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.

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.

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.

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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!