3GR: Dodging The Rain Drops: Solo Style

Saturday I was sure I was going to awake to the pitter-patter of rain drops on the roof, but when I did crawl out of the sack, it was just quiet and gray outside. Hmm.....maybe I could make this work after all....

So I had to wait for the stinkin' phone to charge, ya know......just in case, (I shoulda went out 80's style!), and that pushed the depart time back to 9am, or almost to then. I didn't get too persnickety about the exact timing of the ride's start. When I did get going, the radar didn't show a lick of rain near us, so I thought I may get away with a dry ride after all. First thing- I had to get out of town. That means a fair bit of urban riding- about five miles worth- just to reach the outskirts of the city in any direction I go. This time I was heading North.

The debris from Winter's passing is everywhere, and one needs to be careful when cornering, and watch where they are riding a bit more closely now due to that crap on the road. Cornering hard is generally not advised due to all the salt and sand residue, and trash is about a foot to a foot and a half off every gutter, making punctures a very real possibility.

The maintainers have left fresh gravel already.

Once out of the clutches of the grimy city, I passed into the climbing hills North of town and found that the rumors of fresh laid gravel were true enough. I ran across a lot of it, but it was only a slight nuisance since it was a finer limestone which the Challenge Almanzos were okay with for the most part.

There was a slight tail wind, but otherwise it was quiet and gray out in the country. I decided to head over on Mount Vernon Road to catch the return leg of the "normal" 3GR route and ride it backwards. I didn't think anyone else would ride this day, but it was looking decent enough, and I wasn't cold and I didn't mind the slight windy conditions, so I was pleased with my attempt at that time. However; I hadn't gone up Mount Vernon Road very far before I felt moisture on my face.

Okay, okay! Maybe this ride would have to be cut short. Well, I wasn't about to decide to stop and go home, and a very pressing matter was at hand before I went any further up the road. I needed to stop for a Nature Break. Too much coffee! A nice fence row along a low spot in the road away from most farms in the surrounding area would suffice.

Once that was taken care of I headed back up Mount Vernon to the West and I was still getting "misted" by this drizzly moisture. It wasn't even enough to get me wet, it was just annoying. I found Streeter Road, the return road for a typical 3GR, and turned North up it.

Barns for Jason

Along about this time I thought about how doing a regular route in the reverse direction gives the route a totally new and different feel. I saw things I really had not noticed before, even though I had been down Streeter Road Southward a bunch of times before. I had a different experience on the bike as well, since down hills were now uphills and vice versa.

I actually saw things right near the roadway that I had missed all along. Quite shocking, actually, but when I thought about it, I could fathom how I was missing these obvious sights.

Then I noticed another thing- that was the rain which was gone. I didn't miss it, and I also noticed a definite lightening up of the atmosphere as well, telling me that the lower clouds that were producing the precipitation were departing and I was hopeful once again that I would escape getting drenched out far from home.

The roads continued to be dry, dusty, and maintained in many spots now with a deeper layer of fresh- but still finer- gravel which made the Almanzos bump and twist as I went down the road. I knew I was working harder due to the skinny tires, but they are far more capable shoes than one might think for a 31mm wide bicycle tire.

Time for another Nature Break!

However; I think I found the limits of the Almanzo Open 30 on this particular ride- more than once-  and that was more than I wanted to find out! I got into the hillier portion of the 3GR route and the downhill runs see some speeds from 25mph to 30mph easily. I was sketched out a couple of times when the bike would jump and skitter on the gravel at those speeds. Then, a bit later on over by the Scout Camp, I was making a lazy right hander and the front end stepped out on me. The Almanzo chattered but I was barely able to ride it out. That was a close one!

Further up the road I experienced more stepping out, this time it was the rear wheel, and this was in what I would term as "normal" gravel conditions for around here. Nothing unusual. I tell ya, I wanted wider rubber with its stability more than I wanted the ultra-fast, lightweight, narrow tires I had on. One time I thought the rear wheel was going to swap ends on me. There is a reason you really don't want skinny tires in certain conditions, and this just cemented the reasons why for me.  But these tires are awesome on finer gravel and smoother, worn in sectors of gravel. That isn't what we have around here for the most part. Those conditions are rare for around here. I certainly understand that others may have the "right" conditions for these tires though, so I do take that into consideration here.

Llamas!

I turned to the South and saw that the sky wasn't looking very friendly. I was also bucking a headwind of about 10-12mph. Now the drizzle kicked back in, and I had it for the rest of the ride.

Although this part of the 3GR route is pretty flat, it runs in the Cedar River Valley flood plain, which is predominantly sandy soil. The gravel roads here reflect this and are typically looser and drier when the sun has been out. While the sun wasn't out this day, the roadway was worked over by frost that had come out and the recent grading. The Almanzo tires were cutting into this, making headway into the wind even harder. There just were no real firm tracks to follow until I was well on to Leversee Road, and then it was much better going.

I ended up coming in on the bike path around the lake but it was punctuated with a couple stretches of icy, snowy pack, which forced me off the bike. I imagine that will clear up within a few days. I then headed off to down town Cedar Falls, made my way along the back streets, and then about a mile from home, the drizzle turned into an outright rain. I stopped and got my windbreaker, which is mildly rain resistant, out and threw it on for the last run up to the house.

All in all, it was a good 3.5hr ride and I feel pretty good about doing the Renegade Gents Race next weekend. Which, if the weather forecast is correct, will be run in similar conditions as today!

3GR: Dodging The Rain Drops: Solo Style

Saturday I was sure I was going to awake to the pitter-patter of rain drops on the roof, but when I did crawl out of the sack, it was just quiet and gray outside. Hmm.....maybe I could make this work after all....

So I had to wait for the stinkin' phone to charge, ya know......just in case, (I shoulda went out 80's style!), and that pushed the depart time back to 9am, or almost to then. I didn't get too persnickety about the exact timing of the ride's start. When I did get going, the radar didn't show a lick of rain near us, so I thought I may get away with a dry ride after all. First thing- I had to get out of town. That means a fair bit of urban riding- about five miles worth- just to reach the outskirts of the city in any direction I go. This time I was heading North.

The debris from Winter's passing is everywhere, and one needs to be careful when cornering, and watch where they are riding a bit more closely now due to that crap on the road. Cornering hard is generally not advised due to all the salt and sand residue, and trash is about a foot to a foot and a half off every gutter, making punctures a very real possibility.

The maintainers have left fresh gravel already.

Once out of the clutches of the grimy city, I passed into the climbing hills North of town and found that the rumors of fresh laid gravel were true enough. I ran across a lot of it, but it was only a slight nuisance since it was a finer limestone which the Challenge Almanzos were okay with for the most part.

