Weekend Report

<===Making hay in Iowa

This weekend I wanted to put in a moderately tough ride in order to do two things. First I wanted to do a last ride on a test bike for Twenty Nine Inches.  Secondly, I wanted to get in some moderate training for the Dirty Kanza 200 this coming weekend.

Well, I didn't get much of a ride, since my back started twinging and sending me signals that it "wasn't happy" with my hard efforts of late. So, I wisely shut it down and went into "rest mode" to give it a break before the event. I'll probably do a light ride or two now in the early part of the week with the full kit to work out any last minute details and then rest, rest, rest!

I did get to play at my church this weekend, which went really well. I dug out the old Hamer Blitz, (check out a similar guitar to mine here) Mine is like the white one shown at the top of the page in the link, but mine is an '84, the trem has been blocked, and mine has a half white/half black paint job with the dividing line between the colors running diagonally from the upper bass side bout down to the lower treble side bout, basically dissecting the pointy bits! (You can see all my guitars in this 2005 photo here)

So anyway, that was fun, and I hadn't played that guitar for a while, so I'd forgotten how well it can sound.

The rest of the day Sunday was pretty mellow with a game of catch with my son, and then just kicking back and relaxing. Tomorrow I want to do the aforementioned ride and then who knows what. I'll probably obsess over what to take down to Kansas for the weekend!

Weekend Report

<===Making hay in Iowa

This weekend I wanted to put in a moderately tough ride in order to do two things. First I wanted to do a last ride on a test bike for Twenty Nine Inches.  Secondly, I wanted to get in some moderate training for the Dirty Kanza 200 this coming weekend.

Well, I didn't get much of a ride, since my back started twinging and sending me signals that it "wasn't happy" with my hard efforts of late. So, I wisely shut it down and went into "rest mode" to give it a break before the event. I'll probably do a light ride or two now in the early part of the week with the full kit to work out any last minute details and then rest, rest, rest!

I did get to play at my church this weekend, which went really well. I dug out the old Hamer Blitz, (check out a similar guitar to mine here) Mine is like the white one shown at the top of the page in the link, but mine is an '84, the trem has been blocked, and mine has a half white/half black paint job with the dividing line between the colors running diagonally from the upper bass side bout down to the lower treble side bout, basically dissecting the pointy bits! (You can see all my guitars in this 2005 photo here)

So anyway, that was fun, and I hadn't played that guitar for a while, so I'd forgotten how well it can sound.

The rest of the day Sunday was pretty mellow with a game of catch with my son, and then just kicking back and relaxing. Tomorrow I want to do the aforementioned ride and then who knows what. I'll probably obsess over what to take down to Kansas for the weekend!

Dirty Kanza 200 Training Log: Another Night Time Adventure

First off, I'm sorry there are no images to go along with this. There were some great opportunities, but I have the wrong camera for them. So, you'll have to deal with that!

d.p. suggested we go to Toledo and head east from that point. So I made the trek down and we were off and running before 9pm. The sun was setting in the West, but we were watching an awesome moon-rise in the east. The ride out of town was nice and relaxed on some rolling hills. We hit up the ridge road going southeastwards that we used for T.I.V5 and went down some rollers and gently up the other side. d.p. then stopped and suggested riding up Q Avenue. Well, Q Avenue has some really steep pitches. One right after another. Then we hit a T intersection and turned left, heading back westwards. We were still going up and down some very hilly terrain until we hit a forced left hander and then down a really steep hill where we turned right.

Now here is where it got weird. We were on the exact same road we were on coming out of town, but we didn't recognize it. Toledo is hidden from view until you are right on top of it, so we had no idea we were so close. We found a road, and thinking we were still north and east of Toledo, instead of directly east, we turned southwards. It wasn't too far until we found a barricaded road, and being curious, we went around it. The road looked as though it had just been made. We were a bit perplexed, but we were going downhill, so we just went with it. Then the gravel suddenly disappeared and the road went to smooth dirt. Then the road got so wide we couldn't see the edges of it. We realized we were in a construction zone and we guessed we were in the vicinity of the new Highway 30 re-route. But where had we crossed the road we went out on? d.p. guessed rightly that we had been on it, but this was still odd.

Then we crossed over the new four lane on an incomplete concrete overpass, then back to dirt. All the while we are coasting, still going downhill. Then suddenly the dirt ended in weeds. We stopped, blinked, looked around, and suddenly realize we were about 30 yards from Highway 30. (The soon to be old highway)

We hike-a-biked down the embankment to the shoulder and road two miles past Tama and back into Toledo from the south! Boy, was I turned around! I didn't see what we had done until I got back to the house afterward and checked out a map.

It was fun and getting slightly lost was a good time. Well, since it turned out well and all!

Hopefully on this Memorial Day Weekend you'll stop to remember a soldier, airman, seaman, or other serviceman or women that has sacrificed so we can go get lost on our bikes this weekend and whenever we want to. Go for a ride, and be thankful we're free to do these nutty things on bikes that we do!

Dirty Kanza 200 Training Log: Another Night Time Adventure

First off, I'm sorry there are no images to go along with this. There were some great opportunities, but I have the wrong camera for them. So, you'll have to deal with that!

d.p. suggested we go to Toledo and head east from that point. So I made the trek down and we were off and running before 9pm. The sun was setting in the West, but we were watching an awesome moon-rise in the east. The ride out of town was nice and relaxed on some rolling hills. We hit up the ridge road going southeastwards that we used for T.I.V5 and went down some rollers and gently up the other side. d.p. then stopped and suggested riding up Q Avenue. Well, Q Avenue has some really steep pitches. One right after another. Then we hit a T intersection and turned left, heading back westwards. We were still going up and down some very hilly terrain until we hit a forced left hander and then down a really steep hill where we turned right.

