Thanks to Vessi for keeping my feet dry! Check out vessi.com/mitchboyer for 15% off your first order!

The best part about being last is no one sees you fall. The stress laughs were real in this one. For what you had, you did great!

As someone middleaged and just getting into cycling, I have really found your channel to be the best one out there. You are not afraid to show yourself struggling with a challenge and you could have very easily cut the scenes of you falling on this trip. Sometimes this sport can be very difficult and your mind wants you to take on things your legs and body may not be up to yet. Seeing the struggle and your determination to overcome these challenges is amazing. I have learned that cycling is almost just as mentally challenging as it is physically challenging. Thank you for sharing your struggles, determination, and your humor in your videos.

mitch got rid of his gravel bike to immediately start gravel riding

Kudos! Proving there is no hard line between bike genres, and the best bike for the job is the one you have.

Relief to see a channel like this, with a real and honest person, who is exactly himself and showcase boths ups and downs. You are not normal in terms of youtube standards, but thats a very good thing. Keep it coming. Oh and btw its very obvious you have come a long way.

i really don't think there's any reason to be embarrassed about your falls and walks. it's great to hear you laugh because that's what it comes down to: having fun just getting out, trying something new, seeing the sights - so long as you don't tumble down a much steeper hill than any of the ones you've climbed :P

This was my fav video of you so far. Good for you getting out there and doing that. Inspirational.

Yes, XC hard tail would more appropriate for the ride like this

I know I'm really late to this video, but this was cool. You put your self way outside of your comfort zone, and for as easy as it is to get into your own head when you feel like you're holding the group back, it's much more difficult to stick with it and not cave (and it helps when your group is as chill as they were) Watching this brought me back to similar situations I put myself in when I was a teenager lol, maybe I should be doing more of that as an adult. Anyway I hope you stick with gravel riding in some capacity, great video!

Narrow bars there are not great but flat pedals would absolutely be better on those trails. Get flat pedals on for trails!

So glad to have found your channel. It’s inspiring to watch someone so much more experienced than me still be so open to showing venerability in trying something outside their comfort zone.

One of your best videos yet! Love the authenticity and humility. Inspirational!

Great video! One of the guys I ride with likes to say “all bikes can be gravel bikes!” - you kinda proved that right there! Sure you can ride an MTB on that trail, or a dedicated gravel bike, or even an old cyclocross machine or retro MTB - they’d all be fun in my eyes and have their pros and cons!

Lol this was a fun video. I put CX 32mm tires on my canyon Endurace and race that in gravel events. I love how they cut and carve, it takes time to get used to it but it's almost an advantage. Cheers! ❤

Those trails although singletrack mtb trails, were perfect for gravel riding mostly because they were smooth and relatively free of rocks. I use GRX groupset on my allroad bike for more appropriate gearing and more tire clearance is obviously needed. I still ride road, but on a gravel bike tire-swapped to 32mm tires. I don't miss the 34x50 chainset and much prefer a frame with a higher stack. Keep riding offroad and you'll be glad you did.

SRAM is the way to go! The ability to easily swap out components, the wide range cassettes, the clutch in the rear derailleur, the ability to add a dropper post - it’s the perfect choice for a roadie doing gravel. Why you chose road shoes and cleats when your own test showed the gravel shoes came in even with the road shoes is a head-scratcher. You would have bun much happier in the Quoc gravel shoes and SPD cleats

Use flat pedals, proper flat shoes, the grip is immense

It really shows why MTB and Gravel riding you dont go with clipped shoes and too narrow handlebars lol You did great with that setup! That was crazy

Loving this video. I was going to tell you that at the end but then you rode underneath the bar! That just made me so happy.

This is where you just use a mtb and laugh at the guys on gravel bikes.

The Hobo Trail section gave me goose bumps just from watching 😅 Great Video and good you had fun! Greetings from Germany!

Good on ya, Mitch. You were well out of your comfort zone and still had a big smile on your face.

Hobo trail looks gnarly. I’d ride that on my MTB for sure. You did on a road bike, with road clips. What an effort. I applaud you for that👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

Great effort in getting out of your comfort zone.

Literally just rode a trail like this today, on my titanium hardtail. Although a gravel bike (or gravel tires) can absolutely handle this terrain, in my mind it's a lot more fun on a hardtail. The handling is much more dynamic and you can just blast through these single tracks (and I'm not even a MTBer). One suggestion is if you intend to continue riding these kinds of trails, get yourself some SPD XT/XTR pedals. They make a world of difference.

Awesome, wasn’t aware of these trails. Looking forward to checking them out and Tim’s coffee shop. Committing is key 😂.

