Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitational 2012- Report Part III (Again)

Since the report was running so long yesterday, I decided to break it into two parts. Here is Part II of "The Longest Leg".

Wind farm and a wet road

After the bigger hills were traversed, we were headed back north some more into Marshall County. This saw us hitting flatter terrain.  The area is also home to a large wind farm. It was cool to ride through there on such a day.

It was still raining/spitting at this point and I was still loving it. But sooner than later I knew at some point we would be running out into sunshine again and warmer temperatures. In fact, I could feel it getting warmer already.

I was suddenly aware at this point that we were down two riders. I called a halt so we could have a nature break and wait up for the two stragglers. It turned out to be Mike and Cody. Mike had gotten chain suck and had to deal with his drive train issues before he could continue onward. Cody had just simply stopped to see if he could help.

We then hit the North bound part of the route again. Soon we would be turning East and towards the century mark of the ride overall. I kept asking Jeremy how much further it was to Gilman, since my computer didn't get reset at the start. I didn't discover that fact until we were well out of town, but I chalked it up to almost never riding with a computer anymore. I also had a hankering for some beer. Ice cold beer, and so did Matt. We were really looking forward to the next stop!

We were to have another B Road section coming and I was looking forward to it. So far, the B Roads had been great, and I was stoked about that. However; this wasn't going to happen on this section of road. Why? Because it was a C Road!

Level C Road means that the entrance and exit is gated. The control over right of way is ceded to the local land owner. That person can enforce the "No Trespassing" part, or not. Typically C Roads are often nothing more than double track, or barely double track. This one looked to be a recently decommissioned B Road.

As we did last year at the bridge out sign, we stopped and debated whether to go through. Everyone wanted to, but should we? The gates were open, and Jeremy said, "I'm going through, just like last year." As he clipped in, I said, "Well, let's go then." Off we went down a pea gravel double track.

Low water crossing on a C Level road

This was my first trip on a bicycle, (or in any other mode, for that matter), down a C Level Road. I had seen them before, of course. When you spend as much time running around Iowa on gravel roads as I do, you see a lot of stuff. That said, I was as new to actually going down one as anyone on the ride.

The very first C Level road I ever saw was near Osage, Iowa and thwarted a planned route on T.I.V2's course. Of course, no one ever got to see the solution to that bit!

At any rate, we were on the C Level road going gently down on double track with deep pea gravel as a base. I found a better line with firmer ground down the center, or just off to the sides. I surmised that the local farmer had just maintained this double track by the looks of the gravel here. Eventually, the pea gravel gave over to fist sized, embedded , chunky rocks leading down to a low water crossing with big chunky rocks in there you couldn't see. We all, (thankfully), made it through without incident.

Then it was a slow grind up and outta that C Level road, back onto gravel, and on towards Gilman and beer. We eventually passed the century mark, although it wasn't marked by anyone. We just kept riding on. It was as if the century mark didn't matter. Everyone was just pressing on to get off the bikes and rest. Refueling, getting water, and resting. That was bigger than riding past 100 miles at this point.

Smiling through the pain- (Image by Celeste Matthias)

And by this time I was also getting hungry. I suppose we'd burned through a few calories by this point, and my body was telling me it was time to eat. I held out as the miles counted down from the double digits to single digits to go. I figured that even if I did bonk, we'd be sitting around for a little while at least, so I could recover.

I powered down the last of my bottles and focused on getting off the bike for a bit. We'd been grinding since that stop on the wind farm for a nature break and that was a long time ago now, or so it seemed.

Finally we headed south on the route that T.I.V7 went out on Northwards. This was a short run into Gilman, but like anytime you are ready to get off your bike, the destination seems to take longer to get to than it should. But we did get there, and we had a hoot of a time.

Tomorrow: Gilman To Grinnell

Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitational 2012- Report Part III (Again)

Since the report was running so long yesterday, I decided to break it into two parts. Here is Part II of "The Longest Leg".

Wind farm and a wet road

After the bigger hills were traversed, we were headed back north some more into Marshall County. This saw us hitting flatter terrain.  The area is also home to a large wind farm. It was cool to ride through there on such a day.

It was still raining/spitting at this point and I was still loving it. But sooner than later I knew at some point we would be running out into sunshine again and warmer temperatures. In fact, I could feel it getting warmer already.

I was suddenly aware at this point that we were down two riders. I called a halt so we could have a nature break and wait up for the two stragglers. It turned out to be Mike and Cody. Mike had gotten chain suck and had to deal with his drive train issues before he could continue onward. Cody had just simply stopped to see if he could help.

We then hit the North bound part of the route again. Soon we would be turning East and towards the century mark of the ride overall. I kept asking Jeremy how much further it was to Gilman, since my computer didn't get reset at the start. I didn't discover that fact until we were well out of town, but I chalked it up to almost never riding with a computer anymore. I also had a hankering for some beer. Ice cold beer, and so did Matt. We were really looking forward to the next stop!

We were to have another B Road section coming and I was looking forward to it. So far, the B Roads had been great, and I was stoked about that. However; this wasn't going to happen on this section of road. Why? Because it was a C Road!

Level C Road means that the entrance and exit is gated. The control over right of way is ceded to the local land owner. That person can enforce the "No Trespassing" part, or not. Typically C Roads are often nothing more than double track, or barely double track. This one looked to be a recently decommissioned B Road.

As we did last year at the bridge out sign, we stopped and debated whether to go through. Everyone wanted to, but should we? The gates were open, and Jeremy said, "I'm going through, just like last year." As he clipped in, I said, "Well, let's go then." Off we went down a pea gravel double track.

Low water crossing on a C Level road

This was my first trip on a bicycle, (or in any other mode, for that matter), down a C Level Road. I had seen them before, of course. When you spend as much time running around Iowa on gravel roads as I do, you see a lot of stuff. That said, I was as new to actually going down one as anyone on the ride.

The very first C Level road I ever saw was near Osage, Iowa and thwarted a planned route on T.I.V2's course. Of course, no one ever got to see the solution to that bit!

At any rate, we were on the C Level road going gently down on double track with deep pea gravel as a base. I found a better line with firmer ground down the center, or just off to the sides. I surmised that the local farmer had just maintained this double track by the looks of the gravel here. Eventually, the pea gravel gave over to fist sized, embedded , chunky rocks leading down to a low water crossing with big chunky rocks in there you couldn't see. We all, (thankfully), made it through without incident.

Then it was a slow grind up and outta that C Level road, back onto gravel, and on towards Gilman and beer. We eventually passed the century mark, although it wasn't marked by anyone. We just kept riding on. It was as if the century mark didn't matter. Everyone was just pressing on to get off the bikes and rest. Refueling, getting water, and resting. That was bigger than riding past 100 miles at this point.

Smiling through the pain- (Image by Celeste Matthias)

And by this time I was also getting hungry. I suppose we'd burned through a few calories by this point, and my body was telling me it was time to eat. I held out as the miles counted down from the double digits to single digits to go. I figured that even if I did bonk, we'd be sitting around for a little while at least, so I could recover.

I powered down the last of my bottles and focused on getting off the bike for a bit. We'd been grinding since that stop on the wind farm for a nature break and that was a long time ago now, or so it seemed.

Finally we headed south on the route that T.I.V7 went out on Northwards. This was a short run into Gilman, but like anytime you are ready to get off your bike, the destination seems to take longer to get to than it should. But we did get there, and we had a hoot of a time.

Tomorrow: Gilman To Grinnell

Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitational 2012: Report Part III

The Longest Leg: Continuing on with the Guitar Ted Death Ride, we were arriving in Grinnell's Southernmost side at about 11:30am, which I was super pleased with, but also somewhat concerned about. I mean, we had the longest leg, (45.2 miles), on deck and maybe we'd burned too many matches already. It was hot, and we had more heat coming.

And then there were six....

In the first installment for these reports, I said something about how the spirit and efforts of the folks that come to the GTDRI blow me away. Well, true to form, John and his son Cody shepherded in Dennis, who said he'd just ride in by himself. John figured it needn't be that way, and literally was pushing Dennis over some of the climbs. Awesome!

Well, little did I know that our convenience store stop had a Subway sandwich shop attached to it. And also- I didn't know about Matt's egg and cheese delight that he has from Subway. I copied him to a "T" on choices, which befuddled the help there. It was a good choice too. Went down easy with no "gut bomb" afterward. Nice! Thanks for lettin' me copy ya Matt!

We had a nice stop, but Craig and Courtney were out for the rest of the ride. Craig felt the cramps and being out of shape was too much. Courtney had a month of job training coming up away from home and he had to leave the next day. Can't blame either one of them for stopping, and that's exactly why I planned a bail-out option. At least they got to ride some of the awesome course with us. So, with Dennis dropping in Grinnell as well, we cut our numbers back to six.

We headed out again on some flattish roads, went by the proposed, but never used barn finish from Trans Iowa V6, and crossed I-80 after some big rollers. Then we hit on some wide open, flat, brutally hot gravel just east of Newton.

Rollers! (Image credit- Celeste Matthias)

In fact, looking back on the data from Mike's GPS files, it was nigh unto 100F about this time. We were definitely getting cooked alive out there. With the humidity, it had to feel well into the triple digits.

Someone spied a small patch of shade cast by a tree just off the road and it was universally decided upon by us to bask in the relative coolness of this roadside treasure. The recuperative effects of just stopping for a minute or three can not be underestimated here when it is this hot! Unfortunately, folks were looking a little too comfortable for my tastes, so I called for a roll-out and we were off again into the heat and dust.

We were back on the back end of the T.I.V8 course. This was the section where folks were having a hard time of it with all the hills, chunky gravel, and winds that day in April. It wasn't as chunky, but there was a decent covering of gravel out here. Very dusty too.

This part of the GTDRI was also the hilliest part. I had told the guys under the shade tree that it was going to be brutal. In fact, I was painting a bad picture on purpose just to make it seem not so bad when we did hit those hills. Of course, with hills you get descents as well, so we had some hair raising falls into valleys and then the big grunts back up, which were baking us going Northward. 

If you've never been out on a hot day with some breeze or wind, it feels better going into the wind, or with a side wind, than it does to have a tail wind. Tail winds are usually a good thing, but when it is hot, and you are climbing a steep hill, no thank you. I'd rather have a head wind all day when it gets that hot than ride up hills with a tail wind. Your mileage may vary.

Salvation in the form of rain

Someone or another then struck up a conversation about cooking food on the bike as you rode. This was one of those conversations cyclists have when they are in the "pain cave", and they are trying to forget about it with diversionary conversations about silly stuff.

Ideas were considered from bread sticks and marinara sauce, to "hot pockets", (don't ask!), to the almighty pizza slice. This went on for several miles until a big grunt of a climb pretty much put us all into silent mode. It was very hot, still, and in the distance, we could see a massive thunderhead forming with peals of thunder grumbling from on high. We didn't think we were in any danger, but it was obvious this was a big storm. Fortunately for us, it was a well timed one.

We were going up the long climb of Iowa Street, then Immigrant Avenue to E 84th Street North. I called out that I needed a stop at the top. I was absolutely cooked about this point of the ride. I did my usual flop onto the ground, to the amusement of a few of the group, but the ground is usually the coolest place to rest on days like this. It wasn't long before I sensed a change in the air.

Welcome to the flat state of Iowa! (Image by Celeste Matthias)

I felt some cooler air. It was air coming off that thunderhead. Even if it didn't rain, it would mean that the temperature would maybe get knocked down for a bit, providing me with a much needed respite from the brutal air we'd been sauteing in before this.

Of course, the other guys were going to be digging this as well. We had a few guffaws and great conversation at the top of this hill. That said, we needed to get a move on, and I wanted to seek out this cooler air and make the best use of it while we could. It was also about 2:30pm, and the day wasn't getting any shorter! The good news was that at this point we were halfway to Gilman and our next convenience store stop.

So down we went and up, then down, and up again. This stretch went on for several miles. The further north we went the more shaded we were by the towering thunder storm clouds. Soon we could feel occasional rain drops. Then a full on sprinkle.  Now I was getting revived. I have always struggled with heat, but bad weather, rain, snow, whatever, seem to be the times I have my best rides. Long rides anyway.

Whatever the case may be, I was a different person now. Zooming up the steep climbs on North 99th Avenue East, I was getting teased by Jeremy, who was claiming I was passing him, "like I was Contador or something.". Hmm.......must have been the beef!

Okay- this is getting a bit long in the tooth, so look for Part II of The Longest Leg tomorrow when I show you a "C Road".

Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitational 2012: Report Part III

The Longest Leg: Continuing on with the Guitar Ted Death Ride, we were arriving in Grinnell's Southernmost side at about 11:30am, which I was super pleased with, but also somewhat concerned about. I mean, we had the longest leg, (45.2 miles), on deck and maybe we'd burned too many matches already. It was hot, and we had more heat coming.

And then there were six....

In the first installment for these reports, I said something about how the spirit and efforts of the folks that come to the GTDRI blow me away. Well, true to form, John and his son Cody shepherded in Dennis, who said he'd just ride in by himself. John figured it needn't be that way, and literally was pushing Dennis over some of the climbs. Awesome!

Well, little did I know that our convenience store stop had a Subway sandwich shop attached to it. And also- I didn't know about Matt's egg and cheese delight that he has from Subway. I copied him to a "T" on choices, which befuddled the help there. It was a good choice too. Went down easy with no "gut bomb" afterward. Nice! Thanks for lettin' me copy ya Matt!

We had a nice stop, but Craig and Courtney were out for the rest of the ride. Craig felt the cramps and being out of shape was too much. Courtney had a month of job training coming up away from home and he had to leave the next day. Can't blame either one of them for stopping, and that's exactly why I planned a bail-out option. At least they got to ride some of the awesome course with us. So, with Dennis dropping in Grinnell as well, we cut our numbers back to six.

We headed out again on some flattish roads, went by the proposed, but never used barn finish from Trans Iowa V6, and crossed I-80 after some big rollers. Then we hit on some wide open, flat, brutally hot gravel just east of Newton.

Rollers! (Image credit- Celeste Matthias)

In fact, looking back on the data from Mike's GPS files, it was nigh unto 100F about this time. We were definitely getting cooked alive out there. With the humidity, it had to feel well into the triple digits.

Someone spied a small patch of shade cast by a tree just off the road and it was universally decided upon by us to bask in the relative coolness of this roadside treasure. The recuperative effects of just stopping for a minute or three can not be underestimated here when it is this hot! Unfortunately, folks were looking a little too comfortable for my tastes, so I called for a roll-out and we were off again into the heat and dust.

We were back on the back end of the T.I.V8 course. This was the section where folks were having a hard time of it with all the hills, chunky gravel, and winds that day in April. It wasn't as chunky, but there was a decent covering of gravel out here. Very dusty too.

This part of the GTDRI was also the hilliest part. I had told the guys under the shade tree that it was going to be brutal. In fact, I was painting a bad picture on purpose just to make it seem not so bad when we did hit those hills. Of course, with hills you get descents as well, so we had some hair raising falls into valleys and then the big grunts back up, which were baking us going Northward. 

If you've never been out on a hot day with some breeze or wind, it feels better going into the wind, or with a side wind, than it does to have a tail wind. Tail winds are usually a good thing, but when it is hot, and you are climbing a steep hill, no thank you. I'd rather have a head wind all day when it gets that hot than ride up hills with a tail wind. Your mileage may vary.

Salvation in the form of rain

Someone or another then struck up a conversation about cooking food on the bike as you rode. This was one of those conversations cyclists have when they are in the "pain cave", and they are trying to forget about it with diversionary conversations about silly stuff.

Ideas were considered from bread sticks and marinara sauce, to "hot pockets", (don't ask!), to the almighty pizza slice. This went on for several miles until a big grunt of a climb pretty much put us all into silent mode. It was very hot, still, and in the distance, we could see a massive thunderhead forming with peals of thunder grumbling from on high. We didn't think we were in any danger, but it was obvious this was a big storm. Fortunately for us, it was a well timed one.

We were going up the long climb of Iowa Street, then Immigrant Avenue to E 84th Street North. I called out that I needed a stop at the top. I was absolutely cooked about this point of the ride. I did my usual flop onto the ground, to the amusement of a few of the group, but the ground is usually the coolest place to rest on days like this. It wasn't long before I sensed a change in the air.

Welcome to the flat state of Iowa! (Image by Celeste Matthias)

I felt some cooler air. It was air coming off that thunderhead. Even if it didn't rain, it would mean that the temperature would maybe get knocked down for a bit, providing me with a much needed respite from the brutal air we'd been sauteing in before this.

Of course, the other guys were going to be digging this as well. We had a few guffaws and great conversation at the top of this hill. That said, we needed to get a move on, and I wanted to seek out this cooler air and make the best use of it while we could. It was also about 2:30pm, and the day wasn't getting any shorter! The good news was that at this point we were halfway to Gilman and our next convenience store stop.

So down we went and up, then down, and up again. This stretch went on for several miles. The further north we went the more shaded we were by the towering thunder storm clouds. Soon we could feel occasional rain drops. Then a full on sprinkle.  Now I was getting revived. I have always struggled with heat, but bad weather, rain, snow, whatever, seem to be the times I have my best rides. Long rides anyway.

Whatever the case may be, I was a different person now. Zooming up the steep climbs on North 99th Avenue East, I was getting teased by Jeremy, who was claiming I was passing him, "like I was Contador or something.". Hmm.......must have been the beef!

Okay- this is getting a bit long in the tooth, so look for Part II of The Longest Leg tomorrow when I show you a "C Road".

Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitational 2012- Report Part II

Brooklyn And Beyond: The first stop for the ride was scheduled for Brooklyn, Iowa at around 31-ish miles in. Trans Iowa has often skirted Brooklyn, but I'd never actually been within the city limits before.

Craig and Mike eatin' grub

We got in with a hot sun and rising temperature. The locals were a bit taken back by the sudden presence of nine dusty cyclists, but the employee at the register of the convenience store we stopped at couldn't have been nicer. I think she figured out right away that she was raking in some extra cash from an unsuspected source. Either that or she was amused by seeing a bunch of lycra clad gents prancing about the convenience store.

I scoured the aisles for some suitable grub. I went for the pastry and breakfast sandwich route with a side of blue and red Gatorade. I went out and sat with Matt while we watched the locals go to and fro about their business in the early Saturday sunlight.

I got a chance to finally chat with Dennis from Grinnell. He was riding a Gen II Fargo that he says has put all his other rigs out to pasture. He likes the Fargo so much it has pretty much taken over his cycling. In fact, you might catch him riding it on RAGBRAI.

Meanwhile we were all wrapping up final preparations to get going again. Bottles were being filled and gooped up with electrolytes and what have you. Helmets were being strapped to noggins, and it was looking like we'd be pulling out soon when Jeremy came up.

Jeremy started late, by-passed the first B Road section to save time, and caught up with the group. He had to get refueled so he waved us onward saying he'd catch us up the road. So, in the bright sunlight we took off out of Brooklyn on a zig-zaggy course which would lead us to an overpass of I-80 and back on the T.I.V8 course again. I was looking forward to this section as it would eventually veer off the T.I.V8 course and into a big chunk of country I hadn't seen yet on our leg to Grinnell and lunch.

More B Road!

I got a little confused on just where the route re-entered the T.I.V8 course, but John, who was in the event, caught on right away, recognizing a farmstead. He set me straight on where we were, and then I saw a "S" curve that I knew well which then reset my mind's GPS coordinates.

Sometimes I need a little "bump" to get the synapses clicking in the right order!

We went just about to Montezuma, where Checkpoint Alpha was this year, but we turned West before that and headed off into that uncharted territory I mentioned before. It wasn't long before I saw my favorite road sign: "Gravel Ends", and we were rolling down a somewhat steep grade on some awesome double track dirt road.

We decided to take a "safety break" here and lounged under the shade of some trees overhanging a deeply cut in creek. Dennis walked up to me and said he knew the way back from that point so we shouldn't wait around for him if we got ahead of him. He kindly thanked me and asked me to take his picture, which I did. After about 15 minutes of lounging around, we saddled back up and cruised out of the valley.

Flower lined gravel

 We hit one more section of B Road and then turned Northward back towards Grinnell and lunch. On the way, the hills got big, the descents fast, and the sun was a lot hotter. There still was little wind, but every time we turned west to sawtooth our way over a mile, the Southerly breeze would cool things down a few degrees. Going North brought the heat big time.

I was pleased to see the sides of the road rife with wild flowers of purple, blue, white, and yellow. So different than what we have back home. That was a bonus for the ride for me.

Although this leg was "only" 28.5 miles, it seemed to take longer than the first leg. Probably it was the bigger hills. It may have had something to do with the hotter temps, I don't know. I found myself cruising along with Matt, Jeremy, and Mike for most of this sector. Everyone else was strung out behind us. Back at the "safety stop", Craig had complained of cramping already, so we offered to download him some electrolyte, but undoubtedly the heat was taking its toll on him and all of us.

The new gravel-to-me was fun though, and I enjoyed this last bit. We ended up finally getting on the outbound T.I.V6 course as we tracked it backward into Grinnell. It wouldn't be long till lunch time now.

Next: The Longest Leg

Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitational 2012- Report Part II

Brooklyn And Beyond: The first stop for the ride was scheduled for Brooklyn, Iowa at around 31-ish miles in. Trans Iowa has often skirted Brooklyn, but I'd never actually been within the city limits before.

Craig and Mike eatin' grub

We got in with a hot sun and rising temperature. The locals were a bit taken back by the sudden presence of nine dusty cyclists, but the employee at the register of the convenience store we stopped at couldn't have been nicer. I think she figured out right away that she was raking in some extra cash from an unsuspected source. Either that or she was amused by seeing a bunch of lycra clad gents prancing about the convenience store.

I scoured the aisles for some suitable grub. I went for the pastry and breakfast sandwich route with a side of blue and red Gatorade. I went out and sat with Matt while we watched the locals go to and fro about their business in the early Saturday sunlight.

I got a chance to finally chat with Dennis from Grinnell. He was riding a Gen II Fargo that he says has put all his other rigs out to pasture. He likes the Fargo so much it has pretty much taken over his cycling. In fact, you might catch him riding it on RAGBRAI.

Meanwhile we were all wrapping up final preparations to get going again. Bottles were being filled and gooped up with electrolytes and what have you. Helmets were being strapped to noggins, and it was looking like we'd be pulling out soon when Jeremy came up.

Jeremy started late, by-passed the first B Road section to save time, and caught up with the group. He had to get refueled so he waved us onward saying he'd catch us up the road. So, in the bright sunlight we took off out of Brooklyn on a zig-zaggy course which would lead us to an overpass of I-80 and back on the T.I.V8 course again. I was looking forward to this section as it would eventually veer off the T.I.V8 course and into a big chunk of country I hadn't seen yet on our leg to Grinnell and lunch.

More B Road!

I got a little confused on just where the route re-entered the T.I.V8 course, but John, who was in the event, caught on right away, recognizing a farmstead. He set me straight on where we were, and then I saw a "S" curve that I knew well which then reset my mind's GPS coordinates.

Sometimes I need a little "bump" to get the synapses clicking in the right order!

We went just about to Montezuma, where Checkpoint Alpha was this year, but we turned West before that and headed off into that uncharted territory I mentioned before. It wasn't long before I saw my favorite road sign: "Gravel Ends", and we were rolling down a somewhat steep grade on some awesome double track dirt road.

We decided to take a "safety break" here and lounged under the shade of some trees overhanging a deeply cut in creek. Dennis walked up to me and said he knew the way back from that point so we shouldn't wait around for him if we got ahead of him. He kindly thanked me and asked me to take his picture, which I did. After about 15 minutes of lounging around, we saddled back up and cruised out of the valley.

Flower lined gravel

 We hit one more section of B Road and then turned Northward back towards Grinnell and lunch. On the way, the hills got big, the descents fast, and the sun was a lot hotter. There still was little wind, but every time we turned west to sawtooth our way over a mile, the Southerly breeze would cool things down a few degrees. Going North brought the heat big time.

I was pleased to see the sides of the road rife with wild flowers of purple, blue, white, and yellow. So different than what we have back home. That was a bonus for the ride for me.

