Nov 21, 2010

Gravel Grovel Recon

I rolled out to the Deam Wilderness to check out the Gravel Grovel course this AM. The gravel roads are in good shape and pretty easy to ride.
However when you hit 'Combs Road' things are a little different. It's no road I have even seem and is more like MTB single track. The outward uphill is just rideable on a cross bike and the following descent isn't too bad. The problem is there are logs and rocks all over the place so care is needed! On the way back after 50+miles the inward climb will be very tough to ride. The descent is particularly treacherous as it's all wet leaves covering logs/rocks. Erik Hamilton crashed whilst training the other day (separated shoulder) and I would expect more of the same on Saturday.
Combs 'Road'
Final climb is steep
Granted I have terrible form and am a -insert feline euphemism here- when riding off road but with a little extra rain the final descent will be real tricky! If I was too ride a Little 500 bike I'd lose more rubber off of my shoes than my tires as there's gonna be a LOT of walking!
BTW for an assesment of the 2009 race from the winner check out Jake's blog.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow... Combs Road sounds like a real cyclocross course, dismounts, obstacles, tight twists and turns, Awesome!

Anonymous said...

Is anyone actually going to ride a Little 500 bike on that course?