Now here is where it got weird. We were on the exact same road we were on coming out of town, but we didn't recognize it. Toledo is hidden from view until you are right on top of it, so we had no idea we were so close. We found a road, and thinking we were still north and east of Toledo, instead of directly east, we turned southwards. It wasn't too far until we found a barricaded road, and being curious, we went around it. The road looked as though it had just been made. We were a bit perplexed, but we were going downhill, so we just went with it. Then the gravel suddenly disappeared and the road went to smooth dirt. Then the road got so wide we couldn't see the edges of it. We realized we were in a construction zone and we guessed we were in the vicinity of the new Highway 30 re-route. But where had we crossed the road we went out on? d.p. guessed rightly that we had been on it, but this was still odd.

Then we crossed over the new four lane on an incomplete concrete overpass, then back to dirt. All the while we are coasting, still going downhill. Then suddenly the dirt ended in weeds. We stopped, blinked, looked around, and suddenly realize we were about 30 yards from Highway 30. (The soon to be old highway)

We hike-a-biked down the embankment to the shoulder and road two miles past Tama and back into Toledo from the south! Boy, was I turned around! I didn't see what we had done until I got back to the house afterward and checked out a map.

It was fun and getting slightly lost was a good time. Well, since it turned out well and all!

Hopefully on this Memorial Day Weekend you'll stop to remember a soldier, airman, seaman, or other serviceman or women that has sacrificed so we can go get lost on our bikes this weekend and whenever we want to. Go for a ride, and be thankful we're free to do these nutty things on bikes that we do!

Thursday News And Views

<====My patient subject poses on the Cedar Bend Trail.                                                     XXC Magazine Issue #7: I was informed that I had better download the latest issue of XXC Mag and boy, am I glad I did! Check out what you can get here, but you can check out a great recap of T.I.V6 there by Corey "Cornbread" Godfrey and a great write up concerning another gravel grinder classic, Barry Roubaix. Plus a bunch-o-other stuff! XXC just keeps getting better and still manages to escape that slick, sanctioned event aftertaste! In fact, it goes down pretty smooth, like a finely crafted home brew should. Check it out and either download a copy or order up a printed version. XXC is put out by Jason Mahokey, he of Soiled Chamois fame, and it is pretty obvious that these events and what they represent are close to his heart.

<===It's not single track, it's "Jungle Track"!

Abandoning The Green Belt: Yup! It is getting time to leave the Green Belt to the grasses of summer and the ever present mosquitoes and other biting insects. I took a short jaunt through there today and it was about choked off already in several places and of course, the mosquitoes have hatched, and they were wreaking havoc on every stop. Which there were many of due to the copious amounts of fine sand that have recently been deposited in the trail system.  See ya in the fall when the grasses have died off and the leaves are falling!





<==How To Make A Twin Six Metal Team Kit Look Bad: Give One To Guitar Ted!

Team Twin Six: Yeah, I'm on it again. Team Twin Six. The guys up at Twin Six World Headquarters once again deemed me worthy of stretching too little lycra over too much ghostly white flesh. So, I kitted up today and tried to not scare any campers at Cedar Bend today.

Seriously, if you want the best graphics and cool gear to wear on the bike or off it, Twin Six is where you need to source it from. The least I could do for these guys is pimp them on this site, since Lord knows I ain't gonna see a step of a podium anytime soon!

Things Are Cookin': Looks like some opportunities to write some different stuff have come my way. Still all bike related, but just a bit different than the ordinary blogging and review writing gigs I have been doing. Some of this will be forthcoming real soon, some of it will be coming later in the summer. It's exciting and fun, so I'll be talking more about this stuff in detail as the days go by.

That's it for Thursday. Have a good one, ya'all!

Thursday News And Views

<====My patient subject poses on the Cedar Bend Trail.                                                     XXC Magazine Issue #7: I was informed that I had better download the latest issue of XXC Mag and boy, am I glad I did! Check out what you can get here, but you can check out a great recap of T.I.V6 there by Corey "Cornbread" Godfrey and a great write up concerning another gravel grinder classic, Barry Roubaix. Plus a bunch-o-other stuff! XXC just keeps getting better and still manages to escape that slick, sanctioned event aftertaste! In fact, it goes down pretty smooth, like a finely crafted home brew should. Check it out and either download a copy or order up a printed version. XXC is put out by Jason Mahokey, he of Soiled Chamois fame, and it is pretty obvious that these events and what they represent are close to his heart.

<===It's not single track, it's "Jungle Track"!

Abandoning The Green Belt: Yup! It is getting time to leave the Green Belt to the grasses of summer and the ever present mosquitoes and other biting insects. I took a short jaunt through there today and it was about choked off already in several places and of course, the mosquitoes have hatched, and they were wreaking havoc on every stop. Which there were many of due to the copious amounts of fine sand that have recently been deposited in the trail system.  See ya in the fall when the grasses have died off and the leaves are falling!





<==How To Make A Twin Six Metal Team Kit Look Bad: Give One To Guitar Ted!

Team Twin Six: Yeah, I'm on it again. Team Twin Six. The guys up at Twin Six World Headquarters once again deemed me worthy of stretching too little lycra over too much ghostly white flesh. So, I kitted up today and tried to not scare any campers at Cedar Bend today.

Seriously, if you want the best graphics and cool gear to wear on the bike or off it, Twin Six is where you need to source it from. The least I could do for these guys is pimp them on this site, since Lord knows I ain't gonna see a step of a podium anytime soon!

Things Are Cookin': Looks like some opportunities to write some different stuff have come my way. Still all bike related, but just a bit different than the ordinary blogging and review writing gigs I have been doing. Some of this will be forthcoming real soon, some of it will be coming later in the summer. It's exciting and fun, so I'll be talking more about this stuff in detail as the days go by.

That's it for Thursday. Have a good one, ya'all!

Wednesday News And Views

<===The ditch flowers are awesome already. Get out and see the show on the gravel roads!

