Mixing Gravel And Dirt Since The Beginning

 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!

 Since the very beginnings of the blog I have mixed gravel and dirt cycling. Now days it is more on the gravel side. That wasn't the intention at the beginning of this blog. I was a mountain biker first,  but since this blog was partially spawned by my association with Trans Iowa, and since this blog became the de facto long-form informational source for the event, gravel has figured heavily as subject matter here.

A road intended for the Trans Iowa v2 event which no one ever got to ride! Image from April 1st, 2006.

 Although the "gravel" part was almost always Trans Iowa related, other gravel events started creeping in as well early on as subject matter here. The Dirty Kanza 200 was certainly here from the earliest days. Later on I would write about the Almanzo events, and Barry-Roubaix, along with the other "Paris-Roubaix" inspired gravel events which popped up early on in gravel's modern day history.

This image, sent to me by Steve Domahidy, then of Niner Bikes, appeared here on 4/08/06.

 However; early on this blog was often the source for news, (real news too) about 29"er developments. One example shown here is from my interview with Chris Sugai and Steve Domahidy, the original founders of Niner Bikes.

I not only scooped the interview for this blog, but Steve sent me pre-production prototype images of their new, upcoming full suspension R.I.P. 9 bikes. At this time I also was able to squeeze some info out of some of the bicycle shop's reps who visited where I worked at the time. Through this I was able to drop news about Fisher's 29"er developments, Cannondale's F-9 Lefty equipped hardtail, and Raleigh's geared XXIX hard tail, to name a few.

Those were different times! Blogs were still untamed, the entire culture of internet. online, instantaneous sharing of information was all new to brands who had relied on magazines, for the most part, to disseminate news and teasers for new products. Because of this, there were fewer rules. (No rules?) This made getting interviews, scoops on new products, and rumors easier than it was even a couple of years beyond 2006.

There was no stranglehold on information as there is today. Back then, the walls were breaking down. Info flowed more freely, and traditional media was at a loss to pivot quickly and become a part of this. They lost out, and for the most part, have yet to recover, if they ever do. Meanwhile, more financially powerful entities took hold and based on digital platforms, these new sites took over the roles that traditional print media held. Walls went back up, and bloggers like myself, once again, found themselves outside looking in, for the most part.

I was very fortunate in that I started writing about both 29"ers and gravel long before  those two things went mainstream. I gained a foothold, and somehow became well known in both circles, although I doubt many young mountain bikers would know anything about the early 29"er days now. Well.....you probably could say that about gravel stuff too!

Back to being unknown again! Woo Hoo! 

My New T-Shirt

Yeah.......we've got a lot of gravel roads here.

Gravel roads are a thing here in Iowa. Due to laws passed in the 18th Century here in the US, the foundations were laid for the "grid system"  to be imposed upon the lands that were to be organized for settling by the immigrants coming to the "New World". These gridded out tracts of land were to be accessed by "roads" so that settlers and government officials would have an easier time navigating the vast lands of North America that were to become the United States Of America.

In the end, the roads in Iowa were "paved" with native quarried limestone or "glacial drift" that could be found local to wherever in Iowa roads were to be platted out. Obviously there were geological, political, and practical influences which informed the end result, a matrix of well over 70,000 miles of gravel and dirt roads across "The Beautiful Land".

Saturday I received a t-shirt depicting all the unpaved roadways across the great state of Iowa. All 72.000 plus miles of them. To me this is incredible on several levels.

• That there are THAT many miles of gravel and unpaved roads.
• That these roads were imposed upon a bleak, unmapped prairie which was criss-crossed by a meager amount of Native American trails. 
• That by printing out ONLY the unpaved roads, a recognizable image of the State Of Iowa can be discerned. 

So, tell me, why would you NOT want to ride all these roads, which are mostly devoid of car and truck traffic?

In other words, get out and grind some gravel folks! 

Interested in one of these shirts? Keep a close eye on www.bikeiowa.com for a very limited amount of these to be offered soon. UPDATE: Here is the link to get a pre-order in. Hurry! http://bikeiowa.myshopify.com/products/iowa-gravel-roads

My New T-Shirt

Yeah.......we've got a lot of gravel roads here.

Gravel roads are a thing here in Iowa. Due to laws passed in the 18th Century here in the US, the foundations were laid for the "grid system"  to be imposed upon the lands that were to be organized for settling by the immigrants coming to the "New World". These gridded out tracts of land were to be accessed by "roads" so that settlers and government officials would have an easier time navigating the vast lands of North America that were to become the United States Of America.

In the end, the roads in Iowa were "paved" with native quarried limestone or "glacial drift" that could be found local to wherever in Iowa roads were to be platted out. Obviously there were geological, political, and practical influences which informed the end result, a matrix of well over 70,000 miles of gravel and dirt roads across "The Beautiful Land".

Saturday I received a t-shirt depicting all the unpaved roadways across the great state of Iowa. All 72.000 plus miles of them. To me this is incredible on several levels.

• That there are THAT many miles of gravel and unpaved roads.
• That these roads were imposed upon a bleak, unmapped prairie which was criss-crossed by a meager amount of Native American trails. 
• That by printing out ONLY the unpaved roads, a recognizable image of the State Of Iowa can be discerned. 

So, tell me, why would you NOT want to ride all these roads, which are mostly devoid of car and truck traffic?

In other words, get out and grind some gravel folks! 

Interested in one of these shirts? Keep a close eye on www.bikeiowa.com for a very limited amount of these to be offered soon. UPDATE: Here is the link to get a pre-order in. Hurry! http://bikeiowa.myshopify.com/products/iowa-gravel-roads

Mushing Through The Slush

This was mostly slick ice. We didn't have studs on,so we turned around.

The plan was for NY Roll and I to head up to Ingawanis Woodlands and check out the groomed single track there on our fat bikes. We headed out at 8:00am on Christmas Eve with an aim to get out of town via Burton Avenue.

