Goals

This Summer is about shot, and well.....you wouldn't guess it from what's happening this week, but Fall is just around the corner. Here I am with no big rides in 2023, and this year is looking a lot like 2022, which, quite frankly, I was not pleased with at all. 

My schedule, weather, and circumstances in Life have been roadblocks to a degree, but I am responsible, ultimately, for the lack of big rides. I get that. But I've made decisions that have prioritized family and other things, so I am somewhat at peace with how things have gone. That said, opportunities have arisen that I am pressing to take advantage of now. You have to take your shots when you get the chance, right?

The first chance I've been aware of for about a month now. It involves a rare instance where the Cedar Valley Bicycle Collective will be closed on a Saturday. Due to a festival downtown in Waterloo where they close off the streets to traffic, essentially cutting off any businesses within the designated festival area from the outside world, the Board of Directors gave us the green light to shut down for that day. While I miss out on getting paid for those hours, I get a free pass to ride all day in return. 

Some of you may have noted that this coincides with the day Gravel Worlds takes place, and yes, I considered it briefly. However; I did not plan on that chance financially, nor did I register on time for the event, so.... Nope! That's not a real possibility for me. 

Instead, I have a long solo ride in mind, and we'll see how that goes. Stay tuned on that.....

Then there is the Fox Ridge Filth Ride. It just so happens that the organizer, Ben Petty, decided to run this on a date that I have open. Mainly, it isn't a Saturday! 

Sunday October 1st, and that's a perfect time for me to prepare for a 100 mile ride. Ben has shorter distances on tap too, but hey! I need to get in big rides and this is an opportunity. I am going to take a shot. 

So, there you go. I will say that if these two rides come out successfully, I will be pretty dang happy about 2023. If they don't? Well, at least I will have taken the opportunities. That's a big deal. And to be sure, there may be other opportunities as well, but I don't know about those just yet. There also may not be anything other than these two chances. 

Meanwhile we are in for triple digit, dangerous temperatures for a few days this week. If that covers you as well, be careful! I doubt I'll get out much, if at all this week, but there is this "tapering" thing people do before big rides. I guess I'll just chalk it up to that then.

Goals

This Summer is about shot, and well.....you wouldn't guess it from what's happening this week, but Fall is just around the corner. Here I am with no big rides in 2023, and this year is looking a lot like 2022, which, quite frankly, I was not pleased with at all. 

My schedule, weather, and circumstances in Life have been roadblocks to a degree, but I am responsible, ultimately, for the lack of big rides. I get that. But I've made decisions that have prioritized family and other things, so I am somewhat at peace with how things have gone. That said, opportunities have arisen that I am pressing to take advantage of now. You have to take your shots when you get the chance, right?

The first chance I've been aware of for about a month now. It involves a rare instance where the Cedar Valley Bicycle Collective will be closed on a Saturday. Due to a festival downtown in Waterloo where they close off the streets to traffic, essentially cutting off any businesses within the designated festival area from the outside world, the Board of Directors gave us the green light to shut down for that day. While I miss out on getting paid for those hours, I get a free pass to ride all day in return. 

Some of you may have noted that this coincides with the day Gravel Worlds takes place, and yes, I considered it briefly. However; I did not plan on that chance financially, nor did I register on time for the event, so.... Nope! That's not a real possibility for me. 

Instead, I have a long solo ride in mind, and we'll see how that goes. Stay tuned on that.....

Then there is the Fox Ridge Filth Ride. It just so happens that the organizer, Ben Petty, decided to run this on a date that I have open. Mainly, it isn't a Saturday! 

Sunday October 1st, and that's a perfect time for me to prepare for a 100 mile ride. Ben has shorter distances on tap too, but hey! I need to get in big rides and this is an opportunity. I am going to take a shot. 

So, there you go. I will say that if these two rides come out successfully, I will be pretty dang happy about 2023. If they don't? Well, at least I will have taken the opportunities. That's a big deal. And to be sure, there may be other opportunities as well, but I don't know about those just yet. There also may not be anything other than these two chances. 

Meanwhile we are in for triple digit, dangerous temperatures for a few days this week. If that covers you as well, be careful! I doubt I'll get out much, if at all this week, but there is this "tapering" thing people do before big rides. I guess I'll just chalk it up to that then.

Preparations For A 'Long Ride'

This Craft Cadence Handlebar Bag is going to be a part of the set up.

 I have plans and I am acting upon them of late. This is going to be a 'big ride', and no- I am not saying what it is until it happens. So don't ask me. Just know that I've been working on this for a while now and the time is coming that I have a window to do this in. 

