The BaseCamp Team Explore Gravel Skills Weekend is designed to help riders improve confidence, comfort, and performance through hands-on skills training and practical riding. Whether you're preparing for upcoming events or simply looking to ride with more control, confidence, and technique, this program delivers essential instruction in real-world conditions. You'll enjoy focused, expert-led skill-building and the camaraderie of your fellow riders —all while growing your knowledge, ability, and confidence on the bike.
Unlike our full-service BaseCamp live camps, the Explore skills weekend is a self-supported event. Riders will be responsible for their own lodging, meals, and downtime logistics to keep the price low and remove barriers to attendance, making high-quality coaching and skills development accessible to more athletes.
This weekend is limited to 20 riders to ensure a high-quality, personalized experience for every rider.
Key Objectives and Skills
-
Bike Positioning and Variable Terrain. Learn how subtle changes in bike fit/setup and body position affect power generation, efficiency, and control over varying types of terrain and surfaces encountered in gravel. We'll focus on tire selection and pressure, neutral relaxed and ready body positioning, unweighting, and braking control across different terrain.
-
Cornering & Descending Technique. Learn how braking zones and line choice may change through the different types of corners and descents encountered in gravel courses. Focus on traction control, braking techniques, body positioning and weight distribution, and countersteering.
-
Climbing Technique. Learn pacing, traction control, and body mechanics for sustained climbs and rollers. We'll include seated versus standing technique, gear selection, and how to conserve energy during longer ascents.
-
Group Riding Skills. Learn how to ride efficiently and safely in a gravel paceline, including how to maintain smooth speed, safe spacing between riders, and a clear line of sight, plus how to rotate through the line and communicate effectively when dust, small obstacles, and visibility are a more frequent challenge compared to road pacelining.
The BaseCamp Gravel Skills Weekend is designed to build better, smarter cyclists by focusing mainly on skills development. Each ride is intentionally shorter and structured to support targeted learning, whether it's group riding, cornering, climbing technique, or efficient pacing. This event isn't about big miles; it's about big gains in confidence, control, and performance.
The rides will be on mixed surfaces (which may include small and large gravel, dirt, sand, washboard, mud, water, and pavement) on bikes with gravel tires.
What's Included
-
Daily on-the-bike skills and drills sessions led by BaseCamp coaches and focused on real-world application of key techniques like climbing, descending, cornering, and group riding
-
Education sessions to break down the why and how behind each skill, giving you a deeper understanding of performance improvement
-
Coach-led group rides each day, where riders practice skills in a supported environment with real-time feedback and instruction
-
Low coach-to-rider ratio to ensure plenty of personal attention, feedback, and customized coaching throughout the weekend
-
Post-ride debriefings to review performance, answer questions, and highlight daily wins, giving you actionable takeaways to keep progressing after the weekend
What's Not Included
-
Lodging or accommodations
-
Meals and snacks
-
Transportation to and from the event, or between any locations during the weekend.
-
Mechanical support (be prepared to handle basic mechanical needs on the road, such as flat tires and minor adjustments), though coaches will help and support where they can
-
Personal ride nutrition (bring ride hydration, nutrition, and supplies for on-the-bike fueling)
-
Gratuities for coaches/guides
Guide Gratuities
Guide gratuities are customary and at your own discretion, to recognize service, hospitality, and the little extras that surprise and delight. We suggest a tip for your guides between 5-10% of your trip cost per guest and, of course, you may choose to give more if your guides made your trip an unforgettable experience. Gratuities will be divided among the guide team.
Pricing
-
$249 per person for Explore team members (use your discount code!)
-
$299 per person for non-members
If you're an Explore team member and don't have the discount code, please email us!
Location
All rides will start and end at Amante Coffee Uptown Broadway at 4580 Broadway, Boulder, CO 80304.
Lodging Suggestions
Boulder has a great list of hotel options here, and we recommend Boulderado as an ideal downtown location. There are lots of great Airbnb options here, and for a budget option that's super close to our ride meeting point, consider the Comfort Inn and Suites Boulder.
Cancellation Policy
Your payment is refundable up to 90 days before the weekend begins, minus a $50 processing fee. No refunds will be given within 90 days of the event. Click here to read our full cancellation policy.
The Host Coach
Tina spent years as a daily bike commuter before discovering the joy of using her bike to explore, adventure, and compete. She loves racing hard but also values a good ride with friends or a long solo pedal. She firmly believes in a whole-athlete approach to coaching and training in order to help cyclists push their limits and achieve their goals.
The Schedule
Friday
2:00 PM: Welcome and Introductions
2:30-3:00 PM: Off-Bike Session - Bike Setup and Tire Talk
-
Differences in gravel bike setup
-
Tire pressure check
3:00-4:30 PM: Group Ride - Observation (10-20 miles)
-
Coaches observe current rider skills (body position, braking, line choice, momentum)
4:30-5:30 PM: Skills Session - Neutral and Ready Position
-
Body position on rough terrain (neutral vs. ready position)
-
Handling over loose surfaces (gravel, sand, washboard, etc.)
-
Braking control on descents and mixed traction
-
How to "float" the front wheel and unweight the bike
6:00 PM: Dinner on your own
7:30-8:30 PM: Off-Bike Session - Cornering and Better Descending
-
Types of gravel roads and surfaces
-
Line choice
-
Braking control
Saturday
9:00-10:45 AM: Skills Session: Group & Paceline Riding
-
Visibility, spacing, and obstacles
-
Communication
-
Pack movements and rotations
11:00 AM - 12:30 PM: Group Ride - Cornering Practice (15-20 miles)
-
Riding in groups, vision, and visibility
-
Line choice and practice based on road surface
12:30-2:00 PM: Lunch on your own
2:00-4:00 PM: Skills Session - Cornering and Descending
-
Steps of cornering
-
Position and control
-
Managing the apex
-
Exit with control and power
-
Controlled descending: braking, line choice, dealing with ruts
4:00-5:30 PM: Group Ride - Cornering and Descending (15-20 miles)
-
Focus on cornering and descending
6:00 PM: Dinner on your own
7:15-8:00 PM: Off-Bike Session - Climbing with Traction, Pace, and Power
-
Seated vs. standing climbs: when and why
-
Weight distribution for traction
-
Pacing and power
-
Form and fatigue
Sunday
8:30-9:00 AM: Pre-Ride Brief - Putting It All Together
9:00-10:30 AM: Skills Session - Confidence and Control
-
Varying terrain and challenges
-
Staying relaxed and floating
-
Speed control
-
Pacing
10:30 AM - 1:00 PM: Group Ride - Bringing it All Together (15-20 miles)
-
Practice what we have learned
1:00 PM: Weekend Ends