The Right Bike for This Ride

The Tour de L'île portion of the ride is on fully-paved roads. Any bike will work.

BUT...

A large portion of the Veloroute Gourmande trail which we'll be pedaling in the days after the Tour de L'île is on hard-packed dirt and gravel that is well maintained.  This is absolutely beautiful fun riding.

SO... What's the right bike for this trip?

• Any standard around-town hybrid or e-bike is fine. The tires that are already on the bike will work great, as long as they are in decent shape.

• If you own a gravel bike, now is the time to use it!

• A mountain bike (but I would temporarily take the giant knobby tires off the mountain bike and put on smooth ones).

• A WARNING ABOUT ROAD BIKES -- On the side of your road bike tires the size will be printed. It's probably something such as 700x23 or 700x25.  (Hybrid bike tires are sized in a completely different way -- no need to dive down that rabbit hole at this time!)

It's that second number we care about -- it tells how fat the tires is. The larger the number, the fatter the tire. (So 700x25 is fatter than 700x23). I wouldn't do this ride on anything skinnier than 700x30, and fatter than that would be even better.

If you try this ride on tires that are skinnier than 700x30 you are going to be miserable. Then you're going to yell at me, and we'll BOTH be miserable.  Don't do it.

If you want to switch to a fatter tire, you MUST take your bike to your favorite shop NOW. Not all tires fit all bikes. There is no measurement you can do at home to know if a wider tire will fit. (It has to do with clearance for the brakes and under the fork). I love ordering stuff online, but this is the wrong time to try it. Trust me on this one -- I've seen what happens when people try to wing it.  Be aware that your shop might have to order wider tires for you -- give them plenty of advance notice.