Gravel photos

[Comedian]

Thanks! Yes, I have Trailforks as well and it is useful.

Fire trails are definitely the go, though you have to be careful there as well. What I've learnt from experience is to never pick the straight firetrails - they tend to have disregard topography because they're the fastest way between two points, hence they have 25-30% climbs and descents.

Every time I go to one of the various forests it gets easier. And part of that is knowing which way not to go! Karawatha has proved excellent, I'm pretty sure I could manage 25-30km in there on genuine fire roads without doubling back too much.

Good to have that option within about 40 minutes ride from home. And the BVRT if I feel like real American style 'open it up' flat gravel.

I've only been to Karawatha once and I didn't have much time. I must go back and have a good look around. It's only probably a 40 min drive from home.

Good observation on the fire trails. Plus the straight ones usually have "water bars". I've seen some super bad injuries on those. Look up "Highwood Road Trail" coming down from cootha near channel 9. I've stopped to help two people with serious injuries there personally.

EDIT: I just read the comments on that. "If you're going up you've made some bad choices in life".

[Mr Purple]

I went down Highwood Road Trail the once, it was unpleasant!

The issue I've found with water bars is they're not consistent. So you have a nice flowing series of little ones and then one that suddenly increases the angle without warning, so you end up in the sky.

[Comedian]

I went down Highwood Road Trail the once, it was unpleasant!

The issue I've found with water bars is they're not consistent. So you have a nice flowing series of little ones and then one that suddenly increases the angle without warning, so you end up in the sky.

And then.. once you are airborne you can't brake, so it all gets faster and you become a passenger being delivered to the scene of the accident. I'm told racing drivers hate photos of their cars in the air because it's "lost time" to them when they can't be cornering, braking, or accelerating.

Anyway I've found my gravel bike to be an excellent jumping bike. Very stable and smooth in the air.

[Mr Purple]

Same! Though Trek does say I'm not supposed to be jumping it more than 15cm. Having said that I'm pretty sure 3cm feels like 3m on a gravel bike.

Redlands Track Park has a straight fire road called 'Rising Main'. I have the KOM up it and 12th down it, I can tell you I won't be attempting the downhill again - there's a series of uniform water bumps except for one towards the end, which is probably about 10 degrees steeper (but looks exactly the same).

Air time!

[MichaelB]

Te the “water bumps”, are you talking about an inverted swale to direct the water flow ?

[elantra]

Te the “water bumps”, are you talking about an inverted swale to direct the water flow ?

I think so, they are a small constructed (excavated) “hump” on the track, at such an angle to cause waterflow to go off into the adjacent bush, rather than down the track and get enough momentum to gouge it out.

In the fragile Brisbane rock the water gouges out trails eventually, but the humps make them last longer.
And give Mountain bikers a good deal of fun

[MichaelB]

Te the “water bumps”, are you talking about an inverted swale to direct the water flow ?

I think so, they are a small constructed (excavated) “hump” on the track, at such an angle to cause waterflow to go off into the adjacent bush, rather than down the track and get enough momentum to gouge it out.

In the fragile Brisbane rock the water gouges out trails eventually, but the humps make them last longer.
And give Mountain bikers a good deal of fun

I’ve always called them swales, but according to the web, swales area depression rather than a hump.

They are even worse when hidden by shade !!!

[Mr Purple]

I don’t know that they even have a name!

Yes, you can be fooled into thinking they’re deliberately put there to have fun on but the occasional one reminds you that’s not their actual goal!

[trailgumby]

Locally we know them as "water bars". And yes, they can be fun for mountain bikers. My preference is to pre-jump them and pump the back side for extra speed.

However, this weekend just past at the Convict 100 that tactic was largely redundant. The Old Great North Road was so eroded and rocky it felt like a Danny McAskill trials video in places. Flow was difficult to find and it was about carefully picking lines just to keep rolling instead of dismounting and climbing or descending on foot.

Then when we got to the fire roads like Wright's Creek Trail and Blue Hill Trail, many of the descents were so steep that the primary concern was to keep speeds under control. The waterbars were so big they felt more like dirt jumps. So there the focus became squashing the jump and trying to keep the tyres in contact with the ground so you could maintain braking force. A fair bit of scrambling over fallen trees as well.

[Mr Purple]

And after all that crazy up and down, jumping stuff I somehow fall off on a gentle flat right handed corner on the BVRT.

I think having 83km in the legs may have contributed. At least I get to upgrade the bartape.

[warthog1]

And after all that crazy up and down, jumping stuff I somehow fall off on a gentle flat right handed corner on the BVRT.

I think having 83km in the legs may have contributed. At least I get to upgrade the bartape.

Ouch. Hope not too much gravel rash and you didn't wreck your kit too.

[elantra]

And after all that crazy up and down, jumping stuff I somehow fall off on a gentle flat right handed corner on the BVRT.

I think having 83km in the legs may have contributed. At least I get to upgrade the bartape.

Yes the Bris Valley Railtrail is a whole different kettle of fish to the Tweed Valley Railtrail.
BVRT is much rougher surface and some of those gullies are precipitous.
By contrast the TVRT (often referred to as Northern Rivers Railtrail or NRRT) is quite manicured smooth surface gravel and there are no deep gullies - many of the original railway bridges have been renovated as cycle/pedestrian friendly.
These 2 Railtrails are not that far apart- only about a hundred miles.
The scenery is very different.
BVRT is rural grasslands with a lot of beef cattle and some light forests bordering.
TVRT is surrounded by dairy farms, some sugar cane and some dense Rainforest vegetation.
Here are some pics







First pic is on the Bris Valley Railtrail, 2nd and 3rd are from the Tweed Valley Railtrail.

