Rear View '20: The First Quarter

2020 kicked off with the Iowa Gravel expo Pop-up Series.

 Hello Readers! Once again I am doing the annual retrospective on what went down over the year of 2020. This post will focus on the First Quarter of the year. Other posts will cover the other quarters for a total of four, one each week of December on Thursdays.This is the first "Rear View" post of the series. 

First Quarter: This seems like it happened a decade ago, but there was a time during 2020 that was 'pre-COVID-19' in America. The year started out with my usual "State of the Gravel Scene" posts and I'll have a little to say about that later this month. The other thing I had going on was another season of the "Iowa Gravel Expo" with N.Y. Roll. We did a 'pop-up' series with two events in January and two in February at Second State Brewing. 

But the biggest news early in the year was my switch to working at a new bike shop after 17+ years at the previous shop. Andy's Bike shop was my new employer and I got started off working here and there throughout the rest of the Winter until right about when COVID hit where I was working four days a week. 

Late January and early February brought about four to five weeks of decent fat biking weather. With all the time off I had, I was digging into some rides and I actually had one of my best fat biking seasons that I've had in many a year. Even though conditions were only good for maybe a month, and I typically with the old job would have missed out on a lot of the opportunities to ride. So, not much money in that, but it was fun!

The snow was the meat in a weird gravel riding sandwich time. Great gravel riding was had from late 2019 right up through to mid-January, and then again from the mark out of the gate in March onward. "Slop Season" wasn't bad, and the roads were top notch for early riding. I also had a trip in here, my last one for a long, long time. 

T-Bock's sports bar in Decorah, Iowa where the pre-race meetings for T.I.v3 and v4 were held. Seen here in 2020.

 I went up to Decorah, Iowa on Leap Day to interview Marty Larson of the Heywood Ride for RidingGravel. It was a glorious day with Mrs. Guitar Ted and I had a wonderful time. I also was gearing up for an event I was putting on with N.Y. Roll, the C.O.G. 100, which we had to tie up a lot of loose ends for with the event set to happen on the last weekend of March, and right away, a week afterward I was to do the 10th annual Gent's Race, but as we all know, THAT never happened! 

Everything went upside down mid-March and the World as I knew it was changed. No plans mattered, and all the social and economic weirdness kicked in with a heavy dose of fear. I just was freaking out, to be honest, and just riding out in the country alone on gravel roads felt odd, like I wasn't supposed to be doing this......maybe? 

And that was the biggest thing, right? No one knew anything for certain about anything- Just stay away from people, shelter at home, wash yer hands, don't touch your face, sanitize EVERYTHING and good luck finding toilet paper. Oh,,,,,,and all the gravel events were cancelling or moving dates to Fall.

Next on the Rear View '20: April, May, and June

Rear View '20: The First Quarter

2020 kicked off with the Iowa Gravel expo Pop-up Series.

 Hello Readers! Once again I am doing the annual retrospective on what went down over the year of 2020. This post will focus on the First Quarter of the year. Other posts will cover the other quarters for a total of four, one each week of December on Thursdays.This is the first "Rear View" post of the series. 

First Quarter: This seems like it happened a decade ago, but there was a time during 2020 that was 'pre-COVID-19' in America. The year started out with my usual "State of the Gravel Scene" posts and I'll have a little to say about that later this month. The other thing I had going on was another season of the "Iowa Gravel Expo" with N.Y. Roll. We did a 'pop-up' series with two events in January and two in February at Second State Brewing. 

But the biggest news early in the year was my switch to working at a new bike shop after 17+ years at the previous shop. Andy's Bike shop was my new employer and I got started off working here and there throughout the rest of the Winter until right about when COVID hit where I was working four days a week. 

Late January and early February brought about four to five weeks of decent fat biking weather. With all the time off I had, I was digging into some rides and I actually had one of my best fat biking seasons that I've had in many a year. Even though conditions were only good for maybe a month, and I typically with the old job would have missed out on a lot of the opportunities to ride. So, not much money in that, but it was fun!

The snow was the meat in a weird gravel riding sandwich time. Great gravel riding was had from late 2019 right up through to mid-January, and then again from the mark out of the gate in March onward. "Slop Season" wasn't bad, and the roads were top notch for early riding. I also had a trip in here, my last one for a long, long time. 

T-Bock's sports bar in Decorah, Iowa where the pre-race meetings for T.I.v3 and v4 were held. Seen here in 2020.

 I went up to Decorah, Iowa on Leap Day to interview Marty Larson of the Heywood Ride for RidingGravel. It was a glorious day with Mrs. Guitar Ted and I had a wonderful time. I also was gearing up for an event I was putting on with N.Y. Roll, the C.O.G. 100, which we had to tie up a lot of loose ends for with the event set to happen on the last weekend of March, and right away, a week afterward I was to do the 10th annual Gent's Race, but as we all know, THAT never happened! 

Everything went upside down mid-March and the World as I knew it was changed. No plans mattered, and all the social and economic weirdness kicked in with a heavy dose of fear. I just was freaking out, to be honest, and just riding out in the country alone on gravel roads felt odd, like I wasn't supposed to be doing this......maybe? 

And that was the biggest thing, right? No one knew anything for certain about anything- Just stay away from people, shelter at home, wash yer hands, don't touch your face, sanitize EVERYTHING and good luck finding toilet paper. Oh,,,,,,and all the gravel events were cancelling or moving dates to Fall.

Next on the Rear View '20: April, May, and June

Iowa Gravel Expo Pop-Up Series Reviewed

Session #1 Jen Reed presents the event, "Turds of Misery"

With last Wednesday's final pop-up for the Gravel Expo, it is time to assess how it went, and to look toward the future. When N.Y. Roll and I started this deal we were amazed by the interest and demand for knowledge and for the community to gather during the 'down time" of Winter. We went from a single event on a single evening to a two session event on a single day to this pop-up series. All within three years.  The changes made the dynamic different, and I think we learned a lot along the way. But before I get to the lessons learned and what the future of the event may look like, it is time to review the just completed series.

With the change in venue and format, we did not really have a clear idea on what to expect. So, N.Y. Roll and I were pleasantly surprised to see a nice gathering of folks for the first session. We had people from the Des Moines area and our presenter, Jen Reed, from the Bettendorf, Iowa area talking about the "Turds of Misery" event. (Yes- that is the event's name) My presentation afterward then finished up our first evening. N.Y. Roll and I were pleased with how things went and we noted several folks from the local area, (and a local bike shop employee or two), that were in attendance. A good start then.

Session #2 was marked by a Winter Weather Advisory and it was snowing pretty good right at the time of the second session. This damped the attendance a bit, but we still had a nice gathering to see Dangerous Dan's presentation for the Sterile Iowan event. N.Y. Roll then presented the "How To Choose an Event and to Train For It" talk. This was all well received by those that could make it.

