Friday News And Views

Image courtesy of Colnago

 A Relatively Quiet Week Edition of the FN&V

Colnago Announces Rim Brake C 68 Frameset:

Rim brakes for road bikes have not been an option from many brands now for a few years. Especially on upper end bikes. This has raised some ire amongst road bike fans as the simplicity and - more importantly - lightweight of rim brake design, is still something many riders desire from a new road bike.

Now top-end brand Colnago has announced a US $7,750.00 carbon fiber rim brake frameset. The C-68 Rim Brake model is definitely a throwback to ten years ago when quick release wheels and non-hydraulic brake levers were still being offered in top-range drive train choices from Campagnolo, SRAM and Shimano. 

Comments: Should bikes like this still be considered range-topping bikes, or even bikes that average roadies could buy? The industry seems bent upon making every top-end bike, (and even mid-range bikes) 'feats of electronic technology and proprietary parts' instead of beautifully crafted, simple machines that draw the best out of humans. Bikes that show sustainability versus bikes that use batteries which will take energy and effort to recycle safely. 

Bicycles already have issues with being 'green' without the electronics and hydraulic fluids. Tires need to be recycled on a much larger scale than they are now, including tubes. This is happening, that is not the problem. The problem is that what is happening is a drop in the bucket. Then you have carbon fiber....

Ah! Do we need this Colnago to exist? Probably not. But at least it is an example that can be pointed to for the viability of mechanically operated brakes, at the minimum. 

Image courtesy of Iowa DNR

New Adventure Riding Opportunity In North Central Iowa:

A Facebook friend alerted me to a new opportunity for cycling in a reclaimed wetland wildlife preserve located just off I-35 near Swaledale and South of Thornton, Iowa. It is the Union Hills Wildlife and Waterfowl Production Area. 

Here is what was sent to me about the area and its cycling opportunities:

 " Just wanted to share an incredible ride that is now open at the Union Hills Wildlife Area south of Mason City and just west of I35. The DNR just mowed trails throughout the area that is one of the few places you get an idea of how North Central Iowa Looked like before settlement with pothole lakes and moraines with Bur Oak groves throughout."

 Area conservation groups and the State DNR have been working for several years to reclaim the area for wildlife and birding. The area boasts a section of native prairie that has never been plowed and many areas where one can "get lost" and feel as though they left civilization behind.

Apparently the trails are most easily ridden on fatter tires. So, a "plus bike" or fat bike might be best so as to not leave ruts and tear up the trails. This is a new opportunity, so don't "eff it up" folks. Keep your pizza-cutter tires on the gravel! Also, this area is heavily hunted during duck season, so please be aware of hunting seasons and maybe avoid this area then. Please be respectful of all the work that has gone into this and be kind to anyone you run across there if you go. If anyone has more information on this area and would like to share, let me know.

Image courtesy of Ritchey Design

Tom Ritchey To Show Off Brazing Skills At MADE Show:

In the beginnings of the modern mountain biking era, Tom Ritchey was single-handedly supplying frames, forks, and his "Bull Moose" handle bars for his customers. Tom hand-brazed each component and frame. Then the demand for his products took off and he was unable to keep pace with all the orders. Subsequently "a few hundred frames" were sold without their proper forks. 

Apparently, according to a recent Ritchey press release, Tom saw folks with his frames trying to source forks. “I've been witnessing this for years — where people don't have the fork or bar that was designed to go with their Ritchey frame, and they're scrounging around for them. I started seeing replacement parts for my frames that were missing details. They were made by others, and they weren’t doing them right. Now, after all these years I’m helping these fans do it right.” — Tom Ritchey

To help rectify this, owners of  original " Mountain Bikes by Ritchey " frames will be able to purchase Bi-Plane forks and Bull Moose bars brazed up by the man himself. Furthermore, Tom will be doing a seminar and lecture at the MADE show. He also can be seen brazing in the Ritchey booth, #358, on Saturday, August 24 at noon.

Ritchey will be doing this work under the moniker "Mountain Bikes by Tom" and a further announcement will be made at the show. For details on the MADE Show go HERE.

PCL Shirt Lands:

Ahoy! The newest PCL t-shirt has just arrived on the scene from Lincoln, Nebraska. This time I have one of the original logos for the Pirate Cycling League featuring a mustachioed skeleton astride a drop bar single speed. 

In case you are newer here the Pirate Cycling League is a loose-knit band of cyclists who identify as gravel riders, (mostly) that typify the original free-spirit and independent nature of gravel cycling. The group grew out of training rides for mountain biking which were typically held on gravel roads around Lincoln. 

