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#1
12-16-2019, 05:56 PM
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gravel question...
hey folks...no offense but I live way out in the boonies in vermont....we have hardly any "gravel" even out here...so is this a local thing around your houses and neighborhoods? I am just trying to imagine the wave...do you drive a bit to find such things? or are they around your neighborhoods? As a guy who lives way out in the country and we might have about 5 percent of our roads like this anymore I am trying to understand the fever...
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#2
12-16-2019, 06:05 PM
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i think you're not looking hard enough! vermont has tons and tons of good gravel roads.
some of the d2r2 courses go through vermont! to answer the question - no i dont think many of us are blessed to go out for a long ride and hit gravel typed roads right out of our doors, but there are tons out there, especially in the great state of VT. there are also lots of cool events in the northeast worth going to, or using the routes and riding on your own. if you live in VT and have not come out to do deerfield, you're missing out on a great chunk of cycling fun.
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#4
12-16-2019, 06:18 PM
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Quote:
not sure how you took my reply the wrong way, but if you did, i apologize, i did not mean any offense, just adding some food for thought. yes, i live in NJ. we do have a bunch of really, really good gravel in NJ that i can reach from my house without driving to, but i also do occasionally put my bike in my truck and drive to excellent riding in NJ and beyond. example: 
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#5
12-16-2019, 06:20 PM
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According to the InterWeb, Vermont has more dirt roads than paved, so maybe you're just looking in the wrong boonies.
 Some useful links ... https://gravelmap.com/browse/vermont http://www.happyvermont.com/2015/10/...ds-to-explore/ https://www.vpr.org/post/vermonts-gr...lists#stream/0 https://www.outsideonline.com/239773...ain-bike-rides Enjoy!
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#6
12-16-2019, 06:26 PM
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I get what you are saying, just because you are in vt does not mean you are next to good gravel or any gravel at all. Hell, maybe its 30 miles away but getting there and back is already a decent size ride. I am in the catskills and believe it or not, right by my house there is not a lot, at least not something that connects for a long time. That said, within 1 hour drive I have a TON of options.
But if I was you? i would go to ridewithgps, search for your town and in the keyword type gravel or dirt and see what it tells you
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#7
12-16-2019, 06:28 PM
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#8
12-16-2019, 06:32 PM
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Quote:
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#9
12-16-2019, 06:36 PM
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Quote:
Here in the Pacific Northwest, gravel riding is mostly NFS or DNR roads in the mountain foothills. Some of it is well-groomed hardpack, but much of it is rougher double-track, made from mostly-rocky aggregate that varies highly road to road. The riding is not particularly technical, but the roughness encourages the use of fairly wide tires. Everyone I ride gravel with tends to use at least 40mm, unless their bike can't fit that big; my own gravel bike is a drop-bar conversion of an old 26er, and my tires currently measure 52mm. Since the aggregate is usually rocky and there's not a lot of mud, aggressive tread patterns aren't super important; my 52s are actually slicks, which helps them perform better and last longer when they're seeing a lot of pavement. Since the gravel roads are in the mountains and built on the cheap, it's helpful to have very low gears. It's not uncommon for a road to average more than 12% for a kilometer at a time, and I know of one road with a two-mile stretch that averages 15%. As such, people usually gear their gravel bikes much lower than their paved road bikes. I'm usually happy on regional paved roads with a 34-28, but my gravel bike has a 24-32, and occasionally even that leaves me grinding uncomfortable cadences. But, that's me and my gravel. If you don't have the Cascade mountains nearby, your gravel roads will look totally different. They may or may not even exist. What makes sense in a gravel bike may be very different, and whether a gravel bike makes sense may also be different. Personally I don't ride gravel for the sake of gravel being gravel: rather, a gravel bike is useful for riding fun and beautiful low-traffic routes that happen to be unpaved.
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#11
12-16-2019, 07:22 PM
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This is about 6 miles from my old house.
 This is about 8 miles from my current house (and it's been that surface for about 3 miles at this point). Though it doesn't look like it, this road is maintained by the county. 
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"I am just a blacksmith" - Dario Pegoretti
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#12
12-17-2019, 05:30 AM
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Quote:
Last edited by marciero; 12-17-2019 at 05:32 AM.
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#13
12-17-2019, 06:11 AM
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When I was living in Londonderry, Vermont, my house was on a gravel road. In Landgrove, the next town over, most of the roads are gravel. Route 121, a state road, has a stretch of about 8 miles that is gravel through Windham and Grafton. Andover and Chester, other neighboring towns, have numerous gravel roads as well. Your area may vary.
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#14
12-17-2019, 06:14 AM
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gravel question...
  This starts less than a mile from my house. This is down in the valley about a 6 mile ride from my houseI have plenty of other dirt/gravel roads that start about 4 miles north of my house as well. All of these roads and trails are barely used by cars/trucks and are pretty nice riding. All these routes incorporate some paved country roads as well that are low traffic. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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#15
12-17-2019, 06:17 AM
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Quote:
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