Two Things

As seen August 22nd, 2012 at a Salsa Demo

Warbird Debut:A Missed Opportunity

The world found out something I was aware of for a while in the Summer of 2012. It was the fact that there was a bicycle specifically designed to race on gravel roads. Of course, I am speaking of the Salsa Cycles Warbird. The anniversary of my checking the bike out "officially" was this past week.

Trans Iowa was a proving ground for the model, as was the DK200 in Kansas. Both races were long, arduous, and tested man and machine to their limits. I was in the front seat to see the development of Salsa Cycles work in the gravel field going back to 2009 when I saw what became (briefly) the titanium La Cruz gravel/cyclo cross bike. That quickly gave way to another new prototype bike which saw duty in Trans Iowa v7 and v8. This bike I actually was able to get an up-close look at and ride briefly at T.I.v8. The bike became the Warbird and was shown at Quality Bicycles Summer "Saddledrive" show in 2012 to dealers and then to the public at several demo stops during that Summer. I saw and rode both the titanium model and the aluminum model in August up in the Twin Cities at a demo. 

The bike, at least the titanium version, was a fine introduction, despite its ridiculously narrow tire clearances, even for 2012. However; while the focus was on that fancy grey-silver metal frame, there was another Warbird that kind of flew under the radar. That was the aluminum version of the bike. Costing far less than the fancy titanium bike, the aluminum bike was not very well received. 

In my opinion, and in the opinion of many others at the time, Salsa Cycles made a mistake. While aluminum was a fine choice, it was not the popular one. Had Salsa Cycles decided upon a steel Warbird, I feel the sales would have been much more brisk out of the gate for the bike. The perception of that time was that a steel or a titanium bike was more well suited for gravel than a carbon or an aluminum alloy bike would be. 

Of course, we will never know if that was correct, as Salsa never did do a steel framed Warbird, at least not one for sale, and when they moved to the Class 5 VRS rear end, steel was not strong enough to handle the stresses the design imparted on the frame, so it became a moot point at that juncture.

Gravel Worlds Memories:

Also, the Gravel Worlds event happened yesterday. This was a time-marker for me for several years and my memories of attending the event run deep and strong yet today. I have not been to a Gravel Worlds since 2021, but that doesn't mean I didn't miss going there, at least a little bit. 

I have many friends and dearly loved people I miss because I cannot attend the event these days. These people, of course, are a big reason I feel left out here in Iowa. It would be a ton of fun to be around those folks again, at least for a little while. 

But another part of me misses Gravel Worlds from the times that I did the event. The event is not the way it used to be anymore, so perhaps I would feel a bit let down if I did attend the event now. I cannot say 100% that this would be the case, but for certain, a part of the nostalgia for "how things used to be" is part of what I feel. 

A few shots from my Gravel Worlds past...

That's me bombing a long downhill in 2015. Photographer unknown.

Back in the day, you could be assured of riding large chunks of the event all alone.

Tony McGrane (L) and myself. 2016 - The only time I ever finished the event.

My last go-round with Gravel Worlds in 2021. Image by M. McColgan

There are a lot more I could post, but I'll spare you the boredom of looking at wide expanses of Nebraskan rolling hills! Maybe I'll make it out there again someday, but some things will have to change here for me if I ever do get a chance  to go back to Gravel Worlds.