The recently completed Sea Otter expo and cycling races reminded me of the Big Show and the first time I went......
Being in the cycling industry, or working at a shop back in the 90's meant that the biggest, most sought after "ticket" was the chance to go to Interbike. I had heard about Interbike, read the stories, and knew about the "schwag" to be had by simply walking into the showroom floor. So it was with great excitement and intrepidation that I learned that I was going to my first Interbike at Anaheim, California in 1995.
Intrepidation was a big feeling for me then not only because I hadn't been to a show before, but also because I had never flown anywhere in an airplane before. I wasn't to keen on that aspect of the trip at all! Tom made all the arrangements, and then all I had to do was show up, which was weird, but nice. Heck, I wouldn't have known what to do anyway! One thing is for sure, flying was a whole lot less of a hassle back then!
So, we had to fly out of Cedar Rapids to Minneapolis and then on a straight shot to Anaheim and John Wayne International Airport. Well, we were detained on the runway in the Twin Cities for awhile. The pilot was worried they would close JWI before we got there, as we would be pressing up against their 11pm shutdown time. Well, we made it, barely! I was petrified the whole way, not able to take my grip off my arm rests for the entire 3.5 hour flight. When we finally got to our little hotel room, Tom ran up to a nearby liquor store and got me a 12 pack, which I drained in record time. I was so nervous, I still wasn't drunk, and I couldn't get to sleep until 4am in the morning!
Well, the show was fantastic. I got to see all the latest and greatest stuff, which was amazing. Back then there was no internet coverage, no "instant" access to images or stories. Everything I was seeing and hearing would be "insider info" for at least the next two months, as that was about how long it took for the magazines to get their coverage to print. I felt really priveledged to have been there. It really made the trip special for me, and I am sure for others. Interbike has certainly lost that aspect!
The Anaheim Convention Center was a sprawling complex of several buildings that seemed to go on forever. The big booths and set ups were cool, but my favorite part was the basement where all the weird, marginal, and up and comers were relegated to show their wares. The vendors down there were creative and the weirdness was fun and off the charts. Really nothing that made much of a dent in reality, with a few exceptions, but it was like cycling's version of a circus side show. You knew it was a trainwreck of an idea that was being shown, but you couldn't help but look.
Next Week: I'll be taking the week off next week to use Tuesday for T.I.V6 wrap up. Come back in a couple weeks for some more stories on the Anaheim Interbike of 1995.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Bike Shop Tales: Going To The Show
The recently completed Sea Otter expo and cycling races reminded me of the Big Show and the first time I went......
Being in the cycling industry, or working at a shop back in the 90's meant that the biggest, most sought after "ticket" was the chance to go to Interbike. I had heard about Interbike, read the stories, and knew about the "schwag" to be had by simply walking into the showroom floor. So it was with great excitement and intrepidation that I learned that I was going to my first Interbike at Anaheim, California in 1995.
Intrepidation was a big feeling for me then not only because I hadn't been to a show before, but also because I had never flown anywhere in an airplane before. I wasn't to keen on that aspect of the trip at all! Tom made all the arrangements, and then all I had to do was show up, which was weird, but nice. Heck, I wouldn't have known what to do anyway! One thing is for sure, flying was a whole lot less of a hassle back then!
So, we had to fly out of Cedar Rapids to Minneapolis and then on a straight shot to Anaheim and John Wayne International Airport. Well, we were detained on the runway in the Twin Cities for awhile. The pilot was worried they would close JWI before we got there, as we would be pressing up against their 11pm shutdown time. Well, we made it, barely! I was petrified the whole way, not able to take my grip off my arm rests for the entire 3.5 hour flight. When we finally got to our little hotel room, Tom ran up to a nearby liquor store and got me a 12 pack, which I drained in record time. I was so nervous, I still wasn't drunk, and I couldn't get to sleep until 4am in the morning!
Well, the show was fantastic. I got to see all the latest and greatest stuff, which was amazing. Back then there was no internet coverage, no "instant" access to images or stories. Everything I was seeing and hearing would be "insider info" for at least the next two months, as that was about how long it took for the magazines to get their coverage to print. I felt really priveledged to have been there. It really made the trip special for me, and I am sure for others. Interbike has certainly lost that aspect!
The Anaheim Convention Center was a sprawling complex of several buildings that seemed to go on forever. The big booths and set ups were cool, but my favorite part was the basement where all the weird, marginal, and up and comers were relegated to show their wares. The vendors down there were creative and the weirdness was fun and off the charts. Really nothing that made much of a dent in reality, with a few exceptions, but it was like cycling's version of a circus side show. You knew it was a trainwreck of an idea that was being shown, but you couldn't help but look.
Next Week: I'll be taking the week off next week to use Tuesday for T.I.V6 wrap up. Come back in a couple weeks for some more stories on the Anaheim Interbike of 1995.
Being in the cycling industry, or working at a shop back in the 90's meant that the biggest, most sought after "ticket" was the chance to go to Interbike. I had heard about Interbike, read the stories, and knew about the "schwag" to be had by simply walking into the showroom floor. So it was with great excitement and intrepidation that I learned that I was going to my first Interbike at Anaheim, California in 1995.
Intrepidation was a big feeling for me then not only because I hadn't been to a show before, but also because I had never flown anywhere in an airplane before. I wasn't to keen on that aspect of the trip at all! Tom made all the arrangements, and then all I had to do was show up, which was weird, but nice. Heck, I wouldn't have known what to do anyway! One thing is for sure, flying was a whole lot less of a hassle back then!
So, we had to fly out of Cedar Rapids to Minneapolis and then on a straight shot to Anaheim and John Wayne International Airport. Well, we were detained on the runway in the Twin Cities for awhile. The pilot was worried they would close JWI before we got there, as we would be pressing up against their 11pm shutdown time. Well, we made it, barely! I was petrified the whole way, not able to take my grip off my arm rests for the entire 3.5 hour flight. When we finally got to our little hotel room, Tom ran up to a nearby liquor store and got me a 12 pack, which I drained in record time. I was so nervous, I still wasn't drunk, and I couldn't get to sleep until 4am in the morning!
Well, the show was fantastic. I got to see all the latest and greatest stuff, which was amazing. Back then there was no internet coverage, no "instant" access to images or stories. Everything I was seeing and hearing would be "insider info" for at least the next two months, as that was about how long it took for the magazines to get their coverage to print. I felt really priveledged to have been there. It really made the trip special for me, and I am sure for others. Interbike has certainly lost that aspect!
The Anaheim Convention Center was a sprawling complex of several buildings that seemed to go on forever. The big booths and set ups were cool, but my favorite part was the basement where all the weird, marginal, and up and comers were relegated to show their wares. The vendors down there were creative and the weirdness was fun and off the charts. Really nothing that made much of a dent in reality, with a few exceptions, but it was like cycling's version of a circus side show. You knew it was a trainwreck of an idea that was being shown, but you couldn't help but look.
Next Week: I'll be taking the week off next week to use Tuesday for T.I.V6 wrap up. Come back in a couple weeks for some more stories on the Anaheim Interbike of 1995.
Monday, April 19, 2010
Trail Time
I was supposed to go ride at The Camp for a trail work day and for testing purposes. I loaded up two bikes, gear, and headed out. I drove all the way there, parked the Truck With No Name, and reached for my.........ahhh! No helmet!
So, I had to drive all the way home and with limited time on my hands, I decided I couldn't afford another round trip to the Camp. So I headed to Ullrich Park.