On the way out the city streets were a complete mess. Most of them were hard packed, slightly icy surfaces with a good amount of outright slush to go through. Fortunately the temperatures weren't cold. It was about 34°F and the wind was very light. Getting sprayed by the slushy mess wasn't that big of a deal then.

I dressed with a base layer, which was a summer time tank style, then a Twin Six wool jersey, and then my Bontrager Lithos jacket. The bottoms were the Pixelite Winter tights from ProViz. The feet were wrapped with a long pair of thinner wool socks, a vapor barrier made of plastic grocery sacks, and then my Keen hiking boots. Hands were covered with a thin wool liner and the Planet Bike Borealis lobster mitts. I was fine for the entire ride, and in fact, I had to vent using the various zippers on the Lithos jacket for most of the ride. On my head I used a thin winter Polar Fleece cap and my Bell Super helmet.

So,anyway....... We got out to the gravel and it was icy. We did not have studded tires, and I and NY Roll both felt that it would only take one small misstep and we could be hitting the deck. I wasn't in for slamming into a rock hard, icy gravel road at (likely) a high rate of speed. So, we turned back and headed towards George Wyth State Park via Airline Highway. That's where we hit masses of slushy crap.

NY Roll wanted to ride on the pavement, but I called out to him to ride the (what looked like) snow covered shoulder saying, "C'mon! It's a fat bike!" he came over onto the slushy mess and we plowed that through at least a mile. We got a good work out, that's for sure! Then I had a brilliant idea. Instead of crawling all the way around the North side of the park to come in the back way, why not just go through the front gate? Normally this wouldn't be adviseable due to heavy, fast traffic, but on Christmas Eve, the traffic was light.

George Wyth was soft, and the track for fat bikes likely won't survive till next weekend.

So we headed down the entire length of the service road to the shelter house, then we hit up some single track. It was rather soft, slippery, and the snow was nigh unto going to slush. In fact, in several places it was slush.

At least we got to ride this before the rains on Christmas Day and the above freezing temperatures forecast for the week between Christmas and New Years Day basically take the option away from us. At least for the short term. I suppose I'd rather the tracks get all melted away instead of halfway gone, freeze hard as a rock, and then put some powdery snow on top of that. That would basically really suck!

So, NY Roll and I made our way going basically West around Alice Wyth Lake and back to the main bike path where we decided to try and find a coffee shop for a bit of a warm drink. We slogged our way over to where the two main coffee shops in Cedar Falls are but both were closed up. Hmm..... Bummer. Oh well, moving on now......

We then hit the snow covered bike paths down to the Cedar River and followed that East for a while. The constant correcting and sliding out a bit was taxing. It was pretty obvious that this was going to be the last of decent fat bike conditions for a while now. We stopped for a bit to chat, then we headed on to Lower Hartman and the trail through there. This was perhaps the best trail for fat biking we rode all day. Fairly solid snow, packed in well, and no real soft sections as we found in George Wyth. Then we exited that trail via old John's Trail and out on old Shirey Way to head up Hackett.

The bike path along the South side of the Cedar was pretty treacherous.

I decided that after three hours I needed to get back to my home, so we decided not to try any of the "Sherwood" single track, although it looked pretty good. Instead we went up the remainder of the bike trail along the Cedar and when we got to Northland Oil and the old "access" to the small park up on the ridge, I discovered the new bench cut trail which had recently been put in. NY Roll had seen it before, but I hadn't been down this way since Fall on a gravel ride when I came back into town this way.

It's a nicer, easier, and for the City of Waterloo, safer way to access the lot above where people stop to use the trail. I suppose they got a lot of complaints from users that couldn't negotiate the steeper old trail. Next thing ya know they'll be paving this. Which would be rich, since then it would become an icy, unusable ramp in Winter. I don't know what the plan is, but accommodating "everyone's needs" typically screws things up worse for everyone. We'll see how this develops..... Besides, I hate the "pave everything" ethos of most trail user groups. It is simply misguided and typically wrong. But this post is about a ride, so.......

This ride eventually came to an end. Three hours or so of fun, wet, tough riding which left me pretty whooped. I guess I was pretty happy with how it went, since I haven't been on a longer ride for a while. At least the Holidays haven't slowed me down.......much, well......maybe a little! I was a bit disappointed we didn't get to make a big country adventure out of this, but ice and fat tires don't mix well on uneven ice. I was glad to preserve my health, especially my left shoulder, as it is and not do anymore damage. Now with the weather being as wonky as it has and will be for a bit, I just might actually be able to get out on the gravel roads in the country. In between now and then......it's gonna be a mess.

Mushing Through The Slush

This was mostly slick ice. We didn't have studs on,so we turned around.

The plan was for NY Roll and I to head up to Ingawanis Woodlands and check out the groomed single track there on our fat bikes. We headed out at 8:00am on Christmas Eve with an aim to get out of town via Burton Avenue.

On the way out the city streets were a complete mess. Most of them were hard packed, slightly icy surfaces with a good amount of outright slush to go through. Fortunately the temperatures weren't cold. It was about 34°F and the wind was very light. Getting sprayed by the slushy mess wasn't that big of a deal then.

I dressed with a base layer, which was a summer time tank style, then a Twin Six wool jersey, and then my Bontrager Lithos jacket. The bottoms were the Pixelite Winter tights from ProViz. The feet were wrapped with a long pair of thinner wool socks, a vapor barrier made of plastic grocery sacks, and then my Keen hiking boots. Hands were covered with a thin wool liner and the Planet Bike Borealis lobster mitts. I was fine for the entire ride, and in fact, I had to vent using the various zippers on the Lithos jacket for most of the ride. On my head I used a thin winter Polar Fleece cap and my Bell Super helmet.

So,anyway....... We got out to the gravel and it was icy. We did not have studded tires, and I and NY Roll both felt that it would only take one small misstep and we could be hitting the deck. I wasn't in for slamming into a rock hard, icy gravel road at (likely) a high rate of speed. So, we turned back and headed towards George Wyth State Park via Airline Highway. That's where we hit masses of slushy crap.