Dangerous Dan at session #2

By this time we were getting feedback that we should have put these pop-up series on during the weekends when people weren't having work obligations and whatnot. Yes. We get that, but here is "our reality" when it comes to venues, business support, and being able to do this.

First thing to understand is that we have zero for a budget. We also charge no attendance fees. We are not paying anyone for appearances. N.Y. Roll and I put in all the behind the scenes work for nothing. Do you understand now that we have no money? That's the first part of the puzzle to get here.

Next is that since we cannot pay for a room, we have to provide the venue owner/manager a benefit. In the previous case of the IGE, (Iowa Gravel Expo), we were bringing in a fairly decent number of people, (80+) to a restaurant which would not have gotten those patrons otherwise. Beer and food was "seeded" by N.Y. Roll's bankrolling the event with beverage and food purchases which then were offered for free to the crowd. (Yes- we lost money the first time)

For the Pop-Up Series we went to Second State Brewing, who wanted to bolster mid-week business. We brought more people than they normally would have had on Wednesday evening for four weeks during their slowest time of the year. The IGE was a benefit monetarily to Second State Brewing. Weekends are different for them. They did not need our help for the weekends. So, with that all said, do you understand why we did Wednesdays now?

Session #3 saw Dan Roberts of the Snaggy Ridge 105 presenting.

I apologize for the economic banter and bluntness, but I feel that many folks don't understand what you have to do to get a space and to make something seemingly so simple actually happen. You come to a Pop-Up Series event and just walk right in, sit down, and consume our content and maybe have a beer or two. Big deal? Yes, a very big deal. In fact, I just described above the "deal" we brokered to get the space. Would you be able to pull that off? Get it done so you could have folks on a weekend? Right......

Let N.Y. Roll or I know your plan for that when/if you care to share it. We're all ears here, but the bottom line is that this isn't easy. By the way, thanks to N.Y. Roll, Nick of Second State Brewing, and his staff there for making this happen for us. I think we pulled our end of the deal off well, and judging by the smiles at Second State I noted, I think it is safe to say they thought it worked for them as well. So, yeah......"have it on a weekend!", we hear ya. But that wasn't a possibility, and I hope people that read this understand now why.

Now with that out of the way, the third session had better weather and maybe was our best attended session of the four. This one saw a presentation from a local fat bike race and from Dan Roberts, of the Snaggy Ridge 105, a gravel race out of Tipton, Iowa. After that we had a presentation from N.Y. Roll on his ultra-distance experience in the BC Epic event last Summer in Canada. He brought in one of his bikes all set up as he might have had it for that long bike-packing event, and talked about his reasons for his choices.

Todd Young presents his event, ICGravel, which happens near Iowa city, Iowa

The 4th session was where we saw a gathering nearly as big as session #3's, which, honestly, I was super surprised by. The reason is that locally the CVAST soft trails group decided to have their event the same evening, (despite our picking that date first and publicizing it), so I expected a worse turn out than the weather affected session #2. However; that wasn't that case, and we also had out of town representation again. This time from Iowa Falls and Alden, Iowa.

The event featured this time was ICGravel and Todd Young came up to present on behalf of that event. After Todd's excellent presentation, I got to talk about what it takes to put on a gravel event, and judging by the responses, it went over quite well. With that our four session pop-up series was a wrap. So, now it is time to take stock, assess our efforts, and look toward the future a bit.

N.Y. Roll and I have already been batting around a lot of ideas. Here's the thing- again, sorry- but we do not have a pool of money to work with. We will, if we do this again, be pulling ourselves up by our own bootstraps unless we get backing from an unforeseen source. So, bearing that in mind, our ideas have to be based in that reality.

I think the dynamic of the pop-up series model is a good one, and one we'd likely stick to again. A bigger, one-off event takes a LOT more logistical and financial horsepower. Plus, each presenter gets lost in the haze of the "everything going on", which is not what we intend. We want to spotlight Iowa gravel events. The pop-up idea did just that. Plus, people can pick and choose what they want to come and hear about.

N.Y. Roll and his bikepacking rig at session #3.

So, the pop-up idea works best for that, and we will likely stick to that format. With that in mind, does it make sense to move the pop-up series to different locations? Obviously, getting venues becomes much more complicated, but this is an intriguing idea and one we will be looking at.

The IGE has been, since its inception, all about Iowa gravel events. But, every time N.Y. Roll and I talk about this, the idea of bikes and associated gear comes up. Could the Iowa Gravel Expo be like the Iowa Bicycle Expo, or even be a part of that? I think so, but N.Y. Roll and I also both believe that the event presentations and the gathering of the riders is more important, and that by mixing that in with what the Iowa Bicycle Expo is about, we feel it would dilute the product. It would become just another booth on the showroom floor. So, we never get beyond the talking stages on that idea. But that doesn't mean we couldn't show some bikes and gear at a pop-up, let's say. In the end, it isn't really that high on our "to-do list".

Speaking of venues again- We have also thought about moving the IGE to a warmer time of year and doing it outdoors. If that idea were to be pursued, it may open up a lot of venue choices and other possibilities. So, we're toying around with that too.

In the end, we feel we were successful this year. The changes made were positive and still have potential. So, if we stuck to the basic formula from 2020 and went for that again in 2021, (Second State Brewing willing), I have no problem with that. But we have a long time to work on next year, if we do it again.

Thanks To The Iowa Gravel Expo Series Sponsors: Andy's Bike Shop, Riding Gravel, Second State Brewing, N.Y. Roll, and Guitar Ted Productions.

Iowa Gravel Expo Pop-Up Series Reviewed

Session #1 Jen Reed presents the event, "Turds of Misery"

With last Wednesday's final pop-up for the Gravel Expo, it is time to assess how it went, and to look toward the future. When N.Y. Roll and I started this deal we were amazed by the interest and demand for knowledge and for the community to gather during the 'down time" of Winter. We went from a single event on a single evening to a two session event on a single day to this pop-up series. All within three years.  The changes made the dynamic different, and I think we learned a lot along the way. But before I get to the lessons learned and what the future of the event may look like, it is time to review the just completed series.

With the change in venue and format, we did not really have a clear idea on what to expect. So, N.Y. Roll and I were pleasantly surprised to see a nice gathering of folks for the first session. We had people from the Des Moines area and our presenter, Jen Reed, from the Bettendorf, Iowa area talking about the "Turds of Misery" event. (Yes- that is the event's name) My presentation afterward then finished up our first evening. N.Y. Roll and I were pleased with how things went and we noted several folks from the local area, (and a local bike shop employee or two), that were in attendance. A good start then.

Session #2 was marked by a Winter Weather Advisory and it was snowing pretty good right at the time of the second session. This damped the attendance a bit, but we still had a nice gathering to see Dangerous Dan's presentation for the Sterile Iowan event. N.Y. Roll then presented the "How To Choose an Event and to Train For It" talk. This was all well received by those that could make it.

Dangerous Dan at session #2

By this time we were getting feedback that we should have put these pop-up series on during the weekends when people weren't having work obligations and whatnot. Yes. We get that, but here is "our reality" when it comes to venues, business support, and being able to do this.

