The Victory Ride Report: Experience 'Murca

Image by Rob Evans

One thing about rural Iowa that might be not so unique, but maybe not very well realized, is that it is a place where political leanings are typically far right of center. Funny thing is, if you can get past the veneer of that, people are genuinely very kind and giving. 

It's easy to lean on popular characterizations of people and judge the book by its cover. That's the cool thing about gravel riding. You might be rubbing shoulders with a conservatively leaning rider, and you may be a liberal in your views, but when we ride together, does any of that really matter? Generally speaking, it has been my experience that no- it does not matter. What does matter is treating each other with kindness and empathy. When we do that, and it seems to happen more naturally and commonly with gravel rides and people, it is a beautiful thing. 

I'll circle around back to this later....

We rode through the middle of Vinton's Farmer's Market!

Stopping to gather up the tribe.

While we were in Vinton the wind finally came up as advertised out of the Southwest. Good thing we were heading mostly Northward now! I was riding alongside Warren for much of this stretch and we had a nice chat. It also started spitting rain about this time. 

The skies were looking a tad bit less friendly for a bit there.

This section of the ride was less hilly, twisty, and was out in the open more. Much more like what I am used to than what we rode in the morning. I enjoyed rolling some miles with Warren and the rain drops, while intermittent, never materialized into an outright rain. 

The weather was actually about as good as we could have hoped for, and the wind was a bonus for the time being. I was feeling fine and rolling along at a steady pace. My gear (40T X 20T) was a bit lower than the others had, (Yes, there were more single speeders), and so my speed in the flats was not as high at my lazy cadence as theirs was. 

Then there was THIS hill!

Rolling into Brandon

There was one last brutal hill. Rob said he registered 17.5% for a grade on that one. All I know is that more than a few of us walked it. No shame when you are riding a single speed. Walking should be a part of your riding if the hills are steep and you have a single speed. 

Because you just have to, right?

The story

Of course, we all had fun with "Iowa's Largest Frying Pan" and we took several pictures there. Once that was done, I asked about refilling a water bottle for the last 10 - 12 miles of the route. I was told we should go to the CVNT trailhead in Brandon where there was a restroom. However; if that did not pan out, there was a bar in Brandon we could check out. 

Warren said just then that if all I needed was some water, he had that and to spare. So we filled my water bottle and when we were done I turned around and no one was there. I had no idea which way they may have gone either. 

It isn't a "real bar" in Iowa unless it has one of these in it.

 

'Murca: Part 2

Well, we wandered around a bit but we found the group and so that feeling of dread and of being left behind was but a fleeting memory. The shelter at the trailhead proved fruitless so we went to the bar. Several were quite ready for a libation. So we marched in.

Remember what I said at the top about how we judge each other too quickly based upon stuff that doesn't matter? Well, when we came in we saw two - what I assumed to be locals - sitting at a booth chatting up the female bartender. We definitely got the stink-eye. These two didn't stick around long after we came in. Well, we mostly, I think, were on our best behavior and were pleasant and spent money there. So, the bartender was cool with us. And in the end, we all ended up getting along just fine, wishing each other a good day when we left. 

Pounding out the final miles on the Cedar Valley Nature Trail

A final "Barns For Jason".

As we were getting ready to leave, it was apparent that we were going to be facing a strong headwind if we rode the planned route. It was suggested that we could take the CVNT instead, which was more direct and tree-shrouded for most of the run back to Brandon. There was a bit of debate and no one wanted to make a call, but it was apparent that the sentiment for going straight back on the CVNT was strong. So, I made the call. Everyone sighed a sigh of relief. Besides, it was almost raining at this point. 

The trail was being worked on. The construction was ongoing, but as it was a weekend, no work was being done. The trail surface varied from smooth, compressed dirt to asphalt freshly laid and was peppered with various concrete water crossings, or mini-bridges. These were often marked by their meeting with the asphalt by a 'step-up' or 'step-down' of an inch or more since the last layer of asphalt hadn't been laid yet. Every road crossing had two "Road Closed" signs to navigate around. There was caution tape across the trail in many spots as well. So in other words, there were plenty of obstacles in the way.

We saw a lot of cyclists for this more remote portion of the CVNT. I was impressed by this. Then we came upon a transition from a gravel road crossing, of which there were many, to the trail again and having to negotiate a "Road Closed" sign which was barring entrance to the trail. I dropped my wheels down into the softer dirt alongside some freshly paved asphalt, had my front wheel wash out to the left, and subsequently was dumped off my bicycle to the right, smashing my knee into the paved surface, and then rolling across to a stop. 

I had few strawberries on my knee but no other damage to body or bicycle. With a little assistance from the others, I was up and running again.

Making the post-event t-shirts in the parking lot.

A finished product

When we returned Warren got out his t-shirt making supplies and everyone that brought out a t-shirt to be spray painted got a t-shirt done up right there in the parking lot! By the way, I didn't have time to get myself a proper t-shirt for this black logo, so Warren sent the template home with me. 

Image by Rob Evans

We then walked over to the local coffee shop, which honestly rivals anything I've seen in any big town, and sat in the beautiful outdoor patio area. We chatted for a bit, and then around 4:00pm we said our good-byes and departed from each other back to our homes again. 

N.Y. Roll quipped as he dropped me off back in Waterloo, "I think that was a success", and he isn't wrong. It was great. I received many compliments on the area, the ride, and how the day went. We had requests to do that again. So, if you have that sort of feedback, yeah, I'd say we did good. We? Naw.... Not me! I just showed up and rode this. Warren Weibe and N.Y. Roll are the guys to thank here. 

Will we ever do this again? We will do something. We will hold a ride like this but maybe somewhere else, or maybe......I don't know. We did the "Hall of Fame Ride" in 2022. We did the "Victory Ride" this
year. I can't make any promises, but if something happens, I hope that it is like this ride, and I'll tell you about it here first. 

Stay tuned..