Looking Ahead At 2019

Thanks for sticking with me through all the "Rear View" posts and looks back at the bikes I used. Now it is time to take a look ahead, as I do every year here.

Many years I have made vague comments about changes and what not that were forthcoming. Many times they did not pan out, many times they did. Same holds for the year of 2019. I'm sure there will be changes and many things I think will change won't. Here is what I do know now.....

• The Iowa Gravel Expo/Bike Party will happen Saturday, February 9th.
• The C.O.G. 100 Iowa Gravel Single Speed Championship will happen March 30th.
• The Renegade Gents Race-  If they hold it.  UPDATE: Announced for April 6th. GOING!
• The inaugural Prairie Burn 100 will be June 8th. I am registered to ride it.
• The Solstice 100 is an event in Nebraska on June 22nd. I am registered to ride in it.
• The 2019 GTDRI will be on July 27th
• 24hrs of Cumming. Sam and I have unfinished business. Weekend of August 2nd-4th.
• The Gravel Worlds event will be August 17th, and I am registered. 

Possibilities: These are things I've been talking about possibly doing. They may or may not materialize into reality.

• Mississippi Gravel Cup Bentonia, MS in late February.
• Almanzo 100 in Northfield MN -Mid-May
• Dirty Kanza 200 All Things Gravel Expo Emporia KS- Early June
• unPAved of the Susquehanna River Valley in mid-Pennsylvania. October. 

NOTE- Most of these possibilities involve lots of travel. Whether or not I can pull any of them off is going to hinge heavily on what I have for funds to travel, and right now, that is zero and not climbing anytime soon. The events I have committed to are mostly in Iowa, so travel is minimized and Gravel Worlds is something I should be able to pull off, and is something I won't miss.

What is ahead up the road? Let's go see!

As for the blog, "The Touring Series" should peter out along about the end of January, maybe the first week of February. That will then lead into "The Interim Years", a series of posts leading the reader from the time period between the tours and the beginnings of Trans Iowa. Then the series of Trans Iowa stories will begin. These will all post on Sundays, for the time being.

The regular posts you've come to expect here will also continue. "Friday News And Views" and the Saturday "Minus Ten Review" posts will be weekly entries you can look forward to seeing all year. That is, unless something unexpected happens.

You never know.....

The rest of the week I'll be posting the usual fare, as you've told me you want to continue to see. That feedback I got earlier this month was very much appreciated and showed me that you readers don't really want anything to change around here. There will be the same opinions, newsy bits, reviews, and tales of my adventures to look forward to.

2018 was a BIG year on the blog. It ranks 2nd all-time for post count at 383 for the year. The most I ever posted was 388 in 2011. I don't quite know how that happened, but I do not expect that 2019 will rival this year. It takes a lot of time and effort to post that much, so I probably should back it down a notch or two next year! Just for kicks, here are some more numbers to chew on. Overall, I have done nearly 5,000 blog posts which have gotten just shy of 5 million views since 2005. Nothing spectacular, but I think I am one of only a handful of bicycle themed bloggers that have lasted this long. So, there is that......

As always, thank you for your reading here and for any comments you've made over the course of 2018. I look forward to hearing from you in 2019 and hope that you will keep coming back to read here.

Happy New Year!