There was a slight tail wind, but otherwise it was quiet and gray out in the country. I decided to head over on Mount Vernon Road to catch the return leg of the "normal" 3GR route and ride it backwards. I didn't think anyone else would ride this day, but it was looking decent enough, and I wasn't cold and I didn't mind the slight windy conditions, so I was pleased with my attempt at that time. However; I hadn't gone up Mount Vernon Road very far before I felt moisture on my face.

Okay, okay! Maybe this ride would have to be cut short. Well, I wasn't about to decide to stop and go home, and a very pressing matter was at hand before I went any further up the road. I needed to stop for a Nature Break. Too much coffee! A nice fence row along a low spot in the road away from most farms in the surrounding area would suffice.

Once that was taken care of I headed back up Mount Vernon to the West and I was still getting "misted" by this drizzly moisture. It wasn't even enough to get me wet, it was just annoying. I found Streeter Road, the return road for a typical 3GR, and turned North up it.

Barns for Jason

Along about this time I thought about how doing a regular route in the reverse direction gives the route a totally new and different feel. I saw things I really had not noticed before, even though I had been down Streeter Road Southward a bunch of times before. I had a different experience on the bike as well, since down hills were now uphills and vice versa.

I actually saw things right near the roadway that I had missed all along. Quite shocking, actually, but when I thought about it, I could fathom how I was missing these obvious sights.

Then I noticed another thing- that was the rain which was gone. I didn't miss it, and I also noticed a definite lightening up of the atmosphere as well, telling me that the lower clouds that were producing the precipitation were departing and I was hopeful once again that I would escape getting drenched out far from home.

The roads continued to be dry, dusty, and maintained in many spots now with a deeper layer of fresh- but still finer- gravel which made the Almanzos bump and twist as I went down the road. I knew I was working harder due to the skinny tires, but they are far more capable shoes than one might think for a 31mm wide bicycle tire.

Time for another Nature Break!

However; I think I found the limits of the Almanzo Open 30 on this particular ride- more than once-  and that was more than I wanted to find out! I got into the hillier portion of the 3GR route and the downhill runs see some speeds from 25mph to 30mph easily. I was sketched out a couple of times when the bike would jump and skitter on the gravel at those speeds. Then, a bit later on over by the Scout Camp, I was making a lazy right hander and the front end stepped out on me. The Almanzo chattered but I was barely able to ride it out. That was a close one!

Further up the road I experienced more stepping out, this time it was the rear wheel, and this was in what I would term as "normal" gravel conditions for around here. Nothing unusual. I tell ya, I wanted wider rubber with its stability more than I wanted the ultra-fast, lightweight, narrow tires I had on. One time I thought the rear wheel was going to swap ends on me. There is a reason you really don't want skinny tires in certain conditions, and this just cemented the reasons why for me.  But these tires are awesome on finer gravel and smoother, worn in sectors of gravel. That isn't what we have around here for the most part. Those conditions are rare for around here. I certainly understand that others may have the "right" conditions for these tires though, so I do take that into consideration here.

Llamas!

I turned to the South and saw that the sky wasn't looking very friendly. I was also bucking a headwind of about 10-12mph. Now the drizzle kicked back in, and I had it for the rest of the ride.

Although this part of the 3GR route is pretty flat, it runs in the Cedar River Valley flood plain, which is predominantly sandy soil. The gravel roads here reflect this and are typically looser and drier when the sun has been out. While the sun wasn't out this day, the roadway was worked over by frost that had come out and the recent grading. The Almanzo tires were cutting into this, making headway into the wind even harder. There just were no real firm tracks to follow until I was well on to Leversee Road, and then it was much better going.

I ended up coming in on the bike path around the lake but it was punctuated with a couple stretches of icy, snowy pack, which forced me off the bike. I imagine that will clear up within a few days. I then headed off to down town Cedar Falls, made my way along the back streets, and then about a mile from home, the drizzle turned into an outright rain. I stopped and got my windbreaker, which is mildly rain resistant, out and threw it on for the last run up to the house.

All in all, it was a good 3.5hr ride and I feel pretty good about doing the Renegade Gents Race next weekend. Which, if the weather forecast is correct, will be run in similar conditions as today!

Trans Iowa V9: Cleaning House

Pre-Race Meat-Up

Okay, I sent a bunch of e-mails out two weeks ago concerning the Pre-Race Meat-Up and I have gotten timely responses from most of the roster. But for whatever reasons, I have not heard from a small number of folks.

I need to!

So, in order to get "my house" in order, I need to hear from the following folks ASAP:

• Chris Wells
• Tom Maurer
• Eric Follmuth
•  Brian DeGroodt
•  Scott Gusc

These people need to contact me via e-mail or through the comments here to indicate that they are coming to the Pre-race, or not coming to participate in T.I.V9. If you know any of these folks, please get them to respond to this call. I need to have a head count and menu list in to the Grinnell Steakhouse by Monday!!

Time is winding down to the start of T.I.V9. I have a big final route check in two weeks followed by the final cue sheet printing, sorting, bagging, and the getting ready with my re-route kit. I need to sort out sponsorship details, and prizing. I need to confirm finish line details with my volunteers there. I also need to detail out the jobs for the volunteers of the event.

Busy busy! And if you find out that you've made a decision to not attend, please let me know! Here is my e-mail link.

Trans Iowa V9: Cleaning House

Pre-Race Meat-Up

Okay, I sent a bunch of e-mails out two weeks ago concerning the Pre-Race Meat-Up and I have gotten timely responses from most of the roster. But for whatever reasons, I have not heard from a small number of folks.

I need to!

So, in order to get "my house" in order, I need to hear from the following folks ASAP:

• Chris Wells
• Tom Maurer
• Eric Follmuth
•  Brian DeGroodt
•  Scott Gusc

These people need to contact me via e-mail or through the comments here to indicate that they are coming to the Pre-race, or not coming to participate in T.I.V9. If you know any of these folks, please get them to respond to this call. I need to have a head count and menu list in to the Grinnell Steakhouse by Monday!!

Time is winding down to the start of T.I.V9. I have a big final route check in two weeks followed by the final cue sheet printing, sorting, bagging, and the getting ready with my re-route kit. I need to sort out sponsorship details, and prizing. I need to confirm finish line details with my volunteers there. I also need to detail out the jobs for the volunteers of the event.

Busy busy! And if you find out that you've made a decision to not attend, please let me know! Here is my e-mail link.

