Does "Gravel" Always Mean "Washboard"?

 

One of the smoothest non-paved sections I found!

 I decided to explore some of the dirt and gravel roads north and west of town this week. These roads intersect Bishop's Lodge Road and the various Tano Roads.  So I put a set of Richey 700-32 folding cyclecross tires on the Speed City wheelset, which normally sits on the rafters. I've had these tires for a long time and they are getting old and its gonna be use them or lose them to embrittlement. But they are light and fast.My set of 700-40 Donnelly Xplor MSOs are beasts by comparison.

Of course the Richeys are also 32 mm wide, so not a whole lot of flotation compared to the recent philosophy of more width is better. And as I found out, the gravel roads are also washboard roads. As in bang-bang-bop-bop-ouch-ouch as you ride over the washing machine.

Maybe next time I'll try it with the 700-40 Donnelly Xplor MSOs at a lower pressure than I ran the Richeys. Or maybe stay on the roads and trails? I'm not sure after this week why the gravel craze is such a craze, but to each his or her own. It certainly was different, and it certainly was nice and quiet out there.