Now back in the day, Ullrich had zero trails. None! So Jeff Kerkove and I decided to do something about that back when he and I wrenched together at the shop. We were joined by a couple of local riders and we opened up a small, technical trail system in there. Well, with the benefit of about 8 years of running all around the U.S.A. and checking out some very well thought out and very well built trails, I think I can say with some authority that Ullrich Park's trails are terrible! Really. They are super poorly laid out. I was just looking around there and I could totally see how we screwed that up in there. Hopefully someday that will get rectified, but it would mean scrapping about everything out there and starting from ground zero. Besides this, it was muddy there!
So with this bummer on my mind I left there and headed to Geo Wyth State Park. It was okay for the most part. At least I got some decent riding in for the testing I needed to finish up. I also spied a few cool routes that could be implemented in there, but that isn't going to happen anytime soon! It's just hard to have ridden on excellently designed trails and then not look at your own backyard and think, "This could be soooo much better!"
Well, that was followed up by some excellent Sea Otter work by my buddy Grannygear for the site, which kept me pounding out the keyboard for hours last Saturday evening. Sunday was started by an excellent time with my family, church, and then I got another great test session in. So now things seem to be catching up in that regard, and T.I.V6 is the next big hurdle for me to leap over.
And it looks like it will be a wet one! Does anybody wish T.I.V6 woulda been this past weekend? I bet some of you do!
Trail Time
I was supposed to go ride at The Camp for a trail work day and for testing purposes. I loaded up two bikes, gear, and headed out. I drove all the way there, parked the Truck With No Name, and reached for my.........ahhh! No helmet!
So, I had to drive all the way home and with limited time on my hands, I decided I couldn't afford another round trip to the Camp. So I headed to Ullrich Park.
Now back in the day, Ullrich had zero trails. None! So Jeff Kerkove and I decided to do something about that back when he and I wrenched together at the shop. We were joined by a couple of local riders and we opened up a small, technical trail system in there. Well, with the benefit of about 8 years of running all around the U.S.A. and checking out some very well thought out and very well built trails, I think I can say with some authority that Ullrich Park's trails are terrible! Really. They are super poorly laid out. I was just looking around there and I could totally see how we screwed that up in there. Hopefully someday that will get rectified, but it would mean scrapping about everything out there and starting from ground zero. Besides this, it was muddy there!
So with this bummer on my mind I left there and headed to Geo Wyth State Park. It was okay for the most part. At least I got some decent riding in for the testing I needed to finish up. I also spied a few cool routes that could be implemented in there, but that isn't going to happen anytime soon! It's just hard to have ridden on excellently designed trails and then not look at your own backyard and think, "This could be soooo much better!"
Well, that was followed up by some excellent Sea Otter work by my buddy Grannygear for the site, which kept me pounding out the keyboard for hours last Saturday evening. Sunday was started by an excellent time with my family, church, and then I got another great test session in. So now things seem to be catching up in that regard, and T.I.V6 is the next big hurdle for me to leap over.
And it looks like it will be a wet one! Does anybody wish T.I.V6 woulda been this past weekend? I bet some of you do!
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Trans Iowa Thoughts: The Countdown! 1!
Your Fair Warning!! Okay folks, one more nail biting week until Trans Iowa V6! We're excited to get this underway, but I have a few admonishments to make, which will be reiterated at the Pre-Race Meat-Up, just to make sure.
The nature of the course we use now is a "big assed loop", as Jeff Kerkove put it once a few years back. Due to the nature of how things lay out, you folks will be getting in deeper and deeper as you progress from one checkpoint to another this time around. This comes into play as you consider your bail out options. Especially if you were silly enough to come without a support person. I know a lot of you are planning to do this solo, so here's what you need to put into your "thinkrerer".
Further and Further From Home: The nature of this loop leads you further and further away from Grinnell as you progress into the event. It really is a big loop without a good bail out option for solo riders the further you get into this. In fact, you won't start back towards Grinnell until you are truly about half way into the mileage. Think about that for a minute: You are 150 miles into T.I.V6 and you are cooked and have no support person? That's going to be a long trek back to Grinnell over hilly roads no matter how you slice it. Maybe you are willing to deal with that, but trust me, it won't be very easy. What's more, the furthest point out comes after Checkpoint #2. So keep that in mind as well.
Nobody Knows, So Don't Ask! In an effort to squelch the outside support I observed and heard about last year, We have set up my checkpoint volunteers so that Checkpoint #1 folks do not know where Checkpoint #2 is, Checkpoint #2 people do not know where Checkpoint #3 is, and therefore, they can not tell anyone where the riders are going to next. This shouldn't be any problem at all except for control freaks. Here's the deal. Checkpoint people are not going to tell you anything about the course because they won't know. If you feel, as a support person, family member, or racer that you need to know, prepare to have your ducks in a row, because we will not be letting this info out unless it is for a dang good reason. (Most of the time, it isn't necessary at all, so you probably shouldn't bother)
This is why we have set up the Barn. You go there for your updates. We will be phoning in all pertinent data to our finishline volunteers there who will disseminate the info to all of you. We won't be putting out audio updates this year. This was totally misinterpreted as a "lifeline of personal info" on all race participants, which I never intended it to be, said several times that it never was intended to be that, but was consistently viewed as such dispite all of that. It was made to be a big pain in my arse every year I did it, and last year was the worst. If I ever do it again, I won't even tell anyone, but I probably won't do it. Again, hang out at The Barn. Have a good time, and find out what you "need to know". That's all I have to say about that.
What if your guy/gal DNF's? Well, first off, they better have a cell phone and they better call you with it. Their cue sheets will lead you to them, and if that is an issue, we will be available to answer any questions for riders DNF'ing, (they are to report to us anyway), and we can decipher exactly how you should proceed to extricate them from the course from a directions point of view if necessary. But the bottom line is as always: You are responsible for You. We are not going to bail you out, come get you, or bring you aid. You are on your own excursion and are taking part in T.I.V6 at your own risk.
That's why you'd better be taking this whole bail out option plan seriously. If you come alone, you are putting yourself at a great disadvantage should you need to DNF. Think about that for a minute.
The Weather: The wildcard of the event. Right now they are predicting that a big storm is to hit California at the beginning of the week which will progress across the country and end up here by, yep! You guessed it! Saturday morning. Saturday the winds are forecast to be gusty from the Southeast, continue that way into the evening, and then switch out of the Southwest by Sunday morning. Rain chances increase as the event continues. Hours of rain Saturday = 2 hours, Saturday night = 5hrs, and Sunday = 5hrs.
Of course, that's a week out and this can/will all change. For better or worse, I don't know at this point, but if this comes true, Trans Iowa V6 will go down as epic beyond words. Would anyone even finish? That's definitely a possibility with that forecast, and if we were to get a crazy thunderstorm, it would shut us down. Here is the skinny on bad weather straight from the T.I. site for your reference;
Weather Related Stoppage and Time Cut Off Rule: In case of severe weather during the event, we will do the folowing things so you can act accordingly. Remember: YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOURSELF!! If the sky is falling, or you see Dorothy's house go spinning by your head, you should take appropriate actions to protect yourself. We will not be responsible for ill advised heroics in inclement weather. Be smart, or be pig fodder! This is only given out so that you as an event participant will know what our actions will be in regards to keeping tabs on your progress and what will be done with prizing.
Weather related cancellation of the event will be enforced at the checkpoints. All participants will be directed as to where and when any prizing will be distributed at checkpoints by our volunteers. If you pull out before a checkpoint, you will need to contact the Event Director to find out if the event is being terminated. Results will not be tabulated if we have to stop the event. If cut off times to a checkpoint are not met by any event participant then the event will be terminated and all will be considered as DNF's.
