Multiplication

 In celebration of the twentieth year of this blog, I have a few tales to tell. This post is one of them. This series will occur off and on throughout this anniversary year, I hope to illuminate some behind-the-scenes stories and highlights from the blog during this time. Enjoy!

 When I started Guitar Ted Productions in May of 2005 I had no other intentions for doing other blogs, websites, or podcasts. However; I did not take long to get myself into all three of those things. This post will be a sort of brief history of the blogs, websites, and podcasts I've been a part of throughout the years. 

You could say that Guitar Ted Productions was the second blog site I was associated with since Trans Iowa's site predated this blog by almost six months. However; I was not the one making any changes to that blog until 2007 when Trans Iowa co-founder Jeff Kerkove left for Ergon. But technically I was a part of that, so.... 

By 2006 I had an idea for a gravel ride and Jeff Kerkove felt I should "make it official" so he went ahead and set up the Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitational blog site without my knowledge and then handed it to me on a silver platter. Boom! Now I was involved in three blogs. 

A snippet of an article I wrote for "The Biking Hub"

By March of 2006 I was also a regular contributor to "The Biking Hub", an aggregator site for mountain biking articles from the web and a site started only a month and a half earlier which was trying to expand into original content. 

The editor, "Cory", (sorry! I have lost the last name to the fogs of time.), was instrumental in my early development as a writer. He took my submissions and patiently worked with me to hone my craft and become a clearer, more "professional" writer in terms of sentence structure, tone, and grammar. 

I owe a lot to Cory and the chance to become a better writer. This and the chance to start writing reviews. It was Cory's idea to do three-part reviews over time to give readers something different than the typical one-hit and done reviews which were the norm then, and still are today. I'd never seen anything done the way Cory was suggesting and I was excited to be given this template for reviews which I have stuck to ever since 2006. 

I cannot say for certain, but ever since I started doing reviews like this it seems to me other sites picked up on the style and whenever I see things like "mid-term review" or "out of the box", I cannot help but think Cory's ideas were the genesis of that style. 

So, "The Biking Hub" was my first site to write for. That lasted until 2007 when I made a switch.....

The last page posted by Twenty Nine Inches. By this point I had left the site.

 From some scattered submissions starting in late 2005 and running through 2006, my name appeared on articles on the "Twenty Nine Inches" website. Then in 2007 I went all-in on being a regular contributor. From that point on until the end of 2014 I was immersed in the big wheel world. 

My articles there came along at the height of my "influencer/reviewer/writer" status in the MTB world which gave me privileges which included flying to Monterrey to see Keith Bontrager, Gary Fisher, and Travis Brown, ride with them, and eat a home cooked meal at Keith Bontrager's home in Santa Cruz. I got to go to Deer Valley, Utah and ride. I was at Sea Otter three times. Plus several Interbikes as well. Those were crazy days and all due to the blog here. 

In 2008 I took what was a sidebar for gravel events on this blog to another blog, opened up a gravel focused chapter called "Gravel Grinder News", and started my transitioning into more of a gravel related blog here as well. Side bar: A little known fact is that the Trans Iowa history site, which was started at about the same time, was converted to Gravel Grinder News. Then I switched the Trans Iowa History site to its own Word  Press based blog. 

  Gravel Grinder News was an event calendar, then a review site toward the end of its "blog status". In 2013 Gravel Grinder News became an actual dot-com in its own right. That went on for 2013 and through 2014 before I was convinced to roll Gravel Grinder News into......

"Riding Gravel" was a site focused on gravel started by Ben Welnak, then of Colorado, back in around 2013 or so. He convinced me to join forces with him under his banner. So Gravel Grinder News went away and I became partners with Ben in Riding Gravel. 

This partnership lasted until the end of 2023 when I stepped away from doing anything for the site. This marked the first time since 2006 where I had not been contributing to a site, or writing for a site on a regular basis. 

Before I became a part-owner in Riding Gravel, I appeared on a podcast via Ben Welnak's "Mountain Bike Radio" network on a show called the "Guitar Ted Show". I would often call in and gab with Ben about Trans Iowa or early MTB/29"er history stuff. However; I was probably best known online in terms of audio when I did my "Trans Iowa Radio" broadcasts live from Trans Iowa every Spring. 

Those started with me using a few different audio-blogging services which have all - sadly- gone away so there are no archives of those reports. However; you can get a feel for what I used to do from the Emmy award winning documentary on Trans Iowa v7 called "300 miles of Gravel", by Jeff Frings. Jeff used a lot of my audio-blog posts from that 2011 event in his film and it is a great reference for any early gravel riding aficionado. You can Google it and find it online yet, I believe. 

Ben then decided to run a call-in podcast for each Trans Iowa for several years starting in 2013 for Trans Iowa v9. You can check that out HERE. 

This transitioned into the "Riding Gravel Radio Ranch" podcast which started in 2014 and ended in 2023 with a little over 100 episodes. That evolved into the "Guitar Ted Podcast" which is in season 3 now with 68 episodes as of this posting. 

I also have been a guest on several other podcasts going back to the 2010's including "The Path Less Pedaled", "The Shiftless Podcast", and also on "The Spokesmen Podcast". 

Besides the film and podcasts, I also have written feature articles for "Dirt Rag", "Bicycle Times", "Bicycle Retailer and Industry News", and was a contributor to an article in the Japanese publication "Bicycle Club". 

I also have been featured in several newspaper articles and other magazine articles. Most notably, Trans Iowa v3 was featured in a chapter of the book written by Zach Dundas called "The Renegade Sportsman" which came out in 2010. Zach shadowed me throughout the event and he captured my sleep-deprived, Red Bull fueled banter quite well, if I do say so myself. If you get a chance to read that chapter in the book, it is well worth your time to seek out. 

Finally, I also had blogs for my old employer's shop for a few years and the short-lived C.O.G. 100 also, which had its own blog site. There were the two websites I had for a bit. "The Cyclistsite" being the most notable where I and Grannygear wrote reviews on stuff not 29"er related. Then there was "650B.com" which I owned but never posted on. Ironically it is the only site I ever made money on. I sold it to someone in Alaska and I haven't seen anything of it since. Am I leaving anything out? I probably have forgotten something....

All these things because I started a blog in 2005. What was I thinking?

Where do I go from here after accomplishing all of those things? Well, ironically someone was trying to offer me a chance to write for a gravel related site as recently as a couple of weeks ago. The thing is, content writers do not get paid what they are worth, and this looked to be another pie-in-the-sky offer with no real foundational backing behind it which would lead me to believe I would not get remunerated for my talents. So, as for the future?