First thing to understand is that we have zero for a budget. We also charge no attendance fees. We are not paying anyone for appearances. N.Y. Roll and I put in all the behind the scenes work for nothing. Do you understand now that we have no money? That's the first part of the puzzle to get here.

Next is that since we cannot pay for a room, we have to provide the venue owner/manager a benefit. In the previous case of the IGE, (Iowa Gravel Expo), we were bringing in a fairly decent number of people, (80+) to a restaurant which would not have gotten those patrons otherwise. Beer and food was "seeded" by N.Y. Roll's bankrolling the event with beverage and food purchases which then were offered for free to the crowd. (Yes- we lost money the first time)

For the Pop-Up Series we went to Second State Brewing, who wanted to bolster mid-week business. We brought more people than they normally would have had on Wednesday evening for four weeks during their slowest time of the year. The IGE was a benefit monetarily to Second State Brewing. Weekends are different for them. They did not need our help for the weekends. So, with that all said, do you understand why we did Wednesdays now?

Session #3 saw Dan Roberts of the Snaggy Ridge 105 presenting.

I apologize for the economic banter and bluntness, but I feel that many folks don't understand what you have to do to get a space and to make something seemingly so simple actually happen. You come to a Pop-Up Series event and just walk right in, sit down, and consume our content and maybe have a beer or two. Big deal? Yes, a very big deal. In fact, I just described above the "deal" we brokered to get the space. Would you be able to pull that off? Get it done so you could have folks on a weekend? Right......

Let N.Y. Roll or I know your plan for that when/if you care to share it. We're all ears here, but the bottom line is that this isn't easy. By the way, thanks to N.Y. Roll, Nick of Second State Brewing, and his staff there for making this happen for us. I think we pulled our end of the deal off well, and judging by the smiles at Second State I noted, I think it is safe to say they thought it worked for them as well. So, yeah......"have it on a weekend!", we hear ya. But that wasn't a possibility, and I hope people that read this understand now why.

Now with that out of the way, the third session had better weather and maybe was our best attended session of the four. This one saw a presentation from a local fat bike race and from Dan Roberts, of the Snaggy Ridge 105, a gravel race out of Tipton, Iowa. After that we had a presentation from N.Y. Roll on his ultra-distance experience in the BC Epic event last Summer in Canada. He brought in one of his bikes all set up as he might have had it for that long bike-packing event, and talked about his reasons for his choices.

Todd Young presents his event, ICGravel, which happens near Iowa city, Iowa

The 4th session was where we saw a gathering nearly as big as session #3's, which, honestly, I was super surprised by. The reason is that locally the CVAST soft trails group decided to have their event the same evening, (despite our picking that date first and publicizing it), so I expected a worse turn out than the weather affected session #2. However; that wasn't that case, and we also had out of town representation again. This time from Iowa Falls and Alden, Iowa.

The event featured this time was ICGravel and Todd Young came up to present on behalf of that event. After Todd's excellent presentation, I got to talk about what it takes to put on a gravel event, and judging by the responses, it went over quite well. With that our four session pop-up series was a wrap. So, now it is time to take stock, assess our efforts, and look toward the future a bit.

N.Y. Roll and I have already been batting around a lot of ideas. Here's the thing- again, sorry- but we do not have a pool of money to work with. We will, if we do this again, be pulling ourselves up by our own bootstraps unless we get backing from an unforeseen source. So, bearing that in mind, our ideas have to be based in that reality.

I think the dynamic of the pop-up series model is a good one, and one we'd likely stick to again. A bigger, one-off event takes a LOT more logistical and financial horsepower. Plus, each presenter gets lost in the haze of the "everything going on", which is not what we intend. We want to spotlight Iowa gravel events. The pop-up idea did just that. Plus, people can pick and choose what they want to come and hear about.

N.Y. Roll and his bikepacking rig at session #3.

So, the pop-up idea works best for that, and we will likely stick to that format. With that in mind, does it make sense to move the pop-up series to different locations? Obviously, getting venues becomes much more complicated, but this is an intriguing idea and one we will be looking at.

The IGE has been, since its inception, all about Iowa gravel events. But, every time N.Y. Roll and I talk about this, the idea of bikes and associated gear comes up. Could the Iowa Gravel Expo be like the Iowa Bicycle Expo, or even be a part of that? I think so, but N.Y. Roll and I also both believe that the event presentations and the gathering of the riders is more important, and that by mixing that in with what the Iowa Bicycle Expo is about, we feel it would dilute the product. It would become just another booth on the showroom floor. So, we never get beyond the talking stages on that idea. But that doesn't mean we couldn't show some bikes and gear at a pop-up, let's say. In the end, it isn't really that high on our "to-do list".

Speaking of venues again- We have also thought about moving the IGE to a warmer time of year and doing it outdoors. If that idea were to be pursued, it may open up a lot of venue choices and other possibilities. So, we're toying around with that too.

In the end, we feel we were successful this year. The changes made were positive and still have potential. So, if we stuck to the basic formula from 2020 and went for that again in 2021, (Second State Brewing willing), I have no problem with that. But we have a long time to work on next year, if we do it again.

Thanks To The Iowa Gravel Expo Series Sponsors: Andy's Bike Shop, Riding Gravel, Second State Brewing, N.Y. Roll, and Guitar Ted Productions.

The Last Pop-Up Is Tonight!

This is N.Y. Roll. He's gonna let me talk this time!

Iowa Gravel Expo Pop-Up Series #4 Tonight!

Tonight will mark the end of the 2020 Iowa Gravel Expo series we've been putting on since mid-January every other week. This is being held at Second State Brewing in Cedar Falls, Iowa at 6:30pm - 7:30pm-ish. The topic of this session will be "How To Start And Organize A Gravel Event". 

The series has been successful so far and we hope that we get a few folks tonight despite a competing event which scheduled on the same evening after we did. It's one of those things though- there's always something else going on. 

Anyway, I thought maybe it might be a good idea to do a bit of a mini-series on this blog about how I approached putting on the gravel events I have done in the past. So, that's something I'll probably tackle coming up in March. It'll be brief, nothing huge.

To my way of thinking, in general, there are really not many bullet points to putting on an event. Details can get you into the weeds, so as a person that puts on events, you always have to keep your eyes up and on the big picture. Generally this always should go back to your core ideals and goals. So, if you are all about a loose, fun, simple, and a more organic feel for an event, then chip timing and blow-up finish line arches are probably something you want to steer clear of. If, however; you are all about ultra-competitive, high-performance, traditional racing, then you have to have those amenities I mentioned. But everything you consider has to be consistent with your vision for the event. That's just one example of this sort of decision making I give you there.

