Friday News And Views

The latest is up now at your favorite podcast outlets.

Guitar Ted Podcast Episode #20: "Give A Hoot":

N.Y. Roll and I sat down at his place Wednesday and recorded another episode of the podcast. Episode #20 contains some inetresting takes on the recent Lutzen 99er race, N.Y. Roll's rant on hunting, and more.

You can check it all out at THIS LINK. 

This episode is sponsored by the CORE4 event. 

We will be taking the week of the 4th off and we will probably resume podcasting again sometime in mid-July. Got any requests for guests? Hit me up in the comments. I think our next episode will be on dogs and how to deal with them. Got any good tips on how to handle dogs? I'll share them in our next podcast. 

Enduro Direct Line pulleys. (Image courtesy of Enduro)

Enduro Pushes Pulley Update For Derailleurs:

I remember reading an advert in cycling magazines back in the early 90's for sealed bearing derailleur pulleys. The claim was that drive train efficiency was improved by using sealed bearing derailleur pulleys which took less energy for the rider to pedal through. Less resistance meant more power to the wheels. 

I don't recall that many of us were concerned by the loss of watts to draggy derailleur pulleys, but we did buy into the anodized aluminum pulleys which came in a variety of colors.  These pulleys were about fashion ore than performance. 

As a mechanic I can tell you that derailleur pulleys can really affect not only your performance, but they can affect your shifting quality as well. Most people don't know that the upper pulley is perhaps the most important part of your derailleur shifting performance as it is this component that guides the chain to where you want it to go. If that pulley is not operating correctly, you aren't going to see great shifting performance. Note: The placement of that pulley in relationship to your cassette is also of paramount importance. 

So, upgrading the pulleys on your derailleur is a good idea, since many derailleur pulleys are , honestly, pretty poor. Their Delrin/Nylon bushings can distort, get galled, and they lose their lubricity rather quickly. This is where Enduro has stepped in with higher quality materials and actual bearings, (who knew!) to vastly improve pulley function. Plus, these do not require your cage to be replaced. No, they aren't cheap, but if you are running a high end bike that is fairly new, I'm betting you spent 3K-6K on it, so 300 bucks on pulleys isn't too bad. You can check their offerings out here. 

Work Continues Despite The Bad Air:

So, Tuesday I was to meet with several Cedar Valley Bicycle Collective volunteers and representatives of the Waterloo Police Department to retrieve bicycles that were released from cases, or which had identified owners, or that had been abandoned in the city. 

The Cedar Valley Bicycle Collective took in 62 bikes of which 42 were not viable for restoration, or that did not have good enough parts to harvest. Those went to the local recyclers where they counted 1,100+ pounds of scrap to our credit which is not going into our local landfill. 

Plus, of the 20 bikes kept, we already have provided one free of charge to a needy person in the halfway house program and sold another to a father for his son to ride this Summer. 

This operation took about three and a half hours of which I was outdoors for probably three hours of that. Our air quality was bad enough that I contracted a pretty decent headache out of the deal along with a scratchy throat. Not good...

And now they are saying the record wildfires in Canada are going to keep burning all Summer long. 

Great!

That's a wrap for this week. Thanks for reading Guitar Ted productions!

Friday News And Views

The latest is up now at your favorite podcast outlets.

Guitar Ted Podcast Episode #20: "Give A Hoot":

N.Y. Roll and I sat down at his place Wednesday and recorded another episode of the podcast. Episode #20 contains some inetresting takes on the recent Lutzen 99er race, N.Y. Roll's rant on hunting, and more.

You can check it all out at THIS LINK. 

This episode is sponsored by the CORE4 event. 

We will be taking the week of the 4th off and we will probably resume podcasting again sometime in mid-July. Got any requests for guests? Hit me up in the comments. I think our next episode will be on dogs and how to deal with them. Got any good tips on how to handle dogs? I'll share them in our next podcast. 

Enduro Direct Line pulleys. (Image courtesy of Enduro)

Enduro Pushes Pulley Update For Derailleurs:

I remember reading an advert in cycling magazines back in the early 90's for sealed bearing derailleur pulleys. The claim was that drive train efficiency was improved by using sealed bearing derailleur pulleys which took less energy for the rider to pedal through. Less resistance meant more power to the wheels. 

I don't recall that many of us were concerned by the loss of watts to draggy derailleur pulleys, but we did buy into the anodized aluminum pulleys which came in a variety of colors.  These pulleys were about fashion ore than performance. 

As a mechanic I can tell you that derailleur pulleys can really affect not only your performance, but they can affect your shifting quality as well. Most people don't know that the upper pulley is perhaps the most important part of your derailleur shifting performance as it is this component that guides the chain to where you want it to go. If that pulley is not operating correctly, you aren't going to see great shifting performance. Note: The placement of that pulley in relationship to your cassette is also of paramount importance. 

So, upgrading the pulleys on your derailleur is a good idea, since many derailleur pulleys are , honestly, pretty poor. Their Delrin/Nylon bushings can distort, get galled, and they lose their lubricity rather quickly. This is where Enduro has stepped in with higher quality materials and actual bearings, (who knew!) to vastly improve pulley function. Plus, these do not require your cage to be replaced. No, they aren't cheap, but if you are running a high end bike that is fairly new, I'm betting you spent 3K-6K on it, so 300 bucks on pulleys isn't too bad. You can check their offerings out here. 

Work Continues Despite The Bad Air:

So, Tuesday I was to meet with several Cedar Valley Bicycle Collective volunteers and representatives of the Waterloo Police Department to retrieve bicycles that were released from cases, or which had identified owners, or that had been abandoned in the city. 

The Cedar Valley Bicycle Collective took in 62 bikes of which 42 were not viable for restoration, or that did not have good enough parts to harvest. Those went to the local recyclers where they counted 1,100+ pounds of scrap to our credit which is not going into our local landfill. 

