3GR Report: Fat Bike Edition

This edition of the 3GR was going to be the second fat bike edition. The first, run back in early August, was hot, humid, and a lot of fun. The weather on this one would turn out to be perfect, albeit a bit cool and crisp to start out with. In addition, the Fall colors were in full swing.

I wasn't sure if perhaps I wouldn't be the only guy on this one. I knew some of the guys had other events, and some were going to be putting their own event on that were at the last Fat Bike Edition of the 3GR. Then I had to turn back after leaving since I had forgotten my tube and a pump. Now maybe I would be late as well!

Craig takes in the fall colors

My fears were unfounded though, as I made it to the Island Park meeting spot well ahead of the 8:30am start time. Not long after I arrived, Craig showed up, which surprised me, actually. See, Craig was the one who was putting on the "Moonshine Metric", a gravel ride that was to start later that day. (More on that ride tomorrow. )

Craig and I took off toward Black Hawk Park, and ultimately the fire road to Washington/Union Access. The Fall colors continued to look spectacular. On the way out, I ran into Paul and his son, Carl, both of whom I haven't seen in a long time, so I stopped to chat a bit with them.

The gravel sections were fairly smooth and fast, and Craig and I talked about the upcoming ride that evening. Craig told me enough about the course that I almost decided not to bring along the BMC Orange Crush and to bring my Fargo instead, but I didn't do that in the end. Eventually Craig and I made it back to Cedar Falls, and he took his leave of me.

I stopped for a coffee and scone to replenish the tank, then I went off toward the house and to make final preparations for going to the Moonshine Metric.

The ride over and back, plus the ride proper, gave me a 48 mile head start on the day, and with that being on a fat bike, I wasn't sure how the evening would go, but I was game to find out.

Next up: Ride #2 for the day- the Moonshine Metric report. Stay tuned for that tomorrow.

3GR Report: Fat Bike Edition

This edition of the 3GR was going to be the second fat bike edition. The first, run back in early August, was hot, humid, and a lot of fun. The weather on this one would turn out to be perfect, albeit a bit cool and crisp to start out with. In addition, the Fall colors were in full swing.

I wasn't sure if perhaps I wouldn't be the only guy on this one. I knew some of the guys had other events, and some were going to be putting their own event on that were at the last Fat Bike Edition of the 3GR. Then I had to turn back after leaving since I had forgotten my tube and a pump. Now maybe I would be late as well!

Craig takes in the fall colors

My fears were unfounded though, as I made it to the Island Park meeting spot well ahead of the 8:30am start time. Not long after I arrived, Craig showed up, which surprised me, actually. See, Craig was the one who was putting on the "Moonshine Metric", a gravel ride that was to start later that day. (More on that ride tomorrow. )

Craig and I took off toward Black Hawk Park, and ultimately the fire road to Washington/Union Access. The Fall colors continued to look spectacular. On the way out, I ran into Paul and his son, Carl, both of whom I haven't seen in a long time, so I stopped to chat a bit with them.

The gravel sections were fairly smooth and fast, and Craig and I talked about the upcoming ride that evening. Craig told me enough about the course that I almost decided not to bring along the BMC Orange Crush and to bring my Fargo instead, but I didn't do that in the end. Eventually Craig and I made it back to Cedar Falls, and he took his leave of me.

I stopped for a coffee and scone to replenish the tank, then I went off toward the house and to make final preparations for going to the Moonshine Metric.

The ride over and back, plus the ride proper, gave me a 48 mile head start on the day, and with that being on a fat bike, I wasn't sure how the evening would go, but I was game to find out.

Next up: Ride #2 for the day- the Moonshine Metric report. Stay tuned for that tomorrow.

Trans Iowa V9: Update, Thoughts

The Latest:

Not a whole lot of earth shattering news here, but this is the latest on the event I have to share with you. Some of these things have already been mentioned on the Trans Iowa site.

In no particular order, here are the tidbits....

• Sponsors: So far we have commitments from Oakley, Banjo Brothers, and Tacopocalypse. If you are reading this and want to sponsor Trans Iowa, drop me a line and let me know what ya have in mind.
• Course: As of now, I have about 325 miles on tap. There are two checkpoints scheduled so far. The first is at about 53 miles and the second at about Mile 170. That will leave approximately a 150m slog to the finish line of T.I.V9.
• Speaking of the Finish Line, there is a solid chance this will be back to where we wanted to finish T.I.V6 at, and if it works out, there will be several related announcements that tie into this. Stay tuned for details. 
• Roster Limit: I threw it out there, but heard nothing, concerning raising the roster limit to a possible 120-ish riders. While that sounds good on the face of it, I would bet it won't make much of a dent in actual racer numbers come time for the event. But I could be wrong. Then again, if the airwaves remain silent on this, I won't even bother with it. Something else to think about- Whatever the roster limit is this time, I am not going to maintain, mess around, or waste my time on a Waiting List, as I have in the past. It doesn't make much of an impact other than to cause me a lot of extra work.  

That about does it for right now.....oh! Almost forgot this.... Registration will start for Trans Iowa V9 on November 5th. Forget about the Election! Get yer post cards fired up for a chance to ride in Trans Iowa V9 instead. Finishers will have the luxury of simply e-mailing me some specific info, but Rookies and Veterans will be required to send in the traditional post card with some specific information.

A detailed post on just what you need to do will be forthcoming, but for now, circle that date! It all will start then.

Trans Iowa V9: Update, Thoughts

The Latest:

Not a whole lot of earth shattering news here, but this is the latest on the event I have to share with you. Some of these things have already been mentioned on the Trans Iowa site.

In no particular order, here are the tidbits....

