June 11, 2022-Headed to the New Santa Fe Trail for a "tire test", Let's Get DIRTY!!

 We have been wanting to do a bit more riding on the "dirt/gravel" portions of the Pike Peak Greenway, we just didn't think our normal Schwalbe Marathon Plus street tires would have enough "traction" to get us up some of the short but steep slick gravel uphill grades on the trail! Didn't want a pure "knobby" tire so we are out testing the Schwalbe Marathon 365 GT all season tire!

It uses "block tread across the width of the tire"! This still gives you a smooth surface at the top of the tire so it's a decent concrete or asphalt tire but with the blocks it has much better traction. We decided to head up to Ice Lake on the USAF Academy grounds, which is also the "New Santa Fe Trail", between Woodmen Ave. in C. Springs and up to Palmer Lake, CO. It's all dirt/gravel double track and it has more of the steeper uphill grades than the other dirt/gravel part of the PPGW, known as the Fountain Regional Trail, which starts south of C. Springs in the town of Fountain, CO. up to C. Springs where through town it's mostly concrete/asphalt up to Woodmen Ave. 

 We stopped at Ice Lake to use the restroom, then headed up the trail just bit to a parking area that has a big oak shade tree and some flat top boulders and ate our brown bag lunch. Then we turned around and headed south back down the trail to the Criterium Bike Shop for water and a protein bar break! The mileage came out to 16 miles, it was HOT, 90 F+, which at over 6,000 ft. of altitude is really HOT! Still there is a lot of shade on the trail so it wasn't bad. From the bike shop we just headed home as the heat kept getting stronger. Sunny, easter egg blue skies made for a good ride and successful tire test! For me the tire was a B+ to A- for Jo a solid B, I am a more powerful rider than Jo so I could just drop a gear and power up the uphill grades, Jo has to come up slowly using her lowest gears and that gives the rear wheel more chances to find the slick spots, she didn get up all the hills on her own so to me the Schwalbe Marathon 365 GT is a winner!! We plan to "Get Dirty" heading down south on the PPGW, very soon! Here's a video of the return ride on the New Santa Fe Trail!