Plus, of the 20 bikes kept, we already have provided one free of charge to a needy person in the halfway house program and sold another to a father for his son to ride this Summer. 

This operation took about three and a half hours of which I was outdoors for probably three hours of that. Our air quality was bad enough that I contracted a pretty decent headache out of the deal along with a scratchy throat. Not good...

And now they are saying the record wildfires in Canada are going to keep burning all Summer long. 

Great!

That's a wrap for this week. Thanks for reading Guitar Ted productions!

Are Flat Pedals Good For Gravel?

The Redshift Sports flat pedals w/lights installed.

While I do not focus on mountain biking here much anymore, I do pay attention to what is going on with mountain biking. One of the trends I see growing is the use of "flat" pedals. The pedals that non-cyclists would call "normal" pedals. 

Before Shimano introduced the PD-M737 clipless pedals in the early 1990's, "flat" pedals are what all mountain bikers were riding. Well, those pedals weren't the flat pedals of today, but they were not clipless pedals either. No, mostly we were using caged pedals with toe straps.Uggh! Those were truly awful. 

At least they were for MTB, which required a lot of get-offs and remounts. Toe straps were just an impediment to doing what you had to do. 'True' flat pedals existed then, but weren't used widely, at least not around here. I say that because trends were a lot more regionally driven then than they are today. 

Nowadays I am seeing more flat pedals being made and more introductions of shoes for flat pedal mountain biking. Seeing as how mountain biking has an influence on gravel riding, I am wondering if flat pedal usage is going to be a thing in gravel riding. Could it become a trend in gravel much as it seems to be doing in MTB?

New flat pedal shoes from Unparalleled Sports. (Image from their site)

The title for today's post asks if this sort of flat pedal set up is "good for gravel". Well, of course it is! I've already proven that for myself, and in my mind there is no question that for every gravel pursuit outside of Pro/Semi-Pro gravel racing, flat pedals definitely have a space in the gravel riding niche. 

But..... There is always a "but"! This probably won't really take off as a trend for gravel until the shoes are made for it. The current MTB specific shoes just don't quite have "it". 

And right now, I'm not sure what "it" is. But I do know that MTB specific flat shoes are a bit too "heavy duty" and not as thin and breathable as I would want to wear. But I'm also not a shoe designer. Maybe I'll know it when I see it, but for now, I'm just going to say that the MTB flat shoes are not what I'd be looking for. 

I have done 100 miles of gravel on flat pedals wearing.........Vans! Yes those traditional skate/fashion sneakers that are canvas and rubber. They were fairly light, which was good, breathable, which was good, but they let in a lot of tiny bits of gravel and the soles were less than stiff for pedaling. So, not those shoes, but I am thinking whatever comes out, if anything comes out, will be closer to Vans than these MTB flat pedal shoes. 

And maybe this will never happen. I hope that it does, because I think a lot of people would ride more if their gravel bikes had flat pedals and shoes to go with that.

Are Flat Pedals Good For Gravel?

The Redshift Sports flat pedals w/lights installed.

While I do not focus on mountain biking here much anymore, I do pay attention to what is going on with mountain biking. One of the trends I see growing is the use of "flat" pedals. The pedals that non-cyclists would call "normal" pedals. 

Before Shimano introduced the PD-M737 clipless pedals in the early 1990's, "flat" pedals are what all mountain bikers were riding. Well, those pedals weren't the flat pedals of today, but they were not clipless pedals either. No, mostly we were using caged pedals with toe straps.Uggh! Those were truly awful. 

At least they were for MTB, which required a lot of get-offs and remounts. Toe straps were just an impediment to doing what you had to do. 'True' flat pedals existed then, but weren't used widely, at least not around here. I say that because trends were a lot more regionally driven then than they are today. 

Nowadays I am seeing more flat pedals being made and more introductions of shoes for flat pedal mountain biking. Seeing as how mountain biking has an influence on gravel riding, I am wondering if flat pedal usage is going to be a thing in gravel riding. Could it become a trend in gravel much as it seems to be doing in MTB?

New flat pedal shoes from Unparalleled Sports. (Image from their site)

The title for today's post asks if this sort of flat pedal set up is "good for gravel". Well, of course it is! I've already proven that for myself, and in my mind there is no question that for every gravel pursuit outside of Pro/Semi-Pro gravel racing, flat pedals definitely have a space in the gravel riding niche. 

But..... There is always a "but"! This probably won't really take off as a trend for gravel until the shoes are made for it. The current MTB specific shoes just don't quite have "it". 

And right now, I'm not sure what "it" is. But I do know that MTB specific flat shoes are a bit too "heavy duty" and not as thin and breathable as I would want to wear. But I'm also not a shoe designer. Maybe I'll know it when I see it, but for now, I'm just going to say that the MTB flat shoes are not what I'd be looking for. 

I have done 100 miles of gravel on flat pedals wearing.........Vans! Yes those traditional skate/fashion sneakers that are canvas and rubber. They were fairly light, which was good, breathable, which was good, but they let in a lot of tiny bits of gravel and the soles were less than stiff for pedaling. So, not those shoes, but I am thinking whatever comes out, if anything comes out, will be closer to Vans than these MTB flat pedal shoes. 

And maybe this will never happen. I hope that it does, because I think a lot of people would ride more if their gravel bikes had flat pedals and shoes to go with that.

Summer Of Smoke

Tuesday was not a great day to be outdoors

Have you seen how people now will say "I didn't have _____ on my bingo card for 2023"? (Fill in the blank with whatever surprise you want) Well, I'm filling in the blank with "wildfire smoke concerns" as my surprise for 2023. 

Canadian wildfire smoke has been an issue all month here in Iowa and other states in the Mid-West. It has gotten particularly bad of late with our Department of Natural Resources stating that outdoors activities are discouraged for the present time. 

