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Want to participate in a grand gravel event but prefer to start from home? You can do that again this year. Rebound is back on the calendar. On June 1st, you, alone or with cycling buddies, can enjoy a fantastic day of gravel riding. And without too many rules: Rebound is free, there are no time limits, and you can choose your distance. The only condition? The day trip is self-supported, so you can't seek outside help and can only take two breaks. We help you get started!

Rebound is a Dutch concept but now a worldwide equivalent of Unbound, which is, as gravel enthusiasts likely know, the world's largest gravel race. In Kansas, thousands of adventurers will start on Saturday, June 1st, for an incredible 200-mile (about 320 kilometers) race. You can have an equally beautiful and challenging ride on gravel roads on the same day, right in your country. We also start here at dawn, at 6 AM, in solidarity with the participants across the pond. It's up to you to plan a route of 40, 80, 160, or 320 kilometers and register on www.rebound.cc.

With Laurens ten Dam, co-creator of this unique event during the coronavirus period, we discussed how to create a beautiful route for this challenge. He gave us essential tips on material and preparation. It helps you to be well-prepared for June 1st.

“Well, at home, or do you mean not that?” Laurens ten Dam asks wittily when asked ‘where to start?’ if you want to join Rebound. “I would map out a route on STRAVA. That app has improved a lot in recent years and now works with colors, for example. This way, you can immediately see if it's a paved road or a gravel path. And that's, especially for this mission, convenient of course. You want to cover as many gravel kilometers as possible. Komoot is also a good option. I don’t know Ridewithgps that well, that's Niki's territory, whom I cycle with a lot.”

Ten Dam would choose the 320-kilometer version of Rebound without hesitation, but he is still a professional. “Challenging yourself a bit never hurts. That 320 kilometers does have something magical, it's an all-day activity. It sticks with you. But it's also necessary to make responsible choices. If you never ride more than 60 kilometers, and usually on the road, it's madness to go for the longest route.”

“So it's important to determine for yourself how far you want to go, both literally and figuratively. That determines how big your loop can be. It goes without saying that you have more options if you create a longer route. However, I can imagine that 160 kilometers is the max for most people; who trains for more than 200 kilometers? Even I can barely remember doing that.”

“In 2020, with corona, when Niki and I came up with the alternative to Unbound, we went from the Alkmaar area via Mijdrecht and 't Gooi all the way to the Veluwe. And back, of course. Obviously, you often know the nearby paths, but it would be almost strange if you found them blindly more than 100 kilometers from home. That's why tools like STRAVA and Komoot are helpful, where you can often see what the route looks like thanks to others' photos.”

“Always start by determining a farthest point. And find a beautiful gravel segment there. Then try to extend that line, to both the left and right. Keep in mind that with gravel riding, since you're going off the beaten path, you quickly cover more kilometers than on the road. A red flag? There's really only one. Remember that if you include ferries in your route, they might not operate. Especially if you leave early and might arrive late, they might not be in service. Also, think in advance about where you might want to stop to eat. Since there's no time limit, it could also be a small restaurant or café. On days like these, I always have an incredible craving for apple pie and bacon pancakes.” You can find water points along the way on drinkwaterkaart.nl.

Ten Dam has some advice for inexperienced route planners: “Don't be ashamed to copy routes from others, partially or entirely. There's no need to reinvent the wheel. Especially the longer routes that prove popular and get a lot of likes or are often shared are usually well thought out. But creating a route is also part of the experience, even if parts of it come from someone else. The anticipation is important. I think that’s a big part of the fun: you want to get excited about it. That you’re going into the unknown is also exciting. It can’t hurt to start on time; that way, you’ll only be more excited by the time it’s here.”