Gravel/Bikepack nerds enter...

Spent the weekend on the Hungry Horse Reservoir camping, boating and picking huckleberries. Got in a nice gravel ride up to Firefighter Lookout on Saturday with some great views of Great Northern. It definitely confirmed one thing - I really don't like riding dusty gravel with a bunch of cars. Maybe I'll get used to it. I DO like riding the forest service dirt/gravel WITHOUT cars. I doubt I'm alone in this.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...61aabd177c.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...c6524d123b.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...504f0ac4d5.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...6a2dc9ff8b.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...9becbd09f5.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...5911fc9ab4.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...fa3b31c09d.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...10418cd79a.jpg

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Last two posts are en fuego.

What happens when 3 mags get together for a bikepacking trip? Adventure ensues!

goniff, biggins, and I decided to ride the northern loop of the Green Mountain Gravel Growler this weekend.

I cycled out of Burlington after dinner on Thursday and made camp along a beautiful brook.

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On Friday we met for lunch in Waterbury and got on the road.

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First stop - Trapps Brewing for a well deserved german style lager.

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We made our way up the Stowe valley on plenty of dirt and some sweet single track through Adam’s Camp.

We had dinner at Lost Nation in Mo’ville.

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It seemed the kitchen was backed up and we got out just before the sun set. it was another 8 miles of gravel in the dark before we found our next campsite.

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But the call of the loons lulled us to sleep and we were able to get a bath in the morning.

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The next day started with bucolic back roads and beautiful farms.

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We grabbed lunch in Craftsbury and headed out to Hardwick. We passed by this brewery but they weren’t open due to Covid restrictions.

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That’s okay, we had a great swim in town.

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And got some HF Convivial Suarez on tap along with our pizza.

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Thank goodness we filled up and had a buzz, because the next section got nasty.

First it got steep

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Then it got steep and chunky

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Finally, it got ridiculous.

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Luckily our campground host made and exception to allow us to stay at his closed site and even left out some dry firewood. It was great to have a reserved campsite that night as we were all too spent to think straight.

The next morning the elevation gain eased and we had a nice ride into Montpelier.

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It was a quick ride along the river to get back to Waterbury where we said goodbye to biggins. goniff and I grabbed a beer and bite before splitting.

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I still had a ride in front of me, but even so I took the scenic way home.

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It ended up being just over 170 miles and 13k in climbing for the weekend.

What a great time - lots of sweat, plenty of laughs, and a promise to do the southern loop next time.

Thanks to goniff for sharing pics.

Fun getting the updates all weekend. Perhaps I'll get some bikepack gear to join in next time.

That looks amazing guys! I would love to do that loop. Maybe this fall could knock out the southern half.

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Originally Posted by CantDog

That looks amazing guys! I would love to do that loop. Maybe this fall could knock out the southern half.

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I thought of you on Friday (too late of course), thinking you would have loved this romp. Next time for sure. Though you and Peruvian would be a scary combo to try to keep up with. Goniff and I outnumbered Peruvian 2 newbies to 1 old salt, so he had to patient with us :)

Edit: sick new rig btw.

Nice trip!

I'm headed out for the northern part of the Wild West Route next week. Eureka and back to Missoula. Can't wait to get out

Excellent TR! Thanks for sharing.

My buddy and I are making plans to hit part of it the gravel growler. His bro lives right on the route. No timing yet. No firm route plans yet. I gotta get that shit nailed down.

Great riding and drinking beers with Peruvian and biggins this past weekend. Looking forward to doing the southern loop. Some more pics:

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^^^Love that Random rd. pic. Sums things up just perfectly.

Wow, the Cache looks amazing Cantdog!


Strong strong work by everyone with the TRs! My gravel bike has been neglected big time the last couple weeks as the MTB is just too good right now.

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Originally Posted by Whiteroom_Guardian

My gravel bike has been neglected big time the last couple weeks as the MTB is just too good right now.

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Same here, once our lockdown travel restrictions eased I've barely touched the drop bars. I mixed it up over the weekend and did a 3 day/300 mile route from the house, up into the highlands and back. Lots of good off- road but with quite a bit of tarmac too - more than I would have liked but it was needed to tie some areas together. A little boggy hike-a-bike was in there too, just to keep things from being too boring. Back to the MTB now.

