The afternoon on the first day of Clarkes Gambit, Graveleur's premier gravel event near Batemans Bay on August 21 to 23 2026, should have been a time for the organizers to celebrate. After all, they had done it.

(Note that the photos accompanying this story are from the official event photographers, Outer Image Collective.)

Some 292 riders had made the starting line, generous sponsors supporting the event, and they even managed to host the New South Wales State Gravel Championships as part of Clarkes Gambit.

One thing to know about Graveleur and its three Bushranger events, Clarkes Gambit, Thunderbolts Adventure, and Marys Mayhem, is that they are family affairs.

Director Mike Israel is passionate about making quality gravel riding experiences accessible to everyone. Yet he is only one person. Thus his family, including his son Liam and wife Sarah, inevitably pitches in to help out.

Instead of celebrating in the beer garden that afternoon, I found Liam hiding out in the garage.

"Just for a moment of peace and quiet," he said. "It's away from everyone."

It turns out that organizing a total of five rides across two days for around 300 people takes its toll.

When I asked Liam what he likes about the Graveleur events, he said he loves the camaraderie.

"You can have this huge range of people at the one event all having a good time. The elites announce themselves as they come past so they don't catch you off guard, and we cheer them on as they go."

Liam's mother, Sarah Israel, later explained to CycleHub what motivates her husband Mike to invest so much time and energy into the Graveleur events.

"Mike gives so much to these events," she said. "I lose him for a few weeks both before and after each one because he has so much to do."

She said that sometimes Mike thinks the load is too great to bear, but then he gets an enormous buzz out of seeing the fun people have.

"So, he always decides it's worthwhile to keep going."

One of the big decisions the Graveleur's Mike Israel made for the 2026 Clarkes Gambit event was to change the date from November to August. My informal survey of riders found that they generally approve of the rescheduling.

Kris Jones (from Calgary, Canada) told CycleHub that she has now done Clarkes Gambit in both August and November. "It was a lot hotter in November, and I didn't enjoy it that much. Today was cooler and beautiful."

Kris was on her recently purchased, second-hand gravel bike, after exclusively riding mountain bikes for years.

"The gravel bike is much easier to ride than the mountain bikes. I was on a dual suspension. It was good fun, but when I jumped on this gravel bike, the difference was amazing." With her bike swap, Kris cut an hour off her time from last year.

The change of date is one of the 1,000 decisions and actions that Mike and his family, as well as their supporting sponsors, event staff and volunteer crew, have to take in order to make it possible for so many people to get so much enjoyment out of Graveleur's events.

If you happen to see Mike Israel out there on the trails, say thanks and buy him a coffee. Or if you wanna send him a message directly, email us at inbox@cyclehub.com.au, and we will pass it on.

I'm pretty sure he'll get back to you personally. He's that kind of guy.