And timing and finish line hoopla is not necessarily exclusive to a loose, organic feel, so don't go reading into my examples here. I'm just trying to illustrate a point. In the end, "you do you" when it comes to an event. The worst thing one can do is try to appeal to people they do not understand. (That is- unless you are willing to bring on people that do understand the groups you want to see attending, and have THEM run the event, which isn't always possible.) Do an event that appeals to you. What would you like to see? Do that.

Of course there is a LOT more to it, but I think people forget about how their visions of things probably will appeal to a lot of folks out there. You don't have to try to appeal to things you don't understand. It's your event. Of course there will be people that don't like it, that will criticize it, and even make fun of it. That's okay. They shouldn't be coming to your event and now you know who they are. That's all. That's all you should take away from that sort of thing. The ones that do come already pretty much agree with what you have going down. Worry about their experiences. 

Anyway, more to come on this, and if you are around, head over to Second State Brewing in Cedar Falls. I'd be happy to see you!  

The Last Pop-Up Is Tonight!

This is N.Y. Roll. He's gonna let me talk this time!

Iowa Gravel Expo Pop-Up Series #4 Tonight!

Tonight will mark the end of the 2020 Iowa Gravel Expo series we've been putting on since mid-January every other week. This is being held at Second State Brewing in Cedar Falls, Iowa at 6:30pm - 7:30pm-ish. The topic of this session will be "How To Start And Organize A Gravel Event". 

The series has been successful so far and we hope that we get a few folks tonight despite a competing event which scheduled on the same evening after we did. It's one of those things though- there's always something else going on. 

Anyway, I thought maybe it might be a good idea to do a bit of a mini-series on this blog about how I approached putting on the gravel events I have done in the past. So, that's something I'll probably tackle coming up in March. It'll be brief, nothing huge.

To my way of thinking, in general, there are really not many bullet points to putting on an event. Details can get you into the weeds, so as a person that puts on events, you always have to keep your eyes up and on the big picture. Generally this always should go back to your core ideals and goals. So, if you are all about a loose, fun, simple, and a more organic feel for an event, then chip timing and blow-up finish line arches are probably something you want to steer clear of. If, however; you are all about ultra-competitive, high-performance, traditional racing, then you have to have those amenities I mentioned. But everything you consider has to be consistent with your vision for the event. That's just one example of this sort of decision making I give you there.

And timing and finish line hoopla is not necessarily exclusive to a loose, organic feel, so don't go reading into my examples here. I'm just trying to illustrate a point. In the end, "you do you" when it comes to an event. The worst thing one can do is try to appeal to people they do not understand. (That is- unless you are willing to bring on people that do understand the groups you want to see attending, and have THEM run the event, which isn't always possible.) Do an event that appeals to you. What would you like to see? Do that.

Of course there is a LOT more to it, but I think people forget about how their visions of things probably will appeal to a lot of folks out there. You don't have to try to appeal to things you don't understand. It's your event. Of course there will be people that don't like it, that will criticize it, and even make fun of it. That's okay. They shouldn't be coming to your event and now you know who they are. That's all. That's all you should take away from that sort of thing. The ones that do come already pretty much agree with what you have going down. Worry about their experiences. 

Anyway, more to come on this, and if you are around, head over to Second State Brewing in Cedar Falls. I'd be happy to see you!  

Iowa Gravel Expo Pop Up Series #3 Tomorrow!

Join us at Second State Brewing at 6:30pm tomorrow!

The Third of Four Pop-Up Sessions Is Tomorrow:

N.Y. Roll and I are putting on session #3 of the Iowa Gravel Expo Pop-Up Series tomorrow evening at Second State Brewing in Cedar Falls, Iowa at 6:30pm in Second State's back room. Come and join us fr some fun talk about gravel travel and more.

Gravel is great, but we are not limiting ourselves. In a timely presentation, we are expecting Nate Kullboom of the Lake McBride Fat Tire Classic event to come and present what is going on for that. Then we will also hear from Dan Roberts about the Snaggy Ridge 105 gravel event. Finally, we will have a little ultra-distance bikepacking chat with N.Y. roll as he discusses his experiences on last year's BC Epic 1000. Rumor has it he is bringing a full on bikepacking set up on his rig to show everyone.

The weather looks good for now, so plan on coming if you can. Admission is FREE and Second State has some great beers on tap if you want to indulge in that. This will be the second to last Pop-Up event in the series, so don't miss it if you are local.

Hope to see ya there.

Iowa Gravel Expo Pop Up Series #3 Tomorrow!

Join us at Second State Brewing at 6:30pm tomorrow!

The Third of Four Pop-Up Sessions Is Tomorrow:

N.Y. Roll and I are putting on session #3 of the Iowa Gravel Expo Pop-Up Series tomorrow evening at Second State Brewing in Cedar Falls, Iowa at 6:30pm in Second State's back room. Come and join us fr some fun talk about gravel travel and more.

Gravel is great, but we are not limiting ourselves. In a timely presentation, we are expecting Nate Kullboom of the Lake McBride Fat Tire Classic event to come and present what is going on for that. Then we will also hear from Dan Roberts about the Snaggy Ridge 105 gravel event. Finally, we will have a little ultra-distance bikepacking chat with N.Y. roll as he discusses his experiences on last year's BC Epic 1000. Rumor has it he is bringing a full on bikepacking set up on his rig to show everyone.

The weather looks good for now, so plan on coming if you can. Admission is FREE and Second State has some great beers on tap if you want to indulge in that. This will be the second to last Pop-Up event in the series, so don't miss it if you are local.

Hope to see ya there.

Friday News And Views

59 Trips Around The Sun:

Well, I made it. Another year was marked yesterday. I make a silly deal out of my birthday every year, because, really, it's just another day, but we do "mark time", don't we? So, yeah..... Very blessed to be here and to have had the life I've had so far. I'm very much looking forward to what is to come, despite the assurances of sorrow and heart-ache being alive will bring.

I say this many times here, but at the risk of sounding cliche'....

Thank you so much for reading the blog. It means a lot to me, and this has become a big part of my life, obviously. What started out as a silly stab at writing, on the insistence of Jeff Kerkove back in 2005, has become a daily routine for me that I thoroughly enjoy doing. I guess I'd better enjoy it for all the time I put into it!

But anyway, thank you. Thank you all who sent greetings and well wishes on Facebook and text yesterday. I read each and every one and appreciated them all. Too kind, you all are. Too kind!

This years C.O.G.100 hat.

 C.O.G.100 News:

First of all, we sold out entries! Thanks to all who entered this year's event. We had initially set 75 as the limit, sold that out, added ten more, and sold those as well. N.Y.Roll and I appreciate the commitment to our event.

So, with that done we sent in the orders for the hats. Due to a weird requirement where getting 100 patches for the hats cost less than getting 90, we will have a very limited number of patches available. How we are going to deal with the ten or so extras we haven't decided on yet. If you really gotta have one, let me know and what that's worth to you. Maybe we can make it happen.

Secondly, the t-shirt offer stands till February 29th, (it's a leap year, ya know), so take a look HERE and order from that page. We will push go on the order March 1st and then that's it. No more will be made ever again.