This blog and my podcast are enough. Time to quit multiplying my efforts all over the place! But I am eternally grateful for what I have experienced and have accomplished over these twenty years and due to this blog, really. Without Jeff Kerkove's encouragement to start writing? 

You probably would never had heard of Guitar Ted. Thanks for reading!

Made The Switch

  In celebration of the twentieth year of this blog, I have a few tales to tell. This post is one of them. This series will occur off and on throughout this anniversary year, I hope to illuminate some behind-the-scenes stories and highlights from the blog during this time. Enjoy!

At the end of 2014 I announced that I had made a switch. I was no longer involved with day-to-day operations of the "Twentynine Inches" website. This marked a finish line I had set for myself several years prior to that day when I announced this at the end of 2014. 

The switch was made and I focused on the gravel things after that point. Was  there any future in gravel cycling? Was this a move I made because I had some premonition that gravel cycling was about to become the biggest thing since mountain biking back in the late 80's/early 90's? 

No.

I had no idea where gravel was going in terms of what it has become these days. Frankly, I didn't really care at that point. We had "made it", as far as I was concerned already. We had real tires, we had bicycles designed to ride on gravel, and that, really, was all I was expecting this to be. A small niche cycling segment like fat bikes, maybe bigger, but not by much. 

The last page posted for Twentynine Inches in 2017

I think many people have forgotten my involvement with 29"ers. Honestly, if you are under 30 years old, you may not have ever known I was involved with 29"ers at all. Some say I was an influence in that scene. I say "maybe". I mean, I guess back in 2005/2006 I was one of the earliest bloggers on that subject, and it got me started in the cycling industry as a reviewer and writer. 

Before that I was pretty much nobody. A mechanic in a shop, like thousands of other human beings. 

But writing about 29"ers here made a dent, and enough of one that companies were ghosting my blog for trends and chit-chat on big wheels. Web folk were starting to poke around my blog and a couple asked me to start writing for them, including "Twentynine Inches". Then things took off from there.

I was published in "Dirt Rag" for an article or two, one on 29"ers, one on gravel riding/racing around about 2011

So again, if I didn't totally understand where gravel cycling was headed, and didn't have big-time media credentials to lean on, why would I have quit on the 29"er thing? Well, there were a LOT of reasons for that decision. But for the focus of this post, it was because, much like gravel bikes are the commonplace drop bar bike for everyday road riders now, 29"ers had become the de facto mountain bike. A MTB was a 29"er by default. Big deal! So, there was no real passion or reason to push into writing news and reviews on 29"er stuff for "Twentynine Inches" when all the cycling companies wanted to have the heavy-hitters in media do the reviewing and get the invites to press camps, and all of that sort of thing. This weighed heavily on those who remained at the site until after about two years beyond my departure, "Twentynine Inches" ceased operations here in the USA. 

As for myself, I just wanted to write about gravel cycling mostly, and the blog here really showed that focus. The site, "Gravel Grinder News" came out of this blog in late 2008, and by 2014 I was already doing reviews and write-ups on gravel stuff anyway. And in one sense, I kind of went from the frying pan into the fire as I merged "Gravel Grinder News" with "Riding Gravel" and started pretty much running that site. So, in a sense I just made a swap from one trend that had run its course to another that was gaining momentum daily. 

And now I am not doing anything with "Riding Gravel" either, so is the gravel thing no big deal anymore? Why did I leave the gravel site? That's for another time....

More soon.

Changes In The Wind

 In celebration of the twentieth year of this blog, I have a few tales to tell. This post is one of them. This series will occur off and on throughout this anniversary year, I hope to illuminate some behind-the-scenes stories and highlights from the blog during this time. Enjoy!

The year 2013 was a pivotal year for this blog in terms of my direction in focus on cycling. This was a time that was about the turning of the page in mountain biking. The "wheel wars" between 26', 27.5", and 29" were about to swing hard toward 29"ers as being the de facto wheel size for MTB. 27.5" had made a big push, but would finally be supplanted by 29"ers in a few years hence. 26 inch was effectively dead by this point, and who would have ever guessed that would have happened even five years prior? 

This all had the effect of making 29"ers mainstream and therefore, not a niche segment relegated to weirdos blogging on the Internet anymore. Now "professional" coverage of the wheel size was dominant, and that meant that what I had been doing for a decade already was now outdated. Once I had been promised a paycheck for doing my 29"er stuff, but in 2013? Heck, our site could hardly scare up decent review stuff anymore and money? Ha! What money?

In 2013 my focus had shifted to gravel cycling. Image from T.I.v10 recon.

The minor addition of a calendar of known gravel events to this blog in 2008 led to a full-fledged blog covering gravel called "Gravel Grinder News". The gravel based content and my involvement in the 29"er scene coexisted for several years but ultimately proved to be too much. All of this combined with Trans Iowa coming fully under my purview as a promoter in late 2011 forced changes. 

I didn't execute my plan for leaving the 29"er site until the last month of 2014, but I started to lay the groundwork for getting out in 2013. That year I also started up "Gravel Grinder News" as its own website with the help of "Grannygear", my friend in SoCal. Another gravel oriented site, "Riding Gravel", popped up about the same time, and that would end up becoming where I went online, but that's another story. 

2013 - My last trip I made to Interbike.

2013 was a beginning and an ending. This blog catapulted me into the realms of cycling reporters and to the industry. 29"ers were the reason why that happened as well. But now that was all fading away, and I was attracted to gravel cycling all along. I had been a fixture of the scene as the director of Trans Iowa since 2005. Gravel was where my heart was really at in those days. 

So, whatever was going to happen with gravel did not matter to me. I was going to follow my heart and get back to things I cared deeply about in terms of cycling. The rest of the world of cycling could go on its merry way, deriding gravel cycling, as they were wont to do often. I cared nothing about that, and I wasn't deterred in my passions for turning this blog's focus toward gravel cycling. I was going to do what I was going to do. 

Of course, we all know now where that took me. But in 2013 that wasn't a thought. I was tired of beating down doors and having promises made with no regard to following up on them. I was done with the traditional cycling media's focus on upper echelon racers and racing gear. I saw gravel as the every-person's cycling scene. But yeah.....

Now gravel has become "that" thing as well. This is why we cannot have nice things.

More soon.....

The Summer That Changed Everything

  In celebration of the twentieth year of this blog, I have a few tales to tell. This post is one of them. This series will occur off and on throughout this anniversary year, I hope to illuminate some behind-the-scenes stories and highlights from the blog during this time. Enjoy!

