Trans Iowa v14: Recon Report

Well, we did it. We drove the entire course, plus a bit of a reroute. We finished after dark, We started in Waterloo at 6:00am and I got dropped off by Tony at 6:32pm. We drove a total of just under 500 miles to, doing the route, and back home again. I actually woke up for this adventure at 4:30am, so as I write this, I am a bit discombobulated.

Okay, so with a totally new route, new first checkpoint location, 14 or 15 sections of Level B roads, and some rad historical and cultural things to see along the way, I was excited to check out the route. Tony and I were all business. We just didn't have time to dink around anywhere. We did our stops like we were in the event. Get 'er duuun! In and out in a flash.

The route was going swimmingly with Level B's checking out and all the mileage being spot on until we saw it. "Road Closed To Through Traffic". Uggh! Okay, let's go see what is up here! Well, as it turns out, the road was great right up to the closed bridge, which has a perfectly good deck but is woefully under-engineered for today's Ag equipment. So, we're going to allow the riders passage as long as everything checks out next Spring.

We got started before the Sun rose, so this is from the course.

We saw lots of "fixer-uppers" yesterday!

The weather was gorgeous and we were able to drive every Level B Road with ease. Some Tony was calling "50 mile an hour Level B's" and he really did go that fast on them!

The Level B's were dry and super fast yesterday. Will they be that way in April? Maybe. It has happened!

This is why we do recon. On every map you can find this road is shown as being open.

Once again, we were rewarded for doing recon in the field by finding an "open road" which clearly was not and had not been that way for quite a while.

GPS from three different sources, (including the guy who puts out that gravel route map), and paper maps including the State DOT maps all show this road being clear. Yep.......you can only trust your eyes. Putting your trust in analogue or digital technology is a fools errand. Trust in that stuff at your own risk. I do not trust that stuff. For me, it is merely suggestions and maybe they will be true. I would have been floored had we not found something like this. In fact, I expected more. Glad we found an easy reroute for this and that there were not more issues.

So, my take on the route is that it is mostly good. There are about twenty or so miles I was disappointed in. I likely will reroute that section as well, but it is in an area I think will not prove to have any weird issues. But.......you never know! Of course, it is at a point about as far away from me as you can get. Why wouldn't it be? Ha!

So, I'll have more details in a follow-up post at a later date. We identified a checkpoint #2, but the mileage may change if I reroute the aforementioned section I don't like. I will have a solid amount of miles of dirt to share with you later as well, since that all checked out. Oh! By the way, I think that there was one "bonus" section of Level B. So maybe 15 sections of dirt? I'll have the final tally for you all later.

That's it for now though. I am tired!

Trans Iowa v14: Recon Report

Well, we did it. We drove the entire course, plus a bit of a reroute. We finished after dark, We started in Waterloo at 6:00am and I got dropped off by Tony at 6:32pm. We drove a total of just under 500 miles to, doing the route, and back home again. I actually woke up for this adventure at 4:30am, so as I write this, I am a bit discombobulated.

Okay, so with a totally new route, new first checkpoint location, 14 or 15 sections of Level B roads, and some rad historical and cultural things to see along the way, I was excited to check out the route. Tony and I were all business. We just didn't have time to dink around anywhere. We did our stops like we were in the event. Get 'er duuun! In and out in a flash.

The route was going swimmingly with Level B's checking out and all the mileage being spot on until we saw it. "Road Closed To Through Traffic". Uggh! Okay, let's go see what is up here! Well, as it turns out, the road was great right up to the closed bridge, which has a perfectly good deck but is woefully under-engineered for today's Ag equipment. So, we're going to allow the riders passage as long as everything checks out next Spring.

We got started before the Sun rose, so this is from the course.

We saw lots of "fixer-uppers" yesterday!

The weather was gorgeous and we were able to drive every Level B Road with ease. Some Tony was calling "50 mile an hour Level B's" and he really did go that fast on them!

The Level B's were dry and super fast yesterday. Will they be that way in April? Maybe. It has happened!

This is why we do recon. On every map you can find this road is shown as being open.

Once again, we were rewarded for doing recon in the field by finding an "open road" which clearly was not and had not been that way for quite a while.

GPS from three different sources, (including the guy who puts out that gravel route map), and paper maps including the State DOT maps all show this road being clear. Yep.......you can only trust your eyes. Putting your trust in analogue or digital technology is a fools errand. Trust in that stuff at your own risk. I do not trust that stuff. For me, it is merely suggestions and maybe they will be true. I would have been floored had we not found something like this. In fact, I expected more. Glad we found an easy reroute for this and that there were not more issues.

So, my take on the route is that it is mostly good. There are about twenty or so miles I was disappointed in. I likely will reroute that section as well, but it is in an area I think will not prove to have any weird issues. But.......you never know! Of course, it is at a point about as far away from me as you can get. Why wouldn't it be? Ha!

So, I'll have more details in a follow-up post at a later date. We identified a checkpoint #2, but the mileage may change if I reroute the aforementioned section I don't like. I will have a solid amount of miles of dirt to share with you later as well, since that all checked out. Oh! By the way, I think that there was one "bonus" section of Level B. So maybe 15 sections of dirt? I'll have the final tally for you all later.

That's it for now though. I am tired!

Rear View '17: Part 2

The look back on the year for 2017- dubbed "Rear View", is a traditional year ending series on the blog each year here. This is Part 2.

March ended with the tragedy of Mike Hall's death and a few days into April and we got the news that Steve Tilford had died. What a bad couple of weeks there. But that was only a precursor to a death which would hit a lot closer to home for me on April 16th. That was Easter, and it was also the day my father in law died, which then threw life into a tizzy with only two weeks to go before Trans Iowa v13.

There was one bright spot in the midst of early April and that was the Gent's Race which had its own story once again. We missed one of our team mates but gained a new one in Steve Fuller's wife Kathy. Sam was struggling mightily, wanting to quit, but "sucking at it"so much he was going to actually finish before a tire came undone on him with three miles to go.

Three freakin' miles!

Then came Trans Iowa v13. Wow! What an epic one too. Six finishers. Rain, wind, and mud. Just a crazy time. I was wrecked again after this one, but much more in the physical sense than emotionally.