Legend Mitch. Skinny gravel tires, way to hang in there.

I am doing the same with my ultralight VanRysel EDR. I only have 26mm Panaracers SK because of caliper brakes, but I enjoy it so much!

Cool video. Recommend some gloves for when you take a spill. And easier gearing for those short steeps.

I think you should go on a drop bars there, it is more stable position.

I personally have a hardtail MTB and a Gravel bike with fat 650B Gravelking SK and there's too much overlap in terms of terrain you can ride with each of them. So I will be getting a pair of 700C wheels accompanied with semi slick tires. It's my MTB that get the least use though because it's really sluggish on road. I like your solution better to be honest. If you have only one bike then an endurance or gravel bike with two sets of wheels will cover you for most situations especially if you aren't trying to optimize every last bit of your ride. Most memorable rides I had involved having the "wrong bike" for the job anyway.

Did very similar, but I now have 2 sets of wheels one tubeless 32 for road and 40mm tubeless with MTB tyres. Best of both worlds, but you need to add some protection tape to your frame.

THATS MY TYPE OF GRAVEL RIDING! HELL YEAH!

Hell yea, this is a similar to the “gravel” ride I host, tends to be a lot of under biking but always fun!

tbh this was super gnar on an aggresive road bike and 36s, I wouldn't even attempt without a gravel bike and 40+ knobs, hell this is XC MTB territory. Trial by fire for sure for bike handling skills

How does the road specific groupset behave on gravel? Is there a lot of chain slap? Dropped chains?

Sub 35s are still road tires, but I do like the concept of the video.

There's gravel cycling and then there's basically taking your gravel bike to mtb trails. This is why I ride a Salsa Cutthroat.

Good job, MB! It's like learning to ride a bike all over again! :)

I was going to use my Canyon Endurace as a light gravel bike but I don't trust carbon as a big dude so I just ordered a used aluminum Grizl... for when I don't want to ride the hardtail mtb LOL (My wife is annoyed by all my bikes )

Last year was running Terreno Dry on SL7 on gravel event. Went better than expected!

Those are more like mountain bike trails

I was wondering, how many of the bunch were introduced to gravel after riding MTBs first? I ride a lot of trails with my gravel bike and am so glad to have started after years of enduro.

What’s with the horror wobble on Hobo? Spooky. But good mixing it up. I’m sure you’d actually be totally fine on a less challenging gravel track with that setup. Hell, I’ve got 55s on my gravel bike and I’d still probably pick the MTB for that ride.

2 out of 3 goals achieved, not bad. Great video

Have some 40mm Conti Terra Speeds gravel tyres that l put on my Specialized Roubaix. First ride went well, second did not. Went up a steep gravel track normally used by mountain bikers and walkers. After stopping for a rest my back wheel spun out and being clipped in I wound in a crumpled heap. Worse there were about half a dozen there to watch me make a fool of myself. Will take my mountain bike next time.

good on ya mate, your outta control!

This video is already amazing at 48 seconds in haha

I now see why it is called the _Hobo Trail_ within 10 feet of starting it 😆

Mitch in the Philippines would be a great content

I am so happy I have a dedicated AL gravel bike mostly because I would cringe dropping my road bike as often as gravel sometimes leads you to do so.

I’m new to cycling and have found your videos super informational. We have a very similar “clever” sense of humor, too. Keep up the good work! 💜

Thank you for doing this very stupid test for us!!! Can't wait until the next one❤

Well done Mitch - a challenging option for your first ride on gravel…😂

watching this screaming 'get on the drops' in my brain

Such an entertaining Video, thanks!

Nice twist! Can't wait to hear how those gravel tires transform your road bike adventures! We sent you an email, check it out!

Once again, great video! Love the way you showed both your nerves and your approach to new situations. Things looked a lot more comfortable for you when you were riding on the tops, probably because it put you a bit more upright. Cheers to more adventures, love the reminder that modern road bikes can take some chunkier tires

Woo, just watching that section of Hobo Trail really rustled my jimmies.

When I mountain bike I’m always amazed by the weirdos on what are essentially road bikes riding the trails. Sure, you can use anything as a hammer but a hammer is the best hammer.

I wore my road shoes on my first proper gravel ride and banged them up prettyyyy good too haha.

you should get a mtb and do the world's hardest offroad climbs!

Hi, I've been watching your videos for quite a long time now and I've seen that you've been riding the steepest climbs in the world. Still, I was just thinking that if one day you have a visit to my country the Philippines I recommend you ride Timberland Heights located in San Mateo Rizal, Philippines, well the thing about these climbs is that they are known for being one of the steepest climbs here in my country which they gain names called wall 1 wall 2 walls 3 and also the maidens climb also known as the shotgun. The unique characteristic of this climb is its gradience, so if one day you get to visit my country, I hope I'll see a video about riding Timberland Heights.

