Winter Views: Melting Into Spring

Not a cloud in the sky and nearly 50°F.

This probably will be the last of the "Winter Views" posts for the '20/'21 Winter Season. The warmer weather and Sun is overtaking Winter very quickly now. The snow will be a minority of the scene very quickly now. Things will start turning green again. Spring is coming in. 

Typically that means lots of wind, but Wednesday was calm as could be, absolutely no clouds, and bright, warm Sun over all. I remarked to myself at the end of the ride that it just doesn't get a whole lot better than that. Not for any time of the year. And the roads! But I am getting ahead of myself here.

I decided to switch wheels out on the Noble GX5 gravel bike to the new WTB Proterra wheels that I need to get going on for a review on RidingGravel.com. So that was the bike I used on Wednesday. I didn't know how the roads would be South of town, but that is where I was going to ride and so I'd find out if they were as good or better than they were up North last weekend. Sooner or later the frost is going to come out and then the roads will get weird. 

The air temperature was about ten degrees warmer than Saturday and maybe it would get to 50°F, but either way, it was super comfortable out. It's so weird once you've been acclimated to sub-zero weather how 50° can feel like "windows down in the car" weather, but I wasn't the only one running around with side windows open Wednesday. 

The Prairie Grove Park car park was a royal mess when I pulled in. The big piles of snow that the City plowed back were on the uphill side of the lot and so all the run-off was soaking the entire lot. Oh well! At least the gravel was firm and the truck was in no danger of getting stuck. This may change once the frost comes up, but hopefully those piles of Winter snow will be much smaller- or gone- by that time.

The Proterra wheels on the Noble GX5

I got going after lunch and headed down the old, familiar roads. I didn't ride these roads much after mid-Summer last year, so it's been awhile now. That said, I will be off to some other places soon. I don't want to grind the same roads all the time as I have in years past. 

Seems like the drifts must have been bigger South of town this year.

I saw this hawk fly over my head and light on this high tension wire.

The roads South of town, on Wednesday, at any rate, were fast, dry, and super-smooth. Best conditions on gravel ever. "Hero Gravel", if you will. hardly any loose, crushed rock at all. Of course, that will all change once the frost starts coming up. Then it will become a mucky-mess. Who knows when that will start, and for how long it will last, but if the next week, week and a half weather forecasts are to be believed, it will happen very soon and be over quickly. 

That said, I am predicting major frost boil action this year. It should be crazy on certain roads, like it was a couple of years or so ago when frost boils destroyed roads and the farmers with big machines and semi-tractor trailers will perpetuate the damage- just like they did back then. Hopefully, I'll be wrong about that. We will see....

This was about the most gravel I ran across.

Another big drift on Washburn Road.

So it was an 'ordinary test loop' ride but it was perfect. Such a beautiful day to ride. I also did not want to put in a big effort because I wanted to just start working my way up to being able to do bigger rides. I am hoping to be able to squeeze in a hundy sooner than I did last year and maybe that will help with getting in a few of my goals for 2021. 

Next ride- Those weird handle bars which I should be able to talk about next week. Stay tuned.....

Winter Views: Melting Into Spring

Not a cloud in the sky and nearly 50°F.

This probably will be the last of the "Winter Views" posts for the '20/'21 Winter Season. The warmer weather and Sun is overtaking Winter very quickly now. The snow will be a minority of the scene very quickly now. Things will start turning green again. Spring is coming in. 

Typically that means lots of wind, but Wednesday was calm as could be, absolutely no clouds, and bright, warm Sun over all. I remarked to myself at the end of the ride that it just doesn't get a whole lot better than that. Not for any time of the year. And the roads! But I am getting ahead of myself here.

I decided to switch wheels out on the Noble GX5 gravel bike to the new WTB Proterra wheels that I need to get going on for a review on RidingGravel.com. So that was the bike I used on Wednesday. I didn't know how the roads would be South of town, but that is where I was going to ride and so I'd find out if they were as good or better than they were up North last weekend. Sooner or later the frost is going to come out and then the roads will get weird. 