I get it. I was outdoors for a few hours yesterday helping pick up bicycle donations for the Cedar Valley Bicycle Collective and I tell ya what! I had a pretty good headache going afterward. It was bad here. You can even smell the smoke, it is that thick here. 

I sure hope that this clears out soon because we're halfway done with Summer and riding in this air is a no-go for me. I know that for several of my readers this is an issue as well. My heart goes out to all who are missing good days on the bike trying navigate this smoky air. 

Summer Of Smoke

Tuesday was not a great day to be outdoors

Have you seen how people now will say "I didn't have _____ on my bingo card for 2023"? (Fill in the blank with whatever surprise you want) Well, I'm filling in the blank with "wildfire smoke concerns" as my surprise for 2023. 

Canadian wildfire smoke has been an issue all month here in Iowa and other states in the Mid-West. It has gotten particularly bad of late with our Department of Natural Resources stating that outdoors activities are discouraged for the present time. 

I get it. I was outdoors for a few hours yesterday helping pick up bicycle donations for the Cedar Valley Bicycle Collective and I tell ya what! I had a pretty good headache going afterward. It was bad here. You can even smell the smoke, it is that thick here. 

I sure hope that this clears out soon because we're halfway done with Summer and riding in this air is a no-go for me. I know that for several of my readers this is an issue as well. My heart goes out to all who are missing good days on the bike trying navigate this smoky air. 

Leave No Trace

Note: Today's post contains some graphic descriptions and salty language. You've been forewarned! 

Recently the Iowa Gravel Series head honcho, Chris McQueen, wrote a post on the IGS site regarding an incident that occurred at one of his events. The events Chris puts on have signed turns. He uses "real estate" type signage, the sort you might see in front of a property for sale, to mark corners. So, these are valuable and he retrieves them after every one of his events. 

While fetching signage after a recent event he discovered one sign missing and it had been replaced with a handmade sign bearing the visage of a penis riding a bicycle. The directional arrows were scrabbled on each of the four corners, so riders weren't misdirected. On the reverse side, Chris found the message "Tell Your Riders To Stop Being Dickheads To The People Who Live Here Or Find A Different Route!"

As the race director, he was, unsurprisingly, concerned and is seeking to get to the root of things. But as I contemplated this story, I was reminded of past negative, or potentially negative interactions with "locals" and also how the presence of bicycle riders can leave impacts on local residents. Those impacts can be positive or negative. In some cases, my preference would be that no impact was made at all. 

A potentially negative outcome with a local almost shut down this checkpoint location for T.I.v12

  Rural residents are people that are typically very insular and protective of "their" land, (whether or not they actually own said land is not material to the discussion), and suspicions arise whenever a rural person sees anything out of the ordinary when it comes to people, vehicles, or other oddities. Things stand out more in the wide open areas. It's easy to see that the sight of a cyclist is an odd occurrence for most rural residents. 

Rural residents can also be very charming, helpful, and a fantastic resource to cyclists or those involved with putting on events in the cycling realm. Stories of kindness and help unlooked for abound with gravel cycling and I have personally witnessed things like that in my time as an RD and a rider. I recall riding the first DK200 in 2006 and finding a water jug on a card table alongside a dusty road with no farm house in sight. A sign was hastily made and taped to the table's edge that read "Free Water! Take what you need." This was not an outlier either. Folks still do this at many events all across the nation and I hear and see this from gravel events all the time. The kindness and concerns of rural residents is fantastic. 

We can all get along nicely if we try.

But a warning to race directors and gravel event riders or rural riders in general: Ignore rural residents and their concerns at your own peril! Most rural residents will not suffer fools or acts of tomfoolery gently. Trespassing or taking of things is frowned upon and may be met with lethal force if you cross the wrong person. 

Not that I am condoning the reactions rural residents may have, but this is the reality of rural areas. You'd best be aware and ready to be diplomatic, understanding, and willing to compromise. A little grace goes a long way with rural folks. In my experience, a direct explanation of your doings in a kindly tone will smooth over almost every encounter you may have, as long as you are not willfully breaking the law or engaging in other like activity. In fact, I haven't had to really give up anything when having such encounters except some of my time and patience. An inexpensive investment to make to keep the event or ride going. 

Not that every interaction goes swimmingly. You can expect that not all of them will. But the majority of them will if you have the mind to be aware of rural residents concerns and "need to know". Remember, it doesn't help to get aggressive, angry, or combative. You'll only make matters worse. 

Racers that drop garbage chap my hide. (Image by Jon Duke of C.O.G. 100)

The other thing I think is an impediment to racers or riders and rural residents getting along is how racers (especially racers, but regular riders as well) act during events. A few things that I have heard about or personally have witnessed really make me concerned and could be having a negative effect upon the relationship between residents and riders. 

First up is a mostly unspoken concern that happens all the time at many gravel events: People relieving themselves along rural roads. Public urination is pretty much frowned upon almost everywhere you go, but it would seem that many, (mostly male) riders need a reminder that a little prudence goes a long way toward keeping rural residents from crying foul when it comes to your taking a piss. (Shouldn't that be leaving a piss? This never made sense to me....) Anyway... Get behind a tree, out of sight of homes, down in a ditch or something. Or wait till you reach a checkpoint. But don't stand alongside the road in sight of homes and do this. (I feel like I am speaking to children.) 

And finally, why do we even tolerate gel packets, food wrappers, or other garbage being thrown on gravel roads? This is the one that really irks me. I've seen it more and more since "Pro" riders, sponsored riders, and those who think that they are one of those two, got into gravel racing. This needs to be addressed.

