Check out the last recon post for Trans Iowa V7, (Whose course this rotting carcass of a buck was spotted on), tomorrow.
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Happy Halloween!
Check out the last recon post for Trans Iowa V7, (Whose course this rotting carcass of a buck was spotted on), tomorrow.
Happy Halloween!
Check out the last recon post for Trans Iowa V7, (Whose course this rotting carcass of a buck was spotted on), tomorrow.
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Trans Iowa V7: Recon Mission
Yeah, we've been on the ball, but we've also had some stellar weather that has helped us out. Without that, maybe we are not as far along with things. But- we are.
In fact, it is a distinct possibility that recon could be completed before Registration is. For us, that is radical. For folks getting in on this event, it will be a game changer in terms of strategy, and training. You'll know months ahead of time just how far the checkpoints are, and what the time limits are. I would assume that by December, recon and timing could all be completely done and get this...............cue sheets could be printed!!
Not that having cue sheets done will help you along, because at Trans Iowa you have to earn the cues, and that entails riding the course. But for us, that would be huge. In fact, it might be too early to do cue sheets, and we may wait, due to the unknown of what this winter and early spring may do to our planned course.
At any rate, we're out there on some crazy gravel road and working on this event for you that will ride it. Look for a report Monday.......
Trans Iowa V7: Recon Mission
Yeah, we've been on the ball, but we've also had some stellar weather that has helped us out. Without that, maybe we are not as far along with things. But- we are.
In fact, it is a distinct possibility that recon could be completed before Registration is. For us, that is radical. For folks getting in on this event, it will be a game changer in terms of strategy, and training. You'll know months ahead of time just how far the checkpoints are, and what the time limits are. I would assume that by December, recon and timing could all be completely done and get this...............cue sheets could be printed!!
Not that having cue sheets done will help you along, because at Trans Iowa you have to earn the cues, and that entails riding the course. But for us, that would be huge. In fact, it might be too early to do cue sheets, and we may wait, due to the unknown of what this winter and early spring may do to our planned course.
At any rate, we're out there on some crazy gravel road and working on this event for you that will ride it. Look for a report Monday.......
Friday, October 29, 2010
Friday News And Views
Then there is the wind, which was just plain brutal all across the nation this week. I'd say we've had enough of that for a long, long time.
This is the bike that is going to get the wheels I blogged about here. I've been told I'll really like these wheels too. Right again, most likely. I figure the whole kit and kaboodle could be used as a seasonal acclimatization machine. I can get used to the cold and snow, and in the warmer spring months I can ride it on mushy trail and slop, whilst I get used to the warming rays of the sun again. I even figured it might come in handy as a B Road Inspection machine for Trans Iowa.
That and I could run over small furry animals and compact cars!
My Recon Mission- If I Choose To Accept It: And I will, make no mistake! Tomorrow at "dark-thirty", I will arise and travel to an undisclosed location in rural Iowa to scout some more Trans Iowa V7 roads with my co-director, d.p. This will start to close up the loop and afterward we will only have a few short stretches of road that we will need to look at to verify that they are 100% Trans Iowa grade "A" gravel. Only the best grade "A" gravel is used in "Old No. 7 Trans Iowa" Brand, and you can be sure that our unique blend of gravel, dirt, and a hint of pavement will be an intoxicating brew of the finest degree.
Look for a recon report Monday.
Have a great weekend and get outside and ride!
Friday News And Views
Then there is the wind, which was just plain brutal all across the nation this week. I'd say we've had enough of that for a long, long time.
This is the bike that is going to get the wheels I blogged about here. I've been told I'll really like these wheels too. Right again, most likely. I figure the whole kit and kaboodle could be used as a seasonal acclimatization machine. I can get used to the cold and snow, and in the warmer spring months I can ride it on mushy trail and slop, whilst I get used to the warming rays of the sun again. I even figured it might come in handy as a B Road Inspection machine for Trans Iowa.
That and I could run over small furry animals and compact cars!
My Recon Mission- If I Choose To Accept It: And I will, make no mistake! Tomorrow at "dark-thirty", I will arise and travel to an undisclosed location in rural Iowa to scout some more Trans Iowa V7 roads with my co-director, d.p. This will start to close up the loop and afterward we will only have a few short stretches of road that we will need to look at to verify that they are 100% Trans Iowa grade "A" gravel. Only the best grade "A" gravel is used in "Old No. 7 Trans Iowa" Brand, and you can be sure that our unique blend of gravel, dirt, and a hint of pavement will be an intoxicating brew of the finest degree.
Look for a recon report Monday.
Have a great weekend and get outside and ride!
Thursday, October 28, 2010
The Belt Drive Odyssey : Part II
Skronk!
I don't know what it was for sure. I just know it was loud, and I am back to ground zero as to my confidence level. The noise occurred in such a manner that it only served to add to my uncertainty about riding with "The Belt". Here's the deal so far.....
I had been pretty gingerly using the bike to start out with. I don't know, but something about a single speed drive train letting go all of a sudden while I am standing and pedaling isn't appealing to me. Smak Pakage might be a cool name for a hardcore band, but it isn't a cool thing to have happen to the male anatomy, if ya catch my drift. However; I was gaining confidence in the whole set up as I climbed a dike, an embankment, and a long grinder of a hill, all with zero issues.
Along the way, I was tweaking the set up, just as I would on any new-to-me bike, and getting set for that big first dip into the woods. On that fateful day, I left work, and on the way to the trail head, I had to stop for traffic. With my "non-chocolate foot" in the primed and ready position, (see Hans "No Way" Rey for an explanation of what yer "chocolate foot" is), I pedal kicked down when the traffic parted ways to scoot across the street.
That's when it happened: Skronk!
Great! Just as I was about to put full confidence in "The Belt" in a true trail situation, I get knocked back to ground zero, and I couldn't figure out why it decided to make a noise then. Well, I kind of bailed on the idea of a full run, and did another shake down cruise with no further incident. Bah! Not very fun.
The Score: "The Belt": 0 "The Chain": 2
The Belt Drive Odyssey : Part II
Skronk!
I don't know what it was for sure. I just know it was loud, and I am back to ground zero as to my confidence level. The noise occurred in such a manner that it only served to add to my uncertainty about riding with "The Belt". Here's the deal so far.....
I had been pretty gingerly using the bike to start out with. I don't know, but something about a single speed drive train letting go all of a sudden while I am standing and pedaling isn't appealing to me. Smak Pakage might be a cool name for a hardcore band, but it isn't a cool thing to have happen to the male anatomy, if ya catch my drift. However; I was gaining confidence in the whole set up as I climbed a dike, an embankment, and a long grinder of a hill, all with zero issues.
Along the way, I was tweaking the set up, just as I would on any new-to-me bike, and getting set for that big first dip into the woods. On that fateful day, I left work, and on the way to the trail head, I had to stop for traffic. With my "non-chocolate foot" in the primed and ready position, (see Hans "No Way" Rey for an explanation of what yer "chocolate foot" is), I pedal kicked down when the traffic parted ways to scoot across the street.
That's when it happened: Skronk!
Great! Just as I was about to put full confidence in "The Belt" in a true trail situation, I get knocked back to ground zero, and I couldn't figure out why it decided to make a noise then. Well, I kind of bailed on the idea of a full run, and did another shake down cruise with no further incident. Bah! Not very fun.
The Score: "The Belt": 0 "The Chain": 2
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Trans Iowa V7 Update #3
Field Research: I get to ride in some pretty challenging, sometimes laid back, and fun events throughout the year. Sometimes these events I do are more than just fun rides, or challenges for me. It seems I always am thinking about Trans Iowa in the back of my mind while I am grinding away on some long, lonely gravel road event in "Rural Somewhere, USA". These times give me pause to consider what I am experiencing, the "flavor" of the event I am in, and how Trans Iowa could benefit from being similar, or different than what ever it is I am doing at that time. This post has something to do with those thoughts I have had, along with d.p. and his thoughts, which stem from doing similar things throughout the year.
This is also a jumping off point from my last update where I alluded to the "DNA" make up of Trans Iowa and how we are steering things back in that direction this go round. I have noticed a few things going on with the events I have partaken in, which I wanted to touch on in regards to the "DNA" we want to steer away from.
First of all, this isn't personal, and I don't want to take anything away from what the promoters and supporters of these other events have done, are doing, and will continue to do into the future. No, they are certainly free to carve out their own identity, as they see fit. I just offer these thoughts up as what I feel is the antithesis of one particular event: Trans Iowa. Okay? I hope ya'all get that part before we go on.....
Support: Basically, it boils down to one word: "support", and whether or not you, as a rider, are going to get any, and how you get it. This is interpreted in many different ways at many different events. Sometimes it seems very appropriate: say when conditions are extreme, and it is easy to get in over your head very quickly due to those conditions. Event promoters have been known to scour the course, looking for trouble spots, or setting up volunteer "aid stations" at various points along courses. Sometimes it is intentional, as when the aid stations, or drop bag sites are set up well in advance and understood to be an integral part of the event, which riders then strategize around. Sometimes it happens by default, when event promoters are not clear as to what is and isn't acceptable, and generally then the riders will choose for you what support is!