After that came a Geezer Ride which went off without a hitch in May, then it was time to get ready to go to Kansas to do the "DK My Way" ride, which turned out to be a success. Unfortunately my friend Tony had a bad day in the DK200, wrecking out and trashing his Fargo in the process so badly he had to replace the frame. At least he was okay!

We got home from that adventure for a bit more relaxing time previous to my running of another Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitational in July. But the Wednesday's off were filled with rain during this time and I missed a lot of opportunities to ride due to that.

Next: Part 3

Rear View '17: Part 2

The look back on the year for 2017- dubbed "Rear View", is a traditional year ending series on the blog each year here. This is Part 2.

March ended with the tragedy of Mike Hall's death and a few days into April and we got the news that Steve Tilford had died. What a bad couple of weeks there. But that was only a precursor to a death which would hit a lot closer to home for me on April 16th. That was Easter, and it was also the day my father in law died, which then threw life into a tizzy with only two weeks to go before Trans Iowa v13.

There was one bright spot in the midst of early April and that was the Gent's Race which had its own story once again. We missed one of our team mates but gained a new one in Steve Fuller's wife Kathy. Sam was struggling mightily, wanting to quit, but "sucking at it"so much he was going to actually finish before a tire came undone on him with three miles to go.

Three freakin' miles!

Then came Trans Iowa v13. Wow! What an epic one too. Six finishers. Rain, wind, and mud. Just a crazy time. I was wrecked again after this one, but much more in the physical sense than emotionally.

After that came a Geezer Ride which went off without a hitch in May, then it was time to get ready to go to Kansas to do the "DK My Way" ride, which turned out to be a success. Unfortunately my friend Tony had a bad day in the DK200, wrecking out and trashing his Fargo in the process so badly he had to replace the frame. At least he was okay!

We got home from that adventure for a bit more relaxing time previous to my running of another Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitational in July. But the Wednesday's off were filled with rain during this time and I missed a lot of opportunities to ride due to that.

Next: Part 3

Carbon Is Black Not Green

Carbon fiber: Ultimate frame material or environmental disaster?

Bicycling in the 21st Century is a much different affair than it has been anytime previous to this era. While much of the past in bicycling was accomplished in and on metal, today it is increasingly being done on bike frames, forks, and parts made from carbon fiber.

Most of us never think twice about this. Carbon fiber usage maybe will raise a few concerns about strength and failures, but we almost never consider the origins of our lightest, most sexy bits for cycling. When you start to dig in to this, and how the end cycle of these carbon bicycles looks, you begin to realize it isn't as sexy and cool as the industry makes it out to be.

The situation is somewhat tragically ironic. Many think of cycling as the most green and efficient means of human transportation. The impact of cycling on our world is all too often focused on the end activity and how that compares to other activities. However; we really need to take into account the origins of the bits and baubles we pedal. When one sits down to do this, it becomes apparent that carbon fiber has an ugly, black side to it.

Just the making of carbon fiber fabric is intensely unfriendly to the environment. Fabric is heated in several stages, but not burned since this process lacks oxygen. It is done in a controlled way in order to render the fabric into carbon fiber. It is an energy intensive process and it creates several gasses, including CO2, as a byproduct. Hmm....not looking so green already. But then you have the resin which binds the fabric together, more pressure and heat, and the hand labor, don't forget that part. In one resource I found, it was stated that carbon takes about 14 times more energy to produce than steel.

A sheet of carbon fiber

One of the byproducts of making carbon parts, besides the greenhouse gasses, is........left over carbon fiber bits. Sheets are cut, carbon parts are sanded and ground down, and the resulting waste, about a third of each sheet ends up so, cannot be recycled easily. In fact, according to one account, the waste is dumped into the sea!

As I stated, carbon fiber can now be recycled, but the process is expensive, energy intensive, and it isn't widespread. Waste carbon is typically dumped into landfills where it can stay in its original state indefinitely.

Of course, alternatives to carbon for cycling are not  without their own environmental issues. The making of steel, aluminum, and especially titanium, is pretty "un-green". That said, most of these bits and frames are recycled and repaired more easily than carbon fiber frames and parts are. While carbon fiber can have a long lifespan, it does fail, wear out, and when it does, it becomes a liability. Not to mention how where this stuff is made is being polluted by the processes necessary to make it. If you are a cyclist that cares about the environment, that might be a concern.

It's hard not to fall for the lightweight charms of carbon fiber, that's for sure. However; I'm not so sure most of us have considered, or even know about, carbon fiber's creation processes and end of life cycle concerns. It is definitely something to take seriously, in my opinion.

Carbon Is Black Not Green

Carbon fiber: Ultimate frame material or environmental disaster?

Bicycling in the 21st Century is a much different affair than it has been anytime previous to this era. While much of the past in bicycling was accomplished in and on metal, today it is increasingly being done on bike frames, forks, and parts made from carbon fiber.

Most of us never think twice about this. Carbon fiber usage maybe will raise a few concerns about strength and failures, but we almost never consider the origins of our lightest, most sexy bits for cycling. When you start to dig in to this, and how the end cycle of these carbon bicycles looks, you begin to realize it isn't as sexy and cool as the industry makes it out to be.

The situation is somewhat tragically ironic. Many think of cycling as the most green and efficient means of human transportation. The impact of cycling on our world is all too often focused on the end activity and how that compares to other activities. However; we really need to take into account the origins of the bits and baubles we pedal. When one sits down to do this, it becomes apparent that carbon fiber has an ugly, black side to it.

Just the making of carbon fiber fabric is intensely unfriendly to the environment. Fabric is heated in several stages, but not burned since this process lacks oxygen. It is done in a controlled way in order to render the fabric into carbon fiber. It is an energy intensive process and it creates several gasses, including CO2, as a byproduct. Hmm....not looking so green already. But then you have the resin which binds the fabric together, more pressure and heat, and the hand labor, don't forget that part. In one resource I found, it was stated that carbon takes about 14 times more energy to produce than steel.