Prizing will be distributed by raffle to the remaining participants in the event at the time of stoppage or when it becomes clear that the cut off times will not be met. Must be present to win. Decisions of the event directors is final.
So in the case of this Trans Iowa, we would most likely repair to The Barn, distribute some goodies, and party. Now you know.
See ya in a week. Look for another update on Wednesday and Thursday.
Trans Iowa Thoughts: The Countdown! 1!
Your Fair Warning!! Okay folks, one more nail biting week until Trans Iowa V6! We're excited to get this underway, but I have a few admonishments to make, which will be reiterated at the Pre-Race Meat-Up, just to make sure.
The nature of the course we use now is a "big assed loop", as Jeff Kerkove put it once a few years back. Due to the nature of how things lay out, you folks will be getting in deeper and deeper as you progress from one checkpoint to another this time around. This comes into play as you consider your bail out options. Especially if you were silly enough to come without a support person. I know a lot of you are planning to do this solo, so here's what you need to put into your "thinkrerer".
Further and Further From Home: The nature of this loop leads you further and further away from Grinnell as you progress into the event. It really is a big loop without a good bail out option for solo riders the further you get into this. In fact, you won't start back towards Grinnell until you are truly about half way into the mileage. Think about that for a minute: You are 150 miles into T.I.V6 and you are cooked and have no support person? That's going to be a long trek back to Grinnell over hilly roads no matter how you slice it. Maybe you are willing to deal with that, but trust me, it won't be very easy. What's more, the furthest point out comes after Checkpoint #2. So keep that in mind as well.
Nobody Knows, So Don't Ask! In an effort to squelch the outside support I observed and heard about last year, We have set up my checkpoint volunteers so that Checkpoint #1 folks do not know where Checkpoint #2 is, Checkpoint #2 people do not know where Checkpoint #3 is, and therefore, they can not tell anyone where the riders are going to next. This shouldn't be any problem at all except for control freaks. Here's the deal. Checkpoint people are not going to tell you anything about the course because they won't know. If you feel, as a support person, family member, or racer that you need to know, prepare to have your ducks in a row, because we will not be letting this info out unless it is for a dang good reason. (Most of the time, it isn't necessary at all, so you probably shouldn't bother)
This is why we have set up the Barn. You go there for your updates. We will be phoning in all pertinent data to our finishline volunteers there who will disseminate the info to all of you. We won't be putting out audio updates this year. This was totally misinterpreted as a "lifeline of personal info" on all race participants, which I never intended it to be, said several times that it never was intended to be that, but was consistently viewed as such dispite all of that. It was made to be a big pain in my arse every year I did it, and last year was the worst. If I ever do it again, I won't even tell anyone, but I probably won't do it. Again, hang out at The Barn. Have a good time, and find out what you "need to know". That's all I have to say about that.
What if your guy/gal DNF's? Well, first off, they better have a cell phone and they better call you with it. Their cue sheets will lead you to them, and if that is an issue, we will be available to answer any questions for riders DNF'ing, (they are to report to us anyway), and we can decipher exactly how you should proceed to extricate them from the course from a directions point of view if necessary. But the bottom line is as always: You are responsible for You. We are not going to bail you out, come get you, or bring you aid. You are on your own excursion and are taking part in T.I.V6 at your own risk.
That's why you'd better be taking this whole bail out option plan seriously. If you come alone, you are putting yourself at a great disadvantage should you need to DNF. Think about that for a minute.
The Weather: The wildcard of the event. Right now they are predicting that a big storm is to hit California at the beginning of the week which will progress across the country and end up here by, yep! You guessed it! Saturday morning. Saturday the winds are forecast to be gusty from the Southeast, continue that way into the evening, and then switch out of the Southwest by Sunday morning. Rain chances increase as the event continues. Hours of rain Saturday = 2 hours, Saturday night = 5hrs, and Sunday = 5hrs.
Of course, that's a week out and this can/will all change. For better or worse, I don't know at this point, but if this comes true, Trans Iowa V6 will go down as epic beyond words. Would anyone even finish? That's definitely a possibility with that forecast, and if we were to get a crazy thunderstorm, it would shut us down. Here is the skinny on bad weather straight from the T.I. site for your reference;
Weather Related Stoppage and Time Cut Off Rule: In case of severe weather during the event, we will do the folowing things so you can act accordingly. Remember: YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOURSELF!! If the sky is falling, or you see Dorothy's house go spinning by your head, you should take appropriate actions to protect yourself. We will not be responsible for ill advised heroics in inclement weather. Be smart, or be pig fodder! This is only given out so that you as an event participant will know what our actions will be in regards to keeping tabs on your progress and what will be done with prizing.
Weather related cancellation of the event will be enforced at the checkpoints. All participants will be directed as to where and when any prizing will be distributed at checkpoints by our volunteers. If you pull out before a checkpoint, you will need to contact the Event Director to find out if the event is being terminated. Results will not be tabulated if we have to stop the event. If cut off times to a checkpoint are not met by any event participant then the event will be terminated and all will be considered as DNF's.
Prizing will be distributed by raffle to the remaining participants in the event at the time of stoppage or when it becomes clear that the cut off times will not be met. Must be present to win. Decisions of the event directors is final.
So in the case of this Trans Iowa, we would most likely repair to The Barn, distribute some goodies, and party. Now you know.
See ya in a week. Look for another update on Wednesday and Thursday.
Friday, April 16, 2010
And You Are Doing This Bike Because.....?
<==Image from Singletrack World.
Well, come to find out that the powers that be at Yeti were not very fond, (putting it mildly) of 29"ers and said, "..we'd rather close the company down.." than make a 29"er. (The quote may have been slightly different, but the meaning of it was clear.) So, what gives?
Yeti is "officially" unveiling this rig today, so expect a good "spin" on the whole deal from the top brass at Yeti. However, this sort of statement about "never making a 29"er" isn't going to go away easily. Especially when the name of the bike is "Big Top", which Singletrack World's Chipps Chippendale picked up on as he mused, "..perhaps a reference to clown bikes, perhaps not.." I'm thinking Chipps is on to something there.
If Chipps is right, and when taken in context of Yeti's distaste of 29"ers previously, you have to think he is, then one might wonder "Why?" And secondly, "What did you do to make it worthwhile to us/you to make one?"
It is a hardtail, may have convertible drop outs for single speed conversion, and has a carbon fiber rear triangle in the classic Yeti loop stay style. Of course, it is a Yeti, so there is that cache' that it has going for it. That said, I think it is not that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things 29"er. (If one can say that 29"ers are "grand" at all) It just seems to be a bit disingenuous and, well.......a bit of a strange marketing ploy, considering the model name and all.
Of course, Yeti is not the first company to say that they would "never make a 29"er". That distinction was squarely the realm of Specialized bikes for several years. However, Specialized softened their tone, then came news that they were exploring the possibilities of a 29"er, and finally they announced they would be doing a few, ironically enough by introducing them at Sea Otter a few years ago. Specialized then backed it up by bringing something different, (at the time), and became fans of the genre afterwards.
Okay, so you can forgive them maybe for their initial skepticism, and when taken into context, Specialized had grounds for being skeptical in 2005. But this is Yeti, and it is 2010. A lot has changed in five years, and Yeti isn't Specialized and doesn't have ignorance or lack of technical advancements to fall back on as an alibi like Specialized did back then. Maybe this will all blow over and be no big deal in the end, (likely), but I find it very strange that any company that makes such an anti-29"er stand, as Yeti has, would then turn tail and make a 29"er anyway. At the very least, it is plain goofy.
<===Something doesn't "add up" here.....
