Friday News And Views

Image courtesy of Salsa Cycles

New Timberjack Model:

Salsa Cycles revealed earlier this week that it has a new Timberjack model out. It features a Deore SLX 12 speed 1X drive train and a Rock Shox Psylo Silver fork with 140mm of travel. 

The 6061 T-6 aluminum frame feattures fully lined internal routing, a dropper post route, and plenty of accessory mounts. The bike also has the Alternator V2 drop outs for single speed or varying your wheel base. 

This model is set up with 29" wheels but Timberjacks can also support 27.5"er wheels and tires as well. The Timberjack Deore SLX is listed at $1,699.00 USD. You can see more on this bike HERE. 

Salsa also announced new Rangefinder models. These are Salsa's entry level hardtail MTB's with prices ranging from $899.00 to $1,499.00 in varying spec and colors with 27.5" and 29" wheels. Check those out HERE. 

Finally, Salsa also announced that they now offer a UDH compatible Alternator drop out. See your Salsa dealer for details. 

Blogs Making A Comeback?

Recently I have noticed a very small bit of chatter online concerning social media platforms, content creation, and the desire for created content to have more accessibility and permanence. It seems that many people are seeing certain social media platform owners as being not very palatable, and also there is a feeling of missing connections with prospective viewers/readers due to how social media platforms operate. Content can be dropped and can be buried in a feed quickly, making its impact of little import. 

So, there has been talk of people resurrecting, or creating blogs again. I saw one such instance where a blog which had been dormant since 2012 was started up again. Others are also thinking along these lines and some are pointing to content sites like Substack as a venue for more permanent content holding. 

There used to be a thriving network of cycling related bloggers which one could "make the rounds" on every day or weekly, depending on how often a creator uploaded content. That all died away in the late 2000's when Facebook basically took that role over. However; now many see that social media site as less than optimal. Many see the owner, "Mr Z", as being a person they do not wish to support by using the site. 

Another facet of this may be the disappearance of physical media, the lack of any quality, free centralized informative cycling sites or publications online, and the wish for reading material versus videos. Many have cited videos as being tiring and not how they want to connect. I don't know, but if blogging makes a comeback, I'm here for it. 

They say what comes around goes around....

Image courtesy of Dirtsixer's Instagram

Will 32" Tires Become A Thing?

Dirtysixer, a small company specializing in larger diameter wheeled bicycles, has shown a new tire from Maxxis on one of their gravel bike models recently with a promise that this tire will be available from Dirtysixer on their 32"er wheeled gravel and MTB models. 

Comments: The tire, an Aspen, would make sense from the perspective of being good at gravel, dirt, and broken up surfaces. The tire is a versatile model, very popular in Maxxis' range, and should be a very good performer. 

However; it is what this says about the future of 32" wheels which is possibly of more importance. Understanding that a company like Maxxis isn't going to open a new mold willy-nilly. No, they don't do things like this unless they plan on selling a lot of tires. 

It would seem to me, knowing what I know from the past and 29"er development, that someone else other than Dirtsixer is interested in doing 32"er bikes. Of course, that could be any brand out there, but if I had to guess, I would exclude Trek, Giant, Specialized, and Cannondale off the top. Now certainly, it is entirely possible I am wrong, but usually bigger companies wait on trends to see if they will take hold before stripping away resources from somewhere else to develop a heretofore unknown quantity. 

We will see. Next time you are riding in a big gravel event, look closely at those taller riders. If they are on a Dirtysixer, you may get a close-up of this new Maxxis tire, or the Vee Tire model also being offered in 32" by Dirtysixer. Happy tire spotting!

Image courtesy of Twin Six

A Gravel Road Themed T-Shirt:

Twin Six, the Minneapolis, Minnesota based apparel company, usually launches a "T-shirt of the Month" every 6th of any given month. They have been doing this for years now.  

February's T-shirt of the Month is a gravel road themed design that I have not seen the likes of from Twin Six. In fact, it may be their first ever gravel road oriented t-shirt design. I cannot think of another from the past, but I could be wrong. 

For what it is worth, these Twin Six offerings are fantastic t-shirts. I just got one last year in the Fall (Bicycle riding Jesus) and it feels great and launders well. These shirts from Twin Six run around 28 bucks and should last you for years. 

