Beautiful day to ride a bike!

Warm spring day on an old rail trail today with my Momentum SeaQuartz

Mmmm deep dish wheels

PSA: Support your local bike shop before the bakery movement takes over

Taking a breather while cycling through the French vineyards 😀

Got a nice gravel ride in yesterday and some mountain biking today, plus 9 holes of golf in between.

I did my best to beat the heat today with an early morning ride.

Caught some moody clouds on the weekend. The view is of a low tide meadow



Grazing their cows at low tide


Fishing boat coming in

Wow.

Just wow!

More time on the rail trail today



Lots of straightaways, but enough twisty bits mingled in too


Came across an old mill site that teenagers obviously found before us



And along the road a nifty barn-shaped mailbox

More rides in the woods today . I had a large adult black bear dash across the trail about 30 feet in front of me while riding through thick forest. I head branches snapping and came to a stop in time to watch it rocket across the trail. That certainly reduced the need for another coffee. Reflections on the encounter is that it proved that they are more interested in avoiding us than mauling us 😁 In bear and cougar country I always carry bear spray on-board. Negative encounters are rare, but I want to be prepared for the opportunity to haze a bear against investigating humans. I also started carrying a Bluetooth speaker. This one plays the blues and helps ensure that the bears hear me coming in time to avoid a surprise encounter - I think that worked out well today



and also, horses!

Hi there

Thought I would ask a bike question here on OF - remembering this thread.

I'm complete newbie on bike : I usually go hiking/trekking - this is my way of enjoying the outdoor.
And I'm thinking about a new way to explore but with a bike 😀 to cross more miles for the same period of time. So no intent to look for extreme performance or racing (and by the way my only intents - following some friends - reveal to me that with my strong myopia I can only see the obstacles at the last minute - which is no good for going down fast in the wild).
This bikepacking could be for a day, a week or more. And I'm also thinking about doing this with my kids when they grow up a bit (so need place to carry stuff).
Though the same bike should be ok to be used on a regular basis for my city life - as I don't plan to have multiple bikes (And I should stick to my word on this as, contrary to watch, room will be an issue if I don't).

I'm living in a low mountain region in France (low but still you have to climb them) and I'm looking for a bike as polyvalent as possible then.
As in the watch world I could start by buying a 'first entry good enough to enjoy' or 'a (very) good one I will keep longer'. The budget I'm thinking about - 2K to 5K€ - should allow something like this (I've noticed there are much more expensive solutions).

With what I mentioned to a bike shop I got confirmed a 'gravel' bike will be a good choice. And I was proposed a Genesis Croix de Fer 20 model... and then I checked back on internet, saw a titanium version and here I am thinking about what would be a smart choice.

So my criteria are :
- Polyvalent (from road to paths, ok to climb some mountains or to go buy some bread the weekend + from travelling with very limited weight up to go for a real bikepacking adventure)
- Durable and endurant
- Easy to maintain and repair
- and Comfort : to make it easy to go for a long period.
- and possibly easy to upgrade

My own internet search leads me to think that what would be good for my purpose is :
- a Gravel bike indeed
- with a steel or titanium frame
- a Mechanical transmission 2x11 at least (Shimano) Or for an electric one (SRAM)
- ideally with hydraulic brakes

After that I understand I could change/upgrade the wheels for instance (to carbon ones for instance if I don't have them).

In addition to the Genesis brand mentioned, I've started to look at canyondale (Topstone range), Trek (Checkpoint range) etc
I'm ok to buy used (2 to 3 years old) if it makes more sense even though this will be tough to trust myself checking everything is fine and that the actual frame is good for my size (I'm 174cm tall).

Any recommendation ? Ideas of models/brands to look for ?

Thanks for your help 😀