The Renegade Sportsman: In a few days time, the book that Trans Iowa V3 played a part in will be released to the public. "The Renegade Sportsman" by Zach Dundas will have a lot of cool, under the radar type sports stuff in it besides Trans Iowa, but interestingly, much of the book has cycling events in it. So, I can already recommend it to those folks looking for a good read this summer that has a cycling bent to it. (I'm getting a copy, so look for my review soon) Maybe you can get it for your significant other, have them read the bits about cycling, and try to get them to understand it all through Zach's eyes while you sneak away for a long ride somewhere. (Hey, don't say I didn't try to help ya out here!) Zach has been (understandably) teasing the book for the last few days before it is released and some of what he is saying about Trans Iowa is pretty flattering, really. Things like, "Readers will also find me half-naked on the side of an Iowa backroad at 4 o'clock in the morning, semi-insane with sleep deprivation and waiting for the leaders of the brutal Trans-Iowa endurance cycling race." (quoted from The Huffington Post) and this: "In deepest, darkest Iowa, I tracked the inspiring and insane Trans-Iowa endurance race, a 300+-mile amateur exorcism of cycling’s Lance Armstrong-ish demons.", as he describes what is in the book.

And Speaking Of Lance.... Of course, last week the "news" hit about Floyd and all the accusations. Interestingly there were convincing arguments on both sides. Look, I don't have a horse in this race, so I don't really care one way or the other, but the fear that I see when I read things like, "if Lance goes down, so will professional cycling...", well...... That's just plain rediculous. I mean, he isn't that big a deal, is he? And if profesional cycling's fate is tied to one man's fate, there is a huge problem. I don't for one second think that is the case at all, at least in a world-wide sense. So what if he is guilty. I mean, how many dopers does it take to make a sport look laughable? In my opinion, it's been that way for several years now. What is "one more" going to do, or if he isn't guilty, then what difference does that make? Lance Armstrong may or may not have doped, but there is enough goofiness going on without adding him into the pile that it really doesn't change the fact that pro road racing is screwy. And that's a fact. 

In The "They Said It Couldn't Be Done" File: I am seeing some very interesting things in the 29"er world in the last year or so. No, not carbon fiber single speeds! (Although that has some sick attraction for me, I'll admit) No, I am talking about longer travel 29"er forks and bikes. I won't say, "I told ya so", but this is something I figured would happen sooner or later despite the naysayers. And there were plenty of naysayers! (Still are) The thing is, quietly, almost without fanfare, bigger tires, rims, and forks are out. Now. You don't have to wait for "someday". Why would anyone try to make this happen with 29 inch wheels? Well, that's a great question that I am hoping to get answered in a few days here. Look, most folks probably do not need or want a seven or eight inch travel front and rear bike with 29"er wheels, but that day is coming, and 5.5 inches is already here. Some folks are stoked about it.  I hope to find out more about where this is going and why, so stay tuned for that.

Gearing Up: I have been doing some experimenting with using a bigger/tougher gear on the gravel grinding single speed. Interestingly enough, I am finding I am okay with something much tougher than I would have given myself credit for, even on steep, hilly terrain. Maybe I have a bit of Jan Ullrich in me or something.................naaah! Who am I kidding! But I am thinking I am better off pushing a big gear than spinning a small one out on the gravels. I have done a 55.48" to as high as a little over 61" with good success. These all on very hilly courses and without having to walk a hill. With big 29"er rubber, no less. Knees have been okay with it too. Hmm............. Funny thing is, I could never approach that high a gear inch off road! Nope! I like spinning there and typically am under 50". Singlespeeders- We're an odd sort! (Well.......at least I am!)

Wednesday News And Views

<===The ditch flowers are awesome already. Get out and see the show on the gravel roads!

The Renegade Sportsman: In a few days time, the book that Trans Iowa V3 played a part in will be released to the public. "The Renegade Sportsman" by Zach Dundas will have a lot of cool, under the radar type sports stuff in it besides Trans Iowa, but interestingly, much of the book has cycling events in it. So, I can already recommend it to those folks looking for a good read this summer that has a cycling bent to it. (I'm getting a copy, so look for my review soon) Maybe you can get it for your significant other, have them read the bits about cycling, and try to get them to understand it all through Zach's eyes while you sneak away for a long ride somewhere. (Hey, don't say I didn't try to help ya out here!) Zach has been (understandably) teasing the book for the last few days before it is released and some of what he is saying about Trans Iowa is pretty flattering, really. Things like, "Readers will also find me half-naked on the side of an Iowa backroad at 4 o'clock in the morning, semi-insane with sleep deprivation and waiting for the leaders of the brutal Trans-Iowa endurance cycling race." (quoted from The Huffington Post) and this: "In deepest, darkest Iowa, I tracked the inspiring and insane Trans-Iowa endurance race, a 300+-mile amateur exorcism of cycling’s Lance Armstrong-ish demons.", as he describes what is in the book.

And Speaking Of Lance.... Of course, last week the "news" hit about Floyd and all the accusations. Interestingly there were convincing arguments on both sides. Look, I don't have a horse in this race, so I don't really care one way or the other, but the fear that I see when I read things like, "if Lance goes down, so will professional cycling...", well...... That's just plain rediculous. I mean, he isn't that big a deal, is he? And if profesional cycling's fate is tied to one man's fate, there is a huge problem. I don't for one second think that is the case at all, at least in a world-wide sense. So what if he is guilty. I mean, how many dopers does it take to make a sport look laughable? In my opinion, it's been that way for several years now. What is "one more" going to do, or if he isn't guilty, then what difference does that make? Lance Armstrong may or may not have doped, but there is enough goofiness going on without adding him into the pile that it really doesn't change the fact that pro road racing is screwy. And that's a fact. 

In The "They Said It Couldn't Be Done" File: I am seeing some very interesting things in the 29"er world in the last year or so. No, not carbon fiber single speeds! (Although that has some sick attraction for me, I'll admit) No, I am talking about longer travel 29"er forks and bikes. I won't say, "I told ya so", but this is something I figured would happen sooner or later despite the naysayers. And there were plenty of naysayers! (Still are) The thing is, quietly, almost without fanfare, bigger tires, rims, and forks are out. Now. You don't have to wait for "someday". Why would anyone try to make this happen with 29 inch wheels? Well, that's a great question that I am hoping to get answered in a few days here. Look, most folks probably do not need or want a seven or eight inch travel front and rear bike with 29"er wheels, but that day is coming, and 5.5 inches is already here. Some folks are stoked about it.  I hope to find out more about where this is going and why, so stay tuned for that.

