Rallying Across Europe: Inside the Aurora Gravel Adventure Series

Exploring Aurora’s unique multi-day rally format and the people bringing gravel culture to Cyprus, Switzerland, and Portugal. This week, we’re heading overseas for a new kind of gravel adventure. The Aurora Gravel Rally Series blends the spirit of exploration with the thrill of competition — taking riders across stunning landscapes in Cyprus, Switzerland, and Portugal. Craig sits down with Fiona, Race Director for the Portugal event, to unpack what makes the Aurora Gravel format so special. From timed rally segments to all-inclusive multi-day experiences, Fiona shares how Aurora is redefining what it means to race and travel on gravel. Expect insights on: How rally-style racing works and why it opens gravel to more riders The cultural flavor of each European stop — from the Mediterranean to the Alps Aurora’s vision for balancing community, challenge, and discovery What makes Portugal a hidden gem for gravel cyclists If you’ve ever dreamed of combining racing with real adventure, this one’s for you. Links Mentioned: 🌍 Aurora Gravel Website 🔧 Logos Components – Fall Super Sale (Sponsor) Credits: Hosted by Craig Dalton Produced by The Gravel Ride Podcast Transcript: Craig Dalton (00:29) Today's episode is brought to you by our longtime friends at Logos Components, who are making their award-winning wheels more accessible than ever, with discounts up to 40 % in their entire lineup during the fall super sale, now through November 2nd. If you're a regular listener, you may recall an episode I did with Logos co-founder and longtime podcast contributor, Randall Jacobs, talking about what makes a great wheel set. If you haven't heard it, it's definitely worth a listen, especially if you're in the market for new wheels. In that episode, Randall laid out Logos' core philosophy. Start with proven open standards and non-proprietary parts for unmatched durability and serviceability. Then push the boundaries with advanced materials, precision manufacturing to achieve high strength at impressively low weights. Logos wheels feature famously reliable dual spring star ratchet, engagement mechanism, mixed modulus layups for superior strength to weight ratio, tough molded in bead hooks on road and gravel rims for tire security, and brass nipples that won't corrode, seize, or fail like their aluminum alloy counterparts. Every detail is meticulously engineered for performance, versatility, and longevity. Logos wheels are so good that BikePacking.com named them gear of the year. and Pink Bike's Dario DiGuglio liked his review wheels so much he purchased them. These wheels are seriously reliable too. Logos backs every wheel with a lifetime warranty and a lifetime no fault incident protection program that even transfers to future owners. So yeah, they've got you covered for life. And if you don't believe those professional reviewers accolades, maybe you'll believe my story. I've been riding Logos wheels for years now. In fact, my daily 650 wheel set that I absolutely hammer on Mount Tam on my gravel bike is of course manufactured by my friends at Logos. Head on over to LogosComponents.com to explore the full lineup, including recent additions like their next generation EPOCHE G2 and G2SL gravel wheels and the JIDA G2SL XC race wheel. Remember the logo Super Sale wraps up on November 2nd. So head on over there now and make sure to tell Randall and the team that Craig sent you. Now onto the show. Craig Dalton (02:51) This week we're heading overseas to talk about a new kind of gravel adventure, the Aurora Gravel Rally Series. Born out of the idea that gravel racing should be equal parts challenge and exploration, Aurora takes riders to stunning destinations around Europe, including Cyprus, Switzerland, and Portugal. Today I'm joined by the race director for the Portugal event, who will share how the series came together what makes their rally format unique and stand out, and why these races are much more than about watts. They're about community, culture, and the ride of a lifetime. So grab your bottles and settle in. This one's gonna be a fun one. With that said, let's welcome Fiona to the show. Craig Dalton (03:31) Fiona, welcome to the show. Fiona (03:32) Hi, thanks so much for having me. Craig Dalton (03:34) Good to see you. What time is it in Portugal? Fiona (03:36) It is currently 4.40 in the afternoon. Craig Dalton (03:39) Okay, well I appreciate you spending a little bit of your late afternoon with us today. Fiona (03:43) I appreciate you getting up early to speak with me, but we've made it work. Craig Dalton (03:46) Yeah, we sure have. I'm excited to talk about the Aurora Gravel Rally Series. I knew it was going to be a tongue twister for me, but it's such a cool event. Events, I should say, three events in one. So why don't you give us just a high-level overview of the series, and then we can talk maybe about the founder and his vision, and we'll get into obviously each of the three events in ...