These cyclists, who were really thinking about getting in miles for racing on dirt originally, ended up becoming a prototype gravel group who then found themselves putting on semi-formal "events" throughout the year. The group eventually was responsible for Gravel Worlds existence, although the PCL has officially now parted ways with Garmin Gravel Worlds. 

Since the split, the group has been putting out the occasional t-shirt and riding kit as well. If you want to support the PCL and become a "member" of the group, you only have to be cool and buy a shirt or jersey when they put one out. I've been purchasing PCL jerseys and tees for over a decade. You can find the group on Facebook. 

Image courtesy of Tumbleweed Bicycles

Tumbleweed Sunliner:

Tumbleweed Bicycles announced their third model yesterday, a flat bar bikepacking bike with no suspension correction. The bike is called the Sunliner. 

With tire clearance for 29" X 3.0" tires, the Sunliner should appeal to anyone wanting a simple machine with big tire capabilities. That non-sus corrected fork also allowed Tumbleweed to maximize the space in the front triangle for the largest frame bag size. 

There are tons of rack mounts, bottle cage mounts, and fender mounts on the Sunliner. It should work great for carrying about anything you'd want on an off-road tour and with the design intent for a swept back handlebar, it should prove to be a comfortable, all-day riding bike. 

Frame and fork goes for US $1,400.00 with completes starting at $3,775.00.
 

Okay, that's a wrap on this week's news and my views. Keep ridin' those bikes!

Getting Back On It

The Fall colors haven't quite come in yet.

Wednesday and I was feeling better, so I went for another ride. Over the weekend I was too busy, it rained a lot, and I felt awful. I relapsed, in fact. But since then I've been on an upswing and I think I am coming out of this funk. Finally.....

Anyway, I ran out of time for, and thought better of, an attempt at doing a big gravel ride. I probably need to take some baby steps first here. It has been a good month since I have done any hour plus long rides on gravel. So, in an attempt to not over-do it, I stuck with a fat bike ride in the Green Belt.

That made sense also from the standpoint of doing some work on Marky-Mark Trail. I wanted to make sure it was still clear, number one, and then I wanted to scout out an extension. First I had to get out of the house. I know that sounds so simple to do, but for some reason, I feel like a tractor beam gets turned on whenever I want to get away from the house for a ride.

Either I cannot find some essential, wanted bit of kit or gear, or I get interrupted. Yesterday it was interruptions. Not "bad interruptions" mind you, but time stealers all the same. I had to take care of these details first before I left to ride. Sometimes it is much more frustrating than that, especially when I cannot find a wanted item.

It is nice to see water running through the Green Belt again. Still- we could use more rain!

So anyway, I got out there on the Ti Mukluk with a clip on rear fender, you know,  just in case. We have had a lot of rain of late which I know may have made a mess of things in the Green Belt, but with it having been so dry previously, I was betting on okay conditions. I was mostly right. The water crossing at the dike was a hike-a-bike. It probably will erode to become far worse, and in my opinion, it will eventually end up as deep as the section we used to cross for years. So much for moving it, but then, I could have told you it would go like this.

Things are still mostly green out there.

I went out to Marky-Mark Trail and stopped to do a bit of recon. I feel like there is a lot of potential here. The land that Marky-Mark traverses is higher ground, and to my knowledge it has never flooded. Well.....maybe it did in '08. That was the record flood year, but the point is, this land does not flood out very often, if at all. A trail would be sustainable and easier to maintain through there, as evidenced by Marky-Mark, which sees so little maintenance it isn't even funny.

I think I am going to eventually do two new sections, but for now I am only going to work in one. It won't take much, I feel, and my preliminary scouting trip revealed a nice flow and some good area to punch it through on. Some deer trail will be utilized, but the underbrush is very similar to what I remember dealing with in 1997, so I know what needs to be done here to establish this new section. It will mean that I will have to dedicate much of my late season and early next season riding to "burning it in", but once that gets done, I think it will stick.

The fat bike felt odd yesterday since I was trying out my new Keen boots which I hope to use most of the Winter. They are insulated and waterproof, so they are built to take it, but heavier boots and thicker soles just make your bike feel different. I think it took two thirds of my ride to get comfortable with how my pedal stroke felt and to figure out my gearing. Plus I always feel more restricted with Winter stuff on, and Fall starts me down that road again.

Stay tuned for more on the Marky-Mark trail extension coming soon......

Getting Back On It

The Fall colors haven't quite come in yet.

