Here are some more post cards from the Trans Iowa V6 entrants for your perusal. These cards come in every year, and I always have had plans to share them. This seems as good a way as any.....





Gary Cale wins every year. No...not the event. He wins the best post card sent in "award". (I know he would find this small consolation)

At any rate, as long as he enters Trans Iowa, and he has every year so far, the rest of you post card senders have a higher standard to meet!






Lincoln Crew Represents!

These guys are awesome folks. Hopefully you'll get to ride with one of them.

Oh yeah, I finally got to drive down "O" Street earlier this year. Pretty Cool!








The resourcefulness of self supported racers evidenced by things as trivial as post cards made from cardboard.


























Another "recycled" post card.














Somewhere in Lincoln, Nebraska there is a dirty bathroom with a camera running!












Hey! A 36"er cruiser!

(Having been an art major in collage, one of my pet peeves is pictures with bad perspective and scale)

But it's a cool message!











From the T.I. V5 winner and champeen!












Yup!

More Lincoln Crew goodness!













And the last card for today.....

A fitting saying to leave you with for the weekend!









This is happening in Cedar Falls, IA tomorrow!

Do It!

Ride your bikes, and ride them for a good cause.

Bonus: You will have good weather and good people to ride with.








Have a great weekend and ride yer bicycle somewhere!

Labels: Cranksgiving, Trans Iowa V6

<===Shark Teeth

As you read today's post, you will note more images of cards and stuff I got with T.I.V6 entries.

Registration Questions: I got a couple good questions regarding registration that I'd thought I would share. First off- folks are wondering exactly when first time T.I. riders can send there post cards in. It isn't clear whether they can be received on the 21st or after the 21st.





<===Smoke 'em if ya got 'em.

Answer: The new, non-veteran entries will be accepted after the 21st!

The second question had to do with how I have enumerated the classes on the T.I.V6 webpage. Someone wanted to know if that was how I was limiting each category.

Labels: Trans Iowa V6

Okay folks! I am going to try and share a bunch of this T.I. Post card madness with you all. It's a long post! So settle in and enjoy! You can click on any image to make it bigger.

<====Soooo......I'm a doctor now? Good take on the "Vitamin G" theme. It actually has gravel inside!









<====I got one of these last year too. Something so stupid about this that it is brilliant!

Still makes me laugh!













<====Another Florida themed card.

Funny- you never see the reverse- You know, when they are getting blown away by a hurricane and we are enjoying wonderful late summer weather. Ha!









<====I like New Belgium. I like their beer. I like that they like bikes.

I also like this post card. "Redefining Folly" Perfect for Trans Iowa, eh?











<====MG, I don't know where you got this, but it is hilarious! Thanks Brother!



I'm left wondering what went wrong with models 1 through 24.








<====Been here once as a child. Funny how it looks so great on a post card!













<====You're welcome!
















<===Things are still a bit fuzzy concerning T.I.V6, but they are quickly coming into focus!
















<===I guess this artist is famous in the Twin Cities newspapers.

I just think it is pretty cool.














<====A few guys went down early in T.I.V5 due to mechanicals.

I'd stay out of their way if I were on T.I.V6!











I'll be sharing more in the future. One thing is for sure. You guys have been super creative and super generous this year. It is greatly appreciated. I am humbled- Thanks!

Labels: Trans Iowa V6

Last week I left off with the Klein Attitude purchase. Now it was time to learn how to take care of them....

After I dropped the big coinage on the Attitudes, I figured I'd better learn how to take care of the things. Lucky for me, Advantage Cycles had a mechanics 101 class in the evenings. I signed up and I was super stoked to find out all I could to get up to speed on maintenance.

I knew a few rudimentary things from back in my childhood. I was blessed by having been in the great tornado of 1968 in Charles City, Iowa. It was after that carnage that as a child, you could find a bike out in the weeds around the edges of town on any given day. They were like apples fallen from a tree. It was pretty amazing. We would take these things, disassemble them, reassemble them, modify them, and pretty much destroy them. Hey! They were free and a dime a dozen. At least for a few years afterwards.

