Seeking advice on gravel training, tires

[mfarnham]

In May, Blair P. and I are doing Leavenworth Gran Fondo which is ~150km and ~2900 meters of climbing. A little over half the course is gravel (rough Forest Service roads), and the three big mountain passes are all gravel. 2 involve climbs of around 900 meters and one is around 450. Then there are descents to match. The grades average around 5%, but Strava shows segments up to 17%.

https://www.strava.com/activities/62466625

Ideally, we'd train doing long climbs and long descents on gravel. Problem is, I doubt any such climbing (and descending) opportunities exist close to Victoria.

If you were training for this, where would you go (within striking distance of Victoria) to train? Also, if you have advice on tires for mixed pavement and gravel, that would be most appreciated.

Thanks!
Martin

[Roland]

Try two laps of this: https://www.strava.com/activities/93102467

It would get you 153.6km & 2748m, pretty close to your target. Probably slightly over half gravel.

[owen]

My first suggestion is to go grab the BC Backroads Mapbook.. or better yet the digital version that can be used on your phone. It's only 90% accurate but it's better than nothing.

I'll second the loop Roland posted. It's a gooder, I've ridden Butler main to Tugwell many times and driven pretty much all of it. If you head a bit further out, there are some epic climbs... I'm specifically thinking of starting in Renfrew and heading up Mt Boulduc... but you'll need to watch out for industry traffic the further west you go.