Wednesday and I was feeling better, so I went for another ride. Over the weekend I was too busy, it rained a lot, and I felt awful. I relapsed, in fact. But since then I've been on an upswing and I think I am coming out of this funk. Finally.....

Anyway, I ran out of time for, and thought better of, an attempt at doing a big gravel ride. I probably need to take some baby steps first here. It has been a good month since I have done any hour plus long rides on gravel. So, in an attempt to not over-do it, I stuck with a fat bike ride in the Green Belt.

That made sense also from the standpoint of doing some work on Marky-Mark Trail. I wanted to make sure it was still clear, number one, and then I wanted to scout out an extension. First I had to get out of the house. I know that sounds so simple to do, but for some reason, I feel like a tractor beam gets turned on whenever I want to get away from the house for a ride.

Either I cannot find some essential, wanted bit of kit or gear, or I get interrupted. Yesterday it was interruptions. Not "bad interruptions" mind you, but time stealers all the same. I had to take care of these details first before I left to ride. Sometimes it is much more frustrating than that, especially when I cannot find a wanted item.

It is nice to see water running through the Green Belt again. Still- we could use more rain!

So anyway, I got out there on the Ti Mukluk with a clip on rear fender, you know,  just in case. We have had a lot of rain of late which I know may have made a mess of things in the Green Belt, but with it having been so dry previously, I was betting on okay conditions. I was mostly right. The water crossing at the dike was a hike-a-bike. It probably will erode to become far worse, and in my opinion, it will eventually end up as deep as the section we used to cross for years. So much for moving it, but then, I could have told you it would go like this.

Things are still mostly green out there.

I went out to Marky-Mark Trail and stopped to do a bit of recon. I feel like there is a lot of potential here. The land that Marky-Mark traverses is higher ground, and to my knowledge it has never flooded. Well.....maybe it did in '08. That was the record flood year, but the point is, this land does not flood out very often, if at all. A trail would be sustainable and easier to maintain through there, as evidenced by Marky-Mark, which sees so little maintenance it isn't even funny.

I think I am going to eventually do two new sections, but for now I am only going to work in one. It won't take much, I feel, and my preliminary scouting trip revealed a nice flow and some good area to punch it through on. Some deer trail will be utilized, but the underbrush is very similar to what I remember dealing with in 1997, so I know what needs to be done here to establish this new section. It will mean that I will have to dedicate much of my late season and early next season riding to "burning it in", but once that gets done, I think it will stick.

The fat bike felt odd yesterday since I was trying out my new Keen boots which I hope to use most of the Winter. They are insulated and waterproof, so they are built to take it, but heavier boots and thicker soles just make your bike feel different. I think it took two thirds of my ride to get comfortable with how my pedal stroke felt and to figure out my gearing. Plus I always feel more restricted with Winter stuff on, and Fall starts me down that road again.

Stay tuned for more on the Marky-Mark trail extension coming soon......

Activism And Downtime

Some folks think breaking glass on the sidewalk is funny. I don't.

I've been commuting to work on pretty much the same route for over a decade now, and I've seen my fair share of things. Glass, debris, odd ball things, and dead animals. The thing that gets my fur to stand on end though is the glass that people deliberately break on sidewalks and bicycle trails.

I just nearly destroyed a brand new Panaracer Gravel King SK last year because someone thought it would be a good idea to smash a liquor bottle smack dab in the middle of a corner which is blind coming from a lower elevation side. I've seen glass busted up on sidewalks in my neighborhood where kids are playing and where people walk dogs.

Not cool people. Not cool.

So, I have a Facebook friend who lives in Des Moines, and she commutes by bicycle. She posted a bit about how she cleaned off a bicycle trail where someone had busted some glass. After a bit of back and forth, she inspired me to do the same thing. So, Saturday I took my son, a dust pan, and a whisk broom along with a couple of plastic shopping bags and we cleaned off some sidewalks in our neighborhood.

That danged clear glass is hard to see!

I don't want to make it seem that I am some kind of do-gooder, special guy because I did this. What I am trying to do is to get someone else on board with being an "activist". I know that often we hear the word and think, "marching in the street, protester, weirdo anti-government type", and maybe that's okay if you are doing that. But that's the point- doing something. 

It is easy to bitch and moan about trails being rutted out, that you don't have a bike rack to park where you want one, or to be like me and bitch about glass on the way to work. It is quite another to put your gripe into gear and act on it. That's what activism is. Doing something about a problem.

So, thanks to that Facebook friend in Des Moines for showing me I was being silly for not actually doing something. It was easy to do, and solved a problem for me, and I was able to use it as a teachable moment for my son as well. Bottom line- get off yer butt, kwitcher bellyachin', and do something about it. It doesn't have to be a big deal. Just doing something is better than talking about it and doing nothing.