Friday News And Views

Got T.I.V9 jitters? Are you confused by all this Trans Iowa nonsense and want some answers? Looking for some way to be entertained for an hour or so?

If you answered "yes" to any of the above, you are a perfect candidate to listen to the next "Guitar Ted Show" on Mountain Bike Radio. Here's the skinny straight from Ben Welnak of Mountain Bike Radio:

This show is going to be forum style and we want other past Trans Iowa riders and current people on the roster to chime in. We'd love to hear from others that love riding gravel. Call in and share!

Guitar Ted is the man behind the Trans Iowa curtain. He spends countless hours of his own time to concoct one of the toughest races in the country.

Salsa Cycles rider and frequent MBR guest, Tim Ek, will join the show to answer my rookie questions. Guitar Ted will give both me and Tim Trans Iowa knowledge tidbits.

While I have a lot of endurance racing experience, I'm racing Trans Iowa for the first time and have some rookie thoughts and questions and I'm going to pick their brains for the answers.

Some of the topics we'll cover:

• Weather
• Checkpoints
• Nighttime
• Tires
• Clothing
• Gravel

Sound interesting? Check in on Wednesday April 3rd at 8:00pm Central. Call up and Tim and I would be glad to answer questions or comment on anything T.I.V9 related. 

 Wall Mart's Mongoose Fat Bike

Sticking It To "The Man"- 
(Meanwhile "The Man" Gets One Over )

There has been a big dust up concerning a "big box" retailer making a fat bike for $200.00 retail. Many fantastic and nonsensical claims have been put forward by several online posters and Hottentots of the blogosphere ranging from "it is the end of  the fat bikes trend", to "it's nearly as good as a $1700.00 fat bike for far less money."

Ah......it's a Walmart bike with enormous wheels folks. Not that this is a "bad" thing, necessarily, but it is what it is- nothing more-nothing less. It has, (even from the perspective of fat bikes), very heavy rims and tires. It has one gear, and a fairly tall one at that. It has a cheap coaster brake. The frame is mild steel.  Called the "Beast", it weighs significantly North of 40lbs.

From the standpoint of making Surly, Salsa, Fatback, 9 Zero 7, and Sandman look bad for being "sooo expensive", and for that being some kind of criminals for charging so much money, as some have been claiming, I find that argument rather weak. If that is the case, then all big box bikes are really where the value is at, right? Why are any specialty bikes "so damn expensive"?

Because they are far better bikes for special tasks and people are willing to pay for that. Period.

I used to work in the jewelry industry for a decade. Talk about a tough sell. How do you sell a shiny rock that is the size of your thumbnail for $35,000.00? (Which yes- I have done before.) By convincing someone that it is worth that. Whatever people are  willing to pay, that is what it is worth. So- there is always that factor. Then you have "perceived value", which can be based solely on a belief, or on demonstrated "benefits". So there is also these things. In all these, the specialty fat bikes are "superior", and therefore, "worth it" for folks to buy, just like a Yeti SB66 is "worth it" to buy over a Mongoose XR-200. Or not- in which case the big-box bikes suffice, and you get what you get.

Someone posted on-line that they swapped tires out on the Mongoose fatty and severed 7.5lbs going to Surly treads. Is anyone surprised by this? You shouldn't be, if you are even at least casually aware of big box bikes versus specialty retail.

Again- some folks are totally going to love this bike and will understand it fits in at a certain "level", but all the pundits and punters making these grandiose claims are just plain goofy. It's a bike. A cheap, big box brand bike. That's all, really.

From the first "stealth" 3GR of '13

3GR: 

Anyone remember these gravel group rides I did last year? Yes? Well......they have already started again! Last week I didn't know it was a 3GR ride until it was almost over, but thanks to Mike, he "conned me" and I fell for the ruse. So it was that last week, unbeknownst to me beforehand, I did my first 3GR of 2013. 

Saturday looks to be a possible rain day, but I don't know when it might for certain. It looks as though it may rain around noon. As I would want to be beating the rain, I think I may start from Gateway Park at 7am. The call will be made on "game day"! So, if you want to get ahold of me, I can be reached by e-mail, (found here), and we can work something out, otherwise I'm going solo.

There will be a regular Saturday ride from here on out with a few exceptions, a couple of which are coming soon in the form of the Trans Iowa weekends  on April 13th-14th, (final recon), and on April 27th-28th for the event. Also, the next weekend, (April 6th), I will be doing the Renegade Gents Race in Ankeny. So, pretty much every weekend in April but the 20th-21st.  Otherwise it looks like this 3GR gig will take off again every Saturday at 8am from Gateway Park in Cedar Falls unless weather prevents this, or the route is changed. Look here every Friday for word on what is going to happen.

Friday News And Views

Got T.I.V9 jitters? Are you confused by all this Trans Iowa nonsense and want some answers? Looking for some way to be entertained for an hour or so?

If you answered "yes" to any of the above, you are a perfect candidate to listen to the next "Guitar Ted Show" on Mountain Bike Radio. Here's the skinny straight from Ben Welnak of Mountain Bike Radio:

This show is going to be forum style and we want other past Trans Iowa riders and current people on the roster to chime in. We'd love to hear from others that love riding gravel. Call in and share!

Guitar Ted is the man behind the Trans Iowa curtain. He spends countless hours of his own time to concoct one of the toughest races in the country.

Salsa Cycles rider and frequent MBR guest, Tim Ek, will join the show to answer my rookie questions. Guitar Ted will give both me and Tim Trans Iowa knowledge tidbits.

While I have a lot of endurance racing experience, I'm racing Trans Iowa for the first time and have some rookie thoughts and questions and I'm going to pick their brains for the answers.

Some of the topics we'll cover:

• Weather
• Checkpoints
• Nighttime
• Tires
• Clothing
• Gravel

Sound interesting? Check in on Wednesday April 3rd at 8:00pm Central. Call up and Tim and I would be glad to answer questions or comment on anything T.I.V9 related. 

 Wall Mart's Mongoose Fat Bike

Sticking It To "The Man"- 
(Meanwhile "The Man" Gets One Over )

There has been a big dust up concerning a "big box" retailer making a fat bike for $200.00 retail. Many fantastic and nonsensical claims have been put forward by several online posters and Hottentots of the blogosphere ranging from "it is the end of  the fat bikes trend", to "it's nearly as good as a $1700.00 fat bike for far less money."

Ah......it's a Walmart bike with enormous wheels folks. Not that this is a "bad" thing, necessarily, but it is what it is- nothing more-nothing less. It has, (even from the perspective of fat bikes), very heavy rims and tires. It has one gear, and a fairly tall one at that. It has a cheap coaster brake. The frame is mild steel.  Called the "Beast", it weighs significantly North of 40lbs.