NY Roll wanted to ride on the pavement, but I called out to him to ride the (what looked like) snow covered shoulder saying, "C'mon! It's a fat bike!" he came over onto the slushy mess and we plowed that through at least a mile. We got a good work out, that's for sure! Then I had a brilliant idea. Instead of crawling all the way around the North side of the park to come in the back way, why not just go through the front gate? Normally this wouldn't be adviseable due to heavy, fast traffic, but on Christmas Eve, the traffic was light.

George Wyth was soft, and the track for fat bikes likely won't survive till next weekend.

So we headed down the entire length of the service road to the shelter house, then we hit up some single track. It was rather soft, slippery, and the snow was nigh unto going to slush. In fact, in several places it was slush.

At least we got to ride this before the rains on Christmas Day and the above freezing temperatures forecast for the week between Christmas and New Years Day basically take the option away from us. At least for the short term. I suppose I'd rather the tracks get all melted away instead of halfway gone, freeze hard as a rock, and then put some powdery snow on top of that. That would basically really suck!

So, NY Roll and I made our way going basically West around Alice Wyth Lake and back to the main bike path where we decided to try and find a coffee shop for a bit of a warm drink. We slogged our way over to where the two main coffee shops in Cedar Falls are but both were closed up. Hmm..... Bummer. Oh well, moving on now......

We then hit the snow covered bike paths down to the Cedar River and followed that East for a while. The constant correcting and sliding out a bit was taxing. It was pretty obvious that this was going to be the last of decent fat bike conditions for a while now. We stopped for a bit to chat, then we headed on to Lower Hartman and the trail through there. This was perhaps the best trail for fat biking we rode all day. Fairly solid snow, packed in well, and no real soft sections as we found in George Wyth. Then we exited that trail via old John's Trail and out on old Shirey Way to head up Hackett.

The bike path along the South side of the Cedar was pretty treacherous.

I decided that after three hours I needed to get back to my home, so we decided not to try any of the "Sherwood" single track, although it looked pretty good. Instead we went up the remainder of the bike trail along the Cedar and when we got to Northland Oil and the old "access" to the small park up on the ridge, I discovered the new bench cut trail which had recently been put in. NY Roll had seen it before, but I hadn't been down this way since Fall on a gravel ride when I came back into town this way.

It's a nicer, easier, and for the City of Waterloo, safer way to access the lot above where people stop to use the trail. I suppose they got a lot of complaints from users that couldn't negotiate the steeper old trail. Next thing ya know they'll be paving this. Which would be rich, since then it would become an icy, unusable ramp in Winter. I don't know what the plan is, but accommodating "everyone's needs" typically screws things up worse for everyone. We'll see how this develops..... Besides, I hate the "pave everything" ethos of most trail user groups. It is simply misguided and typically wrong. But this post is about a ride, so.......

This ride eventually came to an end. Three hours or so of fun, wet, tough riding which left me pretty whooped. I guess I was pretty happy with how it went, since I haven't been on a longer ride for a while. At least the Holidays haven't slowed me down.......much, well......maybe a little! I was a bit disappointed we didn't get to make a big country adventure out of this, but ice and fat tires don't mix well on uneven ice. I was glad to preserve my health, especially my left shoulder, as it is and not do anymore damage. Now with the weather being as wonky as it has and will be for a bit, I just might actually be able to get out on the gravel roads in the country. In between now and then......it's gonna be a mess.

A Sense Of Urgency

New tires to test with time running out.....

Yesterday it kind of struck me, somewhat like a cold slap in the face, because....well, it was! Cold that is. Thirty degrees colder than the day before with cold rain in the forenoon and gusty winds out of the Northwest all day. So, why all the urgency?

Because Fall is halfway over with, and Winter isn't far off. Consider that Thanksgiving is only six weeks away. Generally speaking, in a "normal" year, that's about the end of clear roads and trails, since snow usually comes to clog things up around then. So, the way I figure it, I've got six weeks to get a lot of stuff squared away for the year.

Maybe the weather will be sort of kind, like last year when I rode right up to Christmas time on the gravel roads, but I ain't bettin' on that. Nope. No way. I have to get a few reviews done, and if I am real lucky, I'll squeeze out that Cup-O-Dirt challenge requirement before the weather shuts me down. Trouble is, I have other duties to consider that also demand my time.....right now. Mainly they all are related to Trans Iowa. I have the recon Saturday, the lottery drawing Sunday, (if I get a bunch more cards, which looks less likely now), and then the last registration for the Rookies to keep track of and have a lottery for, (possibly), by the end of this month.

Yesterday I spent four hours locking down the first two thirds of the course for Trans Iowa and I still have to write mock cues and do the tail end of the route before Saturday. So, that all means that all of this riding stuff gets pushed aside to make way to get more of that done as well. Oh yeah.....did I mention that there may be a big ride at the end of the month? No? Well, things seem up in the air concerning that but I've been assured that is happening. When I know more than that, I can say something, but that's all I know. Vague, yes, but it is what it is.

Anyway, suffice it to say that I feel my feet over the fire and I've got a lot to get crackin' on before the hourglass drains the last grain of sand to the bottom.

A Sense Of Urgency

New tires to test with time running out.....

Yesterday it kind of struck me, somewhat like a cold slap in the face, because....well, it was! Cold that is. Thirty degrees colder than the day before with cold rain in the forenoon and gusty winds out of the Northwest all day. So, why all the urgency?

Because Fall is halfway over with, and Winter isn't far off. Consider that Thanksgiving is only six weeks away. Generally speaking, in a "normal" year, that's about the end of clear roads and trails, since snow usually comes to clog things up around then. So, the way I figure it, I've got six weeks to get a lot of stuff squared away for the year.

