Friday News And Views

TIMP: A couple of Trans Iowa notes to kick things off here. First off, I have received word of another scheduled attempt at the route. This time its "ITT" style. "What's that?", you ask. Well, it means that this attempt will be done completely solo, and as fast as possible- "Individual Time Trial", or ITT for short.

The individual in question is Trans Iowa V9 and V10 finisher Steve Fuller. You can check out more about the  Trans Iowa Masters Program here. I also found out a story about the first two TIMP finishers is out now. You can check out the story of Andy Zeiner and Scott Sumpter's TIMP ride here.

The next thing having to do with Trans Iowa are a couple of things, actually! Both are posts about the event. First is a great read by Charlie Farrow, who won the "Grittiest Ride Award" for this past Trans Iowa. You can read his thoughts about "nerd-do-wells, bohemians, and misfits" HERE. Actually, that's the third entry about this past Trans Iowa by Charlie, so you can scroll down his page and catch the rest, should you want to.

The last post was a bit of a surprise as it came from a sponsor of this past Trans Iowa in WTB. They sent over some Nano 40's to be given away as prizing. Not only that- but those were tires that were earmarked to go to manufacturers to check out and were culled from the first batch of Nano 40's to hit the US. Listen folks- that just doesn't happen. So, ya know.....WTB didn't have to do anything else. Trans Iowa was shown extreme courtesy in that alone. Yet they went ahead and did this post about why Trans Iowa is a worthwhile event. I'm truly blown away by that. (Thanks WTB!)

SOMA Battleaxe fat bike

Another Steel Fat Bike Option:

 I saw the other day where SOMA is going to offer a new fat bike. SOMA? You can think of them as kind of a cross between Portland Oregon, Surly, and Velo Orange with a little bit of All City thrown in as well. They've been around awhile, and were known in 29"er circles early on for their "Juice" model.

Anyway- looks like this is an offset frame at this time, however, since there is going to be a 170mm Rohloff hub available soon, that may change, since SOMA seems bent on making this frame IGH compatible with a Rohloff 14 speed internally geared hub.

Other details known now are that SOMA feels the geometry is best for "bombing down hills" so that suggests a trail bike instead of a soft conditions bike, but obviously one could use it as a soft conditions bike. SOMA seems to indicate that solid details about the rig won't be available for several months, but it will be an interesting alternative to the mostly aluminum frame offerings out there now.

Okay, that's all for this edition. I hope all the Fathers out there have a fantastic weekend and that ya'all have a good weekend on the bicycle.