Okay, so you are probably thinking I'm getting one of these. And I would, but for a hang-up I have with light colored/white t-shirts. I refuse to wear light colored/white t's. I just can't do it. I feel horrible in almost any color that isn't black, but I have been known to wear dark blue, dark grey, maroon, and maybe a few other colors here and there. But yeah.....I wish this woulda been a black T-shirt. But it isn't It's "Oatmeal". 

sigh!

Get yours if you don't have a hang-up like mine soon because Twin Six only does these T's of the Month in limited quantities. 

That's a wrap on this week's FN&V! Now get out there and ride a bicycle!

Changes And Tweaks

You may have noticed things look a bit different here on the blog of late. Well, you are right. It isn't you, and it isn't me, it's "The Way of the Web". That's what I like to think of it as anyway. Now, I am no web designer, "IT" guy, or programming person by any stretch, so I may be way off base here, but this is my take on "The Way of the Web".

See, in the background this whole system is based on code that has to be 'supported' by the host's web folk. In this case it is Google who owns Blogger. Well, in the grand scheme of things, and in order to keep folks employed and doing something, these coders and web designers are always up to something new. You know.....gotta keep it fresh! 

And things change. Heck, when I started this blog a gizmo called an iPad didn't even exist yet. Nor did iPhones, or smart phones, for that matter. I think we were still pretty deep into the 'flip-phone' era back then..... Anyway....

You have to accommodate new user's ways of consuming content! So, old platforms don't show up as well on modern screens, and well, that means changes too. The result of it all is that older platforms get 'unsupported' and unless you switch to "The New" you may experience issues, or be shut down altogether. I cannot say how many times I've been through this in 15+ years, but I want to say at least three to four times. 

Well, here we are with another change and that due to my old template - which I think has been in effect for at least a decade - being 'unsupported', I think..... I'm not sure because Blogger never did tell me. Usually they do warn me, but not this time. Nope! I wouldn't have known anything had changed except for a few clues. One was when my header function went weird, and another was when I couldn't get in the backend anymore and make certain tweaks that I used to be able to do. Now the other day, I look at my blog and .......WHAT?!! Things looked totally wonky. 

So, I get in the backside of things and I see that the template has magically changed itself without my permission. Yeah.......so I see where this is going now. Time for a template upgrade. And that is what you are seeing here now. Welcome to the 'New Look" G-Ted Productions! 

I know this is probably insanely boring for many of you readers, but it does affect your engagement here and I wanted to explain what was going on. I hope that this is not off-putting and that your enjoyment of the blog continues unabated. But, you know, some people won't take a shine to this and maybe you are one? Let me know in the comments. And by the way, I still haven't gotten the header size and centering completely 100% to my liking. That's going to have to wait for a rainy day..... 

So, that's the news today here on the blog. Again- If you ever have any comments, concerns, suggestions, or rants, just let me know in the comments or email me at g.ted.productions@gmail.com. I respond to every request. 

Cheers and thank you for reading the blog!

Changes And Tweaks

You may have noticed things look a bit different here on the blog of late. Well, you are right. It isn't you, and it isn't me, it's "The Way of the Web". That's what I like to think of it as anyway. Now, I am no web designer, "IT" guy, or programming person by any stretch, so I may be way off base here, but this is my take on "The Way of the Web".

See, in the background this whole system is based on code that has to be 'supported' by the host's web folk. In this case it is Google who owns Blogger. Well, in the grand scheme of things, and in order to keep folks employed and doing something, these coders and web designers are always up to something new. You know.....gotta keep it fresh! 

And things change. Heck, when I started this blog a gizmo called an iPad didn't even exist yet. Nor did iPhones, or smart phones, for that matter. I think we were still pretty deep into the 'flip-phone' era back then..... Anyway....

You have to accommodate new user's ways of consuming content! So, old platforms don't show up as well on modern screens, and well, that means changes too. The result of it all is that older platforms get 'unsupported' and unless you switch to "The New" you may experience issues, or be shut down altogether. I cannot say how many times I've been through this in 15+ years, but I want to say at least three to four times. 

