Friday News Bits

Here are some news bits that have accumulated on my desk whilst I was otherwise occupied by ranting! Enjoy!

1. New Endurance Event Gets a Name!: The Kansas based endurance race spawned by the idea of Trans Iowa has been officially named. Called Dirty Kanza 200 Miler, it will be an unsupported endurance test over the very hilly Flint Hills region of Kansas. Named for the Native American tribe that inhabited the region, this event will take place on May 20th. Look for more details on this site soon.

3. Van Dessel Cycles offers 29"er parts: Not only does Van Dessel cycles offer two really cool 29"er frames at reasonable prices, but now they have a wheelset, fork, and a funky handlebar on offer. They also have some cool fixed gear hubs and a flip-flop wheelset for you direct drive freaks. Prices are really good, check it out!

4. Last years winner of Trans Iowa starts a frame building business: Ira Ryan, of Portland, Oregon has started a frame building service. No surprise to me, as his winning rig from last years 305 mile endurance slog through Iowa was built by him just prior to the event. He even ran the steel frame and fork with no paint! I thought it was titanium at first!

Updated@ 9:00am. A commenter has provided a link to a photo from Bike Portland, a great website about cycling in the Portland, Oregon area. Here's a look at some of Ira's fine lugged steel goodness!

Updated @ 9:08am!! After a little more looking around on BikePortland.org, I found Ira's website! Congrats to Ira and I wish him all the sucess he can handle in his new venture! Check it out!

5. Trans Iowa Competitors- How Old Are You? A T.I.V2 competitor e-mailed me and wondered if I had the ages of all the people entered into this years event. I do not, but if you care to divulge that info, you can do so on this thread on mtbr.com. Check it out, and stay young! It's all a state of mind any way. Right?