Wow Road Fan,
Much good information in the post above, thanks.
There was a touch of sarcasm in my comment about my rear wheel passing the front, that has never actually happened. The amount of gravel on these roads changes frequently as does the frequency of other foreign objects on the road. They replenish the gravel on the roads frequently, resulting in major changes between where they started and finished dumping. The road is just barely wide enough for two cars to pass, some places it is a single lane, with pull offs for passing. There are very steep drops off the sides of the road. The “pavement” ends at the very edge of steep drops into ditches or steep drops down the side of the mountain, or both. The point being that small skids or lapses in consintration can have dire consequences.
The challenge I face on the roads I ride on has to do with constant change. Many steep hills, sharp turns/switch backs, and frequent changes in how much gravel/leaves/moss/sand/dirt may be on the road. The road is in deep woods, so dead wood, lage amounts of leaves, fallen trees...are frequent too, especially after storms. There are tons of squirrels, dear, birds, snakes and the occasional black bear. The Squirrels are particularly good at running into a riders path at the last second. I do ring a bell constantly while riding but dear & squirrels still seem to wait to run out in front of me. These factors may result in one having to brake unexpectedly. I understand that practising proper braking still helps.
At least for now I use flat pedals and a riser bar in an attempt to deal with my unique conditions, which may be more typical for MTN bikers than “road bikers”. On the plus side, traffic on the “roads” I ride is light to null and much slower.
Still, experience is a great teacher. I was ridding “my” roads on a 27.5+ MTN bike, which was geared better for all the hills. I do find I am increasingly able to stay more in the middle of my chain set on the lighter bike which I just adapted to a 1X, GX Eagle, group set.
I will check out the Yoga site you mentioned.