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| From the first Geezer Ride last October |
The Geezer Ride was a ride born out of a request for an "easier, less brutal" gravel road experience. I complied by arranging a 40-ish mile loop out of Amana Iowa. It was an easy, slow, ride with many stops, but everyone loved it and asked for more. So, this is it people! The next Geezer Ride will happen in Grinnell, Iowa on April 11th. Here are the finer details....
- The ride will start at 8:30am, but a few of us will be getting together for breakfast at the Frontier Cafe, 831 Main St which opens at 7:00am. Feel free to join us there. The ride starts right around the corner on Broad Street in front of Bikes To You.
- I've mapped out a loop which ended up being 46 miles. I know, I know, I said it would be 40-ish, but boo-hoo! Besides, the last five or six miles are darn near flat as a pancake, so, really, they don't count! And by the way, the loop ends at Bikes To You, so if you are staying at the motels in the Southern part of Grinnell, you'll be able to cut off a few miles.
- You can expect big hills on this ride. Don't worry though- we will wait for any and all stragglers. We will likely stop, a lot, and go fairly slow. If this sounds frustrating to you, don't show up. I used this mode of operation last time and it worked really well.
- It likely will be windy, raw, and not all that warm. Dress accordingly. I suggest a couple layers at least, and a windproof jacket. Bring a camera. If it rains a little bit, we will still ride. If it is pouring rain, we won't. If that happens we'll hang out somewhere and bug Craig Cooper at Bikes To You with all sorts of senseless bike questions!
- I will have a cue sheet, and there will be one for the designated "sweeper" who will ride at the back. Otherwise we will all stay together.
- There will be one B Level Maintenance road. Trans Iowa veterans will remember it from V8. It was also used on the 2012 GTDRI. 1 mile, hilly, but ya gotta do a B Road! By the way, many of the roads we will use have been used on past Trans Iowa routes.
- We will have a pass through town stop at Brooklyn, Iowa. We also will go through Malcom, because I want to since I've never been there.
- I figure we should be done by 2:00-2:30pm. Then I will be suggesting we go somewhere to eat and have a few brews. Feel free to join me. A decision on where to go will be made post ride, but may I humbly suggest the Grinnell Steakhouse?
That's about it. I know that about 5-8 folks have intentions of showing up, so there should be a nice sized group. Come one, come all, and enjoy camaraderie, fun, and gravel roads which are simply beautiful. See ya there......
2 comments:
Hi,
Just curious, I see a fat bike in that picture. How are fat bikes for general (non-competitive) gravel riding? I live in CT. and sold my road bike and just picked up a Trek Superfly HT that I am converting to rigid. Briefly considered picking up a fat bike for winter & early spring crummy condition riding. I had ridden on once in the parking lot of my LBS. I ride a mix of pavement & trails. Didn't think a fat bike could fast enough to ride with other (non-fat) bikes? I'm not a guy who has a "quiver of bikes". I have one bike... Can a fat bike be "your one bike"?
Thanks,
Joe
@JoeOxfordCT - The answer is: "It depends on how far you want to take things." The fat bike can do gravel well, and they make riding gravel very comfortable.
The weight of most fat bikes is a negative and you would feel that going up. However; "depending on how far you want to take things", even this could be rectified to a degree with lighter parts, especially carbon wheels, or by swapping wheel sets entirely for a 29"er rimmed on. Of course, at that point you would have a 29"er with a fat bike frame!
The fat bike has potential for versatility, but if you were not of the mind to pursue all of that, I would say that, from a gravel riding perspective, there are faster, more nimble alternatives.
From a "one bike" perspective, you have to decide on what spectrum of terrain you want to cover. If roads and light trails are where the meat of your riding will be done, then stick with an "all-road" type of bike. However; if a fair amount of off-road, mtb-like terrain is on the docket along with the fire road/service road/gravel road stuff, then a fat bike may be a great choice.
It's a complex answer, but I hope it helps.
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