From the standpoint of making Surly, Salsa, Fatback, 9 Zero 7, and Sandman look bad for being "sooo expensive", and for that being some kind of criminals for charging so much money, as some have been claiming, I find that argument rather weak. If that is the case, then all big box bikes are really where the value is at, right? Why are any specialty bikes "so damn expensive"?

Because they are far better bikes for special tasks and people are willing to pay for that. Period.

I used to work in the jewelry industry for a decade. Talk about a tough sell. How do you sell a shiny rock that is the size of your thumbnail for $35,000.00? (Which yes- I have done before.) By convincing someone that it is worth that. Whatever people are  willing to pay, that is what it is worth. So- there is always that factor. Then you have "perceived value", which can be based solely on a belief, or on demonstrated "benefits". So there is also these things. In all these, the specialty fat bikes are "superior", and therefore, "worth it" for folks to buy, just like a Yeti SB66 is "worth it" to buy over a Mongoose XR-200. Or not- in which case the big-box bikes suffice, and you get what you get.

Someone posted on-line that they swapped tires out on the Mongoose fatty and severed 7.5lbs going to Surly treads. Is anyone surprised by this? You shouldn't be, if you are even at least casually aware of big box bikes versus specialty retail.

Again- some folks are totally going to love this bike and will understand it fits in at a certain "level", but all the pundits and punters making these grandiose claims are just plain goofy. It's a bike. A cheap, big box brand bike. That's all, really.

From the first "stealth" 3GR of '13

3GR: 

Anyone remember these gravel group rides I did last year? Yes? Well......they have already started again! Last week I didn't know it was a 3GR ride until it was almost over, but thanks to Mike, he "conned me" and I fell for the ruse. So it was that last week, unbeknownst to me beforehand, I did my first 3GR of 2013. 

Saturday looks to be a possible rain day, but I don't know when it might for certain. It looks as though it may rain around noon. As I would want to be beating the rain, I think I may start from Gateway Park at 7am. The call will be made on "game day"! So, if you want to get ahold of me, I can be reached by e-mail, (found here), and we can work something out, otherwise I'm going solo.

There will be a regular Saturday ride from here on out with a few exceptions, a couple of which are coming soon in the form of the Trans Iowa weekends  on April 13th-14th, (final recon), and on April 27th-28th for the event. Also, the next weekend, (April 6th), I will be doing the Renegade Gents Race in Ankeny. So, pretty much every weekend in April but the 20th-21st.  Otherwise it looks like this 3GR gig will take off again every Saturday at 8am from Gateway Park in Cedar Falls unless weather prevents this, or the route is changed. Look here every Friday for word on what is going to happen.

The Vaya Gets Ridden: Update

As ridden...

Vaya Update: 

As posted earlier in the week, I had a nice 40 miler on the Vaya and here is an updated list from the last time I detailed out my thoughts on this bike. 

• BioPace Ring: Didn't even notice it. The gear is good. I don't see changing this out unless at the time I swap to a new chain it does not mesh with it well. Does it help? Hmmm........the jury is still out on that one.
• Winwood Fork: I think it is pretty smooth. Is it better than the steel fork? I do not know since I have never ridden the original fork. I will do that at some point. I will say that the X-C-X tires at 1.75 fill almost all available space there!
• Shifting: Last update I stated that I thought the 10 speed shifter,cassette and 9 speed SRAM X-9 rear derailleur were going to be good. I was wrong. That was a pretty marginal set up that I knew would drive me nuts if I didn't have spot on shifting. I switched the rear derailleur to a SRAM X-9 10 speed version. Shifting is perfect now. The lesson here is that the 10 speed stuff can not be matched perfectly with 9 speed parts. 
• Carbon: I will concur with my earlier assessment that the seat post is awesome. That said, I have found out about something that sounds even better. Titanium, but not from who you think. Stay tuned....
• Positioning: This is pretty close. I mentioned that I felt too upright in my last post. I still have that feeling a bit, but let's let it ride for now. I want to have more long rides in before I tweak on this. I'm really close I think

Other: Besides the seat post upgrade planned, I may do a saddle as well. I may not. That Velo cheapo saddle is pretty comfy. The tires are pretty good, and I figure these are max size for the bike. In drier weather, Summertime, and Fall, I will run something less big, unless I do Kansas type gravel.

I'll end up putting the new Panaracer Paselas on there for awhile. Those are listed as 37mm tires. Great size for the drier weather we should have coming and big enough to deal with chunky gravel that surely will be showing up soon around these parts. I will likely be running the Paselas at the Renegade Gents Race, so I will have a good handle on how those work after that event. In the meantime, the X-C-X tires are going on the Gryphon tubeless. That should be pretty good.

There will be new rotors coming for the Vaya which should be lighter. I have Velocity Bottle Traps on this bike, but they do not seem to "fit" in my mind. I need to get some good stainless steel or get some King Cages. In the drive train department, there will be a move to a lighter weight two piece crank set. Down the road, I foresee a new head set and bottom bracket from Chris King. But maybe not........

Maybe I'll get a Vaya Travel instead!

The Vaya Gets Ridden: Update

As ridden...

Vaya Update: 

As posted earlier in the week, I had a nice 40 miler on the Vaya and here is an updated list from the last time I detailed out my thoughts on this bike. 

• BioPace Ring: Didn't even notice it. The gear is good. I don't see changing this out unless at the time I swap to a new chain it does not mesh with it well. Does it help? Hmmm........the jury is still out on that one.
• Winwood Fork: I think it is pretty smooth. Is it better than the steel fork? I do not know since I have never ridden the original fork. I will do that at some point. I will say that the X-C-X tires at 1.75 fill almost all available space there!
• Shifting: Last update I stated that I thought the 10 speed shifter,cassette and 9 speed SRAM X-9 rear derailleur were going to be good. I was wrong. That was a pretty marginal set up that I knew would drive me nuts if I didn't have spot on shifting. I switched the rear derailleur to a SRAM X-9 10 speed version. Shifting is perfect now. The lesson here is that the 10 speed stuff can not be matched perfectly with 9 speed parts. 
• Carbon: I will concur with my earlier assessment that the seat post is awesome. That said, I have found out about something that sounds even better. Titanium, but not from who you think. Stay tuned....
• Positioning: This is pretty close. I mentioned that I felt too upright in my last post. I still have that feeling a bit, but let's let it ride for now. I want to have more long rides in before I tweak on this. I'm really close I think

Other: Besides the seat post upgrade planned, I may do a saddle as well. I may not. That Velo cheapo saddle is pretty comfy. The tires are pretty good, and I figure these are max size for the bike. In drier weather, Summertime, and Fall, I will run something less big, unless I do Kansas type gravel.

