BORDER PATROL

British travel writer Tim Wild heads on a pilgrimage to Arizona's gravel Mecca, and isn't disappointed

- Tim Wild

Every conversation I had about this trip involved the same preamble. No, I wasn't talking about the outdoor brand. No, not the South American region either.This particular Patagonia is less well-known than either of the above, but that's changing fast. The tiny town of around 800 people, nestled below the San Rafael Valley in Southern Arizona, near the Mexican border, has a growing reputation as one of the best gravel-riding destinations in the US. So I cajoled a photographer friend into coming, rustled up a top-grade gravel bike, and went to check it out.'

Patagonia is barely there, in the best way. One grocery store, a couple of bars, a diner... The main road to Mexico runs right through it, complete with Border Patrol cars and roadblocks for drivers headed north. It's like the town in a movie where the city slicker's car breaks down and he gets stranded - the one where two weeks later he's married a local woman and started running for mayor.

It's a charming fantasy location for a suburban British boy, and I'm tempted to just hang out in the diner with the old guys and listen to some tall tales, but that's not why we're here.

Gravel central

Let's start with the local geography. Patagonia sits just south of the San Rafael Valley - a rolling tumbler of hills and valleys with over 90,000 acres of grass plains, woodland and only a handful of ranches. This means that less than three miles from the centre of town, you can be on a dirt road that stretches as far as the eye can see, surrounded by mountains, with the hills of Northern Mexico fading in layers over the horizon. There are routes in all directions, and riders from nearby Tucson, Phoenix and surrounding states have been flocking here for years.