A sheet of carbon fiber

One of the byproducts of making carbon parts, besides the greenhouse gasses, is........left over carbon fiber bits. Sheets are cut, carbon parts are sanded and ground down, and the resulting waste, about a third of each sheet ends up so, cannot be recycled easily. In fact, according to one account, the waste is dumped into the sea!

As I stated, carbon fiber can now be recycled, but the process is expensive, energy intensive, and it isn't widespread. Waste carbon is typically dumped into landfills where it can stay in its original state indefinitely.

Of course, alternatives to carbon for cycling are not  without their own environmental issues. The making of steel, aluminum, and especially titanium, is pretty "un-green". That said, most of these bits and frames are recycled and repaired more easily than carbon fiber frames and parts are. While carbon fiber can have a long lifespan, it does fail, wear out, and when it does, it becomes a liability. Not to mention how where this stuff is made is being polluted by the processes necessary to make it. If you are a cyclist that cares about the environment, that might be a concern.

It's hard not to fall for the lightweight charms of carbon fiber, that's for sure. However; I'm not so sure most of us have considered, or even know about, carbon fiber's creation processes and end of life cycle concerns. It is definitely something to take seriously, in my opinion.

Bikes Of 2017: Twin Six Standard Rando

It is that time of year when I start reviewing the bikes that got me through 2017. Many of these bikes have been tweaked and changed so I will talk about that and why they were important to me this past year.

Another standard of 2017, (HA!), was the Twin Six rig, which sees duties as my 650B tire testing mule most of the time. I don't think I had a 700c wheel in this frame throughout 2017.

I also swapped in the Redshift Sports ShockStop stem this year from a review on RidingGravel.com. Boy, did that make a big difference. I had put a Salsa Cycles Cowchipper on the bike as well, which also helped a ton. My left shoulder was a big problem during 2016 and these modifications made a huge difference in totally relieving the pain I had which caused me to not ride this bike much at all during 2016. I also swapped out the SRAM Force 22 group, keeping only the crankset on the bike, for Shimano Ultegra 11. That also was a much liked change.

I feel like I gave SRAM a shot but it just isn't for me. The shifting was slower and clunky, plus I didn't get on with the levers and hoods at all. The Shimano is an improvement in almost every way. This goes only for myself here, but I cannot imagine any way that SRAM is better for a drop bar set up. Okay........maybe E-tap. Maybe.

Depending what happens with Black Mountain Cycles disc bike for next year, which I'd like to get, this bike may go on the sale page in some form or another. But we'll see.

Bikes Of 2017: Twin Six Standard Rando

It is that time of year when I start reviewing the bikes that got me through 2017. Many of these bikes have been tweaked and changed so I will talk about that and why they were important to me this past year.

Another standard of 2017, (HA!), was the Twin Six rig, which sees duties as my 650B tire testing mule most of the time. I don't think I had a 700c wheel in this frame throughout 2017.

I also swapped in the Redshift Sports ShockStop stem this year from a review on RidingGravel.com. Boy, did that make a big difference. I had put a Salsa Cycles Cowchipper on the bike as well, which also helped a ton. My left shoulder was a big problem during 2016 and these modifications made a huge difference in totally relieving the pain I had which caused me to not ride this bike much at all during 2016. I also swapped out the SRAM Force 22 group, keeping only the crankset on the bike, for Shimano Ultegra 11. That also was a much liked change.

I feel like I gave SRAM a shot but it just isn't for me. The shifting was slower and clunky, plus I didn't get on with the levers and hoods at all. The Shimano is an improvement in almost every way. This goes only for myself here, but I cannot imagine any way that SRAM is better for a drop bar set up. Okay........maybe E-tap. Maybe.

Depending what happens with Black Mountain Cycles disc bike for next year, which I'd like to get, this bike may go on the sale page in some form or another. But we'll see.

Bonus News And Views

Hold the presses! It's 1992 again!

All City introduces the Electric Queen:

No- it isn't an e-bike.

No- it isn't a vacuum cleaner. (Although it could Hoover all the money out of your wallet in January when it becomes available.)

No- It isn't a 1992 Park-Pre hard tail. (Although it looks like it could be from that era.)

Nope- it is the ubiquitous slack, long, and short rear ended steel hard tail that everybody and their brother is making now. Welcome to the sheep show, All City. Get to know the dozen or so like minded designers and their bikes out there.

I will say that the fade paint with splatter is dead on early 90's though. All City nailed that one. Nicely done chaps!  

Salsas does kids bikes.....again.

 Salsa Introduces Kids Bikes Again:

Back in the day, (as they say), Ross Shafer of Salsa Cycles, who started the brand,  made a serious 24" wheeled kids bike. It flopped because it cost what an adult's bike cost, and ya know......kids grow like weeds. Get them a bike that fits today and two years from now they look like a circus bear on a bike. Parents don't like making high dollar short term recreational investments. At least not in this market which I am intimately familiar with in this Mid-Western town.

That's why I am not jumping for joy about $500.00 plus kid's bikes from Salsa Cycles. I mean, yeah.......for a few folks, this is rad. But for most parents I see coming in, this is going to be a non-starter. $250.00 Trek kids bikes are one thing, doubling the money? Yeah......I don't think that's going to fly here. 

Maybe where you live it will. I don't know.  

Velocity does now indeed have fat bike wheels.

 Velocity USA Fat Bike Wheels Confirmed:

If you are a regular reader of the blog you know that a while back I came across some Velocity fat bike hubs on an online retailer's site. There had been no word from Velocity about that and I found that really odd. Plus, I wondered if Velocity would be partnering with someone to do full wheel builds.

Well, Friday Velocity announced that it will be selling wheels and hubs for fat bikes now. Huzzah! 

The rim company they partnered with is HED and they are offering the carbon and aluminum rims in a Comp and Pro build along with just hubs if you want them. Head over to Velocity USA for all the details.

I may have to see if I can lighten up my Blackborow a bit with a set of these wheels and tubeless tires.

Bonus News And Views

Hold the presses! It's 1992 again!

All City introduces the Electric Queen:

No- it isn't an e-bike.

No- it isn't a vacuum cleaner. (Although it could Hoover all the money out of your wallet in January when it becomes available.)

No- It isn't a 1992 Park-Pre hard tail. (Although it looks like it could be from that era.)