This just supports my theory that every kid should be taught BMX riding in school.

Man, life must be great with sponsors left and right.

Road to Gravel to XC to Enduro to Downhill

Hi Mitch, I really enjoy watching your cycling journey. Might I make a suggestion? Great (just kidding, that was a rhetorical question)! Get yourself a mountain bike. You look stiff and allow me to share a personal story. I'm a road time trial specialist, but I learned how to race bikes via XC Mountain Bike. The technical skills absolutely carry over. Gravel bikes are great, but there's no substitute for a full on XC mountain bike. I suggest a cheap hardtail. The skills you'll gain by learning all the Tom Pidcockesque things you'll have to learn absolutely carry over to other disciplines. Feel free to reach out anytime. As a lifetime promoter of the world's best sport- I make time for people like you who also promote cycling. One more thing. When riding with others, thou shouldst spend half thy time riding with inferior riders and the other half with superior riders. The former is your contribution to the sport, while the latter raises your game. Thanks again for the entertaining content and my connect information is available via the channel information, since we're a monetized KZfaq channel as well. Keep going, dude. You've barely even peered into the rabbit hole of cycling. I haven't found any sign of a bottom yet, and I did my first half season of racing in 1997. -Dan Nigro, a.k.a. smAshomAsh

Yeah there’s no way I’m doing that shit not on my MTB.

Do you end up with rock chips on your frame, especially on the spots where clearance is close? That’s what concerns me about doing this with my road bike

I'll take my mtb thank you very much

Green bibs MOVE OUT THE WAY

Yeah. No thank you. 😮 I was stressed out just watching. Just entered my 4th season cycling. Only fell 3 times. All three times were on a gravel bike, single track, down hill. I’ll stick to tarmac and gravel roads.

not sure about sponsoring, but the terreno are quite awful in my collegues and my own experience with several of them. they tend to eat shrapnell very well and start to lose air because of that. also they don't run as good as other tyres and the grip is lacking. if there's no sponsoring involved try the pirelli gravel H in the back and M in the front or tufo gravel thunder. 2x pirelli H also works very well on the road. fun video, keep pedaling. looked both fun and terrifying. :)

Has Marin Avenue in Berkeley, California been suggested?

Flared handlebars and SPD's for the rescue... Gearing shouldn't be such an issue as even road group sets have quite an easy top gear these days...

do you have an affiliate link for a computer and mount? im gonna buy one but don't see a rec on your channel

Imagine how better this ride would be in any cheap cx hard tail mountain bike

Im at home wearing my lycra costume exited.

Just curious why you would run clip ins and not flats?

So glad to see you hitting some gravel. The amount of trail /gravel you probably have in that part of the states has to be staggering. At least your socks stayed clean…😉

surely Ritte should have sent you 650B wheels for this?

Definitely buy a double sided pair of pedals just for gravel.

i ride here some times it is technical hobo trial.

its like the new canyon ultimate, 1bike, the allroad bike. 50mm clearance would be best, but hey we are getting there

you really need proper gloves man even on road, falling over like that and getting hands ripped spells disaster otherwise had fun watching the vid and taking on the challenge ✌

Your tire clearance seems a bit narrow, as tires tend to get even thicker after sitting some days with pressure and the mud tends to build up between tire and fork, making for a very unpleasent ride.

I was today years old when I learned that you do not inflate your tires to their max PSI.

why is it that every time somebody does this only shows the fork clearance, We want to see the chainstays too, why wont show it? 😑.

I wouldn't have felt comfortable taking someone who doesn't ride trails often on this route and I think its weird dude is so chill about it. Maybe that right side isn't as steep as it looks on camera?

Bro need to make up his mind. Two years ago he put road tires on his gravel bike, lol.

Why not throw some fat slicks on the gravel bike and try that? How often does one really need the knobs? How much is purely "fashion" that real gravel bikes must have knobby tires? If you're gonna bash around on single-track trails...isn't a MTB a better choice? Any way you slice it, making a bike work better for one thing is usually at the expense of how it works at other things.

I mean you had to do it!

Don't ever take that handlebar bag off! When you do, you're going to see marks from the straps on your handlebars.

What are those neon bibs the dude was wearing?

felt a little too ad themed compared to the normal vids

oh hell naw

Did you use road or mtb pedals?

RIP the BMC URS

Road pedals? 🫣