African Gravel: FatPigeon and the Joy of Smart Tire Pressure

If you’ve spent any time around Gravaa, you’ve probably seen him: the tall Dutchman with the big laugh, a camera always within reach, and a bike that usually looks like it has just rolled through somewhere wild. His name is Nol van Loon, but most people in the gravel world know him as FatPigeon.

Nol is one of those riders who doesn’t just ride his bike, he lives with it. He calls himself a “nerdy content creator”, which is charmingly modest. The truth is that Nol has built a life around ultra-distance rides and bikepacking challenges that would make most of us need a long sit-down. He travels the world with his bikes, his curiosity, and his storytelling instinct. And somewhere along the way, his path crossed ours.

A quick spin around the parking lot next to our office in 2021 was all it took. “Gravaa felt like the future,” Nol recalls. “I wanted to be involved.” He was right. And since then, the pigeon has flown far.

Photo: FatPigeon

Rwanda: The Land of a Thousand Hills

Fast forward to autumn 2025. After a season that included the longer versions of Traka, Unbound, and the Silk Road Mountain Race, Nol packed his brand-new Canyon Grizl and headed to Rwanda. The Road World Championships had finished just days before, Pogačar sealing the rainbow jersey in front of the crowds that define this cycling-obsessed country.

But for Nol, the real adventure was still to come: Ride & Roast Rwanda, a gravel journey linking coffee farms and mountain passes, traveling from crop to cup, on the bike.

Rwanda’s riding is… let’s call it dynamic. One moment you’re rolling over champagne gravel. The next, you’re in a rock garden shaped by storms. A few dry days and roads become so dusty it looks like smoke, one big rainstorm and roads become slippery with deep ruts. 

“People who have ridden gravel in Africa know,” Nol says. “It’s gravel+, and often a bit more than that.”

Photo: FatPigeon

Adapting on the Fly

Conditions changed fast. But the pressure didn’t have to.

With Gravaa on his wheels, Nol adjusted tire pressure with a simple tap, harder for the smooth tarmac descents, softer for technical climbs or long rock-strewn valleys. No stopping, no guessing, no compromise.

“The moment you notice it most,” says Nol, “is when you forget it’s there. You get used to the perfect setup. A soft tire on a rocky descent. Then suddenly you hit asphalt and realize: normally, this is where I’d wish I could pump. And now, I just do. On the fly.”

It’s a small movement. But over a full day of riding? It’s everything.

Photo: FatPigeon

Rwanda Rides on Bikes

What struck Nol most, though, was the people: Cycling in Rwanda isn’t a hobby. It’s a culture. 

Local racers jump in to share kilometers. Kids cheer from the village edges. Riders haul impossible loads: 200 kilograms of goods balanced on steel single-speeds. Others descend at full speed wearing sandals reinforced with rubber to brake.

“Rolling around on a high-tech bike with almost nothing but a camera felt almost surreal,” Nol says. “Rwanda is demanding: climbing, descending, surfaces that constantly shift. You really earn every kilometer.”

Photo: FatPigeon

When Gravel Meets the Future

What Nol experienced is what we built Gravaa for: The world doesn’t ride on one surface. Tire pressure shouldn’t stay the same either.

“With a traditional setup,” Nol says, “you always compromise. You pick an average pressure and live with it. But when every section has the right pressure… that’s heaven.”

Rwanda was already special.
Gravaa didn’t make it easier.
It made it more.

Photo: FatPigeon