But please- don't go about trail maintenance on single track without speaking with those tasked to oversee the trails! They would love your input and even more so- your work efforts- to make a difference. Nuff said.

That was pretty much the extent of my weekend's cycling activities as I contracted a head cold Friday or so and by Saturday evening I was pretty much toast. Of course, Sunday it was awesome outside for cycling, but I had to sit it out on the sidelines. Gotta rest up, kick this in the booty and out of my body, and then get after it.

In the meantime, I'll just take it easy and sip on another Lemon tea with honey whipped up by Mrs. Guitar Ted to aid in my recovery.........

Activism And Downtime

Some folks think breaking glass on the sidewalk is funny. I don't.

I've been commuting to work on pretty much the same route for over a decade now, and I've seen my fair share of things. Glass, debris, odd ball things, and dead animals. The thing that gets my fur to stand on end though is the glass that people deliberately break on sidewalks and bicycle trails.

I just nearly destroyed a brand new Panaracer Gravel King SK last year because someone thought it would be a good idea to smash a liquor bottle smack dab in the middle of a corner which is blind coming from a lower elevation side. I've seen glass busted up on sidewalks in my neighborhood where kids are playing and where people walk dogs.

Not cool people. Not cool.

So, I have a Facebook friend who lives in Des Moines, and she commutes by bicycle. She posted a bit about how she cleaned off a bicycle trail where someone had busted some glass. After a bit of back and forth, she inspired me to do the same thing. So, Saturday I took my son, a dust pan, and a whisk broom along with a couple of plastic shopping bags and we cleaned off some sidewalks in our neighborhood.

That danged clear glass is hard to see!

I don't want to make it seem that I am some kind of do-gooder, special guy because I did this. What I am trying to do is to get someone else on board with being an "activist". I know that often we hear the word and think, "marching in the street, protester, weirdo anti-government type", and maybe that's okay if you are doing that. But that's the point- doing something. 

It is easy to bitch and moan about trails being rutted out, that you don't have a bike rack to park where you want one, or to be like me and bitch about glass on the way to work. It is quite another to put your gripe into gear and act on it. That's what activism is. Doing something about a problem.

So, thanks to that Facebook friend in Des Moines for showing me I was being silly for not actually doing something. It was easy to do, and solved a problem for me, and I was able to use it as a teachable moment for my son as well. Bottom line- get off yer butt, kwitcher bellyachin', and do something about it. It doesn't have to be a big deal. Just doing something is better than talking about it and doing nothing.

But please- don't go about trail maintenance on single track without speaking with those tasked to oversee the trails! They would love your input and even more so- your work efforts- to make a difference. Nuff said.

That was pretty much the extent of my weekend's cycling activities as I contracted a head cold Friday or so and by Saturday evening I was pretty much toast. Of course, Sunday it was awesome outside for cycling, but I had to sit it out on the sidelines. Gotta rest up, kick this in the booty and out of my body, and then get after it.

In the meantime, I'll just take it easy and sip on another Lemon tea with honey whipped up by Mrs. Guitar Ted to aid in my recovery.........

In Search Of Marky-Mark

Real dark- Real single track

The story of the "Marky-Mark" trail goes way back into the late 90's. I was just freshly divorced, had a new job at a car repair shop after working at a bike shop for 3 plus years, and had little time for cycling of any sort. I still wanted to be biking, but with working a very physical job for 60 hours a week, well- it left little energy for anything else.

Even though I was drained physically most every day, I concocted a plan to do some new trails all by myself in the Green Belt. One of those trails is long gone now, but one remains. It connects two "Y" sections of the original bridal trails made in the 50's in the Leonard Katoski Green Belt. The trails "Y" off at a point just Southeast of Ridgeway Road and terminate at Ridgeway, leaving about a quarter mile of distance between the two trail heads. "Marky-Mark" connects those two ends of the "Y" so you can loop across on off road trails instead of riding along Ridgeway if you wanted to create a loop on the Southeast side of Ridgeway towards Ainsborough Avenue.

I spent many hours hacking out "Marky-Mark" and sweated out many decisions about where the trail should go through at. Although I was helped out with the trail to a small degree by another man, I did about 95% of the actual single track work to cut that trail in. It got named because both myself and the guy who did a little bit of work on this trail were both named "Mark". I didn't give it that name, but that is what stuck. I don't write all this to brag, or for any glory, but just to set the record straight and tell the story. That's my trail out there, for what it is worth.

