Wild Gravel, live.

A gravel pit under the Stirling Range

One Saturday of gravel in the Stirling Range, run from a gravel pit off Stirling Range Drive, with an overnight ultra that sets off the day before.

Wild Gravel is the Shire of Gnowangerup’s outdoor event in the Stirling Range, Western Australia, and 2026 is its third edition. The main day is Saturday 24 October. The Event Village opens at 6:00 am in a gravel pit on Stirling Range Drive, about 7 km of gravel road off Chester Pass Road, and the first event starts at 7:00 am. The rides are 150 km (7:00 am, 9 hours), 100 km (7:05 am, 6.5 hours), the new Untamed 95 km (7:10 am, 6.5 hours), 65 km (11:00 am, 4.5 hours), 30 km (11:05 am, 2.5 hours) and 10 km (11:10 am, 1 hour). Runs and walks from 5 km to the marathon share the morning.

The odd one out is the Ultra 420. It starts on Friday 23 October at Mt Trio, in two waves at 1:00 pm and 5:00 pm, and finishes in the Event Village within 28 hours or by 5:00 pm on Saturday, whichever comes first. Riders carry everything themselves: food, equipment and support. The 150 and 100 km can be ridden as a race or a fondo, and the organiser describes the elite race as AusCycling-sanctioned. Pitstops are on course for the day rides, and rider packs are collected in Albany on Wednesday 21 October or Gnowangerup on Friday 23 October.

The organiser expects the last riders through the village around 4:00 pm, and on a gravel day in the ranges there are long stretches between people. With a Livebib link, family and friends open the rider’s broadcast in a browser, no account or app, and see the position on the course line, distance covered and a finish estimate that updates as the ride goes. Where the phone loses signal, the position is carried forward along the course and marked as estimated instead of freezing. The rider decides who gets the link.