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It’s time for a new saddle bag as the $7 dry bag I had been using is dead.

Obvious choices include Revelate, Apidura, Ortleib, etc.

biggins liked the REI bag he brought and I love the budget price.

Are there any other sub-$100 bags out there folks are pleased with?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Peruvian

It’s time for a new saddle bag as the $7 dry bag I had been using is dead.

Obvious choices include Revelate, Apidura, Ortleib, etc.

biggins liked the REI bag he brought and I love the budget price.

Are there any other sub-$100 bags out there folks are pleased with?

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You might get some ideas from this ...

I have been eyeing the bag combos at framedbikes.com. You can get a combo handlebar/seat bag for about $60. Just a few reviews on their site, so not sure about quality, but from what I have read, Framed's warranty and customer service is really good, so if there are issues, you could probably get them handled.

Mrs P is in the market for a 56cm drop bar gravel bike in the $1k range. We have had luck with used bikes so if anyone is aware of something for sale, please let me know.

Buddy is trying to convince me to ride SF to Santa Barbara or SF to San Diego in about a month. Actually seems like an awesome fucking trip. Not really bikepacking though if it's almost entirely paved, yet we'll camp most of the time? Maybe cheat and get a hotel once.

Sounds pretty rad. I would think that you could ride gravel in the Los Padres from San Luis Obispo most of the way to Santa Barbara. And if you continue south from there, there's also gravel from the Ventura county line south to Santa Monica. Not sure after that. I mean, there is gravel riding down near SD (eg. Belgian Waffle Ride), but I'm not sure it gets you where you're going.

I have some routes near LA I can share. There's a "Gravel BIke California" FB group you should check out, and Topanga Creek Outfitters in the Santa Monicas might also be helpful with bikepacking routes near LA.

Check gravelmap.com for segments along that route.

Oh and thanks for the saddle pack info above. I ordered a Topeak backloader 15L. Between the 15% off and 12% AJ cash back, it was too good a deal to pass up.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Whiteroom_Guardian

Buddy is trying to convince me to ride SF to Santa Barbara or SF to San Diego in about a month. Actually seems like an awesome fucking trip. Not really bikepacking though if it's almost entirely paved, yet we'll camp most of the time? Maybe cheat and get a hotel once.

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I've ridden that route on highway 1, as an on-pavement bike trip w/ panniers. The hiker/biker campsites in the state parks are great, but I don't know if they're open because of Covid. If they are, I recommend going -- the hiker/biker sites are set apart from the rest of the car/RV campers, spacious, quiet. Hot coin-op showers at the state parks too.

We did one motel night -- can't remember where, but around Lucia, I think. If you're looking into the trip, it was near where the state park campground was more-or-less right underneath a bridge on Hwy 1, and we thought that would be noisy.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Whiteroom_Guardian

Buddy is trying to convince me to ride SF to Santa Barbara or SF to San Diego in about a month. Actually seems like an awesome fucking trip. Not really bikepacking though if it's almost entirely paved, yet we'll camp most of the time? Maybe cheat and get a hotel once.

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Anything away from the coast will still be pretty hot the next couple months if you're looking for gravel routes. Above Santa Barbara, Camino Cielo is paved but really nice. You can drop down into the backcountry and ride all the way to Ojai on mostly gravel friendly dirt road. The tour de los padres trip I did in May uses this. From there I'm sure you can connect over to Camarillo/Thousand Oaks on back roads. Climb up into the Santa Monica mountains and take the Backbone trail and dirt roads all the way to Santa Monica. Lots of beach bike paths south from there.

If you want to make it to SD you might have to ride on I-5 through Camp Pendleton. I think the bike route through the base is covid-closed right now.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by evdog

Anything away from the coast will still be pretty hot the next couple months if you're looking for gravel routes. Above Santa Barbara, Camino Cielo is paved but really nice. You can drop down into the backcountry and ride all the way to Ojai on mostly gravel friendly dirt road. The tour de los padres trip I did in May uses this. From there I'm sure you can connect over to Camarillo/Thousand Oaks on back roads. Climb up into the Santa Monica mountains and take the Backbone trail and dirt roads all the way to Santa Monica. Lots of beach bike paths south from there.