One of the older trees in the Green Belt is on Marky-Mark

Anyway, every year I usually try to get out there to see how "Marky-Mark" is doing and ride it. Last night was that ride for this year.

I don't ever do any maintenance on that trail and I haven't lifted a finger to do anything on the trail for well over a decade. I decided a long time ago that I had done way more than my share in maintenance for the few years that I toiled alone in maintaining "Marky-Mark" and back then it was a totally thankless effort. I ended up getting married again, having a family, and life took me in a totally different direction. I think it also is good to remember that in the late 90's mountain biking was at its nadir in the Cedar Valley so interest in my trail was nil. But that was then......I moved on, but others eventually stepped in and have kept "Marky-Mark" alive for well over 15 years now. That's pretty dang amazing to me. And to whomever is doing the work- Thank you very much!

The young crescent moon setting early.

 This trail stands in stark contrast to most Green Belt Trails. "Marky-Mark" is really narrow, primitive single track. I bet most folks think it is a well worn deer trail, not realizing that it wasn't there before I scratched it out in 1997.

I rode it and it is all clear with a few big logs to jump over and weeds about three feet high in places along the sides of the very narrow tread of this trail. Someone recently cut off a bunch of branches on a dead fall to make the trail passable, which is nice to see. Apparently a few folks, at the least, seem to think that this trail is worthwhile! I doubt they even know it has a name though.

That's okay with me, by the way. I don't really care if I get any notice for that trail at all, but I am glad to see that my efforts of over 15 years ago are still being enjoyed by at least a few folks out there. That brings me some satisfaction, I won't lie about that.

In Search Of Marky-Mark

Real dark- Real single track

The story of the "Marky-Mark" trail goes way back into the late 90's. I was just freshly divorced, had a new job at a car repair shop after working at a bike shop for 3 plus years, and had little time for cycling of any sort. I still wanted to be biking, but with working a very physical job for 60 hours a week, well- it left little energy for anything else.

Even though I was drained physically most every day, I concocted a plan to do some new trails all by myself in the Green Belt. One of those trails is long gone now, but one remains. It connects two "Y" sections of the original bridal trails made in the 50's in the Leonard Katoski Green Belt. The trails "Y" off at a point just Southeast of Ridgeway Road and terminate at Ridgeway, leaving about a quarter mile of distance between the two trail heads. "Marky-Mark" connects those two ends of the "Y" so you can loop across on off road trails instead of riding along Ridgeway if you wanted to create a loop on the Southeast side of Ridgeway towards Ainsborough Avenue.

I spent many hours hacking out "Marky-Mark" and sweated out many decisions about where the trail should go through at. Although I was helped out with the trail to a small degree by another man, I did about 95% of the actual single track work to cut that trail in. It got named because both myself and the guy who did a little bit of work on this trail were both named "Mark". I didn't give it that name, but that is what stuck. I don't write all this to brag, or for any glory, but just to set the record straight and tell the story. That's my trail out there, for what it is worth.

One of the older trees in the Green Belt is on Marky-Mark

Anyway, every year I usually try to get out there to see how "Marky-Mark" is doing and ride it. Last night was that ride for this year.

I don't ever do any maintenance on that trail and I haven't lifted a finger to do anything on the trail for well over a decade. I decided a long time ago that I had done way more than my share in maintenance for the few years that I toiled alone in maintaining "Marky-Mark" and back then it was a totally thankless effort. I ended up getting married again, having a family, and life took me in a totally different direction. I think it also is good to remember that in the late 90's mountain biking was at its nadir in the Cedar Valley so interest in my trail was nil. But that was then......I moved on, but others eventually stepped in and have kept "Marky-Mark" alive for well over 15 years now. That's pretty dang amazing to me. And to whomever is doing the work- Thank you very much!

The young crescent moon setting early.

 This trail stands in stark contrast to most Green Belt Trails. "Marky-Mark" is really narrow, primitive single track. I bet most folks think it is a well worn deer trail, not realizing that it wasn't there before I scratched it out in 1997.

I rode it and it is all clear with a few big logs to jump over and weeds about three feet high in places along the sides of the very narrow tread of this trail. Someone recently cut off a bunch of branches on a dead fall to make the trail passable, which is nice to see. Apparently a few folks, at the least, seem to think that this trail is worthwhile! I doubt they even know it has a name though.

That's okay with me, by the way. I don't really care if I get any notice for that trail at all, but I am glad to see that my efforts of over 15 years ago are still being enjoyed by at least a few folks out there. That brings me some satisfaction, I won't lie about that.