Although this leg was "only" 28.5 miles, it seemed to take longer than the first leg. Probably it was the bigger hills. It may have had something to do with the hotter temps, I don't know. I found myself cruising along with Matt, Jeremy, and Mike for most of this sector. Everyone else was strung out behind us. Back at the "safety stop", Craig had complained of cramping already, so we offered to download him some electrolyte, but undoubtedly the heat was taking its toll on him and all of us.

The new gravel-to-me was fun though, and I enjoyed this last bit. We ended up finally getting on the outbound T.I.V6 course as we tracked it backward into Grinnell. It wouldn't be long till lunch time now.

Next: The Longest Leg

Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitational 2012: Report Part I

Getting It Started: The GTDRI is a ride that means a lot to me. I do the ride to test myself, see some cool countryside, and to invite anyone that desires to ride, to come along for the adventure. There isn't anything more to it than that, but the people that do come always blow me away with their friendship, spirit, and efforts.

Home base for the ride.

This year I decided to move the ride to Grinnell. I like the terrain around Grinnell, and I wanted to share bits of former Trans Iowa courses, (not to mention experience them first hand from the saddle of a bicycle), with others. The route I wanted to take was easy to figure out, and I even went through some different areas I had not been through just for fun.

The move to Grinnell meant that I wouldn't be "roughing it" by camping. I figured with the heat we've seen this year, I needed a cool, restful night of sleep to tackle what would become the second longest ride I've ever done. Me and heat don't mix too well, so this seemed to be a good idea.  I barely got a room though, since Grinnell is so close to Iowa Speedway, and a trucks race meant most rooms were spoken for.

I arrived in Grinnell around 7:30pm, and I met up with Courtney who was in town for the ride. He decided to camp out, so we rendezvoused downtown at Lonski's in Grinnell for some grub and New Belgiums.

Matt Wills arrived from Lincoln, NE for the ride.

 Courtney and I had some great conversation and I tried not to indulge in too many Fat Tire Ales! We said our good nights, and I departed for my motel room to get some shut eye.

The night went by and I awoke at 4:30am to start getting set up to ride. I knew from the previous day that Matt would be driving in, (he started at 1am!), from Lincoln, Nebraska and was to meet me outside the motel. I wanted to be ready by about 5:20am to make sure Matt didn't have to wait too long for me. I made pretty good time getting ready though, and it was a good thing I was ahead of schedule!

Matt texted me at 5:07am saying he was there, so I did a few last second things and met him outside. I was super humbled that he made the effort to come, since he left at 1am to drive up, then do the ride with no sleep. Matt seemed just stoked to be there and to be spending an entire day on his bike, which was his beautiful Soulcraft "Fat Road" 1X8 rig.

With a few minutes more for Matt to get kitted up, we were off to ride the three miles from the motel to Bikes To You where I had told everyone to meet at 6:00am.

David- turn it around!

I didn't know how many folks would actually show up. I knew from previous day's e-mails, Facebook posts, and texts that Courtney, Matt, Dennis, Jeremy, and John and his son would be making it up for the ride. Friday evening I saw Mike's rig there in the parking lot of the motel I was staying in, so I figured he'd be in for the ride.

So when Matt and I rounded the corner to Bikes To you, I was only surprised that Craig was also in on the ride. Everyone else I figured on was there, except Jeremy, who was going to start late and catch us. Well, that would eventually make for 9 riders total. That's an excellent turn out for this ride, so I was really floored. Dennis, who was from Grinnell, was only planning on doing the first 65 miles which brought the route back to Grinnell, but everyone else was thinking of chewing off the whole bite.

Pictures were taken and last second preparations were made. We finally hit the route at about a quarter after 6.

Beautiful country

Our route was the beginning of Trans Iowa V8 for the first 30 miles. That meant that the group headed north up to just about the Powesheik County border before turning East. The weather was cool, humid, but there was no wind, and everything was peaceful.

The road was mostly up, rolling, but the grades weren't steep, and the roads were really quite smooth. (I know you T.I.V8 veterans will be unbelievers there, but really, the roads were near perfection!) We were motoring along at a pretty decent clip, but I didn't think anyone was feeling too worked just yet. Folks were sticking together and I wanted to make some hay before the weather got really hot, which it was looking like it was going to do later on.

One other thing I remarked on was how lush and green everything was where we were riding. The drought has really taken a toll up where I live. Lots of curled up corn, stunted beans, and corn that is completely dead and brown. Here it was the picture of health, but I suppose the heat has affected even these crops negatively, just not so you could see it. My riding companion, Mike, who lives up where I do agreed that things looked much nicer down around Grinnell. Even the wild flowers were in bloom, which totally floored me. I was expecting to see lots of brown and no flowers at all.

John's silhouette at the top of a B Road

Another concern that was growing as we went Eastward was the condition of B Maintenance roads. The area had gotten plenty of rain, which was obvious by the puddles we were observing at the bottoms of hills. Several B Maintenance roads we passed looked really wet and mucky too.