Gearing Up: I have been doing some experimenting with using a bigger/tougher gear on the gravel grinding single speed. Interestingly enough, I am finding I am okay with something much tougher than I would have given myself credit for, even on steep, hilly terrain. Maybe I have a bit of Jan Ullrich in me or something.................naaah! Who am I kidding! But I am thinking I am better off pushing a big gear than spinning a small one out on the gravels. I have done a 55.48" to as high as a little over 61" with good success. These all on very hilly courses and without having to walk a hill. With big 29"er rubber, no less. Knees have been okay with it too. Hmm............. Funny thing is, I could never approach that high a gear inch off road! Nope! I like spinning there and typically am under 50". Singlespeeders- We're an odd sort! (Well.......at least I am!)

Bike Shop Tales: Las Vegas Interbike 1996: Part III

More tales from I-Bike 1996............

The Interbike goings on for 1996 were to be something special. Schwinn was holding its 100th Birthday Party with a parade of "Elvis Impersonators", one for every year they were around. I remember watching them march in to the Las Vegas Convention Center and it was rather like a circus. Father Guido Sarducci, of Saturday Night Live fame, was the leader and once the parade was over, the good father gave a speech. It was not much like what I would have expected a bicycle show to be, but this was in Las Vegas, afterall!

Afterwards, the GT Airshow was up. I just love the half pipe madness and skills of the 20"er riders. I don't get too pumped up about things in general, but those Airshow freaks get me going everytime. Too bad I couldn't have watched an Airshow before each one of my highschool football games!

Then there was a few guys that took Schwinn Orange Krate 20"ers with the sissy bars, high rise handle bars, and all on the halfpipe! It was pretty cool to see how far the riders were willing to take things on these sketchy rigs.

Finally, there was a trials show and for the life of me, I can not remember who the rider was, but he was incredible! The guy could straight bunny hop from the ground to the hood of a car and then in one continous motion would ride up onto the roof of the car and wheelie hop back down to the ground. I guess by now everyone has seen this stuff on You Tube or wherever, but try and recall that back in 1996, there weren't such luxuries. To be able to see this live was a real treat then. Maybe ho-hum nowadays, I suppose.

I suppose there were bicycles to be seen there as well, but I really do not remember many. The activities surrounding the show, and the nightlife were more memorable for me. The most memorable story actually came on the last night we were there.

Tom was insistent that I was going to gamble while we were there. I insisted that I would rather set my money on fire than gamble. So, the last evening we were in the Imperial's gaming room, and Tom was hitting the one armed bandits again. He looked at me, shoved a 20 in my hand and said, "Now go gamble!" I figured it wasn't my money, and that I should appease him, so I relented. I picked a likely machine and wished that I would blow through the 20 spot so I could get this over with. I figured it wouldn't take all that long. Tom had scurried off to another "hot" machine, and left me to my business.

Bing! KaChing! Boop! Boop! Boop! kaaaaachinnnggg! I had hit a jackpot. Oh crap! Now I had more money to blow through! Tom came rushing over, unable to contain himself, or form a coherent sentence. I looked at him and he scooped a bunch of the chips up and scurried away again like a child with stolen cookies. Meh! Well, at least I could just cash out what was left and not blow it in these stupid machines. I had a few quarters left too, so I went to another machine and sat down. Well, wouldn't ya know it, but I struck a small jackpot on that machine too. Probably within five minutes of getting the first one. Tom came over again, wanting to pick up the chips.

I said, "Wait a minute, didn't you just have a handfull?"
Tom replied, "Yeah, yeah, but they're all gone now, and...."
Whoa dude! I stopped him, said to him, ""Look, we've got about a hundred and fifty left, right? Let's go over to the bar, get a couple of beers, and we'll take the rest home, okay?"

Tom agreed. And you know what? We had the best time talking and hanging out on that night that I ever had with him. That's one of my chief memories of Tom right there, and how I knew that deep down inside, here was a really cool, nice man.

The next day we hit up a cheapo-buffet for breakfast and hit the airport for that doomed plane ride home. (Or so I thought) I recall when they closed the airway behind us, I said to Tom, "Do you hear that?" Tom replied with, "What? I don't hear anything." I said, "Exactly!" No more gambling machines.

Silence is truly golden!

And as we came back into Cedar Falls, I recall the gold, orange, and red of the leaves as we flew over the city. Somehow I knew there was an ending coming. More than the end of this trip. Something bigger was about to end. A change, like the change of seasons.

I was right about that on so many levels...............

Next Week: So, do you go on RAGBRAI?

Bike Shop Tales: Las Vegas Interbike 1996: Part III

More tales from I-Bike 1996............

The Interbike goings on for 1996 were to be something special. Schwinn was holding its 100th Birthday Party with a parade of "Elvis Impersonators", one for every year they were around. I remember watching them march in to the Las Vegas Convention Center and it was rather like a circus. Father Guido Sarducci, of Saturday Night Live fame, was the leader and once the parade was over, the good father gave a speech. It was not much like what I would have expected a bicycle show to be, but this was in Las Vegas, afterall!

Afterwards, the GT Airshow was up. I just love the half pipe madness and skills of the 20"er riders. I don't get too pumped up about things in general, but those Airshow freaks get me going everytime. Too bad I couldn't have watched an Airshow before each one of my highschool football games!

Then there was a few guys that took Schwinn Orange Krate 20"ers with the sissy bars, high rise handle bars, and all on the halfpipe! It was pretty cool to see how far the riders were willing to take things on these sketchy rigs.

Finally, there was a trials show and for the life of me, I can not remember who the rider was, but he was incredible! The guy could straight bunny hop from the ground to the hood of a car and then in one continous motion would ride up onto the roof of the car and wheelie hop back down to the ground. I guess by now everyone has seen this stuff on You Tube or wherever, but try and recall that back in 1996, there weren't such luxuries. To be able to see this live was a real treat then. Maybe ho-hum nowadays, I suppose.

