Gravel Riding Chit Chat

Gear
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Was hard to tell from the video but he seemed fairly capable. I think when I get a new Garmin Explorer 2 I’ll change over to full Open Street Map Cycle as the Garmin maps seem to miss some bits/paths. I can’t imagine some paths are that well plotted out there.

I was put off Badlands after watching the Fernwee boys docu. Seemed like more stupid on purpose routing and brutal heat. At least with TCR its pick your own route to each CP…

I think this is now where I’m at for TCR, potential panic is setting in :joy: and as I’ve gone in as a pair with some nutcase I can’t really back out if we get in… :grimacing:

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Think I’ve got my 3 day bike trip planned :slight_smile:

Day 1: Nice flat ride out to Morecambe via the coastal roads, then pick up the “Way of the Roses” for a while, before a short detour to the Ingleton YHA :slight_smile:
209km, 1,291m elevation
8% max gradient
Nice day, really. Nothing too arduous.

Day 2: Pick up the Way of the Roses again, but leave it and head for Pickering, Dalby Forest, Harwood Dale and then over’t’moors to Whitby.
209km, 2,630m elevation :open_mouth:
15% max gradient :frowning:

Day 3: Whitby to Goathland via the old roads I used to cycle on, over the moors back to Pickering and Malton, then around York, through Leeds and onto Huddersfield; all via the canals. Which I’ll keep to until Standedge Tunnel …

… where the inevitable happens :frowning:
I’ve got cycle up the damn Pennines … a nice 8km 8% climb :cry:
But then it is all downhill home :slight_smile:
Pick up the canals again, round IKEA at Ashton, skirt Manchester via the Trans-Pennine-Trail, then home my usual “commute” way.

238km 2,120m elevation
14% max gradient

Whilst the elevation might look like a lot, I did 210km to Chirk Castle and back, clocking up 1,597m elevation.
And that ride was FLAT, so maybe <2km elevation over 200km is flat???

Here is hoping!

(EDITED TO ADD: I have some 120-180km gravel rides planned locally with similar elevation etc to get a “feel” of how hard this is going to be!!!)

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83

@Poet Whats the percentage of road to gravel and off road and how gnarly is the off road? As I’d say at least two of those are massive days. But what do I know :man_shrugging:

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RWGPS is wrong, as I know some sections are off road, but it’s classing them as paved.

I used the OSM Cycle maps, along with some routes from XX-Duro etc.

Day1: 20km roads, 50km canals and trails (little to no road at all), 30km road, then 60km (!) seafront (I hope it’s not windy!!!) paths and boardwalks etc. Then 60km road to Ingleton (which is pretty much all uphill)

20% unpaved

Day2: Pretty much all paved until 160km, whilst some of it is “off road” it’s the lovely yellow grit hard pack stuff. At 160km, I hit Dalby Forest and Harwood Dale, which is either gnarly MTB tracks, or fire roads. Do a long fire road around the back of RAF Fylingdales, too, so hopefully it’s well maintained and not inside the MoD Boundary, in which case I am screwed, as the main road to Whitby (A170?) is bloody awful and I do not wish to cycle on it!! But after that, it’s an old railway line into Whitby.

15% unpaved.

Day3: Old railway line pretty much for the first 40km, it’s then road to 120km, then dodgy canal paths around Leeds, Huddersfield to Slaithwaite, then road over the Pennines, then the way home is pretty decent off-road, which the Rapha Hell of the North used (I did it on my BMC with 28mm tyres, no issues)

20% unpaved.

@sowler - Yeah, the total elevation on Day 2 is mammoth, plus the distance.
Roadie equivalent would be 205km in 8hrs with 2,641m elevation…but it started raining and windyAF about 160km in, and I was in summer kit, with a wind breaker jacket. I was so cold after one descent, that I went into a pub car park and debated urinating onto my hands, so that I could at least change gear and use my brakes.
#CharacterBuilding

Day 3 is also a biggie, but…again, I have a comparator!
10:14 262.5km ride with 3,294m elevation.
That was utterly brutal - 1040TSS in one ride :rofl:
it was also 26° average!!!

Although it wasn’t so brutal that I didn’t do a 6km jog and 100km ride the following day, then a 162km ride the day after that.

Admittedly, that was in 2020, when I was about 15kg lighter, but if I’ve done it before, I can do it again!!!

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WTAF :exploding_head:

IT IS A STICKER OF MY HEAD!!!

Does @mw22 build bikes on the side?

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86

Latest anti theft tech

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I read that as “latest anti theft tache” which kinda worked also.

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88

One for the diary for the Scots: Gritopia – Tweedlove

I’ve not done it.

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Cheers @GeordieM thats on my door step and done lot of the rout on door and on bike in the past

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Saw your itinerary above; doesn’t look too leisurely :smile:

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Gravel racing entertainment and perhaps inspiration:

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Are any of you using a gravel bike as a road bike?

Currently reviewing my ‘Bike Portfolio’ and kind of want to downsize.

Potentially a Gravel bike could replace 3 bikes for me but I worry about those big draggy tyres.

Anyone using two sets of wheels with different tyres on? One for the bridleways and one for fast days?

GCN tells me its possible, but some real world experience would be helpful.

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Ish - got a Norco Search I use as a commuter. Draggy tires swapped for 28 contis.

Good commute = arguably yes
Enjoy riding it = no.

It’s slow AF and I hate it. It wasnt the most expensive - mechanical discs and tiagra (but neither of those bother me). Assume the rims are most of the cause. No way I could ride it for any distance or up any decent hills.
Position etc all feels fine on road as does handling.

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Useful, thanks MW.

Basically wondering if the right gravel bike would replace my winter road bike and two hardtail mountain bikes. Ultimately the mountain bikes could probably go as I always choose the full sus these days.

But as I am interested in longer distance stuff like audax these days I see the opportunity that a gravel bike could cover this - my other road bike, a super six evo, is lovely, but any more than about 50 miles on it is punishing to the taint.

Might need to get a test ride somewhere.

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Kind of, I’ve got 303’s for the enigma and tri bars for training and the odd race.

Also got the stock wheels with gravel type tyres on them, and it’ll take mudguards for winter etc

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I wouldn’t.
They’re longAF with a massive stack, feels like you’re on a sat up and beg.

Road bikes feel nimble and steer far quicker.

Mind you, I’m way better at descending on my gravel bike due to the EWB (to borrow from car terminology!)

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Took my gravel bike out on a shakedown ride this evening. A bit of road, hard pack sand and rocky double track. Nothing fell off or moved, but the shifting isn’t perfect and bars need a bit of rotating.

This is a 2016 On One Pickenflick that was showing its age so I gave it a 2.0 lease of life. It all went a bit Trigger’s Broom. New wheels, tyres, inserts, Stan’s, waxed chain, derailleur cage (same 11spd SRAM derailleur), 9-46 cassette, 38t chainring, saddle (eBay), stem and bars, tape, disks, pads, brake fluid, and gear cable and outer. It sort of spiralled out of control. It might have been easier to buy a new bike, but Greta.

But she rides amazingly :grin: Epic loop planned for Sat.

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Very nice, the 303’s make a big difference.

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How many gravel rides are actually on gravel?

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Mostly coarse pink quartz sand in Aberdeenshire. It weathers out of all the granite intrusions that form the hills. But there’s quite a lot of tarmac to link it up…

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