So, the bike is going to be the Noble Bikes GX-5, (Standard Disclaimer) and I have just about gotten things where I need them to be to use this bike on this particular ride. The biggest issue is water, and now with this new Craft Cadence Handlebar bag I have here on test for RidingGravel.com (see the link above), I now have the capacity to have enough water for this attempt. 

This bag on the handle bar can hold two large sized water bottles and more. I plan on using it to increase the capacity on the bike to five bottles total. This is important for this attempt because there is one long stretch on this route that has 54 miles with no services. I need to insure that I have enough water to span that distance, and I believe five bottles is enough. 

Here is the bike as it will be for this 'long ride' from the side

The bag has more capacity to hold stuff, so I believe I am going to be putting nutritional items in there like drink mix packets and maybe some convenience store fare for that longer sector. The other bags will be used for tools, tubes, extra clothing, and the top tube bag will be for quick eats on the ride. 

Sharp eyed readers will note the lights and yes- this is going to start in the dark. I may have a helmet light to spot signs with, but I believe my cues for the route should suffice. It is not a race anyway, so time can be spent where I need to spend it. Anyway, if things go as planned, I'll be done before Sunset. So, these lights are really all I should need. 

There are a couple of other items yet to come here, and I have to devise a smaller cue sheet holder, but things are coming together for this ride and soon I hope I can share what I am doing with you all here. 

Stay tuned.....

Preparations For A 'Long Ride'

This Craft Cadence Handlebar Bag is going to be a part of the set up.

 I have plans and I am acting upon them of late. This is going to be a 'big ride', and no- I am not saying what it is until it happens. So don't ask me. Just know that I've been working on this for a while now and the time is coming that I have a window to do this in. 

So, the bike is going to be the Noble Bikes GX-5, (Standard Disclaimer) and I have just about gotten things where I need them to be to use this bike on this particular ride. The biggest issue is water, and now with this new Craft Cadence Handlebar bag I have here on test for RidingGravel.com (see the link above), I now have the capacity to have enough water for this attempt. 

This bag on the handle bar can hold two large sized water bottles and more. I plan on using it to increase the capacity on the bike to five bottles total. This is important for this attempt because there is one long stretch on this route that has 54 miles with no services. I need to insure that I have enough water to span that distance, and I believe five bottles is enough. 

Here is the bike as it will be for this 'long ride' from the side

The bag has more capacity to hold stuff, so I believe I am going to be putting nutritional items in there like drink mix packets and maybe some convenience store fare for that longer sector. The other bags will be used for tools, tubes, extra clothing, and the top tube bag will be for quick eats on the ride. 

Sharp eyed readers will note the lights and yes- this is going to start in the dark. I may have a helmet light to spot signs with, but I believe my cues for the route should suffice. It is not a race anyway, so time can be spent where I need to spend it. Anyway, if things go as planned, I'll be done before Sunset. So, these lights are really all I should need. 

There are a couple of other items yet to come here, and I have to devise a smaller cue sheet holder, but things are coming together for this ride and soon I hope I can share what I am doing with you all here. 

Stay tuned.....

Minus Ten Review- 34

An image from the first Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitational by Matt Wills

Ten years ago on the blog I was happy to announce that the first Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitational had been a rousing success. It featured a wrong turn that made it 152 miles and was therefore the longest ride I had ever done previous or since that time up until the 2015 Dirty Kanza 200 when I made it 154 miles. "Unofficially" that first Death Ride was still my longest ever single day ride but I did not count the ride to the start nor the miles to home from the finish. I figure it is still the longest ride I ever have done because it is approximately 5 plus miles to the old starting place one way. I figure I did about 162 plus that day. But I'll never really know for sure. The best part? I did that ride on my single speed Karate Monkey.

So, in "official terms", my longest ride ever is the 2015 DK200, then the first Death Ride, then last weekend's Gravel Worlds at 145 miles. Pretty good for this old man, but I can do better!

There was some banter about 29"er stuff on the blog ten years ago that I posted on, but the "big" news was trek World where we got a sneak peek at the 2007 line up from Gary Fisher Bikes, (Remember- only Fisher had 29"ers then. There were no trek 29"ers)  There were a lot of cool bikes added to the line up for '07, as the 29"er revolution started gaining ground about this time.

The Ferrous. remember that bike? Almost cool....

The frame I was most smitten with, and surprised by, was the Ferrous. It was a "production custom bike". The detail on the frame was amazing. Everywhere you looked it had some cool little tacked on applique, decal, or feature that was like something from a small custom builder. Not a "big" corporate entity like Trek/Fisher.

