Hybrid Bicycles - Riding on gravel roads with my Trek 7100

I was able to beat the ridiculous 90 degree heat today :bang: by setting my alarm at 6:30am and going for a bike ride near a local lake. I've always owned junk mountain bikes from retail establishments with huge knobby tires so I was a little nervous venturing down a gravel road I wanted to explore. With the hybrid bike I so proudly own the tires don't look like they are meant for any type of trail riding, period. But, they are a little beefier than race bike slicks. Anyway, I took the road, hoping I wouldn't pop a tire and surprisingly they did just fine. I managed to take this access road back to a dog park and along the way saw some older gents flying electric airplanes. I stopped and started talking to them and one guy let me fly his plane. Pretty cool. Long story short the tires held up fine and I wasn't nervous heading back at all. The road was only about a mile and it twisted and turned but still, I wasn't sure a hybrid type bike was truly meant to go off smooth pavement. I wanted to find out now before I rode 30 miles from home one day and hit a gravel road.

Getting a quality bike and exploring my area is my new favorite thing to do in life. What freedom! Who would of thought I'd be flying an electric airplane this morning. :thumb: Getting out there and being with nature and nice human beings who enjoy the same types of things is great. Now, if I could only move away from this dreaded city where the heat is so unbearable. I'd love to move up North or Northeast area. Vermont would be nice. I dislike Southern Ohio and the hot, humid weather. Yuck! You have to get up pretty early to even enjoy a few hours outside. :twitchy:

But, I do love my bike!

I was able to beat the ridiculous 90 degree heat today :bang: by setting my alarm at 6:30am and going for a bike ride near a local lake. I've always owned junk mountain bikes from retail establishments with huge knobby tires so I was a little nervous venturing down a gravel road I wanted to explore. With the hybrid bike I so proudly own the tires don't look like they are meant for any type of trail riding, period. But, they are a little beefier than race bike slicks. Anyway, I took the road, hoping I wouldn't pop a tire and surprisingly they did just fine. I managed to take this access road back to a dog park and along the way saw some older gents flying electric airplanes. I stopped and started talking to them and one guy let me fly his plane. Pretty cool. Long story short the tires held up fine and I wasn't nervous heading back at all. The road was only about a mile and it twisted a turned but still, I wasn't sure the hybrid type bike was meant to go off smooth pavement. I wanted to find out now before I rode 30 miles from home one day and hit a gravel road.

Getting a quality bike and exploring my area is my new favorite thing to do in life. What freedom! Who would of thought I'd be flying an electric airplane this morning. :thumb: Getting out there and being with nature and nice human beings who enjoy the same types of things is great. Now, if I could only move away from this dreaded city where the heat is so unbearable. I'd love to move up North or Northeast area. Vermont would be nice. I dislike Southern Ohio and the hot, humid weather. Yuck! You have to get up pretty early to even enjoy a few hours outside. :twitchy:

But, I do love my bike!

You think Ohio is hot?

Try Houston, TX. From June through September it's hotter than a $2 hooker on nickle night.

Those 35mm tires will work fine on most surfaces. I'd not go mudding or do any serious mountain biking w/ them, but for hard packed dirt roads, or moderate gravel surfaces they'll work just fine. They're not that different from the 27" x 1 1/4 tires I used to ride the erie canal towpath with years ago.

I know, Southern Ohio gets hot but yes, not as bad as some spots. There is always going to be someplace hotter but still, I don't like heat at all. I should be living in Canada or something. I love cooler to cold weather and that's why my favorite time of year in Winter. I do plan to ride all year long and I can't wait for colder weather, seriously. It's much easier to dress for the cold weather than try and suffer through the heat in my opinion.

BTW, I was almost born a Texan. Mom was 9 months pregnant with me when they moved from Ft. Worth to Cincinnati so yeah, I guess it could have been worse.

Thanks for the comments on the tires. They look so small and thin compared to my mountain bike. I don't plan to be going off pavement unless I have to but it's nice to have the extra rubber when you need it.

Today wasn't that hot, what are you complaining about? I was on the Loveland bike path today at 2pm, I didn't think it was bad at all. (I'll admit that there is a good amount of shade on most of the path though. I thought today was a nice day, and I really had no complaints about the heat. (I rode from Loveland to Miamiville, about 12 miles round trip)

That sounds like a good ride to me! I'm with you, I cannot stand the heat. It was in the 90s here and I don't normally bother touching my bikes on days like this. Mid 80s is about the warmest I care to ride in, and even then it's a bit much.

I rode a little over 9 miles along the I-275 bike path yesterday evening while it was still around 90 degrees and did another 12 miles today around town while it was still mid-80s out. I felt like crap when I first started but I'm glad I did it as my one goal this summer is to get into better shape.

Today wasn't that hot, what are you complaining about? I was on the Loveland bike path today at 2pm, I didn't think it was bad at all. (I'll admit that there is a good amount of shade on most of the path though. I thought today was a nice day, and I really had no complaints about the heat. (I rode from Loveland to Miamiville, about 12 miles round trip)

Because anything over 80 degrees I complain. I've never enjoyed the heat.