Indispensable Gravel Tool Kit

Everybody has a tool kit when they ride. If you don't, you probably deserve to walk the last 5 miles back to civilization, your car, the beer your buddies drank while waiting on you, and that hamburger you wish you'd eaten.

It doesn't require a super mechanic to use a tool kit. Most things are pretty minor. The 'big things' like a broken chain or wrapped derailleur may take some serious bike mechanic skills.  Don't fret - one will come along momentarily!

The essentials are pretty obvious
Tire levers
Patch kit
Spare tube(s) - pre-talc'ed
CO2 inflator and spare cartridge - know how to use yours!
Pump
Yes, a pump is 'belt and suspenders', but if that first tube gets caught in the rim, and you blow it, the second one is essential.  If it happens again - or you find out you didn't get it caught, but had a cut sidewall that it popped thru... Well, you'll be happy to have the pump.

20 dollar bill

A good multi-tool.
Make sure it's got all the bolts on your bike covered - 4,5,6,7mm, maybe a 2 or 2.5, spoke wrench
Also make sure you can get *to* all the bolts on your bike with your tool.  If not, you may need a solo hex wrench or two.  And make sure your kit includes the necessary wrench for any random Torx brand bolts as well. Chain ring and disc brakes are both candidates for this special foolishness.

Chain break tool
Master link (or 2)
...Oh, shit!!! What was that?  Oh, you mean the fact that your crotch is now on the top tube and your pedals are freewheeling, or the one where your bike. just. died.  ...with the rear derailleur wrapped around the dropout.  Now is the time to be really thankful you've got a master link.
If you wrap a derailleur, it's pretty unlikely you're going to salvage it (or the hanger) on the side of the road.  You can try to straighten it, but in all likelihood, the best you can hope for is getting the derailleur back in the middle position, and maybe use it as a chain tensioner.  If that doesn't work, find a gear combination that will give you a snug chain once you put it back together with that master link.  Here's a big hint.  when you break the chain to remove it from the broken derailleur, find the bent section of chain and break it there!  And yes - there almost certainly will be a kinked link.  Remember - you'll need to leave an INNER plate on both ends for the repair link to slip onto.  Eyeball it, test it, and when you've got it right and think it'll be ok, slip the chain off the chainrings (up front) and slip in the master link.  Don't worry about tightening it yet.  Put it back on the chain rings.  If it's right, the link should 'snik' into place as you get the chain installed on both ends.

unused tie wrap
Multitude of purposes - like tying up that busted rear derailleur.
duct tape -bandage, tire boot, repair busted cable clamp.  You name it!
20' braided twine - with a nice stick and some duct tape, you can even bandage up that carbon fiber handlebar I told you not to get.  Also good for sewing a jersey back together,
basic first aid kit

And for a spring century -
rain cape (jacket for us Americans)
dry gloves
helmet liner
extra socks (useful as shoe covers in a pinch too)
Extra food (bar&gel)

First Gravel Grinder - Training for hills

In an earlier post, I laid out a five week plan for your first gravel grinder. I assumed that most people were somewhat fit, have done some riding, but probably aren't used to riding long distances on unpaved roads. And I've heard from a couple of people that maybe it should have been a SIX week program with a couple of 10 mile rides just to get used to being on a bike again - especially if you are planning to ride a fat bike!

On several of the weekly rides on the above plan, I list 'ride a few hills' as the goal.  Depending on your fitness level, and what's in the area, that can mean anything from a freeway overpass to a 300 climb from the river to bluff-tops.  Generally, I look for climbs that are around a mile, and nothing steep.  the first few should be at easy grades - 3-4% (200 vertical feet in a mile of riding).  This is enough to raise your heart rate and make your quads burn a bit without straining knees.

First, pace is not important on the first few - just ride them.  Find out what pace feels comfortable,

and use that as a mental benchmark (baseline really).  Try to time that mythical mile long hill - or whatever length you have to work with, and watch your average speed.  If it takes you ten minutes, fine.  If it takes 20, it may be a little long for now.  Cut back to around 8 minutes for the first 2 weeks.

Try to do 5 repeats of the hill - that will be a total of around 15 miles on an 8 minute climb. (level 2-3 if you are used to heart rate).

So now you've got your pace sorted out for something that you can accomplish, let's crank it up a bit. If you've been tracking your speed, try to increase that by 5% a week on your hill.  See how long you can hold your speed.  It's not essential you ride the whole thing without fading, but do try to hold a steady speed for most of the way. Now turn around, ride back down, and do it again - a total of 5 repeats.  See how you feel.  If you've never done repeats or not done them in years, it may not be much fun, at least the first time or 3.  Take a breather, and then ride the rest of your ride.