Nope- it is the ubiquitous slack, long, and short rear ended steel hard tail that everybody and their brother is making now. Welcome to the sheep show, All City. Get to know the dozen or so like minded designers and their bikes out there.

I will say that the fade paint with splatter is dead on early 90's though. All City nailed that one. Nicely done chaps!  

Salsas does kids bikes.....again.

 Salsa Introduces Kids Bikes Again:

Back in the day, (as they say), Ross Shafer of Salsa Cycles, who started the brand,  made a serious 24" wheeled kids bike. It flopped because it cost what an adult's bike cost, and ya know......kids grow like weeds. Get them a bike that fits today and two years from now they look like a circus bear on a bike. Parents don't like making high dollar short term recreational investments. At least not in this market which I am intimately familiar with in this Mid-Western town.

That's why I am not jumping for joy about $500.00 plus kid's bikes from Salsa Cycles. I mean, yeah.......for a few folks, this is rad. But for most parents I see coming in, this is going to be a non-starter. $250.00 Trek kids bikes are one thing, doubling the money? Yeah......I don't think that's going to fly here. 

Maybe where you live it will. I don't know.  

Velocity does now indeed have fat bike wheels.

 Velocity USA Fat Bike Wheels Confirmed:

If you are a regular reader of the blog you know that a while back I came across some Velocity fat bike hubs on an online retailer's site. There had been no word from Velocity about that and I found that really odd. Plus, I wondered if Velocity would be partnering with someone to do full wheel builds.

Well, Friday Velocity announced that it will be selling wheels and hubs for fat bikes now. Huzzah! 

The rim company they partnered with is HED and they are offering the carbon and aluminum rims in a Comp and Pro build along with just hubs if you want them. Head over to Velocity USA for all the details.

I may have to see if I can lighten up my Blackborow a bit with a set of these wheels and tubeless tires.

Minus Ten Review- 50

Ten years ago on the blog I was busy doing the "Rear View" for 2007. But I did do one post IO think maybe I should try again. "The Top Ten Weird Things of 2007".

Here's the list as it appeared in 2007. Some of the things are still relevant today, but some are dated. You can guess which is which. Here we go...

The Top Ten Weird Things of 2007

1. Las Vegas. If you haven't been there, it is hard to explain this. If you have- 'nuff said!

2. Driving around Iowa for 30 plus hours with a car full of alcohol during Trans Iowa V3.

4. The feelings experienced around hour 40 of no sleep just after T.I.V3

5. Watching a Luther College athlete "breathe fire" at a campground in Decorah during the Big Wheeled Ballyhoo, then ride trail all the next day while drinking said fire.

6. Mike Curiak's personal Lenz Lunchbox 29"er. By the numbers, and for the amount of travel this machine has, it should handle like a pig. The crazy thing is, it rides and handles better than some hard tail 29"ers out there.

7. How a certain individual was allowed to sell directly on mtbr.com (650B stuff) and another individual was blamed for doing this, (and wasn't) and got banned not once, but twice.

8. Somebody posted a thread on mtbr.com on the 29"er forum regarding his loss of feelings for his wife/marriage. While sad, (if not a hoax) it is very weird.

9. That we are getting the third ice storm in 2007 and we still have 20 days left to go in the year.

10. That I have the gig writing that I do and that people still enjoy reading my scribin' Now that's weird!

Minus Ten Review- 50

Ten years ago on the blog I was busy doing the "Rear View" for 2007. But I did do one post IO think maybe I should try again. "The Top Ten Weird Things of 2007".

Here's the list as it appeared in 2007. Some of the things are still relevant today, but some are dated. You can guess which is which. Here we go...

The Top Ten Weird Things of 2007

1. Las Vegas. If you haven't been there, it is hard to explain this. If you have- 'nuff said!

2. Driving around Iowa for 30 plus hours with a car full of alcohol during Trans Iowa V3.

4. The feelings experienced around hour 40 of no sleep just after T.I.V3

5. Watching a Luther College athlete "breathe fire" at a campground in Decorah during the Big Wheeled Ballyhoo, then ride trail all the next day while drinking said fire.

6. Mike Curiak's personal Lenz Lunchbox 29"er. By the numbers, and for the amount of travel this machine has, it should handle like a pig. The crazy thing is, it rides and handles better than some hard tail 29"ers out there.

7. How a certain individual was allowed to sell directly on mtbr.com (650B stuff) and another individual was blamed for doing this, (and wasn't) and got banned not once, but twice.

8. Somebody posted a thread on mtbr.com on the 29"er forum regarding his loss of feelings for his wife/marriage. While sad, (if not a hoax) it is very weird.

9. That we are getting the third ice storm in 2007 and we still have 20 days left to go in the year.

10. That I have the gig writing that I do and that people still enjoy reading my scribin' Now that's weird!

Friday News And Views

The lottery submission process ends Saturday night.

DK200 Lottery Entries Close Saturday Night And Thoughts:

The inaugural Dirty Kanza lottery process has its first stage close on Saturday evening when all submissions must be in. The next step will be for the selection process to begin. It isn't quite clear to me how that will work, but then again, it doesn't matter. It's their event and they can do whatever they deem right for them.

I know I will not be going down this coming year. My feeling is that some others are deciding against the event as well. Prices for entry seem to be the main reason I am seeing folks make the decision not to go. Granted, it is the DK200, but prices for this event are decidedly on the higher end of the scale when it comes to gravel events nationwide. Ultimately, the riders will vote with their dollars and the resulting economy will be the deciding factor here.

Some folks like to point to "gravel cycling" as the culprit. They like to say that the "movement" is getting "too big", or it is "selling out", or they blame whatever nefarious group or nebulous movement for the reason why this is happening. This "vague blaming" is easy to do. It's non-confrontational, easy to agree with, and doesn't require any real cognitive action on anyone's part. Basically it is worthless spouting of hot air. You want to know why these kinds of things like the situation at the DK200 are happening?

It's the people who willingly buy into it. No one is prying money out of wallets and "making you spend money" or making you train, or buy a package to get a free entry, or whatever it is. No one is making anyone do that forcefully. Nope! People willingly pay these prices. 