Friday News And Views

Got bicycle trails? Pretty nice, eh? Well, it wasn't always that way, and even when the first trails showed up, (around here anyway), things weren't as good as they are now. In other words, "those weren't the good ol' daze". Not when it came to trails- both paved and unpaved.

Back when I was younger and "bangin' my head", there was but two bicycle trails that one could use in the Cedar Valley. There was a point to point trail in George Wyth, and the Cedar Valley Nature Trail which was all pea gravel back then.

Geo Wyth was free to ride on, if you didn't go through the gates with your car, because they had a user fee back then, and everyone that came into the Park gates had to pay a fee. Only by bicycle could you avoid this, and the only access point that way was from Cedar Falls.

But the Cedar Valley Nature Trail was different. You could access it several ways from crossing roads. However; they did have a daily user fee that was enforced, and a yearly pass license that you could buy. This was enforced by riders riding up and down the trail whose sole job it was to stop any and all cyclists that were not displaying the tag. (An example of which is shown here.)

If you were stopped, and you didn't have the cash-ola to pay for a daily fee, you were escorted to the nearest access point and told to not ride on the trail! (I know- it happened to me once. I out-waited the impatient enforcer and got back on and went my way! I know- I am an outlaw!)

Of course, things are not done that way today. You can freely enjoy the trail at anytime without paying a fee directly. But- you never know, that sort of thing may come around again!

Off roaders had it no better back then. I've been sharing this lately again, but back in the late 80's/early 90's, there were only a few off road trails in George Wyth and the Green Belt. That was it. There was nothing else.

The Geo Wyth trails were actually meant for hikers and there was a fitness trail with a circuit layout. It featured stations where different physical activities could be practiced like chin ups, rope swinging, etc. These were spaced along a wide, mown trail on which you were supposed to jog between stations.

The mountain bikers took to these with joy, but the Park Rangers were not so accommodating to cyclists. There were several instances of rangers handing out fines to cyclists for riding off road/off-paved trail in Geo Wyth. Several stories were circulated concerning cyclists out-running the Rangers and how the park officials would sometimes rant on cyclists passing through on the paved trail because they were on mountain bikes. Maybe these stories were true, or not, but fines were levied and the rules were real against off road cycling in Geo Wyth.

Most of the basic, older trails that exist in Geo Wyth to this day were "rogue trails" done against the will of the State Park officials. Certain cyclist were known to be trail makers and would go out in the rain, or at night, and cut in new trails for mountain bikes. I was personally involved in showing the then new park Ranger all the off road trails in Geo Wyth in 1996, when he showed up at the shop to ask if we would do that. He was flabbergasted to find out about them. The State/Park Ranger had no clue about all the trails existed at the hands of renegade off roaders. This eventually led to the Park accepting off road cycling and dropping the fines/rules against doing such stuff.

Of course now CVAST and the State Park officials are doing things hand in hand to expand the trail system further than ever. Good stuff is happening now and it hearkens back to the halcyon days of the mid-90's as far as trail opportunities.

We've come a long way since those earlier times!

Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitational: 

Tomorrow is the big day of gravelly goodness. The GTDRI  course is set, the motel room is paid for, and the bike is ready to go.  I would ride it alone, if it came to that, but it appears that several folks are planning to show up with a few more saying they are going to try. We'll see if we beat last year, which was a record, or not.

One thing is for certain- it will be hot and humid. Upper 90's will be the high, and the winds will be coming from the Southwest at 7-15mph.

We have a chance at, (much, much needed), rain tomorrow, but it'll be hit and miss thunderstorms if so. If the rains miss all or parts of the course, it'll mean we're in for a brutally dusty day on the bikes. Last 3GR I looked at myself afterward and there was a thick layer of dust on my legs. That was after only 27 miles! Speaking of the 3GR, I won't be here in the W'Loo/Cedar Falls area for that, obviously, but we'll pick that back up a week from tomorrow.

Well, like any of the past Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitationals, whatever happens should make for some great stories afterward. I can't wait! I think this marks the seventh year for the gravel version.

Happy Friday the 13th, ya'all! Don't be skeert, don't be afeard! It's just another Friday!

Friday News And Views

Got bicycle trails? Pretty nice, eh? Well, it wasn't always that way, and even when the first trails showed up, (around here anyway), things weren't as good as they are now. In other words, "those weren't the good ol' daze". Not when it came to trails- both paved and unpaved.

Back when I was younger and "bangin' my head", there was but two bicycle trails that one could use in the Cedar Valley. There was a point to point trail in George Wyth, and the Cedar Valley Nature Trail which was all pea gravel back then.

