Gravel in Paradise

For the past several years my friend Andy Swartz has been hosting a spring and fall series of rides up here in northern Wisconsin called Gravel in Paradise.  I find the paradise part debatable as my definition of paradise includes warm weather, shorts, and a fruity drink.  Instead we are usually presented with cool weather, shorts over tights, and a brandy old fashioned at the local Friday night fish fry.  Close enough?

Some of us started a day early in Phillips, allowing Nate to see his new frame in progress.  From Phillips we rode a long stretch of ATV trail through the Chequamegon National Forest to dinner, which was followed by a nice night ride over to Andy’s cabin.

It’s always fun to see the mix of bikes and tire sizes everyone brings.  The route usually traverses a bit of pavement, a lot of gravel, some ATV trails, ski trails, and the occasional snowmobile trail (up here these inevitably end up in the middle of an impassable swamp).  The MTB tires always seem best for the ATV trails , the 38-42 mm tires are great for the gravel and pavement and Andy always does just fine with his 700 x 32 tires as that’s all that fits in his cross bike. The only good solution for the wet is a spare pair of shoes or a fresh pair of socks.  I think the best bike for such an adventure is one built around the Compass 26″ x 2.3″ Rat Trap Pass tires, which is actually what will be coming back from paint in a few weeks:  https://www.jonny-cycles.com/in-progress-lesleys-all-road/

Photos:  Thanks to Michael and Grant for most of them!

Route: