Minus Ten Review -36

"Team Stoopid" won!

Ten years ago on the blog I was talking about the Labor Day weekend win I had with "Team Stoopid". It was a four man, single speed, rigid fork riding team. I had quite the spectacular "dismount" during this event. One of my better crashes, actually.

There was a left hander, a pretty sharp one, that came after a quick downhill. If you over-cooked the turn, there was a precipitous drop of probably 20-25 feet. Well, I over-cooked the turn and found myself in mid-air with the prospects of a nasty drop and certain injury. I managed to hook a small tree with my right arm and I spun, pole dancer style, all the way to the bottom hooked to the tree by the crook of my arm only. It left a nasty rash, but I landed safely on the ground on my two feet.

That was probably the highlight of my miserably slow two laps. I was woefully over-geared for that steep of a course, but live and learn! The opportunity to experience a 24Hr race weekend, even though we only did 12 hours, was really cool. It remains my only experience with that sort of off road racing.

The other thing that was cool was that I got to spend a weekend with three others that I haven't had the opportunity to spend anytime with ever since. It was an odd arrangement and the timing of the team coming together was maybe a cosmic oddity. I don't know, but I won't soon forget that experience or the time spent with those men.

Me heading out for a lap for "Team Stoopid".

In other news from a decade ago this week, I was talking about the mythical "Gravel Triple Crown". This is interesting now from the standpoint of this past spring's Trans Iowa winner, Dan Hughes, claiming the "Triple Crown" in his blog report for the event. To get some perspective on this, I am going to refer to my writing about the "Triple Crown" idea here:

"Word is perculating (sic) that it (the Triple Crown's third event) might be in Nebraska. We'll see, but this is an idea that hatched not long after Jeff and I came out with Trans Iowa V1. We'll see if there is enough enthusiasm to carry the day."

So, as can be seen, a "Triple Crown" of gravel idea was being discussed "shortly after" T.I.v1 was announced. This was likely in 2005 or so when, as I recall, it was Jim Cummins of the DK200 who bandied the idea about and was asking Jeff and I what we thought about doing such a thing. As I recall, we weren't too hot on the idea of getting involved in a "series", which is how we were interpreting the idea. We were still finding our way, as far as how this gravel road racing idea would pan out, and we wanted freedom to tweak on our event as we saw fit. A series, or any link to a Triple Crown, would mean some sort of guidelines and rules to make it cohesive and we didn't think it was going to be a possibility without severely compromising our visions.

So, here a couple of years later the idea was brought up again as the Lincoln guys were developing their idea for the "Good Life Gravel Adventure" which became "Gravel Worlds" a few years later. The idea never came to any "official" agreement between the DK200, Trans Iowa, and Gravel Worlds folks, so it remained a curious idea at best. As far as I ever knew, it never even reached a point beyond some cursory discussions among the promoters.

Dan Hughes probably heard about this from talk in the early days of the DK200, I don't know, but that is completely plausible. However he came across the idea, it was never anything serious and the idea never got off the ground. Now I see folks on social media urging Allison Tetrick, who has won Gravel Worlds and the Dirty Kanza 200 Women's titles, to come to T.I. to try for the women's mythical triple crown. But be assured that even if she does sign up, and by chance happens to win the Women's category, it will be only an idea that resides with some of the riders. Definitely not an official crown.

Minus Ten Review -36

"Team Stoopid" won!

Ten years ago on the blog I was talking about the Labor Day weekend win I had with "Team Stoopid". It was a four man, single speed, rigid fork riding team. I had quite the spectacular "dismount" during this event. One of my better crashes, actually.

There was a left hander, a pretty sharp one, that came after a quick downhill. If you over-cooked the turn, there was a precipitous drop of probably 20-25 feet. Well, I over-cooked the turn and found myself in mid-air with the prospects of a nasty drop and certain injury. I managed to hook a small tree with my right arm and I spun, pole dancer style, all the way to the bottom hooked to the tree by the crook of my arm only. It left a nasty rash, but I landed safely on the ground on my two feet.

That was probably the highlight of my miserably slow two laps. I was woefully over-geared for that steep of a course, but live and learn! The opportunity to experience a 24Hr race weekend, even though we only did 12 hours, was really cool. It remains my only experience with that sort of off road racing.

The other thing that was cool was that I got to spend a weekend with three others that I haven't had the opportunity to spend anytime with ever since. It was an odd arrangement and the timing of the team coming together was maybe a cosmic oddity. I don't know, but I won't soon forget that experience or the time spent with those men.

Me heading out for a lap for "Team Stoopid".

In other news from a decade ago this week, I was talking about the mythical "Gravel Triple Crown". This is interesting now from the standpoint of this past spring's Trans Iowa winner, Dan Hughes, claiming the "Triple Crown" in his blog report for the event. To get some perspective on this, I am going to refer to my writing about the "Triple Crown" idea here:

"Word is perculating (sic) that it (the Triple Crown's third event) might be in Nebraska. We'll see, but this is an idea that hatched not long after Jeff and I came out with Trans Iowa V1. We'll see if there is enough enthusiasm to carry the day."

So, as can be seen, a "Triple Crown" of gravel idea was being discussed "shortly after" T.I.v1 was announced. This was likely in 2005 or so when, as I recall, it was Jim Cummins of the DK200 who bandied the idea about and was asking Jeff and I what we thought about doing such a thing. As I recall, we weren't too hot on the idea of getting involved in a "series", which is how we were interpreting the idea. We were still finding our way, as far as how this gravel road racing idea would pan out, and we wanted freedom to tweak on our event as we saw fit. A series, or any link to a Triple Crown, would mean some sort of guidelines and rules to make it cohesive and we didn't think it was going to be a possibility without severely compromising our visions.

So, here a couple of years later the idea was brought up again as the Lincoln guys were developing their idea for the "Good Life Gravel Adventure" which became "Gravel Worlds" a few years later. The idea never came to any "official" agreement between the DK200, Trans Iowa, and Gravel Worlds folks, so it remained a curious idea at best. As far as I ever knew, it never even reached a point beyond some cursory discussions among the promoters.

Dan Hughes probably heard about this from talk in the early days of the DK200, I don't know, but that is completely plausible. However he came across the idea, it was never anything serious and the idea never got off the ground. Now I see folks on social media urging Allison Tetrick, who has won Gravel Worlds and the Dirty Kanza 200 Women's titles, to come to T.I. to try for the women's mythical triple crown. But be assured that even if she does sign up, and by chance happens to win the Women's category, it will be only an idea that resides with some of the riders. Definitely not an official crown.

Minus Ten Review- 33

Rich Dillen has a town named after him in the Cheese State? Who knew?

Ten years ago this week on the blog here I actually had images posted! Crazy. Anyway, one of the deals I got to go to back in the day was Trek World, the dealer only show Trek holds in Madison Wisconsin. Well.......except that it isn't a "show" anymore. And, not all dealers can go, plus the ones that can have to pay to get in. It isn't any big deal though, because you can learn all about Trek's newest bicycles online these days if you have a dealer portal. Still, it isn't the same as seeing the bikes with your own two eyes. That was special.

Plus, you got to meet people like Gary Fisher, the engineering team, product managers, and more. It gave a face to the company and you felt as though you were not working for some cybernetic, faceless corporation. Yes.....some dealers and international dealers do still get this treatment. They get to see the people and the bikes. It's pretty obvious that Trek doesn't see the US bicycle shop as being worth courting. In fact, they are buying up bike shops. But that's another story.....

In other news I talked about what was going on with my Special Projects. The two bicycles were the custom builds I had done in 2007. The Pofahl would be the first to get built but at this time ten years ago I was waiting on the fork to get corrected as it came to me with the rear disc mount instead of the correct front disc brake mount brazed on.

I got this swank Ergon rucksack to try out.

Jeff Kerkove was gone by this time and living in Colorado permanently, which he has been ever since that time. He arranged to have a new Ergon BD-2 sent out to me to try. It was an odd ball rucksack which had this solid plastic hip stabilizer and a ball joint which the pack actually hung from. The idea being that the rider could move without having to overcome the weight of the backpack to do so. The ball joint, or "Flink", as Ergon called it, allowed the pack to pivot on the back of the wearer.

It worked as advertised, but the rigid bits of the pack were.......annoying. The design also pushed the weight of the backpack and its contents away from the rider, which seems like a benefit at first. However; it meant that the weight of the pack and its contents had a more effective lever on your back and a heavy load seemed to be more of a burden than it should be since you were always countering that weight hanging off your back instead of having it closer to your body, which feels more natural. Anyway..... It was a neat pack.

Actually, I still have it. It's in a gear pile in the basement. It just seems like there is something about this which was a "parting gift" from Jeff, and I am a bit sentimental. So, I really should ditch it, but......anyway. 

I also was telling folks ten years ago that I was a confirmed member of "Team Stoopid". (Some say I always have been!) Team Stoopid was a four man endurance racing squad that tackled the 12 hour racing category at the Iowa 24 in 2007. All of us used rigid single speeds to race on, thus the name. It was the most fun racing I had ever had up to that point. But more on that in the near future.....

Minus Ten Review- 33

Rich Dillen has a town named after him in the Cheese State? Who knew?

Ten years ago this week on the blog here I actually had images posted! Crazy. Anyway, one of the deals I got to go to back in the day was Trek World, the dealer only show Trek holds in Madison Wisconsin. Well.......except that it isn't a "show" anymore. And, not all dealers can go, plus the ones that can have to pay to get in. It isn't any big deal though, because you can learn all about Trek's newest bicycles online these days if you have a dealer portal. Still, it isn't the same as seeing the bikes with your own two eyes. That was special.

Plus, you got to meet people like Gary Fisher, the engineering team, product managers, and more. It gave a face to the company and you felt as though you were not working for some cybernetic, faceless corporation. Yes.....some dealers and international dealers do still get this treatment. They get to see the people and the bikes. It's pretty obvious that Trek doesn't see the US bicycle shop as being worth courting. In fact, they are buying up bike shops. But that's another story.....

In other news I talked about what was going on with my Special Projects. The two bicycles were the custom builds I had done in 2007. The Pofahl would be the first to get built but at this time ten years ago I was waiting on the fork to get corrected as it came to me with the rear disc mount instead of the correct front disc brake mount brazed on.

I got this swank Ergon rucksack to try out.

Jeff Kerkove was gone by this time and living in Colorado permanently, which he has been ever since that time. He arranged to have a new Ergon BD-2 sent out to me to try. It was an odd ball rucksack which had this solid plastic hip stabilizer and a ball joint which the pack actually hung from. The idea being that the rider could move without having to overcome the weight of the backpack to do so. The ball joint, or "Flink", as Ergon called it, allowed the pack to pivot on the back of the wearer.

It worked as advertised, but the rigid bits of the pack were.......annoying. The design also pushed the weight of the backpack and its contents away from the rider, which seems like a benefit at first. However; it meant that the weight of the pack and its contents had a more effective lever on your back and a heavy load seemed to be more of a burden than it should be since you were always countering that weight hanging off your back instead of having it closer to your body, which feels more natural. Anyway..... It was a neat pack.

Actually, I still have it. It's in a gear pile in the basement. It just seems like there is something about this which was a "parting gift" from Jeff, and I am a bit sentimental. So, I really should ditch it, but......anyway. 

I also was telling folks ten years ago that I was a confirmed member of "Team Stoopid". (Some say I always have been!) Team Stoopid was a four man endurance racing squad that tackled the 12 hour racing category at the Iowa 24 in 2007. All of us used rigid single speeds to race on, thus the name. It was the most fun racing I had ever had up to that point. But more on that in the near future.....

Forked

Original '06 Inbred fork (L) and Carbon Superlight fork from On One (R)

The tale of my old 2006 (it may actually have been an '05 model) On One Inbred 29"er continues. A brief recap in case you haven't been around here for long:

I purchased a close out On One Inbred 29"er frame and fork very early in 2006, (thus the possibility that it actually is an '05 model), and built it up as a single speed which I then used in the inaugural Dirty Kanza 200. Sometime later in 2006 I got an On One Carbon Superlight fork to mount on it and the steel fork was retired by myself, never to be used again by me. Fast forward to 2008 and I sold the frame with the original fork to a co-worker with the caveat that I had first dibs on buying it back should he ever want to get rid of it.

Meanwhile the Superlight fork made a few appearances on other bikes but was retired and eventually I sold that fork in either 2015 or early last year to another co-worker. Okay, so the original frame came back to me in May of last year, I believe it was, but with no fork. Then the original fork came back later in the year last November. So.......the old bike could be built up, right?

Actually, this brings us up to the story as it sits now. So, here is the latest.

Team Stoopid- First place 12hr Team category. We all rode rigid single speeds!

The Inbred is a special bicycle to me, not only for the DK 200 run I had on it, but also because I had used that bike for the only event I ever got a first place in. Well......it was a team event, but we came in first place. It was the 2007 Iowa 24hr Race held near Boone Iowa. I raced on a team which all used rigid single speed devices and we entered the 12 hr category. So, while it wasn't a well contested category, (we may have been the only team in the 12hr category, I am not sure), we still got first place. So, the Inbred had a special place in my heart.

Yes, I probably should never have sold it, but c'mon! We've all sold something we wish later we wouldn't have. Anyway, this is my "I shouldn't have....." and I got it and the fork back. Amazing, right?

It sure looked like I was going to be well on my way to putting the Inbred back together. However; in the years that the Inbred was with my co-worker, it led a life of hard use. The co-worker lent the bike to a brother who needed a mountain bike, then the fork was separated and sold off to someone in Colorado who rode it hard. Really hard. When the fork came back it was in rough shape. There was rust, there were plenty of scuffs, and a scratch that concerned me. Maybe it wasn't a scratch? I needed to investigate. I wasn't about to ride a fork that was compromised in any way. So, I took it to the deep looking scratch with Mother's Mag polish, hoping that it was only a deep scratch in the paint. However; upon further application of "elbow grease", it became apparent that it was something much more serious. It was a crack.

Ah! Forked!

This fork was no good.

That put me in somewhat of a pickle, since straight steer tube, 1 1/8th forks with long off sets and 470mm axle to crown heights are pretty scarce these days. Back in 2007 they were a dime a dozen, but ten years down the road they are antiques. A cursory search on the innergoogles brought up almost nothing, so I decided to shelve the project until I could bring myself to slap on a G2 offset Reba I happen to have which would have worked. I just didn't want to use any suspension fork because I never had used one on the old Inbred and I wasn't about to now.

The project was out of mind until last week when I noted that the coworker who had the On One Superlight fork was interested in selling the fork back to me. We made an agreement, and last Friday I got a hold of that fork and it is in excellent condition. This means that the Inbred project is back on again.

The ironic thing is that the Inbred was set up with the Carbon Superlight for the Iowa24hr team event I was in. So, it is a good deal that I was at least able to obtain that fork again. It preserves the geo/handling the Inbred was designed for, and obviously, it is lighter.

Stay tuned for more later on in the Spring......

Forked

Original '06 Inbred fork (L) and Carbon Superlight fork from On One (R)

The tale of my old 2006 (it may actually have been an '05 model) On One Inbred 29"er continues. A brief recap in case you haven't been around here for long:

I purchased a close out On One Inbred 29"er frame and fork very early in 2006, (thus the possibility that it actually is an '05 model), and built it up as a single speed which I then used in the inaugural Dirty Kanza 200. Sometime later in 2006 I got an On One Carbon Superlight fork to mount on it and the steel fork was retired by myself, never to be used again by me. Fast forward to 2008 and I sold the frame with the original fork to a co-worker with the caveat that I had first dibs on buying it back should he ever want to get rid of it.

Meanwhile the Superlight fork made a few appearances on other bikes but was retired and eventually I sold that fork in either 2015 or early last year to another co-worker. Okay, so the original frame came back to me in May of last year, I believe it was, but with no fork. Then the original fork came back later in the year last November. So.......the old bike could be built up, right?

Actually, this brings us up to the story as it sits now. So, here is the latest.

Team Stoopid- First place 12hr Team category. We all rode rigid single speeds!

The Inbred is a special bicycle to me, not only for the DK 200 run I had on it, but also because I had used that bike for the only event I ever got a first place in. Well......it was a team event, but we came in first place. It was the 2007 Iowa 24hr Race held near Boone Iowa. I raced on a team which all used rigid single speed devices and we entered the 12 hr category. So, while it wasn't a well contested category, (we may have been the only team in the 12hr category, I am not sure), we still got first place. So, the Inbred had a special place in my heart.

Yes, I probably should never have sold it, but c'mon! We've all sold something we wish later we wouldn't have. Anyway, this is my "I shouldn't have....." and I got it and the fork back. Amazing, right?

It sure looked like I was going to be well on my way to putting the Inbred back together. However; in the years that the Inbred was with my co-worker, it led a life of hard use. The co-worker lent the bike to a brother who needed a mountain bike, then the fork was separated and sold off to someone in Colorado who rode it hard. Really hard. When the fork came back it was in rough shape. There was rust, there were plenty of scuffs, and a scratch that concerned me. Maybe it wasn't a scratch? I needed to investigate. I wasn't about to ride a fork that was compromised in any way. So, I took it to the deep looking scratch with Mother's Mag polish, hoping that it was only a deep scratch in the paint. However; upon further application of "elbow grease", it became apparent that it was something much more serious. It was a crack.

Ah! Forked!

This fork was no good.

That put me in somewhat of a pickle, since straight steer tube, 1 1/8th forks with long off sets and 470mm axle to crown heights are pretty scarce these days. Back in 2007 they were a dime a dozen, but ten years down the road they are antiques. A cursory search on the innergoogles brought up almost nothing, so I decided to shelve the project until I could bring myself to slap on a G2 offset Reba I happen to have which would have worked. I just didn't want to use any suspension fork because I never had used one on the old Inbred and I wasn't about to now.

The project was out of mind until last week when I noted that the coworker who had the On One Superlight fork was interested in selling the fork back to me. We made an agreement, and last Friday I got a hold of that fork and it is in excellent condition. This means that the Inbred project is back on again.

The ironic thing is that the Inbred was set up with the Carbon Superlight for the Iowa24hr team event I was in. So, it is a good deal that I was at least able to obtain that fork again. It preserves the geo/handling the Inbred was designed for, and obviously, it is lighter.

Stay tuned for more later on in the Spring......

Race News and Sneak Peek

<====The Of Spirit Blackbuck in "bicycle form"

I was able to start the transfer of parts over from my old single speed race frame to the OS Bikes Blackbuck yesterday. It looks pretty nice so far, I think.

I wanted to get it dialed in position-wise as close to the old set up as I can get, ( which looks like it will be easy to do) before I start tweaking with the different forks and what not. This is the Superlight Carbon fork from On One that is on it now. I will derive a "baseline" of handling from this point, since it should be the most similar to the old bike. Then after I get a handle on this set up, I'll start the mad scientist fork swapping.

A couple of tech notes, for those curious about such things: The Avid BB-7 calipers fit fine on the chain stay. No interference with the actuation arm of the caliper. Also, the frame with seat collar and EBB installed weighed 5.6lbs. I figure the completed bike should weigh in at about 25-26lbs when I'm finished. I could cut that down with a different bar/stem combo. (That is in the plans as of now. Salsa carbon bar and a Salsa stem are on the radar)

As for racing this beast, I have already committed to doing the Dirty Kanza 200 on May 31st. There are still spots open to get on board with this long gravel grinder, and I recommend it highly! Good times! Many Iowans are already on the list and several other well known area enduro-freaks are too. Anyway, that will be the first real test of the rig planned so far in terms of racing conditions. I may find another local event before that to test the waters. We'll see.

