Volunteering At The Spotted Horse Gravel Ultra

Old DX gas station in Murray. Iowa.

 5:00am Saturday, October 24th, 2020: The alarm goes off on my iPhone and I jump up out of bed, careful not to awake Mrs. Guitar Ted, but not quiet enough for Minka The Cat. She accompanies me downstairs where I immediately feed the ravenous creature its breakfast. Then I get to making my own meal before getting kitted out to do my turn at the Spotted Horse Gravel Ultra. This event, in its fifth year, happens to be down South of me about a three hour drive away. So, I have to be quick about things to be able to hit the road by 6:00am or earlier, if I can. My turn to serve starts at 10:00am, but they wanted me to show up by 9:30am. 

My destination is Murray, Iowa, a small village West of Osceola, Iowa on US 34. Wikipedia says the population, as of 2010, was 756 people. Hmm.....I'd believe it if it was less than that. Anyway, I'd never been there, or even heard of the village, until my assignment was given via e-mail to me from Race Director, Sarah Cooper. I was to be paired up with another of the RD's, Dori, and the lead at the checkpoint was Amanda. I knew Dori and Sarah from Trans Iowa, but I had never met Amanda before. 

The Spotted Horse is a 150 mile or 200 mile event which had been modified this year due to COVID-19, and was run (kind of) concurrently with the postponed from April Iowa Wind And Rock, the 300+ mile event which was strongly influenced by Trans Iowa. I wasn't sure what to expect, since these sorts of gravel ultras are hard to train for and what with 2020 being what it has been, I wasn't even going to venture any guesses as to what the attendance might be. Added to this was the fact that it was forecast to be raw, cold, and grey for the weekend, and I wasn't thinking this was a recipe for a large turnout. But who knows?

Some Murray, Iowa flavor. I don't know how smaller villages like this hang on these days.

Besides a public school and a Casey's convenience store, this was the best maintained building in town.

I arrived a half an hour early, you know, like a good Mid-Western boy should, and sat around getting the stink-eye from locals gathering at the public area we were to set up the checkpoint at. They were gathering with their elementary school aged children for a bit of a soccer game. I have to say that I was duly impressed by the turnout. There must have been 30 children of various ages running amok at one point. Anyway, me being an outsider with non-Clarke County plates, well, I was a stranger and therefore to be suspected of.....well, I'd rather not guess what. I'm sure it wasn't 'good'. 

The forlorn streets were mostly devoid of activity, with the exception of a stray cat and dog.

I had my picture made with (From L-R) Dori, Steve, myself, and Sarah. (Image taken by Amanda)

Not long after I arrived a silver VW sedan with a bike rack turned around the corner up the street from me. Ah! The 'bike people' are arriving! It was Dori. We said our hellos and got to setting up the checkpoint. Dori is one of the RD's of the Spotted Horse and a very inspirational person to be around. Not long after this, Amanda arrived, and we were ready to go. Then Steve and Sarah, the other RD's of the event, arrived and we had a few more folks stop by as well, including the couple from Bottom Bracket Biking and Lisa, who was banged up and recovering from a bicycle accident earlier this year. 

This is always my favorite part of events like this where you get to chat for a time with folks you only see at gravel events. It's where the term, "Gravel Family" comes from, and it's a big reason why the grassroots gravel scene is so popular. 

Siphamandia Simelane came in second to Checkpoint #1

Dori's self-described "bitchy notes" for the riders at the checkpoint

As volunteers we were instructed to be wearing masks and to have riders take off water bottle tops, hand the bottles to us, and we would fill them from the spigot. This worked marvelously well, and all riders I helped were very compliant with the protocols. Other than this small inconvenience, this was basically like any other aid station/checkpoint experience I have had. 

The first riders did not show up until the stroke of ten o'clock, so we had about a half an hour of chatting freely with Steve and Sarah before they had to move along and get up the road. I found out that the situation in the Iowa Wind And Rock event had caused everyone to fall away until one was left standing- or riding, in this case. It was, no surprise to me, Greg Gleason. The two-time Trans Iowa winner was riding IWAR single speed, and some of the stories shared by Steve and Sarah concerning Greg's performance were fun to hear about. 

The situation with some of the other riders was also shared with me, which was very kind of them, and of course, told in confidence. I wouldn't say anything, but they never asked me not to. That sort of trust is rare. I appreciated their confidence greatly and always will. Anyway, Greg ended up winning and being the only finisher. Amazing! 