That got me by with my old bike, but there was so much I didn't know about the new stuff. I wanted to find out what I could do to keep these Kleins going for a long time. It helped that they both were set up with Grease Guard stuff from SunTour, and Klein Attitudes had very forward thinking bearing set ups in the head set and bottom bracket. In fact, the Kleins were totally useless as a bicycle to learn on for the class, so I ended up doing maintenance on shop cast offs for the class. Old bikes that had what we were talking about- Serviceable bottom brackets, head sets, and quill stems.

So it was during these classes that I met a car mechanic by the name of Vance McCaw. He often came to the class still dressed in his work duds. Little did I know that years later, I would end up in the same outfit. But that's a long ways down the road yet. Vance's and my paths would cross again a few times, I just didn't know how or when.

All I knew was after the class was over, I was really interested in finding out even more. I gobbled up all the bicycle info I could get my hands on. I was "bitten by the bug", I suppose you could say. That said, I was also still very much a custom design jeweler, salesman, and gemologist. I wasn't planning on being a bicycle guy anytime in my life beyond being a rider. But even the best laid plans can go astray, and mine did one early November day.

Next Week: Big Changes

Labels: Advantage Cycles, Bike Shop Tales

<===The Gun Kote El Mariachi

I put up a teaser shot last week of the head set and stem, but here is the whole enchilada. The El Mariachi started out as a Superior Blue model with a matching blue CroMoto stem. I sent both in to be Gun Koted by Ben's Cycle in Milwaukee.

I gotta say, the finish is awesome! I am very impressed with the way it came out. Long term use will show how well this will stay on the frame, but I am feeling good about it now. The threaded portions didn't get taped off and I didn't need to chase any threads at all. Pretty cool! That and the pre-treatment basically coats the steel tubing inside and out, so I have rust protection that should last for years. Finally, the panel and graphic is Gun Kote, so it should hold up really well, just like the rest of the frame covering.


<===Hideous blue chain will be replaced by a purple one.

Everything you see here weighs just a shade over 23lbs too. I was pretty stoked by that fact. Especially when you look at some of the parts, which could lose some grammage pretty easily. Not that I am too concerned with that, but it is possible to get this really light- for me- and not be stupid light.



And the bike rides really well. especially with the fork and Cane Creek ThudBuster seat post. Man! Talk about smoooooth! Well......as smooth as a rigid bike gets. The rig flys, and I could probably go faster, but my front cog is a 32 here, not my usual 34T. I'll have to rectify that over the winter, but it is fine for now.

Bottom line: I am really glad I got this particular frame redone. This ol' El Mariachi is so sweet. Salsa Cycles just nailed this frame when it was in production. There aren't too many things I'd change about it, and what I would are very minor details. I'm thinking I'll have this one around for a long, long time to come.

Labels: El Mariachi, Gun Kote, Salsa Cycles

<===Carlos da Jackal is in!!

Well, as you all probably know by now, Trans Iowa V6 registration is live. I kinda figured I would see a card or two dropped off right away the first day. It seemed inevitable since this is the third time around registration has been handled like we are doing it now. Folks catch on.

I also figured that I would get some cool, creative entries, but even one I got Friday threw me for a loop.

Carlos da Jackal stopped by and dropped off his entry. He was an "original" T.I. vet from the first one we did. I was pleasantly surprised by his entry, and he did a nice job on his handmade card. Pretty cool, and these days, fairly typical of what I get for a T.I. entry post card.



<===This will take a while to get to! I'm still workin' on T.I.V3 whiskey!!

But the honor of "first in" for T.I.V6 went to local "fat guy" Jeremy Fry. (I'd keep an eye on this critter!) He dropped off a nice whiskey with his card. By the way, take a look at the writin' he wrote. That barely passes muster. Compare yours before you send it in. If it doesn't pass "The Fry Test", you better have your entry printed at Kinkos, okay?


Then there was the one that threw me for a loop. My boss orders stuff and has it delivered to the shop often. Office supplies, car parts, and other weird items you wouldn't think of getting in at a bike shop. So I didn't bat an eyelash when a guy came in with a case of oil. I figured my boss was doing some maintenance on a vehicle he owns.