Until people willingly do not pay these prices, nothing is going to change.

Oooo! Snow!

 Wow! What A Winter So far!

Sarcasm Alert: Gee, this fantastic cold weather with no snow has really been fantastic. And just think, next week they say it will get even colder! Awesome.

Yeah, it hasn't been maybe as cold as it should be this time of year, but the wind has more than made up for things, at least around here. Plus, the humidity levels have been high enough that this air we have just cuts right into your bones. At least the Arctic air we're supposed to get just in time for Christmas will be drier and not so bad to stay warm in.

Snow has been a rarity, and by the looks of it, that should remain the case through Christmas. Yeah, that's a risky thing to say, what with Winter weather being so hard to pin down. Who really knows. We could end up with a bunch of the white stuff here, but the weather prognosticators and my gut feeling say not so much.

The point is that Winter is going to be a slow starter if ever it does snow here. Really cold air without snow is just wrong, and for me, not really Winter. If we get very far into the New Year with no snow, well then.....I'm going to say this Winter is a major fail. But there is still a lot of time left before we can really think seriously about Spring, so this Winter still has time to redeem itself. I just know that short days, brown scenery, and cold air add up to a depressing state of affairs.

Meanwhile the rivers are already icing up and many will freeze solid they are so low, that is if we get really frigid temperatures for very long. It could make for interesting fat biking opportunities, but other than that, this situation isn't good.

Can you believe anything done when this is worn anymore?

The Latest Dope:

Occasionally I will opine about Pro road cycling here. I used to be a big fan. However; I became jaded after umpteen doping scandals and now I only casually follow this side of sport.


So, the following is from the perspective of someone that rides bicycles but doesn't really know or care about the Pro racing side of the equation anymore.

That said, the winner of the last Vuelta, Chris Froome, returned a positive for an inhaler banned by the UCI at twice the level allowed. No penalties have been issued, no sanctions declared, but the court of public opinion is already buzzing about this one. However that goes, should we be surprised anymore? 

Doping in bicycle racing goes way back. You really cannot blame salaries, modern cycling culture, or sponsors for this. It is historical. Riders have doped and died for doing it in the past. That doesn't excuse what we see today, by any means, but that it continues to this day, that is no surprise. Even in competitions that pay no money, have no prizing, or any real fame or glory to offer, even those events  have their cheaters. It is human nature to cheat. That's my opinion, and maybe a dim view, but I see no other logical explanation.

So while it is noble to believe that the Pro racers are "clean" when you watch the sport, it is naive to believe that there are no cheaters. That goes for all levels of cycling. Right down to the rank amateurs.

So, the latest scandal involving Chris Froome? I am not at all surprised.

 That's all for this week. Have a great weekend.

Friday News And Views

The lottery submission process ends Saturday night.

DK200 Lottery Entries Close Saturday Night And Thoughts:

The inaugural Dirty Kanza lottery process has its first stage close on Saturday evening when all submissions must be in. The next step will be for the selection process to begin. It isn't quite clear to me how that will work, but then again, it doesn't matter. It's their event and they can do whatever they deem right for them.

I know I will not be going down this coming year. My feeling is that some others are deciding against the event as well. Prices for entry seem to be the main reason I am seeing folks make the decision not to go. Granted, it is the DK200, but prices for this event are decidedly on the higher end of the scale when it comes to gravel events nationwide. Ultimately, the riders will vote with their dollars and the resulting economy will be the deciding factor here.

Some folks like to point to "gravel cycling" as the culprit. They like to say that the "movement" is getting "too big", or it is "selling out", or they blame whatever nefarious group or nebulous movement for the reason why this is happening. This "vague blaming" is easy to do. It's non-confrontational, easy to agree with, and doesn't require any real cognitive action on anyone's part. Basically it is worthless spouting of hot air. You want to know why these kinds of things like the situation at the DK200 are happening?

It's the people who willingly buy into it. No one is prying money out of wallets and "making you spend money" or making you train, or buy a package to get a free entry, or whatever it is. No one is making anyone do that forcefully. Nope! People willingly pay these prices. 

Until people willingly do not pay these prices, nothing is going to change.

Oooo! Snow!

 Wow! What A Winter So far!

Sarcasm Alert: Gee, this fantastic cold weather with no snow has really been fantastic. And just think, next week they say it will get even colder! Awesome.

Yeah, it hasn't been maybe as cold as it should be this time of year, but the wind has more than made up for things, at least around here. Plus, the humidity levels have been high enough that this air we have just cuts right into your bones. At least the Arctic air we're supposed to get just in time for Christmas will be drier and not so bad to stay warm in.

Snow has been a rarity, and by the looks of it, that should remain the case through Christmas. Yeah, that's a risky thing to say, what with Winter weather being so hard to pin down. Who really knows. We could end up with a bunch of the white stuff here, but the weather prognosticators and my gut feeling say not so much.

The point is that Winter is going to be a slow starter if ever it does snow here. Really cold air without snow is just wrong, and for me, not really Winter. If we get very far into the New Year with no snow, well then.....I'm going to say this Winter is a major fail. But there is still a lot of time left before we can really think seriously about Spring, so this Winter still has time to redeem itself. I just know that short days, brown scenery, and cold air add up to a depressing state of affairs.

Meanwhile the rivers are already icing up and many will freeze solid they are so low, that is if we get really frigid temperatures for very long. It could make for interesting fat biking opportunities, but other than that, this situation isn't good.

Can you believe anything done when this is worn anymore?

The Latest Dope:

Occasionally I will opine about Pro road cycling here. I used to be a big fan. However; I became jaded after umpteen doping scandals and now I only casually follow this side of sport.


So, the following is from the perspective of someone that rides bicycles but doesn't really know or care about the Pro racing side of the equation anymore.

That said, the winner of the last Vuelta, Chris Froome, returned a positive for an inhaler banned by the UCI at twice the level allowed. No penalties have been issued, no sanctions declared, but the court of public opinion is already buzzing about this one. However that goes, should we be surprised anymore? 