In all of the above scenarios, generally it is a "support" that is either granted by, or provided by, or both, by the promoters/organizers of these events. Heck, it's the "hospitable thing" to do, right? I think just about every event promoter, or grass roots gravel road event organizer has had this cross their mind while conjuring up a course and rules of competition at some point. That's where we, as organizers of this ride, differ. It's where we don't agree with, (in as far as "how" we do things), most every other gravel road event out there. We tell you to get yer own stuff! And we mean it.
I have been in events that require some level of this sort of "DIY" aspect of re-supply for making it around the course. I understand it from a riding perspective, and it is difficult. It makes events like this harder to plan for and harder to ride in. Yes- I've been there folks. I've made a lot of the same mistakes and fallen into a lot of the same pitfalls as a lot of Trans Iowa riders. I may sound heartless when I harp on the "You are on your own, we are not responsible for your well being" line. But trust me. It isn't like I haven't done it that way myself. It isn't like d.p. and I don't know what it is like. We do.
So, You are responsible for yourself. We will not support you. You are on this ride of your own volition, and are responsible for yourself and your actions. If you can not get your head wrapped around that, then do not even try to get into Trans Iowa V7. Thanks!
Speaking of getting into Trans Iowa V7.... This Sunday marks the last day Finishers of any Trans Iowa can claim their spot on the roster. Look for when and how you can get in if you are a Rookie, or a past participant, "aka Veteran", of a Trans Iowa, later next week.
Trans Iowa V7 Update #3
Field Research: I get to ride in some pretty challenging, sometimes laid back, and fun events throughout the year. Sometimes these events I do are more than just fun rides, or challenges for me. It seems I always am thinking about Trans Iowa in the back of my mind while I am grinding away on some long, lonely gravel road event in "Rural Somewhere, USA". These times give me pause to consider what I am experiencing, the "flavor" of the event I am in, and how Trans Iowa could benefit from being similar, or different than what ever it is I am doing at that time. This post has something to do with those thoughts I have had, along with d.p. and his thoughts, which stem from doing similar things throughout the year.
This is also a jumping off point from my last update where I alluded to the "DNA" make up of Trans Iowa and how we are steering things back in that direction this go round. I have noticed a few things going on with the events I have partaken in, which I wanted to touch on in regards to the "DNA" we want to steer away from.
First of all, this isn't personal, and I don't want to take anything away from what the promoters and supporters of these other events have done, are doing, and will continue to do into the future. No, they are certainly free to carve out their own identity, as they see fit. I just offer these thoughts up as what I feel is the antithesis of one particular event: Trans Iowa. Okay? I hope ya'all get that part before we go on.....
Support: Basically, it boils down to one word: "support", and whether or not you, as a rider, are going to get any, and how you get it. This is interpreted in many different ways at many different events. Sometimes it seems very appropriate: say when conditions are extreme, and it is easy to get in over your head very quickly due to those conditions. Event promoters have been known to scour the course, looking for trouble spots, or setting up volunteer "aid stations" at various points along courses. Sometimes it is intentional, as when the aid stations, or drop bag sites are set up well in advance and understood to be an integral part of the event, which riders then strategize around. Sometimes it happens by default, when event promoters are not clear as to what is and isn't acceptable, and generally then the riders will choose for you what support is!
In all of the above scenarios, generally it is a "support" that is either granted by, or provided by, or both, by the promoters/organizers of these events. Heck, it's the "hospitable thing" to do, right? I think just about every event promoter, or grass roots gravel road event organizer has had this cross their mind while conjuring up a course and rules of competition at some point. That's where we, as organizers of this ride, differ. It's where we don't agree with, (in as far as "how" we do things), most every other gravel road event out there. We tell you to get yer own stuff! And we mean it.
I have been in events that require some level of this sort of "DIY" aspect of re-supply for making it around the course. I understand it from a riding perspective, and it is difficult. It makes events like this harder to plan for and harder to ride in. Yes- I've been there folks. I've made a lot of the same mistakes and fallen into a lot of the same pitfalls as a lot of Trans Iowa riders. I may sound heartless when I harp on the "You are on your own, we are not responsible for your well being" line. But trust me. It isn't like I haven't done it that way myself. It isn't like d.p. and I don't know what it is like. We do.
So, You are responsible for yourself. We will not support you. You are on this ride of your own volition, and are responsible for yourself and your actions. If you can not get your head wrapped around that, then do not even try to get into Trans Iowa V7. Thanks!
Speaking of getting into Trans Iowa V7.... This Sunday marks the last day Finishers of any Trans Iowa can claim their spot on the roster. Look for when and how you can get in if you are a Rookie, or a past participant, "aka Veteran", of a Trans Iowa, later next week.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Bike Shop Tales: Late October, 1996
Tis the time of year that I remember a certain, sad period in my old bike shop daze...
The sneaking feeling had been with me for a few weeks now. The phone calls. The worried look on Tom's face he couldn't hide anymore. The whisperings of "the bettys". All could not hide the fact that something was seriously amiss. Still, I was getting paid and "officially", I hadn't heard anything.....yet!
Then came the morning in early October, 1996, when Tom made it all clear to me. Advantage Cycles was going to shut its doors. When exactly, it wasn't made clear, and there was some small hope that it wouldn't happen, but things weren't good. I didn't dig for answers, since I was kind of stunned by the news, although I wasn't totally surprised by it. I soldiered on at any rate, although "the weirdness" increased as the days wore on.
First off, "the bettys" disappeared. They were two female employees of the shop, and roomates of Tom's by this time. They "played for the other team", as Tom used to say. They were a couple, and that was that, as far as he was going to reveal. There was much speculation going on about that situation, but for the purposes of this story, their disappearance from the goings on of the shop was another ominous sign to me that all was not well. Then Tom all but disappeared as well.
I would come in, open up shop, work all day, (we had shortened, Fall/Winter hours), and then close up shop and go home, all without seeing Tom at all. For days on end. He would obviously come in after hours, clear out the till, and issue checks to me on a continually irregular basis. But I was always caught up, always paid in full. Tom never failed me once in that.
The other thing about this time of year was that it got really slow. This October seemed to be a particularly slow one. I built up a couple sets of wheels, just because. Then I struck upon an idea. I bought a pumpkin, and in a kind of pitiful way, I celebrated Halloween at the shop by carving a face of an old man into it. It took a few days to perfect it, but finally I finished it, and displayed it proudly on my shop bench for all who would come in to see. That wasn't very many folks.
It was a small thing, maybe. But to me, it was my way of dealing with the heavy situation going down around me. I was heading into one of the worst winters of my life with prospects of my job withering away, no vehicle that worked to call my own, and nobody in my life to share any of it with that meant a hoot to me near to hand. That pumpkin was kind of an act of defiance, I suppose, against all the depressing stuff happening then.
I took a bad Polaroid of it. I still have it hanging up on my bench at work to this day. If you ever see it, now you'll know the story.
Bike Shop tales will return again next week...........
The sneaking feeling had been with me for a few weeks now. The phone calls. The worried look on Tom's face he couldn't hide anymore. The whisperings of "the bettys". All could not hide the fact that something was seriously amiss. Still, I was getting paid and "officially", I hadn't heard anything.....yet!
Then came the morning in early October, 1996, when Tom made it all clear to me. Advantage Cycles was going to shut its doors. When exactly, it wasn't made clear, and there was some small hope that it wouldn't happen, but things weren't good. I didn't dig for answers, since I was kind of stunned by the news, although I wasn't totally surprised by it. I soldiered on at any rate, although "the weirdness" increased as the days wore on.
First off, "the bettys" disappeared. They were two female employees of the shop, and roomates of Tom's by this time. They "played for the other team", as Tom used to say. They were a couple, and that was that, as far as he was going to reveal. There was much speculation going on about that situation, but for the purposes of this story, their disappearance from the goings on of the shop was another ominous sign to me that all was not well. Then Tom all but disappeared as well.
I would come in, open up shop, work all day, (we had shortened, Fall/Winter hours), and then close up shop and go home, all without seeing Tom at all. For days on end. He would obviously come in after hours, clear out the till, and issue checks to me on a continually irregular basis. But I was always caught up, always paid in full. Tom never failed me once in that.
The other thing about this time of year was that it got really slow. This October seemed to be a particularly slow one. I built up a couple sets of wheels, just because. Then I struck upon an idea. I bought a pumpkin, and in a kind of pitiful way, I celebrated Halloween at the shop by carving a face of an old man into it. It took a few days to perfect it, but finally I finished it, and displayed it proudly on my shop bench for all who would come in to see. That wasn't very many folks.
It was a small thing, maybe. But to me, it was my way of dealing with the heavy situation going down around me. I was heading into one of the worst winters of my life with prospects of my job withering away, no vehicle that worked to call my own, and nobody in my life to share any of it with that meant a hoot to me near to hand. That pumpkin was kind of an act of defiance, I suppose, against all the depressing stuff happening then.
I took a bad Polaroid of it. I still have it hanging up on my bench at work to this day. If you ever see it, now you'll know the story.
Bike Shop tales will return again next week...........
Bike Shop Tales: Late October, 1996
Tis the time of year that I remember a certain, sad period in my old bike shop daze...