Well, here we are with another change and that due to my old template - which I think has been in effect for at least a decade - being 'unsupported', I think..... I'm not sure because Blogger never did tell me. Usually they do warn me, but not this time. Nope! I wouldn't have known anything had changed except for a few clues. One was when my header function went weird, and another was when I couldn't get in the backend anymore and make certain tweaks that I used to be able to do. Now the other day, I look at my blog and .......WHAT?!! Things looked totally wonky. 

So, I get in the backside of things and I see that the template has magically changed itself without my permission. Yeah.......so I see where this is going now. Time for a template upgrade. And that is what you are seeing here now. Welcome to the 'New Look" G-Ted Productions! 

I know this is probably insanely boring for many of you readers, but it does affect your engagement here and I wanted to explain what was going on. I hope that this is not off-putting and that your enjoyment of the blog continues unabated. But, you know, some people won't take a shine to this and maybe you are one? Let me know in the comments. And by the way, I still haven't gotten the header size and centering completely 100% to my liking. That's going to have to wait for a rainy day..... 

So, that's the news today here on the blog. Again- If you ever have any comments, concerns, suggestions, or rants, just let me know in the comments or email me at g.ted.productions@gmail.com. I respond to every request. 

Cheers and thank you for reading the blog!

Technical Difficulties

The old, traditional header size has been borked by Blogger.

 Recently you may have noted that there has been a change to the formatting of this blog. It has to do with the 'template' I use provided by Blogger, the entity that this blog is hosted by, which, by the way, is a Google company now these days. Didn't used to be when I started out here. Anyway....

I received a comment Thursday, and I thought there may be a few of you out there who are wondering the same thing. So, this post will explain it the best that I am able to. The comment first:

"GT, Howdy;
I've noticed that over the past week perhaps 2 or longer the Banner Photo has been reduced
in size. What's with that? Just curious."

Well, the answer is a bit complex. From time to time, our digital overlords decide to 'update' our tools, platforms, and devices that they live in. We don't get to choose what happens, many times, and so functionality, user experience, and creative interface gets screwed up- if you think the 'update' is goofy- and you end up having to adapt. 

If there is one thing I've learned in 15+ years of blogging is that you'd better be able to accept changes and adapt. Changes are coming whether or not you want them, like them, or understand why they came. Like when Google brought Blogger under its control. Whoo-Boy! That was a sea change in user experience! They took away a bunch of control and tried to pre-package the formatting so that everything ended up being what 'they thought' was cool- not what the users thought was cool. 

And these little nuances, these little changes reflect that big change when Google took over. One day everything looks like it always did and then- poof! You open up your content editor and some dinky little thing has been tweaked by someone you'll never know so that now you have to do things a completely different way. Oh, and you get no warning. No tutelage on how to navigate the new change, or how it 'benefits' you. Yeah................thanks guys! 

So, that is what happened. I have yet to figure out how to adjust the header so it is like it used to be. Once I do- if I ever do- we'll get back to the way things once were here. Or not.........

Maybe we'll have to adapt and change with the times. You can read into that whatever you'd like.

Technical Difficulties

The old, traditional header size has been borked by Blogger.

 Recently you may have noted that there has been a change to the formatting of this blog. It has to do with the 'template' I use provided by Blogger, the entity that this blog is hosted by, which, by the way, is a Google company now these days. Didn't used to be when I started out here. Anyway....

I received a comment Thursday, and I thought there may be a few of you out there who are wondering the same thing. So, this post will explain it the best that I am able to. The comment first:

"GT, Howdy;
I've noticed that over the past week perhaps 2 or longer the Banner Photo has been reduced
in size. What's with that? Just curious."

Well, the answer is a bit complex. From time to time, our digital overlords decide to 'update' our tools, platforms, and devices that they live in. We don't get to choose what happens, many times, and so functionality, user experience, and creative interface gets screwed up- if you think the 'update' is goofy- and you end up having to adapt. 

If there is one thing I've learned in 15+ years of blogging is that you'd better be able to accept changes and adapt. Changes are coming whether or not you want them, like them, or understand why they came. Like when Google brought Blogger under its control. Whoo-Boy! That was a sea change in user experience! They took away a bunch of control and tried to pre-package the formatting so that everything ended up being what 'they thought' was cool- not what the users thought was cool. 