• Sponsors: So far we have commitments from Oakley, Banjo Brothers, and Tacopocalypse. If you are reading this and want to sponsor Trans Iowa, drop me a line and let me know what ya have in mind.
• Course: As of now, I have about 325 miles on tap. There are two checkpoints scheduled so far. The first is at about 53 miles and the second at about Mile 170. That will leave approximately a 150m slog to the finish line of T.I.V9.
• Speaking of the Finish Line, there is a solid chance this will be back to where we wanted to finish T.I.V6 at, and if it works out, there will be several related announcements that tie into this. Stay tuned for details. 
• Roster Limit: I threw it out there, but heard nothing, concerning raising the roster limit to a possible 120-ish riders. While that sounds good on the face of it, I would bet it won't make much of a dent in actual racer numbers come time for the event. But I could be wrong. Then again, if the airwaves remain silent on this, I won't even bother with it. Something else to think about- Whatever the roster limit is this time, I am not going to maintain, mess around, or waste my time on a Waiting List, as I have in the past. It doesn't make much of an impact other than to cause me a lot of extra work.  

That about does it for right now.....oh! Almost forgot this.... Registration will start for Trans Iowa V9 on November 5th. Forget about the Election! Get yer post cards fired up for a chance to ride in Trans Iowa V9 instead. Finishers will have the luxury of simply e-mailing me some specific info, but Rookies and Veterans will be required to send in the traditional post card with some specific information.

A detailed post on just what you need to do will be forthcoming, but for now, circle that date! It all will start then.

Friday News And Views

Yak Attack: 

I was asked by Mountain Bike Radio to be a guest and talk about Interbike, 27.5"ers, fat bikes and more. If you want to hear the almost hour long chat with host Ben Welnak, you can check out that right here. 

There is a rumor that I may be on Mountain Bike Radio every two weeks or so. Hmm.....stay tuned.

Krampus: Ancient language term meaning "fun"!

29+ Is Pretty Fun: 

This Surly Krampus with the enormous 3" tires on it was, in a word, a heck of a lot of fun.  The more I think about this, the more I see where it has a use for ultra-long riding and bikepacking.

As is typical with a Surly, this bike is solidly built, but due to the really long fork, big tires, and longer top tube, the ride is an order of magnitude smoother than my Karate Monkey's. So, let's say you are going to do some long bikepacking deal, maybe Tour Divide. Yeah.....this would be that bike. Of course, it'll be great for horsing around on too, but I think the touring aspects of this bike off road would be really appealing.

Finally, I was told recently that there is some misinformation floating about concerning the Krampus. It was being said that frame only Krampus' would be black. This is not true. All Krampus frame onlys will initially be the sparkly green seen in my image here. Another thing- these are insanely popular, so you know what that means.....

Mason: Another fun machine

This Could Be Fun Too: 

Another bike I was impressed by, since it pushed the fun meter pretty high, was this Diamond Back Mason 140mm travel hard tail.

It has sub-seventeen inch chain stays. Yeah...16.77", to be exact. While I am not a fan boy of short chain stays necessarily, this bike seemed pretty dialed.  The slack 66° degree head angle wasn't bad at all, and you can pop the travel adjust Fox Talas fork down to 110mm, which noticeably lowers the front, and quickens up the handling a bunch as well.

Normally I wouldn't consider such a rig as this for around here, but since the travel adjust is there, it begins to make some sense. It definitely would be a fun, "play bike" sort of rig. By the way, it also comes as a frame only.

Fat bike 3GR!

And I know This Is Fun...

Fat bike 3GR last happened in early August when it was blazing hot, dry, and crispy. This Saturday it won't be quite so hot, but it is still pretty dry out there.

If you want to ride along on your fat bike- or any ol bike- show up at Island Park at 8:30am. We'll do the Union Access fire road from Black Hawk Park, then find our regular route back to Cedar Falls.

Then on Saturday afternoon, I'll be leaving town to go ride the Moonshine Metric down in Mt. Vernon. 63 miles or so of night time gravelly goodness. I'm pretty pumped about this one, especially since I let myself down and didn't do any gravel grinding at night this year. Well.....once.  I did a "Super-moon" ride that month they said the moon was in its closest orbit to earth.

But I am going this time, and I will be stoked to ride on parts of the Moonlight Madness course I did a couple years ago in the driving rain. This time I'll get to see this area in much better weather. Well, it will be moonlit, so I will see something! Not totally dark, anyway. So, there will be 100 miles of riding or more in less than 24 hours.

That should make for some healthy appetites and good stories!

Hope that ya'all are getting out and riding too. Have a great weekend. Ride a bicycle!

Friday News And Views

Yak Attack: 

I was asked by Mountain Bike Radio to be a guest and talk about Interbike, 27.5"ers, fat bikes and more. If you want to hear the almost hour long chat with host Ben Welnak, you can check out that right here. 

There is a rumor that I may be on Mountain Bike Radio every two weeks or so. Hmm.....stay tuned.

Krampus: Ancient language term meaning "fun"!

29+ Is Pretty Fun: 

This Surly Krampus with the enormous 3" tires on it was, in a word, a heck of a lot of fun.  The more I think about this, the more I see where it has a use for ultra-long riding and bikepacking.

As is typical with a Surly, this bike is solidly built, but due to the really long fork, big tires, and longer top tube, the ride is an order of magnitude smoother than my Karate Monkey's. So, let's say you are going to do some long bikepacking deal, maybe Tour Divide. Yeah.....this would be that bike. Of course, it'll be great for horsing around on too, but I think the touring aspects of this bike off road would be really appealing.

Finally, I was told recently that there is some misinformation floating about concerning the Krampus. It was being said that frame only Krampus' would be black. This is not true. All Krampus frame onlys will initially be the sparkly green seen in my image here. Another thing- these are insanely popular, so you know what that means.....

Mason: Another fun machine

This Could Be Fun Too: 

Another bike I was impressed by, since it pushed the fun meter pretty high, was this Diamond Back Mason 140mm travel hard tail.

It has sub-seventeen inch chain stays. Yeah...16.77", to be exact. While I am not a fan boy of short chain stays necessarily, this bike seemed pretty dialed.  The slack 66° degree head angle wasn't bad at all, and you can pop the travel adjust Fox Talas fork down to 110mm, which noticeably lowers the front, and quickens up the handling a bunch as well.

Normally I wouldn't consider such a rig as this for around here, but since the travel adjust is there, it begins to make some sense. It definitely would be a fun, "play bike" sort of rig. By the way, it also comes as a frame only.