The sneaking feeling had been with me for a few weeks now. The phone calls. The worried look on Tom's face he couldn't hide anymore. The whisperings of "the bettys". All could not hide the fact that something was seriously amiss. Still, I was getting paid and "officially", I hadn't heard anything.....yet!
Then came the morning in early October, 1996, when Tom made it all clear to me. Advantage Cycles was going to shut its doors. When exactly, it wasn't made clear, and there was some small hope that it wouldn't happen, but things weren't good. I didn't dig for answers, since I was kind of stunned by the news, although I wasn't totally surprised by it. I soldiered on at any rate, although "the weirdness" increased as the days wore on.
First off, "the bettys" disappeared. They were two female employees of the shop, and roomates of Tom's by this time. They "played for the other team", as Tom used to say. They were a couple, and that was that, as far as he was going to reveal. There was much speculation going on about that situation, but for the purposes of this story, their disappearance from the goings on of the shop was another ominous sign to me that all was not well. Then Tom all but disappeared as well.
I would come in, open up shop, work all day, (we had shortened, Fall/Winter hours), and then close up shop and go home, all without seeing Tom at all. For days on end. He would obviously come in after hours, clear out the till, and issue checks to me on a continually irregular basis. But I was always caught up, always paid in full. Tom never failed me once in that.
The other thing about this time of year was that it got really slow. This October seemed to be a particularly slow one. I built up a couple sets of wheels, just because. Then I struck upon an idea. I bought a pumpkin, and in a kind of pitiful way, I celebrated Halloween at the shop by carving a face of an old man into it. It took a few days to perfect it, but finally I finished it, and displayed it proudly on my shop bench for all who would come in to see. That wasn't very many folks.
It was a small thing, maybe. But to me, it was my way of dealing with the heavy situation going down around me. I was heading into one of the worst winters of my life with prospects of my job withering away, no vehicle that worked to call my own, and nobody in my life to share any of it with that meant a hoot to me near to hand. That pumpkin was kind of an act of defiance, I suppose, against all the depressing stuff happening then.
I took a bad Polaroid of it. I still have it hanging up on my bench at work to this day. If you ever see it, now you'll know the story.
Bike Shop tales will return again next week...........
The sneaking feeling had been with me for a few weeks now. The phone calls. The worried look on Tom's face he couldn't hide anymore. The whisperings of "the bettys". All could not hide the fact that something was seriously amiss. Still, I was getting paid and "officially", I hadn't heard anything.....yet!
Then came the morning in early October, 1996, when Tom made it all clear to me. Advantage Cycles was going to shut its doors. When exactly, it wasn't made clear, and there was some small hope that it wouldn't happen, but things weren't good. I didn't dig for answers, since I was kind of stunned by the news, although I wasn't totally surprised by it. I soldiered on at any rate, although "the weirdness" increased as the days wore on.
First off, "the bettys" disappeared. They were two female employees of the shop, and roomates of Tom's by this time. They "played for the other team", as Tom used to say. They were a couple, and that was that, as far as he was going to reveal. There was much speculation going on about that situation, but for the purposes of this story, their disappearance from the goings on of the shop was another ominous sign to me that all was not well. Then Tom all but disappeared as well.
I would come in, open up shop, work all day, (we had shortened, Fall/Winter hours), and then close up shop and go home, all without seeing Tom at all. For days on end. He would obviously come in after hours, clear out the till, and issue checks to me on a continually irregular basis. But I was always caught up, always paid in full. Tom never failed me once in that.
The other thing about this time of year was that it got really slow. This October seemed to be a particularly slow one. I built up a couple sets of wheels, just because. Then I struck upon an idea. I bought a pumpkin, and in a kind of pitiful way, I celebrated Halloween at the shop by carving a face of an old man into it. It took a few days to perfect it, but finally I finished it, and displayed it proudly on my shop bench for all who would come in to see. That wasn't very many folks.
It was a small thing, maybe. But to me, it was my way of dealing with the heavy situation going down around me. I was heading into one of the worst winters of my life with prospects of my job withering away, no vehicle that worked to call my own, and nobody in my life to share any of it with that meant a hoot to me near to hand. That pumpkin was kind of an act of defiance, I suppose, against all the depressing stuff happening then.
I took a bad Polaroid of it. I still have it hanging up on my bench at work to this day. If you ever see it, now you'll know the story.
Bike Shop tales will return again next week...........
Monday, October 25, 2010
Night Nonesense Gravel Grinder Report
I attended and rode in the first Night Nonsense gravel grinder Saturday night/Sunday morning and here are my thoughts on the night.
It is raining cats and dogs while I am riding solo down some waterlogged gravel road in Iowa at night. You could say a lot of things about that statement. You could say I was crazy, you could say I was insane, or you could say it was all just nonsense. You'd be right on all counts. I mean, that is the point here.
That's right, it was the first "Night Nonesense 100", a gravel road race held completely under the cover of darkness. I hadn't heard of anything like it, and gravel road race aficionado, Adam Blake, was putting it on as a free event. I wanted to support that, and along with all of my recent night gravel grinding, I figured it would be fun.
Well, as I alluded to in my previous post, the weather was going to be changing, and boy! Did it ever! We'd had days and days of sunny, dry, beautiful weather, and the forecast for the evening was for a 75% chance of rain. They got that right, or you could say, they got it 3/4's of the way right!
On the way down, I tag teamed with Mike Johnson and Ron Saul to get down there. Robert Fry and Jeremy Fry went with us in another vehicle. The trip down was fairly pleasant, but as we approached Iowa City, we could see storm clouds gathering. Still, the overall impression of the group was that we wouldn't see any rain. We were wrong. Oh so wrong!
After some Subway sandwiches, we got kitted up for the event. While we were doing this, it started to lightning, thunder, and sprinkle. We gathered under the two pop up tents at Adam's place waiting to start and the sky opened up with a steady, fine rain. This set the tone for the evening. Lightning and thunder were all around us. Still, we mistakenly assumed that due to a radar report we had seen, it would blow over. The race got underway about 8pm after some short instructions from Adam. We 25 intrepid riders took off in the soaking rain to get out of Iowa City and hit the gravel.
At this point, it was a struggle getting comfortable with becoming wet. I wore an Endura Stealth soft shell rain jacket and their Humvee knickers, and underneath I wore my new Craft PXC Thermal top and my Twin Six Team bib shorts. My shoes were the Bontrager Race models and I wore my War Axe socks. On my head I wore my trusty Bell Helmet and underneath that my fine Walz cycling cap. No gloves, not on this trip. Of course, the bike was my trusty first generation Salsa Cycles Fargo.
My bottom was wet, but warm as the temperatures held in the 60's for the entire evening. So, once I got as wet as I was going to get, I was comfortable. We took off down some bicycle path, and were being led by one of Adam's volunteers until we got to the point where they let us go. It was pouring rain, and pretty miserable, but this looked like an adventure, and like one fellow said to me as we rolled out, "It's better than sitting at home watching something stupid on T.V."
Well, at least I thought so!
The race took off, and I was holding on to the back of the pack until a climb where several of the stronger riders forced the issue to make a selection. Then I thought I saw them in the distance, and I took a right turn at a "Y" corner. It wasn't long before I figured out it was the wrong turn. Hrrrrumph! I should have studied the cues for the opening round better. So, I turn around to find about five cyclists on the corner where I made my mistake. It was, (please excuse me for the lack of a better term here), a group of cyclists I noticed at the start who were speaking a foreign language. I will refer to them as "The Foreigners" for the purposes of this story.
Well, they asked if I had made a wrong turn, and I replied in the affirmative. They immediately turned to their own conversations in their tongue, so I just rolled off down the blacktop in the other direction. I rolled, and I rolled, not seeing any turn offs to gravel. It was raining heavily, and this road was busy with traffic. Not a very comfortable feeling. I checked the cue sheet, "Turn Left At Quincy Ave", and I looked intently at the mileage, trying to calculate my now slightly off total, and make sense of where to turn. By this time, The Foreigners had caught me. They went right on by without a word, and we all hit a "T" intersection where The Foreigners immediately wheeled around and went on back up the road. I followed suit, but I was now at the tail of the line.
I had noticed a gravel road turn about a quarter mile back, which should have been our turn, but was un-marked. Adam told us at the start that he had marked every corner with fluorescent painted sticks, and there weren't any on that corner, nor was there a street sign. Well, the pole was there. The sign had been taken. About the same time I noticed that The Foreigners had a support car following them. Hmmm.......not cool! The car had pulled off at the very spot I had decided to turn. Someone in the car on a cell phone jutted their head out the window as I rolled up and asked if that was the road. I motioned that I was going to continue up that road, and without looking back, I sped away, now trying to distance myself from the five going the wrong way and their support car.
Not long up that road, I saw a sign that indicated I was on Quincy. Good! Next turn, Jordan Creek Road. What I didn't know was that there were two Jordan Creek Roads with left turns within a hundred yards of each other. Well, I took the first one, like everyone else did, and before long, I saw the main pack roaring back towards me. As they passed, I heard Mike and Ron yell at me, "Turn around, it's the wrong road!" I was a bit confused, I looked at my cue sheet, and I was off on mileage, of course, but it was within reason that this was the road. I finally decided to wheel around about the time that Adam rolled up in a car and confirmed our mistake. Back the way I came! Now I had about 4.5 extra miles, and I was waaay off on mileage.
