George's Weblog

I've gone through several iterations of thinking in my planning for Hell of Hunterdon on March 30, 2013. Originally I was going to ride it like a race, using the lightest and fastest equipment I could come up with. I'm sure there will be lots of other people doing just that. I've got my carbon Opera Canova and some Torelli Bormio clinchers that are really strong. The only thing left to pick out would be tires. I didn't think I had any that were specifically geared toward gravel and were wide enough (at least 25 mm and maybe 28). I looked at getting some Vittoria Pave tires which are really made for cobblestones  but I read that people were using them for racing on gravel.

We did a recon ride of the course on March 3rd. It was an impromptu ride that I learned about on Facebook and I just showed up. There were maybe 6 of us. Although I didn't know what to expect I decided not to take my Opera since I had it outfitted with Boyd carbon wheels and 23mm Vredstein tires. Instead I brought my Cannondale CAAD8 and my commuting wheels (Mavic Aksium) with Continental Gatorskins 28mm (not hardshell). I was afraid that the wheels would be too heavy and it would be hard to keep up with the other folks. Luckily the pace was moderate and I had no trouble with the route at all. One rider was sporting Pave tires and was also a pretty good climber. I thought again about getting a pair just for the event.

When I learned that some of my friends from SCU were also riding the HoH I decided to ride with them instead of racing. That meant that I wouldn't be pushing the pace, instead I would turn it into a fun ride and I wouldn't have to worry about going over the handlebars on fast gravel descents and breaking my bike, collarbone or worse.

It looks like the weather will be pretty good this year. I'll be wearing my full International Christian Cycling Club kit since it should be warming up nicely during the day.

So I came full circle on equipment. I'll be using my aluminum Cannondale CAAD8, Mavic Aksium wheels, Gatorskin 28mm tires. Another good thing about the Cannondale is that the water bottle holders are aluminum and will hold the bottles much better than the carbon fiber ones on the Opera. I'll probably stick with the same setup when I ride sweep on the Fools Classic on April 6.