 

 

One Summer that really was nuts and changed the trajectory of this blog and my life was the Summer of 2008. I was reminded of this by my recent visit with Ari Andonopoulos because 2008 was the year I met him in the Spring at Trans Iowa v4.  

That Summer was crazy. It rained, stormed, and all sorts of damage was done. The Parkersburg tornado destroyed that town and I was a part of the clean-up for the disaster. There was record flooding in the Mid-West and Iowa was at the epicenter. On top of all of those things I was deep into my reviewing tasks and this facet of my bicycling life had grown more intense. I won't mention my family and job at the bike shop, which were requiring a lot of attention and deservedly so. 

It never happened

One of my biggest regrets in cycling was getting pulled into the Big Wheeled Ballyhoo 29"er/MTB festival which was an idea of mine but was co-opted by the founder of the "Twentynine Inches" site and twisted into something I never would have agreed to be a part of had I known what he had in mind. 

It was a difficult situation since I had been promised a salary, (which never materialized) for my work on his site and since this was a part of my "employment", I felt obligated to follow the "boss's" lead. I was to be the "boots on the ground" organizer and this fellow I was associated with was supposed to be doing logistical work in the background. Things like getting sponsors, brands to show up, and basically promoting the event. 

Well, that all fell through because this guy flaked out and by 2009 he had nothing to do with the 29"er site or anything else he had created on the internet either, leaving myself and a group of others that had believed in his empty promises to flounder. Great! This all started to unravel in the Summer of 2008. 

So, I wasn't getting paid, I had no back-end support, and we had catastrophic flooding at the venue site in Decorah, Iowa just two weeks out from the planned festival. With 12 feet of water, or more, flowing over our planned expo and camping sites, I decided to pull the plug on the event. I was getting a LOT of inquiries from would-be vendors that wanted to make other plans if the flooding was going to put the festival in jeopardy. I had contacted the trail group in Decorah who weren't very helpful to me in making any decision, I think because they really wanted this, but weren't willing to, or incapable of understanding my end of the thing and what vendors were needing from this. 

It all was put on my shoulders and all that despite my trying to involve others in the decision. So, I made the call. I wasn't going to cotton to any bellyaching about it afterward because everyone had a chance to have input, but pretty much waffled on their chance to be heard one way or the other. 

The day the Ballyhoo was originally planned, I rode those trails in Decorah and found some concerns.

Even after I made the call, there was obviously some disappointment, but there were no complaints, and certainly no one had voiced concerns over not being consulted in the decision process. Also, after I had decided to go to Decorah on the very day we would have had the Ballyhoo and ride, I found several concerns over road and trail conditions. Not to mention the planned expo area and camping area were still a disaster area with flood silt and soft grounds. 

There was no question I had made the correct decision. However; after I had written a post about my ride up there I had one very pointed criticism of my take, how I was completely wrong about my assessments, and that I should not "...consider Decorah for any future events". This was voiced by a singular person in an email who was, (and may still be, I don't know), a very influential person in the MTB community in Decorah. 

Well, we had been putting on Trans Iowa out of Decorah for two years at that point and v5 was coming up. Since the emailer said that I should not consider Decorah for any future events, I granted that wish. That person doesn't need to be "outed", and that's all I have to say about this individual. But this is the reason Trans Iowa eventually ended up in Williamsburg, Iowa, and when that city pretty much shunned us, it became the eventual reason for Trans Iowa to be held out of Grinnell, Iowa. 

The Ballyhoo idea ended up becoming a big disappointment to me. I tried to revive the idea for the following year in Nebraska in a format I was more in tune with, but it all was for naught. I ended up having to miss the event due to an illness in the family and then it snowed on everyone that did go to the event. That sucked the wind out of my sails for that idea and I was consumed by other things heading into 2010 anyway. 

Had the weather been good and the Ballyhoo been a success, had my boss at the 29"er site not flaked out, had that certain individual hit "delete" instead of "send", who knows where I'd be today. I only know that the events of the Summer of 2008 were monumental in sending me down the path I ended up on.

I'm Not Sure Why This Took Off

This is a rendering of the first customized header for the blog celebrating 20 years of blogging.

I was recording a podcast recently with The Spinistry's Kevin Lee and after I thanked him for his support of the podcast he stated that he was happy to do so because, as he said of me "...for all of your contributions to gravel cycling....". 

That still blows me away when people speak of me in such a way. Inside the head of Guitar Ted, he still feels as though he is a "regular guy" and is still being amazed that people listen to/read what he has to say. And to be honest, I never thought anyone would care to hear from "Guitar Ted" anyway, but how wrong was I about that?! 

Very wrong!

Taking a look back at the end of 2006, when this blog had barely been around for a year and a half, I can see that things went nuts for me right off the bat. Jeff Kerkove, who pushed me into blogging in the first place, must have been smiling from ear to ear knowing he was right about me. I would never have guessed that anything of the sort would have been happening to me at the end of 2006 if you had asked me about this in May of 2005.

One of the last gravel group ride announcements Jeff Kerkove made.

Ironically it marked the beginning of Jeff's time out of the spotlight. He had been a pretty well known solo 24hr racer. He was sponsored by Giant bicycles, Cannondale, Cat Eye, and Hammer Nutrition at various times in the early 2000's. You don't get two free bikes, lights, and nutrition unless you are making a dent in the bottom line. Either in marketing awareness or actual sales. 

So saying that Jeff was a "big deal" in cycling back then isn't hyperbole. It is a fact. However; Jeff was dabbling for a way to get into the mountains of Colorado, Ergon offered an opportunity to do that with a job, and Jeff took the opportunity and ran with it. 

By the end of 2007 Jeff was pretty much ensconced in all things Ergon and was all but gone from the 24hr racing scene. His timing was impeccable. That was about right when that scene went into a steep decline in popularity. And Jeff did not quit racing. No! Not at all. He just went in a different direction. 

One other thing bears mentioning here is that I credit Jeff with organizing the first gravel group rides that I was ever aware of. One of his clever announcements from his old blog can be seen above. I was fortunate enough to be on that particular ride with he and several other locals here. 

Now, as for me, I went the other way. By the end of 2006 I was onboard with the 29"er site, "Twentynine Inches" as a contributor. I was being promised a salary for my writing, and a possible way out of having to work at a bike shop. In fact, had the original owner of that site not missed his marks, it is quite possible that this blog would have ended in the late 2000's, that I would never had been involved in gravel cycling as deeply as I ended up being, and my expertise and influence would have been limited to the 29" wheel and subsequent innovations coming from that. 

