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Black Star Canyon climb kicked my rear end. So dusty. 
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Aug 3, 2020 02:23
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Just the usual today. Rode up hills until after dark
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Aug 4, 2020 05:14
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Today was a good day to ride along the bluffs with my sweetheart.
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Aug 4, 2020 06:06
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I can't believe I missed this thread. I love gravel or as we call it here, metal. My bike is my old steel SR, I've had it in many different configurations, but currently it is my off-road road-bike. 650b rim-brake wheels with some Schwalbe G-ones set up tubeless despite the rims being non-tubeless. 38mm was the widest I could go but they seem amazing so far. I had a good ride with my sister the other day, she has a sick Kona Rove ST.    
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Aug 4, 2020 09:49
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Back to back gravel centuries this weekend. I somehow managed 15,000' in the process as well. I'm toast. Saturday was the final installment of our Driftless Region race series. We have all month to complete the route, but Saturday's forecast was too good to pass up.  Early start with the morning fog.  I didn't really know where I was until I hit the old mill. I've kayaked under this bridge in the past. This time I got to ride over it.  The C road climb was all sorts of fun. There was a gravel dog immediately after that climb which was less fun.  This sign was a cruel joke since it was posted probably 2/3rds of the way up the hill. Pretty sure it's there because the incline got way steeper around the corner of of view.  Long winding gravel with no shelter. You can see in the distance where I came from.  I passed a demolition derby in Volga, but I was about five minutes too early to see the fun. I also passed a tractor parade near the end. That's not even my first random tractor parade I've come across. Good ol' Iowa gravel.   I wasn't taking in enough salt during the ride. I was dumping one salt pill in each water bottle. Apparently one pill is about half the amount that is in a single serving of Skratch. I should have been dumping 2-3 pills per bottle. I know that now; I wish I knew it then. I started cramping *hard* around mile 85. I was sometimes able to pedal through it by riding out of the saddle, but I found myself walking up hills that didn't need to be walked. My right leg cramped up so badly in the final two miles that I one legged pedaled the final stretch. I was never going to win the race series, but I had ambitions of coming in 2nd. Probably gonna finish 3rd overall because of this ride. I don't mind, this race series has been a great motivator and the routes posted each month have been seriously pretty. Sunday was something similar, but different. There was a big organized gravel event. A guy posted a bunch of different sized routes that all started/ended at a local winery with the intent of hitting at many B roads as possible. The longest route posted was 77 miles with 22 different B roads. I've been working on that area in the last few weeks for VeloSquares. So I took the 77 mile route and made some alterations to grab all my missing squares nearby. Coincidentally that brought it up to almost exactly 100 miles and 24 B roads total. Awesome.  I saw pictures of the 7:30am start. loving stupid. 50 people all crowded together for a mass start. I left almost two hours before they ever gathered all by myself. How else am I gonna snap a gravel sunrise pic?  It hasn't rained in over a week and the B roads are in great riding shape. It almost feels like cheating. Some roads were "closed", but it's not like that ever stops a bike from passing through.        This was part of my route and not the official route. Here's a decommissioned road that still sorta gets used, but hasn't actually been taken over by nature. It's passing "under" a bridge (est 1913) that's itself is part of a road that is completely gone. On either side of these supports are just farm fields with no indication that there was ever something here in the past. In 10-20 years this is going to be two stone wall amidst nothing.  And here's why I brought a shoulder strap with me. I didn't think I'd need it, but you never quite know what you'll get with B roads. It hasn't rained in over a week, but somehow there's standing water on an unsheltered road. That's hike-a-bike territory on any other day.  I'm slowly getting my fiancee in to gravel riding. She did a non-B road ride with a couple friends on Sunday as well. Timed it pretty well and we met at the winery within about 30 minutes of each other (also skipping the mass start). A great weekend punctuated by a little winery picnic under a shade tree. Here's my feet. 
