I've got a trip up there planned this summer, and am wondering what the riding is like/ what bike I should bring. Road, cross, mountain, townie?
Tags:
Not the road bike -- there is very little paved road and you will find that frustrating.
The Main roads once you get out of town are gravel - some of it rough. you will also find plenty of jeep track and single track. Expect occasional pits of sand :)
ultimately I would base it on how you want to ride and what you want from the experience.
1) major distances and circumnavigation of the Island? cross should be okay - Mtn definitely
2) single track - Mtn
3) drunk - one least likely to fall from.
My experience is mot people plan on #1, do lots of #2 and wind up at the Shamrock (#3)
have a good trip.
Great! That's exactly the info I was hoping for, thanks. Regarding the singletrack, is it more DPRT or Palos? I've got a dedicated trail bike (hardtail), and a vintage mtb townie (rigid). I'm leaning towards the cruiser since the hardtail is kind of a pain to ride distance on (too spinny), but if there are a lot of logs and techy bits I will go traction over all.
Duly noted that this is the most N+1st world problem out there. Probably should just consolidate the fleet into one fat bike.
BTW - how was your visit?
I got back on Saturday and found this was the best riding year yet. Usually the gravel roads tend to have a lot of little washouts -- creates a washboard effect. But a mild winter combined with a good grading and use of salt on summer roads to tamp them down has created a beautiful surface.
It was very pleasant. A bit cool, being mid June. Seemed like the season didn't really kick off until the weekend we were leaving (when there was a bike festival, apparently). Took the townie-bar mountain bike, and it worked well.
203 members
1 member
270 members
1 member
261 members