Maybe the weather will be sort of kind, like last year when I rode right up to Christmas time on the gravel roads, but I ain't bettin' on that. Nope. No way. I have to get a few reviews done, and if I am real lucky, I'll squeeze out that Cup-O-Dirt challenge requirement before the weather shuts me down. Trouble is, I have other duties to consider that also demand my time.....right now. Mainly they all are related to Trans Iowa. I have the recon Saturday, the lottery drawing Sunday, (if I get a bunch more cards, which looks less likely now), and then the last registration for the Rookies to keep track of and have a lottery for, (possibly), by the end of this month.

Yesterday I spent four hours locking down the first two thirds of the course for Trans Iowa and I still have to write mock cues and do the tail end of the route before Saturday. So, that all means that all of this riding stuff gets pushed aside to make way to get more of that done as well. Oh yeah.....did I mention that there may be a big ride at the end of the month? No? Well, things seem up in the air concerning that but I've been assured that is happening. When I know more than that, I can say something, but that's all I know. Vague, yes, but it is what it is.

Anyway, suffice it to say that I feel my feet over the fire and I've got a lot to get crackin' on before the hourglass drains the last grain of sand to the bottom.

A Meeting And A Ride

Meet here at 10:00am: (I had to hustle!)

Something had been on my mind for quite awhile and recently I had the opportunity to act on my thoughts via "social media". A few words, a meeting place was decided upon, then a time. All was set to happen yesterday. My mission: drop off my son at school and see if I could shave off seven minutes from Google Maps claimed commute time of 1hr 37 minutes.

The day was almost perfect. Copious amounts of sunshine and warmer temperatures. There was an increasing Southwest wind, but otherwise there was no reason for me to think I couldn't pull it off and make the meeting place by 10:00am. Things were progressing along well, but as I got closer, I could tell it was going to be tight on time.

I pulled into the parking lot and looked at the clock in the truck. Right on time, but getting inside I would be maybe a minute late. Oh well.....fashionably late? No matter, Chris Skogen was there and after I got my cuppa java, we engaged in a conversation that was surprising, relaxing, and encouraging. Then we went for a bit of a ride.

There was a long climb the likes of which we don't have in our area. I think I blew out some cobwebs on that one! It wasn't a very long ride, as we both had to get back to our respective homes, so no epic stories of adventure, but it was a great way to get to know each other a little better. Bicycle rides can be like that.

A Meeting And A Ride

Meet here at 10:00am: (I had to hustle!)

Something had been on my mind for quite awhile and recently I had the opportunity to act on my thoughts via "social media". A few words, a meeting place was decided upon, then a time. All was set to happen yesterday. My mission: drop off my son at school and see if I could shave off seven minutes from Google Maps claimed commute time of 1hr 37 minutes.

The day was almost perfect. Copious amounts of sunshine and warmer temperatures. There was an increasing Southwest wind, but otherwise there was no reason for me to think I couldn't pull it off and make the meeting place by 10:00am. Things were progressing along well, but as I got closer, I could tell it was going to be tight on time.

I pulled into the parking lot and looked at the clock in the truck. Right on time, but getting inside I would be maybe a minute late. Oh well.....fashionably late? No matter, Chris Skogen was there and after I got my cuppa java, we engaged in a conversation that was surprising, relaxing, and encouraging. Then we went for a bit of a ride.

There was a long climb the likes of which we don't have in our area. I think I blew out some cobwebs on that one! It wasn't a very long ride, as we both had to get back to our respective homes, so no epic stories of adventure, but it was a great way to get to know each other a little better. Bicycle rides can be like that.

Tamlanding: Part 2

Morning bike path action

Saturday I got up early. Good thing I also went to bed early Friday night. I had plans for a big ride thwarted a couple of times by heavy winds, but Saturday was not only going to be warmer, but with low winds. I only had to make sure I got back home by noon so Mrs. Guitar Ted could go somewhere.

So, I made it out of the house by 7:15 and hit the bike trail to the South. It was a great, sunny morning, and the warbling of all the recently returned songbirds was in the air. Red Winged Blackbirds, the most courageous of the lot, were taking up positions on poles and were busy looking for mates. Later, when they've nested, the males will go after anything and everything that comes near their nests. It is pretty amazing to see these red shouldered mighty-mites go after hawks and even eagles if they get to close to their territories. Even cyclists are not immune. But today, I was left alone.

Then I hit the gravel on Aker Road going South. It starts out as a gently rolling road and with the wind at my back, it was easy to roll up the little hills. The light was great for taking some images, and it wasn't long before I hit on the section of Aker Road I'd not ridden before.

My shadow was chasing me.

New-to-me part of Aker Road South of this intersection.

The gravel was dry, cleared, and fast, fast, fast! I was in the big ring for most of this long section going South. The further South you go here, the more the rollers get bigger. Of course, Tama County gets you that! Eventually I reached a portion where I was drawing up on Wolf Creek, and then things went pancake flat for a bit until I got into Traer to refuel for the return leg.

Barns For Jason

The Tamland is working out great!

Traer has a convenience store on Highway 63 right smack dab in the middle of the town. I've stopped here a lot. It's been used for several Trans Iowas as either a pass through resupply stop, or as in T.I.V5, a checkpoint. I've used it for a couple of Guitar Ted Death Rides, and I've started lots of rides from here as well. If this place ever closes down, it'd be a shame. I'd miss it.

I got myself a breakfast sandwich here and drank down the rest of one of three bottles I brought along. I probably should have purchased some more liquids here, but I seemed to be doing okay and I wasn't thirsty. I need to just make myself drink more though. Probably would be a good thing. But anyway, the bacon, egg, and cheese biscuit hit the spot. I was hungry when I rolled in there! I should have purchased another for down the road though, as later I got hungry again with no chance of resupply.

I left the convenience store and cruised through the downtown area toward the old iron bridge that has been blocked off for years to get to a dead end gravel road that leads you to Ridge Road. When I turned the corner in town to come within eyeshot of the bridge, I was surprised to find that the old iron gabled bridge was gone! In its place a new bridge had been erected. A cement deal that had all the character of a Soviet era government structure. Bah!