Crumps Brother fucked around with this message at 15:24 on Aug 4, 2020 |
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Aug 4, 2020 15:16
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I running 40mm tires, but I've got about 1cm clearance on each side. I want something knobbier, but is going bigger going to make a big difference?
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Aug 4, 2020 16:32
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Crumps Brother posted:Back to back gravel centuries this weekend. I somehow managed 15,000' in the process as well. I'm toast. Holy crap. That's a lot of gravel. And that's awesome.
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Aug 4, 2020 20:31
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Crumps Brother posted:Back to back gravel centuries this weekend. I somehow managed 15,000' in the process as well. I'm toast.
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Aug 4, 2020 21:47
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The only near by gravel option I have is a flood plain embankment but it’s better than nothing and I get to ride in peace with the cranes and other birds right as the downtown skyline shows up.
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Aug 8, 2020 19:41
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Don't ride on train tracks to get to a swimming hole. 
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Aug 8, 2020 20:14
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I have a goal this year to ride the whole CnO canal towpath, and am doing this in chunks. Friday's section was from Edwards Ferry down to Pennyfield lock, about 32 miles total out and back. I took my Wolverine, which is built to be 80% city / chores and 20% towpath. It's got some sort of supple soma panaracer city things on it, and that's usually fine. They've resurfaced a bunch of it, which is great, but the section down towards Pennyfield is pretty rutted. A few years ago, I attempted this section on an old mtb with heavy hookworm tires. I went out way too hard, and was woefully unprepared in terms of fitness and gear. I cramped up right before dark and had to get picked up early. It was humbling. This year, I was determined to redeem myself through fitness, planning, electrolytes and a little better bike. I've been using Skratch and it's great, IMO, for hydration. I've heard a few of yall say the same. Here's White's Ferry, the starting point. The Potomac was beautiful in the am:  In places where the towpath had (stagnant) water, it's a stunning shade of green. I saw a log with a whole family of turtles lined up on it   Here's a picture of my bike, a townieish wolverine with a jones bar, 9xfriction and a great custom made bag that's got old school ski print. Kickstands are great esp with a trailer full of whatever    Keeping Sheldon's spirit alive with this bike for sure  I had to rush back, as my wife was at home on conference calls dealing with our dog and new puppy, so I turned the gas on the last 10 miles or so. Of course, I had a flat the last 3 miles to go. Not supposed to, but I rode it out on the rim because I didn't have time to stop. When I got back to the ferry store I ate a cookie, a ding dong some gatorade and nabs, which was before the roast beef sandwich, which I took home to eat with the wife. Put the bike right in the shop and ended up getting some sort of Schwalbe 40c gravel tire, as I was alllll over the place with those panaracer city things. The resurfaced parts of the CnO are nice, but where it's not can be pretty rough. Glad for fenders! It's cool starting and ending on the last working Ferry on the Potomac. Planet X fucked around with this message at 23:02 on Aug 9, 2020 |
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Aug 9, 2020 23:00
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I did around 15 miles of single track and another 5 miles or so on fire roads yesterday. My arms are pretty beat up. I really really enjoy underbiking single track on my gravel bike. I’ve been limiting myself to only local stuff during COVID and some trails are just brain dead boring on a mountain bike. Riding drop bars makes them much more interesting. I do need to get another wheelset so my 650b wheels can wear a slightly plumper, more off-road oriented tire than WTB Ventures. Too many rim strikes. 
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Aug 9, 2020 23:30
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TFW you get stuck behind a horse on a singletrack.
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Aug 10, 2020 00:14
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Thought I'd give the grav thread a little love 
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Aug 16, 2020 21:07
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Levitate posted:Thought I'd give the grav thread a little love 
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Aug 17, 2020 16:29
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Planned event ride was cancelled as my ride buddy was ill. Channelled the Spirit of Gravel and went to find some squares instead.   
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Aug 22, 2020 16:56
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Sand is like gravel right? I did get actual gravel later, was expecting road for the whole ride. The sand was unexpected when I took a different gravel trail early in the ride. 