Notice the head badge? Yeah........if you are going to do a good fake, you need to get the details correct. What is worse, the headtube badge is put on with an adhesive backing, so it isn't hard at all to take it off.
Nice try, but...........
Finally, I am not a "schooled journalist", so I don't often know or follow certain practices that the "elite media" follow. Things like not asking questions when the marketing guy asks for questions, for instance. Or like the time I was at a Trek Press Camp, and Tim Grahl and I were posting things up in real time with computers and cameras blazing while the "elite media" types sat around looking down their noses at us. Too funny!
So it is from this perspective that I found the following kind of interesting. Shimano releases information and images to the bigger media outlets for upcoming products with the stipulation that the information can not be released to the public until a certain date and time has been reached. This used to be not a problem before blogs and social media.
Now some media are getting twitchy trigger fingers. For instance, the latest Shimano information release is scheduled for today. 10 speed XT and SLX. Well, the aforementioned Singletrack World has had the info up since yesterday, with the post dated 4/16/10. However; the photos with the post are all dated 4/15/10. Whoops! Those pesky details again. I suppose they could say "Hey, it was 4/16/10 somewhere when we posted that Thursday night!" Funny stuff there. They weren't the only ones to have it up a day early though. It also was posted on a couple of other sites I found, but the photos were not dated and the evidence not so blatant as on Singletrack World.
With that I bid you a good weekend and miles of smiles on your bicycles.
And You Are Doing This Bike Because.....?
<==Image from Singletrack World.
Well, come to find out that the powers that be at Yeti were not very fond, (putting it mildly) of 29"ers and said, "..we'd rather close the company down.." than make a 29"er. (The quote may have been slightly different, but the meaning of it was clear.) So, what gives?
Yeti is "officially" unveiling this rig today, so expect a good "spin" on the whole deal from the top brass at Yeti. However, this sort of statement about "never making a 29"er" isn't going to go away easily. Especially when the name of the bike is "Big Top", which Singletrack World's Chipps Chippendale picked up on as he mused, "..perhaps a reference to clown bikes, perhaps not.." I'm thinking Chipps is on to something there.
If Chipps is right, and when taken in context of Yeti's distaste of 29"ers previously, you have to think he is, then one might wonder "Why?" And secondly, "What did you do to make it worthwhile to us/you to make one?"
It is a hardtail, may have convertible drop outs for single speed conversion, and has a carbon fiber rear triangle in the classic Yeti loop stay style. Of course, it is a Yeti, so there is that cache' that it has going for it. That said, I think it is not that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things 29"er. (If one can say that 29"ers are "grand" at all) It just seems to be a bit disingenuous and, well.......a bit of a strange marketing ploy, considering the model name and all.
Of course, Yeti is not the first company to say that they would "never make a 29"er". That distinction was squarely the realm of Specialized bikes for several years. However, Specialized softened their tone, then came news that they were exploring the possibilities of a 29"er, and finally they announced they would be doing a few, ironically enough by introducing them at Sea Otter a few years ago. Specialized then backed it up by bringing something different, (at the time), and became fans of the genre afterwards.
Okay, so you can forgive them maybe for their initial skepticism, and when taken into context, Specialized had grounds for being skeptical in 2005. But this is Yeti, and it is 2010. A lot has changed in five years, and Yeti isn't Specialized and doesn't have ignorance or lack of technical advancements to fall back on as an alibi like Specialized did back then. Maybe this will all blow over and be no big deal in the end, (likely), but I find it very strange that any company that makes such an anti-29"er stand, as Yeti has, would then turn tail and make a 29"er anyway. At the very least, it is plain goofy.
<===Something doesn't "add up" here.....
Notice the head badge? Yeah........if you are going to do a good fake, you need to get the details correct. What is worse, the headtube badge is put on with an adhesive backing, so it isn't hard at all to take it off.
Nice try, but...........
Finally, I am not a "schooled journalist", so I don't often know or follow certain practices that the "elite media" follow. Things like not asking questions when the marketing guy asks for questions, for instance. Or like the time I was at a Trek Press Camp, and Tim Grahl and I were posting things up in real time with computers and cameras blazing while the "elite media" types sat around looking down their noses at us. Too funny!
So it is from this perspective that I found the following kind of interesting. Shimano releases information and images to the bigger media outlets for upcoming products with the stipulation that the information can not be released to the public until a certain date and time has been reached. This used to be not a problem before blogs and social media.
Now some media are getting twitchy trigger fingers. For instance, the latest Shimano information release is scheduled for today. 10 speed XT and SLX. Well, the aforementioned Singletrack World has had the info up since yesterday, with the post dated 4/16/10. However; the photos with the post are all dated 4/15/10. Whoops! Those pesky details again. I suppose they could say "Hey, it was 4/16/10 somewhere when we posted that Thursday night!" Funny stuff there. They weren't the only ones to have it up a day early though. It also was posted on a couple of other sites I found, but the photos were not dated and the evidence not so blatant as on Singletrack World.
With that I bid you a good weekend and miles of smiles on your bicycles.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Not Feeling It
The day was beautiful. Hot even. The sky was clear and the signs of Spring were everywhere to be seen.
But I just wasn't feeling it.
<===Big wheels, big tires.
No snap, no life in the legs at all today, and I am pretty sure I know exactly the reason why that was.
Stress!
I had a rough start to the week with the situation my family was in, trying to secure a second car for our immediate needs. Sure, The Truck With No Name was running great, but being a standard cab rig, it doesn't seat four. So, we were needing a car and that was stressing out everyone. Then there is Trans Iowa V6, which imparts its own stresses at this time of year anyway. Add in a slew of work on the web side of things and yeah...............it was all just a bit too much.
<===The Big Mama back where it belongs.
Oh well. I'll be taking it kind of easy today and tomorrow. Good thing I decided not to go to Sea Otter! Man! I think I would have blown up.
Not Feeling It
The day was beautiful. Hot even. The sky was clear and the signs of Spring were everywhere to be seen.
But I just wasn't feeling it.
<===Big wheels, big tires.
No snap, no life in the legs at all today, and I am pretty sure I know exactly the reason why that was.
Stress!
I had a rough start to the week with the situation my family was in, trying to secure a second car for our immediate needs. Sure, The Truck With No Name was running great, but being a standard cab rig, it doesn't seat four. So, we were needing a car and that was stressing out everyone. Then there is Trans Iowa V6, which imparts its own stresses at this time of year anyway. Add in a slew of work on the web side of things and yeah...............it was all just a bit too much.
<===The Big Mama back where it belongs.
Oh well. I'll be taking it kind of easy today and tomorrow. Good thing I decided not to go to Sea Otter! Man! I think I would have blown up.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Trans Iowa V6: Mid-Week Update
This is the first of two Trans Iowa V6 Mid-Week updates I am doing to keep everyone up to date on what is going on with the last minute prep for this event. Waiting for Saturday and the usual update doesn't cut it anymore as there is information here that is vital to your preparations. You need this info now!
Pre-Race Meat-Up Details: This is the latest on the mandatory meeting for Trans Iowa V6 which will take place on April 23rd at the Grinnell Steakhouse, 2110 West Street, South. Their phone number is 641-236-0555. Here are the times for your consideration:
5:00pm: Arrival time at the Grinnell Steakhouse. Check in with Guitar Ted, make sure you get a raffle ticket, and make sure your name is ticked off on the call up sheet. Very Important! If you are not checked in, you won't get called up, and you won't recieve your race packet with the cue sheets. Meet and greet your fellow competitors. Beer will be available for purchase. (Must be 21 years of age or older) Begin eating as soon as you get there if you would like.