Remember, all the artwork is by yours truly and is completely original. Very unique, and so you won't be seeing this on every street corner. The proceeds help to pay for the shirts and that's about it. We are probably going to break even this year, if we're lucky, as last year we ended up doing that as well after expenses were accounted for. So, we're not making a living, or even beer money on this deal. Just so you know.....

A Tweet from "Elizabeth @eGrindcore", a Nebraska native, on Wednesday.

 Media Hop On The Gravel Bandwagon: 

What was it with this week and media concerning gravel riding and racing? Must have been the "gravel summits" I mentioned in my post on Tuesday. Anyway, suddenly all the endemic cycling publications are falling all over themselves to get out some sort of "whatever will gravel do once it grows up" posts.

"Cyclingtips" had one by Neil Shirley, and so did "Velo News" in an article about power and the winner of Gravel Worlds last year. There were others as well. I got a laugh when I read the Tweet I have posted here. Yeah....."seven years behind the times" is about right.

Anyway, "Welcome late-comers".  We're not so goofy, or stupid as you once thought, eh? I'll say it again though, these endemic outlets haven't changed their tune, really. They still are trying to bend the narrative toward "professional level competitive racing". It's all wrong. They just do not understand how exclusive and "old" that narrative is. Times have changed, but the old media dogs that cut their teeth on the Pro racing scene haven't changed their colors, or learned new tricks, as they ought to have by now. It's a shame, really.

Even the Pro roadies they quote keep saying they like gravel events because of the relaxed, laid back, all-inclusive, fun nature of it, then in the next sentence you read something about doping controls and who will come "out of the gravel scene" to contest some Old World road event. It's tone deaf as all get out. But I also know some of these writers get it. They've done gravel events, so the disconnect is even more baffling.

Then I see the UCI is considering a true Pro level World Championships with doping controls, rules, and regulations. There is only one way that gets off the ground and that is with the same teams, athletes, and infrastructure they have now. Everyone that is outside Pro level racing is outside of it for a reason. Again- I don't see it working, at least not in the U.S.A., and that's where the action is on gravel anyway.

That's it for this week. Get out and ride if ya can!

Friday News And Views

59 Trips Around The Sun:

Well, I made it. Another year was marked yesterday. I make a silly deal out of my birthday every year, because, really, it's just another day, but we do "mark time", don't we? So, yeah..... Very blessed to be here and to have had the life I've had so far. I'm very much looking forward to what is to come, despite the assurances of sorrow and heart-ache being alive will bring.

I say this many times here, but at the risk of sounding cliche'....

Thank you so much for reading the blog. It means a lot to me, and this has become a big part of my life, obviously. What started out as a silly stab at writing, on the insistence of Jeff Kerkove back in 2005, has become a daily routine for me that I thoroughly enjoy doing. I guess I'd better enjoy it for all the time I put into it!

But anyway, thank you. Thank you all who sent greetings and well wishes on Facebook and text yesterday. I read each and every one and appreciated them all. Too kind, you all are. Too kind!

This years C.O.G.100 hat.

 C.O.G.100 News:

First of all, we sold out entries! Thanks to all who entered this year's event. We had initially set 75 as the limit, sold that out, added ten more, and sold those as well. N.Y.Roll and I appreciate the commitment to our event.

So, with that done we sent in the orders for the hats. Due to a weird requirement where getting 100 patches for the hats cost less than getting 90, we will have a very limited number of patches available. How we are going to deal with the ten or so extras we haven't decided on yet. If you really gotta have one, let me know and what that's worth to you. Maybe we can make it happen.

Secondly, the t-shirt offer stands till February 29th, (it's a leap year, ya know), so take a look HERE and order from that page. We will push go on the order March 1st and then that's it. No more will be made ever again.

Remember, all the artwork is by yours truly and is completely original. Very unique, and so you won't be seeing this on every street corner. The proceeds help to pay for the shirts and that's about it. We are probably going to break even this year, if we're lucky, as last year we ended up doing that as well after expenses were accounted for. So, we're not making a living, or even beer money on this deal. Just so you know.....

A Tweet from "Elizabeth @eGrindcore", a Nebraska native, on Wednesday.

 Media Hop On The Gravel Bandwagon: 

What was it with this week and media concerning gravel riding and racing? Must have been the "gravel summits" I mentioned in my post on Tuesday. Anyway, suddenly all the endemic cycling publications are falling all over themselves to get out some sort of "whatever will gravel do once it grows up" posts.

"Cyclingtips" had one by Neil Shirley, and so did "Velo News" in an article about power and the winner of Gravel Worlds last year. There were others as well. I got a laugh when I read the Tweet I have posted here. Yeah....."seven years behind the times" is about right.

Anyway, "Welcome late-comers".  We're not so goofy, or stupid as you once thought, eh? I'll say it again though, these endemic outlets haven't changed their tune, really. They still are trying to bend the narrative toward "professional level competitive racing". It's all wrong. They just do not understand how exclusive and "old" that narrative is. Times have changed, but the old media dogs that cut their teeth on the Pro racing scene haven't changed their colors, or learned new tricks, as they ought to have by now. It's a shame, really.

Even the Pro roadies they quote keep saying they like gravel events because of the relaxed, laid back, all-inclusive, fun nature of it, then in the next sentence you read something about doping controls and who will come "out of the gravel scene" to contest some Old World road event. It's tone deaf as all get out. But I also know some of these writers get it. They've done gravel events, so the disconnect is even more baffling.

Then I see the UCI is considering a true Pro level World Championships with doping controls, rules, and regulations. There is only one way that gets off the ground and that is with the same teams, athletes, and infrastructure they have now. Everyone that is outside Pro level racing is outside of it for a reason. Again- I don't see it working, at least not in the U.S.A., and that's where the action is on gravel anyway.

That's it for this week. Get out and ride if ya can!

Iowa Gravel Expo Pop Up Series Report #2

Dangerous Dan presenting the Sterile Iowan event for those in attendance.

Well, Wednesday we put on #2 of the 4 Iowa Gravel Expo Pop Up Series events at Second State Brewing. Unfortunately, it was snowing most of the afternoon, and with a lot of cancellations, we were a bit down on attendance. Still, we had about 10-12 folks in the back of the brewery and they got an awesome presentation from Dangerous Dan from the Sterile Iowan event.

Then N.Y. Roll got up and gave about a half an hour presentation to the gathered folk on how to decide upon, and prepare for your gravel events this coming season. It was short and sweet, but very informative and fun.

We are halfway through the Pop Up Series now and we have two more events at Second State Brewing to go. Those will be happening on February 5th and February 19th, (both Wednesdays) at 6:30pm in the brewing room of Second State Brewing. The next one will feature two race directors, (Snaggy Ridge and Lake McBride Fat Bike Classic) and N.Y. Roll will go over his BC Epic run from last year. Don't miss it!

Thank You: Thanks to our sponsors, Second State Brewing and Andy's Bike Shop.

