Seven Gravel (also known in some circles as 'Sevens'... apparently) has been run and done. 29 Swans hit the dirt roads of Nannup and by about hour three, most of them had reached the same conclusion: this was no longer a “race”, it was a survival situation.

That being said, the Swans went entirely against reputation and performed amazingly; racking up 16 World Championship qualifiers, which sounds great until you realise it means they have to do it all over again in October.

For the uninitiated, Seven is that unique mix of stunning WA bush, immaculate gravel roads, and just enough chaos to make you question your equipment choices, your life choices, and occasionally your friendship group. It delivers everything; rolling hills that aren’t actually rolling, descents that are both too fast and somehow not fast enough, and gravel that ranges from “butter” to “death by corrugation”.

The sharp end (where people still look like cyclists)

Up the front, a few Swans were still operating like professionals. Sean "Marty knows him so he must be good" Szalek and Sebastian "thought I'd drop down to the age group category to see what all the fuss is about" Barrett both dipped under 4:25, clearly unaware that the rest of us were already deep into negotiations with our cramping hamstrings by that point. Joe Winfield cigarettes wasn’t far behind, knocking out a 4:31 and qualifying for Worlds.

Then there’s the 40 to 44 crew who decided suffering but fast was the theme for the day. Marty "Team mechanic" Hurley, Thomas "The smiling coffee assassin" Greene and Taylor Wilcock (not really anything I need to add with a surname like that) all secured qualification spots, finishing just in time to watch the rest of the club roll in with thousand-yard stares.

Pete "The Grindr" Minchin decided to make the race harder for himself by performing a double bottle ejection move about 30k in on some of the rougher terrain. Fortunately for him, he'd pre-arranged his entire family to get up at 4am and wait in the 6-degree weather for his amateur hobby just up the road so he could take his daughters off her and use it for the rest of the race. Turned out to be huge as he also qualified for Worlds.

The women quietly making everyone else look disorganised

On the women’s side, it was less chaos and more clean execution. The dream team in Kate "I also wanted to check out this age group business" Bonner and Annie "the" Kidd went one and two in their age group with a combined time difference of about one deep breath, finishing just over 5:15.

Zoe Davison (without a D) and Amy "Pivot" Ross followed suit, keeping things clinical and picking up qualifiers along the way, while Ira "I bet none of you can pronounce my last time on the first go" Baimatova and Ann "The salary cap exempt import" Brinkamp added to the tally in the older categories.

Meanwhile, the rest of us were still trying to open gels mid descent and rethinking tyre pressure decisions made at 5am.

The middle of the field

This is where Seven Gravel really happens. Around that 5 to 6 hour mark, times become less important and survival instincts kick in. There were strong rides from Alex "the 2nd best cyclist in this couple" Baker and Lyndon "At heart, I'm really a swan" Greeshaw.

There were others; Starting the day hopeful of a world champs qualifier, mid way through thinking they could take it or leave it, and by the end hoping they would miss out.

Yours truly (Rod) and Dan "The 40 hours riding per week pays off" Simpson finished on exactly the same time of 5:33:44, which raises two possibilities:

1. Perfectly matched pacing strategy

2. Both of us cramped at the same time.

Both feel correct.

While others embraced the full Seven experience and stretched things out to nearly six hours, which is where the event really opens up emotionally.

The back end (character building zone)

Once you move past the pointy end and the respectable middle, you enter what can only be described as the “character development” category.

Here you’ll find riders pushing in and around six-plus hours and arguments about whether your Garmin is accurate or the race result time sheet. By this stage, it’s no longer about racing. It’s about small wins. Standing up without cramps. Taking corners without incident. Remembering which pocket the snacks are in.

Key learnings from Seven Gravel 2026

• “Rolling hills” is a marketing term

• Gravel quality is a spectrum and we experienced all of it

• If you didn’t question your tyre pressure mid-ride, you weren’t paying attention

• Everyone finishes with a new appreciation for chairs

• Finishing is the only metric that really matters (but qualifiers are a nice bonus)

Final thoughts

Seven Gravel remains one of the best events on the calendar. Not because it’s easy, but because it absolutely isn’t. It’s the kind of day that equal parts hurts, humbles and somehow convinces you to come back again next year.

The Swans showed up, raced hard, collected a stack of qualifiers, and most importantly, survived.

And at the end of the day, that’s really the only KPI that matters.

Full results: