie thought “Why not? Let’s go do it.”

The top 25% of finishers in each category of the UCI gravel series races qualify for the world championships.

Langlie quickly discovered the nature of what is considered gravel racing while qualifying. Courses are mostly on gravel roads, he said, but often send riders through many different conditions. One race in Ionia, Mich. routes riders through farm fields while another includes Bald Mountain’s mountain bike trails.

The qualifying race in Canada was no exception. The three lap race, with each lap being 25 miles long, included a two-mile, single track section riders called “the bog.”

“It was wet, there were deep mud puddles throughout, and sections where every single rider was having to hop off their bike and run or maneuver around something,” Langlie said.

This was not the only adversity he faced in the race. Around 65 miles into the race, Langlie crashed.

Mentally exhausted, and while still difficult Langlie said it became easier to remember and navigate the route by the final lap. Still, Langlie finished the race and eventually got word that he qualified for Belgium.

  There will be several groups of men and women riders in the championships based on age, plus “women elite” and “men elite” groups.

Following an opening ceremony, the championship races start in Halle, Belgium – a city near the middle of the country. After cycling through the city, riders will make their way west where they will encounter the route’s first national forest, Hallerbos, followed by two other forests of Brabrant: Zoniënwoud and Meerdaalwoud, according to a course map on the race’s website.

Cyclists will also navigate cobble stones and ride on gravel roads through open fields to the finish line in Leuven, Belgium.

Still, whether it’s the World Championship of Gravel Racing in Belgium or biking locally on the Paint Creek or Polly Ann trail, Langlie says riding is for everyone, and “there’s nobody we can’t get to enjoy time on a bicycle.”