The bill was signed and the guy delivering it said he didn't see my bosses name on the stuff, but I still didn't think anything of it. I sat the oil and the invoice papers in his office, figuring that when he finished with the customer he was talking to he'd figure it out.

Well, not long after he comes out chuckling and said the box was for me, at which point I read the paper stapled to the invoice for the first time. It was a T.I.V6 entry from Warren Weibe!

Good thing my boss didn't need a case of oil! So, that one ranks right up there with the oddest T.I. entry yet.

But I'm betting I'll see more of the same in the coming week to ten days!

Stay tuned................

Labels: Trans Iowa V6

So- You Wanna A Peice Of This?: Or- Trans Iowa Registration Announcement:

It is time! If you have a hankerin' for a heapin' helpin' of Iowa limestone goodness, here's how you get some. Pay attention! The specifics are important if you want to get your name on the roster.

Veterans First! For anyone that wants to toe the line at T.I.V6 that has been in a previous Trans Iowa, you get first dibs on a roster spot. You can start sending your post cards today and Veterans Of Trans Iowa Past (VOTIP's) can be assured they will have the first rights until November 21st!! No new entrants will be accepted at this time. This is to honor those who have supported Trans Iowa with blood, sweat, and tears in the past. You new folks have to wait until after the 21st.

Leftover Spots: Whatever doesn't get scooped up from the 75 available spots after the 21st is open game for all who want to get a post card in. In the past, it hasn't taken very long to fill in the empty roster spots available, but I will entertain all comers until November 30th if spots still remain. Once I reach 75 entrants though, the Roster is filled. However, I will fill in a Waiting List with overflow post cards received up until November 30th.

T.I.V5 Volunteers: If you were a volunteer on T.I.V5 and want in, you have automatic guranteed entry, but you still need to send in a post card.

Now for the pertinent details........................

Post Cards: Post cards must be received with legible writing (judged by me) and include the following information:

• Name
• Class (Choose one: Open Men's, Open Women's, or Single Speed/Fixed)
• e-mail address (make sure it is valid and working!)
• Phone # (preferably the one you will be reachable at during the event)
• Past Trans Iowa events you have raced in (if applicable)
• How many support people will be with you. (This is for pre-race planning)

Again, there is no "official post card", but you must have the information listed above in legible form. I reserve the right to refuse unreadable entries or entries missing information I asked for above.

Send post cards here:

Europa Cycle and Ski

c/o Guitar Ted

4302 University Avenue

Cedar Falls, IA 50613

Fine Details: Once Post cards start coming in, I will post the names on the Trans Iowa Roster found on the T.I.V6 site every evening. Again- NO ONE BUT VOTIP's CAN ENTER FROM 11/13 to 11/21. If you are a first timer, I will disqualify your entry if I receive it before 11/21.

Available roster spots could feasibly be taken by all veterans. It "could happen", and if it does, so be it. I am okay with that, but I doubt we'll see that happen.

Available spots are taken by a first received/first posted on the roster basis. It is basically determined by the U.S.P.S. driver and how he/she arranges the mail for the day. In other words- totally random and unbiased. Other ways of receiving entries are slotted in by me as they are received. (Examples: Over night letters, pizza delivery, carrier pigeon, etc...)

Waiting List: If you do not get the spot on the roster, you will get on the Waiting List. Once Registration closes on 11/30, I will e-mail everyone on the Waiting List with their spots number. This number corresponds to your position in line. Last year we got through over a dozen names on the Waiting List before the list was terminated on January 31st. If when you receive my e-mail in early December and you want to opt off the list, just respond in kind, and I'll move folks in line behind you up. If you want to stay on and take a chance to get in, do nothing. When I get word from any Roster spot holders that they are cancelling out, I will e-mail the first in line with the opportunity to take the vacated spot.

Okay, that should do it, but if you have specific questions or concerns, e-mail me here.

Good Luck!!

Labels: Trans Iowa V6