6:00pm Sharp!! Meeting starts over dinner. Once the meeting starts no one else will be allowed entry to the roster. Don't be late or you will not be in Trans Iowa! I will greet everyone and make some acknowledgements. I will give you the final words on the course, any "heads up" things to be aware of, and answer any questions from you racers. There will also be some items raffled off at this time.
6:45-7:00pm: Sometime in this slot I will begin the "Call Up". You will sign a waiver, pick up your race packets, and be free to leave at this point.
7:00pm - 7:30pm: We will clear out our stuff and allow the Grinnell Steakhouse folks to clean up. Note: The Steakhouse is open until 9:00pm if you want to hang out there longer.
Here are your menu items for the Meat-Up:
"Grill Your Own" Beef - $15.99 and Chicken or Pork - $13.99.
Veggie Kabobs - $10.99
Salad Bar also available upon request.
This will allow you to bump elbows with your fellow riders as you grill yer own critter to eat, or singe yer own veggies. We thought it'd be fun anyway!
Remember to pick up your Dining Dollars at the Comfort Inn and Suites before you come to the meeting!
A Note On Prizing: Yeah, we have some prizes, but they are neither bling-bling or going to help you find a mate. If you are looking to get rich by winning this event, I am sorry, but you better look elsewhere. Some prizing will be given to the top finishers in these 3 fields...
Open Men
Open Women
Open Singlespeed / Fixed Gear
Plus, there may be some Special Prizing given at the discretion of the Event Directors and Sponsors.
That said, you can expect prizing "packages" which are assembled at the discretion of the Event Directors which will include Oakley eyewear custom engraved for Trans Iowa, Ergon product including a back pack and grips, Twin Six jerseys, t-shirts, and socks, and some other "as yet to be determined" prizes to the top finishers.
There will be some Special Prizing as follows:
Salsa Frame/Tubus Rack: Salsa Cycles has offered a frame to one of the finishers of Trans Iowa, (Note: Not one of the top category finishers), that the Event Directors shall choose at random to have their choice of either a Fargo or Vaya frame. (Winner will recieve the correct frame size by dealing with Salsa Cycles directly after the event). Along with this, Wilson Cycles is offering a Tubus Rack to go along with your frame of choice.
Oakley "Lanterne Rouge" Prize: We thought it would be fun to honor the guy or gal that gutted it out to finish T.I.V6, even though they were in last place. Oakley thought so too. They are offering a special red pair of eyewear to the last place finisher that comes in within the time limits at this year's Trans Iowa.
Special Raffles: We will be doling out some special prizes at the Pre-Race Meat-Up and after the event from Trek, Bontrager, Twin Six, Banjo Brothers, Hiawatha Cyclery, and more.
And everyone gets something.... Every racer that gets to the Pre-Race Meat-Up in time gets a race packet with a Velocity water bottle cage, a Simple Strap by ByKyle, and stickers, buttons, and more!
The Numbers! Here are your mileage breakdowns for T.I.V6:
Grinnell to Checkpoint #1: 44.25 miles Cut Off Time: 8am
Checkpoint #1 to Checkpoint #2: 87.2 miles Cut Off Time: 5pm
Checkpoint #2 to Checkpoint #3: 75.8 miles Cut Off Time: 1am (Sunday)
Checkpoint #3 to The Barn 107.1miles Cut Off Time: 1pm (Sunday)
Total miles for T.I.V6 = 314.85 miles
Okay, that's a wrap for this report. look for more Trans Iowa Thoughts on Saturday!
Trans Iowa V6: Mid-Week Update
This is the first of two Trans Iowa V6 Mid-Week updates I am doing to keep everyone up to date on what is going on with the last minute prep for this event. Waiting for Saturday and the usual update doesn't cut it anymore as there is information here that is vital to your preparations. You need this info now!
Pre-Race Meat-Up Details: This is the latest on the mandatory meeting for Trans Iowa V6 which will take place on April 23rd at the Grinnell Steakhouse, 2110 West Street, South. Their phone number is 641-236-0555. Here are the times for your consideration:
5:00pm: Arrival time at the Grinnell Steakhouse. Check in with Guitar Ted, make sure you get a raffle ticket, and make sure your name is ticked off on the call up sheet. Very Important! If you are not checked in, you won't get called up, and you won't recieve your race packet with the cue sheets. Meet and greet your fellow competitors. Beer will be available for purchase. (Must be 21 years of age or older) Begin eating as soon as you get there if you would like.
6:00pm Sharp!! Meeting starts over dinner. Once the meeting starts no one else will be allowed entry to the roster. Don't be late or you will not be in Trans Iowa! I will greet everyone and make some acknowledgements. I will give you the final words on the course, any "heads up" things to be aware of, and answer any questions from you racers. There will also be some items raffled off at this time.
6:45-7:00pm: Sometime in this slot I will begin the "Call Up". You will sign a waiver, pick up your race packets, and be free to leave at this point.
7:00pm - 7:30pm: We will clear out our stuff and allow the Grinnell Steakhouse folks to clean up. Note: The Steakhouse is open until 9:00pm if you want to hang out there longer.
Here are your menu items for the Meat-Up:
"Grill Your Own" Beef - $15.99 and Chicken or Pork - $13.99.
Veggie Kabobs - $10.99
Salad Bar also available upon request.
This will allow you to bump elbows with your fellow riders as you grill yer own critter to eat, or singe yer own veggies. We thought it'd be fun anyway!
Remember to pick up your Dining Dollars at the Comfort Inn and Suites before you come to the meeting!
A Note On Prizing: Yeah, we have some prizes, but they are neither bling-bling or going to help you find a mate. If you are looking to get rich by winning this event, I am sorry, but you better look elsewhere. Some prizing will be given to the top finishers in these 3 fields...
Open Men
Open Women
Open Singlespeed / Fixed Gear
Plus, there may be some Special Prizing given at the discretion of the Event Directors and Sponsors.
That said, you can expect prizing "packages" which are assembled at the discretion of the Event Directors which will include Oakley eyewear custom engraved for Trans Iowa, Ergon product including a back pack and grips, Twin Six jerseys, t-shirts, and socks, and some other "as yet to be determined" prizes to the top finishers.
There will be some Special Prizing as follows:
Salsa Frame/Tubus Rack: Salsa Cycles has offered a frame to one of the finishers of Trans Iowa, (Note: Not one of the top category finishers), that the Event Directors shall choose at random to have their choice of either a Fargo or Vaya frame. (Winner will recieve the correct frame size by dealing with Salsa Cycles directly after the event). Along with this, Wilson Cycles is offering a Tubus Rack to go along with your frame of choice.
Oakley "Lanterne Rouge" Prize: We thought it would be fun to honor the guy or gal that gutted it out to finish T.I.V6, even though they were in last place. Oakley thought so too. They are offering a special red pair of eyewear to the last place finisher that comes in within the time limits at this year's Trans Iowa.
Special Raffles: We will be doling out some special prizes at the Pre-Race Meat-Up and after the event from Trek, Bontrager, Twin Six, Banjo Brothers, Hiawatha Cyclery, and more.
And everyone gets something.... Every racer that gets to the Pre-Race Meat-Up in time gets a race packet with a Velocity water bottle cage, a Simple Strap by ByKyle, and stickers, buttons, and more!
The Numbers! Here are your mileage breakdowns for T.I.V6:
Grinnell to Checkpoint #1: 44.25 miles Cut Off Time: 8am
Checkpoint #1 to Checkpoint #2: 87.2 miles Cut Off Time: 5pm
Checkpoint #2 to Checkpoint #3: 75.8 miles Cut Off Time: 1am (Sunday)
Checkpoint #3 to The Barn 107.1miles Cut Off Time: 1pm (Sunday)
Total miles for T.I.V6 = 314.85 miles
Okay, that's a wrap for this report. look for more Trans Iowa Thoughts on Saturday!