Doping in bicycle racing goes way back. You really cannot blame salaries, modern cycling culture, or sponsors for this. It is historical. Riders have doped and died for doing it in the past. That doesn't excuse what we see today, by any means, but that it continues to this day, that is no surprise. Even in competitions that pay no money, have no prizing, or any real fame or glory to offer, even those events  have their cheaters. It is human nature to cheat. That's my opinion, and maybe a dim view, but I see no other logical explanation.

So while it is noble to believe that the Pro racers are "clean" when you watch the sport, it is naive to believe that there are no cheaters. That goes for all levels of cycling. Right down to the rank amateurs.

So, the latest scandal involving Chris Froome? I am not at all surprised.

 That's all for this week. Have a great weekend.

The Myth That Stiffer Bicycles Are Faster

Recent race bike design is starting to acknowledge that stiffness everywhere in a bike isn't necessarily a good thing.

Riding Gravel just posted a great new article about how vibration isn't your best friend on gravel rides. I've been saying similar things for years. In fact, the article's author, in an e-mail to me, reminded me of how I have advocated against the use of cyclo cross bikes for gravel riding and have gotten into some "discussions" with others about this. This because I have often said that these bikes are too stiff and don't have the ideal geometry for gravel riding.

Those bikes specifically designed for that niche of riding have peculiar traits which have been honed over decades of design and with material technologies available now, they are typically very stiff bikes. They should be. Cyclo cross is a short event which demands racers have every iota of energy come out as power to the ground. Stiffness to the detriment of comfort is something which is a given in this sport of cyclo cross, which, let's be honest, is about suffering on many levels.

Anyway, the point is that cyclo cross bikes are not tuned to absorb the sort of vibrations that gravel road riding induces. This makes them not the best tool for the job. NOTE- I did not say that you should never use a CX bike for gravel. I merely am saying that these sharply defined bikes for a singular purpose are not really "gravel bikes".  And I haven't even mentioned their geometry, which also isn't ideal.

But that isn't a big deal anymore, like it was five or more years ago. Now you can buy a bicycle tuned for gravel travel from many brands, and some of those actually address the problem of vibration by allowing flex. 

Salsa Cycles Warbird was designed to absorb vibrations over gravel roads.

 The Warbird specifically is allowed to have flex in the seat stays to allow the rider to have a less jarring ride. Bicycles like Trek's Domane, (which has technology which will be applied to a new model specifically for gravel, due in March), and Specialized's Roubaix models have existed for some time now, both which allow for flex that absorbs vibrations which otherwise would impede the rider's performance.

Obviously, stiffness isn't always the over-arching goal of design, but typically we see riders responding to claims of stiffness in a frame as being "good". Not just in terms of bottom bracket stiffness, or lateral stiffness, but in the entire frame. Customers think this is "good" in a frame, and they can feel this stiffness, so it must be "good".

Carbon frames have also  made a name for themselves by being brutishly stiff, yet having the oft misused descriptor of "carbon absorbs vibrations" attached to them by unwitting salespeople and general riders. This may have been the case 25 years ago when carbon fiber frames were not as well made, (read: having more bonding component compared to actual carbon material), but that is not the case anymore. Carbon stiffness is incredible now days, and vibrations are not muted by the material. It just passes through frequencies and energy differently than metal frames, but the energy is still getting through to the rider.

One place where carbon has made ride quality worse than ever is in the area of forks.

Vibrations which are passed through to a rider make that rider fatigued and slower. Especially if the road surface is rough, as it is with gravel road riding. This is one of the reasons why Pro riders are gravitating to wider rims and tires. Those tires on wider rims allow for slightly lower pressures and help absorb these unwanted vibrations. No longer should you listen to that guy you know from RAGBRAI who says you should run 23mm tires at 110psi. He's wrong about that. Dead wrong.

One of my pet peeves is the use of carbon forks with massive, thick legs, tapered steer tubes, and thick "uni-crown" style fork crowns. These forks do not give an inch. (Again- riders can feel stiffness and think it means "I'm faster", but they aren't) These unforgiving forks may make sense to a cyclo cross racer, where high load cornering is almost always a thing. But for the general public, and especially for gravel riders, it is a useless commodity. Forks which flex and give are far more road worthy and comfortable. Straight steer tubes, while seemingly archaic, actually allow some flex which also helps keep the front triangle, and especially the handle bars, "quieter". Less vibration means more comfort and a faster ride. Think about this. Why would Specialized and Trek work so hard to design flex into the front ends of their bikes?

But flex, and the resulting smoother and more efficient ride quality, is a hard sell. Riders feel smoothness as "slowness". This was true back when suspension forks came along for mountain biking in the early 1990's. Riders tried it and hated it, saying the devices made them slower and sluggish. However; when running similar courses back to back with suspended and non-suspended bikes, it became clear that the smoother riding suspension equipped bikes were making for faster times. All that despite these bikes being heavier and "less stiff" than their non-suspended counterparts. Well, we know what happened next......

Why is it so hard for us to understand that flex, be it passive or active, as in suspension applications, make us faster and obviously more comfortable when almost any other human carrying vehicle employs suspension and flex? Vibrations are bad, most often, and as cyclists, we should be very wary of any bicycle company claiming that more stiffness is a good thing.

The Myth That Stiffer Bicycles Are Faster

Recent race bike design is starting to acknowledge that stiffness everywhere in a bike isn't necessarily a good thing.

Riding Gravel just posted a great new article about how vibration isn't your best friend on gravel rides. I've been saying similar things for years. In fact, the article's author, in an e-mail to me, reminded me of how I have advocated against the use of cyclo cross bikes for gravel riding and have gotten into some "discussions" with others about this. This because I have often said that these bikes are too stiff and don't have the ideal geometry for gravel riding.

Those bikes specifically designed for that niche of riding have peculiar traits which have been honed over decades of design and with material technologies available now, they are typically very stiff bikes. They should be. Cyclo cross is a short event which demands racers have every iota of energy come out as power to the ground. Stiffness to the detriment of comfort is something which is a given in this sport of cyclo cross, which, let's be honest, is about suffering on many levels.

Anyway, the point is that cyclo cross bikes are not tuned to absorb the sort of vibrations that gravel road riding induces. This makes them not the best tool for the job. NOTE- I did not say that you should never use a CX bike for gravel. I merely am saying that these sharply defined bikes for a singular purpose are not really "gravel bikes".  And I haven't even mentioned their geometry, which also isn't ideal.