Our first B Maintenance road came at a place I routed around for T.I.V8, so it was all new to everyone on the ride. We dove straight on in to find that it was almost like dry cookie dough in consistency.  Your tires would sink in, and some of the dirt would stick to the tires, but would almost immediately fling off your tires as there just was not enough moisture to make the dirt collect.

I had visions of hike-a-bike coming into this, but much to our pleasure, it wasn't to be. The B Road went up a steep grade at first, which was great as the terrain was drier near the top of the hill. I didn't think we were out of the woods just yet though. I knew from past experiences that when the down hill side comes, there is often a big mess at the bottom.

Fortunately, it had firmed up enough that only one spot presented a bit of an obstacle to our "clean" passage, but that was easily gotten around. Back up once more to a right hander and back on to the Trans Iowa V8 course again for a while. Everyone was still together, so we pushed on to some more long-ish, rolling hills and descents which would lead us closer to our "breakfast stop".

I had eaten a couple of Clif Bars for my breakfast at 4:45am, but those were wearing off and I was getting hungry. I ate a few Shot Bloks and drank more fluids to tide me over.

Mike and Craig on the last B Road to Brooklyn

We finally made a turn Eastward and down, then up a hill to what was the first B Road on the T.I.V8 course. I recall that day on T.I.V8, sitting there shivering in a cold blast of East wind, squinting into the dim, dank scene looking for the T.I.V8 leaders. That day the B Road was a mess. This time it was dry and dusty.

We were flying down hill, silent, as you can only do on a B Road when it is dry, and I could see plumes of dust flying off the guy's tires ahead of me. It was a ton of fun, and why I like riding on B Maintenance roads in the summer.

Of course, there were two, really steep climbs coming out of this section leading to where we would leave the T.I.V8 course for a while. The road we took towards Brooklyn was actually part of the T.I.V5 course, only we were doing it backward. The hills get long and the grades slacker here, but it is still work none the less. Still- we were all together yet, and I had gotten word from Jeremy that he was on course and chasing us.

By now it was not cool anymore and the sun was full up in the sky. We were closing in on about 30 plus miles and Brooklyn was in our sights. We were all looking forward to a bit of rest, as we hadn't really taken a full on stop since leaving Grinnell. We got to Brooklyn in 2hr 54min, so I felt good about that. Not a pace that would win any races, but for such a diverse group of riders, we were doing nicely.

Tomorrow: Brooklyn and Beyond

Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitational 2012: Report Part I

Getting It Started: The GTDRI is a ride that means a lot to me. I do the ride to test myself, see some cool countryside, and to invite anyone that desires to ride, to come along for the adventure. There isn't anything more to it than that, but the people that do come always blow me away with their friendship, spirit, and efforts.

Home base for the ride.

This year I decided to move the ride to Grinnell. I like the terrain around Grinnell, and I wanted to share bits of former Trans Iowa courses, (not to mention experience them first hand from the saddle of a bicycle), with others. The route I wanted to take was easy to figure out, and I even went through some different areas I had not been through just for fun.

The move to Grinnell meant that I wouldn't be "roughing it" by camping. I figured with the heat we've seen this year, I needed a cool, restful night of sleep to tackle what would become the second longest ride I've ever done. Me and heat don't mix too well, so this seemed to be a good idea.  I barely got a room though, since Grinnell is so close to Iowa Speedway, and a trucks race meant most rooms were spoken for.

I arrived in Grinnell around 7:30pm, and I met up with Courtney who was in town for the ride. He decided to camp out, so we rendezvoused downtown at Lonski's in Grinnell for some grub and New Belgiums.

Matt Wills arrived from Lincoln, NE for the ride.

 Courtney and I had some great conversation and I tried not to indulge in too many Fat Tire Ales! We said our good nights, and I departed for my motel room to get some shut eye.

The night went by and I awoke at 4:30am to start getting set up to ride. I knew from the previous day that Matt would be driving in, (he started at 1am!), from Lincoln, Nebraska and was to meet me outside the motel. I wanted to be ready by about 5:20am to make sure Matt didn't have to wait too long for me. I made pretty good time getting ready though, and it was a good thing I was ahead of schedule!

Matt texted me at 5:07am saying he was there, so I did a few last second things and met him outside. I was super humbled that he made the effort to come, since he left at 1am to drive up, then do the ride with no sleep. Matt seemed just stoked to be there and to be spending an entire day on his bike, which was his beautiful Soulcraft "Fat Road" 1X8 rig.

With a few minutes more for Matt to get kitted up, we were off to ride the three miles from the motel to Bikes To You where I had told everyone to meet at 6:00am.

David- turn it around!

I didn't know how many folks would actually show up. I knew from previous day's e-mails, Facebook posts, and texts that Courtney, Matt, Dennis, Jeremy, and John and his son would be making it up for the ride. Friday evening I saw Mike's rig there in the parking lot of the motel I was staying in, so I figured he'd be in for the ride.

