Friday News And Views

Progress.....

Shop Projects: It is going to be a busy weekend here at the Guitar Ted Laboratories. Book-ended by bike building projects, for certain, and maybe a ride squeezed into the picture as well. 

I got a head start on things last evening as I was able to bring home one of the correct head sets and press it into the Singular Cycles  Buzzard Project LTHT. Slapped the bare wheels into that just to get an eyeball on where that set up will go, then set that aside. Next up- fat bike tear down!

I got most all of the parts removed from the Snow Dog and swapped out a rotor for the back wheel and completely removed the front. The brakes from this bike may go on the Buzzard, but we'll see in a bit here, I hope. There may be some new developments on that front.

The rest of the stuff will mostly get used up on the new fat bike for the boy. His head set is in and today is the big day for bringing that home. We'll do a bit of a joint build, as I'd like him to be part of that process, but being 10 years old...... Well, I don't expect he'll stay around for the entire process! Maybe I'll be wrong about that. He definitely is pretty stoked about this deal He's been asking about it everyday now for some time.

T.I.V10 Recon: Next up will be the super long day of Saturday when Jeremy and myself will be up at "o-dark-thirty" to hit the road in search of the Trans Iowa V10 course. All the mapping has been done and several revisions were made from the original draft. I am pretty sure this one, (discounting weather), will be much more difficult than last year's course was. Add in any hint of moisture and any wind?

One word: Devastating.

Why? Because this is the 10th Trans Iowa, and that's a big number for me. A decade of doing this. I wanted to "celebrate" by putting together my "most challenging" course that I could without it being stupidly unfinishable. Let me tell you, that's a fine balancing act! Let's hope I get that right!

So, look for a recon post coming soon with the usual load of images and some commentary from what Jeremy and I think about the course. Checkpoint locations will be researched and I may be able to give out some mileages to those as well. Yes......we're thinking about knocking this entire thing out in a day! I'm not sure we will, but last year, and the year previous, Jeremy and I were so efficient we were getting half a course ran in half a day's time. I am not going to promise anything, but we're going to try and go for it!

Trans Iowa Clinic: I've received a trickle of RSVP's for the December 7th clinic in Des Moines. Please consider it and let me know if you want to show up. The info can be found at the bottom of this post. Note: You do not have to be in T.I.V10 to attend, just interested and willing to learn.

Out Takes: It seems you readers out there like pictures. I can't explain why else my image heavy posts seem to get so many hits. So, here are some "out takes" from my Wednesday ride.....

Have a great weekend! Hope ya'all get out there and ride your bikes, be it cyclo cross, gravel, road, or mountain biking! Stay tuned for a recon report coming up by Monday for sure.