Iowa Gravel Expo Pop Up Series Report #2

Dangerous Dan presenting the Sterile Iowan event for those in attendance.

Well, Wednesday we put on #2 of the 4 Iowa Gravel Expo Pop Up Series events at Second State Brewing. Unfortunately, it was snowing most of the afternoon, and with a lot of cancellations, we were a bit down on attendance. Still, we had about 10-12 folks in the back of the brewery and they got an awesome presentation from Dangerous Dan from the Sterile Iowan event.

Then N.Y. Roll got up and gave about a half an hour presentation to the gathered folk on how to decide upon, and prepare for your gravel events this coming season. It was short and sweet, but very informative and fun.

We are halfway through the Pop Up Series now and we have two more events at Second State Brewing to go. Those will be happening on February 5th and February 19th, (both Wednesdays) at 6:30pm in the brewing room of Second State Brewing. The next one will feature two race directors, (Snaggy Ridge and Lake McBride Fat Bike Classic) and N.Y. Roll will go over his BC Epic run from last year. Don't miss it!

Thank You: Thanks to our sponsors, Second State Brewing and Andy's Bike Shop.

Iowa Gravel Expo: Session #1 Report

Slippin' and slidin' on the Noble GX5

Last Wednesday N.Y. Roll and I held our first of four Iowa Gravel Expo sessions. This is the third year in a row that we've been doing this.

Actually, this isn't the first "gravel clinic" type deal I have been involved in. I held a couple of "Trans Iowa" clinics, back in 2013 and 2014, which were for all intents and purposes basically what we are doing now. The basic idea was to disseminate knowledge and wisdom gained by experienced riders to those just coming into the sport.

Back then this was a fairly novel idea, but nowadays it is common. I've noted several "clinics" for riders which are gravel-centric or purely about certain events happening all across the U.S. now. Some are low-key affairs, like ours is. Some are full blown "camps" with catered food, influencer-type riders, and cost over a thousand dollars to participate in. If I may be so bold- you aren't going to learn anything more about riding gravel and dirt roads by attending the super-spendy camps than you would by attending a simple formatted clinic at your LBS or bicycle club. But some folks like experiences, and value celebrity-staus riders over the nuts and bolts, practical knowledge given out by riders with years of gravel riding experience. No big deal. Do what feels right to you, but I find it a bit humorous.

Anyway.... Sorry for the distraction there!

Back to what we were up to.....  So, N.Y. Roll and I realized last year that having a one night affair was too much. Too many people wanted in the doors, there was too much to share in one sitting, and it was too crazy to satisfy everyone's needs in that format. So, we found a different venue in Second State Brewery which had a back-room we could use. Then we struck the single night format and decided to do targeted sessions focusing in on a group of related topics. Each session features a different Iowa event's race director or representative. So, last Wednesday was about maintenance of drive trains and the event was The Turds Of Misery. (Really! The event is named after a 70's era rock band. Yes- really!) Anyway....

More manageable audience and a cool venue.

Jen Reed of Healthy Habits bike shop in Bettendorf, Iowa came up to talk about her event and then it was my turn to gab about chain maintenance, lubrication, cleaning a bike, and a tiny bit at the end about tires and tire pressures.

N.Y. Roll and I held an unofficial over-under on attendance which I won, I believe. Anyway, it was the smaller crowd we had hoped for and with the sessions spread out over three more dates, we will see how things come along. We had riders from Des Moines come up and I know we have folks coming from the Iowa city area too to attend. Pretty cool!

Speaking of riding, there was some of that too. Before the event, I planned a 1:00pm ride, which I had hoped would be out on gravel, but this is January, after all! It was in the low 20's with a pretty stiff east wind which made the riding difficult. Added to this were the icy roads, especially East-West ones, and that made staying in town, out of the wind, a better idea. I tried going through Shirey Way, (icy in spots) and then on through Sherwood,  but we were stopped by icy patches and we ended up back on pavement after a three or four block ramble down an alley.

That ride was attended by four intrepid folks, plus myself, and we ended up riding about an hour and fifteen minutes, which, honestly, was all I wanted to do on a gravel road bike in those conditions. Glad I had on the Bike Iowa Pogie Lites! They saved my mitts from freezing! If  you haven't ever checked those handle bar covers out, please do! They are made by friends of mine and they are four-season worthy riding gear. They keep your hands warm in Winter, keep the wind off your hands in Spring and Fall, and can be a blessing in a Summer rain storm. Check 'em out!

Anyway! More distractions!

Look for the next Iowa Bike Expo session to happen Wednesday the 22nd of January. We have two dates in February too. Here's a link to the Facebook events page. Thanks again to sponsors Andy's Bike Shop and Second State Brewing.

Iowa Gravel Expo: Session #1 Report

Slippin' and slidin' on the Noble GX5

Last Wednesday N.Y. Roll and I held our first of four Iowa Gravel Expo sessions. This is the third year in a row that we've been doing this.

Actually, this isn't the first "gravel clinic" type deal I have been involved in. I held a couple of "Trans Iowa" clinics, back in 2013 and 2014, which were for all intents and purposes basically what we are doing now. The basic idea was to disseminate knowledge and wisdom gained by experienced riders to those just coming into the sport.

Back then this was a fairly novel idea, but nowadays it is common. I've noted several "clinics" for riders which are gravel-centric or purely about certain events happening all across the U.S. now. Some are low-key affairs, like ours is. Some are full blown "camps" with catered food, influencer-type riders, and cost over a thousand dollars to participate in. If I may be so bold- you aren't going to learn anything more about riding gravel and dirt roads by attending the super-spendy camps than you would by attending a simple formatted clinic at your LBS or bicycle club. But some folks like experiences, and value celebrity-staus riders over the nuts and bolts, practical knowledge given out by riders with years of gravel riding experience. No big deal. Do what feels right to you, but I find it a bit humorous.

Anyway.... Sorry for the distraction there!

Back to what we were up to.....  So, N.Y. Roll and I realized last year that having a one night affair was too much. Too many people wanted in the doors, there was too much to share in one sitting, and it was too crazy to satisfy everyone's needs in that format. So, we found a different venue in Second State Brewery which had a back-room we could use. Then we struck the single night format and decided to do targeted sessions focusing in on a group of related topics. Each session features a different Iowa event's race director or representative. So, last Wednesday was about maintenance of drive trains and the event was The Turds Of Misery. (Really! The event is named after a 70's era rock band. Yes- really!) Anyway....

More manageable audience and a cool venue.

Jen Reed of Healthy Habits bike shop in Bettendorf, Iowa came up to talk about her event and then it was my turn to gab about chain maintenance, lubrication, cleaning a bike, and a tiny bit at the end about tires and tire pressures.

N.Y. Roll and I held an unofficial over-under on attendance which I won, I believe. Anyway, it was the smaller crowd we had hoped for and with the sessions spread out over three more dates, we will see how things come along. We had riders from Des Moines come up and I know we have folks coming from the Iowa city area too to attend. Pretty cool!