So when Matt and I rounded the corner to Bikes To you, I was only surprised that Craig was also in on the ride. Everyone else I figured on was there, except Jeremy, who was going to start late and catch us. Well, that would eventually make for 9 riders total. That's an excellent turn out for this ride, so I was really floored. Dennis, who was from Grinnell, was only planning on doing the first 65 miles which brought the route back to Grinnell, but everyone else was thinking of chewing off the whole bite.

Pictures were taken and last second preparations were made. We finally hit the route at about a quarter after 6.

Beautiful country

Our route was the beginning of Trans Iowa V8 for the first 30 miles. That meant that the group headed north up to just about the Powesheik County border before turning East. The weather was cool, humid, but there was no wind, and everything was peaceful.

The road was mostly up, rolling, but the grades weren't steep, and the roads were really quite smooth. (I know you T.I.V8 veterans will be unbelievers there, but really, the roads were near perfection!) We were motoring along at a pretty decent clip, but I didn't think anyone was feeling too worked just yet. Folks were sticking together and I wanted to make some hay before the weather got really hot, which it was looking like it was going to do later on.

One other thing I remarked on was how lush and green everything was where we were riding. The drought has really taken a toll up where I live. Lots of curled up corn, stunted beans, and corn that is completely dead and brown. Here it was the picture of health, but I suppose the heat has affected even these crops negatively, just not so you could see it. My riding companion, Mike, who lives up where I do agreed that things looked much nicer down around Grinnell. Even the wild flowers were in bloom, which totally floored me. I was expecting to see lots of brown and no flowers at all.

John's silhouette at the top of a B Road

Another concern that was growing as we went Eastward was the condition of B Maintenance roads. The area had gotten plenty of rain, which was obvious by the puddles we were observing at the bottoms of hills. Several B Maintenance roads we passed looked really wet and mucky too.

Our first B Maintenance road came at a place I routed around for T.I.V8, so it was all new to everyone on the ride. We dove straight on in to find that it was almost like dry cookie dough in consistency.  Your tires would sink in, and some of the dirt would stick to the tires, but would almost immediately fling off your tires as there just was not enough moisture to make the dirt collect.

I had visions of hike-a-bike coming into this, but much to our pleasure, it wasn't to be. The B Road went up a steep grade at first, which was great as the terrain was drier near the top of the hill. I didn't think we were out of the woods just yet though. I knew from past experiences that when the down hill side comes, there is often a big mess at the bottom.

Fortunately, it had firmed up enough that only one spot presented a bit of an obstacle to our "clean" passage, but that was easily gotten around. Back up once more to a right hander and back on to the Trans Iowa V8 course again for a while. Everyone was still together, so we pushed on to some more long-ish, rolling hills and descents which would lead us closer to our "breakfast stop".

I had eaten a couple of Clif Bars for my breakfast at 4:45am, but those were wearing off and I was getting hungry. I ate a few Shot Bloks and drank more fluids to tide me over.

Mike and Craig on the last B Road to Brooklyn

We finally made a turn Eastward and down, then up a hill to what was the first B Road on the T.I.V8 course. I recall that day on T.I.V8, sitting there shivering in a cold blast of East wind, squinting into the dim, dank scene looking for the T.I.V8 leaders. That day the B Road was a mess. This time it was dry and dusty.

We were flying down hill, silent, as you can only do on a B Road when it is dry, and I could see plumes of dust flying off the guy's tires ahead of me. It was a ton of fun, and why I like riding on B Maintenance roads in the summer.

Of course, there were two, really steep climbs coming out of this section leading to where we would leave the T.I.V8 course for a while. The road we took towards Brooklyn was actually part of the T.I.V5 course, only we were doing it backward. The hills get long and the grades slacker here, but it is still work none the less. Still- we were all together yet, and I had gotten word from Jeremy that he was on course and chasing us.

By now it was not cool anymore and the sun was full up in the sky. We were closing in on about 30 plus miles and Brooklyn was in our sights. We were all looking forward to a bit of rest, as we hadn't really taken a full on stop since leaving Grinnell. We got to Brooklyn in 2hr 54min, so I felt good about that. Not a pace that would win any races, but for such a diverse group of riders, we were doing nicely.

Tomorrow: Brooklyn and Beyond

Barns For Jason- The GTDRI Version

There will be a report on the Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitational coming up, but here are some "Barns For Jason", ('cause he shoulda been there), from the ride. Here we go...

And one ride image!

Okay, more from the 126 mile Guitar Ted Death Ride invitational to come. Remember- you can click on any image to enlarge it.

Barns For Jason- The GTDRI Version

There will be a report on the Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitational coming up, but here are some "Barns For Jason", ('cause he shoulda been there), from the ride. Here we go...

And one ride image!

Okay, more from the 126 mile Guitar Ted Death Ride invitational to come. Remember- you can click on any image to enlarge it.

Trans Iowa Radio

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Trans Iowa Radio

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Trans Iowa Radio

powered by Hipcast.com

Trans Iowa Radio

powered by Hipcast.com

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!