Riders will not do anything until race directors take a stand, or...... Race directors have to clean the course after the event. One or the other. The DK200 used to have a Klean Kanza event the week after the 200 where they not only cleaned up their mess, but they picked up ALL the garbage they could find. This was class-leading event operation there. Who does this anymore? 

But if that is not possible, you would have to put the onus on the riders. And you'd have to have a no tolerance policy. In fact, all of the above mentioned issues in this post should be no-tolerance reasons for riders to be kicked out of events. But which race directors have the wherewithal to do that? I'd like to know..... 

I'll tell ya what. If RD's did take a stance as I suggest, you'd see a lot less issues. And yes, you'd see a lot less riders at events in some cases. But does littering and acting a fool make their entry fees worth it? The answer to that says a lot about what is and what is not important in any gravel event.

Leave No Trace

Note: Today's post contains some graphic descriptions and salty language. You've been forewarned! 

Recently the Iowa Gravel Series head honcho, Chris McQueen, wrote a post on the IGS site regarding an incident that occurred at one of his events. The events Chris puts on have signed turns. He uses "real estate" type signage, the sort you might see in front of a property for sale, to mark corners. So, these are valuable and he retrieves them after every one of his events. 

While fetching signage after a recent event he discovered one sign missing and it had been replaced with a handmade sign bearing the visage of a penis riding a bicycle. The directional arrows were scrabbled on each of the four corners, so riders weren't misdirected. On the reverse side, Chris found the message "Tell Your Riders To Stop Being Dickheads To The People Who Live Here Or Find A Different Route!"

As the race director, he was, unsurprisingly, concerned and is seeking to get to the root of things. But as I contemplated this story, I was reminded of past negative, or potentially negative interactions with "locals" and also how the presence of bicycle riders can leave impacts on local residents. Those impacts can be positive or negative. In some cases, my preference would be that no impact was made at all. 

A potentially negative outcome with a local almost shut down this checkpoint location for T.I.v12

  Rural residents are people that are typically very insular and protective of "their" land, (whether or not they actually own said land is not material to the discussion), and suspicions arise whenever a rural person sees anything out of the ordinary when it comes to people, vehicles, or other oddities. Things stand out more in the wide open areas. It's easy to see that the sight of a cyclist is an odd occurrence for most rural residents. 

Rural residents can also be very charming, helpful, and a fantastic resource to cyclists or those involved with putting on events in the cycling realm. Stories of kindness and help unlooked for abound with gravel cycling and I have personally witnessed things like that in my time as an RD and a rider. I recall riding the first DK200 in 2006 and finding a water jug on a card table alongside a dusty road with no farm house in sight. A sign was hastily made and taped to the table's edge that read "Free Water! Take what you need." This was not an outlier either. Folks still do this at many events all across the nation and I hear and see this from gravel events all the time. The kindness and concerns of rural residents is fantastic. 

We can all get along nicely if we try.

But a warning to race directors and gravel event riders or rural riders in general: Ignore rural residents and their concerns at your own peril! Most rural residents will not suffer fools or acts of tomfoolery gently. Trespassing or taking of things is frowned upon and may be met with lethal force if you cross the wrong person. 

Not that I am condoning the reactions rural residents may have, but this is the reality of rural areas. You'd best be aware and ready to be diplomatic, understanding, and willing to compromise. A little grace goes a long way with rural folks. In my experience, a direct explanation of your doings in a kindly tone will smooth over almost every encounter you may have, as long as you are not willfully breaking the law or engaging in other like activity. In fact, I haven't had to really give up anything when having such encounters except some of my time and patience. An inexpensive investment to make to keep the event or ride going. 

Not that every interaction goes swimmingly. You can expect that not all of them will. But the majority of them will if you have the mind to be aware of rural residents concerns and "need to know". Remember, it doesn't help to get aggressive, angry, or combative. You'll only make matters worse. 

Racers that drop garbage chap my hide. (Image by Jon Duke of C.O.G. 100)

The other thing I think is an impediment to racers or riders and rural residents getting along is how racers (especially racers, but regular riders as well) act during events. A few things that I have heard about or personally have witnessed really make me concerned and could be having a negative effect upon the relationship between residents and riders. 

First up is a mostly unspoken concern that happens all the time at many gravel events: People relieving themselves along rural roads. Public urination is pretty much frowned upon almost everywhere you go, but it would seem that many, (mostly male) riders need a reminder that a little prudence goes a long way toward keeping rural residents from crying foul when it comes to your taking a piss. (Shouldn't that be leaving a piss? This never made sense to me....) Anyway... Get behind a tree, out of sight of homes, down in a ditch or something. Or wait till you reach a checkpoint. But don't stand alongside the road in sight of homes and do this. (I feel like I am speaking to children.) 

And finally, why do we even tolerate gel packets, food wrappers, or other garbage being thrown on gravel roads? This is the one that really irks me. I've seen it more and more since "Pro" riders, sponsored riders, and those who think that they are one of those two, got into gravel racing. This needs to be addressed.

Riders will not do anything until race directors take a stand, or...... Race directors have to clean the course after the event. One or the other. The DK200 used to have a Klean Kanza event the week after the 200 where they not only cleaned up their mess, but they picked up ALL the garbage they could find. This was class-leading event operation there. Who does this anymore? 

But if that is not possible, you would have to put the onus on the riders. And you'd have to have a no tolerance policy. In fact, all of the above mentioned issues in this post should be no-tolerance reasons for riders to be kicked out of events. But which race directors have the wherewithal to do that? I'd like to know..... 

I'll tell ya what. If RD's did take a stance as I suggest, you'd see a lot less issues. And yes, you'd see a lot less riders at events in some cases. But does littering and acting a fool make their entry fees worth it? The answer to that says a lot about what is and what is not important in any gravel event.

GPS Take 3: Wahoo Elemnt ROAM - Part 3

 Last time I left you off here concerning the Elemnt ROAM, I had reported that it was a 'waaaay better experience" than my previous GPS tries, and I still stand by that. 