I'll end up putting the new Panaracer Paselas on there for awhile. Those are listed as 37mm tires. Great size for the drier weather we should have coming and big enough to deal with chunky gravel that surely will be showing up soon around these parts. I will likely be running the Paselas at the Renegade Gents Race, so I will have a good handle on how those work after that event. In the meantime, the X-C-X tires are going on the Gryphon tubeless. That should be pretty good.

There will be new rotors coming for the Vaya which should be lighter. I have Velocity Bottle Traps on this bike, but they do not seem to "fit" in my mind. I need to get some good stainless steel or get some King Cages. In the drive train department, there will be a move to a lighter weight two piece crank set. Down the road, I foresee a new head set and bottom bracket from Chris King. But maybe not........

Maybe I'll get a Vaya Travel instead!

The Monkey Decade

The KM in it's original form

Intro: This year marks the tenth year I have been riding 29"ers. It also is my ten year anniversary of owning my Campstove Green Karate Monkey. There will be several posts throughout the coming months about my story with my KM and what is going to be happening to it now. Here's the first post....
 
March 2003: After reading about "29"ers" for the past three years I had decided that I was going to dive in head first. I needed to fund my little project I had conjured up though, and to do that, I decided to sell the only working mountain bike I owned at the time: A 1996 Bontrager Race with original Bontrager offset crown Rock Shox Judy fork.

It was a hard decision. I loved the Bontrager. It was a dream bike build with the exception of the wheels, but the wheels were kind of cool. The frame was dark, rich purple, and it came with yellow panels with red lettering. It had a genuine Bontrager stem. I had a purple American Classic seat post on it, purple Paul Motolite brakes, a black Race Face 180mm crank set, and those wheels were Cane Creek Chrono wheels with the wild looking hubs. At the time I decided to sell the bike, I had Michelin Wild Gripper tires on it- the green ones!

I was selling it down the road for an unknown. A 29"er, of which I had not actually seen, nor ridden any examples of ever. I had read enough to be convinced of it though, so with not just a little trepidation, I grabbed the $500.00 in cash and watched a fellow load up my prized bike in his truck and drive away. That was in February of 2003. Sadly, only months later the bike was stolen from its new owner and never seen again.

Prototype Karate Monkey from 2002

But I was scheming up a new rig. I first heard about the Karate Monkey when after the 2002 Interbike trade show, the news spilled out on the nascent 29"er scene online that Surly was going to put out a steel hard tail version of the 1 X 1 with big wheels. Then the name came out: Karate Monkey! Are you kidding me? It is still probably the coolest name for a mountain bike ever.  I had to have it based on the name alone.

Fortunately I had worked at my new bike shop position long enough that I was afforded the "employee discount" on the frame and fork purchase, plus the bits and pieces needed to get the thing up and rideable. There was much sweating of details concerning which parts to get, and not only that, but much to think about in terms of which size frame to order. This just about caused me not to get a frame and fork, but I finally made a decision.

The thing was, the way mountain bikes were sized was evolving from when I had gotten my last bike, back in 1996, as you might recall. In 2002, things were shifting to longer top tubes and shorter stems, ala Gary Fisher's "Genesis" geometry, which many companies were adopting. I was kind of torn between an 18" with a slightly longer stem, or the 20" with the then "new school" shorter stem. Keep in mind that to me circa 2002, a "short" stem was anything less than 135mm!

Next Up: The Karate Monkey gets built: The Original Build.

The Monkey Decade

The KM in it's original form

Intro: This year marks the tenth year I have been riding 29"ers. It also is my ten year anniversary of owning my Campstove Green Karate Monkey. There will be several posts throughout the coming months about my story with my KM and what is going to be happening to it now. Here's the first post....
 
March 2003: After reading about "29"ers" for the past three years I had decided that I was going to dive in head first. I needed to fund my little project I had conjured up though, and to do that, I decided to sell the only working mountain bike I owned at the time: A 1996 Bontrager Race with original Bontrager offset crown Rock Shox Judy fork.

It was a hard decision. I loved the Bontrager. It was a dream bike build with the exception of the wheels, but the wheels were kind of cool. The frame was dark, rich purple, and it came with yellow panels with red lettering. It had a genuine Bontrager stem. I had a purple American Classic seat post on it, purple Paul Motolite brakes, a black Race Face 180mm crank set, and those wheels were Cane Creek Chrono wheels with the wild looking hubs. At the time I decided to sell the bike, I had Michelin Wild Gripper tires on it- the green ones!

I was selling it down the road for an unknown. A 29"er, of which I had not actually seen, nor ridden any examples of ever. I had read enough to be convinced of it though, so with not just a little trepidation, I grabbed the $500.00 in cash and watched a fellow load up my prized bike in his truck and drive away. That was in February of 2003. Sadly, only months later the bike was stolen from its new owner and never seen again.

Prototype Karate Monkey from 2002

But I was scheming up a new rig. I first heard about the Karate Monkey when after the 2002 Interbike trade show, the news spilled out on the nascent 29"er scene online that Surly was going to put out a steel hard tail version of the 1 X 1 with big wheels. Then the name came out: Karate Monkey! Are you kidding me? It is still probably the coolest name for a mountain bike ever.  I had to have it based on the name alone.

Fortunately I had worked at my new bike shop position long enough that I was afforded the "employee discount" on the frame and fork purchase, plus the bits and pieces needed to get the thing up and rideable. There was much sweating of details concerning which parts to get, and not only that, but much to think about in terms of which size frame to order. This just about caused me not to get a frame and fork, but I finally made a decision.

The thing was, the way mountain bikes were sized was evolving from when I had gotten my last bike, back in 1996, as you might recall. In 2002, things were shifting to longer top tubes and shorter stems, ala Gary Fisher's "Genesis" geometry, which many companies were adopting. I was kind of torn between an 18" with a slightly longer stem, or the 20" with the then "new school" shorter stem. Keep in mind that to me circa 2002, a "short" stem was anything less than 135mm!

Next Up: The Karate Monkey gets built: The Original Build.

SLR Discovery

Camera graveyard: Who Knew?

It all started yesterday when my son questioned me about a camera bag hanging in my daughter's closet. I thought he was mistaken, because I didn't have any remembrance of a camera big enough to need a bag in any part of the upstairs of our old house. Well, my son, not wanting me to think he was pulling my leg, offered to go get it.

