Why do some walk their bikes across gravel?

On Thu, 08 Jun 2006 18:59:52 GMT, "Sorni"
wrote:


Hell, a while back a group of us was about to do an "epic" road ride, and
the meeting place was a loose-gravelly (?) parking lot. I broke my
Look-style cleat before ever saddling up.

Then the whole ride was a debacle. Another guy had no rear shifting, and
Miles -- of crash video fame/infamy -- broke his seat post binder bolt.
Only one guy ended up doing the full deal; the rest of us limped back to the
car for a VERY unsatisfactory excursion.

Buck up my friend, buck up.

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/stickb...boiy/my_photos

JT

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On Thu, 08 Jun 2006 23:31:35 GMT, "Sorni"
wrote:

John Forrest Tomlinson wrote:
On Thu, 08 Jun 2006 18:59:52 GMT, "Sorni"
wrote:


Hell, a while back a group of us was about to do an "epic" road
ride, and the meeting place was a loose-gravelly (?) parking lot. I
broke my Look-style cleat before ever saddling up.

Then the whole ride was a debacle. Another guy had no rear
shifting, and Miles -- of crash video fame/infamy -- broke his seat
post binder bolt. Only one guy ended up doing the full deal; the
rest of us limped back to the car for a VERY unsatisfactory
excursion.

Buck up my friend, buck up.

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/stickb...boiy/my_photos

You lost me...twice.

I'm just saying, get sturdy equipment, do more rides on rough
terrain/dirt/etc, and it's a lot of fun.

JT


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John Forrest Tomlinson wrote:
On Thu, 08 Jun 2006 23:31:35 GMT, "Sorni"
wrote:

John Forrest Tomlinson wrote:
On Thu, 08 Jun 2006 18:59:52 GMT, "Sorni"
wrote:


Hell, a while back a group of us was about to do an "epic" road
ride, and the meeting place was a loose-gravelly (?) parking lot.
I broke my Look-style cleat before ever saddling up.

Then the whole ride was a debacle. Another guy had no rear
shifting, and Miles -- of crash video fame/infamy -- broke his seat
post binder bolt. Only one guy ended up doing the full deal; the
rest of us limped back to the car for a VERY unsatisfactory
excursion.

Buck up my friend, buck up.

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/stickb...boiy/my_photos

You lost me...twice.

I'm just saying, get sturdy equipment, do more rides on rough
terrain/dirt/etc, and it's a lot of fun.

The roads in San Diego are legendarily horrible. I also mountain biked for
almost ten years before getting a road bike. And none of the three failures
I described had anything to do with the type of pavement we were on (which,
by the way, was quite nice). My cleat broke because I stepped on a loose
rock in a dirt/gravel parking lot. Other guy had a broken derailleur or
cable. And Miles, the most experienced roadie I know (and also a former
shop owner), simply had bad luck with a binder bolt breaking on his
beautiful Pinarello (I think that's right; it's yellow and old).

The other thing that mystified me was "my friend", friend.

On Fri, 09 Jun 2006 00:04:25 GMT, "Sorni"
wrote:
And none of the three failures
I described had anything to do with the
type of pavement we were on

Then what is the point of your story about the ride. That your cleat
broke on gravel? OK. I guess that's useful info...but what does the
subsequent ride have to do with anything.

JT

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Yeah, I've ridden a lot of ice and snow on my road bike. I guess that
contributes to my confidence. I have pretty much refused to use a
trainer my whole life, so you have to get out there...

John Forrest Tomlinson wrote:
On 8 Jun 2006 09:07:58 -0700, "Mike Reed"
wrote:

I'm talking
about gravel roads and parking lots.

They're still scared, and perhaps worried that their tires will pop.
With good tires, they shouldn't worry, and with decent skills
(especially not tensing up) falling shouldn't be a problem. Turning
on gravel, esp gravel on top of pavement, is another story -- more
caution is needed.

JT

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On 8 Jun 2006 18:40:58 -0700, "Mike Reed"
wrote:

Yeah, I've ridden a lot of ice and snow on my road bike. I guess that
contributes to my confidence. I have pretty much refused to use a
trainer my whole life, so you have to get out there...

Ice scares me a lot. If I see ice on the road ahead I'll avoid riding
over it. I'm impressed if you can deal with ice -- I can't.

JT

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Tuschinski wrote:


The crash itself was stupid. I had seen the gravel, so I went pretty
slow. I cornered and my frontwheel just slipped away. BANG. And there I
am priding myself on my bikeskills ^^ (I used to cross as a kid and
after that 20 years roadracing in the peloton)

I like to think I'm reasonably good rider of bicycles & motorcycles,
and yet, I've had several minor crashes on gravel where the front wheel
just washes out while turning w/ the cycle at a relative high angle.
Just as you, I've been going at a slow rate in respect of the gravel. I
believe that it has to do w/ the type of gravel (size, round, jagged,
etc) & possibly random factors such as the placement of certain bits of
gravel or elevation. Don't get me wrong, It's usually been 5 - 10yrs
between these events, but I've always been very surprised. The odd
thing is that I've had very few crashes, where I was deliberately
cornering near the limit.

The type of compacted pea gravel in the picture, has never given me a
moments worth of trouble. But if I were about to ride in a TT on a TT
bike, I'd damn sure carry it over it.

Regards, John

Pat wrote:

Although 4" of pea gravel combines the worst of both. When you get
through the equivalent of deep sand, you still don't have solid traction!

Not freshly & well compacted pea gravel, such as in the picture. What
you say is correct about loose pea gravel

Regards, John

John Forrest Tomlinson wrote:

Then what is the point of your story about the ride. That your cleat
broke on gravel? OK. I guess that's useful info...but what does the
subsequent ride have to do with anything.


Very nice photos. Digital? What model camera? I'm looking @ various
small cameras for travel. Looks like the eastern US?

But, geese, lighten up on BS. I think he's just pointing out that one
can also damage cleats on gravel instead of a tire & the rest of the
ride was a disaster too. No big deal. I think we've all had that kind
of ride at one time or another.

Regards, John

John Forrest Tomlinson wrote:
On 8 Jun 2006 18:40:58 -0700, "Mike Reed"
wrote:

Yeah, I've ridden a lot of ice and snow on my road bike. I guess that
contributes to my confidence. I have pretty much refused to use a
trainer my whole life, so you have to get out there...

Ice scares me a lot. If I see ice on the road ahead I'll avoid riding
over it. I'm impressed if you can deal with ice -- I can't.

It's one of those self-fulfilling prophecies, too. I see the ice; I
tense up -- that first squirm comes, and I instinctively go for my
front brake. I have to really beat myself into laying off the front
brake. -- Jay Beattie.