We were graced by a visit from the Burger King. Who knew that he lived in Murray Iowa? Crazy!

Past Spotted Horse events have been noted for their derailleur-destroying conditions. Many single speeders showed up this year as a result.

As I said, the first two riders we saw come in showed up at the stroke of 10;00am. By this time the soccer brigade had cleared out and left the forlorn streets of Murray, Iowa to us bike freaks. We went about our business, seeing cyclists come in pairs every so often, until we heard a train blow its lonesome call. A big freight train, by the sounds of it, and I was wondering, along with the others, if it was holding up some of the rider's progress to our position. 

As the rumble of the iron wheels faded we saw a slug of riders headed our way, the biggest pack we would see all morning, and sure enough, they related to us that the train had caused them all to bunch back together. We moved quickly as we could from rider to rider to service their needs and one by one they eventually all made their way back on down the road. 

Amanda was our leader and record keeper. It was great to get to know her during my time there.

A few riders getting ready to head out to checkpoint #2.

Eventually riders stopped trickling in. 11:30am came and went with no further activity. Technically speaking, we were to be done then, but we all agreed to stay on until noon to make sure no straggler was left behind. As the noon hour approached we packed up most everything and I said goodbye to Dori and Amanda, the only two left there, and made my way back home. 

While turn out wasn't spectacular for either event, everyone was stoked to be there and riding. I saw a lot of happy faces and it was good to be out doing something kind of normal for once. Oh......yeah. This is the first time I've traveled out of town for anything social since before the pandemic. It was odd, but not weird. If that makes any sense. I had a bit of anxiety about it, but overall, I am okay. I think the event was done right and we were safe, as far as you can be. 

Anyway, besides that I was very glad to be giving back to the gravel community again in a bit different role than I have before. I might have to do this volunteering thing again someday. It was pretty fun.

Volunteering At The Spotted Horse Gravel Ultra

Old DX gas station in Murray. Iowa.

 5:00am Saturday, October 24th, 2020: The alarm goes off on my iPhone and I jump up out of bed, careful not to awake Mrs. Guitar Ted, but not quiet enough for Minka The Cat. She accompanies me downstairs where I immediately feed the ravenous creature its breakfast. Then I get to making my own meal before getting kitted out to do my turn at the Spotted Horse Gravel Ultra. This event, in its fifth year, happens to be down South of me about a three hour drive away. So, I have to be quick about things to be able to hit the road by 6:00am or earlier, if I can. My turn to serve starts at 10:00am, but they wanted me to show up by 9:30am. 

My destination is Murray, Iowa, a small village West of Osceola, Iowa on US 34. Wikipedia says the population, as of 2010, was 756 people. Hmm.....I'd believe it if it was less than that. Anyway, I'd never been there, or even heard of the village, until my assignment was given via e-mail to me from Race Director, Sarah Cooper. I was to be paired up with another of the RD's, Dori, and the lead at the checkpoint was Amanda. I knew Dori and Sarah from Trans Iowa, but I had never met Amanda before. 

The Spotted Horse is a 150 mile or 200 mile event which had been modified this year due to COVID-19, and was run (kind of) concurrently with the postponed from April Iowa Wind And Rock, the 300+ mile event which was strongly influenced by Trans Iowa. I wasn't sure what to expect, since these sorts of gravel ultras are hard to train for and what with 2020 being what it has been, I wasn't even going to venture any guesses as to what the attendance might be. Added to this was the fact that it was forecast to be raw, cold, and grey for the weekend, and I wasn't thinking this was a recipe for a large turnout. But who knows?

Some Murray, Iowa flavor. I don't know how smaller villages like this hang on these days.

Besides a public school and a Casey's convenience store, this was the best maintained building in town.

I arrived a half an hour early, you know, like a good Mid-Western boy should, and sat around getting the stink-eye from locals gathering at the public area we were to set up the checkpoint at. They were gathering with their elementary school aged children for a bit of a soccer game. I have to say that I was duly impressed by the turnout. There must have been 30 children of various ages running amok at one point. Anyway, me being an outsider with non-Clarke County plates, well, I was a stranger and therefore to be suspected of.....well, I'd rather not guess what. I'm sure it wasn't 'good'. 

The forlorn streets were mostly devoid of activity, with the exception of a stray cat and dog.