Well, at least they replaced it, and now the access to town from the Northwest via gravel is guaranteed for a long time now. I figured it would be truncated someday when they finally pulled the older bridge down, but thankfully, I was wrong. Too bad the new bridge doesn't have a tenth of the good look and character of the old one. I suppose the bottom line is that it worked and got me to Ridge Road!

The long climb up on Ridge Road

Cow paths in the distance

Barns for Jason

 Ridge Road was a good section, but I needed to head back North to start getting closer to home. I nixed the idea of taking N Avenue as it didn't "feel" right and went one more mile to M Avenue, which I was pretty sure would take me a long way on my trek back Northward. Down off the ridge and over some steep rollers here, and of course, into the wind. It wasn't the super-crazy wind of the last two rides, but it slowed progress on the climbs quite a bit. I was as patient as could be, and things were going okay. However; I was feeling it in my legs now. They were getting tired and sore. So, I tried to spin more to compensate.

I looked up ahead at one point as I approached an intersection with a paved road, and I thought I saw horseback riders in the distance, but then they turned into cyclists! I knew that a group was leaving town a couple hours after me. It turned out to be the same. We stopped and exchanged pleasantries then they went on their way Southward and I struggled on Northward.

Scared sheep

Along about this time I ended up hitting the valley of Black Hawk Creek where it was dead flat and I had to earn every inch of my progress. My legs were screaming at me, and I was pretty dang tired, but I was moving. I was also getting hungry again, and even though I passed through Hudson, I couldn't stop, as I was trying to get home before noon to allow Mrs. Guitar Ted the chance to go shopping with the kids out of town. So, I was going as hard as my legs would allow for, which is to say, it was pitiful, but again, I was moving!

Finally I made the run in toward Waterloo and home. Considering that three weeks ago I was very sick, and that just recently I have straightened out and felt better, this ride has to be considered a big success. Of course, next week I have to go do the Renegade Gent's Race, so it's about time I came around! At least the Gent's Race course won't be nearly as hilly as what I did this weekend. It probably will be a bit longer, because I only squeezed out about 56 miles, and the Gent's Race course is 63 or so, but I should be okay. Looking forward to it!

Tamlanding: Part 2

Morning bike path action

Saturday I got up early. Good thing I also went to bed early Friday night. I had plans for a big ride thwarted a couple of times by heavy winds, but Saturday was not only going to be warmer, but with low winds. I only had to make sure I got back home by noon so Mrs. Guitar Ted could go somewhere.

So, I made it out of the house by 7:15 and hit the bike trail to the South. It was a great, sunny morning, and the warbling of all the recently returned songbirds was in the air. Red Winged Blackbirds, the most courageous of the lot, were taking up positions on poles and were busy looking for mates. Later, when they've nested, the males will go after anything and everything that comes near their nests. It is pretty amazing to see these red shouldered mighty-mites go after hawks and even eagles if they get to close to their territories. Even cyclists are not immune. But today, I was left alone.

Then I hit the gravel on Aker Road going South. It starts out as a gently rolling road and with the wind at my back, it was easy to roll up the little hills. The light was great for taking some images, and it wasn't long before I hit on the section of Aker Road I'd not ridden before.

My shadow was chasing me.

New-to-me part of Aker Road South of this intersection.

The gravel was dry, cleared, and fast, fast, fast! I was in the big ring for most of this long section going South. The further South you go here, the more the rollers get bigger. Of course, Tama County gets you that! Eventually I reached a portion where I was drawing up on Wolf Creek, and then things went pancake flat for a bit until I got into Traer to refuel for the return leg.

Barns For Jason

The Tamland is working out great!

Traer has a convenience store on Highway 63 right smack dab in the middle of the town. I've stopped here a lot. It's been used for several Trans Iowas as either a pass through resupply stop, or as in T.I.V5, a checkpoint. I've used it for a couple of Guitar Ted Death Rides, and I've started lots of rides from here as well. If this place ever closes down, it'd be a shame. I'd miss it.

I got myself a breakfast sandwich here and drank down the rest of one of three bottles I brought along. I probably should have purchased some more liquids here, but I seemed to be doing okay and I wasn't thirsty. I need to just make myself drink more though. Probably would be a good thing. But anyway, the bacon, egg, and cheese biscuit hit the spot. I was hungry when I rolled in there! I should have purchased another for down the road though, as later I got hungry again with no chance of resupply.

I left the convenience store and cruised through the downtown area toward the old iron bridge that has been blocked off for years to get to a dead end gravel road that leads you to Ridge Road. When I turned the corner in town to come within eyeshot of the bridge, I was surprised to find that the old iron gabled bridge was gone! In its place a new bridge had been erected. A cement deal that had all the character of a Soviet era government structure. Bah!

Well, at least they replaced it, and now the access to town from the Northwest via gravel is guaranteed for a long time now. I figured it would be truncated someday when they finally pulled the older bridge down, but thankfully, I was wrong. Too bad the new bridge doesn't have a tenth of the good look and character of the old one. I suppose the bottom line is that it worked and got me to Ridge Road!

The long climb up on Ridge Road

Cow paths in the distance

Barns for Jason

 Ridge Road was a good section, but I needed to head back North to start getting closer to home. I nixed the idea of taking N Avenue as it didn't "feel" right and went one more mile to M Avenue, which I was pretty sure would take me a long way on my trek back Northward. Down off the ridge and over some steep rollers here, and of course, into the wind. It wasn't the super-crazy wind of the last two rides, but it slowed progress on the climbs quite a bit. I was as patient as could be, and things were going okay. However; I was feeling it in my legs now. They were getting tired and sore. So, I tried to spin more to compensate.

I looked up ahead at one point as I approached an intersection with a paved road, and I thought I saw horseback riders in the distance, but then they turned into cyclists! I knew that a group was leaving town a couple hours after me. It turned out to be the same. We stopped and exchanged pleasantries then they went on their way Southward and I struggled on Northward.