I'm happy that did not happen, by the way! 

What did happen was that a long, drawn out promise, well promises, really, were made to me and then 'poof!' Nothing. I was left with the loose ends and I felt I needed to make amends, because I felt responsible. And right or wrong I ended up turning the ship around with some much needed help from friends and finally was able to cut ties with that site at the end of 2013. It's hard for me to say that "I wish that had never happened" because a lot of great stuff happened and I met so many awesome folks. Maybe things could have gone a little differently, but maybe things happened just how they were supposed to happen. 

I believe it was the latter that is the truth.

Stay tuned for more stories about this blog and what things that it has done in my life, (and maybe yours too) along the way.

Fargo Gen I: Winter Project

My Fargo Gen I bike has gone through several permutations. The latest one has been taking shape over the course of this year. I added a new crankset not long ago and the Ti Regulator seat post and Brooks saddle, (which - honestly - that may have been done in 2021.)

Anyway, it was a good move all around and my only quibble was that the wheels, a set of old Sun Ringle' Black Flag hoops, was a bit on the flexy-narrow side. Flexy in that the aluminum extrusion and low-ish spoke count wasn't giving enough lateral support, and narrow in that the inner rim width was narrower than many current "gravel" wheel sets. 

I have some Velocity Blunt SS rims just waiting to be laced up to something, but I was held back because I remember when the Fargo had a carbon hoop set and how that literally transformed how that bike rode. I had sold those wheels several years ago, and honestly, that was a good move for me because those wheels were not tubeless and those rims were also pretty narrow internally.

I wanted wheels with a decent inner rim width

Yeah, so maybe some day I'd lace up those Blunt SS rims for the Fargo, but I'd need new hubs and those would be costly, because, well.....I'm not going to use just any old hub! So, that all got put on the back-burner. I mean, the Fargo was rideable as is. First world problems and all......

Then one day this past Fall, Grannygear, my friend and contributor to my work since the late 00's, pinged me with a  message. It went something like this; "Hey, I've got these old Roval carbon wheels that I want to move on. They need some work though, and since you are a wheel man, maybe you might want to fix them up?"

So, one thing led to another and I received the wheels the other day in exchange for a minor amount of cash (digitally, natch!). Grannygear was correct. These wheels are not perfect in any way, but with a bit of TLC and time, they should come out nicely and I think they will suit the Fargo well. 

From the days of painted spokes... Roval MTB wheels.

Near as I can tell these are 2011-2012 vintage 29"er hoops. They were reviewed by Grannygear for the old "Twentynine Inches" site I used to run. They have DT Swiss internals, DT Swiss spokes and nipples, and the wheels have swappable end caps, so I can use QR compatible end caps to retrofit these to the Gen I Fargo. No "boosty" nonsense either, which is good for that old green bike. 

They are 10 year old carbon wheels, so they need the previously mentioned "TLC". Cleaning, replacement of a couple nipples, and retensioning should put them back into order. I did not note any corrosion with regard to the nipples, so that was a good sign. 

And to boot, these won't be seeing any hard-core MTB action. They will enjoy "retirement" from Grannygear by being put to use here on the gravel roads. I should say also that the only thing these wheels will be subjected to is excessive dust, which probably is not a whole lot difeerent than their previous life in SoCal's environment, which was dusty with a different type of dust. 

I checked out the bearings and they are worn, but serviceable yet. I'll run them until they die and re-rack when the time comes. The star ratchet free hub should last a long time, and I'll take a peek at that once I remove the stubborn end cap that is on the drive side. That cap needs replacing anyway, since I am going with the quick release set up for the Fargo. 

Grannygear said these were pretty stiff laterally, and with a healthy 32 spokes tensioned properly, I bet these will straighten out the handling of the Fargo to my liking and previously held standard. The slightly wider internal rim width is welcomed as well. With an under 1400 gram wheel set, the Fargo should feel fantastic. 

I'll keep those old Black Flag wheels for the Fargo also. Those will go on when things get gnarly weather-wise. But the Rovals will live on and they will be a very welcome addition to the Fargo.

Fargo Gen I: Winter Project

My Fargo Gen I bike has gone through several permutations. The latest one has been taking shape over the course of this year. I added a new crankset not long ago and the Ti Regulator seat post and Brooks saddle, (which - honestly - that may have been done in 2021.)

Anyway, it was a good move all around and my only quibble was that the wheels, a set of old Sun Ringle' Black Flag hoops, was a bit on the flexy-narrow side. Flexy in that the aluminum extrusion and low-ish spoke count wasn't giving enough lateral support, and narrow in that the inner rim width was narrower than many current "gravel" wheel sets. 

I have some Velocity Blunt SS rims just waiting to be laced up to something, but I was held back because I remember when the Fargo had a carbon hoop set and how that literally transformed how that bike rode. I had sold those wheels several years ago, and honestly, that was a good move for me because those wheels were not tubeless and those rims were also pretty narrow internally.

I wanted wheels with a decent inner rim width

Yeah, so maybe some day I'd lace up those Blunt SS rims for the Fargo, but I'd need new hubs and those would be costly, because, well.....I'm not going to use just any old hub! So, that all got put on the back-burner. I mean, the Fargo was rideable as is. First world problems and all......

Then one day this past Fall, Grannygear, my friend and contributor to my work since the late 00's, pinged me with a  message. It went something like this; "Hey, I've got these old Roval carbon wheels that I want to move on. They need some work though, and since you are a wheel man, maybe you might want to fix them up?"

So, one thing led to another and I received the wheels the other day in exchange for a minor amount of cash (digitally, natch!). Grannygear was correct. These wheels are not perfect in any way, but with a bit of TLC and time, they should come out nicely and I think they will suit the Fargo well. 

From the days of painted spokes... Roval MTB wheels.

Near as I can tell these are 2011-2012 vintage 29"er hoops. They were reviewed by Grannygear for the old "Twentynine Inches" site I used to run. They have DT Swiss internals, DT Swiss spokes and nipples, and the wheels have swappable end caps, so I can use QR compatible end caps to retrofit these to the Gen I Fargo. No "boosty" nonsense either, which is good for that old green bike. 

They are 10 year old carbon wheels, so they need the previously mentioned "TLC". Cleaning, replacement of a couple nipples, and retensioning should put them back into order. I did not note any corrosion with regard to the nipples, so that was a good sign. 