And these little nuances, these little changes reflect that big change when Google took over. One day everything looks like it always did and then- poof! You open up your content editor and some dinky little thing has been tweaked by someone you'll never know so that now you have to do things a completely different way. Oh, and you get no warning. No tutelage on how to navigate the new change, or how it 'benefits' you. Yeah................thanks guys! 

So, that is what happened. I have yet to figure out how to adjust the header so it is like it used to be. Once I do- if I ever do- we'll get back to the way things once were here. Or not.........

Maybe we'll have to adapt and change with the times. You can read into that whatever you'd like.

Friday News And Views

Another bear sighting in Iowa recently. From the Iowa DNR page on Facebook

The Bears Come And The Bears Go:

Some folks live in "bear country", so this will be no big deal to them, but here in Iowa, bears are rarely seen. Last year I believe it was, there was a black bear sighting near Janesville, which is a village I cycle in and around often. This year in Northeast Iowa black bears were spotted again, which, for Iowa, is where you would expect to see bears. The terrain up there and the proximity to Wisconsin and Minnesota, both black bear homes, makes this occurrence less spectacular.

However; when you see that a bear has been spotted in Grundy County, which is due West of here, and mostly agricultural, it raises your attention levels. Especially in Fall. Spring and Summer bear sightings are most common, if you are to see a bear at all in Iowa, but Fall? I've never heard of it before.

Actually, I've never heard of black bears in Iowa until recently. When I was young, or in my 20's and 30's, it wasn't on my radar and no one spoke of such a thing. We would see the stray moose now and again, but never bears. Maybe I just wasn't aware of them and they have always been coming through Iowa. Hmm...... I just know that if I see one out gravel grinding someday I'll think I was hallucinating!

Ibis introduces the Hakka MX gravel/adventure bike

 Hakka (Gravel) Lugi:

Cyclo Cross spawned a subset of weirdness at one time which was sort of refreshing. I remember when Ibis debuted the cross bike they made in steel back in the day. They understood cyclo cross was a totally anaerobic, pain infested form of cycling, and the name they picked for their entry into the CX world reflected this in typical Ibis humor. They dubbed the bike the "Hakkalugi", in reference to how the lung searing efforts of cyclo cross would often cause one to hack up a large wad of mucus.

Well, cyclo cross got all serious, so maybe the humorous part of Ibis' past has been lost, but they have entered a rig in the gravel/adventure category and dubbed it the "Hakka MX". That's kind of a lame name, considering Ibis' past. I mean, it's obvious we don't have "MX" to "hack up", so whatever that means is lost on me. (I know......moto cross....whatever...)

The bike seems to be pretty on point as far as geometry and the current "multi-wheel fit" mania that has taken hold of the cycling world lately. Really.....who is going to actually swap out wheel sizes? It is a selling feature more than it is a practical feature, in my opinion. But however you see that playing out, it is a cool bike. It fits pretty big tires, and should make for a lightweight platform for a racy gravel rig. Plus, (little known TI fact), a Hakkalugi rider won T.I.v8. So there is that.

A T.I.v14 Rookie started an "event page" for Trans Iowa. Funny thing- I never was asked about it!

Things Unasked For:

Back when Jeff Kerkove launched Trans Iowa (V1), he did it on his Blogger page and on the MTBR.com Endurance Forum. Social media wasn't a "thing" back in late 2004, so, ya know, he did what he did. It worked, and it worked really well. Discussion about the event flourished on the MTBR forum for the first four or so Trans Iowas, but after T.I.v3, social media crept in and people moved away from blogs and MTBR's endurance forum became a sort of wasteland. About around 2010, I noticed more and more gravel road event promoters were either doing actual "dot-com" sites, using Bike Reg.com as a defacto event site, or even more so, using Facebook as a "free event page" platform. Now in 2017 I would estimate that 60% or more of the events we catalog on RidingGravel.com's Events Page are Facebook addressed websites.


I have doggedly avoided Facebook for Trans Iowa purposes. It has become necessary to use it to link back to the original Blogger site, or this blog, to get information out there, but I almost never announce anything directly on Facebook, and a Trans Iowa page has never been set up, until now. And I didn't do it nor did I ask for it! 

Apparently some Rookie decided Facebook should be utilized as a place for discussion about the event, and set up a page, which looks "official", (he even pinched my artwork without asking), and is set up as though you might think I had something to do with it. I don't, and honestly, I don't care other than that this is a pretty cheeky move on this rider's part. I mean, you would think he'd have had the decency to at least ask. 