The air temperature was about ten degrees warmer than Saturday and maybe it would get to 50°F, but either way, it was super comfortable out. It's so weird once you've been acclimated to sub-zero weather how 50° can feel like "windows down in the car" weather, but I wasn't the only one running around with side windows open Wednesday. 

The Prairie Grove Park car park was a royal mess when I pulled in. The big piles of snow that the City plowed back were on the uphill side of the lot and so all the run-off was soaking the entire lot. Oh well! At least the gravel was firm and the truck was in no danger of getting stuck. This may change once the frost comes up, but hopefully those piles of Winter snow will be much smaller- or gone- by that time.

The Proterra wheels on the Noble GX5

I got going after lunch and headed down the old, familiar roads. I didn't ride these roads much after mid-Summer last year, so it's been awhile now. That said, I will be off to some other places soon. I don't want to grind the same roads all the time as I have in years past. 

Seems like the drifts must have been bigger South of town this year.

I saw this hawk fly over my head and light on this high tension wire.

The roads South of town, on Wednesday, at any rate, were fast, dry, and super-smooth. Best conditions on gravel ever. "Hero Gravel", if you will. hardly any loose, crushed rock at all. Of course, that will all change once the frost starts coming up. Then it will become a mucky-mess. Who knows when that will start, and for how long it will last, but if the next week, week and a half weather forecasts are to be believed, it will happen very soon and be over quickly. 

That said, I am predicting major frost boil action this year. It should be crazy on certain roads, like it was a couple of years or so ago when frost boils destroyed roads and the farmers with big machines and semi-tractor trailers will perpetuate the damage- just like they did back then. Hopefully, I'll be wrong about that. We will see....

This was about the most gravel I ran across.

Another big drift on Washburn Road.

So it was an 'ordinary test loop' ride but it was perfect. Such a beautiful day to ride. I also did not want to put in a big effort because I wanted to just start working my way up to being able to do bigger rides. I am hoping to be able to squeeze in a hundy sooner than I did last year and maybe that will help with getting in a few of my goals for 2021. 

Next ride- Those weird handle bars which I should be able to talk about next week. Stay tuned.....

Country Views: Rain Delay

It started out pretty hot and beautiful out.

I got out Wednesday afternoon with, what I thought was, a good amount of time before it was supposedly going to rain. I figured I had time to at least ride up Burton Avenue, which changes to Killdeer at the county line, and then to Ivanhoe Road and back across Highway 63 to maybe come back on Schenk Road so I could see all the cool old barns.

That was the plan anyway. You know what they say about 'the best laid plans', right? Well, these plans didn't go totally off the rails, but they were merely delayed. I'm going to get this route done but it didn't happen Wednesday. I decided to do this abbreviated ride on the Stormchaser with the 700c X 50mm tires set at just a hair under 30psi. Heavenly ride quality! If I were going to get to keep this demo bike, I would definitely be running big, puffy 700c tires at lowered pressures. Of all the wheels I ran with from 700c X 42mm and 650B X 47mm tires, these 700c X 50mm tires pull what I think is the best out of the Stormchaser.

Hey there! Some color in the ditches other than yellow and green are starting to appear.

Going up! Burton Avenue is a mostly up road going North.

Once I escaped out of town I found the gravel to be fast, with a deeper loose patch here and there. I also felt, for the first time this year, the Sun's energy being reflected off the road. Baking...... My nemesis for getting long rides done is heat. I throttled it back a touch, as riding a single speed on a mostly climbing road in this sort of heat can wither me. Especially after so many months off from this sort of weather.

Spot light on.....

Hmm..... Clouding up as I crossed into Bremer County.