Geo Wyth was free to ride on, if you didn't go through the gates with your car, because they had a user fee back then, and everyone that came into the Park gates had to pay a fee. Only by bicycle could you avoid this, and the only access point that way was from Cedar Falls.

But the Cedar Valley Nature Trail was different. You could access it several ways from crossing roads. However; they did have a daily user fee that was enforced, and a yearly pass license that you could buy. This was enforced by riders riding up and down the trail whose sole job it was to stop any and all cyclists that were not displaying the tag. (An example of which is shown here.)

If you were stopped, and you didn't have the cash-ola to pay for a daily fee, you were escorted to the nearest access point and told to not ride on the trail! (I know- it happened to me once. I out-waited the impatient enforcer and got back on and went my way! I know- I am an outlaw!)

Of course, things are not done that way today. You can freely enjoy the trail at anytime without paying a fee directly. But- you never know, that sort of thing may come around again!

Off roaders had it no better back then. I've been sharing this lately again, but back in the late 80's/early 90's, there were only a few off road trails in George Wyth and the Green Belt. That was it. There was nothing else.

The Geo Wyth trails were actually meant for hikers and there was a fitness trail with a circuit layout. It featured stations where different physical activities could be practiced like chin ups, rope swinging, etc. These were spaced along a wide, mown trail on which you were supposed to jog between stations.

The mountain bikers took to these with joy, but the Park Rangers were not so accommodating to cyclists. There were several instances of rangers handing out fines to cyclists for riding off road/off-paved trail in Geo Wyth. Several stories were circulated concerning cyclists out-running the Rangers and how the park officials would sometimes rant on cyclists passing through on the paved trail because they were on mountain bikes. Maybe these stories were true, or not, but fines were levied and the rules were real against off road cycling in Geo Wyth.

Most of the basic, older trails that exist in Geo Wyth to this day were "rogue trails" done against the will of the State Park officials. Certain cyclist were known to be trail makers and would go out in the rain, or at night, and cut in new trails for mountain bikes. I was personally involved in showing the then new park Ranger all the off road trails in Geo Wyth in 1996, when he showed up at the shop to ask if we would do that. He was flabbergasted to find out about them. The State/Park Ranger had no clue about all the trails existed at the hands of renegade off roaders. This eventually led to the Park accepting off road cycling and dropping the fines/rules against doing such stuff.

Of course now CVAST and the State Park officials are doing things hand in hand to expand the trail system further than ever. Good stuff is happening now and it hearkens back to the halcyon days of the mid-90's as far as trail opportunities.

We've come a long way since those earlier times!

Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitational: 

Tomorrow is the big day of gravelly goodness. The GTDRI  course is set, the motel room is paid for, and the bike is ready to go.  I would ride it alone, if it came to that, but it appears that several folks are planning to show up with a few more saying they are going to try. We'll see if we beat last year, which was a record, or not.

One thing is for certain- it will be hot and humid. Upper 90's will be the high, and the winds will be coming from the Southwest at 7-15mph.

We have a chance at, (much, much needed), rain tomorrow, but it'll be hit and miss thunderstorms if so. If the rains miss all or parts of the course, it'll mean we're in for a brutally dusty day on the bikes. Last 3GR I looked at myself afterward and there was a thick layer of dust on my legs. That was after only 27 miles! Speaking of the 3GR, I won't be here in the W'Loo/Cedar Falls area for that, obviously, but we'll pick that back up a week from tomorrow.

Well, like any of the past Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitationals, whatever happens should make for some great stories afterward. I can't wait! I think this marks the seventh year for the gravel version.

Happy Friday the 13th, ya'all! Don't be skeert, don't be afeard! It's just another Friday!

Fast Camp

I was at the Camp last Sunday and helped out a bit with the XC race there. Folks seemed to have a good time, and things seemed to run fairly smoothly. Just a bunch of guys riding fast as they could, oh!.....and a few gals too!

Well, the race instigated a bunch of activity on the South side that made things very different out there! First of all, and most obviously, they had to mow and rake the whole thing out. This really cleared up the trail, but in addition, all the downed logs that interrupted the flow out there were removed. That really changed up things!

Finally, in order to get some more mileage into the loop, a bit of trail was introduced in the "bottoms" that wasn't really there before. It added about a mile to the entire loop for a total of about 4.5 miles now. The new stuff is nicely burned in now too. Very twisty and swoopy.