Fat bike 3GR!

And I know This Is Fun...

Fat bike 3GR last happened in early August when it was blazing hot, dry, and crispy. This Saturday it won't be quite so hot, but it is still pretty dry out there.

If you want to ride along on your fat bike- or any ol bike- show up at Island Park at 8:30am. We'll do the Union Access fire road from Black Hawk Park, then find our regular route back to Cedar Falls.

Then on Saturday afternoon, I'll be leaving town to go ride the Moonshine Metric down in Mt. Vernon. 63 miles or so of night time gravelly goodness. I'm pretty pumped about this one, especially since I let myself down and didn't do any gravel grinding at night this year. Well.....once.  I did a "Super-moon" ride that month they said the moon was in its closest orbit to earth.

But I am going this time, and I will be stoked to ride on parts of the Moonlight Madness course I did a couple years ago in the driving rain. This time I'll get to see this area in much better weather. Well, it will be moonlit, so I will see something! Not totally dark, anyway. So, there will be 100 miles of riding or more in less than 24 hours.

That should make for some healthy appetites and good stories!

Hope that ya'all are getting out and riding too. Have a great weekend. Ride a bicycle!

Fall's Magic

I noticed something in a Facebook post of a barn picture my friend Gnat posted up the other day. The tell-tale colors of Fall in full glory. Seemed a bit early, but this was 200 miles North of me. Still....

I went out and loaded up the truck to go ride the single speed at the Camp. I hadn't been up that way for quite some time, and figured Fall, if it was down here, would be making a decent show in the woods there. I was a bit less expectant than in years past though, since we've had some really bad, dry weather most of the summer. I wasn't sure how that might affect the trees and Fall colors, but I was sure it probably wasn't a good thing.

Turns out that the colors were coming on quite nicely. Leaves were trickling out of the branches, and the light, that magic Fall light! My favorite part of Fall is the way the colors of the woods, even the air, seems tinted with gold, orange, and yellow.

Things seem about two weeks to maybe three weeks ahead of schedule out there, so get on out and enjoy the Fall colors before they are gone. I've a feeling they will be short lived this season.

Fall's Magic

I noticed something in a Facebook post of a barn picture my friend Gnat posted up the other day. The tell-tale colors of Fall in full glory. Seemed a bit early, but this was 200 miles North of me. Still....

I went out and loaded up the truck to go ride the single speed at the Camp. I hadn't been up that way for quite some time, and figured Fall, if it was down here, would be making a decent show in the woods there. I was a bit less expectant than in years past though, since we've had some really bad, dry weather most of the summer. I wasn't sure how that might affect the trees and Fall colors, but I was sure it probably wasn't a good thing.

Turns out that the colors were coming on quite nicely. Leaves were trickling out of the branches, and the light, that magic Fall light! My favorite part of Fall is the way the colors of the woods, even the air, seems tinted with gold, orange, and yellow.

Things seem about two weeks to maybe three weeks ahead of schedule out there, so get on out and enjoy the Fall colors before they are gone. I've a feeling they will be short lived this season.

Some Cool Things I Saw At Interbike: Part II

Yesterday's post got a wee bit long, so here is another installment of the coolest things I saw at Interbike......

Keeping up with the Jones's...

Alt Bar Action: I should start a magazine called "Alt Bar Action". That'd be cool..... Okay, maybe not, but this bar looked pretty cool to me. Surly's new "Moloko" Bar.

It may or may not have certain attributes of "that other alt bar", but Surly's copy says it is a version of the Open Bar with a closed front loop. It'll be offered in a rise or no rise version.

These bars are cool because you can use the front part to mount accessories, or carry your best bud home from school. I'll be thinking about these for one of my fat bike setups, possibly.

Notice anything different?

Hey! Whatta 'Bout Me? Here's a bike you've seen before, but there is something different now. Can you guess what it is?

This bike was shown in the Phil Wood booth at Eurobike. But due to a few details, no one really connected the bike with Phil Wood & Co, who did the custom drilled hubs and custom triple clamps for the fork.

Lots of folks thought it was a new Santa Cruz model. many figured out pretty quickly that the rear swing arm was built by Sycip.  But that isn't so obvious now that the bike showed up in the Phil Wood & Co. booth at Interbike.

Can you see it now? (Or shall I say, Can you see what's not there?)

That's right, all the logos have been painted over, and even the trademark Sycip coins were painted over, with Phil Wood livery added instead. I guess the attention was focused elsewhere at Eurobike, and PW wanted to fix that. Funny stuff right there.

Too bad it was another one of those, "Oh yeah.....I've seen that already" deals at Interbike. The marketing damage already done.

Canadian Gambling?

Handbuilt Freshie: Interbike had a downstairs again this year, and this time I actually got down there. In a main central aisle there were several spotlighted products and a few custom bikes. This one hails from Canada's own DeKerf.

While I am not partial to the theme of this rig, (gambling), I will say that it was well done. Very well done. The paint detail was stunning on this rig, as was the typical segmented fork/seat stay arrangement, which is a signature DeKerf frame joinery technique.

Also noteworthy here is the triple "Bullmoose" style stem/ handle bar construction. The bike is a stand out example of a DeKerf, but it was weird seeing it in the lower level of Interbike's show.

Shiny!

Polished Goods: It isn't that I dislike black anodized parts, but for years it was about the only thing you could get in components, especially rims. Now, more and more, it seems manufacturers are getting stuff out that is polished aluminum.

Velocity USA is one of the rim makers leading the charge for polished rims and silver polished hubs. I have a set of A-23 wheels that are done up in a classy looking polish. Now Velocity is also offering it's 3rd generation tubeless compatible Blunt rims in a polished look. (Plus various anodized hues as well)

Get these and some classic White Industries hubs and you'll have a sweet, classic looking wheel set. Or....go crazy and get anodized bits from Chris King, Industry 9, or others, and bling yerself out. Either way, it's fun to have a choice other than black these days. Even stems, seat posts, and other items are showing up polished and in color. I love it.

Titanium goodness

Wait.....Is This Interbike, Or NAHBS?

