Two Things

Back At It

Thursday N.Y. Roll and I recorded a new podcast. It was the first since my son died and it went fine. I'll come back around to this thought in a bit.

But first, I was surprised to learn CORE4 has over a thousand riders registered for today's event. That is certainly impressive! We talked about this on this episode, but I wonder if CORE4's rapid growth in numbers will start to bring with it some negativity. We will see. 

We also discussed this 'drop bar MTB/gravel' thing. I'm tempted again to drag this aging old 29"er I have in the Lab out and see if I couldn't convert it into such a rig for some testing. It is an old Gary Fisher HiFi FS 29"er from around 2008. It would be a perfect bike since it has XC geometry and short-ish travel. It isn't a tank, but I cannot imagine something like this not weighing in the low to mid 20's for weight no matter what I slide in there for wheels. 

I've got just about everything I'll need to swap over to a drop bar MTB set up, and why the heck not? Well, we'll see. It'd be a fun experiment, if nothing else. A project like this might help me too, since it will keep my mind employed and all this sitting around the past two weeks needs to come to an end.

But it was necessary time with the family and for myself. Getting the podcast going again is another step towards "new normal" around here. Of course, it will never be the same as it once was.  

Oh! And the link to the latest podcast on the Spotify site is HERE. 

Image by Greg Grandgeorge

Iowa Wind and Rock Announces 2026 Dates:

Iowa Wind and Rock (IWAR) has set the date for the eighth running  of this ultra-endurance test of physical and mental strength. The 300+ mile event will take place on Saturday - Sunday, April 18th - 19th. 

IWAR is the direct descendant of Trans Iowa, the event I put on for 14 straight years. This event is unique, very difficult, attracts few takers, and is one of the most unique and rare events in gravel cycling.

I used to hint and tease that some day there would be no more Trans Iowa, and that is true, but there is still a "Trans Iowa-like" event in IWAR. But this event this may be a thing of the past sooner than later.  

While this event is not attractive to most cyclists, if you even have a hint of "I want to do this some day", don't wait. Because I can tell you from experiences I have had with Trans Iowa's ending that regret is real and second chances don't always happen. In fact, I would wager that if IWAR ends, and it will someday, that no one else will ever put on an event like it in Iowa,m or anywhere, ever again. I was floored when IWAR started, to be honest. That a few folks want to even try doing this sort of event year after year besides me is beyond my comprehension. So, yeah.... 

This is a super-rare event which will change your life, if you toe the line. If it goes away before you decide to do it? I don't think you'll ever get the chance again. That's my take on things.