hbs wrote:Hollis and Mason have a few gravel roads. Further North into Lyndeborough, Greenfield, Francestown and New Boston there are a lot. 😊
To that list add the the nearby towns of Greenfield, Peterborough, Bennington, Weare, Antrim, Mont Vernon, and Harrisville. If you want a good starting point to start exploring you can get cue sheets and GPS GPX files for the Rose Mountain Rumble here: http://www.rosemountainrumble.com/courses/
I also post occasional gravel rides which I lead for the AMC in this area. I post announcements of these rides on this Gravel Forum. We'd love to have you join us.
Thanks, I have done the Raid Rockingham a few times and I am thinking about the Rose Mtn Rumble, and Kearsage Klassic this year as well. Will check out the course for the Rumble before going
bobknh wrote: To that list add the the nearby towns of Greenfield, Peterborough, Bennington, Weare, Antrim, Mont Vernon, and Harrisville. If you want a good starting point to start exploring you can get cue sheets and GPS GPX files for the Rose Mountain Rumble here: http://www.rosemountainrumble.com/courses/
I also post occasional gravel rides which I lead for the AMC in this area. I post announcements of these rides on this Gravel Forum. We'd love to have you join us.
bobknh did you see my other post over at the Rose Mt. Rumble?
I am hoping to get some tire selection advice for the Rose Mt. Rumble. Every gravel ride/race I have done so far seems to have different conditions. What I have available to me right now is the Clement xplor MSO IN 700 X 40 that came stock on the bike or a set of Kenda Flintridge Pro in 700 x 40 that I have over on another bike.
I ride a lot on the area and have used the RMR routes as starting points for rides.
I think my best advice for tire selection in this area is not to overthink it or overdo it. While there are some rough areas and th occasional road that is more of a hiking trail overall the dirt roads are maintained and of high quality. There are some STEEP dirt climbs too.
I usually am running the Compass Snoqualamie Pass 700x44 and feel that more width and less weight is preferable to heavy tread. The compass tires are my go to though I prefer to run them with tubes. At low pressure in rural areas flats are rarely an issue.
If I want more tread and heavier duty knowing I’ll be 90%+ on dirt and that road conditions could be loose on climbs or descents I really like the Soma Cazadero 42mm. It’s very supple and only around 500grams but has nice side lugs and a continuous center tread. They are slower in pavement than the compass tires but he center tread makes for a very good rolling feel on smooth surfaces and the lugs help a lot with traction on loose stuff. I also feel the raised center tread helps ward off flats.
I’ve run a lot of bi tires on my gravel bike out here and I always go back to these 2.
I ride a lot on the area and have used the RMR routes as starting points for rides.
I think my best advice for tire selection in this area is not to overthink it or overdo it. While there are some rough areas and th occasional road that is more of a hiking trail overall the dirt roads are maintained and of high quality. There are some STEEP dirt climbs too.
Thanks for that info bikepunksondope. I do have a question for you since you have ridden some of these trails/roads. I have been on 7-8 gravel races so far. Each ride has been different.
Farmers Daughter Chatham had mud
Dirty Pecan had clay
Bootlegger had loose gravel
Gravel Race up Spruce Knob last weekend had tight gravel and you could let your bike run as fast as you could. That was new for me.
What bothers me more than anything is loose gravel and especially on roads that I don't know. I am not good on loose gravel and downhills. Curious if this course has any loose gravel on the downhills?
You are sure to see at least some short sections where things could have a little loose stuff. It’s mostly pretty hard packed. But sometimes you end up on short rough/rocky/wet sections or if the roads have been maintained recently it can be a bit softer than normal. Heavy rains occasionally rough up hills too.
But overall mostly packed and pretty fast or packed with a little chunkiness.
You are sure to see at least some short sections where things could have a little loose stuff. It’s mostly pretty hard packed. But sometimes you end up on short rough/rocky/wet sections or if the roads have been maintained recently it can be a bit softer than normal. Heavy rains occasionally rough up hills too.
But overall mostly packed and pretty fast or packed with a little chunkiness.
In general, I agree with the bikepunk. I've run 35 mm Compass Bon Jon's with tubes and tubeless, 38mm Gravel King SK's tubeless and with tubes, and Schwalbe G-One's tubeless. While most of the unpaved town roads are in good shape, you never know if something more challenging will pop up. Chunky gravel on washed out sections, sandy stretches after long dry days etc. The towns frequently re-grade the dirt roads. Surprise - that easy flat road that you ride every day, suddenly is covered with 2" of soft dirt, small rocks and gravel. A lot depends on your skills and experience. If you have a mountain bike or cycle cross background, you wont find any of this too bothersome. OTOH, if like me, you lack these skills, then you will be more comfortable on something with more bite and sidewall strength like the 40mm G-One, tubeless. BTW, there are 2 sections of unmaintained double track trails on the 100K course. I rode them last week with my weekly ride buddy, who is a very experienced mountain biker. My buddy, had no difficulty riding them with 40mm gravel tires with tubes. I walked both!
bobknh wrote: In general, I agree with the bikepunk. I've run 35 mm Compass Bon Jon's with tubes and tubeless, 38mm Gravel King SK's tubeless and with tubes, and Schwalbe G-One's tubeless. While most of the unpaved town roads are in good shape, you never know if something more challenging will pop up. Chunky gravel on washed out sections, sandy stretches after long dry days etc. The towns frequently re-grade the dirt roads. Surprise - that easy flat road that you ride every day, suddenly is covered with 2" of soft dirt, small rocks and gravel. A lot depends on your skills and experience. If you have a mountain bike or cycle cross background, you wont find any of this too bothersome. OTOH, if like me, you lack these skills, then you will be more comfortable on something with more bite and sidewall strength like the 40mm G-One, tubeless. BTW, there are 2 sections of unmaintained double track trails on the 100K course. I rode them last week with my weekly ride buddy, who is a very experienced mountain biker. My buddy, had no difficulty riding them with 40mm gravel tires with tubes. I walked both!
Thanks for that response bobknh. I probably am that OTOH kind of rider as I never did cyclocross or mt. bike riding. For that reason I probably will switch out to the Kenda Flintridge Pro's for a little bit of a bit. Any chance you would be free on Thursday or Friday before the ride/race to do the extra loop? I would kind of like to know what I am getting into when I finish the 100k ride and now what I am getting into before I try it.
Thanks for that response bobknh. I probably am that OTOH kind of rider as I never did cyclocross or mt. bike riding. For that reason I probably will switch out to the Kenda Flintridge Pro's for a little bit of a bit. Any chance you would be free on Thursday or Friday before the ride/race to do the extra loop? I would kind of like to know what I am getting into when I finish the 100k ride and now what I am getting into before I try it.
Thanks Zman
Let's take this discussion to the private e-mail system.