 In another weird juxtaposition, I found this sweet titanium rig thanks to Chad of FSA, and was blown away by the fact this was in the basement, and that it was at Interbike at all. Definitely hand made, and way custom, this hard tail was simply stunning.

It is a Cysco Cycles rig built by Richie Moore of Tennessee. He used to work for Litespeed and Lynskey, and you can see it in his work.

The down tube is shaped three ways to Sunday, and the integrated seat mast is expertly crafted. It is a single speed rig, and Mr. Moore said he was paying special attention to getting a good, solid feel without sacrificing the titanium ride.

Well, I may never know how it rides, but I can say it was one classy looking rig stuck down in the nether regions of Interbike's oddities. This and the DeKerf really should have been upstairs, where more folks could have witnessed their artful designs.But then again, Interbike isn't a handmade bicycle show. Hmmm....come to think of it, why doesn't Interbike have a hand made bicycle show concurrent with the trade show? It sure would be fun to see all the great craftsmanship of the handmade guys in Vegas.

I was down stairs for a good hour, and I thought I'd plied every aisle, but I missed this rig somehow. If it hadn't been for Chad, I would have. Glad I didn't, because this was a very interesting bike, and Mr. Moore was a super nice guy to us as we gawked at his workmanship.

And Finally.....

This one is from the Outdoor Demo, obviously. Former Downhill Champion, Greg Herbold works for SRAM these days, but back in mountain bike's hey day, when he was still competitive, H-Ball squirreled away lots of cool, vintage mtb stuff. His garage contents are stuff of legend.

Well, this one is something from the dark recesses of that garage, no doubt. A Foes built, small wheeled trail bike. This comes replete with dual suspension and early Rock Shox cable actuated hydraulic disc brakes.

Conclusion- Well, Interbike was kind of a ho-hum deal from the perspective of a gear freak. But we have only ourselves to blame for that, since the internet and the "instant coverage" it provides of any company's releases pretty much allows any company its own time in the spotlight. By the time Interbike bows, the curtain raises to reveal stuff we've all seen multiple times, and read about ad nauseam.

But otherwise it was easy to see that attendance, (at least for the indoor portion), was higher than last year, and every vendor I spoke to was pleased. The Outdoor Demo seemed more empty, especially the first day, than last year, (although Interbike claims a 10% rise in attendance), and there were definitely less bikes to demo for sure.

That all just made the order of the day business, and really, isn't that what a trade show is for anyway? If business was done, I guess you have to say Interbike truly was a success this year. My take is that is exactly what happened.

Some Cool Things I Saw At Interbike: Part II

Yesterday's post got a wee bit long, so here is another installment of the coolest things I saw at Interbike......

Keeping up with the Jones's...

Alt Bar Action: I should start a magazine called "Alt Bar Action". That'd be cool..... Okay, maybe not, but this bar looked pretty cool to me. Surly's new "Moloko" Bar.

It may or may not have certain attributes of "that other alt bar", but Surly's copy says it is a version of the Open Bar with a closed front loop. It'll be offered in a rise or no rise version.

These bars are cool because you can use the front part to mount accessories, or carry your best bud home from school. I'll be thinking about these for one of my fat bike setups, possibly.

Notice anything different?

Hey! Whatta 'Bout Me? Here's a bike you've seen before, but there is something different now. Can you guess what it is?

This bike was shown in the Phil Wood booth at Eurobike. But due to a few details, no one really connected the bike with Phil Wood & Co, who did the custom drilled hubs and custom triple clamps for the fork.

Lots of folks thought it was a new Santa Cruz model. many figured out pretty quickly that the rear swing arm was built by Sycip.  But that isn't so obvious now that the bike showed up in the Phil Wood & Co. booth at Interbike.

Can you see it now? (Or shall I say, Can you see what's not there?)

That's right, all the logos have been painted over, and even the trademark Sycip coins were painted over, with Phil Wood livery added instead. I guess the attention was focused elsewhere at Eurobike, and PW wanted to fix that. Funny stuff right there.

Too bad it was another one of those, "Oh yeah.....I've seen that already" deals at Interbike. The marketing damage already done.

Canadian Gambling?

Handbuilt Freshie: Interbike had a downstairs again this year, and this time I actually got down there. In a main central aisle there were several spotlighted products and a few custom bikes. This one hails from Canada's own DeKerf.

While I am not partial to the theme of this rig, (gambling), I will say that it was well done. Very well done. The paint detail was stunning on this rig, as was the typical segmented fork/seat stay arrangement, which is a signature DeKerf frame joinery technique.

Also noteworthy here is the triple "Bullmoose" style stem/ handle bar construction. The bike is a stand out example of a DeKerf, but it was weird seeing it in the lower level of Interbike's show.

Shiny!

Polished Goods: It isn't that I dislike black anodized parts, but for years it was about the only thing you could get in components, especially rims. Now, more and more, it seems manufacturers are getting stuff out that is polished aluminum.

Velocity USA is one of the rim makers leading the charge for polished rims and silver polished hubs. I have a set of A-23 wheels that are done up in a classy looking polish. Now Velocity is also offering it's 3rd generation tubeless compatible Blunt rims in a polished look. (Plus various anodized hues as well)

Get these and some classic White Industries hubs and you'll have a sweet, classic looking wheel set. Or....go crazy and get anodized bits from Chris King, Industry 9, or others, and bling yerself out. Either way, it's fun to have a choice other than black these days. Even stems, seat posts, and other items are showing up polished and in color. I love it.

Titanium goodness

Wait.....Is This Interbike, Or NAHBS?

 In another weird juxtaposition, I found this sweet titanium rig thanks to Chad of FSA, and was blown away by the fact this was in the basement, and that it was at Interbike at all. Definitely hand made, and way custom, this hard tail was simply stunning.

It is a Cysco Cycles rig built by Richie Moore of Tennessee. He used to work for Litespeed and Lynskey, and you can see it in his work.

The down tube is shaped three ways to Sunday, and the integrated seat mast is expertly crafted. It is a single speed rig, and Mr. Moore said he was paying special attention to getting a good, solid feel without sacrificing the titanium ride.

