North Woods Gal and Trek 420, my husband has a friend that used to road race as an amateur and I saw him up on the dike--fairly smooth hard pack with some gravel--and I thought he was being daring but didn't doubt he could pull it off because of the bike handling skills. When I first got my Madone, it was a big brave step to ride in a charity ride. I had this mental picture of me causing a multi-bike spill. But...it didn't happen. I also would like to ride the Katy Trail in Missouri. I think gravel tires would handle it perfectly. There would be some climbing but not much--since it's an old train bed.