The Single Speed Century Report: Part 2

Jeremy Fry looking back and wondering what the heck I'm doing. Get a move on! Ha!

 Note: The report for the Single Speed Century ride will take three days to cover. The final post will include the gear talk, so please wait until that posts before you ask me "What gear combo did you run?" or anything of that nature. I'll likely have answered in that post upcoming. Thanks!

When I left off yesterday I was at the point in the story where Jeremy and I had entered the Level B road on 270th in Tama County. It's a section of road that has been used on two Trans Iowa routes and for a few GTDRI events as well. We actually entered in the West end of that sector, which is, by far, the hardest direction to go. But at any rate, walking was the best choice. There was a short bit where we coasted, but at the point where the road- if you can even call it that - pitched down steeply, we both decided that being prudent was the wiser choice. Toppling over and getting hurt, in the middle of nowhere, during these times, would be a bad thing.

So, we walked up, then steeply down, across some really tacky, wet dirt, which clung to our feet and tires, and then up again to the end of the dirt section. There we stopped to take a short break and to clear out our cleats as they had become so caked with mud that they would not engage properly. After this, we motored on Eastbound now to get to the northward road which would bring us to our second, and final resupply stop at Garwin, Iowa.  Garwin was a stop on a Trans Iowa and also for several Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitationals. The local Pronto convenience store would be the destination.

A short break before heading out again for Garwin, Iowa.

The view from on top of a huge hill we climbed just South of Garwin, Iowa.

As we turned Northward, I noted that the wind was up. It wasn't terrible, but it was more than the 12mph gusts forecast that I saw Friday. More like 12mph and higher gusts. This would impact us greatly as we were now on a very Northward track, right into the face of the wind, and we had 40 miles to go.

Bikes in repose in Garwin at the Pronto convenience store.

We used Garwin as our lunch stop so we stayed longer than usual. We picked out some items to eat. I got a bag of beef sticks and cheddar cheese, a bag of cheese cracker squares, and a small bottle of Gatorade, blue in color, natch! ("Blue" is the only decent flavor of Gatorade, by the way) We then sat ourselves on the West end of the building along the driveway and watched the comers and goers. One of whom was a pistol packing dude in a white Cadillac sedan. He had it stuck in the back of his shorts, on the waistband, and his shirt had lifted above it. I saw him flip his shirt over it as he walked by us. I told Jeremy there were probably a lot of white males in this area packing heat. It's one reason I try to keep cool and move along when we make these stops.

Crystal Township Cemetery in Tama County, Iowa. A rare Eastward respite from the wind on our way back.

The Level B section of 190th that was made famous on Trans Iowa v10.

As we got out of Garwin it was immediately apparent that we would face three major foes to our forward progress. One- hills, and many of them. Two - fresh gravel, and LOTS of it. Three - WIND! It was heavy and right in our faces. Awesome! Besides an occasional zig-zag Eastward, we had approximately 20-25 miles of headwind to contend with on our way back. The final push into Black Hawk County was......brutal. Pedaling both down and up the rollers, pushing through heavy, course gravel, and suffering over 75 miles of brutal hills on a single speed had me deep in the hurt locker. It was all I could do to sit on the bike.

The "Wolf Creek Wall". That small blurry dot on the road is me. The big one is a tractor. Image by Jeremy Fry

Me cresting the big hill up to the rural water tower at the intersection of K Ave. and Ridge Road. Image by Jeremy Fry

Of course, Jeremy threw in a couple of Trans Iowa 'highlights' on the way back. The "Wolf Creek Wall", the hill featured on the cover for Jeff Frings' "300 Miles of Gravel" documentary, was one, and that leads to some absolutely brutal rollers on 170th. Jeremy said he saw 14% grades in there. It is super steep coming up from the South and West. I ended up walking parts of both of those hills, but I did grind out the K Avenue hills all the way up.

170th Street from J Avenue to K Avenue. Brutal!

Another view of 170th. I had to walk that climb to the vantage point here. 

I have very hazy memories of M Avenue and eventually Grundy/Black Hawk Road going North. Uggh! The incessant wind and rollers were making for a very bad experience. It was all I could do to keep my mind on the 'prize' of getting to 100 miles. I kept mentally tricking myself into thinking about five mile chunks at a time. I swear....Tama County miles seem longer than most! At 85 miles I promised myself a break, and Jeremy stopped as well. Then, it was off to knock out the rest of the beastly course North. Eventually, we'd turn out of the wind at 94 miles and get the last bit as a cross wind. I couldn't wait!

Zion Lutheran Church. We still had a few miles to go North at this point, but we were almost there!

Evidence of a Single Speed Century done! But we still weren't at the starting point just yet.

Turning out of the wind was such a relief, but by this time the damage had been done. I was dried out from the constant in-my-face blast. My lips were dried up, I had no more water, and I was hungry. Not to mention my rear end, which was sore from having to absorb all the chatter of that super rough gravel in Tama County. Let me tell ya, they do not spare any expense when it comes to gravel applications in Tama County!

But finally we got there. We passed 100 miles, we got to the starting point. Jeremy bid me farewell there but I had to get off the bike and lay down for a bit by the church. After about five to ten minutes of that, I gingerly made my way, very slowly, back to the house.

No real feelings of joy or of any kind of victory until a day later, maybe. I was exhausted, like I haven't been in years. I had sat myself in the couch and promptly fell asleep for several minutes, according to my daughter. Then I could barely even walk. At least for several hours. Then I realized I had a slight head ache. Hmm.... I hadn't had any coffee all day! A couple of cups later and I was much better! Maybe not good for another go at the bike though. Not just yet......

Okay, that closes out my ride report. Tomorrow I will cover all the technical and gear aspects of the ride. There also will be a bonus "Barns For Jason- The Single Speed Century Edition" yet to come, so stay tuned!