Minus Ten Review 2009-15

Rules Of Single Speed Engagement

Ten years ago this week on the blog I had two main things on my mind. Sea Otter and Trans Iowa v5. Sea Otter was a weird deal. It was all being paid for quietly by Tim Grahl. He sent me an email saying that all the arrangements had been made, a rental car, room, and airfare to and from- all paid for, and all I had to do was pack up and go.

This was odd since up until that weird e-mail I hadn't heard much from Grahl and any efforts on my end to contact him were generally labored and often ignored. By this time it had been agreed that "Twenty Nine Inches" was my baby, and I owned it. But beyond that, there were a LOT of uncertainties, especially on the monetized end, which I suspect went on in favor of Grahl for sometime until Grannygear helped me to swipe the old for a new, revamped "Twenty Nine Inches" site later on in 2010.

I just recall that it was odd not knowing for certain if everything was going to happen the way Grahl said it would. I mean, I could get out there and there may be an issue with the rental car. Then what? I had no way to contact him, or have any recourse. That was a stressful situation, but my plan was to get on the plane and see what would happen.

Of course, Trans Iowa plans were coming to a point. That was also very stressful, as at this point we were still not sure where a pre-race meeting would be held. Cues needed to be done yet, and details with sponsors, volunteers, and more were all still very much not nailed down yet. But that was par for the course with Trans Iowa up to that point.

I also posted a bit about single speed gearing that week derrived from a conversation I had with Brent Gale of Twin Six. I called it "T-6 Brent's Rule of Single Speeding" Basically, it was a plan to get stronger by not being complacent and end up sticking with the same ratio for ever. It was a fun rule, and actually, it works, if you apply yourself. Of course, it has its limits too, but as a way to challenge your fitness and prowess on a single gear? Pretty fine wisdom there, I'd say.