So what we have here now is a totally different animal. What was a bit of a stop-start-stop again course is now a "go like heck", flowy, turning, up and down fun time. It encourages speed, but speed will get you in trouble out there if you are not careful and do not know the course. I kind of have a handle on it now that I have ridden the basic stuff out there for over a year. I know what is coming up. If you don't, it might tempt you into going too fast and getting crossed up. Pretty cool stuff.

So thanks to all the trail workers that helped carve out and clean up the South Side and make it into a great chunk of single track. It's short, yes, but do two laps at the speeds it encourages and you'll be sweatin'!

Now if the North side could be cleared up again............. Someday!

And I would be remiss if I didn't mention the work done in Geo Wyth State Park. Some good single track has been refurbished and cleared out there. I would name names of trails, but I realize that not many locals would even remember those names anymore. So let's just say stay on the opposite side of the bike path, away from the river, and you should be golden. Anything on the river side of the bike path is still choked with weeds and dead falls. This includes one of the best little chunks of single track out there. Maybe "the" best one, but again, I doubt anyone remembers "Tater's Trail". They would have to be there to realize what I mean. Oh well!

So, anyway....now we have the classic Iowa woodland single track in great shape in a couple of places. If you ride a mountain bike at any time, now is the time to go. These trails have never been better or in better shape. Likely it'll get worse before they get cleaned up again someday. One bad windstorm, one flood, or a few months of neglect. Anyone of those or any combination of those will degrade the perfection that exists now. I highly recommend checking these out now. Don't wait!

I don't mean to sound so fatalistic, or negative about the trails, but I also have been around long enough to know how hard it is to get the trails into shape, and how dang near impossible it is to keep them that way for very long. It's a tough job, and it takes tons of man hours to maintain these places. All with volunteer help.

So ride them now while the fruits of the labors can be enjoyed to the fullest, and consider being an active member of our local off road community. If you are from outside this locale, you can do the same in your neck of the woods and be a contributor and a user, instead of just one of those. Think about it. I bet your trails could use a little help too!

Fast Camp

I was at the Camp last Sunday and helped out a bit with the XC race there. Folks seemed to have a good time, and things seemed to run fairly smoothly. Just a bunch of guys riding fast as they could, oh!.....and a few gals too!

Well, the race instigated a bunch of activity on the South side that made things very different out there! First of all, and most obviously, they had to mow and rake the whole thing out. This really cleared up the trail, but in addition, all the downed logs that interrupted the flow out there were removed. That really changed up things!

Finally, in order to get some more mileage into the loop, a bit of trail was introduced in the "bottoms" that wasn't really there before. It added about a mile to the entire loop for a total of about 4.5 miles now. The new stuff is nicely burned in now too. Very twisty and swoopy.

So what we have here now is a totally different animal. What was a bit of a stop-start-stop again course is now a "go like heck", flowy, turning, up and down fun time. It encourages speed, but speed will get you in trouble out there if you are not careful and do not know the course. I kind of have a handle on it now that I have ridden the basic stuff out there for over a year. I know what is coming up. If you don't, it might tempt you into going too fast and getting crossed up. Pretty cool stuff.

So thanks to all the trail workers that helped carve out and clean up the South Side and make it into a great chunk of single track. It's short, yes, but do two laps at the speeds it encourages and you'll be sweatin'!

Now if the North side could be cleared up again............. Someday!

And I would be remiss if I didn't mention the work done in Geo Wyth State Park. Some good single track has been refurbished and cleared out there. I would name names of trails, but I realize that not many locals would even remember those names anymore. So let's just say stay on the opposite side of the bike path, away from the river, and you should be golden. Anything on the river side of the bike path is still choked with weeds and dead falls. This includes one of the best little chunks of single track out there. Maybe "the" best one, but again, I doubt anyone remembers "Tater's Trail". They would have to be there to realize what I mean. Oh well!

So, anyway....now we have the classic Iowa woodland single track in great shape in a couple of places. If you ride a mountain bike at any time, now is the time to go. These trails have never been better or in better shape. Likely it'll get worse before they get cleaned up again someday. One bad windstorm, one flood, or a few months of neglect. Anyone of those or any combination of those will degrade the perfection that exists now. I highly recommend checking these out now. Don't wait!

I don't mean to sound so fatalistic, or negative about the trails, but I also have been around long enough to know how hard it is to get the trails into shape, and how dang near impossible it is to keep them that way for very long. It's a tough job, and it takes tons of man hours to maintain these places. All with volunteer help.

So ride them now while the fruits of the labors can be enjoyed to the fullest, and consider being an active member of our local off road community. If you are from outside this locale, you can do the same in your neck of the woods and be a contributor and a user, instead of just one of those. Think about it. I bet your trails could use a little help too!