My son and his wife rode on one of our paved trails with some friends who they describe as roadies ( simply meaning more than they are with their hybrids) and that they have road bikes.

So, at one place where they were taking a break there was a small stretch of grass - their road biking friends picked up their bikes and carried them through the grassy stretch -

I thought that a little odd - figured maybe they were concerned about losing traction?

I just bought my first road bike and wondered if I should be extra careful on grass or similar?

Riding on grass is no problem.

I suppose if the ground is really soft or muddy from a recent downpour, you might bog down, and maybe get stuck (especially if you're new to riding), but "normal" grass is fine.

Problems with grass: It's not comfortable to ride on with skinny, high PSI tires; No traction, can be difficult to gain any sort of momentum; There may be hidden debris that can pierce your tire. That's about it as far as I can tell.

Yes, be cautious. If you move off pavement onto grass, sand, or gravel, you can lose traction and will also likely lose speed/slow down...a tad sooner than you may expect)

For what it's worth, I'd probably be more concerned about walking in my cleats than riding my bike over most fields.

Grass isn't a problem. I frequently ride off the side of the road when making pitstops.

And don't forget, Lance took a detour down a grass hill to avoid a crash.

Ohhhhhhh THAT kind of grass.

In hat case, I have nothing to add. Sorry. I'm atta here.

population studies would suggest that grass is much more of an issue for the MTB crowd.

Bring sufficient quantities of Doritos and should be ok.

I was at a charity ride where parking was on grass, and quite a few folks were carrying their bikes to the paved road, which I thought was odd. I overheard one of them saying they were worried about burrs (goatheads, etc) getting picked up by the tires.

Depends on the visibility. In thicker grass who knows what little rocks, pits, and objects are in there that could bend your wheel or pierce the tire. Otherwise, going slow should be fine.

I've ridden in grass with both my road bike and my MTB. I don't have to worry about goatheads, so the only thing I've noticed is how much the additional friction adds to the pedaling effort.

In soggy winter Portland I wouldn't recommend it. However this summer when most things are dry, riding on grass is slower but doable

Normal grass where you can see things I would just ride through (granted it wasn't a long distance or anything).

Heck, I took my bike through a mile of thick sand a few weeks ago on a road that Google said would get better (which it didn't, ended up being a bog). You can usually take your bike through much more than you think, if you take care of it properly.

Yeah, go back to the MTB forum!

It's called cyclocross.

Yep, I've done it during goathead season, but I dont think that's much of a worry right now. We took a grass detour one evening on a group ride in the fall that resulted in 3 flat tires because of those evil suckers.

I'll ride anything...till I fall

I'd like to keep my 3 month record of no flats going. No grass for me.
Might not be a problem for you but for me, litter bugs are one in every 5 around here.

Much harder on grass when clipped in.

Only grass issue I have had was with taller grass, got a bunch of it caught in the rear derailluer and though it din't cause any mechanical issues it was a huge/messy PIA to get out.

i purposely start riding over loose sand, gravel and grass just to get acclimated to handling in case i run into the situation where i run off the course for some reason...I've had to go wide or cut a turn sharp in some pretty loose stuff and it helps to not panic in those situations and know how your bike will handle

Yes.

And if you underestimate a grassy hill and you don't have enough gear, you're forked.


Mainly, though, I would avoid the grass due to fear of goatheads and even ordinary stickers.

Here's the problem with grass: geese **** in it, and if you get a flat right after, you might want to clean your tire before you fix it, or you'll wind up with **** on your hand.