Well, I may never know how it rides, but I can say it was one classy looking rig stuck down in the nether regions of Interbike's oddities. This and the DeKerf really should have been upstairs, where more folks could have witnessed their artful designs.But then again, Interbike isn't a handmade bicycle show. Hmmm....come to think of it, why doesn't Interbike have a hand made bicycle show concurrent with the trade show? It sure would be fun to see all the great craftsmanship of the handmade guys in Vegas.

I was down stairs for a good hour, and I thought I'd plied every aisle, but I missed this rig somehow. If it hadn't been for Chad, I would have. Glad I didn't, because this was a very interesting bike, and Mr. Moore was a super nice guy to us as we gawked at his workmanship.

And Finally.....

This one is from the Outdoor Demo, obviously. Former Downhill Champion, Greg Herbold works for SRAM these days, but back in mountain bike's hey day, when he was still competitive, H-Ball squirreled away lots of cool, vintage mtb stuff. His garage contents are stuff of legend.

Well, this one is something from the dark recesses of that garage, no doubt. A Foes built, small wheeled trail bike. This comes replete with dual suspension and early Rock Shox cable actuated hydraulic disc brakes.

Conclusion- Well, Interbike was kind of a ho-hum deal from the perspective of a gear freak. But we have only ourselves to blame for that, since the internet and the "instant coverage" it provides of any company's releases pretty much allows any company its own time in the spotlight. By the time Interbike bows, the curtain raises to reveal stuff we've all seen multiple times, and read about ad nauseam.

But otherwise it was easy to see that attendance, (at least for the indoor portion), was higher than last year, and every vendor I spoke to was pleased. The Outdoor Demo seemed more empty, especially the first day, than last year, (although Interbike claims a 10% rise in attendance), and there were definitely less bikes to demo for sure.

That all just made the order of the day business, and really, isn't that what a trade show is for anyway? If business was done, I guess you have to say Interbike truly was a success this year. My take is that is exactly what happened.

Some Cool Things I Saw At Interbike

I realized I hadn't posted anything I saw that was somewhat impressive to me from Interbike. Here's some eye candy from the show then (and a few other things from Vegas)......

Super-Suit: This was right out of the "Incredibles" as far as I was concerned. But let me back up just a bit...

Alpinestars is an Italian company heavily into NASCAR, F-1, and Moto GP, amongst other motorsports, and cycling as well. We got to go to a fancy suite in the Venetian to look at some cycling duds, but this Moto GP suit is what got my jaw to drop.

It has micro-processors, accelerometers, armor, and air bags built into it. Riders are protected when the electronics discern a crash is occurring and it then sets the air bags off to protect the rider. The suit self arms when it detects motion from acceleration on the motorcycle. It can even re-arm itself after an initial crash in case the racer gets back going again after a first crash.

We asked if this sort of thing might make its way to down hill cycling, and the answer was it is being looked at, but no specifics were available as to how, when, or what the product might look like.

What we did get to see was maybe less "wow", but Alpinestars does have some pretty cool cycling gear for mountain bikers. In the future, there may be some tests on Twenty Nine Inches of Alpinestars clothing.

So, after that I saw some cool shorts, jerseys, gloves, and even some urban/commuter gear that was pretty high tech. Definitely things I was impressed by. Okay, now for some trivia: Anyone remember what Alpinestars was famous for in the cycling world in the 90's? (I'm thinking of two things. Let's see if anyone guesses both.)

Rolling Ad for "babes".

Sex Sells: I've told folks about this before, but I finally caught this on camera. Rolling trucks with billboard ads for female "escorts".  (Click image to make it bigger- and it is safe for work, by the way.)

This happens 24-7 on the Strip and at night, the trucks have their own spotlight systems to light up these things so you can't miss them. Of course, the rolling ads are not the only way women are reduced to less than dirt in Vegas. (Well, all humanity, really, is degraded by this.) There also are the people hawking escort service cards on the sidewalk that they want you to take. These generally have pretty racy pictures on them. They flip the cards, making a "snap" noise to get your attention and then they shove them at you when you look. Other ads are in newspaper dispensers and of course, there are the traditional billboards on the street.

Great place to take the kids, apparently. It never ceases to amaze me every time I go to the Strip. I always see mothers pushing babies in strollers, holding toddlers, and walking their kids down here. Weird.

Pinarello Dogma XC 29"er

Italian Carbon Wonder-bike: This  thing was outrageous. The Italians are said to be all about style, and this bike certainly did nothing to dispel that notion.

Crossed seat stays, a unique seat post binder, a steering stop integrated into the down tube, and "Onda-like" chain stays were just a few of the things I noticed when I looked closer at this black and white themed rig.

But it was obvious that this wasn't all just show-boating either. The down tube was shaped to get the maximum width at the bottom bracket for stiffness. The tire clearances were huge, and the geometry looked dialed in.

I could be wrong about the price, but I remember it being somewhere well north of 3G for the frame alone. What price style? I guess it's pretty high! Still, I wonder how it rides with all these out of the box ideas. You also have to hand it to Pinarello. They are not known for their mountain bikes these days, but this sure got my attention!

TommiSea Fat Bike tire

Fat Bikes For The Beach: I saw the TommiSea booth at Interbike, and they have been making fat tired beach cruisers for quite a while now. They introduced a new tire last year, but it was pretty rare, by all accounts, so when I saw it at Interbike it caught my eye.

It reminds me a bunch of a Big Fat Larry, and on the 100mm rim it was shown on, it looked pretty close to a BFL in width too . Not only that, but the tire probably acts a lot like a BFL as well.

The continuous center  strip obviously is similar to a BFL, and instead of "darts" along each side, it has rounded knobs, but they are similar in height. Unlike a BFL this tire has those goofy skulls in the tread though. Ah well.......a bit of fun thrown in for extra measure, I suppose.