Scared sheep

Along about this time I ended up hitting the valley of Black Hawk Creek where it was dead flat and I had to earn every inch of my progress. My legs were screaming at me, and I was pretty dang tired, but I was moving. I was also getting hungry again, and even though I passed through Hudson, I couldn't stop, as I was trying to get home before noon to allow Mrs. Guitar Ted the chance to go shopping with the kids out of town. So, I was going as hard as my legs would allow for, which is to say, it was pitiful, but again, I was moving!

Finally I made the run in toward Waterloo and home. Considering that three weeks ago I was very sick, and that just recently I have straightened out and felt better, this ride has to be considered a big success. Of course, next week I have to go do the Renegade Gent's Race, so it's about time I came around! At least the Gent's Race course won't be nearly as hilly as what I did this weekend. It probably will be a bit longer, because I only squeezed out about 56 miles, and the Gent's Race course is 63 or so, but I should be okay. Looking forward to it!

Because This Cold Can't Last Forever

Wrenching for the future......

Uh-huh.......back to the deep freeze at least once more. The temperature of this air mass does not agree with me! That said, it seems that a change is in the air. I am seeing double digit numbers projected for high temperatures coming soon. temperatures above freezing! This will mean that things will get real messy real quick.

This calls for one thing- FENDERS! I spent Sunday doing some fitting of fenders on three different bicycles. Two are good to go, and one needs a few oddments to get the fenders to work. I think I may be able to find the bits and peices I need at work in my stash. We'll see.

The hope is that some of these bikes will get commuter duty and maybe some sloppy gravel action soon. I have a set of 32mm MSO's that need to get thrashed on, and I also need to finish up my impressions on the Surly Knard 41's. Mostly I need to do some gravel road action when it isn't hovering around zero with some double digit wind chills. I may also need a new pair of fenders because the ones for the "Orange Crush" are getting long in the tooth and showing their age a bit. We'll see if they fail or not. For now, I think they will do.

Because This Cold Can't Last Forever

Wrenching for the future......

Uh-huh.......back to the deep freeze at least once more. The temperature of this air mass does not agree with me! That said, it seems that a change is in the air. I am seeing double digit numbers projected for high temperatures coming soon. temperatures above freezing! This will mean that things will get real messy real quick.

This calls for one thing- FENDERS! I spent Sunday doing some fitting of fenders on three different bicycles. Two are good to go, and one needs a few oddments to get the fenders to work. I think I may be able to find the bits and peices I need at work in my stash. We'll see.

The hope is that some of these bikes will get commuter duty and maybe some sloppy gravel action soon. I have a set of 32mm MSO's that need to get thrashed on, and I also need to finish up my impressions on the Surly Knard 41's. Mostly I need to do some gravel road action when it isn't hovering around zero with some double digit wind chills. I may also need a new pair of fenders because the ones for the "Orange Crush" are getting long in the tooth and showing their age a bit. We'll see if they fail or not. For now, I think they will do.

Surly & Tired Part 3

Okay, I posted a review of these tires on Gravel Grinder News that you can check out by clicking the link, but here are a few "extra" observations on these interesting tires.

I had someone ask about whether or not I would/have run these tubeless. See, here's the thing about tubeless tires that are not really tubeless- you are pushing a product to do something it was not designed to do. 

First of all, I have done exactly this, I have run a non-tubeless tire tubeless. I have friends that do this all the time. It is not at all uncommon. However; there are more than a few cautions and one should not extenuate the difficulties and risks involved here. In other words- you'd better be damn sure you know what you are getting yourself into and how to do it. That takes experience. I feel that I've gained a lot of exactly that in the several years I have been messing with this now.

So, back to the Knard 41's. I took a good long look at them when I got them. They are made by Innova Tire. Okay, that may or may not mean anything to you, but that raises a red flag in my mind for reasons I won't get into here. Let's just say it isn't a plus for going tubeless and leave it at that for now. Secondly, the Knard 41's were a loose fit on the supposedly tubeless ready HED Ardennes + rims. Looser than anything I've yet installed on those rims. Strike two......

Finally, I just don't feel that running tubeless tires under 45mm is worth it from my perspective. I set up some 35's once as tubeless. It was merely a slightly better feel than with tubes. However; it was a complete pain to get the tires set up tubeless and the smaller volume of the tires meant that tubeless maintenance happened sooner than later. That all equals a lot of time invested for not a lot of gain- again, my opinion only there. I don't have flatting issues with tubes, nor do I feel the rolling resistance or ride feel is that detrimental with a 40mm tire with a tube installed.

Obviously that isn't going to be everyone's opinion, but I still feel that the Knard 41's are a bad candidate for tubeless conversion. There are other tires I would try first for that, but one other thing stops me there. I just do not want another tubeless tire set up to look after now. I have more tubeless set ups around here than I can take care of as it is. Adding another would be simply madness for me. I only do a tubeless set up now where it makes a big difference. As in big, 29"er mountain biking tires.

Well, so much for that. Tubed gravel road tires. Easy. Quick to repair. Roll along just fine. I'm good with tubes in those Knard 41's then, and I will not go try and ruin it all by going tubeless. Nosiree! The Knard 41's do really well with tubes too. I think they roll loose gravel and dirt great as I have them set up. A fine tire there, but not a tubeless tire. Not for me!

Surly & Tired Part 3

Okay, I posted a review of these tires on Gravel Grinder News that you can check out by clicking the link, but here are a few "extra" observations on these interesting tires.

I had someone ask about whether or not I would/have run these tubeless. See, here's the thing about tubeless tires that are not really tubeless- you are pushing a product to do something it was not designed to do. 