I suppose there were bicycles to be seen there as well, but I really do not remember many. The activities surrounding the show, and the nightlife were more memorable for me. The most memorable story actually came on the last night we were there.

Tom was insistent that I was going to gamble while we were there. I insisted that I would rather set my money on fire than gamble. So, the last evening we were in the Imperial's gaming room, and Tom was hitting the one armed bandits again. He looked at me, shoved a 20 in my hand and said, "Now go gamble!" I figured it wasn't my money, and that I should appease him, so I relented. I picked a likely machine and wished that I would blow through the 20 spot so I could get this over with. I figured it wouldn't take all that long. Tom had scurried off to another "hot" machine, and left me to my business.

Bing! KaChing! Boop! Boop! Boop! kaaaaachinnnggg! I had hit a jackpot. Oh crap! Now I had more money to blow through! Tom came rushing over, unable to contain himself, or form a coherent sentence. I looked at him and he scooped a bunch of the chips up and scurried away again like a child with stolen cookies. Meh! Well, at least I could just cash out what was left and not blow it in these stupid machines. I had a few quarters left too, so I went to another machine and sat down. Well, wouldn't ya know it, but I struck a small jackpot on that machine too. Probably within five minutes of getting the first one. Tom came over again, wanting to pick up the chips.

I said, "Wait a minute, didn't you just have a handfull?"
Tom replied, "Yeah, yeah, but they're all gone now, and...."
Whoa dude! I stopped him, said to him, ""Look, we've got about a hundred and fifty left, right? Let's go over to the bar, get a couple of beers, and we'll take the rest home, okay?"

Tom agreed. And you know what? We had the best time talking and hanging out on that night that I ever had with him. That's one of my chief memories of Tom right there, and how I knew that deep down inside, here was a really cool, nice man.

The next day we hit up a cheapo-buffet for breakfast and hit the airport for that doomed plane ride home. (Or so I thought) I recall when they closed the airway behind us, I said to Tom, "Do you hear that?" Tom replied with, "What? I don't hear anything." I said, "Exactly!" No more gambling machines.

Silence is truly golden!

And as we came back into Cedar Falls, I recall the gold, orange, and red of the leaves as we flew over the city. Somehow I knew there was an ending coming. More than the end of this trip. Something bigger was about to end. A change, like the change of seasons.

I was right about that on so many levels...............

Next Week: So, do you go on RAGBRAI?

Dirty Kanza 200 Training Log: Wind!

Saturday d.p. and I planned a big ride on some awesome Jasper County roads. Originally, we were going to use some of the T.I.V6 course that never got used in the event, and that d.p. hadn't laid eyes on yet.  Things were left open for discussion, and we only agreed to meet in Grinnell for an early breakfast before heading out. The ride started at 7am. The first thing we saw that was cool was this old Grange north of Grinnell.

We only had one B Road on the whole route today, but it was interesting in that there was a bridge that was blocked off due to massive errosion around the bridge pilings. Still, we crossed safely. The counties are so poor with regards to road funds that we doubt this bridge will ever get fixed. Too bad! It was a cool B road.

Not long afterwards we came up on this masive line of cottonwood trees on a hill top. The wind was starting to pick up by now and this southward stretch was taxing us, so d.p. felt I ought to take a photo or two of these massive giants and we could also catch a breather.

Here is a picture of the largest of the bunch. Check out my bike at the foot of this behemoth! The top of the tree I couldn't get into the photo, (I was standing in the far ditch as it was!) and I can't show you how the top of this old giant is shattered from a past lightning strike. Yet it still lives. Awesome stuff, but I admit, I have a thing for trees!

I wanted to show d.p. a certain section where I thought the T.I.V6 course had an awesome view and some killer hilly roads. Here's a view from that part. This goes on much further than my camera had a view for. Those are cattle on the far hilside, for reference. It is a beautiful valley and the view is like looking at a live Grant Wood painting. Pretty cool.

We also rolled through Baxter, Iowa, the home of the late Phil Wood, he of bicycling fame and lore. Lots of cyclists roll components with his signature on them. This was his home in Baxter after he sold the company.

Here's another one of countless farm scenes that you could take photographs of. If I stopped to take a picture of every cool scene, we'd still be out there! Speaking of still being out there, I thought the wind was going to stop us in our tracks. By this time the wind was like a 30mph constant blast. Going south was a major energy suck. Hills that would have been no big deal on a normal day turned into monsters.

Here's another Grange. It is being restored, as you can see by the gravel piles and what not. The Granger movement was instigated after the Civil War in an effort to advance the cause of agriculture and farmers in the late 19th century. Some small percentage of the Grange still exists. Here is a bit from the Wikipedia on what the Grange represents today:

"The Grange provides opportunities for individuals and families to develop to their highest potential in order to build stronger communities and states, as well as a stronger nation."

The Grange is nonpartisan, and only supports policies, never political parties or candidates. Although the Grange was originally founded to serve the interests of farmers, because of the shrinking farm population the Grange has begun to broaden its range to include a wide variety of issues, and anyone is welcome to join the Grange."

So there is a bit of Iowa history that still lives on in the countryside. As for d.p. and I, we were about to become history! The wind increased in intensity and gustiness to the point where it was getting pretty rediculous. In fact, going down the steep grades at 35-40mph was getting positively hairball! Gusts of wind would knock you sideways a few inches and the ability to keep the bike upright and calm on loose gravel at those speeds was calling out every bit of skill and courage I had. The last two descents befor hitting Highway 6 for the three mile paved run in to town were about all I could handle.

Not only were the descents increasingly dangerous, but the wind was blowing gravel dust down the roads like snow, and going into the wind was about a 5-8mph, all you could manage affair. To say we were wishing for it to all end was an understatement. But that said, it was a great day out, and we were riding bicycles.

Afterwards we repaired to a local eatery and kicked down some well deserved burgers and 1554's. I had almost reached a point where riding again sounded good after that meal. Almost!