But that isn't a big deal anymore, like it was five or more years ago. Now you can buy a bicycle tuned for gravel travel from many brands, and some of those actually address the problem of vibration by allowing flex. 

Salsa Cycles Warbird was designed to absorb vibrations over gravel roads.

 The Warbird specifically is allowed to have flex in the seat stays to allow the rider to have a less jarring ride. Bicycles like Trek's Domane, (which has technology which will be applied to a new model specifically for gravel, due in March), and Specialized's Roubaix models have existed for some time now, both which allow for flex that absorbs vibrations which otherwise would impede the rider's performance.

Obviously, stiffness isn't always the over-arching goal of design, but typically we see riders responding to claims of stiffness in a frame as being "good". Not just in terms of bottom bracket stiffness, or lateral stiffness, but in the entire frame. Customers think this is "good" in a frame, and they can feel this stiffness, so it must be "good".

Carbon frames have also  made a name for themselves by being brutishly stiff, yet having the oft misused descriptor of "carbon absorbs vibrations" attached to them by unwitting salespeople and general riders. This may have been the case 25 years ago when carbon fiber frames were not as well made, (read: having more bonding component compared to actual carbon material), but that is not the case anymore. Carbon stiffness is incredible now days, and vibrations are not muted by the material. It just passes through frequencies and energy differently than metal frames, but the energy is still getting through to the rider.

One place where carbon has made ride quality worse than ever is in the area of forks.

Vibrations which are passed through to a rider make that rider fatigued and slower. Especially if the road surface is rough, as it is with gravel road riding. This is one of the reasons why Pro riders are gravitating to wider rims and tires. Those tires on wider rims allow for slightly lower pressures and help absorb these unwanted vibrations. No longer should you listen to that guy you know from RAGBRAI who says you should run 23mm tires at 110psi. He's wrong about that. Dead wrong.

One of my pet peeves is the use of carbon forks with massive, thick legs, tapered steer tubes, and thick "uni-crown" style fork crowns. These forks do not give an inch. (Again- riders can feel stiffness and think it means "I'm faster", but they aren't) These unforgiving forks may make sense to a cyclo cross racer, where high load cornering is almost always a thing. But for the general public, and especially for gravel riders, it is a useless commodity. Forks which flex and give are far more road worthy and comfortable. Straight steer tubes, while seemingly archaic, actually allow some flex which also helps keep the front triangle, and especially the handle bars, "quieter". Less vibration means more comfort and a faster ride. Think about this. Why would Specialized and Trek work so hard to design flex into the front ends of their bikes?

But flex, and the resulting smoother and more efficient ride quality, is a hard sell. Riders feel smoothness as "slowness". This was true back when suspension forks came along for mountain biking in the early 1990's. Riders tried it and hated it, saying the devices made them slower and sluggish. However; when running similar courses back to back with suspended and non-suspended bikes, it became clear that the smoother riding suspension equipped bikes were making for faster times. All that despite these bikes being heavier and "less stiff" than their non-suspended counterparts. Well, we know what happened next......

Why is it so hard for us to understand that flex, be it passive or active, as in suspension applications, make us faster and obviously more comfortable when almost any other human carrying vehicle employs suspension and flex? Vibrations are bad, most often, and as cyclists, we should be very wary of any bicycle company claiming that more stiffness is a good thing.

Rear View '17: Part 1

The look back on the year for 2017- dubbed "Rear View", is a traditional year ending series on the blog each year here. This is Part 1:

2017 started out with a Winter that was quickly failing its promise started earlier in 2016. By the New Year the snow was dismal for anything Winter related and it only got worse. By early February we were already out on the gravel roads and enjoying March-like weather.

I was fretting over a snag in the route finding for Trans Iowa which saw a complete re-writing of the opening leg that needed looking at. There were a couple of sore spots for me coming into and out of Winterset, which was a looong way away from Waterloo.

I got sick in January with a cold/flu. Again. Like about every year.....

I went to the Iowa Bicycle Expo again and it was a pretty good time. Well, except for that one vendor who shall remain nameless that pretty much did all he could do to ignore me. That was interesting.....

February dawned with a bit of a solo recon mission on the first leg of Trans Iowa v13. It went smoothly and was deemed a great success. I spent a lot of time clearing out the Lab, adding new bits to old bikes, and dreaming of making the Black Mountain Cycles rig an 11 speed one, but that last part never happened.

There was white wall tires for the Big Dummy, the resurrection of the '03 Monkey in a "green theme" and the start of the restoration of my custom Badger. News bits included the catastrophic DK200 registration, the revealing of a "gravel fork" by Fox, and the announcement of the Riding Gravel jersey and more.

Winter took an early leave in 2017

March came with the news that I was going to be back with the crew again for another Renegade Gents Race. Weather was awesome. It was no problem getting in good gravel miles and the Sun was warming things up really great. Would Spring come early? I was hard pressed to think otherwise.

Well,the weather took a turn back toward Winter about the 10th of March and right as I was able to get out and complete the Trans Iowa v13 recon. It was a huge load off my mind and just in time for the last gasp of Winter to come and sling down some wet snow on us.

That snow was on its way out a week later and I was on a mad scramble to get in some sort of fitness for the quickly approaching Gents Race. Between Trans Iowa recon and that snow, the weeks leading up to the Gents Race weren't kind to the training schedule. Of course, I was also busy behind the scenes trying to knock out cue sheets and getting the special T.I.v13 shirt order in so they could get printed up in time for the event. This also included sourcing number plates and getting those in so I could start customizing those for each rider.

March closed out with the shocking news of Mike Hall's death while participating in the Indian Pacific Wheel Race. The news took the ultra-endurance and bikepacking riding scene to a level of distress and mourning which had been unprecedented.

Coming Soon- Part 2

Rear View '17: Part 1

The look back on the year for 2017- dubbed "Rear View", is a traditional year ending series on the blog each year here. This is Part 1:

2017 started out with a Winter that was quickly failing its promise started earlier in 2016. By the New Year the snow was dismal for anything Winter related and it only got worse. By early February we were already out on the gravel roads and enjoying March-like weather.