Speaking of riding, there was some of that too. Before the event, I planned a 1:00pm ride, which I had hoped would be out on gravel, but this is January, after all! It was in the low 20's with a pretty stiff east wind which made the riding difficult. Added to this were the icy roads, especially East-West ones, and that made staying in town, out of the wind, a better idea. I tried going through Shirey Way, (icy in spots) and then on through Sherwood,  but we were stopped by icy patches and we ended up back on pavement after a three or four block ramble down an alley.

That ride was attended by four intrepid folks, plus myself, and we ended up riding about an hour and fifteen minutes, which, honestly, was all I wanted to do on a gravel road bike in those conditions. Glad I had on the Bike Iowa Pogie Lites! They saved my mitts from freezing! If  you haven't ever checked those handle bar covers out, please do! They are made by friends of mine and they are four-season worthy riding gear. They keep your hands warm in Winter, keep the wind off your hands in Spring and Fall, and can be a blessing in a Summer rain storm. Check 'em out!

Anyway! More distractions!

Look for the next Iowa Bike Expo session to happen Wednesday the 22nd of January. We have two dates in February too. Here's a link to the Facebook events page. Thanks again to sponsors Andy's Bike Shop and Second State Brewing.

Iowa Gravel Expo Pop-Up Series

The "Iowa Gravel Expo Pop-Up Series" , sponsored by Riding Gravel and Andy's Bike Shop kicks off tonight at Second State Brewery, located at 203 State Street in Cedar Falls from 6:30pm - 7:30pm.

This is the third year in a row that N.Y. Roll and I have pulled together a Gravel Expo in the area. We have had single day events before, but with the demand we saw last year, we decided to break this down into a series and spread the dates out over two months to better serve the folks wanting to get into this deal we've cooked up.

This particular one, tonight's session, will be dealing with maintenance issues faced by gravel goers. I'm going to cover specific cleaning and lubrication techniques I have honed over the past ten plus years of riding gravel roads. Subsequent nights in the four part series look like this, along with their dates:

• Choosing an Event and How To Train For It- January 22nd
• Ultra-Endurance Tips with N.Y. Roll  - February 5th
• How To Put On A Gravel Event - February 19th

All the events start and finish at the same time and place- Second State Brewery in Cedar Falls, Iowa - 6:30pm - 7:30pm

All four events will feature different Iowa based gravel event directors who will present their event and take questions about them. Attend one or all sessions. No charge to attend.

N.Y. Roll and I will probably do a podcast at some point covering some of the highlights of the Expo after the series has been completed and I will link that here once we are posted so people not able to attend can maybe benefit as well.

#RealAmericanGravel

Iowa Gravel Expo Pop-Up Series

The "Iowa Gravel Expo Pop-Up Series" , sponsored by Riding Gravel and Andy's Bike Shop kicks off tonight at Second State Brewery, located at 203 State Street in Cedar Falls from 6:30pm - 7:30pm.

This is the third year in a row that N.Y. Roll and I have pulled together a Gravel Expo in the area. We have had single day events before, but with the demand we saw last year, we decided to break this down into a series and spread the dates out over two months to better serve the folks wanting to get into this deal we've cooked up.

This particular one, tonight's session, will be dealing with maintenance issues faced by gravel goers. I'm going to cover specific cleaning and lubrication techniques I have honed over the past ten plus years of riding gravel roads. Subsequent nights in the four part series look like this, along with their dates:

• Choosing an Event and How To Train For It- January 22nd
• Ultra-Endurance Tips with N.Y. Roll  - February 5th
• How To Put On A Gravel Event - February 19th

All the events start and finish at the same time and place- Second State Brewery in Cedar Falls, Iowa - 6:30pm - 7:30pm

All four events will feature different Iowa based gravel event directors who will present their event and take questions about them. Attend one or all sessions. No charge to attend.

N.Y. Roll and I will probably do a podcast at some point covering some of the highlights of the Expo after the series has been completed and I will link that here once we are posted so people not able to attend can maybe benefit as well.

#RealAmericanGravel

Friday News And Views

Iowa Gravel Expo- Pop Up Series: 

Over the last two years N.Y. Roll and I have put on an "Iowa Gravel Expo/Bike Party" which was a one day event. I covered recently how this was going to change and turn into a series. Well, we have details now to share. 

This time we have a sponsor and venue in Second State Brewing Company. We also have another sponsor in Andy's Bike Shop. The series will have four dates- two in January and two in February, so hopefully a lot of the area gravel grinders can attend at least one of these- or all if you are so inclined. Here are the dates, which are all Wednesday evenings starting at 6:30pm at Second State Brewing Co.

• January 8th
• Januray 22nd
• February 5th
• February 19th
• Facebook Page Link For Events 

Each session should last an hour-ish or a little longer. We are also inviting Iowa gravel event promoters to come and speak at these since one of our aims is to promote Iowa gravel events. In lieu of promoters, should we get an evening where we do not have any, or weather prevents them from attending, we will do a short presentation for selected events on our own.

Specific gravel related topics: N.Y. Roll and I will also serve up tips and recommendations on various gravel related subjects during each session. The plan is to make each session unique, so you may want to attend several of these. The main point we have is to celebrate Iowa gravel events, and as a community of riders, just get together and have a good time through a part of the year that is typically when we aren't out there doing what we really like to do.

So, if you have any questions, comments, or concerns about these events, please comment here, or go to the Facebook page, (Link in red above) and leave us a comment there. Thanks! We hope to rub elbows with a lot of you this Winter.

Patent application drawings for Lauf's rear sus ideas.

Lauf Working On Rear Suspension For Gravel:

A recent "Bike Radar" article revealed that Lauf, famous for its leaf sprung, backwards looking forks, is working on an idea for rear suspension using leaf springs.

Comments: Showing three different ideas, it is clear that Lauf is still in the development stages of this idea, but it bears watching, as the gravel segment of cycling is still heating up, and is one of the only bright spots in the sport now. I wouldn't be at all surprised to see something fast-tracked to prototype stage to be shown at various gravel events in 2020.

To my way of thinking, the idea that Lauf is pursuing is much more acceptable than where Niner Bikes went by using more "traditional" telescopic suspension with the complex rear linkage system. Minimal amounts of suspension travel, in this case less than 80mm, lends itself to more simplistic designs, and when executed correctly, it can be a superior riding experience.

This Lauf idea is very intriguing. In my opinion, the direct competitors to Lauf will be those that use suspension seat post designs. While what Lauf is doing will be activated anytime a rider in on the bike and moving, where a suspension seat post is not, (only works while seated), the Lauf idea has some concerning limitations. For instance, how do you account for differing rider weights and styles? The design has to work similarly across a wide size range. That's not going to be easy to pull off. Plus, it cannot infringe upon anyone else's patents, a definite limitation.