I'm big on interval work (what we just did).  Improvements come rapidly, and can be really rewarding.  If you can increase that speed up the one mile climb by 5% each week, that's a 20% improvement in 4 short sessions, which is probably 2 MPH or more!  The quicker you get over long slow climbs, the sooner you get to enjoy the flats and downhills again!

You should also find something steeper and maybe longer for the last 2 weeks.  Miesville offers about a dozen climbs of anywhere from a minute to 10 minutes, with the last two climbs being 10 minutes or more.  None of the grades are really steep, but they are challenging, and will take some mental energy to complete.  If you are training for the Pisgah monster cross, it's probably more like a 50 week program instead of 5, but the same general elements apply.  Good climbing is mental as well as physical.

So that's another element to training for your first grinder.  If you have any questions or comments, use the link below and I'll be happy to answer them.

~marsh

First Gravel Grinder - 5 week training plan

Congratulations! You sent your postcard in for the Miesville 56, so you are all signed up for your first real gravel event.  Of course you haven't ridden all winter, and and your gravel skills are - wait - what gravel skills?  The closest you have to gravel skills are riding on the Luce Line trail.  Which is pretty much enough!

If you've ever ridden a metric century ride, or even a 40 mile ride, you can step up to riding 56 miles of gravel in just 4 short weeks.  We do need to make some assumptions - you haven't been completely idle this winter - some time on the trainer, or maybe you've been skiing or running all winter.  Just basic fitness.  And we aren't talking about racing - we're planning to finish this ride at a respectable touring pace - around 10.5-11 mph average, which means you are probably riding 15 mph on the flats.

For starters, make sure your bike is all tuned up, and that you have good tires for riding on gritty roads.  I'm partial to either gravel tires like the Challenge Gravel Grinder, Clement MSO or maybe a cyclocross tire intended for hard pack.  Make sure you have clothing that fits your riding style and the weather - booties, long fingered gloves, multiple layers, tights, and a jacket.  And try to pick the weather.  Riding your first ride or two in the rain is a lousy way to start the season!

The goal of this program, like any training program is to build gradually toward the target event.  In our case, we are looking at 56 miles of pretty good gravel, with a few hills, a little mud, and about a mile of road you may have to walk part of depending on your bike skills.  And don't worry about bombing the downhills.  Just ride them as fast or slow as your courage and common sense suggest.
Also, this workout should be something you can do in about 2 hours except for the long ride.  With the return of daylight, you should be able to do this after work.

Week 1.  Goal - get comfortable on the bike, get legs used to spinning.
Five days of riding (out of 7) Note that days aren't specified since the weather may dictate riding.
3 days 15-20 miles
1 day 25-30 miles
1 day 35 miles

Week 2 Goal - build distance base, add a few easy climbs.  Nothing long or hard, 1/4 mile is plenty.
Again, 5 days of riding
2 days 15-25 miles - try to build your pace just a bit (remember our target is 16-18 on the flats
2 days 20-35 miles
1 day 40 miles.  Throw in a few climbs.  If you are local to Minnesota, consider River Falls as a riding area.

Week 3 Goal - add in a few gravel sections and more hills.  Slight increase in miles 6 days riding this week
2 days  20-30 miles - build pace, add a few short hills
2 days 25-35 miles - work on pace - 17-18 on flats, climb both in and out of the saddle
1 day 40 miles - again work on pace and some climbing.  A few short sprints (like really short, and not that hard)
1 day 10 miles - go find some gravel, a park, horse trails or whatever.  Play with technique in sand, mud, loose rock, find out what the bike does in those situations.  Don't forget to give your bike a bath after!

Week 4 Goal - raise the miles just a bit, find a few more hills, preferably later in your ride.
2 days  20+ miles. Mix it up, ride some trail or path, some road, and hills.
2 days  25-35 miles.  As above, try to mix it up
1 day 10-15 miles, lots of unpaved surfaces and/or hills.
1 day 40-45 miles 'grinder pace' - really try to keep your pace up (but not crazy).  This is also a good time to feel out what your target finish time might be for the 56.  Are you likely to do 5 hours, 4 hours, 6?

Event week - We're cruising in to the event.
Monday or Tuesday - 20 miles one of the two days.  Easy ride
Wednesday or Thursday - 30 miles, a little faster
Friday - off. Change tires if you need to.
Saturday - 25-30 miles, then clean bike, lube chain, but try not to adjust anything!
Sunday - Event day!

