Words James Ion - Photography provided by Smugglers Path
The Smugglers have been “smuggling Belgium dirt” since 2018. They organise three events the Smugglers Path, the French Borders and Le Fabuleux. All over different weekends in the year and all over some sumptuous GRVL. I had a Q&A session with organiser and founder Erwin Vaesen.
GRVL MGZIN: As the Smugglers you organise two of the premium gravel events in Belgium, the Smugglers Path (It sold out for 2024!) and the French Borders, in a nutshell, what can we expect when taking part?
Smugglers: Guaranteed Fun! We aim for only the best feeling, to us it is more than just a ride its an experience! From great food and great coffee to music and support. People will have nothing to worry about except having fun! Its a really open event so everyone is welcome, there is no pressure to have the best bike or equipment, it's all about big-time fun!
GM: There must be a lot of planning to put on these events, and we probably don't have enough space for all the details here, but what would say are the five key aspects of putting on a gravel weekend event?
S: Well the first thing you need is experience! but that takes time, so passion is the number one! More practical things are to have your organisation on point, everyone needs to know what their roles are, and everything needs to be set exactly as it should, don't forget to have all your official documents and approvals in place before the event! The most important is to have your own identity, don't copy be original, try creating something you would want to go to and put your own feelings into it. Start small, we started with around 150 riders and now we have 500. Always ask yourself does the cost of the ticket matches the quality of the event, keep this in mind so that quality is a priority.
GM: The participants will be there for the weekend, but how long will you guys be on site, how much time is needed to get it all set up and of course taken down?
S: For Smugglers, we get there on the Wednesday before, the location we use in Hamont-Achel is basically a big field that we turn into a festival arena, with a stage, bar, cafe and place for everyone to camp. We have people coming from as far as Norway so we have to have it all ready by Thursday evening when the first ones arrive. In Herbeumont where we stage the French Borders, it's a bit different as we use an established campsite, but set right in the middle of the village, so we don't have to get there until Thursday, but all in all, we are there for about five days.
GM: Cannondale and Castelli are the main sponsors, how did this come about?
S: It's a nice story with Cannondale, early on when we were starting up we all got Cannondale bikes from our work and so a lot of photos featured the bikes. I as a joke contacted Cannondal Belgium to ask if they wanted to partner us for some promo shots and to my surprise they said yes! This led to them launching their new Topstone at our event and now they provide bikes for hire and are always present at the event festival. Castelli came about due to their desire to get more into Gravel and contacted us, this has led to a great partnership we have even been to their HQ in Italy, have had the big boss on our podcast and produced a loverly jersey for us. We are very proud of the relationships we have developed with these two massive brands as we are of all our partnerships.
GM: If you were to give one piece of advice about preparing for the event what would it be?
S: Ride! The French Borders event is very special and in my opinion, covers the best gravel routes in Benelux, it's tough no matter how fit you are so it's about getting the KM so that you can ride for a long time on the bike, then you can have more fun!
GM: As is tradition, what do you prefer, Coffee Stop or Post Ride Beer?
S: Ha good question! At our events, you get both! but for me personally, I love a coffee stop so if I had to choose I would say coffee!
GM Bonus: Who is your favourite Smuggler - A. Han Solo B. Bo "Bandit" Darville C. Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds (Firefly)
S: Definitely Han Solo! Thanks for speaking with us, and hopefully see you at the French Borders, it's a fantastic event even if I say so myself, and there are some tickets left
You can find out more about Smugglers Path and the French Borders event on their Homepage -smugglers.be
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