That said: I got the climb screen to freeze up again.

I swiftly swapped over to the normal data page and it went right back to working again, and it never did that again. You might think I needed to do an update. Well, thanks to one of you readers, I did that before the climb page freeze. So, clearly there is an issue there. 

But overall, things are going well. I have had another unique experience that I wanted to pass along here, plus a surprise finding. Maybe it won't surprise any of you, but for me, it was a big surprise and it caused a bit of a data skew that, in my opinion, was funny. 

First, the surprise. I swapped over the mount to my Twin Six Standard Rando v2 bike so I could use the unit with it. I didn't think about how I had two sensors on the bike from the Sigma GPS computer I tried. I had forgotten about them. One was a speed sensor and the other was a cadence sensor. I believe the cadence sensor magnet is dead, as I recall seeing a low battery indication on that the last time I used the Sigma, but at this point of the story, I wasn't cognizant of that fact. I was not remembering the sensors at all.

Check out that maximum speed, baby! Oh yeah!

As I fired up the computer, and waited for the unit to obtain the GPS, it detected the speed sensor and paired with it. Now, I did not know that until the unit beeped and told me a sensor was paired. That's when I remembered: "Oh! Yeah! I have a speed sensor on here that is working!". 

As I rolled off, I may have done something wrong and not paired the sensor correctly or I moved when I wasn't supposed to, but I did something because 83mph! 

What the....??!!!

Then as I rode that speed walked down until after a couple blocks it settled into a believable readout. However; that set the maximum speed and well, the average was screwed up too! Ha! No big deal, but maybe someone can explain what I did , or did not do, there because I have no idea. Oh! And this sensor got those little lights to work on the unit that tell you how far below or above average speed you are going. That was nice too. Apparently you cannot have that without a sensor? (Throw in comment concerning poor instructions here.)

This was also the same ride I got the unit to freeze up on the climb page. Also, I had the unit not tracking me correctly after I made a right hand turn out in the country. This was on the climb page and it was when I was following the "VAM" (Vertical Ascent/Meters). The road was climbing and flattened out right before the corner, the right hand turn went to an ascending portion of the road and after about 50 yards it descended for approximately a 1/4 mile run. 

The turn was made and the climb data showed me waaaaay back on the grade instead of near the top. Then I descended. The VAM went negative as the GPS was still tracking me as traversing the road which was ascending, or in other words, the GPS was showing me traveling underground! Cool! Now I'm a gravel mole!

That was pretty laughable so I switched off that page for the remainder of the ride. That wasn't all the weirdness I discovered either. Nope. My desk was traveling at 9+ mph at one point last week as well. Check it out....

This popped up as I was trying to see if I could edit a page.

Yeah....I have no idea. All I know is that GPS is weird. Weird and maybe not quite ready for prime time, at least not for me, at any rate. Again- best GPS experience for me so far by a mile, but still not without its quirks and mysteries. And is it really accurate then? I don't know, but if I had to bet, I'd say probably not.

And I still cannot get elevation read out in a running fashion as I could with the old Lezyne.  

So, as of now I still have not done a turn-by-turn test, but that will happen once I have a three hour window or more to use for a ride. So, we'll hold off on a final verdict until that time happens. If it comes through as a reliable guide for riding, then it will be useful. If not? 

Well, I will have tried.

GPS Take 3: Wahoo Elemnt ROAM - Part 3

 Last time I left you off here concerning the Elemnt ROAM, I had reported that it was a 'waaaay better experience" than my previous GPS tries, and I still stand by that. 

That said: I got the climb screen to freeze up again.

I swiftly swapped over to the normal data page and it went right back to working again, and it never did that again. You might think I needed to do an update. Well, thanks to one of you readers, I did that before the climb page freeze. So, clearly there is an issue there. 

But overall, things are going well. I have had another unique experience that I wanted to pass along here, plus a surprise finding. Maybe it won't surprise any of you, but for me, it was a big surprise and it caused a bit of a data skew that, in my opinion, was funny. 

First, the surprise. I swapped over the mount to my Twin Six Standard Rando v2 bike so I could use the unit with it. I didn't think about how I had two sensors on the bike from the Sigma GPS computer I tried. I had forgotten about them. One was a speed sensor and the other was a cadence sensor. I believe the cadence sensor magnet is dead, as I recall seeing a low battery indication on that the last time I used the Sigma, but at this point of the story, I wasn't cognizant of that fact. I was not remembering the sensors at all.

Check out that maximum speed, baby! Oh yeah!

As I fired up the computer, and waited for the unit to obtain the GPS, it detected the speed sensor and paired with it. Now, I did not know that until the unit beeped and told me a sensor was paired. That's when I remembered: "Oh! Yeah! I have a speed sensor on here that is working!". 

As I rolled off, I may have done something wrong and not paired the sensor correctly or I moved when I wasn't supposed to, but I did something because 83mph! 

What the....??!!!

Then as I rode that speed walked down until after a couple blocks it settled into a believable readout. However; that set the maximum speed and well, the average was screwed up too! Ha! No big deal, but maybe someone can explain what I did , or did not do, there because I have no idea. Oh! And this sensor got those little lights to work on the unit that tell you how far below or above average speed you are going. That was nice too. Apparently you cannot have that without a sensor? (Throw in comment concerning poor instructions here.)

This was also the same ride I got the unit to freeze up on the climb page. Also, I had the unit not tracking me correctly after I made a right hand turn out in the country. This was on the climb page and it was when I was following the "VAM" (Vertical Ascent/Meters). The road was climbing and flattened out right before the corner, the right hand turn went to an ascending portion of the road and after about 50 yards it descended for approximately a 1/4 mile run. 