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Aug 22, 2020 19:26
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A guy in town has been putting on this thing called the "death" ride for a few years now, death actually standing for drop everyone ascending the hills. Last year it poured rain and was like 38 degrees at the start and we went up all the road climbs in town. This year he had planned on doing the road version and also a gravel one, both this spring, but what with all the covid and such they turned into solo/small group events and the gravel one ended up being today. Also, it was a big one, from the official start to the top of the last mountain I wound up with 68 miles and 11000ft. My overall total for the day was more like 95 after riding a bit to the start and then down the last mountain and to get pizza and beer and then going home. The route had a lot of steep poo poo and also singletrack and I didn't really want to do that all on my cx bike. It does have 40mm tubeless tires, but on the other hand it has rim brakes and 40 x 11-32 gearing. So I stuck my half frame bag on the old hardtail xc bike and also put on a fanny pack with some extra snacks and water and got to it. I only took like 4 pictures and only in vertical format for instagram stories but I'll crop some into more reasonable shapes I guess First climb  My new bike is still an "XC" bike but has 120mm travel and is a couple lbs heavier. Climbing that first dirt road on the old hardtail it was like "oh, yeah. this is some good poo poo." Even locked out that hei hei does not climb as well, but maybe if I spend more money to make it lighter...? Headed back down while trying to remember how to ride a mtb with a tall seatpost. 2nd climb was all road and pretty chill then it was down a pretty rough trail and up to my regular spot  This is called the "snowbowl overlook" because past those trees over there you're looking at the ski hill. The next stop. Organizer left some water and snacks, seemingly just for me because it was cookies and gummy bears and those have been a major part of my diet lately.  I didn't even take any other pictures after this but got all filled up with water and then left most of it at the base of the climb because you came back down the same way. I also left my pack and a water bottle at the bottom of the first one to save weight. Some fast guys did this together yesterday and I was hoping to be in the ballpark of their total time so I was on a pretty solid pace the whole day and tried to minimize stops. After the ski hill climb it was all the way across town to blue mountain and then up to the fire lookout there, and on the way over I was leaning my forearms on the handlebars and at one point sat up because it was kind of uncomfortable and then laughed at myself for worrying about being uncomfortable on this ride and got back down there. I had seen a group of friends coming down as I was going up and was also trying to catch them. But then about halfway up the climb I come up to another friend, and he hasn't seen any of them (they had detoured to a gas station). Catch 2 more friends and find another at the top.  They were on cx/gravel bikes and had had numerous flat issues throughout the day so I rode sweep down the very rocky road. Then we got beer and pizza. https://www.strava.com/activities/3957254713 I split my day up so that I had just the "death ride" as one whole ride because I wanted to see how I did compared to Andrew and Steven. I saw that Andrew and I had exactly the same moving time, and he went up the climbs quite a bit faster than me including the kom up the mountain behind the ski hill. But I made up for it on the descents, being on a mtb vs a cx bike. I wasn't sure on the total until I got home and split things up Looks like I got it by like 20 minutes just from spending less time stopped. jamal fucked around with this message at 15:13 on Aug 24, 2020 |
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Aug 24, 2020 05:01
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 I swapped out my 40mm Schwalbe G-One Allroads for some tubeless 42mm WTB Resolutes. I sailed over all the deep sand and never lost my grip. I think climbing is a little harder though, but actually easier because my rear tire doesn't spin.
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Aug 28, 2020 02:20
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Did a big ride hunting veloviewer squares. 90% road, but the dirt I found was really good. I probably should've dropped pressure in my GK slicks down from 60 before descending - none of the drops were more than 10 inches but I was definitely skidding the rear tire all over.       
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Aug 31, 2020 01:45
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that’s some rowdy af grav to ride on slicks
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Aug 31, 2020 03:49
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e.pilot posted:that’s some rowdy af grav to ride on slicks Pics are dumb but everything but the last photo was between 10 and 18%. It was p. dumb but anything for a vv square.
