Friday News And Views

Getting Dunked: I decided to ride the Singular Gryphon to work today and then head out after my shift for some exploring to see how the local single track is coming along. Well, the single track needs some time and clean up yet, but it won't be long. With that knowledge gathered, I headed through the old Shirey Way in Lower Hartman reserve. It is basically a B Maintenance road in town. Well, more or less in town!

About a few tenths of a mile from the eastern exit to the reserve, I saw that there was still some water over the road. Okay.....no big deal. I aimed for the middle of the road, cut a little speed to keep the splashing down to a minimum, and proceded to cross the water. About half way through, my front wheel went ka-plooosh! It was a big hole! I suddenly found myself up to my knees in water.

I got out after a quick chuckle, and walked my now dripping body and bike to the exit, where I took the photo here. No real harm done, I figured, since I was only submerged for a few breif seconds. Still, even after several more miles to home, I drained about three ounces of water out of the chain stay drain holes!

More Trans Iowa Goodness: I got another dose of good news concerning Trans Iowa V6 today. It'll have to wait until tomorrow's post to be revealed, but trust me, it is pretty dang cool if you "Adventure By Bike". Basically, T.I.V6 is going to be a pretty spicy good time with all the goings on. Hopefully everybody will consider sticking around to the end, because it's going to be more fun if everyone does.

Talk Turns To Weather: If you know one thing about Trans Iowa, you know that the weather is the "wild card" of the event. Nothing else has such an influence on this event like the weather does. Well, as I speak to different individuals about T.I.V6, the talk inevitably turns to weather. I've heard that the winter was kind to the gravel roads, and they are super fast. I've heard that there is going to be a huge snow storm, predicted by The Farmer's Almanac, for March 30th, and I've been "guaranteed" the weather will be perfect for the event.

Of course, no one knows what will happen, but barring a major calamity, T.I.V6 will happen no matter if it snows, rains, blows, is warm, hot, cold, sunny, cloudy, or partly both. I wouldn't at all be surprised if it did all of that in one weekend!

Testing...Testing! Looks as though some major testing is going to start going down here real quick. I have a slew of things to go through and  write about here. That's a good thing, because I need a lot of riding before May 22nd! That and shortly after that, I have to head south for some gravel grinding. So a lot of saddle time is going to have to happen soon!

It's Over Fixie Freaks!: The fixie-hipster-fashionista fad has finally gone over center. As I was going over some recent Tweets on Twitter, I came across the WalMart Mongoose Fixie for $149.99. In typical WalMart fashion, they don't get it right and call it a "fixed speed" bike. Ha! Well, anyway, you know once the fad is being cashed in on by WalMart your "cool" factor is a bit "lukewarm" these days. Maybe even rotting.

At any rate, it should be interesting to see if any folks get this rig and auto-face plant when they don't remember they can not coast. Concerning that, there is a question tab where you can submit your questions. Here is a good one: (0 answers) "does this bike have a free wheel flywheel like most single speed bikes, also what color is frame and wheels.."

Yeah.......a flywheel! Nice. And check this out: For all three questions posted so far there are no answers. Now that's customer service!


Hopefully ya'all will be getting some miles in, or even racing already this weekend. Take some pics! Have some fun!