Friday News And Views

No. It isn't April 1st....

In the "You've Got To Be Kidding Me" Department: 

Wow.......I saw this earlier this week and didn't know quite what to think. Okay....so I finally got ahold of the press kit for it and.....wow. 

The claim is that with so many 29"ers now it has screwed up the saddle positioning for many riders and through careful research with frame companies, bike fitters, and through fizik's own testing, they came to the conclusion that this saddle is what we need for 29"ers.  

Really? Okay- here's what this saddle really is;

• Length- 265mm
• Width- 125mm 
• Weight- 195gm to 225gm depending on rail and shell materials. 
• Extra-long rails for more adjustability
• "Tuner Insert"- Allows customizable shell flex with swappable inserts.
• Replaceable saddle rails
• Integrated Clip System- For various fizik bags & lights.

So, it is basically a lightweight, very narrow width saddle with extra long saddle rails. Meh! I don't see anything here that says "29"er specific", but maybe I am blind or something. Weird.

Spooge Guards

Fender Musings: (Not Guitars) As I said the other day, I was out for a mud fest ride, but the mud was minimal. I did find some messy areas though, and I was glad for the SKS mud guards on the bike.

I used to think fenders were, well.......to be honest, I thought they were stupid. I recall that as a youth I ripped off the fenders immediately from my 26 X 1 3/8ths tired English Lightweight styled bike when I got it, much to my Dad's chagrin. I mean, no self-respecting kid would use fenders!  I suppose I carried that cavalier attitude towards fenders into my adult years of cycling for awhile.

However; I've been using fenders a bit over the last several years and I have grown to appreciate them and now I really do like having them on at certain times. These particular SKS mudguards are really easy to remove and replace whenever the fancy strikes me, so that is even better. I've also got to look into some of those fancy aluminum fenders for a more permanent installation I have in mind. So, yeah....I like fenders now and they aren't stupid. (I like Fender guitars too, but that's another story.) Kickstands, on the other hand..........

Registration Update:

Okay folks, as I suspected, the Finishers have grabbed over 30 spots. (So far), and we still have all of Friday and Saturday until midnight for any last minute takers to snag a spot. I bet a few more will shake out of the trees, and if so, that would put us at about 35-ish for the roster so far.

Accordingly, that would mean that starting Monday the 11th, there will be about 42 spots for the Vets and on the 18th the remaining 42 spots, (or however it actually works out), will be going to Rookies. That's a good mix and I know the competition for spots will be intense. I suspect that Vet spots and Rookie spots will both fill up within a few days each. I could be wrong, but this registration has a feel that it will go quickly.

Recon: Tomorrow a short-60-70 mile recon of the ending for Trans Iowa V10 will be happening. If everything passes muster, the cues will start being formatted and then all that will be left to do is a final run through next Spring to verify the final route, then print up the cues for all of the participants. Expect a recon report Sunday late or Monday.

Trans Iowa Clinic: The Trans Iowa Clinic, set for December 7th,  at Tacopocalypse 621 Des Moines Street, Des Moines 50309. Time: Doors open at 5:30pm.  If you are planning on coming, RSVP @ g.ted.productions@gmail.com  .

Okay ya'all! That's a wrap! Have a safe, fun weekend and ride those bikes!