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Bike Shop Tales: Back In The Shop
Now for another look back in the shop area of Advantage Cycles............
Probably one of the lesser know pursuits of a bike geek is that of rummaging through an old bike shops parts bin area. You bike geeks know exactly what I am taliking about! Usually the older shops have either been picked through, or the owner knows what he has and won't let it go. Sometimes you can run across the odd, out of the way, older shop where deals that will blow your mind can still be had in this day and age. Advantage Cyclery really wasn't that kind of shop, but it had parts laying around that even some old skool shops would have found to be odd and valuable.
Advantage wasn't all that old a shop, so you wouldn't expect to find anything much in its parts bin at all. However; Tom was a parts junky, and he knew a classic part when he saw it. There was treasure in them thar shelves and I was privy to all of it.
Campagnolo stuff was one of Tom's favorites, and he even had some of the odd mountain bike parts made by the company. Euclid brake lever sets, the twist shifters, and some other odds and ends. He had a huge stash of Campy mountain bike rims too. Of course, the road stuff was on the shelves there. That's where I scored my Campy friction bar end shifters that I still use to this day.
You know, it's funny how some of that stuff was seen as pretty worthless back then that I wish that I had been smart enough to grab. Tom had a set of 7spd XT cassette hubs in black ano that were in the box he would have practically given to me had I expressed interest in them. That hubset would be worth some bucks to a vintage mtb collector now, but that's how it goes sometimes.
It was a unique place because of that, for sure. I learned a lot about cycling's past hardware while working on the latest and greatest new stuff. And there was a ton of that as well. The old stuff and new stuff lived side by side in those days. We were going through tons of serviceable bottom brackets, for instance. We had a machinists cabinet stuffed with DN-6 and every other kind of spindle. Cups and bearings from Tange, Sugino, SunTour, and others. At the same time the cartridge bottom bracket was prevalent and we were doing UN-52's all day long with the occaisional UN-72 and the 90 series on a rare occaision.
We had standard headsets of all sizes. We overhauled them all the time, while at the other end we were working on the new Aheadset standard and thinking it was super cool. Stuff like that was what made that time special. It was a transitional time in componentry that was fun to be a part of.
Next week: Going To The Show.........
Probably one of the lesser know pursuits of a bike geek is that of rummaging through an old bike shops parts bin area. You bike geeks know exactly what I am taliking about! Usually the older shops have either been picked through, or the owner knows what he has and won't let it go. Sometimes you can run across the odd, out of the way, older shop where deals that will blow your mind can still be had in this day and age. Advantage Cyclery really wasn't that kind of shop, but it had parts laying around that even some old skool shops would have found to be odd and valuable.
Advantage wasn't all that old a shop, so you wouldn't expect to find anything much in its parts bin at all. However; Tom was a parts junky, and he knew a classic part when he saw it. There was treasure in them thar shelves and I was privy to all of it.
Campagnolo stuff was one of Tom's favorites, and he even had some of the odd mountain bike parts made by the company. Euclid brake lever sets, the twist shifters, and some other odds and ends. He had a huge stash of Campy mountain bike rims too. Of course, the road stuff was on the shelves there. That's where I scored my Campy friction bar end shifters that I still use to this day.
You know, it's funny how some of that stuff was seen as pretty worthless back then that I wish that I had been smart enough to grab. Tom had a set of 7spd XT cassette hubs in black ano that were in the box he would have practically given to me had I expressed interest in them. That hubset would be worth some bucks to a vintage mtb collector now, but that's how it goes sometimes.
It was a unique place because of that, for sure. I learned a lot about cycling's past hardware while working on the latest and greatest new stuff. And there was a ton of that as well. The old stuff and new stuff lived side by side in those days. We were going through tons of serviceable bottom brackets, for instance. We had a machinists cabinet stuffed with DN-6 and every other kind of spindle. Cups and bearings from Tange, Sugino, SunTour, and others. At the same time the cartridge bottom bracket was prevalent and we were doing UN-52's all day long with the occaisional UN-72 and the 90 series on a rare occaision.
We had standard headsets of all sizes. We overhauled them all the time, while at the other end we were working on the new Aheadset standard and thinking it was super cool. Stuff like that was what made that time special. It was a transitional time in componentry that was fun to be a part of.
Next week: Going To The Show.........
Bike Shop Tales: Back In The Shop
Now for another look back in the shop area of Advantage Cycles............
Probably one of the lesser know pursuits of a bike geek is that of rummaging through an old bike shops parts bin area. You bike geeks know exactly what I am taliking about! Usually the older shops have either been picked through, or the owner knows what he has and won't let it go. Sometimes you can run across the odd, out of the way, older shop where deals that will blow your mind can still be had in this day and age. Advantage Cyclery really wasn't that kind of shop, but it had parts laying around that even some old skool shops would have found to be odd and valuable.
Advantage wasn't all that old a shop, so you wouldn't expect to find anything much in its parts bin at all. However; Tom was a parts junky, and he knew a classic part when he saw it. There was treasure in them thar shelves and I was privy to all of it.
Campagnolo stuff was one of Tom's favorites, and he even had some of the odd mountain bike parts made by the company. Euclid brake lever sets, the twist shifters, and some other odds and ends. He had a huge stash of Campy mountain bike rims too. Of course, the road stuff was on the shelves there. That's where I scored my Campy friction bar end shifters that I still use to this day.
You know, it's funny how some of that stuff was seen as pretty worthless back then that I wish that I had been smart enough to grab. Tom had a set of 7spd XT cassette hubs in black ano that were in the box he would have practically given to me had I expressed interest in them. That hubset would be worth some bucks to a vintage mtb collector now, but that's how it goes sometimes.
It was a unique place because of that, for sure. I learned a lot about cycling's past hardware while working on the latest and greatest new stuff. And there was a ton of that as well. The old stuff and new stuff lived side by side in those days. We were going through tons of serviceable bottom brackets, for instance. We had a machinists cabinet stuffed with DN-6 and every other kind of spindle. Cups and bearings from Tange, Sugino, SunTour, and others. At the same time the cartridge bottom bracket was prevalent and we were doing UN-52's all day long with the occaisional UN-72 and the 90 series on a rare occaision.
We had standard headsets of all sizes. We overhauled them all the time, while at the other end we were working on the new Aheadset standard and thinking it was super cool. Stuff like that was what made that time special. It was a transitional time in componentry that was fun to be a part of.
Next week: Going To The Show.........
Probably one of the lesser know pursuits of a bike geek is that of rummaging through an old bike shops parts bin area. You bike geeks know exactly what I am taliking about! Usually the older shops have either been picked through, or the owner knows what he has and won't let it go. Sometimes you can run across the odd, out of the way, older shop where deals that will blow your mind can still be had in this day and age. Advantage Cyclery really wasn't that kind of shop, but it had parts laying around that even some old skool shops would have found to be odd and valuable.
Advantage wasn't all that old a shop, so you wouldn't expect to find anything much in its parts bin at all. However; Tom was a parts junky, and he knew a classic part when he saw it. There was treasure in them thar shelves and I was privy to all of it.
Campagnolo stuff was one of Tom's favorites, and he even had some of the odd mountain bike parts made by the company. Euclid brake lever sets, the twist shifters, and some other odds and ends. He had a huge stash of Campy mountain bike rims too. Of course, the road stuff was on the shelves there. That's where I scored my Campy friction bar end shifters that I still use to this day.