 The bike is ready, the legs have been tested. I will do some small maintenance on the bike and just ride normally for the next week. Then I'll start kicking it down a notch in preparation for the DK 200. I'll tell ya one thing though, if it gets as crazy windy as it was here in Iowa, I'm turning around, heading back to Emporia, and drinking a beer. That kind of wind is just too much in terms of safety and fun.

Dirty Kanza 200 Training Log: Wind!

Saturday d.p. and I planned a big ride on some awesome Jasper County roads. Originally, we were going to use some of the T.I.V6 course that never got used in the event, and that d.p. hadn't laid eyes on yet.  Things were left open for discussion, and we only agreed to meet in Grinnell for an early breakfast before heading out. The ride started at 7am. The first thing we saw that was cool was this old Grange north of Grinnell.

We only had one B Road on the whole route today, but it was interesting in that there was a bridge that was blocked off due to massive errosion around the bridge pilings. Still, we crossed safely. The counties are so poor with regards to road funds that we doubt this bridge will ever get fixed. Too bad! It was a cool B road.

Not long afterwards we came up on this masive line of cottonwood trees on a hill top. The wind was starting to pick up by now and this southward stretch was taxing us, so d.p. felt I ought to take a photo or two of these massive giants and we could also catch a breather.

Here is a picture of the largest of the bunch. Check out my bike at the foot of this behemoth! The top of the tree I couldn't get into the photo, (I was standing in the far ditch as it was!) and I can't show you how the top of this old giant is shattered from a past lightning strike. Yet it still lives. Awesome stuff, but I admit, I have a thing for trees!

I wanted to show d.p. a certain section where I thought the T.I.V6 course had an awesome view and some killer hilly roads. Here's a view from that part. This goes on much further than my camera had a view for. Those are cattle on the far hilside, for reference. It is a beautiful valley and the view is like looking at a live Grant Wood painting. Pretty cool.

We also rolled through Baxter, Iowa, the home of the late Phil Wood, he of bicycling fame and lore. Lots of cyclists roll components with his signature on them. This was his home in Baxter after he sold the company.

Here's another one of countless farm scenes that you could take photographs of. If I stopped to take a picture of every cool scene, we'd still be out there! Speaking of still being out there, I thought the wind was going to stop us in our tracks. By this time the wind was like a 30mph constant blast. Going south was a major energy suck. Hills that would have been no big deal on a normal day turned into monsters.

Here's another Grange. It is being restored, as you can see by the gravel piles and what not. The Granger movement was instigated after the Civil War in an effort to advance the cause of agriculture and farmers in the late 19th century. Some small percentage of the Grange still exists. Here is a bit from the Wikipedia on what the Grange represents today:

"The Grange provides opportunities for individuals and families to develop to their highest potential in order to build stronger communities and states, as well as a stronger nation."

The Grange is nonpartisan, and only supports policies, never political parties or candidates. Although the Grange was originally founded to serve the interests of farmers, because of the shrinking farm population the Grange has begun to broaden its range to include a wide variety of issues, and anyone is welcome to join the Grange."

So there is a bit of Iowa history that still lives on in the countryside. As for d.p. and I, we were about to become history! The wind increased in intensity and gustiness to the point where it was getting pretty rediculous. In fact, going down the steep grades at 35-40mph was getting positively hairball! Gusts of wind would knock you sideways a few inches and the ability to keep the bike upright and calm on loose gravel at those speeds was calling out every bit of skill and courage I had. The last two descents befor hitting Highway 6 for the three mile paved run in to town were about all I could handle.

Not only were the descents increasingly dangerous, but the wind was blowing gravel dust down the roads like snow, and going into the wind was about a 5-8mph, all you could manage affair. To say we were wishing for it to all end was an understatement. But that said, it was a great day out, and we were riding bicycles.

Afterwards we repaired to a local eatery and kicked down some well deserved burgers and 1554's. I had almost reached a point where riding again sounded good after that meal. Almost!

 The bike is ready, the legs have been tested. I will do some small maintenance on the bike and just ride normally for the next week. Then I'll start kicking it down a notch in preparation for the DK 200. I'll tell ya one thing though, if it gets as crazy windy as it was here in Iowa, I'm turning around, heading back to Emporia, and drinking a beer. That kind of wind is just too much in terms of safety and fun.

Single Speed Nation

So I am looking around down in the Guitar Ted Laboratory for something the other day, and I stopped to take stock of how many single speeds I have.

Yeah, yeah.......I get to test a lot of bikes. Like the one I have pictured today, they come and they go. But I am not talking about those bikes. I'm talking about bikes I bought for myself, or ones I salvaged into single speed rigs.

I got to thinking about why that is. Why so many single speed bicycles? Well, maybe this quote from this very blog back in 2006 will help explain it.

"There are about as many reasons people ride single speed bikes as there are people. I'm not going to delve into that subject. I do it because that's what I grew up on. I never really quite got on with gears, although, for road riding, I've got the hang of it. But that's just me! "

So there ya go. I never had a geared bicycle growing up. I just pedaled harder, or walked. I suppose that is why I gravitate towards the single speed rigs. I never was in too much of a hurry, (just ask my Mom!), and doing any sort of maintenance was kind of an unknown for me back then. I mean, you had to air up the tires once a year. Then what? Well.......I did skid through my fair share of slicks!

I certainly don't do it to be cool. The single speeding cool factor has long been gone. And I was a single speeder before it was cool anyway. I don't do it to be fashionable, because well......most of my single speeds look trashy! (The Raleigh Rainier being a notable exception) I do have a fixed gear road bike, but you wouldn't ever mistake me for a "hipster". For one thing, I don't have the wardrobe, and for another, my fixie is an early 70's Raleigh Gran Prix rat-ride. Nothing at all fashionable about it. Heck, the most I spent on it was for the Miche track cog and lock ring that I run on it. Come to think of it, that is all I bought for it!

Why do I have so many single speeds? Heck.......I dunno! It just happened that way, I guess.

Sign me: Shiftless In Iowa.

Single Speed Nation

So I am looking around down in the Guitar Ted Laboratory for something the other day, and I stopped to take stock of how many single speeds I have.

