I vividly remember talking with a gravel race director in a small town last year who said, “We post on social media when we can, but it’s hard to keep up.” I get it. Most of these races are volunteer-run, and tourism boards in rural areas are often underfunded and juggling multiple roles. But what I’ve seen again and again, through my work with Trail Builder Magazine and now with BorderLands Gravel, is that your online presence is your brand. If your social media looks like an afterthought, people assume your event or destination is too.

It’s not that these brands are ignoring social media. It’s that they’re not doing it well. And in today’s landscape, that’s just as costly.

There’s something about shooting back-to-back gravel races that left me both partly exhausted and creatively lit up. I rolled back into Portland Sunday night after spending the weekend on the Oregon Coast shooting the Oregon Coast Gravel Epic and West Coast Gravel. Two races, two towns, one camera, a burrito-stained hoodie, and a tick embedded in my shoulder.

I shoot like I’m telling a story … because I am. That’s the goal: make a rider feel the race again when they see the photo. Make someone who wasn’t there wish they were (a little FOMO always helps).

It was Friday afternoon, and Nacho the Van was packed and ready. The plan? Head to eastern Oregon for a weekend of shooting photos at back-to-back mountain bike and gravel races. There was just one hitch. I was still crawling out of a weeklong flu haze. The idea of sleeping in my van with temps dipping into the low 40s didn’t sound too appealing.

So, I hit the easy button.