I was fretting over a snag in the route finding for Trans Iowa which saw a complete re-writing of the opening leg that needed looking at. There were a couple of sore spots for me coming into and out of Winterset, which was a looong way away from Waterloo.

I got sick in January with a cold/flu. Again. Like about every year.....

I went to the Iowa Bicycle Expo again and it was a pretty good time. Well, except for that one vendor who shall remain nameless that pretty much did all he could do to ignore me. That was interesting.....

February dawned with a bit of a solo recon mission on the first leg of Trans Iowa v13. It went smoothly and was deemed a great success. I spent a lot of time clearing out the Lab, adding new bits to old bikes, and dreaming of making the Black Mountain Cycles rig an 11 speed one, but that last part never happened.

There was white wall tires for the Big Dummy, the resurrection of the '03 Monkey in a "green theme" and the start of the restoration of my custom Badger. News bits included the catastrophic DK200 registration, the revealing of a "gravel fork" by Fox, and the announcement of the Riding Gravel jersey and more.

Winter took an early leave in 2017

March came with the news that I was going to be back with the crew again for another Renegade Gents Race. Weather was awesome. It was no problem getting in good gravel miles and the Sun was warming things up really great. Would Spring come early? I was hard pressed to think otherwise.

Well,the weather took a turn back toward Winter about the 10th of March and right as I was able to get out and complete the Trans Iowa v13 recon. It was a huge load off my mind and just in time for the last gasp of Winter to come and sling down some wet snow on us.

That snow was on its way out a week later and I was on a mad scramble to get in some sort of fitness for the quickly approaching Gents Race. Between Trans Iowa recon and that snow, the weeks leading up to the Gents Race weren't kind to the training schedule. Of course, I was also busy behind the scenes trying to knock out cue sheets and getting the special T.I.v13 shirt order in so they could get printed up in time for the event. This also included sourcing number plates and getting those in so I could start customizing those for each rider.

March closed out with the shocking news of Mike Hall's death while participating in the Indian Pacific Wheel Race. The news took the ultra-endurance and bikepacking riding scene to a level of distress and mourning which had been unprecedented.

Coming Soon- Part 2

Bikes Of 2017: Pofahl Custom

Back in the "greener days". The Pofahl set up for gravel slaying.

It is that time of year when I start reviewing the bikes that got me through 2017. Many of these bikes have been tweaked and changed so I will talk about that and why they were important to me this past year.

If you were reading over the weekend you would have seen my Pofahl in its original set up. I was intending for that bike to be a bit of an all-around rig that could cover gravel and single track duties. Basically what I had been doing with my original 29"er, the 2003 Karate Monkey which I had fitted with drop bars.

Interestingly, my gig with the now defunct "Twenty Nine Inches" website really disrupted my gravel leanings for years and simultaneously put off my using this bike for far too long. Now that having to test mountain bike stuff all the time is a thing of the past, I have returned to the riding of the Pofahl, and that has been a refreshing change.

Many of you may be wondering about the strange arrangement of tubes this bike sports. I don't blame you. And please- don't blame Mr. Pofahl! (Yes, there is a Mr. Pofahl) The frame design wasn't his fault or idea, it was all mine.

You see, I had a hankering for design going back to my jeweler days and I was doodling up frame configurations all the time back in the early 00's and when 29"er design was in its infancy. I also was, at about the same time, all into what was the benefits and history of drop bars on mountain bikes which eventually led me back to the very beginnings of mtb in the modern era. That in turn uncovered the Breezer V1 bikes with the twin lateral tubes and all. See, I figured it might be cool to emulate that early design, incorporate some modernized elements of the past, and get rid of those pesky seat stays, just because.

The result is what you see here.

It's been raced on gravel, and spends most of its time doing gravelly things, so it is overbuilt for the task, having been originally thought of as a single track rig . But it still rides great, and the absence of seat stays? Hmm...... The bike might be a touch more compliant, maybe. It's really hard to tell. I do know that it fits me really well and with the 1995 Race Face 180mm cranks, it can crank out a single speed gravel climb very well. It's obviously very unique and I like it. That's all that matters in the end.

Bikes Of 2017: Pofahl Custom

Back in the "greener days". The Pofahl set up for gravel slaying.

It is that time of year when I start reviewing the bikes that got me through 2017. Many of these bikes have been tweaked and changed so I will talk about that and why they were important to me this past year.

If you were reading over the weekend you would have seen my Pofahl in its original set up. I was intending for that bike to be a bit of an all-around rig that could cover gravel and single track duties. Basically what I had been doing with my original 29"er, the 2003 Karate Monkey which I had fitted with drop bars.

Interestingly, my gig with the now defunct "Twenty Nine Inches" website really disrupted my gravel leanings for years and simultaneously put off my using this bike for far too long. Now that having to test mountain bike stuff all the time is a thing of the past, I have returned to the riding of the Pofahl, and that has been a refreshing change.

Many of you may be wondering about the strange arrangement of tubes this bike sports. I don't blame you. And please- don't blame Mr. Pofahl! (Yes, there is a Mr. Pofahl) The frame design wasn't his fault or idea, it was all mine.

You see, I had a hankering for design going back to my jeweler days and I was doodling up frame configurations all the time back in the early 00's and when 29"er design was in its infancy. I also was, at about the same time, all into what was the benefits and history of drop bars on mountain bikes which eventually led me back to the very beginnings of mtb in the modern era. That in turn uncovered the Breezer V1 bikes with the twin lateral tubes and all. See, I figured it might be cool to emulate that early design, incorporate some modernized elements of the past, and get rid of those pesky seat stays, just because.

The result is what you see here.

It's been raced on gravel, and spends most of its time doing gravelly things, so it is overbuilt for the task, having been originally thought of as a single track rig . But it still rides great, and the absence of seat stays? Hmm...... The bike might be a touch more compliant, maybe. It's really hard to tell. I do know that it fits me really well and with the 1995 Race Face 180mm cranks, it can crank out a single speed gravel climb very well. It's obviously very unique and I like it. That's all that matters in the end.