And to boot, these won't be seeing any hard-core MTB action. They will enjoy "retirement" from Grannygear by being put to use here on the gravel roads. I should say also that the only thing these wheels will be subjected to is excessive dust, which probably is not a whole lot difeerent than their previous life in SoCal's environment, which was dusty with a different type of dust. 

I checked out the bearings and they are worn, but serviceable yet. I'll run them until they die and re-rack when the time comes. The star ratchet free hub should last a long time, and I'll take a peek at that once I remove the stubborn end cap that is on the drive side. That cap needs replacing anyway, since I am going with the quick release set up for the Fargo. 

Grannygear said these were pretty stiff laterally, and with a healthy 32 spokes tensioned properly, I bet these will straighten out the handling of the Fargo to my liking and previously held standard. The slightly wider internal rim width is welcomed as well. With an under 1400 gram wheel set, the Fargo should feel fantastic. 

I'll keep those old Black Flag wheels for the Fargo also. Those will go on when things get gnarly weather-wise. But the Rovals will live on and they will be a very welcome addition to the Fargo.

Would You Pay For This?

A snip of a Facebook advertisement for "Beta" magazine.

 In 2006 or so, I was invited to go to a Gary Fisher/Trek press camp as part of "Twentynineinches.com", the 29"er MTB site I used to write for and was editor for a time. Back then, the owner, Tim, took me and we both attended this press camp as the only purely internet based writers in attendance. 

The rest of the room at this presentation was filled with print magazine editors and writers. People you've probably read, and people whose names you'd recognize yet today as being 'big time' journos. 

When the presentation was over, and one of those big-timers turned to Tim, my partner, and asked us when we'd be getting the story out to our audience. Tim smugly replied, "We already have it up.", as he turned his laptop around to show this man and a few others our website story which he wrote in real time during the presentation. 

This occurrence, to my mind, was the turning point. It was when web based news started to overtake traditional print media, eventually disrupting that industry to the point that many print magazines, newspapers, and periodicals went by the wayside. No longer would audiences be satisfied to have to wait on news. Not when it could be had instantaneously, or nearly so. Furthermore, 'news' was democratized to the point that when social media took a hold, everyone with a smart phone became a news gatherer/story teller. No longer would the world have a defined set of professionals whose dissemination of information was somewhat reliable. 'The News' basically became The Wild, Wild West. You probably get that by now......

I say all this because recently a new publication, online only, as far as I know, dubbed "Beta", rose from the ashes of "Bike" magazine, and hit the ground with a very controversial introductory post which drew the ire of many in the cycling journo ranks. Basically, it was very tone-deaf to current social issues and was steeped in misogynistic bike culture from yore. (Some would say it persists yet today, and I ain't arguing that point.) An apology was posted, and so I am not going to tread that ground here. Besides, that's not the real point.

The thing about "Beta", besides a weird name that does not evoke mountain biking at all to me, is that most of their content is behind a paywall. (Means ya gotta pay ta see it, dig?) I get that in these times you might want a paywall, because so much information is free, that writers have a difficult time getting paid for anything they create as content these days. And by 'writers' I mean anyone pounding a keyboard with regularity that has access to a working internet connection. Including me, by the way.

Now for context, I do subscribe to a site with a paywall called "The Athletic", which is where I followed one of my favorite NASCAR writers when that site hired him. My experience has been that one; I paid far too much since "The Athletic" regularly runs super-discounted subscriptions and I paid full boat. Secondly, that site often puts articles outside the paywall for general views and you never know which articles are what- pay or free- so it seems a bit cheap to do that to your subscribers. Thirdly, due to the previous point, I don't feel I am getting much value for my subscription, and I can get nearly identical coverage for free from outside that site.

So, this begs a question: Why pay for information I can get for free? Sure, there may be some exclusives given to "Beta" by different companies introducing new things, but typically, those are spread around to several outlets, so at some point you are going to be able to skirt that paywall easily. And of course, there is nothing to stop a paying reader to be the one to squawk on social media to gain some 'cred-likes' from their so-called 'friends' roster. And at that point, the cat is outta the bag anyway. 

Maybe you get some creativity and awesome imagery, or maybe you get access to things, or gifts, like what some folks get on Patreon for being supporters to a company, person, or whatever. Maybe the writers at "Beta" are so compelling and talented that I would just have to see what they are writing for fear of missing out. Maybe.... "Beta's" Editor in Chief, Nicole Formosa, was quoted in a recent article online posted by "Bicycle Retailer and Industry News" where she addresses this point, "My team is tasked with a mandate to create dynamic content and introduce a variety of services and experiences — both virtual and in-person — that create value for POM's (Pocket Outdoor Media, the parent company of "Beta") Active Pass membership. To that end, our site is launching with a mix of high-impact video, beautiful photography, in-depth gear reviews (including the first video from our annual buyers' guide, The Beta Tests) and the kind of storytelling that will separate us from the competition."

Again- this doesn't seem compelling enough to my mind to pay for non-print info that isn't really anything different than I can get anywhere else, many times from "Beta's" own peers.  In my opinion, this is going to be a big climb. Can they make it?

Hmm.... Maybe someone can convince me otherwise, but I'd say that at this point, I'm not very convinced this will work.

Would You Pay For This?

A snip of a Facebook advertisement for "Beta" magazine.

 In 2006 or so, I was invited to go to a Gary Fisher/Trek press camp as part of "Twentynineinches.com", the 29"er MTB site I used to write for and was editor for a time. Back then, the owner, Tim, took me and we both attended this press camp as the only purely internet based writers in attendance. 

The rest of the room at this presentation was filled with print magazine editors and writers. People you've probably read, and people whose names you'd recognize yet today as being 'big time' journos. 

When the presentation was over, and one of those big-timers turned to Tim, my partner, and asked us when we'd be getting the story out to our audience. Tim smugly replied, "We already have it up.", as he turned his laptop around to show this man and a few others our website story which he wrote in real time during the presentation. 

This occurrence, to my mind, was the turning point. It was when web based news started to overtake traditional print media, eventually disrupting that industry to the point that many print magazines, newspapers, and periodicals went by the wayside. No longer would audiences be satisfied to have to wait on news. Not when it could be had instantaneously, or nearly so. Furthermore, 'news' was democratized to the point that when social media took a hold, everyone with a smart phone became a news gatherer/story teller. No longer would the world have a defined set of professionals whose dissemination of information was somewhat reliable. 'The News' basically became The Wild, Wild West. You probably get that by now......