If you've been diligent with the program above, you'll have no problem riding 56 miles.  If you started with good intentions, but came up short, you might look at cutting the course, maybe lopping off a hill, or one of the loops.  You can figure 1/3 of your weekly miles as a rough guess of what you can safely do.

I'll do another training article next month with some specific ideas on food and drink.

Ride safe. Wear your helmet.

Riding gravel - mud...

Source: CXMagazine.com -- USA Cycling 2015 Nationals

Gravel + rain = mud.  Or not.
A lot depends on the geology, geography, and who maintains the road.  In parts of the country, gravel roads are no different wet or dry, except that a little more grit gets kicked up when it's wet.
in other regions, 'gravel' is just a code word for clay with a little native rock mixed in.  And trying to ride these is, well, interesting.  More like trying to ride road slicks on ice, covered in cooking oil, And then there's your average "B" road along the edge of Farmer Brown's bottom 40, where tractors dare not tread in the rainy season.  THAT is serious mud in any context.

Most promoters are going to avoid more than a short stretch of this stuff - at least if they want people to come back to their event again.  You can't always avoid it, and a little makes for great stories about epic struggles and adventures "There I was.  My shoe was at the bottom of a sucking hole, I'm up to my ass in the stuff, and Monica goes riding by like it's just no big deal..."  A lot makes for death marches, broken gear, and a plan to find something else to do that weekend next year.

So what do you do to survive the stuff?  Three tips -
PAM cooking spray on your bottom bracket, fork crown, pedals and other spots where mud typically clings.  This really will help keep it from building up quite as much, and will wash off pretty easily.
Good fenders (and PAM the undersides!).  Fenders will make your ride cleaner and drier, and make you much more popular with anyone riding behind you.
If you *know* there's going to be a lot of mud, go with a more aggressive open tread, like a Challenge Grifo.  The bigger blocks are slower, but shed mud much better.
The rest of it is experience. In order to be good at riding mud, you need to ride mud.  It's all about learning where to be, when you can ride the center between the puddles, and when you should ride through the slop.  It's quickly sizing up the mudhole and realizing that it's hub deep, sticky, and there's no way to ride it.  When that happens, look for the 'dry line' if it exists - the spots that look a little drier or less trampled, maybe a bit higher, or have a little grass to hold them together.  Or check for the wet line - where it may be a deeper hole, but it's wet sand instead of mud.  Or look for the sneak path through adjacent field.  Not that I condone tromping a farmer's crop, but maybe there's a line up on the grass verve that can be walked without being knee deep in the slime.

And don't forget to have a wash cloth, towel and a gallon of water in your car for cleaning up after the finish.  A quick wipe down, towel off and warm, dry clothes can really make the difference between a memorable day and a miserable one. And you can use any leftover water to sluice off the worst from your bike before you put it in/on the car.  An appropriate beverage and some good food help a lot as well.  Especially if you have those "So there I was..." stories to share!

Savor the mud - just in moderation!

~marsh

Picking out and equipping a new gravel bike

I love my gravel bike.  I built it pretty much like I wanted it, but I know not everyone has the time, expertise or desire to build up their own bike.  Like every IT project, every bike purchase needs to start with a set of requirements.  These can be a little fuzzy, but you do need to have some.  And it's OK to recognize that you may not get it perfect.  If you haven't ridden a lot of gravel already, I'll almost guarantee that you'll wind up with bike lust again after a year or so simply because you'll know more, skills will have improved, and you'll have a better idea of the type of riding you want to do.  It's OK - it's just a tool, you aren't married to the bike.  Just get a different one.

I'm a big believer in "just a bike".  Too many people go for a bike that has unique handling characteristics, a really cool custom paint job, super relaxed (or twitchy) geometry, or an unusual design (like the Cannondale lefty fork).  Unless you are a builder or manufacturer, gravel bikes are TOOLS to be ridden hard, occasionally put a way damp, and a fancy paint job is going to get trashed - or you aren't riding hard enough!  Just a bike.

Any old cyclocross bike will do quite well, but most have limits on tire width, have a tall bottom bracket (for clearance, rim brakes and the kind of handling CX requires), and few brazeons.

Picking out your requirements (in order of priority):

The big thing is to go ride at least a handful of bikes.  You probably won't be able to ride gravel, but you can often sneak off onto into a park and onto a soccer field or baseball diamond to at least get a feel for 'off pavement'.  Ride the bike, ride another bike, ride another bike.  One of them will sing to you.  PAY ATTENTION!!!