Once back on track, I was alone, and the rain intensified. It really was coming down with lots of lightning all around. The wind also picked up. It was raining so hard at one point that I nearly stopped because I couldn't see anything in my lights but streaking rain. Now the gravel had rivulets of water snaking down the hills and spewing rain was flying off my tires seven foot into the air in front and behind me. Quite the spectacle, I'm sure, for cars that were passing me by. After a short while, the rain relented, now back to a fine, drenching downpour, and I was snaking my way north and westward toward where, I did not know.
I was rolling up some more blacktop, (which there was a ton of in the first third of the event), and I thought I caught a glimpse of a flickering tail light. A cyclist? I was coming up on a small town, and I figured I might catch up to the small red blinker there. As I rolled into the town, I noticed several unsigned streets. Hmm.....might be trouble, as I was to be making a turn soon. Not knowing anything about where I was, it was hard to say what the turn might be trying to accomplish. I knew from putting on these events that normally you try to stay off really busy roads, but this event had us on several already, so I wasn't sure of what to expect.
I ran up on The Foreigners at a busy crossroads. Obviously they passed me while I made my Jordan Creek Road mistake. They didn't know what to do and they were seriously confused. Pointing at the signs and stating the obvious, as though the sign should magically change to match their cue sheets. I blew on by them, not wanting to soak in that vibe, and scouted up the road. All streets were signed up this way, but nothing matched. Back to the intersection, and I noticed The Foreigners were asking directions at a local drive up window for some business. I rolled down to the north on HWY 1, figuring out that my next cue had to cross the highway at some point, which would eliminate the need to find the road missed by me and The Foreigners. I found it, the cues made sense again! I took off into the dark countryside. Rain was spitting, but tolerable now. Lightning could still be seen flashing in the distance. I didn't see The Foreigners again.
Now I was rolling along and feeling okay. There still was a lot of pavement going on here and there. However; the traffic count was low, so I was okay with that. About 25 miles in I noticed my computer was off, as in completely dead. No surprise there with the amount of rain I had seen already. I stopped and fiddled with it a bit, which raised my anxiety level. I then decided I could either freak out about that, or just decide to live without it, since in reality, there wasn't anything I could do about it anyway. So, now I really had to be careful with regards to navigating, which slowed me down a bit.
I was rolling southwards, near Cedar Rapids, when I finally came off some blacktop and back into gravel. I was getting passed suddenly by a car here and there that was flying down the road. I was a bit annoyed by it, and then I found out what was going on. Not too much further up the road, I ran into the first aid station, where they told me some young hooligans had gotten wrecked of their own accord, and tried to take off. Observing that the hooligans were bloodied and battered, the folks there at the checkpoint called in the accident, and the cops were flying around trying to head off the younginz at wherever it was they thought they were going. Meanwhile, a bit further past the aid station, where I had an apple and a PBR, a car was burning. The acrid smell of wires and rubber burnt in the air was nasty. I motored on as fast as I could away from there. Shueyville, Swisher, and a long, busy stretch of blacktop came after the car nonsense and the aid station. Finally, I was back out in the darkness on some lonely stretches of gravel road.
Out here it was hilly, a bit mushy, and windy. It was still raining softly the entire time as well. I was hoping to find the Mile 60-ish stop where some pizza was promised, and it couldn't come too soon. Riders of these long events will tell you that you fight your demons when it's dark, and you are tired and alone. I was no different. It was tough. I had a bout where I couldn't stay awake, (probably the beer!), and a bout with a terrible headache, (probably due to poor nutrition), but I pedaled through that. Then the one thing that really gets to me started to crop up. My lower back started to seize up due to all the heavy pushing on the pedals against wind and hills. By this time an intermittent south wind had sprung up that would be at gale force, then subside, then come back again. I was headed mostly southwards here, so I was working very hard. I was tired, hungry, and my body wasn't digging it.
East Amana, then Amana came under my wheels. It was abandoned, asleep, and weird with so many lights on. It seemed a waste of energy. Speaking of which, I was running on short supply of it. I stopped at a corner in Amana, dismounted, and my back gave out and I just about fell over, saving myself from falling by propping myself up on my bike with my arms. It hurt so bad I yelped in pain, and tears came to my eyes. Not good.
And that pizza stop at mile 60-ish? Never materialized. The main group went through and they must have moved on. I didn't see anything. I was resigned to keep moving along. It was three o'clock in the morning, and I figured that maybe some folks had finished by now. I checked my cell phone, which I had turned off to conserve my battery, but I had no messages, so I turned it back off, re-mounted painfully on my Fargo, and rolled out of Amana southwards on HWY 151.
Just south of Amana I turned off the road onto a two mile stretch of clay mire. It was a B Maintenance road, and I walked the entire thing. It was hilly, slick as snot, and it was raining. I felt pretty miserable about this time. As I came out, by a farmstead, I was greeted by snarling dogs and the hollow echoed with the noise. It was as if I pulled an alarm. Crazy! I wouldn't have been surprised if the owner had shot at me with a gun as I rolled away, and by this time, I wouldn't have cared. He would have put me out of my misery!
About this time, after I had remounted and was gingerly pedaling down the road, I noticed a van stop, and turn around, then pull over to the side of the road. Some people got out. "Hey! There you are! We were just about to turn around and head back." Obviously, I was the last guy out, and they were a bit concerned about me! I stopped and grabbed a slice of pizza and another PBR. I looked at the time, 4am, and decided that after hearing the crew I came with was done and waiting on me, that I should pack it in. At the rate I was limping along, I wouldn't have been in until about 6-7am.
So, that was my ride. Approximately 80 miles and 8 hours of ride time. I met up with Mike and Ron and we went home. Robert won, and everyone else did well too. I was worked. I hadn't ridden, or worked so hard on a bike, in such terrible conditions, ever before. Today as I type this report, I am wasted. My body aches! Time for some recovery!
My Salsa Cycles Fargo performed flawlessly. No troubles shifting, with the exception of one instance of chainsuck on the B road, not to be wondered at! My gear was good. My lights were marginal. I need to work on my system. My nutrition was.......abysmal! I was stupid there, and maybe had I been on the ball with regard to that, I would have done better. I was too worried about what I was going to wear, and not so much about eating, I guess.
Thank You's: Adam Blake, and his volunteers, for putting on this first time event, and doing pretty well at it. Mike Johnson, for the drive and great company as always. Ron Saul: Likewise, and it's been too long since we chatted! Robert Fry, Jeremy Fry: Good to be with you guys again. All the Night Nonsense riders: It isn't an event without the people. Thanks to: Twin Six, Craft, Salsa Cycles, Walz caps, Edge/Enve Composites, Revelate Designs, WTB, Bontrager, Endura, and Banjo Brothers for making arse kicking cycling products!
It is raining cats and dogs while I am riding solo down some waterlogged gravel road in Iowa at night. You could say a lot of things about that statement. You could say I was crazy, you could say I was insane, or you could say it was all just nonsense. You'd be right on all counts. I mean, that is the point here.
Well, as I alluded to in my previous post, the weather was going to be changing, and boy! Did it ever! We'd had days and days of sunny, dry, beautiful weather, and the forecast for the evening was for a 75% chance of rain. They got that right, or you could say, they got it 3/4's of the way right!
On the way down, I tag teamed with Mike Johnson and Ron Saul to get down there. Robert Fry and Jeremy Fry went with us in another vehicle. The trip down was fairly pleasant, but as we approached Iowa City, we could see storm clouds gathering. Still, the overall impression of the group was that we wouldn't see any rain. We were wrong. Oh so wrong!
After some Subway sandwiches, we got kitted up for the event. While we were doing this, it started to lightning, thunder, and sprinkle. We gathered under the two pop up tents at Adam's place waiting to start and the sky opened up with a steady, fine rain. This set the tone for the evening. Lightning and thunder were all around us. Still, we mistakenly assumed that due to a radar report we had seen, it would blow over. The race got underway about 8pm after some short instructions from Adam. We 25 intrepid riders took off in the soaking rain to get out of Iowa City and hit the gravel.
My bottom was wet, but warm as the temperatures held in the 60's for the entire evening. So, once I got as wet as I was going to get, I was comfortable. We took off down some bicycle path, and were being led by one of Adam's volunteers until we got to the point where they let us go. It was pouring rain, and pretty miserable, but this looked like an adventure, and like one fellow said to me as we rolled out, "It's better than sitting at home watching something stupid on T.V."
Well, at least I thought so!
The race took off, and I was holding on to the back of the pack until a climb where several of the stronger riders forced the issue to make a selection. Then I thought I saw them in the distance, and I took a right turn at a "Y" corner. It wasn't long before I figured out it was the wrong turn. Hrrrrumph! I should have studied the cues for the opening round better. So, I turn around to find about five cyclists on the corner where I made my mistake. It was, (please excuse me for the lack of a better term here), a group of cyclists I noticed at the start who were speaking a foreign language. I will refer to them as "The Foreigners" for the purposes of this story.
