dgodave

Just curious.
For all you "gravel" riders, how would you characterize most of your gravel road type riding on my quite contrived 1-5 spectrum below?

1. Fast, racy, performance oriented, perhaps mixed with pavement, not too rough.
2.
3. (the middle)
4.
5. Exploring, maybe touring-ish, mixed with really rough stuff. More about getting remote.

dgodave

I'm a 4.

In reality, most of my gravel rides arent all that rough, because I live in gravel road country and do lots of lunchtime rides on well maintained gravel roads.

But I prefer exploring, going slow, and being ready for quite rough roads, including some light MTBing if needed - which I also do from my house.

So my AWOL with 47c tires suits me well.

Barrettscv 

I voted "4", but most of my rides are a mixture of pavement, smooth gravel and soft, poorly maintained gravel. Also, 50% of the route can be flat, while a few of the climbs are more than 15%.

athrowawaynic

Uh... the reason I got a gravel bike instead of a road bike or mountain bike was so that I could do 1-5.

dgodave

Oh no! Youve revealed the flaw in my poll.

Maybe just pick the one that your bike of choice is best suited for.

athrowawaynic

Bike is probably made for 3.

My preference is 4.

My bike handling skills put me at 1. This explains why I have a bent spoke.

kuroba

I'd say most of my gravel rides are 4. Local gravel routes usually include hills and I suck at climbing specially off-road. Since I'm new at this and don't know many of the routes the exploring factor is big for me. Not really rough stuff. And I couldn't be fast or racy even if I tried lol.

FrontRanger

My riding is somewhere between 4-5 on that scale. I guess I'm what you'd call "gravel-plus."

FlashBazbo

I'm not sure where I fit. My gravel riding is race pace on rough stuff. Smooth, well-maintained, civilized gravel roads (what we call "rich man's gravel" or "taxpayer gravel") bore me fairly quickly.

I like it fast and I like it on the borderline of what most would consider MTB trails. Generally, the less maintenance the better, but my knees don't want any jumps or big drops. Pavement is always a disappointment. Flat, straight gravel is only good for getting to better gravel elsewhere. If there were a way for me to make a living in Emporia, KS, I could move there just for the gravel.

dgodave

I see.

Yeah, my poll tried to capture too many dimensions. Speed/performance & terrain/style... all in one. I'm too ambitious!

grolby

Speed and terrain ruggedness are separate axes. You can be interested in going fast on really rugged and remote terrain. And in touring on relatively smooth gravel roads.

wheelsmcgee

Unfortunately I'd be a 1-2...Not that I'm some sort of racer, I just end up going out and doing fastish 1.5-2 hour rides. I'd rather be a 4-5, doing all day or perhaps all weekend bikepacking exploration oriented rides...Not worrying about time, pace or anything else. Maybe when my kids grow up and life's obligations taper off.

ksryder

There might be. How are you at driving cattle?

FlashBazbo

Pretty good, actually. I grew up driving cattle on horseback or on foot. No experience doing it from a 4-wheeler, though.

I wonder how it would work out from a gravel bike.

ksryder

I feel like a fatbike would be the way to go.

I remember reading something by Baxter Black years ago about the difference between farmers and ranchers: a farmer will drive cattle using a truck, ATV, motorcycle, helicopter, ultralight, or anything else but a horse.

A rancher uses a horse.

FlashBazbo

Horses are overrated. I did 99% of my ranch work from a horse. But one day, in 100+ degree weather, my horse decided it was time to call it a day. Bucked me off, my foot caught in the stirrup, and he dragged me over 3/4 mile (and through a barbwire gate) at a full run.

I didn't look real good afterwards.

One advantage of a bike: They don't drag you very far.

unterhausen

there is one ride I like to do that features a downhill stretch of what the Dept. of Natural Resources calls "jeep trail." There is a sign that suggests you don't want to use it. Sometimes I feel like I'm going to hurt my brain on that stretch, needs suspension. I would say that's #5 on the poll. Not real fond of that stretch of road, but it makes the ride better. There are other jeep trails that are about as rough, but not as fast, so my bike and brain do fine.

I think our gravel roads near here are somewhere between 2-4. I really like smooth gravel, it's fun.

dgodave

I like exploring and seeing whats out in the country. This typically involves gravel roads that arent too brutal, but often with stretches of really rough stuff, just to make it all hook up.

I find myself riding maintained gravel, pavement, rough doubletrack, and singletrack in the same ride on the AWOL... sometimes all just between my house and town.

caloso

1.

When it's a relief to get on the gravel that's smoother than the so-called "paved" portions of our poorly maintained NorCal country roads.