This was mounted to a titanium frame, by the way, so apparently there are some fairly serious beach cruisin' folk out there. TommiSea also displayed a pretty rad camouflaged beach cruiser fat bike with rims to match.  This one even had a handle bar mounted gun rack. (Is there an option for a rebel flag sticker too?) The bike also features dual front disc brake caliper mounts on the fork, cause, you know.....you may have to stop real quick like from 90 mph, or something.

That one was dubbed the "Beast Stalker" and comes with a Shimano Alfine drive train for about $1349.00. Not too bad, really, when you consider that it weighs about 36lbs, (claimed), which is reasonable for undrilled rims and an internally geared hub set up.

I think the only thing that rivaled this was the whitewall tired fat bike cruiser in the J&B booth which sported the new Vee Rubber tires.

Velo Orange's "Campeur" frame/fork

Retro-Gravel Grinder: Of course, way back when, gravel roads, dirt roads, and stone paved paths were the norm, rather than the exception, and the bikes used then reflected the nature of these rougher paths.

Velo Orange has a frame and fork they dubbed the Campeur which harkens back to such times. This particular one I found interesting in that the tires were similar to something a lot of gravel grinder guys are using.

The handle bar mounted water cages only make the theme work even more for me, as one could easily mount a frame bag on this and go run the Dirty Kanza 200 or some other self supported long haul gravel event just as it is set up.

I'm not real big on non-aero levers, nor do I like the traditional deep drop, Belgian style handle bar, but this bike is pretty classy and it probably would still get someone down the road quite nicely despite the retro take on the set up here.

Well, I could go on, but this post is getting a bit into "epic-length" already, so I'll shut it down right here.

Some Cool Things I Saw At Interbike

I realized I hadn't posted anything I saw that was somewhat impressive to me from Interbike. Here's some eye candy from the show then (and a few other things from Vegas)......

Super-Suit: This was right out of the "Incredibles" as far as I was concerned. But let me back up just a bit...

Alpinestars is an Italian company heavily into NASCAR, F-1, and Moto GP, amongst other motorsports, and cycling as well. We got to go to a fancy suite in the Venetian to look at some cycling duds, but this Moto GP suit is what got my jaw to drop.

It has micro-processors, accelerometers, armor, and air bags built into it. Riders are protected when the electronics discern a crash is occurring and it then sets the air bags off to protect the rider. The suit self arms when it detects motion from acceleration on the motorcycle. It can even re-arm itself after an initial crash in case the racer gets back going again after a first crash.

We asked if this sort of thing might make its way to down hill cycling, and the answer was it is being looked at, but no specifics were available as to how, when, or what the product might look like.

What we did get to see was maybe less "wow", but Alpinestars does have some pretty cool cycling gear for mountain bikers. In the future, there may be some tests on Twenty Nine Inches of Alpinestars clothing.

So, after that I saw some cool shorts, jerseys, gloves, and even some urban/commuter gear that was pretty high tech. Definitely things I was impressed by. Okay, now for some trivia: Anyone remember what Alpinestars was famous for in the cycling world in the 90's? (I'm thinking of two things. Let's see if anyone guesses both.)

Rolling Ad for "babes".

Sex Sells: I've told folks about this before, but I finally caught this on camera. Rolling trucks with billboard ads for female "escorts".  (Click image to make it bigger- and it is safe for work, by the way.)

This happens 24-7 on the Strip and at night, the trucks have their own spotlight systems to light up these things so you can't miss them. Of course, the rolling ads are not the only way women are reduced to less than dirt in Vegas. (Well, all humanity, really, is degraded by this.) There also are the people hawking escort service cards on the sidewalk that they want you to take. These generally have pretty racy pictures on them. They flip the cards, making a "snap" noise to get your attention and then they shove them at you when you look. Other ads are in newspaper dispensers and of course, there are the traditional billboards on the street.

Great place to take the kids, apparently. It never ceases to amaze me every time I go to the Strip. I always see mothers pushing babies in strollers, holding toddlers, and walking their kids down here. Weird.

Pinarello Dogma XC 29"er

Italian Carbon Wonder-bike: This  thing was outrageous. The Italians are said to be all about style, and this bike certainly did nothing to dispel that notion.

Crossed seat stays, a unique seat post binder, a steering stop integrated into the down tube, and "Onda-like" chain stays were just a few of the things I noticed when I looked closer at this black and white themed rig.

But it was obvious that this wasn't all just show-boating either. The down tube was shaped to get the maximum width at the bottom bracket for stiffness. The tire clearances were huge, and the geometry looked dialed in.

I could be wrong about the price, but I remember it being somewhere well north of 3G for the frame alone. What price style? I guess it's pretty high! Still, I wonder how it rides with all these out of the box ideas. You also have to hand it to Pinarello. They are not known for their mountain bikes these days, but this sure got my attention!

TommiSea Fat Bike tire

Fat Bikes For The Beach: I saw the TommiSea booth at Interbike, and they have been making fat tired beach cruisers for quite a while now. They introduced a new tire last year, but it was pretty rare, by all accounts, so when I saw it at Interbike it caught my eye.

It reminds me a bunch of a Big Fat Larry, and on the 100mm rim it was shown on, it looked pretty close to a BFL in width too . Not only that, but the tire probably acts a lot like a BFL as well.

The continuous center  strip obviously is similar to a BFL, and instead of "darts" along each side, it has rounded knobs, but they are similar in height. Unlike a BFL this tire has those goofy skulls in the tread though. Ah well.......a bit of fun thrown in for extra measure, I suppose.

This was mounted to a titanium frame, by the way, so apparently there are some fairly serious beach cruisin' folk out there. TommiSea also displayed a pretty rad camouflaged beach cruiser fat bike with rims to match.  This one even had a handle bar mounted gun rack. (Is there an option for a rebel flag sticker too?) The bike also features dual front disc brake caliper mounts on the fork, cause, you know.....you may have to stop real quick like from 90 mph, or something.

That one was dubbed the "Beast Stalker" and comes with a Shimano Alfine drive train for about $1349.00. Not too bad, really, when you consider that it weighs about 36lbs, (claimed), which is reasonable for undrilled rims and an internally geared hub set up.

I think the only thing that rivaled this was the whitewall tired fat bike cruiser in the J&B booth which sported the new Vee Rubber tires.

