Innholdsfortegnelse for Autumn 2019 i Cyclist Off Road

The six months since we launched Cyclist Off-Road have been some of the most enlightening of my 30-plus years spent riding. Gravel bikes have rebooted my zest for cycling, and changed the way I approach my rides. I’ve developed a game I call Routefinder Roulette. The rules are simple: input a start point and destination into route-planning software and then let the algorithms do the rest. Where will my bike computer take me? A road, a gravel path, a bridleway? Having a bike that can cope with almost any surface means I can just take my chances and go with it. It’s a whole lot of fun, and I have discovered routes in my own area that I never knew existed. I even managed to cycle from my home in…

We used to be happy with tarmac. Road cycling was all about the well-trodden roads – the likes of Alpe d’Huez and the Stelvio pass were seen as the height of accomplishment for any two-wheeled adventurer. Then we all wanted a little more, and an off-road world opened up to us, like some previously undiscovered alternate reality. Of course, the challenge with riding into the unknown is knowing where to go when you get there, and route-planning app komoot offers a solution to that very dilemma. Komoot was founded in Germany by six friends with a love for the outdoors, and the app is geared to both hikers and cyclists. To say it has hit a sweet spot is an understatement: komoot has already built a base of eight million…

I can remember when the Lauf Grit forks debuted and I must admit to being impressed – a 980g suspension fork with 60mm travel – but ultimately bemused. The original was for 29er mountain bikes, a world where most forks offer at least 100mm travel, and unlike the Lauf have tuneable spring rates and rebound damping. But now I know – the Grit is the perfect gravel fork, and pairs with the True Grit frame to create an adept platform for rough riding. The True Grit is just what you’d want from a gravel bike: smooth, comfortable and stable. The slack 70.5° head angle, 1,040mm wheelbase and short 90mm stem make for a reassuring ride with handling that sharpens up as speed increases, while the short 133mm head tube and…

Gravel bikes have to cope with far more diverse terrain than road bikes, so component choice is often key to the success of the bike’s performance. To spec Sram’s Force eTap AXS on a £3,000 bike is impressive, and it made all the difference too – the tactile lever paddles and Orbit fluid clutch meant gear changes were always slick, even on rough ground and under load. Hunt’s 650b Adventure Carbon wheels were a change to the original spec but were needed to make the most of the Backroad’s wide tyre clearances. The 47mm WTB Sendero tyres mounted on Hunt’s wide, light rims were comfortable, grippy and forgiving of all manner of user errors that would otherwise have seen me end up on my backside. Centrally, though, these components were…

It might technically be a cyclocross bike but the SuperX has won Dirty Kanza multiple times before, and its big tyre clearances and efficient power transfer meant that it didn’t fail to deliver. It was a great choice for the event. I equipped it with Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 shifting paired to an XT mountain bike rear derailleur to provide a 1x drivetrain set-up with a large-ranging rear cassette to cope with the climbs, of which there are plenty. The shifting was precise and flawless throughout. If there’s one question you’ll hear a lot in the weeks before Kanza, it’s about what tyres to use. I opted for Donelly’s most robust offering, the MSO 40. These were mounted (tubeless) to Enve’s G23 wheelset, which handled everything the flint hills could throw…

To download this route go to cyclist. co.uk/or2/bormio. Starting in Bormio, ride onto the SS38 Via Stelvio, before turning off on the smaller SS301. That road turns into the climb to Cancano reservoir. Turn right at the reservoir and follow the gravel road to its northernmost tip, before turning off on a small fork in the road following a narrow gravel track signposted for Livigno. Follow that road to the summit and return, looking out for a small left turning onto a rocky trail near a signpost for Lago di Cancano. That descends to the reservoir, which you follow along its southern side before returning to the descent towards Bormio. Take a small right turning after the third hairpin and ride the gravel road towards Arnoga. There, join the SS301…

Jostling for position on a crowded beach is usually no fun. But this is different. There are no sun loungers or parasols, I’ve been slathering on chamois cream rather than suncream. That said, I’m rather wishing I had applied a bit of factor 30, but how was I to know that it would turn out to be so sunny on an April day in South Wales? I’m standing astride a Cannondale mountain bike tandem alongside nearly 1,000 other competitors at the start line of the 2019 Battle on the Beach. Almost everyone is in short sleeves and sunglasses, and the atmosphere is relaxed as people soak up the unseasonably warm weather. That won’t last. In a few minutes the starting horn will blast and this thousand-strong battalion will charge down…

