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ChasnotRobert
Flew over to my parents in the Pyrenees, they got my bike there so all I have to do is get the cheapest flight to Perpignan (£17!).
Did some riding in the last couple of days, then notice that there's some bright and big gravel road on the top of the mountains, end up using Google Earth to see what condition they're in.
Drew some new route in Strava, put 30mm tyres on the road bike, then head off from Arles-Sur-Tech to the old Batere Mine, then onto the gravel road.
Starting off in the late morning when it's getting warmer, I took a smaller quieter road to reach to the old mine, I missed a turn that allow me to climb to Batere via a gravel road, but press on the tarmac to Batere instead, not a problem, the view is spectacular, next time.
Passing the old mine, the road get a little narrower, and the landscape become spastic, I regretfully haven't brought my wind jacket, as it was freezing once I got onto the gravel that take me to the signal tower near the Canigou.
The gravel road was in great condition despite being high up at 1400 metres, the 30mm tyres hum quietly as an old bloke enjoying his Meccano set, but still got to pick my line carefully as I drop the pressure down a bit more to gain traction (and cushioning), certain section were really rough, and end up having to stop every 10-15 minutes to take a break from modulating the brakes trying not to go too fast on the descent.
It's intoxicating, I'm very much a road cyclist at heart, but the tyres limitation were blatantly obvious in some poorer section of the route, even on tarmac.
While the "all-road", gravel-grinding or adventure bicycles is very much on trend right now, it make perfect sense being able to get up to the top of the mountain on what felt like a road bike with minimal effort, then blast through the gravel with minimal discomfort, instead of getting your mountain bike up in the first place, or not being able to press on future on your 23mm, I'm seeing the appeal of the Cannondale Slate now.
The Pyrenean horses are fucking huge, even the foal is about the sizes of a regular horse, pretty daunting going pass them, even thought they're generally docile, make for great photo opportunity.
A nice round trip back to the flat made me reevaulated the Pyrenees in a different way, instead of going on the usual popular route to the Cols, I'll fit a 650b wheelset on the disc road bike and put 38mm, maybe 42mm slick tyres to make the most of the gravel road in the Pyrenees, or bring the Elephant NFE with the 48mm slick (not much difference when climbing on the lightweight carbon bike), the fact there's no one around, not a peep beside the huge horses make up for the French insistence of overtaking you every time with very little room as if it's considered the right thing to do.
A1 tip top clubbing jam fair, don't need the on trend bike for this (mine is billed as a disc road bike), just grab your CX/tourer/road disc and fit the biggest tyres possible.