When "Gravel" is Actually Just Dirt Road Riding - A Case for Infinite Adjustability
The Deerfield Dirt Road Randonneé could easily be confused for a gravel race in this era of well funded competitive events that draw world tour talent and pit teams that emulate F1 races, but a race it is not.
Coming up on its 20th anniversary in 2025, D2R2, as it's affectionately called, is a non-competitive excursion into the hills of Western Massachusetts with an array of route options ranging from a family friendly flatland loop to a 180k and 14,000ft test of mettle.
Making up 1/3 of the Franklin Country Land Trust's annual fundraising, D2R2 helps to keep what would likely otherwise be ski condos as conserved forest, wetland, open space, and farmland.
Aside from a single descent down a snowmobile trail that makes you feel like a ball in a pachinko machine, this was as rough as the 160k Mystery route got.
The majority of each route (published for free here) is comprised of arrestingly beautiful dirt roads in their recently graded summer prime. Flecks of gravel show up around the periphery, but make no mistake, these roads are dirt. A far cry from the Marin Headlands where our OB1 was born, both geographically and in terms of terrain, what the farm roads of Western Mass lack in technical terrain they make up in sweeping high speed descents (and heavy climbs to reach them).
Coming up on its 20th anniversary in 2025, D2R2, as it's affectionately called, is a non-competitive excursion into the hills of Western Massachusetts with an array of route options ranging from a family friendly flatland loop to a 180k and 14,000ft test of mettle.
Making up 1/3 of the Franklin Country Land Trust's annual fundraising, D2R2 helps to keep what would likely otherwise be ski condos as conserved forest, wetland, open space, and farmland.
Aside from a single descent down a snowmobile trail that makes you feel like a ball in a pachinko machine, this was as rough as the 160k Mystery route got.
The majority of each route (published for free here) is comprised of arrestingly beautiful dirt roads in their recently graded summer prime. Flecks of gravel show up around the periphery, but make no mistake, these roads are dirt. A far cry from the Marin Headlands where our OB1 was born, both geographically and in terms of terrain, what the farm roads of Western Mass lack in technical terrain they make up in sweeping high speed descents (and heavy climbs to reach them).
Rolling up to the start on 40mm semi-knobby tires with the N1 Proto in its longest and slackest position, I was feeling way over-biked. I was flanked by two friends with whom I had grown up 20 miles to the South, one on a steel road bike with 34mm tanwall race tires, the other riding a goldilocks 38mm file tread.
It's embarrassing to say, but it took my under-caffeinated brain a solid two hours to remember that, while I may not be able to swap tires, I could change my geometry on the fly. Prior to last week I had been riding our prototype with the rear sliders either fully long and slack with high volume tires (435mm Chainstay, 71.7° Headtube Angle, 84mm BB Drop) or all the way forward in road mode on 32mm slicks.
Setting the dropouts in an intermediate position using a multitool proved painless; even without the micro-adjustment screws I had left behind in LA the brakes didn't need any adjustment to prevent rubbing.
The new position (~425mm Chainstay, ~72.2° Headtube Angle, ~79mm BB Drop) immediately transformed the ride feel, relinquishing a touch of high speed stability. In exchange I noticed less wandering in the front wheel while grinding out climbs (espceially helpful when extra energy was scarce towards the end of the 96 mile route we were riding), and a bit more precision while twisting through steep switchbacking descents.
The bike I started out the day on had felt set up for wandering down singletrack most people would say a drop bar bike has no business on, but now it felt like a gravel race bi... erm... bike that wanted to non-competitively go very fast on dirt roads. An allroad bike? It's tough to know exactly what any of these vague categories mean, but whatever it was, it definitely felt good.
The new position (~425mm Chainstay, ~72.2° Headtube Angle, ~79mm BB Drop) immediately transformed the ride feel, relinquishing a touch of high speed stability. In exchange I noticed less wandering in the front wheel while grinding out climbs (espceially helpful when extra energy was scarce towards the end of the 96 mile route we were riding), and a bit more precision while twisting through steep switchbacking descents.
The bike I started out the day on had felt set up for wandering down singletrack most people would say a drop bar bike has no business on, but now it felt like a gravel race bi... erm... bike that wanted to non-competitively go very fast on dirt roads. An allroad bike? It's tough to know exactly what any of these vague categories mean, but whatever it was, it definitely felt good.
It would be a gross overstatement to say that this tweak moved mountains and made the nearly 11,000 feet of climbing feel easy, but without a doubt it did make the bike suit the route and widened some smiles.