There is an Iceland in Iceland. In fact, there are three of the frozen food supermarkets here. But that stands to change. From 2014 to 2018, Iceland the country and Iceland Foods Ltd were locked in a dispute over the trademark of their shared name. European courts have since ruled in favour of the country, with minister for foreign affairs Gudlaugur Thor Thordarson wryly noting that ‘it defies common sense that a foreign company can stake a claim to the name of a sovereign nation’. Especially when the supermarket was established in 1970, while the country has been an independent nation since 1918. The Icelandic Sagas, a kind of 10th century Beowulfcum-Holy Bible collection of semi-mythical histories, tell of a Norseman named Naddoður reaching Iceland in 850 after being blown…

Packing for Iceland is a bit like packing for the Alps, the Hebrides and the Moon all at once. Even in summer the weather is temperamental, so be as versatile as possible by packing weather-resistant arm and kneewarmers, insulated and lightweight gloves, a waterproof, lightweight jacket and windproof gilet alongside usual summer bibs and jersey. Glasses are also imperative as dust storms can whip up seemingly from nowhere, and quality base layers and socks – specifically wool socks for warmth when wet – and walk-able SPDtype shoes are essential because you’ll have to push your bike at times. You can fill up a bidon in any stream quite safely, but carrying two large ones is a good idea, as too a top-tube bag for extra food and a saddle pack…

Stepping off an air-conditioned carriage onto the platform at Haywards Heath train station, the high summer heat feels stifling. It’s Friday evening and commuters are bustling this way and that as their working week draws to a close. If any of them looked up from their phones long enough to notice my bike, with its burly tyres and bikepacking bags, they’d probably assume I was off to some farflung location hours away from civilisation. Yet nothing could be further from the truth. The 18:05 train from London Bridge took just 47 minutes to get me here, and even the furthest limits of my expedition over the next two days won’t take me beyond the boundaries of a single county: Sussex. On the face of it, my fully laden bike is…

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The 3T Exploro was conceived for exactly this type of ride: going quickly on mixed terrain and sometimes into the unknown. The bike uses the same dropped chainstay design as the Open UP, which means it can fit 2.1in tyres on a 650b wheel size. For this ride we used a set of slightly narrower Panaracer Gravelking 1.9in tyres, which proved to hit a perfect sweetspot between fast and protective. The flared 3T Superghiaia handlebars seemed strange when I first saw them, but on a ride like this the extra bar width when in the drops proved invaluable on more technical terrain, where they offered a good deal more stability and control. The Exploro also uses aerodynamic tube shapes, which may seem a little odd for a bike destined for…

In its six years there has never been a British overall winner at Battle on the Beach, mainly thanks to the Dutch. Beach racing is popular in the Netherlands, and their specialist racers nip across the Channel to take the spoils. So, in an attempt to find out their secrets, Cyclist Off-Road spoke to this year’s winner, Dutchman Bram Imming, about what it takes to be a beach racer. ‘Beach racing is our speciality,’ he says. ‘At home we tend to race only on the flat sand, and not in the dunes like here. It’s about speed. The races are really hard and always full-gas. ‘The start is really important. Everyone in Holland goes really fast off the start and if you’re not in the front then you are chasing…

Technology has given us 24 gears on road bikes, so why would we want to limit ourselves to half as many on a gravel bike? That said, switching to a single chainring has its benefits. Cyclist Off-Road looks at why the 1x setup is right for certain situations… Bigger range It’s easy to assume that fewer gears means a smaller range, but 1x systems can actually offer a bigger range than a double chainset. ‘If you combine a 9-32 cassette with a 36t chainring, it gives you the same range as a 48/34t chainset with a 12-30 cassette,’ explains Gerard Vroomen, co-owner of 3T and Open Cycle. ‘With a 40t ring it’s equivalent to 50/36t with 11-29, and with a 44t ring it’s equivalent to 54/39 by 11-28,’ he adds.…