Not only that, but it had a full drive train! It wasn't just another single speed. Although, it had an eccentric bottom bracket so you could single speed the bike. Triple ring cranks. remember those?

I wanted one, but I had so many things in the hopper at the time I just couldn't justify getting one. A friend of mine did, and it was quickly discovered by him, and almost every other Ferrous owner, that the bowed out seat stays would catch your heels. Worse, several of these ended up braeking. The Ferrous was a one year model.

Makes you wonder if there are any left sitting around in garages out there anywhere.

Minus Ten Review- 34

An image from the first Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitational by Matt Wills

Ten years ago on the blog I was happy to announce that the first Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitational had been a rousing success. It featured a wrong turn that made it 152 miles and was therefore the longest ride I had ever done previous or since that time up until the 2015 Dirty Kanza 200 when I made it 154 miles. "Unofficially" that first Death Ride was still my longest ever single day ride but I did not count the ride to the start nor the miles to home from the finish. I figure it is still the longest ride I ever have done because it is approximately 5 plus miles to the old starting place one way. I figure I did about 162 plus that day. But I'll never really know for sure. The best part? I did that ride on my single speed Karate Monkey.

So, in "official terms", my longest ride ever is the 2015 DK200, then the first Death Ride, then last weekend's Gravel Worlds at 145 miles. Pretty good for this old man, but I can do better!

There was some banter about 29"er stuff on the blog ten years ago that I posted on, but the "big" news was trek World where we got a sneak peek at the 2007 line up from Gary Fisher Bikes, (Remember- only Fisher had 29"ers then. There were no trek 29"ers)  There were a lot of cool bikes added to the line up for '07, as the 29"er revolution started gaining ground about this time.

The Ferrous. remember that bike? Almost cool....

The frame I was most smitten with, and surprised by, was the Ferrous. It was a "production custom bike". The detail on the frame was amazing. Everywhere you looked it had some cool little tacked on applique, decal, or feature that was like something from a small custom builder. Not a "big" corporate entity like Trek/Fisher.

Not only that, but it had a full drive train! It wasn't just another single speed. Although, it had an eccentric bottom bracket so you could single speed the bike. Triple ring cranks. remember those?

I wanted one, but I had so many things in the hopper at the time I just couldn't justify getting one. A friend of mine did, and it was quickly discovered by him, and almost every other Ferrous owner, that the bowed out seat stays would catch your heels. Worse, several of these ended up braeking. The Ferrous was a one year model.

Makes you wonder if there are any left sitting around in garages out there anywhere.

A Grayscale Day On The Gravel

Wednesday was the day I had planned all week to get out and do a good, long ride on the new Black Mountain Cycles Monster Cross bike. It was forecast to be partly sunny and above freezing, so I was really a bit miffed when I saw that it was mostly cloudy. Oh well! The ride must go on!

I felt that the blustery Southeasterly and lack of sun called for more black and white imagery, so I shot everything in black and white for this ride.

I decided to take a measured approach, seeing as how this was still a bit of a shake down ride, and I planned on a 30 mile route. The first half was straight into the wind. I had the BMC set up with the Revelate Designs Tangle Bag which is pretty cavernous. A person that is a good packer could go nuts with that thing!

I kept just an extra bottle and repair stuff in it this time, but it could have held more. A lot more. I'll definitely be keeping this on the bike for longer gravel rides.

The roads south of town were in great shape. The route starts out with some chip-seal, and then sort of morphs into solid gravel road after several miles. The traffic is high enough here that the roads were swept clean of gravel and were smooth, solid, peanut butter looking and were fast. I couldn't tell when the pavement ended, and the dirt started it was so smooth.

Too bad I couldn't have taken full advantage of that, since the winds were at a constant 20-25 mph at this point. Even though the temperatures were nearing 30, the wind chill made it feel very cold. I had to stop about ten miles out to stomp my feet into some semblance of feeling. I figured a few more miles south, then a couple west,and I could head back north with a brisk tail wind at my back. It couldn't be much longer, or my feet would have frozen solid.

Funny thing about this ride was that I had to stop to urinate much more than usual. Weird. At least it gave my feet a break from being sucked of all their warmth!

Once I made the right turn on Reinbeck Road, it was as if someone turned off the noise. Peace and relative quiet were there without the wind rushing by my ears. That was another bit of relief I enjoyed. Sounds of the wind whistling through my spokes could now be heard, and the constant crunching of dirt and gravel on the IRC tires was always there.