The heat didn't get me after all. In fact, it wasn't bad after a while and I found myself plugging along upward without much issue. But then I noticed it felt cooler, and then, within a few miles of riding, it clouded up significantly. Ah......it'll be okay! That's what I thought. I figured, you know, it would take a few hours for the clouds to build in and then maybe it would start raining, but I'd be home before that.

I got up to Ivanhoe Road, which I found was marked "Ivanhoe Street" at the intersection of Killdeer, and turned East. Hmm.... The wind was up now out of the Southeast. I remarked to myself that it was going to be a bit more of a challenge getting home, but at least it would be mostly down hill, and the part where I was looking forward to turning West on Airline Highway was going to be fast!

As I approached Highway 63 I felt them. Rain drops!

 

Add caption

Dang it! The skies looked pretty heavy at this point and it was all coming up from the Southeast to greet me. Would there be thunder and lightning? I figured I'd better stop once I crossed the highway to assess the situation via my smart phone.

I pulled up my weather app, started the past radar soundings loop, and then.... Nothing, nothing, nothing, BAM! A line of heavy rain pops up outta nowhere and it was lining up to look like a soaker for me. No need to risk getting hit by lightning, and no need to push through a rain, so I texted Mrs. Guitar Ted and rode the paved way into Denver from the North.

The end of this ride wasn't a whole lot of fun.

As I pedaled South I saw two cyclists in the distance heading toward me. Two youngsters, riding cruiser style bikes, heading off into the rain. Ah! Youth! I was reminded of a not-so-nice thing my Dad used to say, but I won't burden any of you with that here. Suffice it to say that it had to do with lack of knowledge.

Anyway, it started raining in earnest as I approached the town, The Casey's convenience store I said I'd meet her at was on the opposite end of town, about a half mile away from the old city, where the four lane bypasses Denver on the South side. I had a ways to go!

I considered waiting it out under a canopy somewhere, but ya know, once you get wet, you cannot get any wetter. I just rode on. Besides, in these socially distanced times, I don't need to have any interactions with someone who is very fearful and thinks this "outsider" is leaving the worst virus ever behind to infect them with somehow or another. Nope! So, I just kept on keeping on, never coming within 20 yards or less of anyone in that village.

It's weird to think this way, but this has become what the situation is now. People are either super-freaked out or don't give a damn and figure you are being stupid. I'm not engaging on that battleground where there will be no winner. Nope! No interactions, no problems. I sat on the very furthest edge of the property, in the misting rain, and waited for my ride.

And when Mrs. Guitar Ted showed up, I racked up the Stormchaser and hopped in for the ride home. I'll be back again to finish that ride off........

Country Views: Rain Delay

It started out pretty hot and beautiful out.

I got out Wednesday afternoon with, what I thought was, a good amount of time before it was supposedly going to rain. I figured I had time to at least ride up Burton Avenue, which changes to Killdeer at the county line, and then to Ivanhoe Road and back across Highway 63 to maybe come back on Schenk Road so I could see all the cool old barns.

That was the plan anyway. You know what they say about 'the best laid plans', right? Well, these plans didn't go totally off the rails, but they were merely delayed. I'm going to get this route done but it didn't happen Wednesday. I decided to do this abbreviated ride on the Stormchaser with the 700c X 50mm tires set at just a hair under 30psi. Heavenly ride quality! If I were going to get to keep this demo bike, I would definitely be running big, puffy 700c tires at lowered pressures. Of all the wheels I ran with from 700c X 42mm and 650B X 47mm tires, these 700c X 50mm tires pull what I think is the best out of the Stormchaser.

Hey there! Some color in the ditches other than yellow and green are starting to appear.

Going up! Burton Avenue is a mostly up road going North.

Once I escaped out of town I found the gravel to be fast, with a deeper loose patch here and there. I also felt, for the first time this year, the Sun's energy being reflected off the road. Baking...... My nemesis for getting long rides done is heat. I throttled it back a touch, as riding a single speed on a mostly climbing road in this sort of heat can wither me. Especially after so many months off from this sort of weather.