Eating out in Iceland is expensive – a main costs around £20 in Reykjavik – so investigating local supermarkets is a good idea. That said, there is some really good food to be found. Reykjavik Roasters does the best coffee in town, Sandholt and Brauð & Co the best pastries and sandwiches – look out for the Icelandic take on the doughnut, called a kleina – and the Ostabúðin restaurant does a superb ‘fish of the day’ at lunchtimes. All these are at reasonable prices, and all are easily walkable within the downtown Reykjavik area. Along with Arctic char, salted cod and minke whale (fished only at certain points in the season when the population needs culling), Icelandic lamb is a staple and so too skyr, a thick-set, tangy-sweet yoghurt.…

To download this route go to cyclist.co.uk/or2/sussex. From Blackberry Wood Campsite, travel west until just after Albourne, where you’ll get onto lanes and then bridleways as you begin to track north. Cross Cowfold Road to the right of Cowfold, and continue north until you reach Colgate. From there take a left onto Forest Road then another left to turn south. The serpentine route circumnavigates the east side of Mannings Heath, then Maplehurst, cutting through woodland to reach Shipley. Keep tracking south until you reach Steyning, then loop underneath the town and ride parallel to Edburton Road in the fields to the south, before turning north and retracing your steps from Hurstpierpoint to Blackberry Wood. On day two, head east up onto Blackcap. Descend off the hill into Lewes, then climb…

I’m blissfully unaware that I will soon find myself lying down in a creek, trying to keep myself from vomiting ‘Alexa, what is the weather in Emporia, Kansas?’ I have developed such a frustrating habit of shouting this nervously from my office in the last few months that my wife is becoming increasingly irritated with me. She has made the valid argument that, if I can’t be bothered to search the weather for myself, why on Earth would I think I have enough motivation to ride 200 miles on gravel. It’s a fair point, but Dirty Kanza does that to you. It gets in your head. It’s a bike ride so long that you need a spare battery for your bike computer, because when they make bike computers they don’t…

Mountain folk are tough. I keep telling myself that over and over while I cling on, head down, to Daniele and Carlo’s wheels as they tap gently up the incline ahead of me. They appear to be scaling today’s first climb almost effortlessly, chatting freely with each other along the way, while I, on the other hand, am already seeing stars. It’s a sharp start to the day. We’re in the beautiful Valtellina valley in the north of Italy, near the border with Switzerland. A morning haze gives the landscape a bright blue glow as we labour up the tightly packed hairpins that lead from our start point in the town of Bormio to the reservoir at Lago di Cancano. The climb itself is around 8km at an average of…

Proper preparation Practising setting up your tent and stowing your kit at home is beneficial, but it’s still nothing like doing it after a long day in the saddle, on a dark, windy night with a head-torch on. Pack your kit logically so that you can set up camp quickly. Gear that has to come out first should be packed last. Label poles, pegs and corners with coloured tape or marker pens. At night, be sure to store food and waste carefully inside your tent – being woken by a fox eating your supplies is not much fun. Check exposure Ideally you want to find a spot sheltered from the wind, rain and heat. Use the features of the land or outbuildings to find a spot that could offer a…

1 SEAT PACK: THE SOFT STUFF ‘The seat pack is where I keep my sleeping set-up,’ says Rothwell, a veteran of ultraendurance events such as the Highland Trail 550 race and Colorado Trail Race. ‘It tends to be a pretty robust bivi bag, a lightweight sleeping bag and possibly a sleeping mat, such as a Thermarest NeoAir XLite Short – just enough to keep your shoulders and hips off the ground. I can fit all of that into my seat pack and I know that I don’t touch that pack until it’s time to sleep. ‘My bivi is a Rab Survival Zone, which isn’t the lightest, but it’s bombproof. Because it’s the heaviest item, I pack that first so it’s under the seat. You want the weight as close to…

After almost two hours grinding up steep gradients, dodging fallen boulders and being battered by torrential rain, things took a turn for the worse. I arrived at the start of an 8km stretch of sterrato – dirt road. When the Colle delle Finestre made its debut in the Giro d’Italia in 2005, La Gazzetta described this abrupt change in road surface as the ‘border between heaven and hell’. A legend was born. It was here that Chris Froome launched his spectacular solo 80km breakaway during Stage 19 of last year’s Giro, securing him the maglia rosa. The thought of following in the tyre tracks of such an audacious piece of cycling would normally send tingles down my spine, but I was too busy straining to keep upright on a surface…