I took the Santa Cruz Tallboy LTc with urban tires (in anticipation of bad roads) out to explore some more small towns last weekend in North Texas.
Denison. North of Sherman just below the Oklahoma border. Much more charm and less depressing than Sherman. Mid-century architecture abounds. Efforts to revitalize historic Main Street ... antique shops, Studebaker museum (that always seems to be closed) ... the fat tires came in handy for some red brick streets, cracks and potholes. If you thought Texas was flat, Denison has some serious hills ... I used ALL the gears in my 3x10 drivetrain, often within 200 feet. I rode about 42 miles, north to the edge of Lake Texoma and south almost to Sherman on the small farm roads. Very little traffic. I could see living here, but not sure where to ride my road bikes.
Paris. There's a rail-to-trail from the Eiffel Tower (yeah, they kinda have one) that goes east to Blossom and beyond, where it quickly becomes unusable. I enjoyed the scenery, water fountains and portable toilets along the way, but the pavement was cracked and bumpy, which the full-suspension bike soaked up. Another 42-mile ride, though a good chunk was past Blossom where I struggled through a barely usable double track with some deep sections of gravel (could have used my dirt tires for that part) and ended up using a paved more major road to loop back westward. I haven't explored Paris proper with the bike yet, but I know the streets are of usual small-town disrepair. They do sponsor the Tour de Paris in the summer, which I've done a couple of times on the farm-to-market roads, which are smoother.