Whattaya know! It was a camera bag with a 35mm camera and a spare zoom lense in it. Hmm.....must belong to Mrs. Guitar Ted, I figured, but I had no recollection of ever seeing it before.

So I researched it on this thing called the internet and I found out it is an East German manufactured Practica ML 2 with kit lens, and packaged with a Korean made Hannemex branded zoom lens. Found out later the shutter is hanging up on it, but otherwise it should be fine.

This got me to thinking, "Hey! Isn't there a Canon lurking about as well?". Yes. There are two Canons, in fact, and one I actually bought with Mrs. Guitar Ted right when we got married. It is the EOS Rebel with kit lens. The other is a Canon AE 1 with its lens. I know there is a story behind that AE 1, but I had forgotten all about it until yesterday. I'm not sure it even works right.

Then there is the curious little Sears and Roebuck zoom lens. Turns out that was one given to me by a former coworker years ago, and is a decent lens, but nothing spectacular, as far as camera lenses go. Still, I had no idea I had this much camera stuff sitting around the house.

So the obvious question is, "What are ya gonna do with all that?" To which I have no clear answer right now. I figure it all needs to be looked at by a professional camera shop so I can determine whether it is fit for use, or to much money to fix, or whatever. Thing is, our camera shops have all disappeared, so I have no where local to go these days. But I do have some camera aficionados for friends out there, so what can you tell me?

Otherwise these things will go to waste, (and maybe they should?), which I would not think is a good thing. Heck, maybe I need to start shooting film......

SLR Discovery

Camera graveyard: Who Knew?

It all started yesterday when my son questioned me about a camera bag hanging in my daughter's closet. I thought he was mistaken, because I didn't have any remembrance of a camera big enough to need a bag in any part of the upstairs of our old house. Well, my son, not wanting me to think he was pulling my leg, offered to go get it.

Whattaya know! It was a camera bag with a 35mm camera and a spare zoom lense in it. Hmm.....must belong to Mrs. Guitar Ted, I figured, but I had no recollection of ever seeing it before.

So I researched it on this thing called the internet and I found out it is an East German manufactured Practica ML 2 with kit lens, and packaged with a Korean made Hannemex branded zoom lens. Found out later the shutter is hanging up on it, but otherwise it should be fine.

This got me to thinking, "Hey! Isn't there a Canon lurking about as well?". Yes. There are two Canons, in fact, and one I actually bought with Mrs. Guitar Ted right when we got married. It is the EOS Rebel with kit lens. The other is a Canon AE 1 with its lens. I know there is a story behind that AE 1, but I had forgotten all about it until yesterday. I'm not sure it even works right.

Then there is the curious little Sears and Roebuck zoom lens. Turns out that was one given to me by a former coworker years ago, and is a decent lens, but nothing spectacular, as far as camera lenses go. Still, I had no idea I had this much camera stuff sitting around the house.

So the obvious question is, "What are ya gonna do with all that?" To which I have no clear answer right now. I figure it all needs to be looked at by a professional camera shop so I can determine whether it is fit for use, or to much money to fix, or whatever. Thing is, our camera shops have all disappeared, so I have no where local to go these days. But I do have some camera aficionados for friends out there, so what can you tell me?

Otherwise these things will go to waste, (and maybe they should?), which I would not think is a good thing. Heck, maybe I need to start shooting film......

Spring Training: Was That a 3GR?

Following Jeff on his fat bike on Ansborough

Saturday was going to be a planned test ride for the new-to-me Vaya. It also was a test ride for the Vee Rubber X-C-X tires, (which you can read more about here if you want to.) I was on Facebook when I saw some chatter about folks wanting to ride gravel and Mike pinged me about my plans. Next thing ya know, Mike is coming over to my place to meet me for a ride, and Jeff decided to join in as well.

The ride time was set for 10am, since it wasn't all that warm and I didn't want to ride in temperatures in the teens. It was forecast to get into the 30's a bit after noon. So, Mike showed up and then Jeff came along about 20 minutes afterward and we set out to ride Southward.

I figured an attempt at Ansborough would be good. It goes on for about 12 miles and you don't have to make any decisions for a while. The rollers are there to make it interesting, and aren't so bad that they crush you out of the gate. Just enough to wake up the legs, as long as the wind is not out of the South. 

Mike and Jeff were amenable to that, so we were headed South with only one stop so I could take a nature break. (Too much coffee!)

Some cool formations seen on my Nature Break

As we reached the "T" intersection at the end of the road, (now "U Avenue" in Tama County), we had some decisions to make, so we stopped briefly again. About this time a red Chevy truck pulls up with this enormous shaggy, blonde colored dog in the back. By the looks of it, it would appear that it was a Wolfhound of some sort. The driver rolled down the window, truck blocking the entire intersection, and says something in an unintelligible mush-mouth. Then I noticed he had very few teeth in his head. (Not that this indicts him in any way, but it explained the poor diction.) Finally it came to me that he was making some jest about not having a motor. I acknowledged his "cleverness", which he seemed rather pleased with, and he rolled up the window and trundled off to the East, the dog in tow in the bed of the truck. Thankfully the dog took no notice of us. I'm quite sure it was large enough to have taken any one of us three out if it had a mind to.

But that still left us with our decision on which way to go. After outlining our choices, it was agreed that we should go West and we ended up going by Buckingham on the pavement. I always had wanted to go by Buckingham, just for the personal pleasure of having "bagged" another small town on my bicycle, so that was a highlight for me as we rolled by the tiny burg.

Then it was a couple more miles to our Northward trek back up P Avenue which, as any Tama County road is, was hilly, and mostly up. Added to this was the fact that now we had a slight head wind to push against as well.

Barns For Jason: Another view.

 The conversation helped me focus on something other than my aching knees and legs which were being pummeled for the third straight day. At least the roads were shaping up, and some grading was noticed here and there, so we knew that the Counties had been out shaping up things after the snows and frosts of Winter. Well.....Winter isn't letting go quite yet! But everyone is waiting for the Springtime weather to pop like dam that is about to burst.

Speaking of which, I noted more Red Winged Blackbirds again, and a couple days earlier the Robins were congregating, so it all hinges on the weather, and when it does turn, I think Spring is going to "explode" in many different ways. I also have a feeling that Summer-like weather will be right on its heels, so I wouldn't at all be surprised if drought and dryness continues in Iowa.

But that's another story. Back to the ride- Mike at one point mentioned that this was the first 3GR of 2013. Wow! I hadn't even given thought to that, but he was right, of course. It was a 3GR, and it was an awesome 40 miler with good company. The Vaya was good. Really surprising, actually, and I feel it will need some very minor tweakage to become a solid rig in the stable.

