I am a road cyclist, at heart. Even when I’m in a car, I’ll daydream about riding the same road I’m driving. I’ll imagine how the tarmac might feel as my wheels carry me across it, the wind, the smells in the air. I’ll imagine how my lungs are expanding and contracting, cleansing me a little with every exhale. In my mind’s legs, I’ll feel the pressure building as I imagine myself rising out of the saddle to power over a pitch. I know I would feel the pain of such a ride, but I can’t really imagine what it would feel like. I can never really imagine pain.
The paved road is where we are the closest we will ever be to achieving flight. To restrict ourselves to tarmac, however, is to restrict ourselves to those places in this world which are most travelled. The most beautiful places do not lie at the end of such roads; they are hidden away, where those with some element of imagination might venture to look for them. A two-lane dirt track, perhaps, or a forest road that winds off beyond the damp forest and on to places unknown.
On gravel and dirt, we find a completely different sensation from that on the road. Certainly, many of the elements are still there, but the terrain demands a different kind of harmony; we dart along from one side of the road to another, looking for the best bits where the holes are smaller and the gravel is held together more. The dust or mud kicked up by our tires hovers in the air about us and covers our lips, teeth, and tongue. Suddenly, we taste the road as much as feel it.
Being away from traffic and in the wilderness awakens something primal in our spirits. The smell of damp dirt, moss, and bark or the baking scent of dry pine needles flushes the city from your senses and immediately awakens a calmer Self. My soul is at peace when I return home from such a ride.
The road is where my heart lies, but gravel is where I find my soul.
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Variety is the spice of life, and so often folk commit fully to one discipline only to lose the love (obviously speaking for myself here!)
I am positively crackling with excitement at the moment, waiting for my Crux to arrive on the 1st September, and get out on some different terrain - the fact that I have already bought my new wheels before the bike has arrived evidences the hours spent trawling the web sucking in the new air of the Cx gear
That said, I still have a bit of work to do, like adding some hubs and spokes...
@Weldertron
Not especially. I'm open to that possibility, but also remember the ride quality of my first steel racer 30 yrs ago. I've read about recent innovations in forming and manipulating alu that have resulted in improved ride quality. Suggestions?
@Dr C
I think the wood accents are especially nice...
@ChrisO
IIRC you one posted a picture of your cat sat on that exact same tiling. You've been exposed as a recumbent rider that posts pictures of cats on the internet. Dodgy.
@gregorio
I ride a Giant TCX for my cross rig, and have had no complaints about it at all. Ample mud clearance, fairly light, comfortable top tube for shouldering, handles very well.
The frame with a carbon fork can be had for 750, or a complete TCX1, with full sram rival, can be had for about 1600.
The only downside is you will be bantered for owning a Giant.
However, this beauty was recently released. Don't know how you feel about disk brakes though.
@Chris I bow to your superior ceramic recognition.
But speaking of cats and tiles...
@EricW
This is also true riding cobbles; its this second dimension to the harmony. Mind you, there is nothing - nothing - like smooth tarmac, but that extra dimension is really awesome and also cleansing in its own way.
One of the really amazing and unique things about cobbles is changing from tarmac to cobbles. The cobbles are rougher than anything you can imagine, and that contrasted with long sections on pavement make this magical combination that I've never found anywhere else.
Might depend on your mountainbike..
I like the sound of this! Pavé Alex rides a classic, early 1900's fixie and organizes a fixie Roubaix. Nuts.
At Strade
Here he is before Retro Ronde.
@gregorio
You might be able to find some custom frames in that price range. Look at All-City and Civilian for production steel. Look for used "sport tourers" if you don't mind older used stuff. [rant]The sport tourer was basically the everyman's bike before recreational riders decided they needed to "train" and have pro race bikes which led to the creation of the bastardized comfort and endurance race bikes of today. Seriously, all this talk of gravel grinders and I see the '81 Fuji Gran Tourer I started on in my basement which is basically everything a gravel bike needs.[/rant]
This article has had me looking at CX bikes, curse you Velominati.
@ChrisO Lets not get carried away.
@Sauterelle
Have a nice descend with a good descender. Follow them, and let them explain what they think about. Imitation is the best way to get good at descending partly because the less thinking you do, the better. Especially when its thinking of that sort.
And remember, don't stare at the mailbox. (8:19 if the link doesn't jump to it.)