Go Back  Bike Forums > Bike Forums > Cyclocross and Gravelbiking (Recreational)
Reload this Page >

Do you ride or drive to your gravel ride?

Notices
Cyclocross and Gravelbiking (Recreational) This has to be the most physically intense sport ever invented. It's high speed bicycle racing on a short off road course or riding the off pavement rides on gravel like : "Unbound Gravel". We also have a dedicated Racing forum for the Cyclocross Hard Core Racers.
View Poll Results: Drive to the ride, or ride from doorstep?
Drive to ride
16
31.37%
Ride from doorstep
35
68.63%
Voters: 51. You may not vote on this poll

Do you ride or drive to your gravel ride?

Old 01-22-18, 09:18 PM
  #26  
vinuneuro
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: NW Chicagoland
Posts: 784

Bikes: 2016 Diverge Expert

Mentioned: 7 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 390 Post(s)
Liked 8 Times in 8 Posts
Originally Posted by mstateglfr
Are you referring to the Des Plaines trail as gravel, or are you in the far NW burbs and have access to gravel roads? Just trying to figure out whats out in the NW burbs that would be gravel. Grew up in that corridor.
Hey, yep DPRT. I'm in Vernon Hills, so no gravel roads around. I really like DPR because the terrain is so varied. The Lake County sections are better groomed and a mix of hard pack limestone and some sandy areas, but can get pretty washboarded in some areas. The Cook County sections are not at all groomed, some areas are like singletrack, some areas large gravel. And all different types of surroundings, some wide open, some heavily wooded, some along the river, some by large lakes. It's a really wonderful trail.
vinuneuro is offline  
Old 01-22-18, 10:34 PM
  #27  
mstateglfr 
Sunshine
 
mstateglfr's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: Des Moines, IA
Posts: 16,538

Bikes: '18 class built steel roadbike, '19 Fairlight Secan, '88 Schwinn Premis , Black Mountain Cycles Monstercross V4, '89 Novara Trionfo

Mentioned: 123 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 10901 Post(s)
Liked 7,390 Times in 4,148 Posts
Originally Posted by vinuneuro
Hey, yep DPRT. I'm in Vernon Hills, so no gravel roads around. I really like DPR because the terrain is so varied. The Lake County sections are better groomed and a mix of hard pack limestone and some sandy areas, but can get pretty washboarded in some areas. The Cook County sections are not at all groomed, some areas are like singletrack, some areas large gravel. And all different types of surroundings, some wide open, some heavily wooded, some along the river, some by large lakes. It's a really wonderful trail.
Cool, ill have to plan on riding at least some of it this summer when i am back for a visit.
I grew up in the north burbs and mainly Arlington Heights. While having been to the trail a handful of times growning up, itll be neat to see it a couple decades later and for more distance.
mstateglfr is offline  
Old 01-23-18, 02:26 AM
  #28  
Witterings
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: The Witterings, West Sussex
Posts: 1,066
Mentioned: 8 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 569 Post(s)
Liked 37 Times in 29 Posts
I'm sure where you live and what's around you may actually influence what bikes you buy. To me if I lived an hours drive from any sort of off road I'd probably have a far greater interest in road bikes especially as it's often easy to grab a quick hour to get out but not so easy to find 4 hours to make 2 hours of driving even worth considering.

I'm lucky there are some tracks on my doorstep.
Witterings is offline  
Old 01-24-18, 06:53 AM
  #29  
Texico
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: San Antonio, TX
Posts: 68

Bikes: 2016 Gunnar Roadie, 2010 Cannondale RZ140 4, 2014 Raleigh Tamland 1.0

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 24 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Living in San Antonio, I have tons of gravel in the surrounding Hill Country. Unfortunately, I live IN San Antonio, so to ride to the Hill Country would take a couple hours in each direction minimum. Because of this, I mostly use my gravel bike in its commute/touring mode to commute and do long comfortable rides here in town. I will take off all the commute stuff and switch to my tubeless gravel wheelset every once in a while to do an all day gravel ride with friends and co-workers, and for those rides I drive to the start point.