Well, they asked if I had made a wrong turn, and I replied in the affirmative. They immediately turned to their own conversations in their tongue, so I just rolled off down the blacktop in the other direction. I rolled, and I rolled, not seeing any turn offs to gravel. It was raining heavily, and this road was busy with traffic. Not a very comfortable feeling. I checked the cue sheet, "Turn Left At Quincy Ave", and I looked intently at the mileage, trying to calculate my now slightly off total, and make sense of where to turn. By this time, The Foreigners had caught me. They went right on by without a word, and we all hit a "T" intersection where The Foreigners immediately wheeled around and went on back up the road. I followed suit, but I was now at the tail of the line.
Not long up that road, I saw a sign that indicated I was on Quincy. Good! Next turn, Jordan Creek Road. What I didn't know was that there were two Jordan Creek Roads with left turns within a hundred yards of each other. Well, I took the first one, like everyone else did, and before long, I saw the main pack roaring back towards me. As they passed, I heard Mike and Ron yell at me, "Turn around, it's the wrong road!" I was a bit confused, I looked at my cue sheet, and I was off on mileage, of course, but it was within reason that this was the road. I finally decided to wheel around about the time that Adam rolled up in a car and confirmed our mistake. Back the way I came! Now I had about 4.5 extra miles, and I was waaay off on mileage.
I was rolling up some more blacktop, (which there was a ton of in the first third of the event), and I thought I caught a glimpse of a flickering tail light. A cyclist? I was coming up on a small town, and I figured I might catch up to the small red blinker there. As I rolled into the town, I noticed several unsigned streets. Hmm.....might be trouble, as I was to be making a turn soon. Not knowing anything about where I was, it was hard to say what the turn might be trying to accomplish. I knew from putting on these events that normally you try to stay off really busy roads, but this event had us on several already, so I wasn't sure of what to expect.
I ran up on The Foreigners at a busy crossroads. Obviously they passed me while I made my Jordan Creek Road mistake. They didn't know what to do and they were seriously confused. Pointing at the signs and stating the obvious, as though the sign should magically change to match their cue sheets. I blew on by them, not wanting to soak in that vibe, and scouted up the road. All streets were signed up this way, but nothing matched. Back to the intersection, and I noticed The Foreigners were asking directions at a local drive up window for some business. I rolled down to the north on HWY 1, figuring out that my next cue had to cross the highway at some point, which would eliminate the need to find the road missed by me and The Foreigners. I found it, the cues made sense again! I took off into the dark countryside. Rain was spitting, but tolerable now. Lightning could still be seen flashing in the distance. I didn't see The Foreigners again.
Now I was rolling along and feeling okay. There still was a lot of pavement going on here and there. However; the traffic count was low, so I was okay with that. About 25 miles in I noticed my computer was off, as in completely dead. No surprise there with the amount of rain I had seen already. I stopped and fiddled with it a bit, which raised my anxiety level. I then decided I could either freak out about that, or just decide to live without it, since in reality, there wasn't anything I could do about it anyway. So, now I really had to be careful with regards to navigating, which slowed me down a bit.
Out here it was hilly, a bit mushy, and windy. It was still raining softly the entire time as well. I was hoping to find the Mile 60-ish stop where some pizza was promised, and it couldn't come too soon. Riders of these long events will tell you that you fight your demons when it's dark, and you are tired and alone. I was no different. It was tough. I had a bout where I couldn't stay awake, (probably the beer!), and a bout with a terrible headache, (probably due to poor nutrition), but I pedaled through that. Then the one thing that really gets to me started to crop up. My lower back started to seize up due to all the heavy pushing on the pedals against wind and hills. By this time an intermittent south wind had sprung up that would be at gale force, then subside, then come back again. I was headed mostly southwards here, so I was working very hard. I was tired, hungry, and my body wasn't digging it.
And that pizza stop at mile 60-ish? Never materialized. The main group went through and they must have moved on. I didn't see anything. I was resigned to keep moving along. It was three o'clock in the morning, and I figured that maybe some folks had finished by now. I checked my cell phone, which I had turned off to conserve my battery, but I had no messages, so I turned it back off, re-mounted painfully on my Fargo, and rolled out of Amana southwards on HWY 151.
Just south of Amana I turned off the road onto a two mile stretch of clay mire. It was a B Maintenance road, and I walked the entire thing. It was hilly, slick as snot, and it was raining. I felt pretty miserable about this time. As I came out, by a farmstead, I was greeted by snarling dogs and the hollow echoed with the noise. It was as if I pulled an alarm. Crazy! I wouldn't have been surprised if the owner had shot at me with a gun as I rolled away, and by this time, I wouldn't have cared. He would have put me out of my misery!
About this time, after I had remounted and was gingerly pedaling down the road, I noticed a van stop, and turn around, then pull over to the side of the road. Some people got out. "Hey! There you are! We were just about to turn around and head back." Obviously, I was the last guy out, and they were a bit concerned about me! I stopped and grabbed a slice of pizza and another PBR. I looked at the time, 4am, and decided that after hearing the crew I came with was done and waiting on me, that I should pack it in. At the rate I was limping along, I wouldn't have been in until about 6-7am.
My Salsa Cycles Fargo performed flawlessly. No troubles shifting, with the exception of one instance of chainsuck on the B road, not to be wondered at! My gear was good. My lights were marginal. I need to work on my system. My nutrition was.......abysmal! I was stupid there, and maybe had I been on the ball with regard to that, I would have done better. I was too worried about what I was going to wear, and not so much about eating, I guess.
Thank You's: Adam Blake, and his volunteers, for putting on this first time event, and doing pretty well at it. Mike Johnson, for the drive and great company as always. Ron Saul: Likewise, and it's been too long since we chatted! Robert Fry, Jeremy Fry: Good to be with you guys again. All the Night Nonsense riders: It isn't an event without the people. Thanks to: Twin Six, Craft, Salsa Cycles, Walz caps, Edge/Enve Composites, Revelate Designs, WTB, Bontrager, Endura, and Banjo Brothers for making arse kicking cycling products!
Night Nonesense Gravel Grinder Report
I attended and rode in the first Night Nonsense gravel grinder Saturday night/Sunday morning and here are my thoughts on the night.
It is raining cats and dogs while I am riding solo down some waterlogged gravel road in Iowa at night. You could say a lot of things about that statement. You could say I was crazy, you could say I was insane, or you could say it was all just nonsense. You'd be right on all counts. I mean, that is the point here.
That's right, it was the first "Night Nonesense 100", a gravel road race held completely under the cover of darkness. I hadn't heard of anything like it, and gravel road race aficionado, Adam Blake, was putting it on as a free event. I wanted to support that, and along with all of my recent night gravel grinding, I figured it would be fun.
Well, as I alluded to in my previous post, the weather was going to be changing, and boy! Did it ever! We'd had days and days of sunny, dry, beautiful weather, and the forecast for the evening was for a 75% chance of rain. They got that right, or you could say, they got it 3/4's of the way right!
On the way down, I tag teamed with Mike Johnson and Ron Saul to get down there. Robert Fry and Jeremy Fry went with us in another vehicle. The trip down was fairly pleasant, but as we approached Iowa City, we could see storm clouds gathering. Still, the overall impression of the group was that we wouldn't see any rain. We were wrong. Oh so wrong!
After some Subway sandwiches, we got kitted up for the event. While we were doing this, it started to lightning, thunder, and sprinkle. We gathered under the two pop up tents at Adam's place waiting to start and the sky opened up with a steady, fine rain. This set the tone for the evening. Lightning and thunder were all around us. Still, we mistakenly assumed that due to a radar report we had seen, it would blow over. The race got underway about 8pm after some short instructions from Adam. We 25 intrepid riders took off in the soaking rain to get out of Iowa City and hit the gravel.
At this point, it was a struggle getting comfortable with becoming wet. I wore an Endura Stealth soft shell rain jacket and their Humvee knickers, and underneath I wore my new Craft PXC Thermal top and my Twin Six Team bib shorts. My shoes were the Bontrager Race models and I wore my War Axe socks. On my head I wore my trusty Bell Helmet and underneath that my fine Walz cycling cap. No gloves, not on this trip. Of course, the bike was my trusty first generation Salsa Cycles Fargo.
My bottom was wet, but warm as the temperatures held in the 60's for the entire evening. So, once I got as wet as I was going to get, I was comfortable. We took off down some bicycle path, and were being led by one of Adam's volunteers until we got to the point where they let us go. It was pouring rain, and pretty miserable, but this looked like an adventure, and like one fellow said to me as we rolled out, "It's better than sitting at home watching something stupid on T.V."
Well, at least I thought so!
The race took off, and I was holding on to the back of the pack until a climb where several of the stronger riders forced the issue to make a selection. Then I thought I saw them in the distance, and I took a right turn at a "Y" corner. It wasn't long before I figured out it was the wrong turn. Hrrrrumph! I should have studied the cues for the opening round better. So, I turn around to find about five cyclists on the corner where I made my mistake. It was, (please excuse me for the lack of a better term here), a group of cyclists I noticed at the start who were speaking a foreign language. I will refer to them as "The Foreigners" for the purposes of this story.