Spot light on.....

Hmm..... Clouding up as I crossed into Bremer County.

The heat didn't get me after all. In fact, it wasn't bad after a while and I found myself plugging along upward without much issue. But then I noticed it felt cooler, and then, within a few miles of riding, it clouded up significantly. Ah......it'll be okay! That's what I thought. I figured, you know, it would take a few hours for the clouds to build in and then maybe it would start raining, but I'd be home before that.

I got up to Ivanhoe Road, which I found was marked "Ivanhoe Street" at the intersection of Killdeer, and turned East. Hmm.... The wind was up now out of the Southeast. I remarked to myself that it was going to be a bit more of a challenge getting home, but at least it would be mostly down hill, and the part where I was looking forward to turning West on Airline Highway was going to be fast!

As I approached Highway 63 I felt them. Rain drops!

 

Add caption

Dang it! The skies looked pretty heavy at this point and it was all coming up from the Southeast to greet me. Would there be thunder and lightning? I figured I'd better stop once I crossed the highway to assess the situation via my smart phone.

I pulled up my weather app, started the past radar soundings loop, and then.... Nothing, nothing, nothing, BAM! A line of heavy rain pops up outta nowhere and it was lining up to look like a soaker for me. No need to risk getting hit by lightning, and no need to push through a rain, so I texted Mrs. Guitar Ted and rode the paved way into Denver from the North.

The end of this ride wasn't a whole lot of fun.

As I pedaled South I saw two cyclists in the distance heading toward me. Two youngsters, riding cruiser style bikes, heading off into the rain. Ah! Youth! I was reminded of a not-so-nice thing my Dad used to say, but I won't burden any of you with that here. Suffice it to say that it had to do with lack of knowledge.

Anyway, it started raining in earnest as I approached the town, The Casey's convenience store I said I'd meet her at was on the opposite end of town, about a half mile away from the old city, where the four lane bypasses Denver on the South side. I had a ways to go!

I considered waiting it out under a canopy somewhere, but ya know, once you get wet, you cannot get any wetter. I just rode on. Besides, in these socially distanced times, I don't need to have any interactions with someone who is very fearful and thinks this "outsider" is leaving the worst virus ever behind to infect them with somehow or another. Nope! So, I just kept on keeping on, never coming within 20 yards or less of anyone in that village.

It's weird to think this way, but this has become what the situation is now. People are either super-freaked out or don't give a damn and figure you are being stupid. I'm not engaging on that battleground where there will be no winner. Nope! No interactions, no problems. I sat on the very furthest edge of the property, in the misting rain, and waited for my ride.

And when Mrs. Guitar Ted showed up, I racked up the Stormchaser and hopped in for the ride home. I'll be back again to finish that ride off........

Protection- Part 2

Crank arm caps and protective clear stickers applied here.

Last week I mentioned that I received some Zefal products to test out that are designed to help keep your gravel, mountain, or road bike clean and shiny. Well, as I cleaned up from Saturday's ride I decided that I should apply the protective devices on my Twin Six Standard Rando.

The "stickers" are really just clear, sort of rubbery deals that peel off a sheet and are applied to the frame directly wherever you might get cable rub, chain slap, or where you intend to strap on bags. The Zefal kit comes with one chain stay sized "sticker", one massive sticker for a down tube, (most likely use), and several rectangular and circular patches that probably work best wherever cable housings might come in contact with your frame's finish.

Sure, there are any number of ways to accomplish this task to get the same effect, but it is nice to have everything pre-cut and ready for you. Plus, the application can sometimes be tricky with other means to this end. Not so with the Zefal stuff here. I found it to be sufficiently tacky, but not so sticky that if you wanted to pull it back a bit you couldn't. Plus, it conformed to the undulations of my "S" bend chain stays without wrinkling or lifting in spots. That's the "rubbery" bit working, I reckon. Finally, it lays down and doesn't give you fits trying to work out air pockets. In fact, that part was easier than with anything else I have tried. Kudos to Zefal on that feature alone.

