Unaugural 8.0 - Roll Call

For me it's the (perhaps) misguided belief that a tyre is elliptical and
thus have more contact/grip when vertical.

 

Trannie Pat?

Slapper Pat?

Tanked Pat?




G-S [1]

[1] Also with swollen sprained ankle.

 

I've been reading this thread conscientiously, and taking in everything
people have said about riding on gravel, and you know what? It seems there
are so many dfferent opinions about the best approach that I am going to
just take my own bloody advice and avoid gravel altogether - a policy that
has served me well over the years.

betty

 

It appears that it hasn't served "that" well
Perhaps policies work better when used hehehehehe

--



Cheers
The Happy Drunk
Breva 750

 

and you will miss so much of this beautiful land of ours

mh

 

and you will miss so much of this beautiful land of ours

mh

I just can't do gravel marty. Sad but true. If I don't accept my limitations
(not without having tested them ) I could end up missing a lot more....

I'm comfortable doing road-riding, and there are lots of (sealed) roads for
me to ride. Probably enough to fill up the 30 years of riding future I hope
I have left As much as I would like to learn dirt riding, I'm not sure
that my body could take it!

I'm trying to be realistic here. I have arthritic spots in my spine &
shoulders. I have about 25% of a hamstring on my left leg. I'm short. I'm
unco. I'm 50.

None of these things are assets for the aspiring off road rider. My brain,
sense of humour and ability to laugh at fart jokes are stuck at 25
(actually, my ability to laugh at fart jokes is stuck at about 12!), but my
ligaments and bones aren't!

betty

 

PS - I felt immensely cheered on the weekend by this fact: arthritic and
middle-aged as I am, my off last weekend didn't shatter anything, apart from
the little tiny bit of confidence I might've had left regarding riding on
unsealed roads! Clearly my bone density is pretty good. YAY! Ride on I say
(but avoid gravel, ha ha ha!)

betty (again)

 

hehehe... she said fart

mh
(twice)

 

DO you know anyone with decent trials bike ?
Have them take it and you to a gravel pit , ride the piles a while and
gravel will no longer present a problem as we ride gravel a little
differently
Oh and fish oil glucosamine and panadol oesteo
wont cure but it does help

 

Inarguably a good conclusion also.

 

Don't worry about it Betty. I absolutely loathe gravel on a road bike.
I cannot deal with it. But I love riding trail bikes and quads and
rally cars on dirt. A road bike is not set up for it. That said a mate
of mine (ex race rider) rode a Katana 1100 up a mountain at Port
Arthur in the early 90s when he got married. His wife rode her horse
up there. We struggled to get up this road in a 4WD. But Micky is both
insane and an insanely talented rider (ask Jase, he'll confirm). 2
hours before he got married I was videoing him doing 4th gear
wheelstands in his wedding suit sans helmet. He actually got banned
from the Tas MRA Xmas ride for wheelstanding across the entire length
of the Tasman Bridge. [1]

Me? I just slow the **** down. I'm not out to prove anything. And
usually the bikes I ride have really wide tyres with fuckall tread
that simply are not going to grip. And be prepared to put your feet on
the ground, although that is easier for me to say coz I don't have
duck's disease

Kev

[1] That said, he always tried to pass me on the back wheel if we were
riding together, even 2 up with his pregnant 2nd wife on the back. He
has yet to achieve that. The laws of physics, Jim.

 

When one hits deep sand/bulldust/gravel buttoning off the throttle is a
great way to bin it, standing up weight to the rear and rolling on the
throttle is the only way to get through it.

Whilst it seems scary (and I can tell you at 120 kph it is) the alternative
is a face plant.

Boxer

 

"Panadol Osteo"

Not just for Breakfast.

Boxer

 

Boxer wrote:

Agreed! ...but, you do need to have some place to go, preferably, in a
straight line.

For the situation that started this, that wasn't actually an valid
option for betty, or most of the rest of us, on road bikes, riding on a
gravel road.

<shrug> There you have it.

Most folk, riding on road bikes, on a dodgy and unknown dirt road,
probably wouldn't have been doing anything within a bull's road of 120kph.

I tend to agree with Gerry, that kind of thing is nudging up there
towards the Dakar style of thing, or at least the serious end of
"adventure" riding.

regards,
CrazyCam

 

It may be bulldust, but, within a bulls road??
or was that an FFS moment?

Faaarrrrkk
someone finally agreeing with Gerry
you been drinking too much of that muddy watery stuff that Johno tries to
give away??

 

A simple typo is all,
as in "bull's roar".

<shrug> I read what's posted here, and, sometimes comment.

If I feel that I have something, possibly only vaguely, worthwhile to
add, I'll add it.

On some days when I do this, I am even quite polite about it. ;-)

I do not ignore/killfile/automatically disagree with a posting because
of other postings that may have come from the same source.

As for the "muddy watery stuff", some of us like proper beer and stout.

regards,
CrazyCam

 

True, but even at lower speeds hitting deep sand/gravel etc buttoning off
places more weight on the front end and increacing your problems.

Boxer

 

It is, but, if you are heading into a patch of deep sand or bulldust,
you are then faced with how to get back out.

Absolutely correct!

Hang on here Peter.

Sorry, but, some things I remember, like the road to Funkytown, and
others I am a bit hazy about, like the names of everyone who was there.

Were you there?

The big, deep gravel patches were, basically, off line.

The line was, admittedly, at times, very rutted and uncomfortable, but
it wasn't actually all that loose with gravel.

You just managed to explain it.... just add in "and to your level of
experience".

Bigger, fitter folk could probably do it.

Well, getting back to your statement of what I was getting at.....
if it works, how bad can it be?

Oh, right...good....

What is the quote about something to do with "for ever complex problem
there is a nice simple answer, which is almost inevitably wrong" ?

Yes, dear.

Goodness! What insight? What understanding?

I suppose, with knowledge like that, you work for the RTA.

regards,
CrazyCam

 

Peter wrote:

Oh, well, in that case, I have to bow to your superior knowledge.


regards,
CrazyCam

 

Thought that I had included that as it is what I suspected happened
It happens to most of us
The dreaded FFSyndrome

PROPER BEER????
Damn Cam, I think you have been influenced by the dreaded Johno