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Aug 31, 2020 04:31
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Y'all, gravel riding is pretty cool.  I accidentally got onto a horseback riding trail at one of the big parks in the area
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Aug 31, 2020 13:21
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 Surprise gravel is nice
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Aug 31, 2020 19:13
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Tell me how to gravel bike! I'd like to spend this fall on the gravel roads around here. I'm on a pretty tight budget and no room for more bikes anyway so I've got to make one of these bikes work.  First is a Bianchi Via Nirone 7 with 25mm slicks on it. I think I could squeeze 28's on there but I'm not sure it's worth the swap. I've hit the gravel a few times on it as is. It's really not all that bad, but I get some hand discomfort after a few miles.  The other is a 1992 Cannondale T600, also with 25's on it. I THINK it has 17mm rims, I could probably run 35's. Or I could convince myself this is worth it - https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/2594552400756651/ Dutymode fucked around with this message at 16:56 on Sep 2, 2020 |
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Sep 2, 2020 16:51
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Do you want a ride a bike on gravel or do fun stupid stuff off road? The cannondale frame can get you the first, but the narrow rims, the downtube shifters, and the adjustable stem means that it would be sketchy on rough of loose surfaces. I wouldn't think twice about taking the masi on less technical mountain bike trails. I can't tell if it is worth the price to you, but if you think you might be tempted to spend much money on stuff other than tires for the cannondale, just get the masi instead. e:IMO ride the cannondale with the intent to try and crack the frame. Then post pics. e2: you might be able to advertise the t600 for sale as a TOURING BIKE and fetch a decent amount of cash for it. Do you happen to live along any of the adventure cycling routes? CopperHound fucked around with this message at 17:27 on Sep 2, 2020 |
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Sep 2, 2020 17:18
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Thanks for the input! I'm betting most of the regulars here ride more in a year than I have lifetime, I really don't know what I'm doing. At this point I'm just focused on hitting gravel roads, not the fun stupid stuff. I'm definitely not interested in throwing much money at all at the Cannondale, I think I got it for $120 six or seven years ago so just changing tire size is going to cost about as much as the bike. Also it sits outside in an area that sees a decent amount of bike theft. I know the stem is poo poo but I've been too cheap to even swap that. Also I think the pedals have fused to the cranks so I'm stuck with those flats. I just swapped the front on the Bianchi with my wife's with a 28 and it fit much easier than I expected. If I could squeeze 32's on would it be better than the Cannondale with 35's? The Masi is a bit of a stretch right now as much as I think I'd like it, I would only do that if my budget alternatives are terrible. Edit: I'm in Ann Arbor, MI right now, I'm not sure if any major touring routes are near here.
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Sep 2, 2020 18:30
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Imo put 35s or 40s on the Cannondale and have a good loving time. Squeezing tires to the limit is a bad plan.
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Sep 2, 2020 19:47
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That Cannondale is a touring bike. Put some wider tires on it and go get lost in the Michigan countryside I'd say leave the Bianchi as a road bike and make the Cannondale your touring / drinking bike. Cannondale w/ 35s > Bianchi w/ 32s IMO. Look at it this way: You've probably gotten $120 out of that Cannondale by riding it for 7 years so if you spend $100 on tires and the bike gets stolen, you're only really out $100. Lock it up with a U Lock and you'll be fine I'm sure.
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Sep 2, 2020 20:00
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that cannondale on some tan wall 35s would own
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Sep 2, 2020 20:08
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bicievino posted:Imo put 35s or 40s on the Cannondale and have a good loving time. I see in the catalog the T1000 on the same frame/fork has 35 tires and fenders. So 40s might be ok, but I'd prob max out at 38mm if you don't want to deal with a return. re: I'd probably live with the adjustable stem, but if the bar tape is thin, it'd be nice to have slightly cushier for gravel, and that'd be a justification for changing when you swap the stem.
