Ernie Willson said:I regularly ride on a gravel trail to view wildlife. It seems to me that
the noise from the tires on the gravel disturbs the wildlife. In other
words, the birds, deer etc are well aware of my approach from the noise,
even if they cannot see me. My current tires are 700C x 35's, inflated
to about 90psi.
I ride slowly, about 7mph. Would faster or slower be better?
Lower/higher tire pressure?
Wider/narrower tires?
What do you think can be done to reduce the noise? Has anyone done any
experiments/measurements?
TIA
EJ in NJ
Dear EJ,
It won't change the noise of the gravel grinding under your weight,
but you might try reducing your tire pressure considerably.
For a 700x35 tire, 90 psi is probably much higher than recommended,
whatever your brand may be, and you hardly need to worry about impact
flats or rolling resistance at 7 mph on a gravel path.
Assuming ordinary loads, around 50 to 60 psi is more appropriate:
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/tires.html#pressure
(Scroll down for Sheldon's psi recommendations.)
Sneaking up on rats with antlers is not usually too difficult. If you
ride the same path regularly, the deer get used to you. I often give
them a warning shout as I approach them on my daily paved ride to make
sure that they don't spook and bolt right in front of me.
If you want to see warier animals, either ride or walk on the edge of
the path, out of the gravel. Better yet, just sit still on top of a
bluff or hill for a while and watch the parade below.
Cheers,
Carl Fogel