If you want to make it to SD you might have to ride on I-5 through Camp Pendleton. I think the bike route through the base is covid-closed right now.

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Good info. I think it will be an all paved route unless I can convince buddy who lives in SF to get a gravel rig.

Mrs P needs an actual gravel bike.

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Originally Posted by Whiteroom_Guardian

Good info. I think it will be an all paved route unless I can convince buddy who lives in SF to get a gravel rig.

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Cool. That might eliminate Camino Cielo. Its paved, but I don't think there is a paved way down off of it at the east end. Should be tons of nice twisty paved roads though.

https://nordestcycles.com/en/product...rda-ti-m1-bike

^ looks like a pretty good value proposition for a Ti bike in this class, or am I missing something?

I don't know much about titanium bikes, but that's certainly a good deal for GRX800. For comparison, if you haven't seen it already this is considered to be a solid price for the spec: https://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/ribble-cgr-ti/

That said you might get a lot of what that bike offers (minus titanium) by snagging a used Chamois Hagar. Seems like I see them popping up on pinkbike pretty frequently.

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Originally Posted by kathleenturneroverdrive

I don't know much about titanium bikes, but that's certainly a good deal for GRX800. For comparison, if you haven't seen it already this is considered to be a solid price for the spec: https://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/ribble-cgr-ti/

That said you might get a lot of what that bike offers (minus titanium) by snagging a used Chamois Hagar. Seems like I see them popping up on pinkbike pretty frequently.

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do you have time on a Hagar? I'm drawn to it for its apparent ability to handle iffy terrain really well, but fear the compromise for tame/paved roads might be too great. Versatility is key for my needs... I want to be able to swap wheelsets and bust out some big road days as well as gvrl, trail, adventure on same bike. thanks.

I don’t. Someone on here does though - I think he posted about it a few pages back.

I just spent a bunch of time on a Hagar. I was thinking it would be a dog on the road but I was amazed at how much it wanted to go. The swank enve wheels may have had a lot to do with it, but I am now looking for a medium frame and beginni g to convince the wife I need another bike.


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I rode the Chamois Hagar on a bikepacking route in VT, the super 8. It has 2 loops, north and south and I headed out for the northern lobe of 260 miles and 20k~ of climbing. Both routes start and end at the state house in Montplier.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...8b494dffca.jpg

This first 70 miles is a mix of gravel roads, rail trail and snowmobile/atv routes that pass some interesting properties.
Obviously, I am not a golfer. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...58b8c2c215.jpg
You hit East Burke around mile 80 and then get some single track and a few heinous climbs, and then you really get into the sticks.
Last time I rode through there were only 2. They’re multiplying.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...1aefdc3e8d.jpg

The next 60 miles are on gravel roads through logging parcels. Kind of crazy in a state as small as VT that I rode for 5ish hours without seeing a car.
VT’s version of the powerlines.
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After the logging section you head up to Canada, or so close to Canada you can spit over the border. At this point it was dark so no pics, but it was pretty surreal to be bombing down dirt roads bordered by high cornstalks, scaring coyotes off the road and not worrying about any traffic. The next big town was Newport, where everyone at the convenience store was blasting music through blown speakers and just sitting in the parking lot. Got a lot of looks from the crowd in my dirty spandies and funny looking bike.
After convenience dinner I rode up and out of town, cheered on by drunk guys around a bonfire and then back i to the wilderness. The network of atv roads in Northern VT is extensive to say the least. I crashed at midnight in a field and tried to sleep for a couple of hours.
At 5:30 I woke up to a sweet sunrise.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...91a5169a85.jpg
And got to same some prime VT pavè.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...c7efab1546.jpg
And stayed the course through dirt roads and pavement for 40 more miles to Morrisville, VT. The rail trail out of Morrisville sucked. It is still under construction and they have filled in the low spots with chunky, baby fost sized stones which suck to ride on. Once off the rail trail, the course reverts to dirt roads and atv trails back to Montpelier.
Not a bad view overlooking the capitol city.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...bee5878c6e.jpg
And the last two miles into town are a mix of old school and flowy singletrack, just in case your hands are sore from all the atv trails.