The selection of patches you have to work with. The top one is the huge, longer one meant for the down tube. 

I put the biggest patch on my top tube to protect it from frame bags.

The Standard Rando has cables that run underneath the down tube in full housing runs held on by special frame clips that are removable and configurable. Because of this, rocks have little to no chance of contacting the down tube as they get spewed off the front tire. So, I opted to use the patch normally used on down tubes as a top tube protector so frame bags and top tube bags won't roach the pretty green powder coating.

You can see how rocks have already dinged my SRAM Rival crank arm end.

So, you may not think your crank arms are getting dinged on your gravel going rig, but they are. Yes, most likely, they are. So, if you have some of those fancy, carbon crank arm dealios, this may be of great interest to you, as carbon isn't very friendly with indentations. That leads to things we'd rather not think about. Aluminum just gets nasty looking, so, if you care, even you aluminum crank arm users may want to check this out.

Capped off and protected. Put a helmet on it, Soldier!

Maybe you don't give a rip about rock dings and you want to flaunt that scarred up component as a badge of honor. Your gravel miles earned such damage. I get that. However; some folks kind of want to maintain the over all appearance of their rigs for as long as possible for whatever reasons. I get that as well. If the latter describes you, then these crank arm end protectors are for you, perhaps.

So, I'll run these the rest of the Summer into Fall and then I'll check back in with my take on how this stuff holds up and how it does its job of protecting.

NOTE: This stuff showed up on my bench at work, with no note, contact info, or anything. So, I am trying it out for free, and I am not being paid by Zefal, or bribed by them to get this info out here on the blog. If anyone would like to step up to claim responsibility for this stuff being presented here, I'd be glad to give them credit. So, there ya go.........

Protection- Part 2

Crank arm caps and protective clear stickers applied here.

Last week I mentioned that I received some Zefal products to test out that are designed to help keep your gravel, mountain, or road bike clean and shiny. Well, as I cleaned up from Saturday's ride I decided that I should apply the protective devices on my Twin Six Standard Rando.

The "stickers" are really just clear, sort of rubbery deals that peel off a sheet and are applied to the frame directly wherever you might get cable rub, chain slap, or where you intend to strap on bags. The Zefal kit comes with one chain stay sized "sticker", one massive sticker for a down tube, (most likely use), and several rectangular and circular patches that probably work best wherever cable housings might come in contact with your frame's finish.

Sure, there are any number of ways to accomplish this task to get the same effect, but it is nice to have everything pre-cut and ready for you. Plus, the application can sometimes be tricky with other means to this end. Not so with the Zefal stuff here. I found it to be sufficiently tacky, but not so sticky that if you wanted to pull it back a bit you couldn't. Plus, it conformed to the undulations of my "S" bend chain stays without wrinkling or lifting in spots. That's the "rubbery" bit working, I reckon. Finally, it lays down and doesn't give you fits trying to work out air pockets. In fact, that part was easier than with anything else I have tried. Kudos to Zefal on that feature alone.

The selection of patches you have to work with. The top one is the huge, longer one meant for the down tube. 

I put the biggest patch on my top tube to protect it from frame bags.

The Standard Rando has cables that run underneath the down tube in full housing runs held on by special frame clips that are removable and configurable. Because of this, rocks have little to no chance of contacting the down tube as they get spewed off the front tire. So, I opted to use the patch normally used on down tubes as a top tube protector so frame bags and top tube bags won't roach the pretty green powder coating.

You can see how rocks have already dinged my SRAM Rival crank arm end.

So, you may not think your crank arms are getting dinged on your gravel going rig, but they are. Yes, most likely, they are. So, if you have some of those fancy, carbon crank arm dealios, this may be of great interest to you, as carbon isn't very friendly with indentations. That leads to things we'd rather not think about. Aluminum just gets nasty looking, so, if you care, even you aluminum crank arm users may want to check this out.