I had my picture made with (From L-R) Dori, Steve, myself, and Sarah. (Image taken by Amanda)

Not long after I arrived a silver VW sedan with a bike rack turned around the corner up the street from me. Ah! The 'bike people' are arriving! It was Dori. We said our hellos and got to setting up the checkpoint. Dori is one of the RD's of the Spotted Horse and a very inspirational person to be around. Not long after this, Amanda arrived, and we were ready to go. Then Steve and Sarah, the other RD's of the event, arrived and we had a few more folks stop by as well, including the couple from Bottom Bracket Biking and Lisa, who was banged up and recovering from a bicycle accident earlier this year. 

This is always my favorite part of events like this where you get to chat for a time with folks you only see at gravel events. It's where the term, "Gravel Family" comes from, and it's a big reason why the grassroots gravel scene is so popular. 

Siphamandia Simelane came in second to Checkpoint #1

Dori's self-described "bitchy notes" for the riders at the checkpoint

As volunteers we were instructed to be wearing masks and to have riders take off water bottle tops, hand the bottles to us, and we would fill them from the spigot. This worked marvelously well, and all riders I helped were very compliant with the protocols. Other than this small inconvenience, this was basically like any other aid station/checkpoint experience I have had. 

The first riders did not show up until the stroke of ten o'clock, so we had about a half an hour of chatting freely with Steve and Sarah before they had to move along and get up the road. I found out that the situation in the Iowa Wind And Rock event had caused everyone to fall away until one was left standing- or riding, in this case. It was, no surprise to me, Greg Gleason. The two-time Trans Iowa winner was riding IWAR single speed, and some of the stories shared by Steve and Sarah concerning Greg's performance were fun to hear about. 

The situation with some of the other riders was also shared with me, which was very kind of them, and of course, told in confidence. I wouldn't say anything, but they never asked me not to. That sort of trust is rare. I appreciated their confidence greatly and always will. Anyway, Greg ended up winning and being the only finisher. Amazing! 

We were graced by a visit from the Burger King. Who knew that he lived in Murray Iowa? Crazy!

Past Spotted Horse events have been noted for their derailleur-destroying conditions. Many single speeders showed up this year as a result.

As I said, the first two riders we saw come in showed up at the stroke of 10;00am. By this time the soccer brigade had cleared out and left the forlorn streets of Murray, Iowa to us bike freaks. We went about our business, seeing cyclists come in pairs every so often, until we heard a train blow its lonesome call. A big freight train, by the sounds of it, and I was wondering, along with the others, if it was holding up some of the rider's progress to our position. 

As the rumble of the iron wheels faded we saw a slug of riders headed our way, the biggest pack we would see all morning, and sure enough, they related to us that the train had caused them all to bunch back together. We moved quickly as we could from rider to rider to service their needs and one by one they eventually all made their way back on down the road. 

Amanda was our leader and record keeper. It was great to get to know her during my time there.

A few riders getting ready to head out to checkpoint #2.

Eventually riders stopped trickling in. 11:30am came and went with no further activity. Technically speaking, we were to be done then, but we all agreed to stay on until noon to make sure no straggler was left behind. As the noon hour approached we packed up most everything and I said goodbye to Dori and Amanda, the only two left there, and made my way back home. 

While turn out wasn't spectacular for either event, everyone was stoked to be there and riding. I saw a lot of happy faces and it was good to be out doing something kind of normal for once. Oh......yeah. This is the first time I've traveled out of town for anything social since before the pandemic. It was odd, but not weird. If that makes any sense. I had a bit of anxiety about it, but overall, I am okay. I think the event was done right and we were safe, as far as you can be. 

Anyway, besides that I was very glad to be giving back to the gravel community again in a bit different role than I have before. I might have to do this volunteering thing again someday. It was pretty fun.

Trans Iowa Stories: Planning For A Big Exit - Part 1

The digitized logo I came up with for T.I.v10.

 The running of the tenth Trans Iowa event was immediately on my mind post T.I.v9. I was excited, after I got over my emotional melt-down post T.I.v9, to get on with getting to "The End." I'm really not sure I can communicate how hopeful and expectant I was to be out from underneath doing Trans Iowa ever again as I prepped for "The End". Not only that, but I also had made headway toward getting out of being the proprietor, main writer, and main editor of "Twenty Nine Inches", the website I got tangled up with back about the same time I was starting up Trans Iowa with Jeff Kerkove. 

