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GRoTD

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cantunamunch

cantunamunch

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Behavioral sink
Sadly, the knees disagree......

My knees are so slush-skied out that I can't clip in for more than 20 minutes - no matter what the float is, no matter what the Q is.

The 36x14 26er with flats and urban rubber they don't mind - go figure?

8 weeks to gravel skating woohooo!
 
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cantunamunch

cantunamunch

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IMG_20220518_140536.jpg
 

firebanex

Making fresh tracks
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Apr 16, 2018
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Fairbanks, Alaska
Wife and I took a weekend and drove down to Denali National Park. Surprised by the relatively low number of people in the park compared to some years, but I guess it is still "early" for the park. Spent Saturday riding in from Savage river until we felt like turning around on the park road. Saw the mountain, saw some wildlife, and pedaled into a ferocious headwind on the way back. Was a wonderful day to ride.
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IMG_20220604_125551.JPG
 

chris_the_wrench

Spinning wrenches and throwing spokes.
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Chinook Pass
Desiring a change of pace, I left the mtb home and took the rare for me gravel ride!
I haven't been up there in a couple of years, I imagine that road is getting pretty dusty and washboarded out?
 

Tom K.

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I haven't been up there in a couple of years, I imagine that road is getting pretty dusty and washboarded out?

High dust level, but I was early enough to be OK.

Washboarding not so bad. I was ready for worse.

Headwind all the way "down" Star Meadows Road and Farm to Market back to Bissell School. Grrrrr.
 

firebanex

Making fresh tracks
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Our gravel ride on Sunday turned into a grassy field. We were exploring the flood plain part of the flood control project/Moose Creek Dam area. Found some rather good gravel roads and trails out there. This particular spot we were trying to see if we could ride all the way to the dam.. turns out it's possible if you just keep riding through about 2 miles of grass and no trail.
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firebanex

Making fresh tracks
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Fairbanks, Alaska
It was real slow. Felt like I wrapped half the field worth of grass into my rear derailleur. Worst part was not being able to tell if it was going to dip into a swamp or stay dry since we were ridding through a flood plain.
 

Erik Timmerman

So much better than a pro
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Nov 12, 2015
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Any port in a storm. I thought I was going to avoid the storms today. I stopped at this RR station next to the rail trail for a while, but I had to ride in the rain to make it home before dark. Checking out new nearly finished sections of the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail. It's scheduled to be done by end of October 92 miles from Swanton to St Johnsbury. I'm not sure they will make it, but they are getting close. There are at least two big bridges that still need steel.
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This one is just a creepy house I saw doing the a gravel "race" downeast. I rode it with my wife and we pretty much were the last ones in. Radlers and pizza were good, gravel roads were fairly rugged. We will go back next year. Anyway, I figured in the land of Stephen King, this house has to be haunted. There were lots of tiny one man cemeteries too, but did not see any Pet Sematary's. I did keep singing Ramones songs though.
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Rudi Riet

AKA songfta AKA randomduck - a USSS coach, as well
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A week ago today I went on a multi-surface ride in northeastern Connecticut. I'd built the route in RideWithGPS a while back, before their road surface database was as robust as it is these days.

Most of the gravel was in Yale Forest. The stuff on Boston Hollow Road is old hat, a Designated Happy Place® road for me. The Moots posed for a picture.

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A few miles later there was a cue on the GPS track that told me to bear right onto "Unpaved Road" (yes, that was the official name in the route). There was a gate and a sign saying no motor vehicle access, but it is an officially sanctioned passage through Yale Forest - CT's version of Vermont's Class 4 roads, for all intents and purposes.

It was bliss.

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Most of this road was covered in grass, moss, dirt, rocks, sand, and gravel that had certainly not seen a motor vehicle on its surface in many years. There were a few water bars that required attention but it was easy rolling on the Moots with 28mm Conti GP5000 tires. Sure, some legacy MTB skills came in handy, but the climbs, descents, bends, and everything was totally doable. All-road bicycles are a great thing!

The final stretch of Yale Forest gravel came as sunset was approaching and I still had 20 miles to go before arriving home (no worry - I had fully charged lights and plenty of moving reflective surfaces, including the entire surface of my cycling shoes) but it was a corker. It had a short ascent that had been washed out to the point where my 28mm slick tires would not do it justice - a 150 meter hike-a-bike that was fine, if awkward with SPD-SL cleats. But this was the payoff:

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Honestly, it was a great day on two wheels. The foliage wasn't close to peak but was lovely, all the same.
 
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Rudi Riet

AKA songfta AKA randomduck - a USSS coach, as well
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Oh, hey, congrats on the Everesting jersey.

Thanks! I've earned two of 'em: the 2021 (pictured) and the 2022. This one is great for foliage season with its orange strikes.
 

Tom K.

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I'm in the 'orange matches too well' camp - and thus deliberately wearing light blue ;)

Nonsense. Orange is the new beige.

Watch for it at enduro races everywhere next season! ;)
 

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