Capped off and protected. Put a helmet on it, Soldier!

Maybe you don't give a rip about rock dings and you want to flaunt that scarred up component as a badge of honor. Your gravel miles earned such damage. I get that. However; some folks kind of want to maintain the over all appearance of their rigs for as long as possible for whatever reasons. I get that as well. If the latter describes you, then these crank arm end protectors are for you, perhaps.

So, I'll run these the rest of the Summer into Fall and then I'll check back in with my take on how this stuff holds up and how it does its job of protecting.

NOTE: This stuff showed up on my bench at work, with no note, contact info, or anything. So, I am trying it out for free, and I am not being paid by Zefal, or bribed by them to get this info out here on the blog. If anyone would like to step up to claim responsibility for this stuff being presented here, I'd be glad to give them credit. So, there ya go.........

Weather Affected Alternative Activities

Wednesday- My day off to do "other stuff", which I was hoping would be a metric ride on gravel for my Cuo-O-Dirt series, but the weather was predicted to be craptastic, and I wasn't about to deal with high winds, rain, and temperatures in the low 30's. I've seen what that is like back last April at T.I.v11. So, since I seem to have a distinct dislike of hypothermia, I decided to tackle some T.I.v12 business. Emails needed to be sent out, and there was a bit of a surprise in terms of sponsorship which came up.

The "herding of cats" as it applied to getting responses back on meal orders for the Pre-Race Meat-Up were avoided this year, since the Grinnell Steakhouse said to me that it wasn't necessary on their end for me to gather that intel anymore. No worries! I was glad to avoid that bothersome task. Now all I had to do was make sure people actually got the e-mail I sent, and that was mostly done with no issues. I had a few pingbacks, but all were covered within a few hours time.

Prototype cue sheet holders from BarYak.com

Then about mid-day I got a ping on Facebook from BarYak.com that was telling me I could expect a couple of their brand spankin' newly designed and prototype cue sheet holders as prizing for Trans Iowa. Wow! These aren't even available quite yet, and we're getting them to add to the prizing for T.I.v11.

The really interesting thing is that BarYak is a company started out by a Trans Iowa vet, so things like the cue sheet holder were actually inspired by events like Trans Iowa. That's pretty cool to know. Check out the BarYak story here.

Then I posted a great Land Run 100 recap by Uncle Dudley, a guy from Kansas who also puts on the event Gravel Ride For Masie's Pride. So, editing that and publishing it took up a chunk of the day. Then I got to get down to the G-Ted Labs to do some fiddlin' with the Karate Monkey. I finally found something that will look good and not cost a ton that will slow me down when I need to. More on that soon.

So, a busy day of not riding bikes. We'll see about that big gravel ride on Saturday, hopefully.

Weather Affected Alternative Activities

Wednesday- My day off to do "other stuff", which I was hoping would be a metric ride on gravel for my Cuo-O-Dirt series, but the weather was predicted to be craptastic, and I wasn't about to deal with high winds, rain, and temperatures in the low 30's. I've seen what that is like back last April at T.I.v11. So, since I seem to have a distinct dislike of hypothermia, I decided to tackle some T.I.v12 business. Emails needed to be sent out, and there was a bit of a surprise in terms of sponsorship which came up.

The "herding of cats" as it applied to getting responses back on meal orders for the Pre-Race Meat-Up were avoided this year, since the Grinnell Steakhouse said to me that it wasn't necessary on their end for me to gather that intel anymore. No worries! I was glad to avoid that bothersome task. Now all I had to do was make sure people actually got the e-mail I sent, and that was mostly done with no issues. I had a few pingbacks, but all were covered within a few hours time.

