Country Views: B Road Riding

Last time I was here was ten years ago.

Editor's Note: Grab your favorite beverage. This is a LONG one!

I decided to go check something out that I've been wanting to check out for a long time. Probably 12 years ago or so, my friend David Pals took me on a ride out of Belle Plaine and we went down a road with the craziest Level B Sections I'd ever seen. They were so radical that David put them in the second ever Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitational. I thought this was so cool that David and I placed this sector of roads into T.I.v5.

That went over really well with the riders of that particular Trans Iowa, so we thought we could shoe-horn that same section in for v6. During the earlier parts of 2009, I think we visited this section of road and that would have been the last time I ever was there.

T.I.v6 ended up being truncated due to poor weather conditions and due to that, this sector of Level B roads was never used in that version, or any version since then. So, I never have had the reason or opportunity to go back and ride them, or even lay eyes on this section of road. One other thing to note, I think it was in 2010 or 2011 that David Pals told me he thought this section was going to get decommissioned and would end up being private land. However; these roads showed up on the 2013 DOT revisions to the State maps, so, while that is no guarantee, there was hope that they were still rideable and open to the public.

Throughout the last several years, every time I went South on US HWY 63 I would see the sign for the Columbia Wildlife Area and the thought would enter my mind that I should go check this out again. But other things would come into my mind and push that thought out until the next time I went driving by the sign. Finally, while perusing the maps for this upcoming GTDRI, I saw that the route was not all that far away from the Columbia Wildlife Area, which was where this string of three Level B Roads started. Sunday, I decided to go check it out, and maybe get in a tiny bit of the next GTDRI route.

Of course, I didn't get going until after lunch so it promised to be the hottest part of the day. I also decided to take the Ti Muk 2, because, as I hope you will see, these Level B Roads are not your typical fare. At least, they weren't easy to ride a decade ago, and I figured that they had not gotten a lot better in the ensuing years. Good thing I decided to bring the fat bike, because what I found bore out my predictions and then some.

Things start out looking fairly inviting, but this camera angle belies the steepness of the hills here.

Big, deep, gnarly ruts were everywhere, so I had to pick my way through carefully both up and down.

The first sector starts out in deep woods and then breaks out into open area. The soil is mostly clay here, and in many ways, it reminds me somewhat of Odin's Revenge territory out in Nebraska. The ruts were treacherous. They ran at angles and were hidden in shadow and by weedy overgrowth. There was no good way to descend other than by braking heavily to keep speed in check and to be constantly scanning ahead for the best, rut-free line. Oh.....and did I mention the hills were steep? There are no flats out here. Only up or down.

Barns For Jason- The Level B Sections are split into three pieces with gravel in between.

The second Level B Section was barely a two-track, overgrown with weeds, and ran in deep slots in the hills in places.

The ground was still tacky, and the air was much cooler down in this deep slot on the second Level B Section.

Another look at how deeply cut in this road is in places.

At the Eastern end, the road runs out into the open, and the weeds were everywhere hiding some slimy mud.

The second Level B Section runs out on the Eastern end to an open area where the weeds were rampant and the ground was saturated with rain run-off yet. There was also a low water crossing at the end which was thankfully dry. However; I got caught out by the hidden mud, and I ended up dabbing my right foot, at which time the mud promptly sucked my shoe off. A little bouncing and flailing later and I had my shoe back on, despite it being quite slimed by the sticky, gooey clay.

Out in the open, I was getting cooked.

The third Level B was typical dirt and while very hilly, wasn't the technical slug fest the first two sections are. So, no images of that! Onward, I had decided to hit this spot on the map called Hamlet, and then on South and West back to the truck. There were a couple more unknown to me Level B Roads I could hit along the way too.

There was a constant breeze from the Southwest, but it did not alleviate the 90+ degree heat, and the humidity was high enough that I was sweating up a river as I rode along. Good "heat training", but this was no condition to be considering a longer trek.

This Level B came up off the Poweshiek/Tama County line and was very pleasant.

Barns For Jason- Windmills For Paul, and some cows thrown in for good measure. 

The two Level B's I added into the route were really pleasant, typical ones with no real technicalities to deal with. The views were spectacular, as the route took me over some of the higher elevations of Southern Tama County. I wasn't pushing too hard because of the heat. I was glad I had a LOTof water and a shorter planned route.

Your "garden variety" Level B Road.

Big hills, big climbs, and spectacular views. 

I ended up with about 15-16 miles, but it was grueling in the mid-Summer heat. I was ready to be done when I got back to the truck, and sweat was pouring off me at a rate I haven't experienced in years. I imagine the "real" temperature was well over 100° F for much of the ride. My weather app said it was 91°F when I arrived back home at 6:00pm, so I think triple digits was probably correct out there. Especially on the white rock.

How I am going to do the GTDRI, I have no ideas at this point. It's going to be a really tough year, and I am just going to focus on fun and try to take it as it comes. But who knows. Maybe it won't be so hot come the end of July. (Yeah.....right!)

Grandview Cemetery. 1867

So, the trip was a success, as I managed not to crash on the first two gnarly Level B Sections, and I survived getting cooked by the Sun. The fat bike was the perfect call, as it allowed me to get through the beginning of the ride without walking. The Rohloff drive train had low enough gears and to spare for the task. I never shifted lower than "4", and the highest gear I spun out was "13" of "14". I still have a little work to do to get accustomed to the 14 speed internal gear hub. But over all, I thought I had a pretty good handle on it. The one issue I did have was when I was sweating so heavily I could not get a purchase on the twist shifter!