I guess I'm all wrong about that!


Have a great weekend and get in some riding. Thanksgiving is coming!

Friday News And Views

Another bear sighting in Iowa recently. From the Iowa DNR page on Facebook

The Bears Come And The Bears Go:

Some folks live in "bear country", so this will be no big deal to them, but here in Iowa, bears are rarely seen. Last year I believe it was, there was a black bear sighting near Janesville, which is a village I cycle in and around often. This year in Northeast Iowa black bears were spotted again, which, for Iowa, is where you would expect to see bears. The terrain up there and the proximity to Wisconsin and Minnesota, both black bear homes, makes this occurrence less spectacular.

However; when you see that a bear has been spotted in Grundy County, which is due West of here, and mostly agricultural, it raises your attention levels. Especially in Fall. Spring and Summer bear sightings are most common, if you are to see a bear at all in Iowa, but Fall? I've never heard of it before.

Actually, I've never heard of black bears in Iowa until recently. When I was young, or in my 20's and 30's, it wasn't on my radar and no one spoke of such a thing. We would see the stray moose now and again, but never bears. Maybe I just wasn't aware of them and they have always been coming through Iowa. Hmm...... I just know that if I see one out gravel grinding someday I'll think I was hallucinating!

Ibis introduces the Hakka MX gravel/adventure bike

 Hakka (Gravel) Lugi:

Cyclo Cross spawned a subset of weirdness at one time which was sort of refreshing. I remember when Ibis debuted the cross bike they made in steel back in the day. They understood cyclo cross was a totally anaerobic, pain infested form of cycling, and the name they picked for their entry into the CX world reflected this in typical Ibis humor. They dubbed the bike the "Hakkalugi", in reference to how the lung searing efforts of cyclo cross would often cause one to hack up a large wad of mucus.

Well, cyclo cross got all serious, so maybe the humorous part of Ibis' past has been lost, but they have entered a rig in the gravel/adventure category and dubbed it the "Hakka MX". That's kind of a lame name, considering Ibis' past. I mean, it's obvious we don't have "MX" to "hack up", so whatever that means is lost on me. (I know......moto cross....whatever...)

The bike seems to be pretty on point as far as geometry and the current "multi-wheel fit" mania that has taken hold of the cycling world lately. Really.....who is going to actually swap out wheel sizes? It is a selling feature more than it is a practical feature, in my opinion. But however you see that playing out, it is a cool bike. It fits pretty big tires, and should make for a lightweight platform for a racy gravel rig. Plus, (little known TI fact), a Hakkalugi rider won T.I.v8. So there is that.

A T.I.v14 Rookie started an "event page" for Trans Iowa. Funny thing- I never was asked about it!

Things Unasked For:

Back when Jeff Kerkove launched Trans Iowa (V1), he did it on his Blogger page and on the MTBR.com Endurance Forum. Social media wasn't a "thing" back in late 2004, so, ya know, he did what he did. It worked, and it worked really well. Discussion about the event flourished on the MTBR forum for the first four or so Trans Iowas, but after T.I.v3, social media crept in and people moved away from blogs and MTBR's endurance forum became a sort of wasteland. About around 2010, I noticed more and more gravel road event promoters were either doing actual "dot-com" sites, using Bike Reg.com as a defacto event site, or even more so, using Facebook as a "free event page" platform. Now in 2017 I would estimate that 60% or more of the events we catalog on RidingGravel.com's Events Page are Facebook addressed websites.


I have doggedly avoided Facebook for Trans Iowa purposes. It has become necessary to use it to link back to the original Blogger site, or this blog, to get information out there, but I almost never announce anything directly on Facebook, and a Trans Iowa page has never been set up, until now. And I didn't do it nor did I ask for it! 

Apparently some Rookie decided Facebook should be utilized as a place for discussion about the event, and set up a page, which looks "official", (he even pinched my artwork without asking), and is set up as though you might think I had something to do with it. I don't, and honestly, I don't care other than that this is a pretty cheeky move on this rider's part. I mean, you would think he'd have had the decency to at least ask. 

I guess I'm all wrong about that!


Have a great weekend and get in some riding. Thanksgiving is coming!