Well, they asked if I had made a wrong turn, and I replied in the affirmative. They immediately turned to their own conversations in their tongue, so I just rolled off down the blacktop in the other direction. I rolled, and I rolled, not seeing any turn offs to gravel. It was raining heavily, and this road was busy with traffic. Not a very comfortable feeling. I checked the cue sheet, "Turn Left At Quincy Ave", and I looked intently at the mileage, trying to calculate my now slightly off total, and make sense of where to turn. By this time, The Foreigners had caught me. They went right on by without a word, and we all hit a "T" intersection where The Foreigners immediately wheeled around and went on back up the road. I followed suit, but I was now at the tail of the line.
I had noticed a gravel road turn about a quarter mile back, which should have been our turn, but was un-marked. Adam told us at the start that he had marked every corner with fluorescent painted sticks, and there weren't any on that corner, nor was there a street sign. Well, the pole was there. The sign had been taken. About the same time I noticed that The Foreigners had a support car following them. Hmmm.......not cool! The car had pulled off at the very spot I had decided to turn. Someone in the car on a cell phone jutted their head out the window as I rolled up and asked if that was the road. I motioned that I was going to continue up that road, and without looking back, I sped away, now trying to distance myself from the five going the wrong way and their support car.
Not long up that road, I saw a sign that indicated I was on Quincy. Good! Next turn, Jordan Creek Road. What I didn't know was that there were two Jordan Creek Roads with left turns within a hundred yards of each other. Well, I took the first one, like everyone else did, and before long, I saw the main pack roaring back towards me. As they passed, I heard Mike and Ron yell at me, "Turn around, it's the wrong road!" I was a bit confused, I looked at my cue sheet, and I was off on mileage, of course, but it was within reason that this was the road. I finally decided to wheel around about the time that Adam rolled up in a car and confirmed our mistake. Back the way I came! Now I had about 4.5 extra miles, and I was waaay off on mileage.
Once back on track, I was alone, and the rain intensified. It really was coming down with lots of lightning all around. The wind also picked up. It was raining so hard at one point that I nearly stopped because I couldn't see anything in my lights but streaking rain. Now the gravel had rivulets of water snaking down the hills and spewing rain was flying off my tires seven foot into the air in front and behind me. Quite the spectacle, I'm sure, for cars that were passing me by. After a short while, the rain relented, now back to a fine, drenching downpour, and I was snaking my way north and westward toward where, I did not know.
I was rolling up some more blacktop, (which there was a ton of in the first third of the event), and I thought I caught a glimpse of a flickering tail light. A cyclist? I was coming up on a small town, and I figured I might catch up to the small red blinker there. As I rolled into the town, I noticed several unsigned streets. Hmm.....might be trouble, as I was to be making a turn soon. Not knowing anything about where I was, it was hard to say what the turn might be trying to accomplish. I knew from putting on these events that normally you try to stay off really busy roads, but this event had us on several already, so I wasn't sure of what to expect.
I ran up on The Foreigners at a busy crossroads. Obviously they passed me while I made my Jordan Creek Road mistake. They didn't know what to do and they were seriously confused. Pointing at the signs and stating the obvious, as though the sign should magically change to match their cue sheets. I blew on by them, not wanting to soak in that vibe, and scouted up the road. All streets were signed up this way, but nothing matched. Back to the intersection, and I noticed The Foreigners were asking directions at a local drive up window for some business. I rolled down to the north on HWY 1, figuring out that my next cue had to cross the highway at some point, which would eliminate the need to find the road missed by me and The Foreigners. I found it, the cues made sense again! I took off into the dark countryside. Rain was spitting, but tolerable now. Lightning could still be seen flashing in the distance. I didn't see The Foreigners again.
Now I was rolling along and feeling okay. There still was a lot of pavement going on here and there. However; the traffic count was low, so I was okay with that. About 25 miles in I noticed my computer was off, as in completely dead. No surprise there with the amount of rain I had seen already. I stopped and fiddled with it a bit, which raised my anxiety level. I then decided I could either freak out about that, or just decide to live without it, since in reality, there wasn't anything I could do about it anyway. So, now I really had to be careful with regards to navigating, which slowed me down a bit.
I was rolling southwards, near Cedar Rapids, when I finally came off some blacktop and back into gravel. I was getting passed suddenly by a car here and there that was flying down the road. I was a bit annoyed by it, and then I found out what was going on. Not too much further up the road, I ran into the first aid station, where they told me some young hooligans had gotten wrecked of their own accord, and tried to take off. Observing that the hooligans were bloodied and battered, the folks there at the checkpoint called in the accident, and the cops were flying around trying to head off the younginz at wherever it was they thought they were going. Meanwhile, a bit further past the aid station, where I had an apple and a PBR, a car was burning. The acrid smell of wires and rubber burnt in the air was nasty. I motored on as fast as I could away from there. Shueyville, Swisher, and a long, busy stretch of blacktop came after the car nonsense and the aid station. Finally, I was back out in the darkness on some lonely stretches of gravel road.
Out here it was hilly, a bit mushy, and windy. It was still raining softly the entire time as well. I was hoping to find the Mile 60-ish stop where some pizza was promised, and it couldn't come too soon. Riders of these long events will tell you that you fight your demons when it's dark, and you are tired and alone. I was no different. It was tough. I had a bout where I couldn't stay awake, (probably the beer!), and a bout with a terrible headache, (probably due to poor nutrition), but I pedaled through that. Then the one thing that really gets to me started to crop up. My lower back started to seize up due to all the heavy pushing on the pedals against wind and hills. By this time an intermittent south wind had sprung up that would be at gale force, then subside, then come back again. I was headed mostly southwards here, so I was working very hard. I was tired, hungry, and my body wasn't digging it.
East Amana, then Amana came under my wheels. It was abandoned, asleep, and weird with so many lights on. It seemed a waste of energy. Speaking of which, I was running on short supply of it. I stopped at a corner in Amana, dismounted, and my back gave out and I just about fell over, saving myself from falling by propping myself up on my bike with my arms. It hurt so bad I yelped in pain, and tears came to my eyes. Not good.
And that pizza stop at mile 60-ish? Never materialized. The main group went through and they must have moved on. I didn't see anything. I was resigned to keep moving along. It was three o'clock in the morning, and I figured that maybe some folks had finished by now. I checked my cell phone, which I had turned off to conserve my battery, but I had no messages, so I turned it back off, re-mounted painfully on my Fargo, and rolled out of Amana southwards on HWY 151.
Just south of Amana I turned off the road onto a two mile stretch of clay mire. It was a B Maintenance road, and I walked the entire thing. It was hilly, slick as snot, and it was raining. I felt pretty miserable about this time. As I came out, by a farmstead, I was greeted by snarling dogs and the hollow echoed with the noise. It was as if I pulled an alarm. Crazy! I wouldn't have been surprised if the owner had shot at me with a gun as I rolled away, and by this time, I wouldn't have cared. He would have put me out of my misery!
About this time, after I had remounted and was gingerly pedaling down the road, I noticed a van stop, and turn around, then pull over to the side of the road. Some people got out. "Hey! There you are! We were just about to turn around and head back." Obviously, I was the last guy out, and they were a bit concerned about me! I stopped and grabbed a slice of pizza and another PBR. I looked at the time, 4am, and decided that after hearing the crew I came with was done and waiting on me, that I should pack it in. At the rate I was limping along, I wouldn't have been in until about 6-7am.
So, that was my ride. Approximately 80 miles and 8 hours of ride time. I met up with Mike and Ron and we went home. Robert won, and everyone else did well too. I was worked. I hadn't ridden, or worked so hard on a bike, in such terrible conditions, ever before. Today as I type this report, I am wasted. My body aches! Time for some recovery!
My Salsa Cycles Fargo performed flawlessly. No troubles shifting, with the exception of one instance of chainsuck on the B road, not to be wondered at! My gear was good. My lights were marginal. I need to work on my system. My nutrition was.......abysmal! I was stupid there, and maybe had I been on the ball with regard to that, I would have done better. I was too worried about what I was going to wear, and not so much about eating, I guess.
Thank You's: Adam Blake, and his volunteers, for putting on this first time event, and doing pretty well at it. Mike Johnson, for the drive and great company as always. Ron Saul: Likewise, and it's been too long since we chatted! Robert Fry, Jeremy Fry: Good to be with you guys again. All the Night Nonsense riders: It isn't an event without the people. Thanks to: Twin Six, Craft, Salsa Cycles, Walz caps, Edge/Enve Composites, Revelate Designs, WTB, Bontrager, Endura, and Banjo Brothers for making arse kicking cycling products!
It is raining cats and dogs while I am riding solo down some waterlogged gravel road in Iowa at night. You could say a lot of things about that statement. You could say I was crazy, you could say I was insane, or you could say it was all just nonsense. You'd be right on all counts. I mean, that is the point here.
Well, as I alluded to in my previous post, the weather was going to be changing, and boy! Did it ever! We'd had days and days of sunny, dry, beautiful weather, and the forecast for the evening was for a 75% chance of rain. They got that right, or you could say, they got it 3/4's of the way right!