So that was the end of a three day brick of riding. Sunday was a day off, and my legs were aching the good ache of having been out on a bicycle consistently. Hopefully with a turn to better weather the consistency can be kept up and I'll be good to go for the Renegade Gents Race.

Spring Training: Was That a 3GR?

Following Jeff on his fat bike on Ansborough

Saturday was going to be a planned test ride for the new-to-me Vaya. It also was a test ride for the Vee Rubber X-C-X tires, (which you can read more about here if you want to.) I was on Facebook when I saw some chatter about folks wanting to ride gravel and Mike pinged me about my plans. Next thing ya know, Mike is coming over to my place to meet me for a ride, and Jeff decided to join in as well.

The ride time was set for 10am, since it wasn't all that warm and I didn't want to ride in temperatures in the teens. It was forecast to get into the 30's a bit after noon. So, Mike showed up and then Jeff came along about 20 minutes afterward and we set out to ride Southward.

I figured an attempt at Ansborough would be good. It goes on for about 12 miles and you don't have to make any decisions for a while. The rollers are there to make it interesting, and aren't so bad that they crush you out of the gate. Just enough to wake up the legs, as long as the wind is not out of the South. 

Mike and Jeff were amenable to that, so we were headed South with only one stop so I could take a nature break. (Too much coffee!)

Some cool formations seen on my Nature Break

As we reached the "T" intersection at the end of the road, (now "U Avenue" in Tama County), we had some decisions to make, so we stopped briefly again. About this time a red Chevy truck pulls up with this enormous shaggy, blonde colored dog in the back. By the looks of it, it would appear that it was a Wolfhound of some sort. The driver rolled down the window, truck blocking the entire intersection, and says something in an unintelligible mush-mouth. Then I noticed he had very few teeth in his head. (Not that this indicts him in any way, but it explained the poor diction.) Finally it came to me that he was making some jest about not having a motor. I acknowledged his "cleverness", which he seemed rather pleased with, and he rolled up the window and trundled off to the East, the dog in tow in the bed of the truck. Thankfully the dog took no notice of us. I'm quite sure it was large enough to have taken any one of us three out if it had a mind to.

But that still left us with our decision on which way to go. After outlining our choices, it was agreed that we should go West and we ended up going by Buckingham on the pavement. I always had wanted to go by Buckingham, just for the personal pleasure of having "bagged" another small town on my bicycle, so that was a highlight for me as we rolled by the tiny burg.

Then it was a couple more miles to our Northward trek back up P Avenue which, as any Tama County road is, was hilly, and mostly up. Added to this was the fact that now we had a slight head wind to push against as well.

Barns For Jason: Another view.

 The conversation helped me focus on something other than my aching knees and legs which were being pummeled for the third straight day. At least the roads were shaping up, and some grading was noticed here and there, so we knew that the Counties had been out shaping up things after the snows and frosts of Winter. Well.....Winter isn't letting go quite yet! But everyone is waiting for the Springtime weather to pop like dam that is about to burst.

Speaking of which, I noted more Red Winged Blackbirds again, and a couple days earlier the Robins were congregating, so it all hinges on the weather, and when it does turn, I think Spring is going to "explode" in many different ways. I also have a feeling that Summer-like weather will be right on its heels, so I wouldn't at all be surprised if drought and dryness continues in Iowa.

But that's another story. Back to the ride- Mike at one point mentioned that this was the first 3GR of 2013. Wow! I hadn't even given thought to that, but he was right, of course. It was a 3GR, and it was an awesome 40 miler with good company. The Vaya was good. Really surprising, actually, and I feel it will need some very minor tweakage to become a solid rig in the stable.

So that was the end of a three day brick of riding. Sunday was a day off, and my legs were aching the good ache of having been out on a bicycle consistently. Hopefully with a turn to better weather the consistency can be kept up and I'll be good to go for the Renegade Gents Race.

Spring Training

Surprisingly Dusty!

 Last weekend, I was supposed to leave for a Texas vacation, but due to circumstances with our vehicle, the trip was scuttled. So, I devised a plan to do as much riding around here as I could. Trouble was that the beginning of the week was super windy and really cold. Like January cold. I just wasn't ready to go out for miles in that stuff.

But the latter part of the week warmed up, (barely), enough to get me out there. I've already detailed my Thursday excursion, and on Friday I made another attempt at a ride. I was curious about riding in an area I haven't been in yet that was very close, but far enough away that I went with a shuttle run in the "Truck With No Name" to recon where I would start out from exactly.

I waited until the afternoon to get the maximum heat from the day, and headed out towards Hudson and drove around West of there to find a good place to start. I finally just ended up parking right in town and changing into my cycling shoes and booties. The route was up out of Hudson to the West on Watters Road and taking the first right hander off that, I headed out onto the gravel.

What I found was completely different than what I found out on last weekend's ride. The roads were dry, hard, and fast. The traffic count out here was way up too! Lots of big farm trucks and semi tractor-trailer rigs going to and fro. Apparently, the farmers are getting ready to go out and plant soon. No surprise, as last year most of the corm had been planted by now or was being planted about this time. No farmer has set an implement to a field yet around here this year.

The dust was a bit surprising, and I found out later that I and my bike were covered in a fine coating of gravelly goodness. I suppose getting doused by a few of those trucks that passed by with their dust contrails was the reason for that. Even my beard, which has grown pretty long over these cold months, felt like it was full of gravel dust when I was finished with this ride.

At any rate, it was fun to ride on something a bit different than what I was normally used to, and I will have to add a route going out this way to Dike or something later on just for the fun of it. The roads have a few decent rollers, but looking westward, it appears that the hills flatten out a bit in Grundy County. Still, these are unexplored roads for me, and I look forward to checking them out now.

More on Spring Training tomorrow.

Spring Training

Surprisingly Dusty!

 Last weekend, I was supposed to leave for a Texas vacation, but due to circumstances with our vehicle, the trip was scuttled. So, I devised a plan to do as much riding around here as I could. Trouble was that the beginning of the week was super windy and really cold. Like January cold. I just wasn't ready to go out for miles in that stuff.

But the latter part of the week warmed up, (barely), enough to get me out there. I've already detailed my Thursday excursion, and on Friday I made another attempt at a ride. I was curious about riding in an area I haven't been in yet that was very close, but far enough away that I went with a shuttle run in the "Truck With No Name" to recon where I would start out from exactly.