Yeah, yeah.......I get to test a lot of bikes. Like the one I have pictured today, they come and they go. But I am not talking about those bikes. I'm talking about bikes I bought for myself, or ones I salvaged into single speed rigs.

I got to thinking about why that is. Why so many single speed bicycles? Well, maybe this quote from this very blog back in 2006 will help explain it.

"There are about as many reasons people ride single speed bikes as there are people. I'm not going to delve into that subject. I do it because that's what I grew up on. I never really quite got on with gears, although, for road riding, I've got the hang of it. But that's just me! "

So there ya go. I never had a geared bicycle growing up. I just pedaled harder, or walked. I suppose that is why I gravitate towards the single speed rigs. I never was in too much of a hurry, (just ask my Mom!), and doing any sort of maintenance was kind of an unknown for me back then. I mean, you had to air up the tires once a year. Then what? Well.......I did skid through my fair share of slicks!

I certainly don't do it to be cool. The single speeding cool factor has long been gone. And I was a single speeder before it was cool anyway. I don't do it to be fashionable, because well......most of my single speeds look trashy! (The Raleigh Rainier being a notable exception) I do have a fixed gear road bike, but you wouldn't ever mistake me for a "hipster". For one thing, I don't have the wardrobe, and for another, my fixie is an early 70's Raleigh Gran Prix rat-ride. Nothing at all fashionable about it. Heck, the most I spent on it was for the Miche track cog and lock ring that I run on it. Come to think of it, that is all I bought for it!

Why do I have so many single speeds? Heck.......I dunno! It just happened that way, I guess.

Sign me: Shiftless In Iowa.

Woodland Getaway

Lately I've been burdened with a lot of stress, bad news from folks I know, and well........just being too busy in general. It kind of wears on ya after awhile and I needed to get away from everything. The chance to head to The Camp was just the ticket I needed.

It didn't hurt that it was a beautiful day either!

The Camp hosted an XC race recently and had about 80 riders, so the trails were well burned in and burnished to a pristine state. Yet, as you can see here, a horse managed to tear up the surface a bit. Mountain bikes are bad for trails.

Yeah right!

Add in the steaming piles of horse dung I had to pass on three occasions to boot. I've always said that if mountain bikers pooped on the trails people would pitch a huge hissy fit. Yet somehow a basketball sized pile of horse dung is okay. Sorry, but I just don't get it. Horse people are cool, but ya'all better be cleaning up yer own "house" before ya'all go tellin' me mountain bikers are "bad" for your trails. Oh yeah, and repair yer "divots" while yer at it!

Well, anyway, I got beyond that and actually enjoyed myself out there today. When I was finished, I was piling my stuff back into the "Truck Without A Name" when a vehicle pulls in next to me with two young "not-quite-men-yet" folks inside. The guys piled out and started kitting up, so I struck up a conversation with them.

Turns out neither of the two had been out riding at The Camp before, so I gave them the low down on the procedures and how to find the trail head. Then I looked at their bikes and smiled. I didn't say anything because, well.......we all started somewhere at the beginning. The one had a mid 90's Mongoose that looked pretty spent and the other had a department store dually in not much better shape.

As I pulled out of the lot, I imagined the two biffing and bailing, and dabbing their way through Broken Finger, arguably the toughest little section of trail anywhere in the state, and how much of an adventure they would have doing it. I thought about how they might be intimidated by that section, and how they would perhaps never forget that ride.

Good times!

I went home satisfied and relaxed. It was good to get away for a bit, but that lawn needed mowing, and it wasn't getting any shorter!

Woodland Getaway

Lately I've been burdened with a lot of stress, bad news from folks I know, and well........just being too busy in general. It kind of wears on ya after awhile and I needed to get away from everything. The chance to head to The Camp was just the ticket I needed.

It didn't hurt that it was a beautiful day either!

The Camp hosted an XC race recently and had about 80 riders, so the trails were well burned in and burnished to a pristine state. Yet, as you can see here, a horse managed to tear up the surface a bit. Mountain bikes are bad for trails.

Yeah right!

Add in the steaming piles of horse dung I had to pass on three occasions to boot. I've always said that if mountain bikers pooped on the trails people would pitch a huge hissy fit. Yet somehow a basketball sized pile of horse dung is okay. Sorry, but I just don't get it. Horse people are cool, but ya'all better be cleaning up yer own "house" before ya'all go tellin' me mountain bikers are "bad" for your trails. Oh yeah, and repair yer "divots" while yer at it!

Well, anyway, I got beyond that and actually enjoyed myself out there today. When I was finished, I was piling my stuff back into the "Truck Without A Name" when a vehicle pulls in next to me with two young "not-quite-men-yet" folks inside. The guys piled out and started kitting up, so I struck up a conversation with them.

Turns out neither of the two had been out riding at The Camp before, so I gave them the low down on the procedures and how to find the trail head. Then I looked at their bikes and smiled. I didn't say anything because, well.......we all started somewhere at the beginning. The one had a mid 90's Mongoose that looked pretty spent and the other had a department store dually in not much better shape.

As I pulled out of the lot, I imagined the two biffing and bailing, and dabbing their way through Broken Finger, arguably the toughest little section of trail anywhere in the state, and how much of an adventure they would have doing it. I thought about how they might be intimidated by that section, and how they would perhaps never forget that ride.

Good times!

I went home satisfied and relaxed. It was good to get away for a bit, but that lawn needed mowing, and it wasn't getting any shorter!

There's A New Drop Bar (Almost) In Town

<==The Singular Cycles Gryphon with Woodchippers.

Recently I finished up the review for the Woodchipper Bar from Salsa Cycles. I really like this handlebar and while it won't replace my Midge Bar on the Fargo, (because everything is perfecto on that bike, and I don't want to change a thing), I will be using the Woodchipper alot! Yes, it is that good, for those not wanting to read the review. I even bought two pair of my own, so I'm not kidding! Salsa really did a great job on this handle bar, and while not perfect, it is a great effort. I would have concurred on much of the design, had I had that opportunity. Actually, I did mention to them that the extensions needed to be tweaked a bit from the proto I saw last year, so I guess I had a wee bit of input there!

