Despite a decade of Cyclocross racing and even more years
of mountain bike riding I thought this gravel riding thing would be a different
kettle of fish. It turns out it is just
like everything else.
It has taken me a while, but I am getting comfortable
riding on unpaved roads for hours. If we
decided to measure the quality of a gravel road ride by the ratio of people you
see per hours ridden then this weekend’s ride was a winner. I felt like the only nut in the forest.
With minimal prodding I have signed up for the Winthrop Gran
Fondo later this month. This will fulfill a long held dream of riding a bike to
Conconully. With this event on the
horizon I returned my beloved Curtlo to a racing configuration. It likes being fast. The Curtlo has been my
loyal companion for most of my gravel rides and all of the more adventurous
ones, but it was configured for our pending summer odyssey and not racing. I
removed the lights and rack and handlebar bag mount. Now the Curtlo is once again all about speed
and was begging me to abuse some forest service roads.
U2 sings about where the streets have no name but thanks
to our government the roads in National Forests at least have numbers.
Because getting lost and dying would be awkward I used
MapMyRide to map my intended ride (BTW, I still have no idea why it is called
MapMyRide). I then downloaded it to my
handy little Garmin just in case the road and my recollection of where I should
go couldn’t find common ground. I tested the process during the week (on a
local route) so when I flipped the switch as I departed Cabin dans la Foret I
wasn’t surprised it worked just fine.
Low gearing and 35mm wide tires let me dispatch the first
dusty climb with relative ease. A
sprinkling of shade kept me from overheating early on. I was licking my chops at the prospect of an
unhurried long ride.
This section of road appears flat. It is NOT!
Soon I was on a steep descent where I had to pick my way
between sharp rocks. The light colored
gravel and the lack of tree cover made the eastward descent hot like I was on
aluminum foil. At the bottom I turned left
and shortly thereafter I was headed east again on the day’s long climb.
Usually you can get in a rhythm on a longer climb, but
this was not the case this day. The steepness of the grade was most often
between four and nine percent but had extremes of zero to twenty percent. The road surface required near-constant
attention. Avoiding big rocks and big
holes and scanning the path ahead for the line with the least washboard kept my
eyes busy. In hindsight I am not sure if
this distraction kept my focus away from my tired legs or if it prevented me
from really pushing hard.
When you are riding up a twisty road in the mountains the
trees and curves limit your view so you don’t know you are at the top until you
are almost there which only adds to the confusion. The sense of wonder of coming around a corner
and seeing something new was very energizing. The constantly changing topography, varying
road conditions and going in and out of forest made it hard to read the
grade. I’ve taken pictures on my rides
to convey the steepness of the grade only to have the road appear flat in the
photo. The only way to pace yourself is
to settle into a level of effort/discomfort and just wait until you reach the
top.
What is around the bend ?
I was drinking scratch labs and eating my world famous
Total Energy Replacement Device bars (a.k.a. TERD bars). The combo was working very well and I was
feeling surprisingly strong. I was
wearing my Pactimo Raptor bibs which are fairly compressive and I am sure that
helped with the vibration induced muscle fatigue. The bibs are the best I have worn and I will
share a review shortly. . I had on my
Specialized BG gloves that I bought at the foot of L’Alp d”Huez in France two
years ago. Those gloves proved to be
workhorses that were wonderful for six to eight hour days in the saddle in the
land of cheese. When everything is working
it is an awesome feeling.
In the past I have ridden my road bike all the way up to
Loup Loup pass. That was a ride that dictated a certain level of swagger. This
day I descended to Loup Loup pass from my gravel highpoint. There was more climbing to come. Bring it.
Fresh chip seal
It seems that only a few weeks ago I was whining about
feeling weak. This ride was over four
hours and I could easily have gone longer. When the road turned up I didn’t flinch, I
just downshifted. When I hit a downhill
I was able to get some speed without fearing for my life. I found myself on
some pavement and without the gravel crunching under my tires I was able to
savor the silence and up my tempo. The bike was working well and so was my
body.
Tan lines have formed. My knee injury from last fall has
settled into a final answer that is acceptable. My stretching is paying off. The hills have become my friends.
It turns out that gravel riding is just like everything
else. If you work at it and do it over
and over sooner or later you get good at it.
I’ve logged some serious miles on these roads. I’ve dialed in this bike
and I’ve got some good miles in these legs.
I guess it is like a lot of things. Repetitive hard work eventually pays
off.
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