Gravel is tough. Iowa gravel, even tougher. But Superbloom isn’t about toughness. It’s about joy, support, and doing it together.

The race was born from frustration. Julie, who moved from Mexico to the US as a child and now calls Nebraska home, loved gravel but noticed the imbalance at start lines. Five or ten women among hundreds of men. So she decided to change the picture. In 2023 she launched Superbloom, an all-women’s gravel event in Iowa – a place where women could feel safe, supported, and seen.

The format is simple: challenging courses on rolling farm roads; encouragement over intimidation. The second edition drew about a hundred riders from 12 different states. Many were first timers. Many were over forty. Many came back after year one, bringing their friends, their daughter or their mum.

Superbloom is grassroots to the core. Julie runs the show herself, relying on about 40 volunteers, from bike mechanics and physiotherapists to the friends and family of participants. Aid stations were stocked with everything riders might need. Pre-race stretching and mindfulness exercises helped to ease nerves. During the race, Superbloom-organised riders rolled back and forth offering extra bottles, mechanical support or a few words of encouragement. Every detail, every hand, every smile mattered. Everyone looked out for everyone else.

The finish-line moments capture the spirit perfectly. The mum finding her way back to the bike after having a baby crossing the line with her husband cheering. Debutants rolling through in tears of relief and joy. Riders surprised by their own strength on gravel they never thought they could handle. Nervous energy melted into joy, doubt into confidence.

Superbloom is proof that racing doesn’t have to mean elbows out or watts on display. It can mean community, courage and a safe place to push yourself. Year by year, bloom by bloom, it’s creating space for more women to ride gravel their way.

And Julie’s message to any women wondering if it’s for them? “You can absolutely do it. All the little self-doubts –everything that’s in the back of your head – don’t matter. You can absolutely do it. It doesn’t matter if it’s a hilly race, a flat race, rough terrain – it’s all doable.”