First of all, I have done exactly this, I have run a non-tubeless tire tubeless. I have friends that do this all the time. It is not at all uncommon. However; there are more than a few cautions and one should not extenuate the difficulties and risks involved here. In other words- you'd better be damn sure you know what you are getting yourself into and how to do it. That takes experience. I feel that I've gained a lot of exactly that in the several years I have been messing with this now.

So, back to the Knard 41's. I took a good long look at them when I got them. They are made by Innova Tire. Okay, that may or may not mean anything to you, but that raises a red flag in my mind for reasons I won't get into here. Let's just say it isn't a plus for going tubeless and leave it at that for now. Secondly, the Knard 41's were a loose fit on the supposedly tubeless ready HED Ardennes + rims. Looser than anything I've yet installed on those rims. Strike two......

Finally, I just don't feel that running tubeless tires under 45mm is worth it from my perspective. I set up some 35's once as tubeless. It was merely a slightly better feel than with tubes. However; it was a complete pain to get the tires set up tubeless and the smaller volume of the tires meant that tubeless maintenance happened sooner than later. That all equals a lot of time invested for not a lot of gain- again, my opinion only there. I don't have flatting issues with tubes, nor do I feel the rolling resistance or ride feel is that detrimental with a 40mm tire with a tube installed.

Obviously that isn't going to be everyone's opinion, but I still feel that the Knard 41's are a bad candidate for tubeless conversion. There are other tires I would try first for that, but one other thing stops me there. I just do not want another tubeless tire set up to look after now. I have more tubeless set ups around here than I can take care of as it is. Adding another would be simply madness for me. I only do a tubeless set up now where it makes a big difference. As in big, 29"er mountain biking tires.

Well, so much for that. Tubed gravel road tires. Easy. Quick to repair. Roll along just fine. I'm good with tubes in those Knard 41's then, and I will not go try and ruin it all by going tubeless. Nosiree! The Knard 41's do really well with tubes too. I think they roll loose gravel and dirt great as I have them set up. A fine tire there, but not a tubeless tire. Not for me!

A Misty Morning

It was misty, or was it 100% humidity, or.....

Wednesday was forecast to be rainy, and so had Tuesday, but Tuesday actually turned out to be gorgeous, and wouldn't you know- I didn't ride to work thinking it was going to rain. Bah! As my son said to me, "Well, that was a bad weather report!" I hate it when that happens!

So, Tuesday I was not to be denied. I was going to drop my son off at school and get out there as fast as could be to get in some sort of ride. The approaching wall of green masses turning to shades of orange and red on the weather radar's Doppler viewer online told me I'd better be double quick about it!

Then there was the dense fog advisory in effect until 11am. I wondered how soupy it would be out in the country. I knew a single track ride was unlikely with the wetness of the ground. I did not want to tear up any trails, so I had been eying a gravel ride. In some hills. That meant a truck transfer to the staging area.  That area would be the Ingawanis Woods lot where I could jump off into the Denver Hills area quickly.

When I arrived, the air was spitting mist/light rain. The gravel was wet to almost muddy. The winds were light out of the East, and it was dark for morning time. Fortunately, I had a blinkie tail light and my Endura soft shell jacket has a blinky mounting strap on the back. I set the light for a solid red since it is my belief that motorists respect a solid red tail light more than they do a blinking flasher.

....was it rain? Good thing I had a fender!

I was riding that Volagi Viaje bike I am testing for Gravel Grinder News. I had an SKS "S Blade" clip on splash guard to ward off the mucky-muck. Glad I did. It is a handy little mud guard that can be transferred over to another bike in a matter of a few minutes. Anyway, I was ready for the misty stuff, and the bike was working great.

I'm still not 100% sold on Volagi's philosophy that a bike like this should act like a racing bike. I mean, it's fine on pavement and anything smooth, but on looser, rougher stuff, I just don't feel  it works as well. That said, it's a bike that I think many would like. The ability to shoe horn in those big, cushy Kenda Happy Mediums makes a big difference here. I'll be getting this rig out for some more gravel riding and within a week to two weeks I should be all finished up with it. It's been a fun bicycle so far.

But yesterday it was hill riding. Big, steep hills that I would normally not find around this area unless I traveled quite a ways away. I found out what I needed to find out and then I headed for the truck again. I wasn't staying out all that long because I knew the rains were coming sooner than later. In the end, I could have ridden a bit more, but it was good. A late October thunderstorm right after I got home made me glad I wasn't still on those exposed hills waiting for a bolt of lightning to strike! 

A Misty Morning

It was misty, or was it 100% humidity, or.....

Wednesday was forecast to be rainy, and so had Tuesday, but Tuesday actually turned out to be gorgeous, and wouldn't you know- I didn't ride to work thinking it was going to rain. Bah! As my son said to me, "Well, that was a bad weather report!" I hate it when that happens!

So, Tuesday I was not to be denied. I was going to drop my son off at school and get out there as fast as could be to get in some sort of ride. The approaching wall of green masses turning to shades of orange and red on the weather radar's Doppler viewer online told me I'd better be double quick about it!

Then there was the dense fog advisory in effect until 11am. I wondered how soupy it would be out in the country. I knew a single track ride was unlikely with the wetness of the ground. I did not want to tear up any trails, so I had been eying a gravel ride. In some hills. That meant a truck transfer to the staging area.  That area would be the Ingawanis Woods lot where I could jump off into the Denver Hills area quickly.

When I arrived, the air was spitting mist/light rain. The gravel was wet to almost muddy. The winds were light out of the East, and it was dark for morning time. Fortunately, I had a blinkie tail light and my Endura soft shell jacket has a blinky mounting strap on the back. I set the light for a solid red since it is my belief that motorists respect a solid red tail light more than they do a blinking flasher.

....was it rain? Good thing I had a fender!

I was riding that Volagi Viaje bike I am testing for Gravel Grinder News. I had an SKS "S Blade" clip on splash guard to ward off the mucky-muck. Glad I did. It is a handy little mud guard that can be transferred over to another bike in a matter of a few minutes. Anyway, I was ready for the misty stuff, and the bike was working great.