Of course, it will be getting ridden for the fork tests all along. Also on the radar is the 24 Hours of Seven Oaks which will see the re-appearance of Team Stoopid. The all rigid, all single speed team of four that won their category at the event last year. Now all I have to do is to convince the team leader to acquire a set of adult wheels for the campaign. It'll help keep him upright, I think.

More on the racing scene as it becomes pertinent.



<====Not normally found on my training table!

Had a little celebration last night and I wanted to say Thanks!

Having my little ones sing "Happy Birtday" to me was the best present I could get.

Oh yeah.........I like me chocolate!

Race News and Sneak Peek

<====The Of Spirit Blackbuck in "bicycle form"

I was able to start the transfer of parts over from my old single speed race frame to the OS Bikes Blackbuck yesterday. It looks pretty nice so far, I think.

I wanted to get it dialed in position-wise as close to the old set up as I can get, ( which looks like it will be easy to do) before I start tweaking with the different forks and what not. This is the Superlight Carbon fork from On One that is on it now. I will derive a "baseline" of handling from this point, since it should be the most similar to the old bike. Then after I get a handle on this set up, I'll start the mad scientist fork swapping.

A couple of tech notes, for those curious about such things: The Avid BB-7 calipers fit fine on the chain stay. No interference with the actuation arm of the caliper. Also, the frame with seat collar and EBB installed weighed 5.6lbs. I figure the completed bike should weigh in at about 25-26lbs when I'm finished. I could cut that down with a different bar/stem combo. (That is in the plans as of now. Salsa carbon bar and a Salsa stem are on the radar)

As for racing this beast, I have already committed to doing the Dirty Kanza 200 on May 31st. There are still spots open to get on board with this long gravel grinder, and I recommend it highly! Good times! Many Iowans are already on the list and several other well known area enduro-freaks are too. Anyway, that will be the first real test of the rig planned so far in terms of racing conditions. I may find another local event before that to test the waters. We'll see.

Of course, it will be getting ridden for the fork tests all along. Also on the radar is the 24 Hours of Seven Oaks which will see the re-appearance of Team Stoopid. The all rigid, all single speed team of four that won their category at the event last year. Now all I have to do is to convince the team leader to acquire a set of adult wheels for the campaign. It'll help keep him upright, I think.

More on the racing scene as it becomes pertinent.



<====Not normally found on my training table!

Had a little celebration last night and I wanted to say Thanks!

Having my little ones sing "Happy Birtday" to me was the best present I could get.

Oh yeah.........I like me chocolate!

Guitar Ted Productions 2007 Rearview: Part V

Well.......by now if you have gotten this far you are either clicking to your next blog or you already know about parts I - IV. (And if you don't, you'll just have to search for those. I ain't linkin' 'em no more!)

Now we're into the time of the year that would have normally found me winding things down a bit. Post RAGBRAI things at the shop generally slow down to a trickle. Well, not this year. I found myself nearly as busy doing repairs as I had previous to RAGBRAI, and all still without the assistance of a second mechanic. Then I got the crazy idea to answer a call put out by The Blue Colnago to join a single speed specific 12 hour team for the Iowa 24.

Well, why not? Being insanely busy was a way of life in 2007, why stop it now? So, having not pinned a number on since the Dirty Kanza 200 in 2006 and probably ten years since I last raced any XC venue I decided to join ranks with Team Stoopid. All I had to do was ride one of my single speeds and complete what? Two to three laps? Heck, a monkey could do that!



<===The Pofahl Custom wasn't quite ready for the Iowa 24 action, but it sure was sweet!

I had the new Pofahl SS, but only just, and of course, even though I was sorely out of "racin' shape" I knew that you should never, ever ride a brand new rig in a race. So this fine new addition to the Guitar Ted Stable was passed over in favor of the On One Inbred. I started riding it everywhere. I figured that even though I wasn't really in shape to do a race, at least I would feel comfortable with my bike choice. As the event drew near, I got kind of excited about going to an event again and seeing how things had/had not changed since I last lined up with a bunch o crazies.




