Pavement Meeting Dirt

Road riding. Not a big fan of doing it. But often a necessary evil in being a mountain bike racer (even being a semi-retired armature, beer loving mid pack at best one).

BUT, but riding the pavement until the the road turns to dirt is a different story. And I am a fan.

I've been seeking out the rural mountain roads and forest roads in the local lumps called the Laurel Mountains of PA for some time now. I've always used my 29er hard tail for those rides. But this past weekend I took to them using a freshly purchased cross bike. The result was a lot of this....

I learned a lot about bike handling (and my lack there of), tire pressure (way too much), canti brakes ("brakes?"), and the speed in which I can max out a 12/25 cassette on a climb (VERY quickly) during that 3 hour ride.

OK, enough about me, I blathered enough already my inability to haul 200 pounds of human up mountain dirt roads maxed out in 36/25. The reason for this post is to link up a couple good articles, and a video, so here we go...

There is a site called Velodirt.com out of Portland, Oregon that is keen on seeking out the dirt roads of the the PNW. I was reading that site when I stumbled upon link to the Rapha blog and a piece written by Jeremy Dunn of Embrocation Magazine. I highly recommend checking out both the VeloDirt.com site and Dunn's piece on the joy of riding gravel and dirt roads on Rapha.

As long as you promise to not to be brainwashed into buying the $550 Rapha Tailored Jacket (Swank? Surely, but really, you could use that cash for a new frame or fork!!) I also recommend viewing the video below from the 2010 Rapha NW Gentlemen's Race. While only 20% of the race was on dirt/gravel, it is another fine example of riding beyond the pavement and taking on the challenge of dirt and gravel.

Big climbs, mid ride meat stop, beer, and dirt roads. That's livin'! Maybe I WILL get me one of those $550 jackets after all. I kid. I'm a kidder. Or an ass.

The above mentioned VeloDirt site also took part in the Gentlemen's Race and has some pics and words up on their site. CHECK IT.

OK, time to got order that bigger cassette and mountain derailleur! Of course I am in the process of moving to the non mountainous state of Michigan... Maybe I should just stick with the current set up, and get some studded cross tires!

Jason Mahokey
xxcmag.com