How to Create Amazing & Fun Gravel Routes!

Описание: G'day Trendsetters, this video has been requested many times. Namely how do I assemble, fun, amazing, and more gravel routes often in areas I don't reside.

Note: Whilst there are many options such as my own route library to download and follow the routes of others, I prefer riding original routes of my own design. Most of the time, I prefer the adventure and exploration that comes with making my own routes. Clearly this is not a perfect science.

To keep it interesting I do not leverage online resources such as Gravel Map and Strava. Some riders do, and I totally understand that, but for me, these resources take all of the fun and mystery out of exploring. Harkening back to earlier times of wandering, getting lost, and getting found again, is how I like to ride when exploring.

My desire for route creation and exploration will not work if you're on a time crunch, but there's plenty of options depending on where you live, for a quick one to two hour jaunt.

My Pre-requisites for Gravel Cycling Route Design:

1. Ensure you have a ton of time to explore, I hate having a limitation on time. Weekends, vacations, the perfect time to wander.

2. My routes must include interesting small towns, which are fun to explore, and provide another option, leading to pre-requisite number 3.

3. I design routes with plenty of resupply options, which isn't always perfect, depending on where you are riding. Plenty of riders are into bikepacking / slackpacking / credit card packing and so on, but I don't like to carry more than two litres of water on my bike most of the time. I prefer my bike to be somewhat svelte, versus riding like a laden down 47lb bike truck.

The plotting portion of this video demonstrates my somewhat tedious, but ultimately rewarding method for designing a route from scratch. In this example, I chose Grandview, Texas, just south of the Dallas / Forth Metroplex. There are a ton of mixed-surface roads in this area, and I only touched on the surface with my humble route. I will return to the DFW area and surrounds soon to ride this route, a variant of, or something completely different, soon.

Chapters:
0:00 Introduction
0:30 I Love to Explore
1:30 Route Design Pre-Req 1
1:42 Route Design Pre-Req 2
2:08 Route Design Pre-Req 3
2:42 Plot a Route on Ridewith GPS
3:13 Looking for Towns or POI's
3:30 Selecting a Start Point or Parking
4:01 Leveraging Google Street View
4:30 Surface Type Colours
5:26 Leveraging Satellite View
6:10 Trying to Identify Legit Roads
9:15 Keep the Big Picture in Mind
11:27 Lots of Zooming In & Out
13:08 RidewithGPS Route Surface Types
14:40 Exploring a Small Town
15:50 Avoiding Main Roads if Possible
17:10 Speculating about Road Options
20:00 Always have a Rough Distance Plan
22:53 Another Town Stop
23:15 Brewery Stop!
26:39 Not all Roads are Mixed-Surface
27:30 Lay of the land with Satellite View
28:30 RidewithGPS Heatmap
30:25 Looks like a Private Road
31:15 Ride Back to the Start or Plot on?
31:48 This could be Dodgy AF
32:50 Definitely a Private Road
34:57 Returning to the Start
35:37 Closing

Links of Interest:
RidewithGPS - https://ridewithgps.com

Tailwind Nutrition (JOM's choice of on-the-bike hydration) - https://bit.ly/3eVogDT

Gravel Cyclist's Route Library - https://www.gravelcyclist.com/gravel-...

Amazon Affiliation Link:
No cost to you, but every purchase made helps keep Gravel Cyclist up and running! - https://www.amazon.com/?&_encoding=UT...

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