Those are not insurmountable obstacles, but I have to wonder, why didn't Lauf apply what they are doing with the fork on the rear of the bike? Yes- it wouldn't look traditional. But that didn't stop them from making the ugliest fork in the road bike market. So.....?? Anyway, this will be interesting to follow.

Add caption

End Of Year Changes:

Next month brings a close to 2019, and obviously I have been doing a lot of thinking about that and how it relates to what I do here and professionally. I kind of do this every year- I take stock of where I've been and where I want to go with this. First of all- Thank you all- each and every one of you, for reading this stuff I put out. I could never thank you all enough.

Secondly- This blog will continue, so no worries there. 

With that out of the way, I think 2020 will be a great year to do a few things differently. It will mark a new era, as I will have closed out 15 years of blogging in May of 2020. So, I want to do a little celebration of that.

Part of that will include a change to one of the longest running series on the blog. The "Minus Ten Review", which covers the happenings here from ten years previous, will change slightly. Part of the intentions there were that I wanted to document, in a weekly fashion, what I did to develop the blog. However; that morphed into me riffing on a theme and telling stories. Many times this did not have anything at all to do with ten years ago.

Since I feel I have gone over the beginnings of the blog, covering the initial four years here, I thought that maybe it was time to just admit that I want to tell stories based upon things I've done over the past 15 years here and riff on that. So, the "Minus Ten Review" will morph into something else. Something based on the 15 year idea. I've got a pot full of themes here and some deserve some refreshing, retelling, and expounding upon. So, look for that idea to start up next January.

Other than that, the blog will pretty much remain the same. I think you'll notice some new twists though. There are plans on the horizon for multi-media connections. I may have my own, "Guitar Ted-centric" podcast dealing with the blog stuff. Maybe even video. I will definitely be doing more on the podcast/video/live stream side in connection with something new I will be involved in for 2020. That's exciting for me on several levels. I cannot wait to release this news.

There will also be some major changes professionally. Things ending. Things beginning. I cannot say anything more than this right now, but a clearer pathway into 2020 is forming now and I am pretty happy about that.

Stay tuned folks. It's going to be a bumpy ride!

Friday News And Views

Iowa Gravel Expo- Pop Up Series: 

Over the last two years N.Y. Roll and I have put on an "Iowa Gravel Expo/Bike Party" which was a one day event. I covered recently how this was going to change and turn into a series. Well, we have details now to share. 

This time we have a sponsor and venue in Second State Brewing Company. We also have another sponsor in Andy's Bike Shop. The series will have four dates- two in January and two in February, so hopefully a lot of the area gravel grinders can attend at least one of these- or all if you are so inclined. Here are the dates, which are all Wednesday evenings starting at 6:30pm at Second State Brewing Co.

• January 8th
• Januray 22nd
• February 5th
• February 19th
• Facebook Page Link For Events 

Each session should last an hour-ish or a little longer. We are also inviting Iowa gravel event promoters to come and speak at these since one of our aims is to promote Iowa gravel events. In lieu of promoters, should we get an evening where we do not have any, or weather prevents them from attending, we will do a short presentation for selected events on our own.

Specific gravel related topics: N.Y. Roll and I will also serve up tips and recommendations on various gravel related subjects during each session. The plan is to make each session unique, so you may want to attend several of these. The main point we have is to celebrate Iowa gravel events, and as a community of riders, just get together and have a good time through a part of the year that is typically when we aren't out there doing what we really like to do.

So, if you have any questions, comments, or concerns about these events, please comment here, or go to the Facebook page, (Link in red above) and leave us a comment there. Thanks! We hope to rub elbows with a lot of you this Winter.

Patent application drawings for Lauf's rear sus ideas.

Lauf Working On Rear Suspension For Gravel:

A recent "Bike Radar" article revealed that Lauf, famous for its leaf sprung, backwards looking forks, is working on an idea for rear suspension using leaf springs.

Comments: Showing three different ideas, it is clear that Lauf is still in the development stages of this idea, but it bears watching, as the gravel segment of cycling is still heating up, and is one of the only bright spots in the sport now. I wouldn't be at all surprised to see something fast-tracked to prototype stage to be shown at various gravel events in 2020.

To my way of thinking, the idea that Lauf is pursuing is much more acceptable than where Niner Bikes went by using more "traditional" telescopic suspension with the complex rear linkage system. Minimal amounts of suspension travel, in this case less than 80mm, lends itself to more simplistic designs, and when executed correctly, it can be a superior riding experience.

This Lauf idea is very intriguing. In my opinion, the direct competitors to Lauf will be those that use suspension seat post designs. While what Lauf is doing will be activated anytime a rider in on the bike and moving, where a suspension seat post is not, (only works while seated), the Lauf idea has some concerning limitations. For instance, how do you account for differing rider weights and styles? The design has to work similarly across a wide size range. That's not going to be easy to pull off. Plus, it cannot infringe upon anyone else's patents, a definite limitation.

Those are not insurmountable obstacles, but I have to wonder, why didn't Lauf apply what they are doing with the fork on the rear of the bike? Yes- it wouldn't look traditional. But that didn't stop them from making the ugliest fork in the road bike market. So.....?? Anyway, this will be interesting to follow.

Add caption

End Of Year Changes:

Next month brings a close to 2019, and obviously I have been doing a lot of thinking about that and how it relates to what I do here and professionally. I kind of do this every year- I take stock of where I've been and where I want to go with this. First of all- Thank you all- each and every one of you, for reading this stuff I put out. I could never thank you all enough.

Secondly- This blog will continue, so no worries there. 

With that out of the way, I think 2020 will be a great year to do a few things differently. It will mark a new era, as I will have closed out 15 years of blogging in May of 2020. So, I want to do a little celebration of that.

Part of that will include a change to one of the longest running series on the blog. The "Minus Ten Review", which covers the happenings here from ten years previous, will change slightly. Part of the intentions there were that I wanted to document, in a weekly fashion, what I did to develop the blog. However; that morphed into me riffing on a theme and telling stories. Many times this did not have anything at all to do with ten years ago.

Since I feel I have gone over the beginnings of the blog, covering the initial four years here, I thought that maybe it was time to just admit that I want to tell stories based upon things I've done over the past 15 years here and riff on that. So, the "Minus Ten Review" will morph into something else. Something based on the 15 year idea. I've got a pot full of themes here and some deserve some refreshing, retelling, and expounding upon. So, look for that idea to start up next January.

Other than that, the blog will pretty much remain the same. I think you'll notice some new twists though. There are plans on the horizon for multi-media connections. I may have my own, "Guitar Ted-centric" podcast dealing with the blog stuff. Maybe even video. I will definitely be doing more on the podcast/video/live stream side in connection with something new I will be involved in for 2020. That's exciting for me on several levels. I cannot wait to release this news.

There will also be some major changes professionally. Things ending. Things beginning. I cannot say anything more than this right now, but a clearer pathway into 2020 is forming now and I am pretty happy about that.

Stay tuned folks. It's going to be a bumpy ride!