Another quick stop under a high tension wire for a (you guessed it!), nature break, and a quick bite to eat. I heard a strange moaning, as if the earth itself was bemoaning the fact that the skies were gray and the Sun had turned its face to play in the sky-fields rather than cast its warmth upon the ground. But I suddenly became aware it was really the wires high above my head, vibrating in a mournful way in the wind. It gave me the shivers. So I quickly rolled on to find my home.

Getting closer to the paved sections I began to hear a jingle when I would hit a bigger bump. I thought perhaps my tools had shifted in the Tangle Bag, but after giving it some thought, I realized that I had nothing in it that would resonate at that frequency. So, I began to pay attention to how the bike felt. Nothing strange there to indicate that anything was loose, but still, the noise persisted on bigger bumps and it was bothering me.

By now I was well into the city, four or more miles after I had first heard the noise. Now that I had hit a secluded patch on the bicycle path, I could hear the noise much more clearly, and it was coming low and from the rear wheel. I looked back, and it was the cog I was using to hold on the spacers and Surly 20T cog of the drive train. It was dangling from the axle and would bounce up and ring when I hit a bigger bump. Thank God the cog didn't com off somehow! I stopped and managed to hand tighten it back on for the final run in to my home.

30 miles, a little less than three hours, and two frozen feet later I was back and smiling, even if it was all gray skies.

A Grayscale Day On The Gravel

Wednesday was the day I had planned all week to get out and do a good, long ride on the new Black Mountain Cycles Monster Cross bike. It was forecast to be partly sunny and above freezing, so I was really a bit miffed when I saw that it was mostly cloudy. Oh well! The ride must go on!

I felt that the blustery Southeasterly and lack of sun called for more black and white imagery, so I shot everything in black and white for this ride.

I decided to take a measured approach, seeing as how this was still a bit of a shake down ride, and I planned on a 30 mile route. The first half was straight into the wind. I had the BMC set up with the Revelate Designs Tangle Bag which is pretty cavernous. A person that is a good packer could go nuts with that thing!

I kept just an extra bottle and repair stuff in it this time, but it could have held more. A lot more. I'll definitely be keeping this on the bike for longer gravel rides.

The roads south of town were in great shape. The route starts out with some chip-seal, and then sort of morphs into solid gravel road after several miles. The traffic is high enough here that the roads were swept clean of gravel and were smooth, solid, peanut butter looking and were fast. I couldn't tell when the pavement ended, and the dirt started it was so smooth.

Too bad I couldn't have taken full advantage of that, since the winds were at a constant 20-25 mph at this point. Even though the temperatures were nearing 30, the wind chill made it feel very cold. I had to stop about ten miles out to stomp my feet into some semblance of feeling. I figured a few more miles south, then a couple west,and I could head back north with a brisk tail wind at my back. It couldn't be much longer, or my feet would have frozen solid.

Funny thing about this ride was that I had to stop to urinate much more than usual. Weird. At least it gave my feet a break from being sucked of all their warmth!

Once I made the right turn on Reinbeck Road, it was as if someone turned off the noise. Peace and relative quiet were there without the wind rushing by my ears. That was another bit of relief I enjoyed. Sounds of the wind whistling through my spokes could now be heard, and the constant crunching of dirt and gravel on the IRC tires was always there.

Another quick stop under a high tension wire for a (you guessed it!), nature break, and a quick bite to eat. I heard a strange moaning, as if the earth itself was bemoaning the fact that the skies were gray and the Sun had turned its face to play in the sky-fields rather than cast its warmth upon the ground. But I suddenly became aware it was really the wires high above my head, vibrating in a mournful way in the wind. It gave me the shivers. So I quickly rolled on to find my home.

Getting closer to the paved sections I began to hear a jingle when I would hit a bigger bump. I thought perhaps my tools had shifted in the Tangle Bag, but after giving it some thought, I realized that I had nothing in it that would resonate at that frequency. So, I began to pay attention to how the bike felt. Nothing strange there to indicate that anything was loose, but still, the noise persisted on bigger bumps and it was bothering me.

By now I was well into the city, four or more miles after I had first heard the noise. Now that I had hit a secluded patch on the bicycle path, I could hear the noise much more clearly, and it was coming low and from the rear wheel. I looked back, and it was the cog I was using to hold on the spacers and Surly 20T cog of the drive train. It was dangling from the axle and would bounce up and ring when I hit a bigger bump. Thank God the cog didn't com off somehow! I stopped and managed to hand tighten it back on for the final run in to my home.

30 miles, a little less than three hours, and two frozen feet later I was back and smiling, even if it was all gray skies.