Originally Posted by
kbarch
Show us your rando bars!
Gravel? I can't imagine intentionally riding a route that included gravel on tires less than 2" wide.
Oh, and congrats on making such good time!
Thanks, and ...
If I were still in Manitoba, and it was suggested that the route would include gravel, I wouldn't have ridden it. Even on a mtn bike. The gravel roads in Manitoba are made of small boulders ... well, OK, each sharp and pointy rock is between the size of a golf ball and baseball, and the minute the road starts to pack down, they're out there again putting on another layer of rocks.
However, gravel here in Tasmania (and Victoria too, for that matter) is quite different. It is well crushed ... mostly pea sized, but in some places even finer than that, like course sand. But they also let the roads pack down so that you can usually find a track or two through it that is almost as hard and solid as the asphalt paving.
We rode most of this route a couple weeks ago, and it was well packed then ... we flew through the two gravel sections, on the part of the route we did, like we were on pavement. However, this time, the gravel sections looked and felt a little more dug up, so it was a bit more challenging finding a decent route through it.
Knowing that might be the case, I opted to go with my touring bicycle which has, I think, 32s with some tread.