Prototype cue sheet holders from BarYak.com

Then about mid-day I got a ping on Facebook from BarYak.com that was telling me I could expect a couple of their brand spankin' newly designed and prototype cue sheet holders as prizing for Trans Iowa. Wow! These aren't even available quite yet, and we're getting them to add to the prizing for T.I.v11.

The really interesting thing is that BarYak is a company started out by a Trans Iowa vet, so things like the cue sheet holder were actually inspired by events like Trans Iowa. That's pretty cool to know. Check out the BarYak story here.

Then I posted a great Land Run 100 recap by Uncle Dudley, a guy from Kansas who also puts on the event Gravel Ride For Masie's Pride. So, editing that and publishing it took up a chunk of the day. Then I got to get down to the G-Ted Labs to do some fiddlin' with the Karate Monkey. I finally found something that will look good and not cost a ton that will slow me down when I need to. More on that soon.

So, a busy day of not riding bikes. We'll see about that big gravel ride on Saturday, hopefully.

The Radio Ranch Rides Again

A view from Masie's route

 When thinking about gravel rides in Kansas, the Dirty Kanza 200 comes up right away, and you could be forgiven if you thought that was the only event on gravel in Kansas. Obviously, that is not the case at all. In fact, there are plenty of events in Kansas on gravel that deserve your attention. (For more Kansas gravel events and others besides those across the nation, see RidingGravel.com's event pages.)

One of these events that has always intrigued me is "Gravel Ride For Masie's Pride", which, besides the strange name, is an event that also happens to use the Flint Hills as their playground. I'll spare you all the details here because my partner, Ben, and I just wrapped up and published a great podcast about the event with it's founder and director, "Uncle Dudley". Check that out by clicking HERE.

This post will be more about the getting of this show back up and going again after about seven months of being dormant. It wasn't our intentions to have let things go this far. However; there are a couple of reasons, in my opinion, for why this all happened the way it has.

The first thing is that Ben is the founder and head honcho of Mountain Bike Radio, which is the entity that hosts and produces the Riding Gravel Radio Ranch. Now MBR.com has tons of great podcasts. While Ben doesn't have to shepherd them all, he has a busy time riding herd on the ones that he does have a direct hand in. That takes a lot of time. Secondly, Ben and his family moved during the time we were off, and that interrupted things a bit. Then it got to be Summer, we both got busy with other stuff, and next thing ya know, it is Fall.

I was doing everything I could during the Fall to squeeze in some review work before Winter came. Doing a Radio Ranch show wasn't on my radar then. So, I wasn't really even thinking this would happen again. I mean, maybe someday, it would, but I was not thinking very positively about it. That was until Uncle Dudley got a hold of me and asked if doing a podcast might be possible. So, I'm blaming him for all of this getting cranked up again.

The result was that it did get cranked up again.  I was glad to find out we were getting the generators dusted off, plugging the mics in, and doing sound checks. I happen to enjoy doing these, and I sure hope folks like listening to the podcasts. Hopefully we won't be letting things slip into forgetfulness again, and another Radio Ranch podcast will happen again sooner than later.

The Radio Ranch Rides Again

A view from Masie's route

 When thinking about gravel rides in Kansas, the Dirty Kanza 200 comes up right away, and you could be forgiven if you thought that was the only event on gravel in Kansas. Obviously, that is not the case at all. In fact, there are plenty of events in Kansas on gravel that deserve your attention. (For more Kansas gravel events and others besides those across the nation, see RidingGravel.com's event pages.)

One of these events that has always intrigued me is "Gravel Ride For Masie's Pride", which, besides the strange name, is an event that also happens to use the Flint Hills as their playground. I'll spare you all the details here because my partner, Ben, and I just wrapped up and published a great podcast about the event with it's founder and director, "Uncle Dudley". Check that out by clicking HERE.

This post will be more about the getting of this show back up and going again after about seven months of being dormant. It wasn't our intentions to have let things go this far. However; there are a couple of reasons, in my opinion, for why this all happened the way it has.

