Sunday, October 18, 2020

Sing me the Delta, gravel and rivers

When LanceOldStrong suggested a ride, Tricia and I suggested gravel. We'd set up our commuter bikes bikes as gravel bikes for an off-pavement tour in Montana that was pandemic-cancelled and never really got to try them out. Dan, champion route designer, came up with this 20% gravel 20% crap-road route that meandered along the North Mokelumne River on levee roads near farmlands near Rio Vista and Isleton.

Tricia's Vaya with 50mm tires and my Ti gravel bike on 650B wheels and 46mm tires helped keep us from rattling apart on the washboard sections.

But holy smokes, fatter tires are slower than 23mm tires.

At least there was no wind, and a good time was had on our first away from home ride in ages.