The snow has been melting lately. It’s March, and you know what that means!
Spring is coming!
And when I tell you I am rather excited, I mean I am rather excited!
Ever since I can remember, the coming of spring has always filled me with such excitement, such anticipation. Now that I am an adult, it hasn’t really changed all that much. Basically, I don’t tell everyone I meet that it’s almost spring. Just those who are close enough to hear me when a particular bout of impatience settles over me. But spring is coming! And I could shout it from the rooftops, I’m so stoked!
But, living on a farm, spring also means muddy roads that are tricky to navigate. Lucky for you, I’ve had quite a bit of experience driving in all conditions of weather on gravel roads.
Here is your guide for driving on gravel roads (for dummies. That’s right, I just made it a thing). For the winter, frozen or slick roads are easy to navigate, they’re similar to driving on slick paved roads. Test them out by using the brakes. If you slide, then it’s slick and it’s probably best to stay about 25 – 30 mph. If it’s not, feel free to go about 35 mph. When you come across large drifts, obviously you’ll want some speed, but maintain tread so your tires still grip the road.
When spring rolls around, the roads become muddy what with the snow melting, and farmers pulling their large vehicles out. Everything is just messy. When it comes to really disgusting roads, you don’t want to go under 25 mph. You will get stuck. I recommend maintaining your speed at about 30 – 35 mph. that way you won’t get stuck, but you aren’t going extremely fast (which is also a no-no). Going fast on muddy roads means loss of control. Maintaining your speed at 30 – 35 is the smartest (and safest) way to go.
Summer and Autumn are when you get the best road conditions. You can go however fast you feel the most comfortable. The roads are usually dry so things can get pretty dusty which means you may not be able to see vehicles, but you see clouds of dust which means they’re there. And, like any other thing, it just takes practice when it comes to driving gravel roads. It’s not that difficult unless you don’t know what you’re doing.