The first thing is that Ben is the founder and head honcho of Mountain Bike Radio, which is the entity that hosts and produces the Riding Gravel Radio Ranch. Now MBR.com has tons of great podcasts. While Ben doesn't have to shepherd them all, he has a busy time riding herd on the ones that he does have a direct hand in. That takes a lot of time. Secondly, Ben and his family moved during the time we were off, and that interrupted things a bit. Then it got to be Summer, we both got busy with other stuff, and next thing ya know, it is Fall.

I was doing everything I could during the Fall to squeeze in some review work before Winter came. Doing a Radio Ranch show wasn't on my radar then. So, I wasn't really even thinking this would happen again. I mean, maybe someday, it would, but I was not thinking very positively about it. That was until Uncle Dudley got a hold of me and asked if doing a podcast might be possible. So, I'm blaming him for all of this getting cranked up again.

The result was that it did get cranked up again.  I was glad to find out we were getting the generators dusted off, plugging the mics in, and doing sound checks. I happen to enjoy doing these, and I sure hope folks like listening to the podcasts. Hopefully we won't be letting things slip into forgetfulness again, and another Radio Ranch podcast will happen again sooner than later.

A Better Day

Depending upon which way you went, it was either Heaven or Hell!

Last weekend I didn't feel worth a hoot on my gravel ride, but yesterday was a different story. In more than one way!

First of all, last weekend there was some wind, but yesterday, there was wind! It was straight up out of the South, and while the weather service said it was 16mph, out in the country it was much stronger than that. Then the roads were completely different. Last weekend they were fast with all the coarse gravel pushed off to the side of the road. Then the maintainers came in and pushed all that coarse stuff back out over the roads again. So, even though things were tougher, as far as conditions were, I was in a better condition to deal with it all.

I decided that I needed to hit the roads with that steel Revenuer bike in for testing, and I had just slapped on a new pair of Maxxis Pika 38's on it to try out. I headed South first to get the windy part out of the way right off the bat. I didn't know how my legs would hold up, especially since I was woken from a sound sleep the night before by simultaneous hamstring cramps which left my legs hurting yet after I woke up again in the morning. I took it slow and easy on the way out via the bike path.

I decided I felt some hunger pangs, so I planned to stop right after hitting the gravel on Aker Road to grab a couple Hammer Gel packets I had stowed away before I left for the ride in my Revelate Tangle bag. It's sad to note, but just as the road goes to gravel. as you crest the hill there, you can find about 36 Bud Lite cans and a couple of 18 pack boxes. It would appear that some youginz are "slow rolling" Aker Road at night and having some beers. I should come back with the townie someday and clean up.......

The US made, "Official Iowa Gravel Road Kickstand" placed for your convenience at regular intervals all across the state.

I got rolling again, and the wind was oppressive. I didn't think my grandiose ride plans were going to be a reality. I always do that when I go out. I think I'm going to crack off this enormous ride when in fact I don't have the fitness or time to do it. Reality check! I decided to push on till Petrie Road, hang a left, and come back with the wind on Ansborough.

After the harvest activity. Here this field is getting drainage tile.

Immediately after turning out of the wind, I picked up lots of speed, which made me think I should go farther. However; I realized that time still wasn't on my side, and I had other chores to attend to yet. No, my plan to do the "short Southern route" was a good one. Stick to it then! I came off Petrie and left on to Ansborough, and then I was flying with the wind. Of course, that was fun, but soon I ran out of gravel and back into town again.

The only Fall color activity left here is with the oaks, which are always the last to turn around here. 

So it was that I was cruising the city streets and enjoying the balmy mid-60's temperatures. Uncommonly good for an early November day here. Thanks for that goes to El Nino, I guess. I'm quite sure we're due for some hard freezes and wooly wear days soon, but for now, it is still shirt sleeve weather during the sunlight hours, which aren't long anymore. We're only a month and a half or so away from the shortest day of the year. Enjoy it while ya can, I say.