I say all this because recently a new publication, online only, as far as I know, dubbed "Beta", rose from the ashes of "Bike" magazine, and hit the ground with a very controversial introductory post which drew the ire of many in the cycling journo ranks. Basically, it was very tone-deaf to current social issues and was steeped in misogynistic bike culture from yore. (Some would say it persists yet today, and I ain't arguing that point.) An apology was posted, and so I am not going to tread that ground here. Besides, that's not the real point.

The thing about "Beta", besides a weird name that does not evoke mountain biking at all to me, is that most of their content is behind a paywall. (Means ya gotta pay ta see it, dig?) I get that in these times you might want a paywall, because so much information is free, that writers have a difficult time getting paid for anything they create as content these days. And by 'writers' I mean anyone pounding a keyboard with regularity that has access to a working internet connection. Including me, by the way.

Now for context, I do subscribe to a site with a paywall called "The Athletic", which is where I followed one of my favorite NASCAR writers when that site hired him. My experience has been that one; I paid far too much since "The Athletic" regularly runs super-discounted subscriptions and I paid full boat. Secondly, that site often puts articles outside the paywall for general views and you never know which articles are what- pay or free- so it seems a bit cheap to do that to your subscribers. Thirdly, due to the previous point, I don't feel I am getting much value for my subscription, and I can get nearly identical coverage for free from outside that site.

So, this begs a question: Why pay for information I can get for free? Sure, there may be some exclusives given to "Beta" by different companies introducing new things, but typically, those are spread around to several outlets, so at some point you are going to be able to skirt that paywall easily. And of course, there is nothing to stop a paying reader to be the one to squawk on social media to gain some 'cred-likes' from their so-called 'friends' roster. And at that point, the cat is outta the bag anyway. 

Maybe you get some creativity and awesome imagery, or maybe you get access to things, or gifts, like what some folks get on Patreon for being supporters to a company, person, or whatever. Maybe the writers at "Beta" are so compelling and talented that I would just have to see what they are writing for fear of missing out. Maybe.... "Beta's" Editor in Chief, Nicole Formosa, was quoted in a recent article online posted by "Bicycle Retailer and Industry News" where she addresses this point, "My team is tasked with a mandate to create dynamic content and introduce a variety of services and experiences — both virtual and in-person — that create value for POM's (Pocket Outdoor Media, the parent company of "Beta") Active Pass membership. To that end, our site is launching with a mix of high-impact video, beautiful photography, in-depth gear reviews (including the first video from our annual buyers' guide, The Beta Tests) and the kind of storytelling that will separate us from the competition."

Again- this doesn't seem compelling enough to my mind to pay for non-print info that isn't really anything different than I can get anywhere else, many times from "Beta's" own peers.  In my opinion, this is going to be a big climb. Can they make it?

Hmm.... Maybe someone can convince me otherwise, but I'd say that at this point, I'm not very convinced this will work.

Trans Iowa Stories: Let's Get This One Done - Part 2

 "Trans Iowa Stories" is an every Sunday post which helps tell the stories behind the event. You can check out other posts about this subject by going back to earlier Sunday posts on this blog. Thanks and enjoy!

Rich Wince crosses the line 1st at T.I.v9

 In a previous entry to this series, I was speaking on why it was that Trans Iowa v9 seemed like one of the only Trans Iowa events I didn't really have any strong feelings about. I don't ever really think about this version of Trans Iowa when I think about the 'good times' associated with the event. There doesn't seem to be any really big, stand-out events surrounding it when I briefly consider this version. But that is not a problem for me when it comes to the other 13 versions of Trans Iowa. Why? This was a question that has dogged me for months as I was preparing to cover this part of Trans Iowa history.

The answer seems simple, once I had covered over old ground. I looked back at my initial race report. The week after a Trans Iowa was always dedicated to recapping Trans Iowa from my viewpoint. So, I thought there must be tidbits of information there which might spur on some memories and maybe give me a clue as to why I seemed so ambivalent about T.I.v9. 

The thing is, there would appear to be no outward reasons for this ambivalence. Trans Iowa v9 was a smashing success, compared to the eight that went down before it. The weather was nearly perfect, allowing for 36 people- a new record at the time- to finish. There were no really glaring faults to the running of the event, (there was a near miss, which I'll get to), and I witnessed a second time Women's class finisher and four of the nine women starters finished. We even had a single speed women finisher- Christina Mihaescu, the only one in Trans Iowa history - despite many women trying it single speed afterward. 

Checkpoint #2 @ T.I.v9- (L-R) volunteers Robert Fry, Jeremy Fry, rider Corey Godfrey, and photographer Jason Boucher.

 So, why wouldn't I have fond memories of T.I.v9? The Barn finish was highly successful, we had great volunteers, and no one had any real huge issues. No, it wasn't any of that which made me want to bury this one from my memory banks. What I think partially causes my lack of enthusiasm for T.I.v9 had to do with excess amounts of stress that I had going into 2013. 

2012 marked my tenth year at the old shop where I worked and by this time things were not well with me and that job. Although I was 'okay', deep inside I hated going into work with the way the place was being run. But at the time I had no other viable options and I wasn't really thinking about that anyway. It was just something that was "there"- an underlying issue, you might say. Then another layer was my planning to get out from under "Twenty Nine Inches.com" and, ironically, Trans Iowa. My plan, which I had determined as a goal by this point, was to be free of both things by the end of 2014. T.I.v9 was just an obstacle in the way to that end goal.

Then adding in the stress of the event, having hosted a record number of racers, (91) and the issues which popped up during the event. Things like two people getting bitten by dogs, (Eric Brunt and Steve Fuller), my plan involving cutting the cues down for checkpoints, which almost cost me some major embarrassment, and my waivers getting soaked in Templeton Rye. It was enough to set me over the edge, emotionally and physically. Post v9 I was an emotional wreck. 

T.I.v9 waivers being evaporated of their whiskey content during the event near Brooklyn, Iowa.

 Amazingly, none of the potential pitfalls which could have stained the event caused any big lasting impressions. Either dog bite situation could have gone South in a big way. The waivers? Well, I decided to dry them out by placing them on my window vent with the defroster on high heat which evaporated whiskey leavings so badly that any official that may have stopped by would have had due cause to arrest me. That was kind of a dumb move on my part, looking back. Then, of course, the cues running short at checkpoint #1 was a potential bad look. Fortunately, my volunteers, led by Brent Irish, saved the day by finding a printer to borrow at a small time garage repair place in the tiny village of Ira. What were the chances of that being a resource? I still am amazed at the lengths people would go for me and Trans Iowa. 