Velo Orange's "Campeur" frame/fork

Retro-Gravel Grinder: Of course, way back when, gravel roads, dirt roads, and stone paved paths were the norm, rather than the exception, and the bikes used then reflected the nature of these rougher paths.

Velo Orange has a frame and fork they dubbed the Campeur which harkens back to such times. This particular one I found interesting in that the tires were similar to something a lot of gravel grinder guys are using.

The handle bar mounted water cages only make the theme work even more for me, as one could easily mount a frame bag on this and go run the Dirty Kanza 200 or some other self supported long haul gravel event just as it is set up.

I'm not real big on non-aero levers, nor do I like the traditional deep drop, Belgian style handle bar, but this bike is pretty classy and it probably would still get someone down the road quite nicely despite the retro take on the set up here.

Well, I could go on, but this post is getting a bit into "epic-length" already, so I'll shut it down right here.

Resetting The Controls

Image credit: Sonya Looney

One week ago I was burning up in 100°F heat, and now it's freezing in the mornings and I am wearing my woolen stuff back here in Iowa. What a weird transition.

Not to mention that I spent an entire week off from work in a city that is so unreal, it hardly seems as though any of it happened. But....of course, it did. Now it's time to reset the controls to "normal" and get back into the groove.

Of course, that means getting back to work where I have some Salsa Cycles Mukluks to assemble, and I suppose some emergency repairs that were held back until I got there. It also means that my projects I put on hold for a bit are going to get taken care of and I've already started doing that.

I spent much of Sunday in recovery mode from the 3GR and the long slog without sleep before that. I also got down into the Lab and straightened out a couple of bikes, swapped out a handle bar and stem, a seat post and saddle, re-charged a tubeless set up, and most importantly, fixed the Orange Crush. It had the rear tire go down last weekend just before I left to go to Interbike.

Back to riding shape.

I took a look at the inside of the tire, since I had a sneaking suspicion that there may be no sealant in the tire. Well, there almost was none! The inside of the casing was wet, but that was about it. Not enough to seal up a small cut.

I figured out that through my efforts to get the tire to seal up, I blew most of the sealant out in atomized form. But however that happened, I only got enough sealant in the tire at the end of it all to seal up the bead and no more. So, when the casing sprung a small leak, there was no reserves in the tire to deal with it.

I mixed up a nice, big thick batch and reapplied the sealant to the tire. A shot of air from my small compressor set the bead, and no more leakage. Now I have a reserve to deal with any future issues too. Roll on! Next up for this rig is some longer rides, maybe one of which will be a recon mission for the next Trans Iowa.

Then I also have a long term goal and it may or may not involve the Orange Crush.

Call of Duty

That goal is to finish the Dirty Kanza 200. I have attempted this event three times and never gone further than halfway. I ain't gettin' any younger, so now it is time to buckle down and get this outta the way. That's another post, but for now, I have to start considering which bike to use, and I think the ole Fargo Gen I is the front runner here.

The past GTDRI was a rehearsal tryout for this rig. Even though I have taken it to Kansas before, I wanted to figure out how I could utilize my vast array of water bottle cages to get rid of a hydration bladder and still ride in extreme heat. I want to go as minimalistic as possible into this event, but still be self-supported. (Yes- I know that the DK 200 allows support, but I don't do things that way.) The GTDRI showed me it is possible to get the job done on the bike, but I still need to think a few things through.

I'll detail out how things go in future blog posts, but for now, this, the S24O, and a couple of other things along with Trans Iowa V9 recon are on the menu. Getting back to a steady schedule is too.

Resetting The Controls

Image credit: Sonya Looney

One week ago I was burning up in 100°F heat, and now it's freezing in the mornings and I am wearing my woolen stuff back here in Iowa. What a weird transition.

Not to mention that I spent an entire week off from work in a city that is so unreal, it hardly seems as though any of it happened. But....of course, it did. Now it's time to reset the controls to "normal" and get back into the groove.

Of course, that means getting back to work where I have some Salsa Cycles Mukluks to assemble, and I suppose some emergency repairs that were held back until I got there. It also means that my projects I put on hold for a bit are going to get taken care of and I've already started doing that.

I spent much of Sunday in recovery mode from the 3GR and the long slog without sleep before that. I also got down into the Lab and straightened out a couple of bikes, swapped out a handle bar and stem, a seat post and saddle, re-charged a tubeless set up, and most importantly, fixed the Orange Crush. It had the rear tire go down last weekend just before I left to go to Interbike.

Back to riding shape.

I took a look at the inside of the tire, since I had a sneaking suspicion that there may be no sealant in the tire. Well, there almost was none! The inside of the casing was wet, but that was about it. Not enough to seal up a small cut.

I figured out that through my efforts to get the tire to seal up, I blew most of the sealant out in atomized form. But however that happened, I only got enough sealant in the tire at the end of it all to seal up the bead and no more. So, when the casing sprung a small leak, there was no reserves in the tire to deal with it.

I mixed up a nice, big thick batch and reapplied the sealant to the tire. A shot of air from my small compressor set the bead, and no more leakage. Now I have a reserve to deal with any future issues too. Roll on! Next up for this rig is some longer rides, maybe one of which will be a recon mission for the next Trans Iowa.

Then I also have a long term goal and it may or may not involve the Orange Crush.

Call of Duty

That goal is to finish the Dirty Kanza 200. I have attempted this event three times and never gone further than halfway. I ain't gettin' any younger, so now it is time to buckle down and get this outta the way. That's another post, but for now, I have to start considering which bike to use, and I think the ole Fargo Gen I is the front runner here.

The past GTDRI was a rehearsal tryout for this rig. Even though I have taken it to Kansas before, I wanted to figure out how I could utilize my vast array of water bottle cages to get rid of a hydration bladder and still ride in extreme heat. I want to go as minimalistic as possible into this event, but still be self-supported. (Yes- I know that the DK 200 allows support, but I don't do things that way.) The GTDRI showed me it is possible to get the job done on the bike, but I still need to think a few things through.