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Sep 2, 2020 21:20
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kimbo305 posted:I see in the catalog the T1000 on the same frame/fork has 35 tires and fenders. So 40s might be ok, but I'd prob max out at 38mm if you don't want to deal with a return. Agree. There's nothing inherently "can't handle gravel" about an adjustable stem. Hell, I know folks using adjustable stems for standing starts on the track.
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Sep 2, 2020 22:08
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Well the Cannondale got stolen last night so I'm back to forcing the Bianchi into gravel duty or buying a second bike. I will never keep a bike outside again.
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Sep 3, 2020 15:54
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Dutymode posted:Well the Cannondale got stolen last night so I'm back to forcing the Bianchi into gravel duty or buying a second bike. Bike theft is rampant in Ann Arbor. I started keeping my bike inside (and using a better lock when I was out) after coming out of Espresso Royale one afternoon to find some guy standing by my bike trying different combinations on my crappy combination lock. EDIT: It was the ERC on State right by the diag, too, so there were tons of people around. a foolish pianist fucked around with this message at 16:11 on Sep 3, 2020 |
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Sep 3, 2020 16:07
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that sucks 
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Sep 3, 2020 18:14
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a foolish pianist posted:Bike theft is rampant in Ann Arbor. I started keeping my bike inside (and using a better lock when I was out) after coming out of Espresso Royale one afternoon to find some guy standing by my bike trying different combinations on my crappy combination lock. Bike theft is rampant everywhere. Bikes, sex and drug are the currency of the homeless economy. In SoCal, we have been getting a lot of targeted (via Strava) garage thefts using the coat hanger technique. Slip a coat hanger between the top of the garage door and the header, fish around for the emergency release, and simply roll up the door. Putting some shims in to block probing wires is a good idea. I also have a couple of these. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XmR7EuFQT4 A local rider went to open his garage one morning, only to find the emergency release disengaged, but the deadbolt kept the door shut. Very easy to install, I highly recommend. Just make sure you disengage the dead bolt before opening. The opener did not like going up against an engaged bolt. No damage, but I can't imagine it was good for the system. A word about Strava. Even if you have a privacy zone, there is a good chance your info will show up via the heat map function. Take a look at your house on the map, and you will see a pretty clear trail leading right to where you keep your bike. Yes, you can opt out, but they do not purge past data right away. It may take up to a month. Heat maps also show the secret military bases all over Africa and the Middle East. Pretty easy to spot an orange dot in the middle of the dessert, with segments name Base Perimeter Run, etc. And also get the names of the people on base and deduce their patterns. I am still amazed that all of that data is still there. Cat Ass Trophy fucked around with this message at 18:47 on Sep 3, 2020 |
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Sep 3, 2020 18:29
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If you have a privacy zone, the start and end of activities within that zone will not show up on the heatmap. It's true that if you add one, those changes won't be reflected until the heatmap is regenerated (monthly).
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Sep 3, 2020 20:43
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A big problem of the heatmap privacy issue is that even if your zones are set up it doesn't really matter unless you plan to never have your friends bike to your house as well because their rides are also going to light up your driveway/house. I don't really know of a true solution to the issue. Edit: Maybe something has changed in the past. I just checked for the first time in awhile and my driveway isn't near as lit up as it's been in the past. Hopefully it's something new about the heatmap algorithm and not my own waning popularity. Crumps Brother fucked around with this message at 21:08 on Sep 3, 2020 |
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Sep 3, 2020 20:59
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I'm not familiar with how the fencing setup works -- if I move from Home A to Home B, will all activities uploaded when Home A's zone respect that zone forever (and I guess the new B zone as well)? Do you get multiple zones to manage?
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Sep 3, 2020 21:02
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kimbo305 posted:I'm not familiar with how the fencing setup works -- They apply to all activities ever; if you add or delete one, it updates activities retroactively. You can have multiple.
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Sep 3, 2020 21:24
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