Bike Advice for Bryce Conquer the Mountain Gravel Grinder

Equipment
1

Has anyone ridden the Bryce Conquer the Mountain Gravel Grinder? It’s a 32-mile loop with two major climbs, but I’m not sure how rough the gravel will be and am wondering if I’ll be ok on my road bike (Fezzari Empire), which can only accommodate up to 32 mm tires.

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I have 31 mm Vittoria Dry Torreno and 30 mm Schwalbe G-One Speed tires, and only plan to ride if conditions are favorable. I’ve taken my Empire off road with the Vittoria tires and it did fine on well-maintained dirt roads, but washboard was too much for it.

I emailed the ride organizers but got a fairly generic reply.

this course is over 65% gravel and it will not have washboard but there are some downhill sections that can have some wash out sections and drain ruts if we have rain

2

Haven’t raced it, but have done the course. Don’t think climbs would be problematic on the tires you mention. Descents have some tight corners with loose gravel as noted by the organizer and there are some large ruts for sure. I would want larger tires for that personally (I run a HT as my gravel bike) BUT a guy I went down Crooked Run with was on a CX bike and gapped me pretty easily.

Sorry if that isn’t super helpful. Course is enjoyable.