Randomonium

So, here's a nice image from the T.I.V8 course..

Trans Iowa V8 Prep: 

Yeah, like I said a few days ago- You're going to hear a lot about Trans Iowa in the next days. It is only a hair over a week away now. I have been busy with the last bits of preparation in order to not have a last minute meltdown.

Yesterday was all about getting the final form of the cue sheets printed. That happened, and it is the last big hurdle that I had to cross. Now everything else should pretty much fall into place.

Now it is all about assembling the final cue sheets into sets, packing them into zip-loc baggies, and starting to put everything into the bags for the riders on Friday the 27th when they come to the Pre-Race Meat-Up at the Grinnell Steakhouse.

I've got Clif Bar product already here, and Gu Energy product just shipped. I have boxes to pack for the Checkpoints and Finish line supplies, and tidbits to throw into another box for the Pre-Race meeting proper. I started putting together my re-route supplies to go into the truck as well. More details will get sorted on the weekend.

As for other things of note- the film "300 Miles of Gravel" is finished and will be shown at the Pre-Race. If you live in the Milwaukee area, the project might be getting shown up there on Fox 6. I'll post up any details I get on that if it comes true. Hmm......am I forgetting anything? I have a guy driving the first leg of T.I.V8 by the cues, to triple check that sector. Then the day before T.I.V8, I am driving that sector again, plus I am checking on a B Road or two. No "Road Closed" surprises right outta the gate this year!

Salsa Cycles Fargo Adventure Ride

For The Locals: Speaking of gravel road rides, I am going to instigate a bi-weekly, or weekly, (depending upon the interest), gravel road group ride. I'm calling it the "3GR". It's going to be geared at creating more of a community locally amongst those that ride and train on the country roads around here. I know plenty of riders go out, but everybody is pretty much doing their thing alone, which is cool, but this is a group ride option which really hasn't existed here since Jeff Kerkove left town.

There will be bigger, more challenging opportunities as well, including my "Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitational" which happens just before RAGBRAI in July. There will also be a Salsa Cycles demo ride connected to this on June 29th. It'll be a "Fargo Adventure Ride", much like the ones that were held up in Minnesota, only shorter in distance. I'll probably call it something else too. Thinking "Fargonaut I" might be good.

The ride will be happening on a Friday afternoon, so doing a mega-mile ride isn't in the cards. Maybe 25-35 miles with a bar-b-cue and adult beverages afterward at some local park around here. Stay tuned for more details coming soon. Got anymore ideas? I'm open to suggestions here. Hit the comments....

and speaking of Fargos....

Fargo Tweaks: 
 I've been riding the Fargo Gen II as my drop bar single track machine lately. I got it set up in late fall last year, and not much time transpired before I had found out I was going to ride in Triple D, and the fat bike took over.

Well, now I am thinking on making a few minor tweaks. The saddle has already been adjusted a bit, and I may get a 10mm shorter stem, but I'm going to play with it as is a bit.

Funny how small changes make big differences in feel. One bigger change I made was going from Specialized Ground Control tires to the Michelin Wild race'r. It has a really squarish profile, kind of like a Hutchinson Python, but not as sketchy. In fact, this Wild race'r seems to deal with the dry hard pack really well. The biggest thing I noticed is how smooth it feels. This is a nicely damped, supple casing.

Okay, that's all the randomness for today.