For me I am fine with this. I bought my gravel bike to replace a commuter bike that was destroyed when a car hit me while riding to school. I didn't have much intention of riding "epic" gravel at that time, but I did ride my bike to the local single-track here in town sometimes back when I still commuted on gravel/cx tires.
Texico is offline  
Old 02-11-18, 02:47 PM
  #30  
24/7biker
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2008
Posts: 90
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 4 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
The entire point of buying a gravel bike is that I don't ever have to drive somewhere to use it. I have a pretty good network of backroads, gravel roads, and railtrail that I can get on right from my front door.
24/7biker is offline  
Old 02-13-18, 05:20 AM
  #31  
PaddleFoot
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2017
Posts: 222
Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 65 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
The whole 'gravel bike' thing is kind of silly to me... 25 years ago we rode our 'mountain bikes' everywhere. And we LIKED it.

Joke aside, I ride everywhere, but when I do CX, I drive there and make a day of it. if it pisses off a car hater, all the better. Closed course riding is quite different and all your energy is needed there.
PaddleFoot is offline  
Old 02-13-18, 09:00 AM
  #32  
rumrunn6
Senior Member
 
rumrunn6's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: 25 miles northwest of Boston
Posts: 29,528

Bikes: Bottecchia Sprint, GT Timberline 29r, Marin Muirwoods 29er, Trek FX Alpha 7.0

Mentioned: 112 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 5218 Post(s)
Liked 3,564 Times in 2,331 Posts


rumrunn6 is offline  
Old 02-25-18, 07:43 AM
  #33  
Jason9142002
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: Trenton, NJ
Posts: 53

Bikes: Specialized Diverge, Cannondale Trail 6, Fuji Track Bike, Giant OCR

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 13 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Traffic

Originally Posted by Facanh
I've built a gravel bike so I can ride more places compared to my road bike. Smooth paved roads, rough paved roads, dirt roads, gravel, singletrack etc. The bike is fun everywhere.

Driving to a gravel road and only riding there seems kind of silly to me. Of course everyone can do what they want, but getting a bike that you can't use "properly" near where you live... Personally I don't see the point.
I had to think about this comment. At first I felt the same way but then I remembered some comments people made to me when I told them I ride. Some people refuse to ride in traffic. It scares them. I don’t blame them. I’ve been hit by a car.
Then I thought about when I used to mountain bike. I would take my bike all over to ride. I didn’t own a road bike back then. Now I won’t/don’t ride a mountain bike anymore. I just prefer the roads. But, in my opinion a ride is a ride. I ride for a bunch of different reasons and one of them is the peace I feel when I ride. So if I have to drive to get that feeling of peace it’s worth it.
Jason9142002 is offline  
Old 02-25-18, 08:02 AM
  #34  
Facanh
Full Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2014
Posts: 413
Mentioned: 2 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 121 Post(s)
Liked 3 Times in 3 Posts
Originally Posted by Jason9142002
I had to think about this comment. At first I felt the same way but then I remembered some comments people made to me when I told them I ride. Some people refuse to ride in traffic. It scares them. I don’t blame them. I’ve been hit by a car.
Then I thought about when I used to mountain bike. I would take my bike all over to ride. I didn’t own a road bike back then. Now I won’t/don’t ride a mountain bike anymore. I just prefer the roads. But, in my opinion a ride is a ride. I ride for a bunch of different reasons and one of them is the peace I feel when I ride. So if I have to drive to get that feeling of peace it’s worth it.
It was a dumb comment, I forgot that busy cities exist.

I've been hit by a car too and I absolutely hate riding in traffic too. I ride offroad to get aways from cars, or to skip busy sections so I can get to quiet paved roads.

I also look at gravel bikes more as do everything bikes.

So yeah, just have fun on your bike, and if that means a bit of driving then so be it.

(I don't hate cars or driving at all btw, sharing the road with something that moves at half or quarter of your speed is simply just a flawed concept)

Last edited by Facanh; 02-25-18 at 08:29 AM.
Facanh is offline  
Old 02-25-18, 10:10 AM
  #35  
dgodave
Behold my avatar:
 
dgodave's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2006
Location: SW Colorado
Posts: 1,045

Bikes: 2019 Gorilla Monsoon, 2013 Surly Krampus, Brompton folder

Mentioned: 34 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 6941 Post(s)
Liked 441 Times in 288 Posts
I probably drive to 10% of my gravel rides.... places farther afield that I want to explore.
dgodave is offline  
Old 02-28-18, 11:09 AM
  #36  
Montanaman42
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2018
Posts: 7
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Out here in Montana ALL roads turn to gravel and that's why I got a gravel bike because I want to go farther.
Montanaman42 is offline  
Old 03-01-18, 08:41 AM
  #37  
Pompiere
Senior Member
 
