Todd, what about the areas around Mt. Diablo
Mike Schmidt Stirling, NJ
On 9/17/06 4:16 PM, "thteach@sonic.net" <thteach@sonic.net> wrote:
> Of the places I've been in my life that would have interesting and
> challenging dirt roads in the spirit of the great european bike race
> courses, I nominate rural Boulder County, CO. When I lived there in the
> 80's they had lots of dirt roads, many roads with long grades in the 4-9
> percent range, and shorter grades in the 9-15 percent range. Add to that
> elevations in the 8,000 to 12,000 foot levels and you get a real
> challenge!!!! Boulder remains a road bike mecca so support is there.
> Gotta watch out for those afternoon thunderstorms though.
>
> Michigan has a lot of dirt roads, too. Unfortunately they are too flat or
> too short.
>
> I would guess that Smokey Mountains (N. Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee) and
> Appalacians(sp?) in West Virginia would have some interesting routes, too.
> Do we have any members who can comment on these or maybe the Ozarks in
> Missouri?
>
> The Marin Headlands on the other side of the Golden Gate from San
> Francisco offers lots of dirt roads (fire roads and single track) but they
> are steep. I was evaluating a 100k route there. The route we did was
> about 57 miles. It included about 22 miles on dirt and there was 9500
> feet of climbing
>
> Todd Teachout
> Hercules, CA