So, big deal, right? There were all those positives. The event was won by a rookie, Rich Wince. 36 people finished. Folks thought things were run exceptionally well. There was a great time had at the Barn finish line. As I stated, the weather, despite getting bone chillingly cold Saturday night/Sunday morning, was next to perfect. Any outsider would have thought I would have been elated by the outcome. But you wouldn't have known it by my sudden, random emotional breakdowns the week following. I would burst into tears at a moment's notice. Big, slobbering tears. I had no idea what was wrong with me. It was at once terrifying and baffling. Fortunately the emotional outbursts became less frequent by the end of that following week and by ten days out from T.I.v9, I seemed to be over it all. 

A triumphant Steve Fuller finishes T.I.v9 despite being bitten by a dog during the event.

 Apparently there is a thing called "Post Event Collapse Syndrome". Some folks e-mailed me to say that it was a real thing and to reach out for help if it didn't get better. I had no idea this could happen, but it was another reinforcement to my thinking that after ten Trans Iowas, I had to bail out. T.I.v9 was over, and afterward, I think I buried my memories as a way to protect myself from what had happened the week afterward. Of course, I know it could have been other things, but this makes the most sense to me now looking back. I believe it is the reason I feel like T.I.v9 has no real big meaning to me at this point in my life looking back at it. I just wanted to forget it all, I guess. 

Next: A Hurdle Cleared- On To The Finish Line!

Trans Iowa Stories: Let's Get This One Done - Part 2

 "Trans Iowa Stories" is an every Sunday post which helps tell the stories behind the event. You can check out other posts about this subject by going back to earlier Sunday posts on this blog. Thanks and enjoy!

Rich Wince crosses the line 1st at T.I.v9

 In a previous entry to this series, I was speaking on why it was that Trans Iowa v9 seemed like one of the only Trans Iowa events I didn't really have any strong feelings about. I don't ever really think about this version of Trans Iowa when I think about the 'good times' associated with the event. There doesn't seem to be any really big, stand-out events surrounding it when I briefly consider this version. But that is not a problem for me when it comes to the other 13 versions of Trans Iowa. Why? This was a question that has dogged me for months as I was preparing to cover this part of Trans Iowa history.

The answer seems simple, once I had covered over old ground. I looked back at my initial race report. The week after a Trans Iowa was always dedicated to recapping Trans Iowa from my viewpoint. So, I thought there must be tidbits of information there which might spur on some memories and maybe give me a clue as to why I seemed so ambivalent about T.I.v9. 

The thing is, there would appear to be no outward reasons for this ambivalence. Trans Iowa v9 was a smashing success, compared to the eight that went down before it. The weather was nearly perfect, allowing for 36 people- a new record at the time- to finish. There were no really glaring faults to the running of the event, (there was a near miss, which I'll get to), and I witnessed a second time Women's class finisher and four of the nine women starters finished. We even had a single speed women finisher- Christina Mihaescu, the only one in Trans Iowa history - despite many women trying it single speed afterward. 

Checkpoint #2 @ T.I.v9- (L-R) volunteers Robert Fry, Jeremy Fry, rider Corey Godfrey, and photographer Jason Boucher.

 So, why wouldn't I have fond memories of T.I.v9? The Barn finish was highly successful, we had great volunteers, and no one had any real huge issues. No, it wasn't any of that which made me want to bury this one from my memory banks. What I think partially causes my lack of enthusiasm for T.I.v9 had to do with excess amounts of stress that I had going into 2013. 

2012 marked my tenth year at the old shop where I worked and by this time things were not well with me and that job. Although I was 'okay', deep inside I hated going into work with the way the place was being run. But at the time I had no other viable options and I wasn't really thinking about that anyway. It was just something that was "there"- an underlying issue, you might say. Then another layer was my planning to get out from under "Twenty Nine Inches.com" and, ironically, Trans Iowa. My plan, which I had determined as a goal by this point, was to be free of both things by the end of 2014. T.I.v9 was just an obstacle in the way to that end goal.

Then adding in the stress of the event, having hosted a record number of racers, (91) and the issues which popped up during the event. Things like two people getting bitten by dogs, (Eric Brunt and Steve Fuller), my plan involving cutting the cues down for checkpoints, which almost cost me some major embarrassment, and my waivers getting soaked in Templeton Rye. It was enough to set me over the edge, emotionally and physically. Post v9 I was an emotional wreck. 

T.I.v9 waivers being evaporated of their whiskey content during the event near Brooklyn, Iowa.

 Amazingly, none of the potential pitfalls which could have stained the event caused any big lasting impressions. Either dog bite situation could have gone South in a big way. The waivers? Well, I decided to dry them out by placing them on my window vent with the defroster on high heat which evaporated whiskey leavings so badly that any official that may have stopped by would have had due cause to arrest me. That was kind of a dumb move on my part, looking back. Then, of course, the cues running short at checkpoint #1 was a potential bad look. Fortunately, my volunteers, led by Brent Irish, saved the day by finding a printer to borrow at a small time garage repair place in the tiny village of Ira. What were the chances of that being a resource? I still am amazed at the lengths people would go for me and Trans Iowa. 

So, big deal, right? There were all those positives. The event was won by a rookie, Rich Wince. 36 people finished. Folks thought things were run exceptionally well. There was a great time had at the Barn finish line. As I stated, the weather, despite getting bone chillingly cold Saturday night/Sunday morning, was next to perfect. Any outsider would have thought I would have been elated by the outcome. But you wouldn't have known it by my sudden, random emotional breakdowns the week following. I would burst into tears at a moment's notice. Big, slobbering tears. I had no idea what was wrong with me. It was at once terrifying and baffling. Fortunately the emotional outbursts became less frequent by the end of that following week and by ten days out from T.I.v9, I seemed to be over it all. 

A triumphant Steve Fuller finishes T.I.v9 despite being bitten by a dog during the event.

 Apparently there is a thing called "Post Event Collapse Syndrome". Some folks e-mailed me to say that it was a real thing and to reach out for help if it didn't get better. I had no idea this could happen, but it was another reinforcement to my thinking that after ten Trans Iowas, I had to bail out. T.I.v9 was over, and afterward, I think I buried my memories as a way to protect myself from what had happened the week afterward. Of course, I know it could have been other things, but this makes the most sense to me now looking back. I believe it is the reason I feel like T.I.v9 has no real big meaning to me at this point in my life looking back at it. I just wanted to forget it all, I guess. 

