The waves of Vesijärvi were quietly sloshing and the seagulls screeching behind Maddy Nutt, who stood with her race bike right next to the ‘Lahti’ sign, smiling broadly. We were about to go on a gravel ride together, recceing some of the inaugural FNLD GRVL ‘Lakes’ route, which Maddy was to race the following day.
During Covid, Maddy rode a mixture of gravel and road, but inspired by her friendship group she started to ride increasingly off-road. In 2022 she joined a racing team and progressed to racing at the very first UCI Gravel World Championships. By the end of 2022, she realised she simply doesn’t like racing on the roads, and transitioned into gravel full-time.Leaving the Square Mile behind
The race in Kenya is part of the Gravel Earth Series, which finishes in Spain in September. Before that, Maddy is still to race in Sweden and Iceland. Her racing seasons has been full of travel, which always comes with ups and downs - but Maddy says she quite enjoys the nomadic lifestyle.