Saturday morning rolled around bright and sunny, and I drove off to find the start of the 32/22 Grinder presented by Trailhead Cycle. There were about 30 folks showed up for what was a pretty low key event to benefit the Maple Grove/Champlin Park high school mountain bike team. I'm good with that.
Sean (course architect and director) made the usual announcements and we were off. I wound up in the first few riders, the pace was good, and everyone knew how to ride in a group. Life is good.
The course took us out through NW Anoka County, which is part of the "Anoka Sand Plain" geologic feature. For those used to SW Minnesota and the bluff country, or even the barrens of St Croix country, I can sum up the region in two words - pretty flat. That doesn't mean there are no rises or surprises. For the most part, the roads were in great shape - hard pack, unsullied by the spring grader, and very rideable. The previous week's rain did create a few soft spots, but nothing difficult, and no sand pits. The open farmland scenery is interspersed with clusters of 'McMansions' (and a few real ones), but for the most part, it's still farmland.
For about 16 miles, we rolled along at a nice pace - around 18mph, and I'm feeling pretty good to be able to stay with these guys, most of whom are a lot younger and a whole lot fitter. And then around mile 17, some clown came to the front, upped the pace about .5mph, and I was hanging on by a thread. Actually, the 'clown' was a nice guy whose name I never got, but who happily pulled the rest of the way. After that, I came unhooked on every hill, and chased back on the descents and flats. At about 2 miles to go, I made contact for the last time, and the rubber band snapped. I rode the rest of the way in with Sean, finishing the ride in under 2 hours.
SO what did I learn? This was my first real gravel outing on the Auger+. I like it... I never felt any push/wash/twitch out of the bike, it sucked up the road chatter really well, and if I had to drive thru potholes, it did so without issue. Just a bike, which lines up nicely with their marketing.
I was really excited about the way the Challenge Almanzos hooked up on the road surface. Probably not the right tire for everything (what is?), but they were definitely right for the surfaces on there. I drove them pretty hard into a couple of corners, particularly late in the ride and never felt anything but solid connection. My sense is that Challenge's high thread count carcass combined with latex tubes and HED C2 rims all contribute to a really smooth ride. I ran them at 4bar pressure, which could've even gone a bit lower..
Too soon to really form opinions on the new Garmin. It worked great, but the 'factory mount' while simple and elegant is not easy to read the display. I need to get a KCNC or Kedge extension mount to get it out in front a little further.
Looking forward to the next gravel adventure. Miesville Gents on June 7, if not sooner.
~marsh
No comments:
Post a Comment