Next: A Hurdle Cleared- On To The Finish Line!

Minus Ten Review 2009-41

Ten years ago I was extolling the virtues of single speed devices. Still am doing that.

Ten years ago on the blog I was chilling out and doing some work on some of my single speed rigs. I also was waiting patiently on any news on the Big Wheeled Ballyhoo. The "festival" of 29"ers that was to occur near Brady, Nebraska at Potter's Pasture. But before I get wrapped up in the tale of ten year's ago, it may prove beneficial to you readers to recap the whole thread concerning the Ballyhoo idea.

I first was enamored of the idea of a barbecue/bike get-together when I read about what George Wissel was doing in Vermont via the old "Bike 29" blog. He was doing something he dubbed as a "Meat-Up", (where have you seen that before? Hint- Trans Iowa, and yes- I stole it from George!). The "Meat-Up" was essentially an excuse to gather up the 29"er faithful and have a hootenanny based loosely on the idea of mucking around on bicycles in the woods. It was all about fun. No real industry ties. No real organization necessary or desired.

The idea was perfect, and I was batting around the thought of doing something similar here in the Mid-West when my former head of operations at "Twenty Nine Inches", Tim Grahl, saw my meanderings on the subject and thought it should be something monetized for profit for the site. Well, we had a bit of back and forth, but with some industry interest voiced, Grahl's ideas won the day and the first "Big Wheeled Ballyhoo" was essentially an expo for 29"ers. Not my idea of a good time, although many of the Decorah people, where the event was held, tried to steer it in that direction. The event was kind of a dud, but there was enough potential there to encourage industry folks, Decorah folks, and Grahl to push for another go at it in 2008.

2008 was a disaster based upon the extreme weather and the effects it had on the expo/camping site. The event was cancelled. Grahl basically was no help whatsoever. He later basically abdicated all responsibilities for the websites he held later that year, and so the Ballyhoo idea was mine to do whatever I wanted to do with it. At the behest of MG and some other folks, it was decided to move the event to Potter's Pasture, although my initial idea was to put the event in Lincoln, Nebraska. "Fun" was back on the menu, but some industry interests pushed in and we had some sponsorship that year which was low key and cool. This was far more what I had in mind, but it wasn't to be.

As reported again in last week's "Minus Ten Review", my father in law suffered a stroke necessitating changed plans on my end. I could not attend. MG took over as the host, and no doubt the event would have been a success, but for the "wild card". The weather.

"Just got word that the site of the Big Wheeled Ballyhoo was dumped on with 12-14 inches of snow last night. They decided to bag it and the event is off. Too bad really, a lot of work went into this. A lot of sweat equity on the part of the folks in Nebraska too."

That paragraph above is what I posted the morning the Ballyhoo was to kick off. It was a freak snow storm, and in my mind, it was a sign to quit. It just wasn't meant to be. Besides, at this point, going into 2010, 29"ers were not weird anymore. They were "mountain bikes" and 26"ers were obviously on their way out.  The unique factor was played out, and I couldn't see the point in basing an event on a gathering of "29"er freaks" when we weren't really freaks anymore. Which, in itself, was alright with me. I was happy to see 29"ers weren't going away anytime soon. Plus, I had enough crap on my plate to choke a horse. 

So, thus ended the Big Wheeled Ballyhoo.

Minus Ten Review 2009-41

Ten years ago I was extolling the virtues of single speed devices. Still am doing that.

Ten years ago on the blog I was chilling out and doing some work on some of my single speed rigs. I also was waiting patiently on any news on the Big Wheeled Ballyhoo. The "festival" of 29"ers that was to occur near Brady, Nebraska at Potter's Pasture. But before I get wrapped up in the tale of ten year's ago, it may prove beneficial to you readers to recap the whole thread concerning the Ballyhoo idea.

I first was enamored of the idea of a barbecue/bike get-together when I read about what George Wissel was doing in Vermont via the old "Bike 29" blog. He was doing something he dubbed as a "Meat-Up", (where have you seen that before? Hint- Trans Iowa, and yes- I stole it from George!). The "Meat-Up" was essentially an excuse to gather up the 29"er faithful and have a hootenanny based loosely on the idea of mucking around on bicycles in the woods. It was all about fun. No real industry ties. No real organization necessary or desired.

The idea was perfect, and I was batting around the thought of doing something similar here in the Mid-West when my former head of operations at "Twenty Nine Inches", Tim Grahl, saw my meanderings on the subject and thought it should be something monetized for profit for the site. Well, we had a bit of back and forth, but with some industry interest voiced, Grahl's ideas won the day and the first "Big Wheeled Ballyhoo" was essentially an expo for 29"ers. Not my idea of a good time, although many of the Decorah people, where the event was held, tried to steer it in that direction. The event was kind of a dud, but there was enough potential there to encourage industry folks, Decorah folks, and Grahl to push for another go at it in 2008.

2008 was a disaster based upon the extreme weather and the effects it had on the expo/camping site. The event was cancelled. Grahl basically was no help whatsoever. He later basically abdicated all responsibilities for the websites he held later that year, and so the Ballyhoo idea was mine to do whatever I wanted to do with it. At the behest of MG and some other folks, it was decided to move the event to Potter's Pasture, although my initial idea was to put the event in Lincoln, Nebraska. "Fun" was back on the menu, but some industry interests pushed in and we had some sponsorship that year which was low key and cool. This was far more what I had in mind, but it wasn't to be.

As reported again in last week's "Minus Ten Review", my father in law suffered a stroke necessitating changed plans on my end. I could not attend. MG took over as the host, and no doubt the event would have been a success, but for the "wild card". The weather.

"Just got word that the site of the Big Wheeled Ballyhoo was dumped on with 12-14 inches of snow last night. They decided to bag it and the event is off. Too bad really, a lot of work went into this. A lot of sweat equity on the part of the folks in Nebraska too."

That paragraph above is what I posted the morning the Ballyhoo was to kick off. It was a freak snow storm, and in my mind, it was a sign to quit. It just wasn't meant to be. Besides, at this point, going into 2010, 29"ers were not weird anymore. They were "mountain bikes" and 26"ers were obviously on their way out.  The unique factor was played out, and I couldn't see the point in basing an event on a gathering of "29"er freaks" when we weren't really freaks anymore. Which, in itself, was alright with me. I was happy to see 29"ers weren't going away anytime soon. Plus, I had enough crap on my plate to choke a horse. 

So, thus ended the Big Wheeled Ballyhoo.