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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Laps

I rode the Chamois Hagar on a bikepacking route in VT, the super 8. It has 2 loops, north and south and I headed out for the northern lobe of 260 miles and 20k~ of climbing. Both routes start and end at the state house in Montplier.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...8b494dffca.jpg

This first 70 miles is a mix of gravel roads, rail trail and snowmobile/atv routes that pass some interesting properties.
Obviously, I am not a golfer. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...58b8c2c215.jpg
You hit East Burke around mile 80 and then get some single track and a few heinous climbs, and then you really get into the sticks.
Last time I rode through there were only 2. They’re multiplying.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...1aefdc3e8d.jpg

The next 60 miles are on gravel roads through logging parcels. Kind of crazy in a state as small as VT that I rode for 5ish hours without seeing a car.
VT’s version of the powerlines.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...95282cb5c1.jpg

After the logging section you head up to Canada, or so close to Canada you can spit over the border. At this point it was dark so no pics, but it was pretty surreal to be bombing down dirt roads bordered by high cornstalks, scaring coyotes off the road and not worrying about any traffic. The next big town was Newport, where everyone at the convenience store was blasting music through blown speakers and just sitting in the parking lot. Got a lot of looks from the crowd in my dirty spandies and funny looking bike.
After convenience dinner I rode up and out of town, cheered on by drunk guys around a bonfire and then back i to the wilderness. The network of atv roads in Northern VT is extensive to say the least. I crashed at midnight in a field and tried to sleep for a couple of hours.
At 5:30 I woke up to a sweet sunrise.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...91a5169a85.jpg
And got to same some prime VT pavè.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...c7efab1546.jpg
And stayed the course through dirt roads and pavement for 40 more miles to Morrisville, VT. The rail trail out of Morrisville sucked. It is still under construction and they have filled in the low spots with chunky, baby fost sized stones which suck to ride on. Once off the rail trail, the course reverts to dirt roads and atv trails back to Montpelier.
Not a bad view overlooking the capitol city.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...bee5878c6e.jpg
And the last two miles into town are a mix of old school and flowy singletrack, just in case your hands are sore from all the atv trails.


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Fuck you did that in two days? That’s amazing. Strong work.

Thanks. It was a blur, but fun. Now I have to go out for the Southern lobe.


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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Laps

Thanks. It was a blur, but fun. Now I have to go out for the Southern lobe.


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That’s a lot longer.

You could join us for the southern Gravel Growler loop in a few weeks, as long as you don’t mind short roping 3 dudes up the steep bits.

That sounds fun, let me know when you are planning to go. I will bring the short ropes.


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helluva effort there Laps, thanks for capturing and sharing! And thanks for the CH info. still thinking about it, but still thinking it will fall short on the inevitable bigish plain ole road rides my next swiss army bike will go on....

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Laps

That sounds fun, let me know when you are planning to go. I will bring the short ropes.


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Bring multiple, because I want to join now and get a tow.

Laps is being humble, he set a new record on the northern loop!

Finished up the Colorado Trail a week ago.

My wife and I had other travel plans canceled this summer and we live right by the start of the Colorado trail and felt like we could complete it while still being socially conscious. 550 Miles and 71,000 feet of climbing over 10 days. We did 8 full days on the bike usually averaging in the mid 60's and two 30 mile half days. Neither of us had bikepacked prior to this summer but we had backpacked extensively and were in good biking shape. The trail was much more physically challenging than I had anticipated. There are decent chunks of hike-a-bike that drop your average speed substantially and the physical challenge of riding 9-10 hours, sleeping in a tent and eating rehydrated food (then doing it again) is different than a bed and a large meal after a big day of riding. As a point of comparison, repeatedly doing 100 miles per day on an unloaded mountain bike with normal amenities in the evening would likely be easier for me than 70 mile days loaded sleeping in a tent and worse nutrition.