You know, it's funny how some of that stuff was seen as pretty worthless back then that I wish that I had been smart enough to grab. Tom had a set of 7spd XT cassette hubs in black ano that were in the box he would have practically given to me had I expressed interest in them. That hubset would be worth some bucks to a vintage mtb collector now, but that's how it goes sometimes.
It was a unique place because of that, for sure. I learned a lot about cycling's past hardware while working on the latest and greatest new stuff. And there was a ton of that as well. The old stuff and new stuff lived side by side in those days. We were going through tons of serviceable bottom brackets, for instance. We had a machinists cabinet stuffed with DN-6 and every other kind of spindle. Cups and bearings from Tange, Sugino, SunTour, and others. At the same time the cartridge bottom bracket was prevalent and we were doing UN-52's all day long with the occaisional UN-72 and the 90 series on a rare occaision.
We had standard headsets of all sizes. We overhauled them all the time, while at the other end we were working on the new Aheadset standard and thinking it was super cool. Stuff like that was what made that time special. It was a transitional time in componentry that was fun to be a part of.
Next week: Going To The Show.........
Monday, April 12, 2010
Of Hope And Promise
Spring has sprung and all that cliche' stuff. Yup! And I am really enjoying it. Maybe it was the unusually snowy, long, cold winter, but something seems special about this past week and being able to witness the opening of spring.
Sometimes it seems as though it is like one of those fading neon signs, you know.....the ones that change color. The ground kind of fades from brown to a light shade of green. Then the green intensifies. Nothing else has really changed since fall but the greening of the ground cover. It's kind of neat. Now the ground-scape will really start to change shape as plants begin their annual shooting up. Before long, the green will take over, and the contours of the landscape will be lost in a cacophony of wild plants and trees which will screen off the views through the woods.
I was taking lots of brief opportunities to spy out the places that would later be too difficult to get to later in the spring and summer. I went down along the bank of the Cedar and saw the eagle's nest on the west side bank. Nobody was home today, and later I saw one of the pair soaring over the south section of the Camp.
I wasn't out long today, as I had only a brief amount of time to spend on this glorious day. And it was a glorious one. Just about perfect in temperature, no bugs, (yet!), and being out in the woods sheltered me from the wind. Good stuff and I was glad to get out even just for a bit.
The bonus was that the first little flowers of the year were opening all over the floor of the woods and I got the chance to ride here when they were in bloom. I may seem a bit odd to some folks, but I really like flowers, and I have zero talent to grow them, so when I get to see them in the wild, I feel like it is something special. I like them anyway.
I hope that you were able to enjoy some time out on a bicycle too.
Of Hope And Promise
Spring has sprung and all that cliche' stuff. Yup! And I am really enjoying it. Maybe it was the unusually snowy, long, cold winter, but something seems special about this past week and being able to witness the opening of spring.
Sometimes it seems as though it is like one of those fading neon signs, you know.....the ones that change color. The ground kind of fades from brown to a light shade of green. Then the green intensifies. Nothing else has really changed since fall but the greening of the ground cover. It's kind of neat. Now the ground-scape will really start to change shape as plants begin their annual shooting up. Before long, the green will take over, and the contours of the landscape will be lost in a cacophony of wild plants and trees which will screen off the views through the woods.
I was taking lots of brief opportunities to spy out the places that would later be too difficult to get to later in the spring and summer. I went down along the bank of the Cedar and saw the eagle's nest on the west side bank. Nobody was home today, and later I saw one of the pair soaring over the south section of the Camp.
I wasn't out long today, as I had only a brief amount of time to spend on this glorious day. And it was a glorious one. Just about perfect in temperature, no bugs, (yet!), and being out in the woods sheltered me from the wind. Good stuff and I was glad to get out even just for a bit.
The bonus was that the first little flowers of the year were opening all over the floor of the woods and I got the chance to ride here when they were in bloom. I may seem a bit odd to some folks, but I really like flowers, and I have zero talent to grow them, so when I get to see them in the wild, I feel like it is something special. I like them anyway.
I hope that you were able to enjoy some time out on a bicycle too.
Sunday, April 11, 2010
T.I.V6 Recon Report And Course Conditions
Well, the recon is DONE! Yes!!! A big load off my back this past weekend as d.p. and I met up at "dark-thirty" to go finish off the recon of the T.I.V6 course. We trashed about 50 miles of the pre-planned route and re-did about 40 to replace it on the spot.
We found some tremendous views. a ton of hills, some really cool B Roads, and a course that will give you a challenge unlike any other Trans Iowa we've ever put on before. One thing I will tell you out there is that the section from Checkpoint #1 to Checkpoint #2 is the flattest part of the course. (See the first photo for reference) As for exact cut off times, I should have those this week. Stay tuned! d.p. is compiling the info on the course and will be feverishly working on the cues now, so much of the info is in his hands at the moment.
<====Rotting corpse!
The course conditions are as weird as I've seen since T.I.V4. d.p. and I therorized that due to the early snow cover, the prolonged nature of the snow cover, and that the real cold weather didn't come until well after the snow fell, that the ground really didn't freeze up as usual. This lead to a lot of roads that we are using to become "sand-like". The heavy vehicular traffic due to planting and grain hauling has turned many of these "sand-like" spots into pits of loose, shifty, momentum-sucking patches that can occur on climbs, on down hills, and even on the flats. The passage of skinnier tired vehicles will be affected most by this since I fear that wash outs will be somewhat of a problem with bicycles shod with less than 35mm rubber, and in some spots, any bicycle short of a Pugsley will be affected!
<===Don't shoot me, I'm only the piano player!
Other areas of concern include the loose gravel being thrown down to cover up these spots in places. The counties know that the majority of the seasons planting should occur within the next two weeks. They are not about to grade and repair these ripped up roads just to have them trashed again immediately. So, I think we're going to see these bad spots in a lot of places yet in two weeks. Expect big patches of marbley gravel. Some gravel we encountered was so deep the Truck With No Name was skittering about on it. This will also want to knock your bicycle off track and will suck away your momentum. A quick eye and a good read on the gravel will need to be maintained at all times to find the most efficient line through the morass. It won't be easy!
<===Looks like this one went into "the rough" on this B Road!
The course was especially dry when you take into consideration that the entire area we checked out was doused with a lot of rain just four days ago. You'd never know it though. The ground must have soaked it completely up. Even the B Roads showed minor evidence of the recent torrential down pours. That's a good thing for now.
The weather will play some sort of role in the final outcome, as always. Either good, (unlikely) or bad, the weather could change what we saw in a heartbeat. A rain just before or during T.I.V6 could radically affect how things go down for each rider.
<=== They say the bridge on this road is unsafe......
Speaking of weather, it has been an unusually good spring so far. We dodged a huge bullet by getting the massive snow cover melted with minimal flooding and not having big rains on top of that. In fact, this spring's precipitation has been pretty light so far.
Winds are something that will most likely affect T.I.V6, and of course, with a loop course, you are going to get a headwind at some point, most likely. Will it be an epic head wind? Will it be a light breeze? Who knows? One thing for certain: There will be wind! The wind wasn't noticeable today from the seat of the truck, and it was about seasonal for temps- upper 50's to low 60's. Late afternoon cloud cover caused the temps to dip back towards 50 in a hury though. dress accordingly! Oh yeah, by the way, it frosted Friday night too!
<==..........but we found it to be a pretty sturdy structure if traveling by bicycle!
I've said it before, and I'll say it here: We have not ever had a Trans Iowa where it went from nice weather to crap and back again. It is going to happen someday. We'll get a day where some rain blows in, it cools down, and then the sun comes back again afterward. (In fact, it did that today to a degree!) Where you are out on course will be part of how that affects you, so be prepared for any circumstance.
