A Decade Of Nonsense: Part 4

2007 marked the first time in ten years that I had raced a mtb event

 2007 continued on with the insanity of activity on the blog here and in my life. In many ways, it was a watershed year.

This was the year that I had two custom 29"er frames done. Both were conceived at nearly the same time and to this day stand as the only two custom frames I've ever had done for me. I still have both of them as well. One I have had rolling since this time, the other has been built and torn down again at least three times and is currently a bare frame and fork. These were both things that were results of the blog, initially here.

Of course, a lot of the first part of the year was spent getting ready for T.I.v3, and saying goodbye to Jeff Kerkove, privately, and alone. He wasn't really "leaving" at the time but he was obviously going on to Ergon, and was not around much after Spring hit. Frostbike that year saw me staying with Brent of Twin Six in the then "World Headquarters" of the fledgling company, which at that time was in his basement.

Plans were also being put together for a "Big Wheeled Ballyhoo", which was supposed to be this "festival" of riding and industry demos of 29"ers that was originally just an idea by me to "get together" and ride 29"ers. However; I let myself get convinced by my Twenty Nine Inches "boss" that it should/could be this "really big deal" someday. Let me just say that the Big Wheeled Ballyhoo ended up becoming a huge thorn in my side for three years, and never really ever was what I wanted it to be. The last year, it would have been but for a freakish snow storm, but by then I was burnt out on the idea. All that to say that I regret where I let this idea go in the beginning of '07. I sure have learned a lot since then!

The Big Wheeled Ballyhoo in '07 was the only one that actually happened in full.

 Later in Spring I was to go to a "press camp" and I reported on that and my going to Sea Otter in Monterey California. Here I was less than two years from starting this blog being jetted out to California, staying at a beachfront motel, eating at Keith Bontrager's home, and going to Sea Otter. It was crazy stuff that I never had envisioned happening to me at all at that time.

Bam! I get back to home from this surreal California experience and then I find out the cue sheets for T.I.v3 are way off and need to all be redone. This and the fact that I was left to organize the event on my own was overwhelming. On top of all of this, I had a guy from Portland, Oregon coming out to write a story about Trans Iowa to be part of a book he was going to do about "Renegade Sports". All this and Trans Iowa was a bit too much, but there was no rest for the wicked and I had another Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitational coming, which was basically saved by David Pals doing all the groundwork, or that never would have happened, most likely.

More bike review craziness, I was on a mtb 12 hour four man team at the Iowa 24 hr race, dubbed "Team Stoopid", because we were all on single speeds, and Interbike came and went again. Summer went by fast!

Jeff Kerkove's last "Friday Night Lights" gravel grinder ride announcement.

Jeff made his final ride here a Friday night gravel grinder before he moved off to Colorado, and thus ended an era of my blogging/work career here. It just hasn't been the same since. In fact, before Jeff left, I was rudely reminded of how things were changing when his replacement left in the beginnings of July, just as the RAGBRAI work load increased. It was even worse due to the fact that the ride was coming to our area, so repair jobs were at an all time high, and I had no one at the shop to help bear the burden. It was a tough Summer at work! Not having Jeff there was crudely pushed into my face and I had to make a major adjustment in my ways at work, which has lasted right up till this current time.

Well, the end of the year finally approached, and promises were still being made on the TNI.com front, so I was sure that '08 would see less blogging here. Not only that, but I made an ill conceived decision to become a contributor to another site with another individual that didn't work out. It was good that I tried, but I think it was ill-advised and I wasn't very experienced at the time. It didn't seem to trip me up here though, so that was good. 

The interesting thing about '07 was how many that I knew locally and regionally quit blogging, or curtailed their postings severely and I thought it odd. At the time I did anyway. Now looking back, maybe they were the brilliant ones! In the end, I was forging ahead and I had good intentions and hopes for a different future. We'll see how in '08 and '09 that all fell apart.