First gravel ride ever – 100km

Hi,

I want to share my first experience riding 100km and it happened to be a gravel ride. The ride started in Paris Montparnasse at 10:00 and ended at the castle of Rambouillet around 19:30. In hindsight, I was totally clueless. I have never ridden outside of town, and never more than 30km. I brought my commuter bike to the ride: a Specialized Sirrus X 2.0 hybrid bike.

The riders at the event were total gearheads with fancy bikes and boulders for calves. I was trailing behind from kilometer 1. I just couldn't ride faster than 25/km on my commuter bike. I only have 8 speeds. Fortunately, two kind souls slowed down to my pace. The first 30km were mostly suburbs with smooth roads.

And then the ride got gnarly. We rode through tractor roads in wheat fields with potholes and thorny bushes before entering the woods. Some of the hiking trails were nice. I saw some old bridges. But the trails got worse: rocks, logs, steep slopes with mud and roots. I was so far behind but I was stubborn to finish the ride.

Fortunately, the riders would frequently fall down and blow tires up. Some guy even hit a tree, bruising his head. So I caught up. The group got lost in the woods once because the trails were so bad.

The group stopped at a kebab shop for lunch, waiting for me for about an hour. I had to eat my lunch quickly to get back to cycling. The breaks were too short because I was constantly late. I ate biscuits and applesauce whenever I could.

The last 28 kilometers were hell. I was told that the remaining kilometers were rideable and quick work. Yeah right! I don't see the pleasure of riding the sand in the woods on an incline. Why do people do this!? Why do they choose to ride through sand? I became super numb, tired and frustrated by kilometer 80. It just got worse. There was a muddy trail with potholes after the sand.

By the time I arrived at the castle, I didn't have time to enjoy the scenery. It was time to take the train back to Paris. I was feeling kind of nautious and out of breath.

The riders were frankly impressed that I finished the ride. But one of them complained that the ride was too long and he should have arrived home two hours sooner.

I am riding this today and I am frankly too exhausted to do anything. I crave canned fruit for some reason.

I expected a scenic trek through the French countryside. I got an exhausting ride through mud, sand, cobblestones and roots for what feels like 9 hours. But it was my fault for not informing myself on the event.

I have to say that my Sirrus handled everything. The largest cog on the cassette was a godsend. The chain always stayed on. The tires gripped. The hydraulic brakes saved my butt on the cobblestone descent. I mean I can't believe I made it without breaking down. I also expected to have huge butt pain and shoulder pain. But no. The bike felt okay during the entire ride. The cycling pants helped a tonne.

Are there more chill gravel rides?