I'll chime in with more updates, but right now I am excited about this course and I can say that it does show another side to Iowa that many that live here may not be aware of. I saw some sights and things today that were new to me, and were very cool to drive through. I know riding a bicycle through this course will be a great adventure. I just hope that the weather co-operates and allows you folks to experience a bit of what d.p. and I have cooked up for you in T.I.V6.
T.I.V6 Recon Report And Course Conditions
Well, the recon is DONE! Yes!!! A big load off my back this past weekend as d.p. and I met up at "dark-thirty" to go finish off the recon of the T.I.V6 course. We trashed about 50 miles of the pre-planned route and re-did about 40 to replace it on the spot.
We found some tremendous views. a ton of hills, some really cool B Roads, and a course that will give you a challenge unlike any other Trans Iowa we've ever put on before. One thing I will tell you out there is that the section from Checkpoint #1 to Checkpoint #2 is the flattest part of the course. (See the first photo for reference) As for exact cut off times, I should have those this week. Stay tuned! d.p. is compiling the info on the course and will be feverishly working on the cues now, so much of the info is in his hands at the moment.
<====Rotting corpse!
The course conditions are as weird as I've seen since T.I.V4. d.p. and I therorized that due to the early snow cover, the prolonged nature of the snow cover, and that the real cold weather didn't come until well after the snow fell, that the ground really didn't freeze up as usual. This lead to a lot of roads that we are using to become "sand-like". The heavy vehicular traffic due to planting and grain hauling has turned many of these "sand-like" spots into pits of loose, shifty, momentum-sucking patches that can occur on climbs, on down hills, and even on the flats. The passage of skinnier tired vehicles will be affected most by this since I fear that wash outs will be somewhat of a problem with bicycles shod with less than 35mm rubber, and in some spots, any bicycle short of a Pugsley will be affected!
<===Don't shoot me, I'm only the piano player!
Other areas of concern include the loose gravel being thrown down to cover up these spots in places. The counties know that the majority of the seasons planting should occur within the next two weeks. They are not about to grade and repair these ripped up roads just to have them trashed again immediately. So, I think we're going to see these bad spots in a lot of places yet in two weeks. Expect big patches of marbley gravel. Some gravel we encountered was so deep the Truck With No Name was skittering about on it. This will also want to knock your bicycle off track and will suck away your momentum. A quick eye and a good read on the gravel will need to be maintained at all times to find the most efficient line through the morass. It won't be easy!
<===Looks like this one went into "the rough" on this B Road!
The course was especially dry when you take into consideration that the entire area we checked out was doused with a lot of rain just four days ago. You'd never know it though. The ground must have soaked it completely up. Even the B Roads showed minor evidence of the recent torrential down pours. That's a good thing for now.
The weather will play some sort of role in the final outcome, as always. Either good, (unlikely) or bad, the weather could change what we saw in a heartbeat. A rain just before or during T.I.V6 could radically affect how things go down for each rider.
<=== They say the bridge on this road is unsafe......
Speaking of weather, it has been an unusually good spring so far. We dodged a huge bullet by getting the massive snow cover melted with minimal flooding and not having big rains on top of that. In fact, this spring's precipitation has been pretty light so far.
Winds are something that will most likely affect T.I.V6, and of course, with a loop course, you are going to get a headwind at some point, most likely. Will it be an epic head wind? Will it be a light breeze? Who knows? One thing for certain: There will be wind! The wind wasn't noticeable today from the seat of the truck, and it was about seasonal for temps- upper 50's to low 60's. Late afternoon cloud cover caused the temps to dip back towards 50 in a hury though. dress accordingly! Oh yeah, by the way, it frosted Friday night too!
<==..........but we found it to be a pretty sturdy structure if traveling by bicycle!
I've said it before, and I'll say it here: We have not ever had a Trans Iowa where it went from nice weather to crap and back again. It is going to happen someday. We'll get a day where some rain blows in, it cools down, and then the sun comes back again afterward. (In fact, it did that today to a degree!) Where you are out on course will be part of how that affects you, so be prepared for any circumstance.
I'll chime in with more updates, but right now I am excited about this course and I can say that it does show another side to Iowa that many that live here may not be aware of. I saw some sights and things today that were new to me, and were very cool to drive through. I know riding a bicycle through this course will be a great adventure. I just hope that the weather co-operates and allows you folks to experience a bit of what d.p. and I have cooked up for you in T.I.V6.
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Trans Iowa Thoughts: The Countdown! 2!
Thoughts On The Course So Far: I am aware that the T.I.V6 roster is about as stacked as it ever has been with some stout riders. Not since T.I.V1 has a roster this potent been gathered, (asuming everyone shows up). I also know that these guys haven't been laying low and taking things easy. (That's right, I hear about you guys!) Mileage totals have been getting piled up, tactics have been refined, and plans made for alliances to dominate and demoralize the other competitors. The "carrot" of the sub-24 hour Trans Iowa finish is dangling out there too, and many would like to attach their name to "first" on that list.
But regardless of all of these things, I will make public a comment I made to a good friend just this past week: "I will be super surprised if anyone can tame this course in less than 24 hours." So, there ya go. I think it would be a near miracle for any rider to pull it off.
I have many reasons as to why this is, not least of which is the fact that I know most of the course. But let's think this through a minute:
Last year the course was just over 320 miles. The weather was near perfection. The gravel conditions were above avaerage. The B Roads were nearly a non-factor. Only a navigational error stopped three guys from nipping the 24 hour barrier. Will all those things that went right go right this year? I do not believe they will.
There is more to it than this, but suffice it to say, the sub-24 hour Trans Iowa is going to be really, really hard to accomplish. Everything would have to go 100% perfectly for it to happen.
Pre-Race Meat-Up: If you are reading this, and have not responded, or even seen the e-mail that I sent out, here it is in its entirety. Please skip over this if you've seen this to the end:
Hello All!
I am writing to you all who are listed on the Trans Iowa V6
Roster
If this has reached you in error, I apologize. If you are on the roster, but will be unable to attend the April 23rd Pre-Race Meat-Up at The Grinnell Steakhouse, please indicate that *you will not be racing in Trans Iowa* by e-mailing me back a reply saying that. If you plan on attending, and thus racing in T.I.V6, read on............
If you will be at the meeting, *which is mandatory to race in T.I.V6*, you must reply to this e-mail with the number of people you will be attending the meeting with. Please include yourself in this number. I need a head count for The Grinnell Steakhouse and for the Grinnell Chamber of Commerce who will be giving each racer a pair of Dining Dollars gift certificates worth $10.00 each which can be redeemed at The Grinnell Steakhouse, or at any Chamber member resturaunt in Grinnell Iowa. (Yes- this means your support people could use the Dining Dollars on Saturday or Sunday)
You will be able to pick up a Welcome Bag with the Dining Dollars and other promotional materials at The Comfort Inn And Suites Grinnell Iowa upon your arrival on Friday.
So, to recap: I need to know if you are coming to the Pre-Race Meat-Up and if anyone else will be attending with you. So, if you are racing, and you are bringing a person to the meeting with you, indicate "2" in your reply.
If you will be the only person there, indicate "1" in your reply.
For details on the Pre-Race Meat-Up go to the T.I.V6 site
If you have not seen this or replied to this, I need to know by the 17th what your answer is to give the resturaunt a head count. Please respond here if you need to.
Look for a recon report and course conditions update coming next week. Weather updates will also be on the way. It's getting close! T.I.V6 is nearly here!
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