Burgundy and brown, not to everyone’s taste but to me they look cool. More importantly it would seem that I have finally embraced the dark side, out have gone my skinny cyclo cross tyres and I have now opted for a pair of Panaracer Gravel King´s.

I have fitted a 38 to the front and a 35 to the rear. After just one ride I was quite taken back how good modern gravel tyres are on the rough stuff and not bad on the smooth stuff either.

Of course, I know that there is a school of thought that proper gravel tyres only start at 40 plus (tongue in cheek).

I have ridden 33m cross tyres for years but if you go back to the 1990´s riders like Paul Herygers were riding much wider tyres such as 34m in cyclo cross races, having bought their MTB experience into play.

Then the UCi changed the rules (1996 World Cross Champs – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHpfuidQtxU)

After Christmas and New Year, I felt very lack lustre out on the bike and a very strong head wind sucked any power out of my legs. This I felt much later when I hit the final hilly sections of my ride.

It was fun to start and finish with a lap of the velodrome and I also found a new cool section of gravel new to me!

The Ride
Garmin Connect: https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/4396170912
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/2978708587

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