<===Image from the Ragley Bikes site of the new Luxy Bar.

There is a new drop bar for off roading coming soon though that I was asked about and had some measure of input into from the get go. Ragley Bikes, which is the brain child of former On One designer, Brant Richards, is responsible for this. Brant saw a post I made on mtbr.com once that listed a few things I wanted to see done in an off road specific drop bar. He asked me to draw it and send it to him. I did, and he took some of that input along with a bunch of other off road drop bar users input to come up with what he calls the "Luxy Bar" I will say up front that whatever input I had that made it through to the final version is most likely minimal, but that's the story.

I have not actually seen one of these yet, so this picture is all I really have to go on for the final production piece. What I can see here is that the hooks slope outwards more than the Woodchipper does, and I happen to know that these will be 31.8mm only and that diameter goes all the way out to the hooks before the bar sweeps forwards and down where in tapers to the traditional diameter to fit the road levers. Similar to a Woodchipper, the Luxy will also feature some sweep to the extensions which are also longer than a Midge Bar extension.

These look to have more reach than a Woodchipper does, so a shorter stem may be on tap for my purposes, but I like what I am seeing here. Hopefully I will be getting one of the first sets to check out. (One can never have too many off road drop bars!) <====Ha!

So, I am stoked to see these come out, and although they are quite different than what I had in mind, they look to be quite nice. We'll see. And maybe someday, I'll have to try out my own idea for a drop bar for giggles. I'm sure it would be a dumb idea, because, well........just look at the Luxy Bar. It's not really what I had suggested, so obviously my ideas were goofy! Much smarter people were at the controls for this bar than I, and that's a good thing!

There's A New Drop Bar (Almost) In Town

<==The Singular Cycles Gryphon with Woodchippers.

Recently I finished up the review for the Woodchipper Bar from Salsa Cycles. I really like this handlebar and while it won't replace my Midge Bar on the Fargo, (because everything is perfecto on that bike, and I don't want to change a thing), I will be using the Woodchipper alot! Yes, it is that good, for those not wanting to read the review. I even bought two pair of my own, so I'm not kidding! Salsa really did a great job on this handle bar, and while not perfect, it is a great effort. I would have concurred on much of the design, had I had that opportunity. Actually, I did mention to them that the extensions needed to be tweaked a bit from the proto I saw last year, so I guess I had a wee bit of input there!

<===Image from the Ragley Bikes site of the new Luxy Bar.

There is a new drop bar for off roading coming soon though that I was asked about and had some measure of input into from the get go. Ragley Bikes, which is the brain child of former On One designer, Brant Richards, is responsible for this. Brant saw a post I made on mtbr.com once that listed a few things I wanted to see done in an off road specific drop bar. He asked me to draw it and send it to him. I did, and he took some of that input along with a bunch of other off road drop bar users input to come up with what he calls the "Luxy Bar" I will say up front that whatever input I had that made it through to the final version is most likely minimal, but that's the story.

I have not actually seen one of these yet, so this picture is all I really have to go on for the final production piece. What I can see here is that the hooks slope outwards more than the Woodchipper does, and I happen to know that these will be 31.8mm only and that diameter goes all the way out to the hooks before the bar sweeps forwards and down where in tapers to the traditional diameter to fit the road levers. Similar to a Woodchipper, the Luxy will also feature some sweep to the extensions which are also longer than a Midge Bar extension.

These look to have more reach than a Woodchipper does, so a shorter stem may be on tap for my purposes, but I like what I am seeing here. Hopefully I will be getting one of the first sets to check out. (One can never have too many off road drop bars!) <====Ha!

So, I am stoked to see these come out, and although they are quite different than what I had in mind, they look to be quite nice. We'll see. And maybe someday, I'll have to try out my own idea for a drop bar for giggles. I'm sure it would be a dumb idea, because, well........just look at the Luxy Bar. It's not really what I had suggested, so obviously my ideas were goofy! Much smarter people were at the controls for this bar than I, and that's a good thing!

Bike Shop Tales: Las Vegas Interbike 1996 Part II

More tales from the Interbike show held in 1996 in Sin City.....

Of course when you go to Las Vegas for the first time, you have to get out and check out The Strip. So, that was a high priority for us when we got there. We were staying at The Imperial, which wasn't that far from the end of The Strip............back then! In fact, they had just finished the MGM, so we thought we should check out the newest casino there, which at that time stood all by itself, for the most part. And you wouldn't believe it maybe, but we walked there!

Well, as fate would have it, Rick, the same rep that got us into the oceanside pickle we were in a year previous, was with us again. As we walked down the sidewalk that was void of buildings, we were occasionally were passed by other people with the same idea as us, going the other way. One of these people looked like a rather fanciful female. Rick quickly scooted behind Tom, and made it seem as if Tom was asking "how much for the evening?" Well, this gal was what we thought, and was much smarter than Rick gave her credit for. She called him out right on the sidewalk, much to the delight of Tom and I. She pretty much dressed him down in a serious, but fun way that made Rick cringe and turm three shades of red. Priceless!

When we reached our destination, Rick and Tom hit the blackjack tables, and finding one they could "afford", they stopped and started in to gambling. Now, I am not a gambling man, so I just stood there, watched, and soaked in the free drinks that the MGM gals were handing out. This went on for a couple of hours until they could see I wasn't going to cave in, and then we made our way out. Along the way, I saw a glass encased room, within a glass encased room, that had a long table with several well dressed men at it with an attendant behind each one. I found out that this was the "by invitation only" gambling room, and that there was a high stakes poker game going on there. Like millions of dollars poker game.

Whew!

Anyway, we walked back to The Imperial, and before we reached our destination, I felt cold air surrounding me. I looked to my right to see at least 20 doors wide open and realized it was the buildings A/C coming out into the street. Holy cow! If I had just the money this place was wasting in A/C a year, I would be happy!

Needless to say, I wasn't too impressed by my first vist to Las Vegas, and things haven't improved much since!

Next Week: More Interbike Las Vegas- From The Show Floor.......