<===Guitar Ted striking fear in the hearts of skinny XC whippets. Large and in Charge, Baby!

Well, needless to say that the endurance/24/12 hour thing is a far cry from the rooster strutting that I was remebering from back in the day. I had a great time, Team Stoopid won our category, (We were the only entries in it! Hey! It's race strategy that works!) I had a few beers, sipped some whiskey, and had a nice chat or two with some like minded folks that were hanging about the place.

Thanks to all who attended that little gig, I think I'll be expanding my race calendar for next season, but that's another post!

After all the fun and games I went home and started prepping for the Big One. The Interbike trade show that I was to cover for Twenty Nine Inches. I had appointments to line up, stories to research, and bags to pack. I was even going to the Outdoor Demo this time. That was cool! So, I spent alot of evenings at home e-mailing and strategizing. Work was a touch less busy, but we still had daily repair schedules that were full leading right up to when I left. Busy.......the operative word for 2007 you could say.




<=====Team Stoopid would like to take this oportunity to wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

That will end todays rearview. Next I will cover the Interbike trip itself, which will probably be its own post, and then we'll wrap things up with a final Rearview of 2007.

Then it'll be time to peek into the future. Stay tuned!

Guitar Ted Productions 2007 Rearview: Part V

Well.......by now if you have gotten this far you are either clicking to your next blog or you already know about parts I - IV. (And if you don't, you'll just have to search for those. I ain't linkin' 'em no more!)

Now we're into the time of the year that would have normally found me winding things down a bit. Post RAGBRAI things at the shop generally slow down to a trickle. Well, not this year. I found myself nearly as busy doing repairs as I had previous to RAGBRAI, and all still without the assistance of a second mechanic. Then I got the crazy idea to answer a call put out by The Blue Colnago to join a single speed specific 12 hour team for the Iowa 24.

Well, why not? Being insanely busy was a way of life in 2007, why stop it now? So, having not pinned a number on since the Dirty Kanza 200 in 2006 and probably ten years since I last raced any XC venue I decided to join ranks with Team Stoopid. All I had to do was ride one of my single speeds and complete what? Two to three laps? Heck, a monkey could do that!



<===The Pofahl Custom wasn't quite ready for the Iowa 24 action, but it sure was sweet!

I had the new Pofahl SS, but only just, and of course, even though I was sorely out of "racin' shape" I knew that you should never, ever ride a brand new rig in a race. So this fine new addition to the Guitar Ted Stable was passed over in favor of the On One Inbred. I started riding it everywhere. I figured that even though I wasn't really in shape to do a race, at least I would feel comfortable with my bike choice. As the event drew near, I got kind of excited about going to an event again and seeing how things had/had not changed since I last lined up with a bunch o crazies.




<===Guitar Ted striking fear in the hearts of skinny XC whippets. Large and in Charge, Baby!

Well, needless to say that the endurance/24/12 hour thing is a far cry from the rooster strutting that I was remebering from back in the day. I had a great time, Team Stoopid won our category, (We were the only entries in it! Hey! It's race strategy that works!) I had a few beers, sipped some whiskey, and had a nice chat or two with some like minded folks that were hanging about the place.

Thanks to all who attended that little gig, I think I'll be expanding my race calendar for next season, but that's another post!

After all the fun and games I went home and started prepping for the Big One. The Interbike trade show that I was to cover for Twenty Nine Inches. I had appointments to line up, stories to research, and bags to pack. I was even going to the Outdoor Demo this time. That was cool! So, I spent alot of evenings at home e-mailing and strategizing. Work was a touch less busy, but we still had daily repair schedules that were full leading right up to when I left. Busy.......the operative word for 2007 you could say.




<=====Team Stoopid would like to take this oportunity to wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

That will end todays rearview. Next I will cover the Interbike trip itself, which will probably be its own post, and then we'll wrap things up with a final Rearview of 2007.

Then it'll be time to peek into the future. Stay tuned!