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@lcf01
This is definitely the bike I've done the least to but the most with. Unlocking new experiences of the peak district, away from fast road rides on the Aende or silly "tracklocross" on the Surly, the spirit of gravel was here.
With its mountain bike geometry and 27.5 wheels, the voodoo rips on bumpy peak trails and I love sloshing around in gritty mud and dodging pointy rocks on hills.
Climbing off road is great on this - something about sitting quite far back over the rear wheel and the higher front end just feels good for a rough steep burst.
Desperate for more of this sort of riding, I tagged along with the Peak Gravel Gang, a loosely organised monthly ride in the peaks with staring points that alternate around different peak-adjacent towns. Finding new routes and ways of riding was great, but I think I only managed 2 rides, due partly to many of them starting in places I couldn't easily get to without a car, and partly to my own hectic routines.
Having always wanted to go bikepacking, I started to strap things to the bike, and buy more things to strap on to the bike - bags, tents, racks all begun to adorn the slender steel tubes as spare clothes and snacks weighed me down on rides around town and out to campsites.
I guess this gave me the bug for something more, and I set off on a mini tour around the Netherlands last September, riding from london to Harwich to catch the overnight ferry and continue through the Hague and Leiden towards Amsterdam and back via Rotterdam.
Though my tent was tiny, the wind too windy and the rain too cold, I loved my little trip, and have spent the past year scheming for more...
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