I waited until the afternoon to get the maximum heat from the day, and headed out towards Hudson and drove around West of there to find a good place to start. I finally just ended up parking right in town and changing into my cycling shoes and booties. The route was up out of Hudson to the West on Watters Road and taking the first right hander off that, I headed out onto the gravel.

What I found was completely different than what I found out on last weekend's ride. The roads were dry, hard, and fast. The traffic count out here was way up too! Lots of big farm trucks and semi tractor-trailer rigs going to and fro. Apparently, the farmers are getting ready to go out and plant soon. No surprise, as last year most of the corm had been planted by now or was being planted about this time. No farmer has set an implement to a field yet around here this year.

The dust was a bit surprising, and I found out later that I and my bike were covered in a fine coating of gravelly goodness. I suppose getting doused by a few of those trucks that passed by with their dust contrails was the reason for that. Even my beard, which has grown pretty long over these cold months, felt like it was full of gravel dust when I was finished with this ride.

At any rate, it was fun to ride on something a bit different than what I was normally used to, and I will have to add a route going out this way to Dike or something later on just for the fun of it. The roads have a few decent rollers, but looking westward, it appears that the hills flatten out a bit in Grundy County. Still, these are unexplored roads for me, and I look forward to checking them out now.

More on Spring Training tomorrow.

Trans Iowa V9: So, What Is Allowed For Support?

Out here, yer on yer own...

Recently I received a question regarding "support" and what was and is now allowed in terms of the upcoming Trans Iowa V9. The questioner had said that he had read blog accounts of pizza hand ups, folks waiting for riders at checkpoints, etc. Here you can read my response to him, as I wrote it, and it should quell any concerns about this question. If not, hit the comments... Here ya go:

In the case of Trans Iowa, it has NEVER been allowed that riders receive outside support. You might note the post date on the rules on the Trans Iowa site. Yep- that's right, posted by "Jeff Kerkove", who wrote those rules out in 2004. The thing is, folks have sought to circumvent that basic tenet of Trans Iowa ever since.

My challenge is to provide a fair and even playing field for those who are willing to take up the challenge of Trans Iowa. To my mind, that has meant the changing, tweaking, and clamping down upon enforcement of rules and the allowances for "support". In the case of Trans Iowa, you must source your own pizza, ride devoid of fans, onlookers, and people you know cheering you on, and depend upon your decisions to either see you through to the end, or to make the right choice not to endanger yourself and others. In this you would be riding according to the spirit of the event.

This sort of honor amongst riders can not be totally enforced by one individual, (me), but it must be an unsaid agreement amongst all of the riders. It must be enforced by you and the others, holding each other accountable out there. There will be cheaters, and those who try to bend the rules to make things easier to accomplish, but they will have a hollow and meaningless reward if they choose that path. I can not, nor can my volunteers, be expected to have 100% success in seeing that the rules are followed due to the nature of the event, but we will DQ anyone we see that has been receiving outside support. We will ask tough questions if it comes down to that. Thankfully, I haven't had to do anything of the sort.....yet.

We have checkpoints and at those checkpoints we have sponsor's product which is free for the taking, but it isn't a guarantee. I don't send folks out to suffer unnecessarily either, so I do route past convenience stores, and in the case of last year, where there was a stretch of well over 100 miles without a chance for resupply, we allowed a checkpoint with food and water. That will not be necessary this year. But the point is, I try to provide each rider with fair chances to get what they need on the route I devise.

Okay, I kind of got on my soap box there, but this means a lot to me and others who have ridden Trans Iowa. It means a lot to those who have gone on to finish similar events like the Arrowhead, Tour Divide, and the Iditarod Invitational. I hope you understand.


So, to summarize-  You Are Responsible For You. No Outside Support Is Allowed At Trans Iowa. From the rules section on the Trans Iowa site:

" 4:Pre-arranged outside support is not allowed. This includes, but is not limited to assistance with navigation, delivery of supplies, lighting, or lodging."

 There you have it. Any questions? Ask away in the comments section. Thanks for reading!

Trans Iowa V9: So, What Is Allowed For Support?

Out here, yer on yer own...

Recently I received a question regarding "support" and what was and is now allowed in terms of the upcoming Trans Iowa V9. The questioner had said that he had read blog accounts of pizza hand ups, folks waiting for riders at checkpoints, etc. Here you can read my response to him, as I wrote it, and it should quell any concerns about this question. If not, hit the comments... Here ya go:

In the case of Trans Iowa, it has NEVER been allowed that riders receive outside support. You might note the post date on the rules on the Trans Iowa site. Yep- that's right, posted by "Jeff Kerkove", who wrote those rules out in 2004. The thing is, folks have sought to circumvent that basic tenet of Trans Iowa ever since.

My challenge is to provide a fair and even playing field for those who are willing to take up the challenge of Trans Iowa. To my mind, that has meant the changing, tweaking, and clamping down upon enforcement of rules and the allowances for "support". In the case of Trans Iowa, you must source your own pizza, ride devoid of fans, onlookers, and people you know cheering you on, and depend upon your decisions to either see you through to the end, or to make the right choice not to endanger yourself and others. In this you would be riding according to the spirit of the event.

This sort of honor amongst riders can not be totally enforced by one individual, (me), but it must be an unsaid agreement amongst all of the riders. It must be enforced by you and the others, holding each other accountable out there. There will be cheaters, and those who try to bend the rules to make things easier to accomplish, but they will have a hollow and meaningless reward if they choose that path. I can not, nor can my volunteers, be expected to have 100% success in seeing that the rules are followed due to the nature of the event, but we will DQ anyone we see that has been receiving outside support. We will ask tough questions if it comes down to that. Thankfully, I haven't had to do anything of the sort.....yet.

We have checkpoints and at those checkpoints we have sponsor's product which is free for the taking, but it isn't a guarantee. I don't send folks out to suffer unnecessarily either, so I do route past convenience stores, and in the case of last year, where there was a stretch of well over 100 miles without a chance for resupply, we allowed a checkpoint with food and water. That will not be necessary this year. But the point is, I try to provide each rider with fair chances to get what they need on the route I devise.

Okay, I kind of got on my soap box there, but this means a lot to me and others who have ridden Trans Iowa. It means a lot to those who have gone on to finish similar events like the Arrowhead, Tour Divide, and the Iditarod Invitational. I hope you understand.


So, to summarize-  You Are Responsible For You. No Outside Support Is Allowed At Trans Iowa. From the rules section on the Trans Iowa site:

" 4:Pre-arranged outside support is not allowed. This includes, but is not limited to assistance with navigation, delivery of supplies, lighting, or lodging."

 There you have it. Any questions? Ask away in the comments section. Thanks for reading!