The turn was made and the climb data showed me waaaaay back on the grade instead of near the top. Then I descended. The VAM went negative as the GPS was still tracking me as traversing the road which was ascending, or in other words, the GPS was showing me traveling underground! Cool! Now I'm a gravel mole!

That was pretty laughable so I switched off that page for the remainder of the ride. That wasn't all the weirdness I discovered either. Nope. My desk was traveling at 9+ mph at one point last week as well. Check it out....

This popped up as I was trying to see if I could edit a page.

Yeah....I have no idea. All I know is that GPS is weird. Weird and maybe not quite ready for prime time, at least not for me, at any rate. Again- best GPS experience for me so far by a mile, but still not without its quirks and mysteries. And is it really accurate then? I don't know, but if I had to bet, I'd say probably not.

And I still cannot get elevation read out in a running fashion as I could with the old Lezyne.  

So, as of now I still have not done a turn-by-turn test, but that will happen once I have a three hour window or more to use for a ride. So, we'll hold off on a final verdict until that time happens. If it comes through as a reliable guide for riding, then it will be useful. If not? 

Well, I will have tried.

The GTDRI Stories: Gravel Changes

An early February ride selfie.

 "The GTDRI Stories" is a series telling the history, untold tales, and showing the sights from the run of Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitationals. This series will run on Sundays. Thanks for reading!

The entire gravel scene kind of shifted into another gear in 2015. The shift from grassroots, low/no-cost events, simple event productions was being surpassed by highly polished productions and ever increasing field sizes with an equivalent rise in entry fees.

The bicycle industry was catching on as well by this time. There were more "gravel" specific products like bicycles, tires, and some apparel. Writers in the field of cycling were starting to give more credence to gravel as being a serious sport. Ex-Pro roadies were starting to eye events like the DK200 as possible ways to extend their competitive careers. The gravel scene was no longer in the hands of the common people any longer. It was now going to be monetized and made into a money-making venture. Both on the retail side and the career side. 

The Carbon Warbird, introduced at the 2015 Frostbike show in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

 Now event directors at a few races were starting to think that they could make a living off their events. Sponsors were getting to be more high-profile as well. This brought on sponsorship for highly talented riders which spurred on more interest both in the general rider categories and from the industry. 

Meanwhile here I was doing things like I had been doing for ten years already. As more people and companies discovered this "new style of cycling", I could only roll my eyes and remember that many of us had been getting criticized for years for being "beardoes" on rides that "weren't real races". Now those same people were "discovering" this "new" thing. Ha! 

But what continues to amaze me is that some media outlets and writers were saying "gravel is the new cycling trend" for the next eight years after that. It's almost as though we didn't exist for nearly twenty years now. It just blows my mind.....

Anyway... The immediate effect of all of this in 2015 was that interest in rides like the GTDRI was increasing as well. I was getting more interest in the ride, and I started to see increases in participation. Where the ride averaged less than ten people a year previously, after 2014 it averaged 12+ people a year. That's not huge in terms of numbers, but it does reflect that participation was on the upswing overall in gravel events. 

My Odin's entry card for 2015

Speaking of participation, 2015 maybe was my peak in terms of gravel events that I participated in. I rode in the Gents Race, the tenth DK200, Odin's Revenge, Gravel Worlds, and in my own GTDRI, along with several "3GR" gravel group rides and two "Geezer Rides". 

Gravel was changing at a rapid pace, and my GTDRI event was kind of becoming a weird thing since it wasn't really a group ride, an event as most people would define that, nor was it for a specific purpose. I think this and the name were reasons that I didn't get a ton of people wanting in. That and I did not promote it willingly outside of my blog. Although I know it was promoted on a few event calendars. 

None of that really mattered to me though. At this point I was just wanting to enjoy a day riding gravel with friends. The GTDRI did that for me, so I was fine with it not growing into whatever it was people thought these grassroots gravel events should turn into. I saw what was happening to events like the Almanzo 100, which saw some amount of turmoil internally and externally due to certain entities wanting to make it more open to commercialization and others wanting to pull back from that, all the while growing numbers of participants to eye-popping amounts considering that it was free to enter.

The WTB Nano 40 debuted in 2015 signalling more interest from cycling companies in gravel riding and racing.

I was glad that I didn't let any of the commercialization aspects happening back then affect the GTDRI. I kept it as it had been from the beginning in 2006. It was easy to put on, required few logistics, and its success or failure was defined by each person's own experiences on the ride. Not by how much money was pulled in, who of the top riders would show up, or if it got in the online publications or on social media. 

It was fun, but as far as 2015 went, that GTDRI was more of a quest, at least for me. I wanted to put that "thing" that had happened in 2014 to rest once and for all. There was more to it than that, but the main driving force for me was to take my Tamland and ride the entire loop. That was it, pretty much. 

Next: The lead up to the tenth GTDRI.

The GTDRI Stories: Gravel Changes

An early February ride selfie.

 "The GTDRI Stories" is a series telling the history, untold tales, and showing the sights from the run of Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitationals. This series will run on Sundays. Thanks for reading!

The entire gravel scene kind of shifted into another gear in 2015. The shift from grassroots, low/no-cost events, simple event productions was being surpassed by highly polished productions and ever increasing field sizes with an equivalent rise in entry fees.

The bicycle industry was catching on as well by this time. There were more "gravel" specific products like bicycles, tires, and some apparel. Writers in the field of cycling were starting to give more credence to gravel as being a serious sport. Ex-Pro roadies were starting to eye events like the DK200 as possible ways to extend their competitive careers. The gravel scene was no longer in the hands of the common people any longer. It was now going to be monetized and made into a money-making venture. Both on the retail side and the career side. 

The Carbon Warbird, introduced at the 2015 Frostbike show in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

 Now event directors at a few races were starting to think that they could make a living off their events. Sponsors were getting to be more high-profile as well. This brought on sponsorship for highly talented riders which spurred on more interest both in the general rider categories and from the industry. 