On the way down, I tag teamed with Mike Johnson and Ron Saul to get down there. Robert Fry and Jeremy Fry went with us in another vehicle. The trip down was fairly pleasant, but as we approached Iowa City, we could see storm clouds gathering. Still, the overall impression of the group was that we wouldn't see any rain. We were wrong. Oh so wrong!
After some Subway sandwiches, we got kitted up for the event. While we were doing this, it started to lightning, thunder, and sprinkle. We gathered under the two pop up tents at Adam's place waiting to start and the sky opened up with a steady, fine rain. This set the tone for the evening. Lightning and thunder were all around us. Still, we mistakenly assumed that due to a radar report we had seen, it would blow over. The race got underway about 8pm after some short instructions from Adam. We 25 intrepid riders took off in the soaking rain to get out of Iowa City and hit the gravel.
My bottom was wet, but warm as the temperatures held in the 60's for the entire evening. So, once I got as wet as I was going to get, I was comfortable. We took off down some bicycle path, and were being led by one of Adam's volunteers until we got to the point where they let us go. It was pouring rain, and pretty miserable, but this looked like an adventure, and like one fellow said to me as we rolled out, "It's better than sitting at home watching something stupid on T.V."
Well, at least I thought so!
The race took off, and I was holding on to the back of the pack until a climb where several of the stronger riders forced the issue to make a selection. Then I thought I saw them in the distance, and I took a right turn at a "Y" corner. It wasn't long before I figured out it was the wrong turn. Hrrrrumph! I should have studied the cues for the opening round better. So, I turn around to find about five cyclists on the corner where I made my mistake. It was, (please excuse me for the lack of a better term here), a group of cyclists I noticed at the start who were speaking a foreign language. I will refer to them as "The Foreigners" for the purposes of this story.
Well, they asked if I had made a wrong turn, and I replied in the affirmative. They immediately turned to their own conversations in their tongue, so I just rolled off down the blacktop in the other direction. I rolled, and I rolled, not seeing any turn offs to gravel. It was raining heavily, and this road was busy with traffic. Not a very comfortable feeling. I checked the cue sheet, "Turn Left At Quincy Ave", and I looked intently at the mileage, trying to calculate my now slightly off total, and make sense of where to turn. By this time, The Foreigners had caught me. They went right on by without a word, and we all hit a "T" intersection where The Foreigners immediately wheeled around and went on back up the road. I followed suit, but I was now at the tail of the line.
Not long up that road, I saw a sign that indicated I was on Quincy. Good! Next turn, Jordan Creek Road. What I didn't know was that there were two Jordan Creek Roads with left turns within a hundred yards of each other. Well, I took the first one, like everyone else did, and before long, I saw the main pack roaring back towards me. As they passed, I heard Mike and Ron yell at me, "Turn around, it's the wrong road!" I was a bit confused, I looked at my cue sheet, and I was off on mileage, of course, but it was within reason that this was the road. I finally decided to wheel around about the time that Adam rolled up in a car and confirmed our mistake. Back the way I came! Now I had about 4.5 extra miles, and I was waaay off on mileage.
I was rolling up some more blacktop, (which there was a ton of in the first third of the event), and I thought I caught a glimpse of a flickering tail light. A cyclist? I was coming up on a small town, and I figured I might catch up to the small red blinker there. As I rolled into the town, I noticed several unsigned streets. Hmm.....might be trouble, as I was to be making a turn soon. Not knowing anything about where I was, it was hard to say what the turn might be trying to accomplish. I knew from putting on these events that normally you try to stay off really busy roads, but this event had us on several already, so I wasn't sure of what to expect.
I ran up on The Foreigners at a busy crossroads. Obviously they passed me while I made my Jordan Creek Road mistake. They didn't know what to do and they were seriously confused. Pointing at the signs and stating the obvious, as though the sign should magically change to match their cue sheets. I blew on by them, not wanting to soak in that vibe, and scouted up the road. All streets were signed up this way, but nothing matched. Back to the intersection, and I noticed The Foreigners were asking directions at a local drive up window for some business. I rolled down to the north on HWY 1, figuring out that my next cue had to cross the highway at some point, which would eliminate the need to find the road missed by me and The Foreigners. I found it, the cues made sense again! I took off into the dark countryside. Rain was spitting, but tolerable now. Lightning could still be seen flashing in the distance. I didn't see The Foreigners again.
Now I was rolling along and feeling okay. There still was a lot of pavement going on here and there. However; the traffic count was low, so I was okay with that. About 25 miles in I noticed my computer was off, as in completely dead. No surprise there with the amount of rain I had seen already. I stopped and fiddled with it a bit, which raised my anxiety level. I then decided I could either freak out about that, or just decide to live without it, since in reality, there wasn't anything I could do about it anyway. So, now I really had to be careful with regards to navigating, which slowed me down a bit.
Out here it was hilly, a bit mushy, and windy. It was still raining softly the entire time as well. I was hoping to find the Mile 60-ish stop where some pizza was promised, and it couldn't come too soon. Riders of these long events will tell you that you fight your demons when it's dark, and you are tired and alone. I was no different. It was tough. I had a bout where I couldn't stay awake, (probably the beer!), and a bout with a terrible headache, (probably due to poor nutrition), but I pedaled through that. Then the one thing that really gets to me started to crop up. My lower back started to seize up due to all the heavy pushing on the pedals against wind and hills. By this time an intermittent south wind had sprung up that would be at gale force, then subside, then come back again. I was headed mostly southwards here, so I was working very hard. I was tired, hungry, and my body wasn't digging it.
And that pizza stop at mile 60-ish? Never materialized. The main group went through and they must have moved on. I didn't see anything. I was resigned to keep moving along. It was three o'clock in the morning, and I figured that maybe some folks had finished by now. I checked my cell phone, which I had turned off to conserve my battery, but I had no messages, so I turned it back off, re-mounted painfully on my Fargo, and rolled out of Amana southwards on HWY 151.
Just south of Amana I turned off the road onto a two mile stretch of clay mire. It was a B Maintenance road, and I walked the entire thing. It was hilly, slick as snot, and it was raining. I felt pretty miserable about this time. As I came out, by a farmstead, I was greeted by snarling dogs and the hollow echoed with the noise. It was as if I pulled an alarm. Crazy! I wouldn't have been surprised if the owner had shot at me with a gun as I rolled away, and by this time, I wouldn't have cared. He would have put me out of my misery!
About this time, after I had remounted and was gingerly pedaling down the road, I noticed a van stop, and turn around, then pull over to the side of the road. Some people got out. "Hey! There you are! We were just about to turn around and head back." Obviously, I was the last guy out, and they were a bit concerned about me! I stopped and grabbed a slice of pizza and another PBR. I looked at the time, 4am, and decided that after hearing the crew I came with was done and waiting on me, that I should pack it in. At the rate I was limping along, I wouldn't have been in until about 6-7am.
My Salsa Cycles Fargo performed flawlessly. No troubles shifting, with the exception of one instance of chainsuck on the B road, not to be wondered at! My gear was good. My lights were marginal. I need to work on my system. My nutrition was.......abysmal! I was stupid there, and maybe had I been on the ball with regard to that, I would have done better. I was too worried about what I was going to wear, and not so much about eating, I guess.
Thank You's: Adam Blake, and his volunteers, for putting on this first time event, and doing pretty well at it. Mike Johnson, for the drive and great company as always. Ron Saul: Likewise, and it's been too long since we chatted! Robert Fry, Jeremy Fry: Good to be with you guys again. All the Night Nonsense riders: It isn't an event without the people. Thanks to: Twin Six, Craft, Salsa Cycles, Walz caps, Edge/Enve Composites, Revelate Designs, WTB, Bontrager, Endura, and Banjo Brothers for making arse kicking cycling products!
Saturday, October 23, 2010
It's All Just Nonsense!
It was totally awesome!
I have come to like the whitewall Origin 8 tires, at least the look. It has that "American Graffiti" Model A hot rod look, I think. (Maybe it's just me, I don't know!) I just know the tight twisties in Geo Wyth are primo right now. Maybe too dry, and well, I hear that may be getting fixed soon! I'm pretty sure it will too, because I'm about to take part in some "nonsense" tomorrow evening that about guarantees it will rain. That would be The Night Nonesense 100 mile gravel road event. Yes- all at night!
It starts at 8pm and well, however long it takes me to ride the entire course is how long the event will probably be! I don't figure on being all that fast. Anyway, there is supposed to be some crazy stuff happening out there, so we'll see if that slows my progress down any. Report to come on all the shenanigans Monday.
Speaking of "shenanigans", I think I may have gotten myself into something over my head here. You see, my friend Ben Witt, who runs Milltown Cycles, well, he tempted me with hubs. Yes- I said hubs.... Well, look at this image and you tell me if you wouldn't be tempted too....
<===Custom Phil Wood hubs for Mukluk snow bikes. (image by Ben Witt)
Yup! Those are pure awesomeness right there. Since I am getting a Mukluk anyway, I figured, what the heck.
That's some chunk-o-alloy there! Ben tells me the hub flanges are so large that spokes will be very short. That means a stronger wheel, hopefully, and of course, they are going to be dishless as well. That's good stuff for a rear wheel, and especially so since I am opting for a Rolling Daryl rim set with these wheels.
