New bars for the caadx and Gravel River Road Ride Report

First off, I have been wanting to try some different bars on my caadx.  It's not that the ones on there are a problem, it's just they're the stock ones, don't seem to be exactly what I want, and I never use the drops because of the position they put me in.  I am still new to a road bike and not really sure I'm doing any of this right anyway, but I want to be comfortable on the bike and have as many hand positions as possible.

Enter the Salsa Woodchipper - I saw these on a few bikes here and there and thought about them.  Took the plunge last week and ordered a set of the widest ones (46cm).  Got them mounted up Thursday night in anticipation of a group ride Sat (more on that in a sec).

Figuring out exactly where to mount the levers was a bit of a guessing game but I ended up OK, and this is my first time doing tape.  George had some of this tape around in red which is the color I'd wanted anyway - it's Zipp CX something and I really like it.  A bit more all weather than other tapes I've seen and nice and grippy and comfy.  After only one ride I recommend it.

I got a chance to try the setup out on the Gravel River Road Ride Saturday.  This was an informal, free ride put on by a local rider.  I think this is the 2nd year and I would say there were somewhere like 30-40 people.  Weather was a bit cool at 35ish degrees and it turned out pretty windy later in the day.  We rode out of a park and ride near Manitowoc, then north to Denmark through a few different roads, then back on the Gravel River Trail (old rail trail).  That part was the best, just cruising along.

I have never ridden in a big group ride like this before, I was surprised at how much different it was riding in a pack for overall speed and efficiency.  I do not really love it, I prefer long, solo or small groups to big groups still but it is nice to have company.  Obviously there are all different speed/capability levels in a group this size so it was pretty spread out by the end.

The ride was a blast, Eric did an awesome job of setting it up and keeping it low key, friendly.  I will look to do this type of ride again in the future for sure.  Idealy it'll be gravel though for most of it.  People say I should try to do the Bear 100 as it's kind of like that but all gravel and nice and low key.  I'm going to have to see if I can stretch family schedules to allow for that.

I was pretty happy with the bars on their maiden voyage.  I was able to use more different hand positions, still prefering to be on the hoods mostly, but the drop portion of the bars are way more usable for me and much more comfortable.  I'd worked on the truck Friday and had bruised my palms a bit (long story), so my hands were hurting by the end of the ride but not terrible.  I think the combo of extra hand positions and new bar tape helped a lot.

Hoping to get out on singletrack soon...