Pompiere's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: NW Ohio
Posts: 3,425

Bikes: 1984 Miyata 310, 1986 Schwinn Sierra, 2011 Jamis Quest, 1980 Peugeot TH8 Tandem, 1992 Performance Parabola, 1987 Ross Mt. Hood, 1988 Schwinn LeTour, 1988 Trek 400T, 1981 Fuji S12-S LTD, 197? FW Evans

Mentioned: 24 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 521 Post(s)
Liked 943 Times in 495 Posts
If I want to ride more gravel than my 150 foot driveway, I have to go at least 30 miles from home. If I travel about 50 miles, there are a lot of nice gravel roads in the Irish Hills area of Michigan.
Pompiere is offline  
Old 03-01-18, 09:32 AM
  #38  
trailangel
Senior Member
 
trailangel's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: Pasadena, CA
Posts: 4,847

Bikes: Schwinn Varsity

Mentioned: 22 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1931 Post(s)
Liked 741 Times in 421 Posts
When you ride your bike on asphalt and then a dirt/gravel road, that is called Cross Country riding.
You will need to buy a special bike for that. Then you will have your XC bike, Road Bike, Gravel Bike, Hybrid, Commuter bike, Wet Bike. .... and the CX bike too. More bikes to buy.

I forgot Mountain bike, Trail Bike, All Mountain, Enduro, and Downhill.
trailangel is offline  
Old 03-24-18, 03:21 PM
  #39  
MarcoBianchi
Senior Member
 
MarcoBianchi's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Saragossa. Spain
Posts: 260

Bikes: Peugeot Mont Blanc . Bianchi 28c 1980. Coppi Giro di Lombardia. Vitoria Vintage 1990. Orbea Luarca 1977. Trek 950.

Mentioned: 6 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 51 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 12 Times in 10 Posts
Thou I live in a city with population of 700000 inhabitants, I'm 200 meters from El Camino de Santiago, so miles and miles of every kind of dusty trails.
MarcoBianchi is offline  
Old 03-24-18, 08:54 PM
  #40  
09box
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 969
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 113 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 2 Times in 2 Posts
I can ride about 15 miles to get to a rail trail with gravel sections. Other than that, I'd have to drive about 40 minutes to get to decent gravel. Other than that, I usually just go out my door and take to the pavement..
09box is offline  
Old 03-29-18, 06:36 AM
  #41  
D.zo
Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2017
Posts: 25
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 15 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
I typically drive to most of my rides (road or gravel) since I live in an area that isn't well engineered for pedestrian/bike traffic.

I hear it all the time though.. "You bought a bike to put it on the back of you car? why not just ride it?" ummm... because people drive like a-holes.
D.zo is offline  
Old 03-29-18, 07:35 AM
  #42  
RJM
I'm doing it wrong.
 
RJM's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2009
Posts: 4,875

Bikes: Rivendell Appaloosa, Rivendell Frank Jones Sr., Trek Fuel EX9, Kona Jake the Snake CR, Niner Sir9

Mentioned: 85 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 9742 Post(s)
Liked 2,812 Times in 1,664 Posts
The only place I can truly ride from the house is road riding, and road riding sucks so I generally drive to someplace that offers better riding. The mtb trails from me are 20 minutes by car, so that gets driven too. I can ride a lot of good multi surface routes from work, so a lot of times I will take the bike with me to work and then leave from there.

Not everybody can live within riding distance from good riding.
RJM is offline  
Related Topics
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
Hondo Gravel
Cyclocross and Gravelbiking (Recreational)
30
07-20-19 06:52 PM
pbass
Cyclocross and Gravelbiking (Recreational)
51
06-02-19 12:14 PM
johngwheeler
Cyclocross and Gravelbiking (Recreational)
58
10-17-17 10:09 AM
dgodave
Cyclocross and Gravelbiking (Recreational)
18
03-17-17 12:25 PM
slipknot0129
General Cycling Discussion
27
10-05-10 11:44 AM

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off


Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.