And to top it all off, I just looked at a winter forecast that said we'll be getting above average snow fall for the 2010/2011 winter. Snow biking will be awesome, if the parts all come in and the bike makes it on time. And if it doesn't, well......I'll go sledding!
It's All Just Nonsense!
It was totally awesome!
I have come to like the whitewall Origin 8 tires, at least the look. It has that "American Graffiti" Model A hot rod look, I think. (Maybe it's just me, I don't know!) I just know the tight twisties in Geo Wyth are primo right now. Maybe too dry, and well, I hear that may be getting fixed soon! I'm pretty sure it will too, because I'm about to take part in some "nonsense" tomorrow evening that about guarantees it will rain. That would be The Night Nonesense 100 mile gravel road event. Yes- all at night!
It starts at 8pm and well, however long it takes me to ride the entire course is how long the event will probably be! I don't figure on being all that fast. Anyway, there is supposed to be some crazy stuff happening out there, so we'll see if that slows my progress down any. Report to come on all the shenanigans Monday.
Speaking of "shenanigans", I think I may have gotten myself into something over my head here. You see, my friend Ben Witt, who runs Milltown Cycles, well, he tempted me with hubs. Yes- I said hubs.... Well, look at this image and you tell me if you wouldn't be tempted too....
<===Custom Phil Wood hubs for Mukluk snow bikes. (image by Ben Witt)
Yup! Those are pure awesomeness right there. Since I am getting a Mukluk anyway, I figured, what the heck.
That's some chunk-o-alloy there! Ben tells me the hub flanges are so large that spokes will be very short. That means a stronger wheel, hopefully, and of course, they are going to be dishless as well. That's good stuff for a rear wheel, and especially so since I am opting for a Rolling Daryl rim set with these wheels.
And to top it all off, I just looked at a winter forecast that said we'll be getting above average snow fall for the 2010/2011 winter. Snow biking will be awesome, if the parts all come in and the bike makes it on time. And if it doesn't, well......I'll go sledding!
Friday, October 22, 2010
Friday News And Views
Well, I happen to have a pair now and have just started to ride them. This tire is from the "Smallblock 8" mold: Very rounded, voluminous casing, with a ton of smallish knobs arranged in rows across the face of the casing. Like a Velcro kind of approach, tires like these are best on buff, smooth, and less technical trails where the multitudinous knobs can continually rip into the trail surface. However; throw down some acorns, or gravel, or similar features, and goodbye lateral traction. Best not to be caught in a corner when that happens!
I suspect these will be somewhat like the recently tried Bontrager XR-1's, but I can tell you already that these tires are 150 grams heavier, and don't roll as well as XR-1's, just from my first two rides on them. The Geax type tire, be it TNT or folding, is curiously heavy, stiff, and way durable. These look to be that way as well. I'll chime back in with more later.....
Well, these cats are making a 29"er wheel set these days, and I have been sent a pair to test on Twenty Nine Inches. First of all, contrary to popular belief, those gold colored "barrels" are not brass. They are anodized aluminum, and although they look heavy, they are on par with about any mid-level wheel set out there. (These MSRP for about $700.00) Modern features like tubeless compatibility with a tape from Caffe Latex, convertible front hub to 15QR, and crazy smooth Japanese manufactured bearings are all here. Did I mention these wheels spin for days? Smooooth!
More on these later, but so far, they seem quite well made and capable.
We Also want to announce that we have signed on Clif Bar as another nutritional sponsor for Trans Iowa V7. They will also be sponsoring us with nutritional items that will be found in racer packets and at the checkpoints in limited quantities.Keep in mind that while we are being sponsored by these fine companies that you shouldn't rely on their products to keep you going through to the finish. I am not demeaning them, or their stuff, but even they would tell you that a triple century plus is going to suck out more energy than you could ever hope to metabolize while you are in the event. This stuff is best seen as supplemental to your main sources of calories for Trans Iowa. Grab some "just in case". Use it as a bail out measure, but don't think you'll be able to live off this stuff, or that there will actually be anything there when you get to a checkpoint, if you get to a checkpoint. (And don't kid yerself Rookies. That's a pretty big "if"!)
Oh yeah, speaking of Rookies and Veterans. I am never surprised at the number of ways you guys and gals will use to get into T.I. For instance, a recent phone call from an old friend that I hadn't heard from in 10 years was made to me mainly on the basis that this old friend would have enough pull to get the person influencing this action into Trans Iowa "guaranteed". Suffice it to say that I told the person, via the old friend, that they could do it like everyone else was.
Message to would be T.I.V7 entrants: There is no "easy, guaranteed way in". Just give up on the schemes already! Send your post card on the correct date with the correct info, and hope you are in the front end of the line. Everybody has to do it the same way. An announcement will appear in about 10 days or so.
Have a great weekend and ride yer bikes ya'all!
Friday News And Views
Well, I happen to have a pair now and have just started to ride them. This tire is from the "Smallblock 8" mold: Very rounded, voluminous casing, with a ton of smallish knobs arranged in rows across the face of the casing. Like a Velcro kind of approach, tires like these are best on buff, smooth, and less technical trails where the multitudinous knobs can continually rip into the trail surface. However; throw down some acorns, or gravel, or similar features, and goodbye lateral traction. Best not to be caught in a corner when that happens!
I suspect these will be somewhat like the recently tried Bontrager XR-1's, but I can tell you already that these tires are 150 grams heavier, and don't roll as well as XR-1's, just from my first two rides on them. The Geax type tire, be it TNT or folding, is curiously heavy, stiff, and way durable. These look to be that way as well. I'll chime back in with more later.....
Well, these cats are making a 29"er wheel set these days, and I have been sent a pair to test on Twenty Nine Inches. First of all, contrary to popular belief, those gold colored "barrels" are not brass. They are anodized aluminum, and although they look heavy, they are on par with about any mid-level wheel set out there. (These MSRP for about $700.00) Modern features like tubeless compatibility with a tape from Caffe Latex, convertible front hub to 15QR, and crazy smooth Japanese manufactured bearings are all here. Did I mention these wheels spin for days? Smooooth!
More on these later, but so far, they seem quite well made and capable.
We Also want to announce that we have signed on Clif Bar as another nutritional sponsor for Trans Iowa V7. They will also be sponsoring us with nutritional items that will be found in racer packets and at the checkpoints in limited quantities.Keep in mind that while we are being sponsored by these fine companies that you shouldn't rely on their products to keep you going through to the finish. I am not demeaning them, or their stuff, but even they would tell you that a triple century plus is going to suck out more energy than you could ever hope to metabolize while you are in the event. This stuff is best seen as supplemental to your main sources of calories for Trans Iowa. Grab some "just in case". Use it as a bail out measure, but don't think you'll be able to live off this stuff, or that there will actually be anything there when you get to a checkpoint, if you get to a checkpoint. (And don't kid yerself Rookies. That's a pretty big "if"!)
Oh yeah, speaking of Rookies and Veterans. I am never surprised at the number of ways you guys and gals will use to get into T.I. For instance, a recent phone call from an old friend that I hadn't heard from in 10 years was made to me mainly on the basis that this old friend would have enough pull to get the person influencing this action into Trans Iowa "guaranteed". Suffice it to say that I told the person, via the old friend, that they could do it like everyone else was.
Message to would be T.I.V7 entrants: There is no "easy, guaranteed way in". Just give up on the schemes already! Send your post card on the correct date with the correct info, and hope you are in the front end of the line. Everybody has to do it the same way. An announcement will appear in about 10 days or so.
Have a great weekend and ride yer bikes ya'all!
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Stringing Together Pearls
So, anyway, the other side of all this is "When is it going to end?" I suppose it may seem like time is slowing to a crawl and that Fall will last all winter long, but don't bet on that! The days have been fantastic for so long, strung together like pearls on a strand, that it just stands to reason that pretty soon, we will reach the end of it. "Craptastic" weather is coming, and sooner than later! (In fact I'm hearing that could be Saturday night. More on this later!)
Now the next step will be to take it where there is some serious climbing. Then we'll go from there. So far, so good.
The other ride was on the Origin 8 Scout 29 in Geo Wyth. I found a trail I hadn't been on over by Alice Wyth that was a hoot! Swoopy, flowy, and fast. It really played to the strengths of the snappy Scout. I had some big grin action going on, that's for sure! But that wasn't all. The middle of the day, in between these two rides, there was a lot going on.
I had some sponsorship action going down for Trans Iowa V7 to deal with. Clif Bar is on board, and I have one other nutritional sponsor in the wings, but I can not say anything at this time. It will be good, and the pre-race sacks will be good this year, even without anything else.
Plus, I had other Trans Iowa related news. I learned that I was being asked to do a feature length write up for a well know print mag on the event, the history of the event, and more. I can't talk anymore about that, but next summer, if all goes as planned, it will hit the news stands and we can talk then. Anyway, I'm excited about the opportunity.
Speaking of T.I.V7, I'll have another update next week. This weekend I am doing a "nonsense" event near Iowa City. Saturday night, when it is supposed to rain. Epic. So, the T.I.V7 update will have to wait.