Meanwhile here I was doing things like I had been doing for ten years already. As more people and companies discovered this "new style of cycling", I could only roll my eyes and remember that many of us had been getting criticized for years for being "beardoes" on rides that "weren't real races". Now those same people were "discovering" this "new" thing. Ha! 

But what continues to amaze me is that some media outlets and writers were saying "gravel is the new cycling trend" for the next eight years after that. It's almost as though we didn't exist for nearly twenty years now. It just blows my mind.....

Anyway... The immediate effect of all of this in 2015 was that interest in rides like the GTDRI was increasing as well. I was getting more interest in the ride, and I started to see increases in participation. Where the ride averaged less than ten people a year previously, after 2014 it averaged 12+ people a year. That's not huge in terms of numbers, but it does reflect that participation was on the upswing overall in gravel events. 

My Odin's entry card for 2015

Speaking of participation, 2015 maybe was my peak in terms of gravel events that I participated in. I rode in the Gents Race, the tenth DK200, Odin's Revenge, Gravel Worlds, and in my own GTDRI, along with several "3GR" gravel group rides and two "Geezer Rides". 

Gravel was changing at a rapid pace, and my GTDRI event was kind of becoming a weird thing since it wasn't really a group ride, an event as most people would define that, nor was it for a specific purpose. I think this and the name were reasons that I didn't get a ton of people wanting in. That and I did not promote it willingly outside of my blog. Although I know it was promoted on a few event calendars. 

None of that really mattered to me though. At this point I was just wanting to enjoy a day riding gravel with friends. The GTDRI did that for me, so I was fine with it not growing into whatever it was people thought these grassroots gravel events should turn into. I saw what was happening to events like the Almanzo 100, which saw some amount of turmoil internally and externally due to certain entities wanting to make it more open to commercialization and others wanting to pull back from that, all the while growing numbers of participants to eye-popping amounts considering that it was free to enter.

The WTB Nano 40 debuted in 2015 signalling more interest from cycling companies in gravel riding and racing.

I was glad that I didn't let any of the commercialization aspects happening back then affect the GTDRI. I kept it as it had been from the beginning in 2006. It was easy to put on, required few logistics, and its success or failure was defined by each person's own experiences on the ride. Not by how much money was pulled in, who of the top riders would show up, or if it got in the online publications or on social media. 

It was fun, but as far as 2015 went, that GTDRI was more of a quest, at least for me. I wanted to put that "thing" that had happened in 2014 to rest once and for all. There was more to it than that, but the main driving force for me was to take my Tamland and ride the entire loop. That was it, pretty much. 

Next: The lead up to the tenth GTDRI.

Velo Orange Utility Bar & Utility Rack Review

The Velo Orange Utility Rack & Utility Bar

 Early in May I got the Velo Orange Utility Bar and Utility Rack mounted to my 2003 Surly Karate Monkey. Since then I have hauled and carried various items from apparel items, a jar of gravel, books, and tools in a bag I obtained which I mounted to the Utulity Rack. I have also carried my Rodecaster podcast unit on the rack amongst a few other items which I bungeed onto the Utility Rack before I had the bag. 

All along I also had two water bottle cages mounted to the backside of the Utility Bar and usually those bottles were filled up. So, between that and all the various cargo loads I feel I have a good handle on what the Utility Rack can do. 

The Utility Bar has also shown merit as a single speed capable bar which, yes- is a thing. I'll get to all of that in this final take on these items which were provided to me by Velo Orange. (See The Standard Disclaimer) 

The jar of gravel went in there. The Velo Orange Utility Rack and Utility Bar on duty here in the country.

If you are not familiar with these components, I did an opening review on the Utility Bar and Utility Rack here. The only additional information I have to add here on these components is that they are now available to purchase from Velo Orange. The Utility Bar is $130.00 and the Utility Rack is $90.00.

Okay, so what's the deal? Well, the Utility Rack is a pretty versatile rack for many mid to smaller sized loads. Gotta pick up a small bag of groceries? How about some beer or soda pop? maybe you have a gym bag or backpack you are tired of wearing? Those things and more are perfect items for carrying on the Utility Rack. It mounts pretty securely to the Utility Bar so you don't have rattles, weird mounting issues, or any fear that the thing will move on you in a negative way. If you can lash it to the rack securely, the rack will not let you down. (As long as you observe the spec weight limitations!) 

The Utility Bar is all steel, and it is heavy. I was worried that it would turn out to be a stiff, unforgiving bar that would be painful on my old hands. But, along with some smart Cardiff cork composite grips, it was anything but. The bar actually has some amount of compliance and in the end, some aluminum flat bars I have ridden were far worse in terms of comfort. 

But that doesn't mean that the Utility Bar was a noodle, especially when cranking out a climb or starting from a dead stop as a single speeder. My Karate Monkey is geared a bit on the high side, and with 180mm cranks, I need to stand and mash, leveraging the bar to enable me to stroke the pedals, and the Utility Bar was great in those circumstances. The width is plenty long enough to help you generate power, and you have a lot of leverage over that load which is attached directly to that bar. That's something to keep in mind here also. 

Some folks were wondering about the bottles being mounted facing the rider. Would that cause my knees to strike the cages or bottles? In fact, they weren't an issue. Even wildly cranking out a sprint across a street to beat traffic, I wasn't seeing any contact between my legs and the cages. Of course, this will all be predicated upon your specific set up. A short top tube bike in combination with a lower head tube will cause an issue, perhaps. But on this bike, it was of no concern. 