I'll detail out how things go in future blog posts, but for now, this, the S24O, and a couple of other things along with Trans Iowa V9 recon are on the menu. Getting back to a steady schedule is too.

3GR: Fresh Gravel And Headwinds

Joe, (L) and Robert (R)

I had thought about not doing a 3GR right after Interbike, but then again, not having ridden a bicycle for several days makes me antsy to get out, and I needed a soul cleansing after the Vegas trip. That said, the trip home forced me into a 38 hours of no sleep stretch which had me a bit worried going into this.

Of course, I had gotten to sleep in my own bed the night before for 9 hours, but still. I was thinking I may have to go into survival mode, and having Robert show up, along with Joe, made me even more worried about this.

The recent cold front showed up on the dawn of the first day of Fall with a stiff Northwest wind and chilly temperatures to boot. Yeah.....nice! This had all the earmarks of a suffer-fest for me, anyway. Well, I managed to find some suitable cool weather gear and met Robert and Joe at Gateway Park. We hit the road and faced into the wind for the first half of the ride.

Things started out at a 17mph pace on the bike paths through Big Woods Park. Yikes! This wasn't looking good for me, but so far, I wasn't redlining yet. I was considering what I was going to say to them as we sped through the park. I figured those two were on pace to shed me off as soon as we hit the gravel.

Wind, chunky goodness, open roads.

But I held in there, and I aided myself by talking with Joe, who was content to chat and this moderated the pace to open things up. We hit the Bennington Road hill and I was feeling okay. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.

Then we discovered that the county had laid down several long patches of deep, fresh gravel. This obviously combined with the wind to make the going even tougher. Robert was pushing the pace into his usual speed, but the fresh gravel checked him up a shade. Joe was bouncing around quite a bit through here on his skinnier tires as well.

Since I had a flat after last week's 3GR due to a cut sidewall, I switched to the Fargo Gen I for this ride. Shod with the Bontrager XR-1's, set up tubeless, I had a bit of an advantage through here with my wider tires. The wind was brutal, but we were all plugging along, and the pace wasn't fierce with all the factors together. On smoother sections I was okay, since these tires roll so well.

The good thing was that this part of the loop is fairly flat, and the hills are in a portion of the course where the wind would be aiding us, and not push us back. But even better than that, the roads became far smoother just as we passed the South side of the Camp.

Fargo Gen I- Ready for a cleansing

Robert then said I was "stomping along rather well", so I guess I had nothing to worry about all along. In fact, I was feeling far better than I could have ever imagined I would be after the  travel ordeal from Thursday/Friday.

Joe peeled off to go to his home and Robert and I finished out the loop with a stop at the Lamp Post for some coffee right afterward. (Thanks for spotting me, Robert!)

I eventually got in 43 miles after a day where I was delirious with sleep and could hardly function. I was feeling pretty good about that part anyway.

The next 3GR will be a Fat Bike Edition. So you have been forewarned! We'll probably go out the Union Access fire road from Black Hawk Park again, and most any cross bike should be fine for that if you want to join in the fun.

As for me, I'll be on a fat bike, and the Gen I Fargo will be getting cleaned up after a long summer of dusty gravel duties.

3GR: Fresh Gravel And Headwinds

Joe, (L) and Robert (R)

I had thought about not doing a 3GR right after Interbike, but then again, not having ridden a bicycle for several days makes me antsy to get out, and I needed a soul cleansing after the Vegas trip. That said, the trip home forced me into a 38 hours of no sleep stretch which had me a bit worried going into this.

Of course, I had gotten to sleep in my own bed the night before for 9 hours, but still. I was thinking I may have to go into survival mode, and having Robert show up, along with Joe, made me even more worried about this.

The recent cold front showed up on the dawn of the first day of Fall with a stiff Northwest wind and chilly temperatures to boot. Yeah.....nice! This had all the earmarks of a suffer-fest for me, anyway. Well, I managed to find some suitable cool weather gear and met Robert and Joe at Gateway Park. We hit the road and faced into the wind for the first half of the ride.

Things started out at a 17mph pace on the bike paths through Big Woods Park. Yikes! This wasn't looking good for me, but so far, I wasn't redlining yet. I was considering what I was going to say to them as we sped through the park. I figured those two were on pace to shed me off as soon as we hit the gravel.

Wind, chunky goodness, open roads.

But I held in there, and I aided myself by talking with Joe, who was content to chat and this moderated the pace to open things up. We hit the Bennington Road hill and I was feeling okay. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.

Then we discovered that the county had laid down several long patches of deep, fresh gravel. This obviously combined with the wind to make the going even tougher. Robert was pushing the pace into his usual speed, but the fresh gravel checked him up a shade. Joe was bouncing around quite a bit through here on his skinnier tires as well.

Since I had a flat after last week's 3GR due to a cut sidewall, I switched to the Fargo Gen I for this ride. Shod with the Bontrager XR-1's, set up tubeless, I had a bit of an advantage through here with my wider tires. The wind was brutal, but we were all plugging along, and the pace wasn't fierce with all the factors together. On smoother sections I was okay, since these tires roll so well.

The good thing was that this part of the loop is fairly flat, and the hills are in a portion of the course where the wind would be aiding us, and not push us back. But even better than that, the roads became far smoother just as we passed the South side of the Camp.

Fargo Gen I- Ready for a cleansing

Robert then said I was "stomping along rather well", so I guess I had nothing to worry about all along. In fact, I was feeling far better than I could have ever imagined I would be after the  travel ordeal from Thursday/Friday.

Joe peeled off to go to his home and Robert and I finished out the loop with a stop at the Lamp Post for some coffee right afterward. (Thanks for spotting me, Robert!)

I eventually got in 43 miles after a day where I was delirious with sleep and could hardly function. I was feeling pretty good about that part anyway.

The next 3GR will be a Fat Bike Edition. So you have been forewarned! We'll probably go out the Union Access fire road from Black Hawk Park again, and most any cross bike should be fine for that if you want to join in the fun.

As for me, I'll be on a fat bike, and the Gen I Fargo will be getting cleaned up after a long summer of dusty gravel duties.