Granted, this is *my* priority list. Your choices may be in a different order or have different criteria.  These will give you an idea of what to think about.  I am working from the assumption that most people will be on road bikes now.  If all you've ever ridden is mountain, the information is still about right, but I'd steer you toward a 29er with 35-38mm tires, flat bars and no suspension.  

Where are you going to ride?  

If your plan is to just ride on the Wisconsin 'gravel' state trails, you will approach several of these choices differently.  On the other hand, if you have dreams of the Dirty Kanza, Land Rush 100, or Rebecca's Private Idaho, you'll want to select on the 'beefier' side of things.

Price point.  

Start out by figuring out what you can afford to spend.  This is probably the most important criteria, since it will set out components choices, frame materials and other choices.  Within a given price point (like $1000, $1500, etc), most bikes will have a very similar group of components.  The brands may change, but the quality and weight are very similar.  It'll be the minor details that help with your choices.

Brakes

Price point is really going to drive your frame material choice, but within a range, you'll probably have the option of disc or rim brakes.  After riding both rim brakes and disc brakes this season, often on back-back days, my jury is in.  I have bought my last rim brake bike.  Disc stops better, allows more rim choice, better modulation of power, and they stop better.

Tires

Pick your tires based on where you ride.  Maybe you'll even want a couple of sets.  I have 28mm tires for the road only, and 38mm tires for gravel, plus a set or two in between.  If you are spending 1500 and up for a bike, you can afford an extra set of tires for smooth cinder trails and the road if it matters.  Otherwise, go with as wide as you can cleanly fit in your frame, and look for something moderately smooth in the middle with knobs out on the edge.  Something like a Clement MSO or Challenge Gravel Grinder.  And if you can afford them, I'm very partial to Challenge Latex inner tubes. Thinner, lighter, and more puncture resistant.

Wheels

The late Steve Hed designed possibly the ultimate gravel rim - the HED Belgium C2+.  The wide rim gives you extra volume, a better ride, lower rolling resistance, and probably folds your laundry while you sleep. In any case, I firmly believe they'll improve the ride, comfort and handling of any bike.

Frame material

Everybody seems to have a preference. I've heard all the 'steel is real', 'buzzy aluminum' and 'harsh carbon' comments, Bah.  Steel rusts, aluminum is inexpensive and can be formed to make laterally stiff, vertically compliant frames, and carbon can be tuned to perfection.  At lower price points, steel or aluminum dominate, at the upper reaches, expect carbon or titanium.  Ti is a great material, but is difficult to form, and expensive.  Any buzz from aluminum can be dampened out with good bar tape. A purpose designed 'gravel' frame will have a longer stay and more relaxed fork, which will also smooth out the ride.  And yes, I'm in love with my Foundry Auger, and highly recommend it, but there are plenty of other good rides out there.

Drivetrain

At a given price point, you'll get what you get, and unless your price point is <$500, you'll get pretty good.  BUT - look for, or talk to your LBS about getting 'cyclocross gearing' or even more custom.  36x46 or 34x44 front rings will give you plenty of top end gears and still allow for a low-low without resorting to that hideous combo known as a triple.  In fact, it is possible to set up Shimano Ultegra 10 with an older Shimano XTR 9 speed derailleur and use an 11-36 rear cluster, which will give you a 1:1 ratio on steep climbs.  I've only walked once this year, and have climbed numerous 14%+ grades.

Cockpit

Stay with Aluminum stems and bars. Period.  Carbon bars are a lot better than they used to be, but they still should be regarded as 'one bounce', and may snap at the worst possible moment after that.  I'm really partial to Ritchey WCS stems, tape, and Salsa Cowbell bars. There are any number of other good brands on the market, this happens to be my preference.

Accessories

Bags - start with a seat bag.  Banjo Brothers and Revelator both make great bags that expand and provide some level of waterproofing.  Add a frame bag for really long rides, and maybe a Bento box if you really want to.  For rides under 100 miles, I find that I can fit everything in my tail pack, jersey pockets.  Your mileage may vary, of course.

Cages - you want something secure.  I'm sold on the Arundel Sport cages.  Cheap, light, idiotproof.

Lights - lots of good choices out there.  I'm picking up a set of Seca 1700 Enduro.  Bright, long life, and easy to mount.  Did I mention bright?

And that's a short list of picking out your own gravel bike.  See you next spring at the Miesville 56 or maybe the ride formerly known as Almanzo.

~mj