Negatives or drawbacks? Yes, a couple here I can think of. First, anytime you fix the relationship between components you lose adjustability. So, the rack and handle bar cannot be adjusted for personal preferences without one thing affecting the other. For instance, you cannot level the rack without it affecting how the swept portion of the bar sits in your hands and vice versa. Say you like the sweep of a bar pointed up slightly. Well, your rack base will not be level. That's the thing you have to accept here, the lack of individual adjustability for each part of the Utility system. 

The other thing I found was that my older Avid levers would not fully clamp the Utility Bar, as if it were very slightly undersized. Your levers may work fine, but I was able to move my levers despite the clamp being fully closed on the bar. 

Finally, the system weighs a lot! You cannot be concerned about weight here. If you are, you'd be best to skip the Utility Bar and Utility Rack for something else entirely. These components will never be mistaken for "weight-weenie" items! That said, they are well designed and I have no doubt that these components will be durable and long lasting. I know that they work really well, and so the weight? To me its a good trade-off for functionality and versatility. 

In the end, I have really liked the Utility Bar and Utility Rack. If you can get on with the lack of ergonomic/rack adjustability, which I was able to do, then this should be on your radar if you want a very sturdy, stable front rack and handle bar. You could also just run the bar without the rack and have water bottle mounts accessible from the cockpit of your bike, which is another way to look at the Utility Bar. The Utility Rack could come off and be put back on again, or you could leave it on permanently for the ultimate "utilitarian" bike. (Ha!) 

Thanks to Velo Orange for the opportunity to review these items for Guitar Ted Productions.

Velo Orange Utility Bar & Utility Rack Review

The Velo Orange Utility Rack & Utility Bar

 Early in May I got the Velo Orange Utility Bar and Utility Rack mounted to my 2003 Surly Karate Monkey. Since then I have hauled and carried various items from apparel items, a jar of gravel, books, and tools in a bag I obtained which I mounted to the Utulity Rack. I have also carried my Rodecaster podcast unit on the rack amongst a few other items which I bungeed onto the Utility Rack before I had the bag. 

All along I also had two water bottle cages mounted to the backside of the Utility Bar and usually those bottles were filled up. So, between that and all the various cargo loads I feel I have a good handle on what the Utility Rack can do. 

The Utility Bar has also shown merit as a single speed capable bar which, yes- is a thing. I'll get to all of that in this final take on these items which were provided to me by Velo Orange. (See The Standard Disclaimer) 

The jar of gravel went in there. The Velo Orange Utility Rack and Utility Bar on duty here in the country.

If you are not familiar with these components, I did an opening review on the Utility Bar and Utility Rack here. The only additional information I have to add here on these components is that they are now available to purchase from Velo Orange. The Utility Bar is $130.00 and the Utility Rack is $90.00.

Okay, so what's the deal? Well, the Utility Rack is a pretty versatile rack for many mid to smaller sized loads. Gotta pick up a small bag of groceries? How about some beer or soda pop? maybe you have a gym bag or backpack you are tired of wearing? Those things and more are perfect items for carrying on the Utility Rack. It mounts pretty securely to the Utility Bar so you don't have rattles, weird mounting issues, or any fear that the thing will move on you in a negative way. If you can lash it to the rack securely, the rack will not let you down. (As long as you observe the spec weight limitations!) 

The Utility Bar is all steel, and it is heavy. I was worried that it would turn out to be a stiff, unforgiving bar that would be painful on my old hands. But, along with some smart Cardiff cork composite grips, it was anything but. The bar actually has some amount of compliance and in the end, some aluminum flat bars I have ridden were far worse in terms of comfort. 

But that doesn't mean that the Utility Bar was a noodle, especially when cranking out a climb or starting from a dead stop as a single speeder. My Karate Monkey is geared a bit on the high side, and with 180mm cranks, I need to stand and mash, leveraging the bar to enable me to stroke the pedals, and the Utility Bar was great in those circumstances. The width is plenty long enough to help you generate power, and you have a lot of leverage over that load which is attached directly to that bar. That's something to keep in mind here also. 

Some folks were wondering about the bottles being mounted facing the rider. Would that cause my knees to strike the cages or bottles? In fact, they weren't an issue. Even wildly cranking out a sprint across a street to beat traffic, I wasn't seeing any contact between my legs and the cages. Of course, this will all be predicated upon your specific set up. A short top tube bike in combination with a lower head tube will cause an issue, perhaps. But on this bike, it was of no concern. 

Negatives or drawbacks? Yes, a couple here I can think of. First, anytime you fix the relationship between components you lose adjustability. So, the rack and handle bar cannot be adjusted for personal preferences without one thing affecting the other. For instance, you cannot level the rack without it affecting how the swept portion of the bar sits in your hands and vice versa. Say you like the sweep of a bar pointed up slightly. Well, your rack base will not be level. That's the thing you have to accept here, the lack of individual adjustability for each part of the Utility system. 

The other thing I found was that my older Avid levers would not fully clamp the Utility Bar, as if it were very slightly undersized. Your levers may work fine, but I was able to move my levers despite the clamp being fully closed on the bar. 

Finally, the system weighs a lot! You cannot be concerned about weight here. If you are, you'd be best to skip the Utility Bar and Utility Rack for something else entirely. These components will never be mistaken for "weight-weenie" items! That said, they are well designed and I have no doubt that these components will be durable and long lasting. I know that they work really well, and so the weight? To me its a good trade-off for functionality and versatility. 

In the end, I have really liked the Utility Bar and Utility Rack. If you can get on with the lack of ergonomic/rack adjustability, which I was able to do, then this should be on your radar if you want a very sturdy, stable front rack and handle bar. You could also just run the bar without the rack and have water bottle mounts accessible from the cockpit of your bike, which is another way to look at the Utility Bar. The Utility Rack could come off and be put back on again, or you could leave it on permanently for the ultimate "utilitarian" bike. (Ha!) 

Thanks to Velo Orange for the opportunity to review these items for Guitar Ted Productions.