I'm still not 100% sold on Volagi's philosophy that a bike like this should act like a racing bike. I mean, it's fine on pavement and anything smooth, but on looser, rougher stuff, I just don't feel  it works as well. That said, it's a bike that I think many would like. The ability to shoe horn in those big, cushy Kenda Happy Mediums makes a big difference here. I'll be getting this rig out for some more gravel riding and within a week to two weeks I should be all finished up with it. It's been a fun bicycle so far.

But yesterday it was hill riding. Big, steep hills that I would normally not find around this area unless I traveled quite a ways away. I found out what I needed to find out and then I headed for the truck again. I wasn't staying out all that long because I knew the rains were coming sooner than later. In the end, I could have ridden a bit more, but it was good. A late October thunderstorm right after I got home made me glad I wasn't still on those exposed hills waiting for a bolt of lightning to strike! 

Friday News And Views

Gravel Grinder News: 

Social Media- love it or hate it- is here and it works. I had resisted doing anything with Gravel Grinder News specifically in regards to social media for quite awhile. I figured I would just piggy-back it on what I was doing on a personal level. However; with the recent realization that this stuff is getting a lot more attention than I thought it was, I decided not only to pursue a new GGN website, but to start a Facebook Page for Gravel Grinder News.

And boy! Was I surprised again. It went to over 440 people in two days that "liked" it. That's just basically "Facebook word of mouth" right there. Pretty crazy, but there ya go. It has a lot of activity going on too, which is again- surprising me. I guess this thing is going somewhere, and I have to decide a few things this Spring. Can't say that it's boring around here, that's for sure! Sometimes I wonder if I need things to actually calm down a bit.

Can I Show You To The Door?

I imagine I am not the only one that feels Spring is late. Tardy. Out there goofing off somewhere instead of coming around, melting this infernal ice and snow, and warming things up. I like Winter- don't get me wrong, but I also like it when the seasons actually change from one to another. This is getting ridiculous.

So, I think I am doing a gravel ride Saturday no matter if it is freezing or not. Maybe it would actually be better if it was frozen at this point! I've heard that the roads have been awful when the Sun gets them unfrozen right now. But either way, I need to get going here because I have an event in less than a month and I need to dial in my rig.

Winter has really put a damper on that. Heck, it's been in the low teens in the mornings most of the week here, and only just today did it get over freezing. Tomorrow is supposed to be nice too, but Saturday it will be cold again. At least the roads should be pretty free of ice by that time. Maybe. we'll see.

Challenge Tires: 

Well, it looks like more gravel related stories today than anything! Here I have the Challenge "Almanzo" tires which are skinny little critters at 30mm, (claimed), and are handmade gems that sport a 260 TPI (!!) casing. Pretty high end stuff here as far as tires go.

I also got these Challenge strips of bubblegum. Well........actually they are not bubblegum! Old 90's era mtb freaks will recognize these as latex tubes. Remember those? Yep! and these are light and will be going into the Almanzo tires which will then see gravel duty and be reported on over at Gravel Grinder News.

These tires will get mounted up to the HED wheels I reviewed and on a set of Velocity A-23's for good measure for a time as well. I have a plan of attack for these things and if all goes accordingly, it should result in a pretty interesting review. Stay tuned- I'll link to it here once it gets published.

Okay, that's it for this edition of News and Views. Have a great weekend, and push some Springtime weather our way if you have some to spare, won't you? Thanks!

Friday News And Views

Gravel Grinder News: 

Social Media- love it or hate it- is here and it works. I had resisted doing anything with Gravel Grinder News specifically in regards to social media for quite awhile. I figured I would just piggy-back it on what I was doing on a personal level. However; with the recent realization that this stuff is getting a lot more attention than I thought it was, I decided not only to pursue a new GGN website, but to start a Facebook Page for Gravel Grinder News.

And boy! Was I surprised again. It went to over 440 people in two days that "liked" it. That's just basically "Facebook word of mouth" right there. Pretty crazy, but there ya go. It has a lot of activity going on too, which is again- surprising me. I guess this thing is going somewhere, and I have to decide a few things this Spring. Can't say that it's boring around here, that's for sure! Sometimes I wonder if I need things to actually calm down a bit.

Can I Show You To The Door?

I imagine I am not the only one that feels Spring is late. Tardy. Out there goofing off somewhere instead of coming around, melting this infernal ice and snow, and warming things up. I like Winter- don't get me wrong, but I also like it when the seasons actually change from one to another. This is getting ridiculous.

So, I think I am doing a gravel ride Saturday no matter if it is freezing or not. Maybe it would actually be better if it was frozen at this point! I've heard that the roads have been awful when the Sun gets them unfrozen right now. But either way, I need to get going here because I have an event in less than a month and I need to dial in my rig.

Winter has really put a damper on that. Heck, it's been in the low teens in the mornings most of the week here, and only just today did it get over freezing. Tomorrow is supposed to be nice too, but Saturday it will be cold again. At least the roads should be pretty free of ice by that time. Maybe. we'll see.

Challenge Tires: 

Well, it looks like more gravel related stories today than anything! Here I have the Challenge "Almanzo" tires which are skinny little critters at 30mm, (claimed), and are handmade gems that sport a 260 TPI (!!) casing. Pretty high end stuff here as far as tires go.

I also got these Challenge strips of bubblegum. Well........actually they are not bubblegum! Old 90's era mtb freaks will recognize these as latex tubes. Remember those? Yep! and these are light and will be going into the Almanzo tires which will then see gravel duty and be reported on over at Gravel Grinder News.

These tires will get mounted up to the HED wheels I reviewed and on a set of Velocity A-23's for good measure for a time as well. I have a plan of attack for these things and if all goes accordingly, it should result in a pretty interesting review. Stay tuned- I'll link to it here once it gets published.

Okay, that's it for this edition of News and Views. Have a great weekend, and push some Springtime weather our way if you have some to spare, won't you? Thanks!