[Mr Purple]

And after all that crazy up and down, jumping stuff I somehow fall off on a gentle flat right handed corner on the BVRT.

I think having 83km in the legs may have contributed. At least I get to upgrade the bartape.

Ouch. Hope not too much gravel rash and you didn't wreck your kit too.

One older pair of Castelli knicks is no longer wearable in public, but otherwise ok. Not too sore today which is a bonus (I swear the most I've ever hurt after a fall was at about 2km/hr).

Tweed rail trail looks good. Some of the speeds along there will be crazy! Managed to average 27.9km/hr over 89km yesterday, though decimated into second place on Fenvale-Esk return by a well known endurance rider who was 20 minutes faster than I was. Happy to run Fernvale-Esk at 29.1km/hr (12th of 4000 odd overall) with the aid of a tailwind.

You really feel the headwinds out there.

[open roader]

DIY Gravel 'Cruiser'

I loved my Cannondale Topstone Carbon 2 gravelly. However, riding it after 90 mins left me with migraine from ongoing health issues I've picked up in my life as a physical labourer. The Topstone in a Size S was a great bike fit for me, short reach to the bars, plenty of weight on the front wheel, arse firmly planted in the back of the saddle and aftermarket suspension seatpost raised near max height for most effective functioning.

After spending several months looking in vain for an electric gravelly which will keep my body from premature fatigue and the aforementioned migraine causing issues bike I figured I could build one up using a lighter weight eMTB platform.

Enter the 2023 Giant Trance X Advanced E+ Elite 3 aka 'Hermes' the gravel cruiser...........

Replaced MTB knobbies with a pair of fast rolling Maxxis Receptor gumwalls running these tubeless.
Replaced the OEM Praxis 36t chain ring with a Wolftooth Dropstop 38t ring (works perfectly)
Fitted a back to front Muckynuts long front fender over the rear wheel and a spare Rockguardz short front fender I had in the parts box to the front.
Removed dropper post in favour of my tried and trusted Canyon S14 VCLS suspension post
Replaced Giant saddle with my favorite extra gel padded Aliexpress saddle
Replaced wide Giant Contact bar and Stem with an older 31.8mm Syncros Fraser carbon bar I've had in waiting for years now cut down to 64cm fixed with a NS Elite Quantum Lite headstem in 'oil rub' finish
2nd Shimano XT chain yet to arrive in the mail but the KMC once double lubed and left to set overnight is pretty good in new spec.

The fit is absolutely spot on for me. Bars just the right width, suspension set to 25% sag. Now that the r/d is fixed (see separate thread in The Shed) I can't wait to put it through it's paces for hours at a time.



[url=https://flic.kr/p/2oBaycX]

[warthog1]

Looks great!
Hopefully you can rack up some miles on it. Should be very comfy

[MichaelB]

Beautiful colour !! Enjoy !!

[elantra]

Been a week since the last pics on this thread

Been wanting to do some exploring in the Mebbin National Park for a while. The current weather conditions are ideal for it, Sunny days, cool mornings etc.
Hot weather and rain brings out some unfriendly inhabitants including ticks and leeches.

A good starting point for any ride in this region is the town of Tyalgum (pronunciation =Tal-gum)
It has all you need, one pub, one shop, one restaurant, one Showgrounds/camping venue (and a Gelati shop that is only open on weekends)

You can get a lot of big touring motorcycles on weekends here but most of them aren’t too bad and they usually avoid the gravel roads.







Lots of roads with scenery like this, mainly north, south and west of Tyalgum. Some big big mountains to the west, but to do these out and back from Tyalgum in a day would be a very tall order. !

[jaseyjase]

been a while

[elantra]

^^^ Great pics, looks very gnarly conditions !

The rocks look a bit like sandstone rock and appear to be natural to the area, not brought in and put down to prevent clay forming in the wheel tracks.
Am I correct in assuming Sydney area ?

[jaseyjase]

^^^ Great pics, looks very gnarly conditions !

The rocks look a bit like sandstone rock and appear to be natural to the area, not brought in and put down to prevent clay forming in the wheel tracks.
Am I correct in assuming Sydney area ?

definitely some gnarly sections, a mate went over the bars on one of them riding his hardtail. Front wheel got jammed in a ditch

In Perth actually !

[warthog1]

A few from the other day. Just a random route off Strava. Wasn't bad.

[jaseyjase]

A few from the other day. Just a random route off Strava. Wasn't bad.

looks primo !

[warthog1]

A few from the other day. Just a random route off Strava. Wasn't bad.

looks primo !

Smoother and easier than yours
That front fork on your beast must be a ripper on those tracks!

[jaseyjase]

Smoother and easier than yours
That front fork on your beast must be a ripper on those tracks!

they're actually rigid!

the 26x2.3 did make it a little bit more comfortable.

but climbing on that rig was a nightmare

thinking im gonna go back to my alu cx bike.

[warthog1]

Smoother and easier than yours
That front fork on your beast must be a ripper on those tracks!

they're actually rigid!

the 26x2.3 did make it a little bit more comfortable.

but climbing on that rig was a nightmare

thinking im gonna go back to my alu cx bike.

Oops sorry. Some suspension would have been good on that rough stuff.
Bugger, too heavy?
CX should be good if it clears 40-45 mm tyres