Overall a pretty incredible experience, physically demanding to say the least, but a really incredible route that keeps you engaged an interested. Strong recommendation. For us, the best segments were actually 25-27. Hardest Segments were 14-16 and 22-23 (23 being the real ass kicker).

Wife Bike : Spot Mayhem. XT 12 speed, 30 tooth oval, Code Brakes, Stans Arch CB7 Wheels, Bikeyoke Dropper. Maxxis Recon 2.6 Front, Aggressor 2.3 rear. New bike for her this spring. We cobbled it together for $2600 buying used and selling parts. Really excited with the results. It's been game changer for her on technical terrain but still covers ground quickly.

Wife Bags : Bedrock Moab Handlebar Bag (this thing is incredible), Revelate Vole Seatbag, Osprey 12 liter pack.

My Bike : Pivot Mach 4 SL XO1 Build. Roval Control SL Wheels, 30 tooth oval chainring, Ardent 2.4 front, Aggressor 2.3 rear. I bought this used on eBay this February when I was planning on racing this summer. It actually worked great as a bike-packing rig. I will likely get a custom frame bag built for it this fall.

My Bags : Revelate Pronghorn Handlebar Bag, Joey Downtube Bag, Vole Seatbag, Hopper Framebag, Mag Tank 2000, Mountain Feedbag. Osprey 20 liter pack (mainly for carrying my camera).

Tent : Tarptent Double Rainbow w/ carbon poles.
Sleeping Bags : 30 degree quilts - temps dropped below freezing but wearing down jackets at night made these work.
Sleeping Pads - Big Agnes Q Core.

Cooking Gear : MSR Micro Rocket, 750ml titanium pot, Talenti containers (for soaking dehydrated food while riding), 1 plastic spork, 1 metal spork. Steripen, Eye dropper with campsuds. 1 oz container of Dr Bonners Soap for laundry and other cleaning. 2 4oz fuel containers to cover the trip.

Food: We stuck with what we've done previously. Dehydrated Dinners that we home prepared (chili, mac and cheese, curry, etc). Breakfast Grits w/ Ghee or Oatmeal. Lunches were assorted snacks. We were looking for an 1800 calorie per day average... honestly this was a little low. In the future I would aim for 2500 - 3000 calories for lunches given that we were often eating breakfast before 7am and dinner after 8pm.

Electronics : Wahoo Element Bolt, Wife iPhone, Sony A7iii, Goal Zero Solar Panel, Petzl Headlamps. Bringing my camera was my main heavy luxury item at times I regretted it while on the trail but looking back I'm thankful I brought it. For future trips it'll likely remain at home. Mixed results with the solar panel... might go with a power bank in the future.

Repair Kit : I went pretty extensive here but was thankful to not need many of the items. I did an overhaul of both bikes prior to the trip (new bottom brackets, new chains, suspension rebuild, hub rebuilds, brake bleeds). Dynaplug's were the hero of the trip taking care of both flats without issue. I'll * the items we used. Travel size shoo Goo*, Duct Tap Wrapped around pump*, 1 spare der hanger per bike, pump*, small bit of grease in baggie, 1 oz chain lube container*, Tire Boots, Patch Kit, 2x MTB tubes, Fiber Fix Spoke Kit, Multitool*, Dynaplug Racer 5x extra plugs*, 2x chain links sram and shimano, Chain Tool, square of old sheet for Cleaning Chains*, 1x shimano SPD cleat, digital tire pressure gauge*, 1 spare brake pad set per bike.

First Aide Kit : General Stuff main thing I'll add is that antibacterial chamois cream and hydrocortisone cream to apply in the evening are clutch.

Really excited to try some other routes in the fall / coming years. Happy to answer questions about the route and our setups if anyone has them. I'm already loosely contemplating giving the CTR race a try next year also looking at the Oregon Timber Trail.

Nice work!! That is one trail where you push your bike more than you ever thought possible. But so worth it.


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Man you guys are killing it. I gotta at least sleep out once with my bike if I stated the damn thread.

September has two options. Either head to SF and do coastal route with a buddy to San Diego OR something outside of Jackson with same friend who is moving to Jackson for a job and doesn't know how soon he is moving.