Friday News And Views

Duds by Twin Six: Get Some!

Packin' It: I wrote earlier in the week about the different ways folks carry their gear on bicycles. I have been a commuter for a decade now, and my favorite mode of carrying stuff has been the messenger bag. It's pretty amazing what one can pack home or to work in one of those messenger bags. Very versatile.

But they are unstable when your riding style gets a bit on the "active" side. Messenger bags also do not really work well for getting things while you are riding from them, or for hydration. Nope. There is where the hydration back pack comes in.

But not just any back pack will do. I need some serious carrying capacity, just in case, and lately I've been toting around an Osprey Escapist 30 pack. This thing is seriously huge. I have stuck my entire rain gear outfit in there, some tools, a few tubes, including a Surly "TOOB" for my fat bike, and I topped off the 100oz bladder for drinking on the fly. All that and there is still room for more.

Yes- it is heavy. But that's the point. I need to not only carry my stuff, but get used to heavy loads for my future events coming up. I won't be carrying so much in those events, but I think that for the Triple D at least, I will be using a rucksack for supplies.

So far the trips back and forth to work have been great with the big ol' pack on, but I think I probably look pretty odd to many folks along the way. like a vagabond, or a dangerous drifter. Ha!

Moar.....cowbell?

RetroRant: 

Yes- it is cyclo cross season. If you have not been around cyclo cross, or have not read about it,  you may be unaware of the "culture" surrounding the event. Cycling events typically are not really good for spectating, but the cyclo-cross crowd figured out that if you add in beer, heckling, and cowbells, the on-lookers can become a factor in the event.

So there are a lot of these "cowbells" getting banged around the courses, and of course, someone figured out that they could make some of the accoutrements of cyclo cross into promotional items. Like this titanium tube with a rattle inside shown here.

At Trans Iowa V3 we had a couple of guys that were originally from Poland and their friends who were banging pots and pans with sticks and rallying the finishers up the steep final pitch to the Trans Iowa finish line. They would run alongside the riders, yelling things in Polish, and making an unholy racket with common kitchen utensils.

I know which of these noise makers presented here today seems more genuine, but to each their own.

Ride your Fat Bikes!

It's A Movement!

 One day, some guy somewhere figured it might be cool if everyone else that had a fat bike rode on the same day as he. He picked  December 1st to do this. He named it "Global Fat-Bike Day, to entice you to do the same. So if you have a fat bike, maybe you could ride it, and know that several of your fat biking brothers and sisters are joining in the fun. Or even better- you could join them on a group ride somewhere!

I know of at least two going on locally on December 1st. One is starting out of Iowa City. See World of Bikes down that way for more info on that one. Or, I know a bunch of us around here are toying with the idea of heading up to Volga Recreation Area for some fat bikin' good times. Who's in?

Cranksgiving 2012:

Locally this ride is happening tomorrow and benefits the Cedar Valley Food Bank. Riders are to meet up at 11am and will collect 10 items from 10 locations.

The first 50 to sign in get a free Cranksgiving t-shirt. It's a worthy cause, so if you are around, join in, why dontcha? Cranksgiving rides also occur in other cities, so inquire at your local bike information sources to see if this might be happening near you soon.

3GR: And if running around fetching groceries isn't your deal, then maybe you'd like to ride some gravel roads? Well, I'll be at the regular meeting spot at 8:30am. Sounds like it may be warm and windy. Should be a good day out on the bike.

And that's a wrap! have a great weekend folks! Ride yer bikes, if ya can.