Ten years. Ten years of running around like a chicken with my head cut off, stressed out, missing friends, family, and other opportunities because of my feelings of responsibilities toward the website and Trans Iowa. The stress of getting people happy, satisfied, and taken care of. People that weren't always reciprocating in kind. All these "THINGS" were unnecessary to living a happy, peaceful life. I didn't care about being "Guitar Ted" if it meant being drained of life and energy most of the time. I blamed the website and Trans Iowa. It was time for me to get out of both. And to be honest, there was a third thing I was completely ignoring, and that was my job, which was probably the worst of the three things by far. 

Yeah, looking back I was probably having more fun doing the website and Trans Iowa, but the job paid me and the other two did not, so hacking out the 'unfruitful' elements of my life made more sense from a practical standpoint. But really, it probably all came down to my dissatisfaction with my job situation back then, but that's another story.

Anyway, the tenth edition, and probably more importantly to me, the last Trans Iowa, needed to go out with a bang. Fortunately I had a benefactor with regard to sponsorship for Trans Iowa in Lederman Bail Bonds. Yes.....a bail bond company. See, one of the principals of that company was a huge fan of gravel cycling and Trans Iowa. His name is Josh Lederman, and he participated in Trans Iowa from v9-v13 every year. So, for v10 he sponsored the event allowing me the freedom to do a few things to celebrate, what I was intending to be, the last Trans Iowa. Hats and t-shirts were designed up and made available for every attending rider. 

The original v10 header I designed on the computer.

The original logo/header design for this version of Trans Iowa was also a departure from the past. For all the years leading up to Trans Iowa v10, Jeff Kerkove would graciously design up a logo/header for the event. By the time T.I.v9 was over and I was thinking about v10 in late Summer of 2013, I figured maybe I should just design the thing myself. Jeff's life had taken a turn so far away from the event that I felt asking him was more of an annoyance to him than a way to keep his name attached to the event. Plus, this was going to be the last one. I thought it was high time to put my touch on the proceedings. So, one late afternoon in August, I came up with this digitized mess of oranges, reds, and dark hues and made it the 'temporary header' for the site. 

As we will find out, those oranges and reds with a silhouetted row of hills was a sort of prophetic scene for the actual event. But I have already alluded to this in a previous entry to this series. I will touch upon this again soon. That said, this became the de facto header for much of the lead-up to T.I.v10, although that was not my original intentions. The t-shirt design logo ended up as the header art, but that came later. That logo was inspired by a container trailer sitting on the East side of Waterloo that I would pass by every time I got a haircut at my local barber shop. It featured a stylized eagle with long, angular wings. I adapted this idea with a bit of the Van Halen band logo from the late 70's and voila! A new Trans Iowa logo! This logo became the inspiration for the v13 and v14 as header art as well. 

Still the best t-shirt for Trans Iowa, in my opinion, we ever came up with.

Along about this time I also started a retrospect look at Trans Iowa starting at the beginning and running up to 2013. It was called "Trans Iowa: Ten Years Of Tales", and the series ran up to the beginning of Trans Iowa v10 with one, or two at the end, entries every weekend. There were 49 entries in all, and since much of the meat of Trans Iowa was told in those stories, I have, in this series, tried to focus on more personal details and stories left untold. At any rate, the series started in 2013 was done as a way to recap the story of the event so that once I did lock the door and throw away the key, all of the past would have been fresh in many people's minds. It was just another way to celebrate ten years of doing Trans Iowa. 

In addition to all of that, prizing for this edition of Trans Iowa was off the hook. We had prizing from small shops where some of the T.I. riders worked, we had a bunch of stuff from Salsa Cycles, and more on top of that. The tables at the Grinnell Steakhouse were laden with goodies back in the meeting room awaiting the riders when we held the event in 2014. It was, by far, the biggest swag haul since v1, and that was by design. I wanted the riders to benefit and be a part of an unwitting 'last rodeo' ride for the event. 

Now all of this hub-bub seemed to telegraph something which I feel made this version of Trans Iowa more urgent to riders than maybe subsequent ones were. I don't know why, but Trans Iowa v10 holds the record for the highest number of starters. We had 106 take the start that year, and it remained as the only Trans Iowa to have over 100 starting at the roll-out. Was there a feeling amongst Trans Iowa fans that this would be the last one, or was it the whole 'decade' thing that made them all show up? Maybe it was the weather, which for a Trans Iowa was looking far more warm and Spring-like than many had in the past. Who knows? 

All I know is that I was excited to be in the process this time. I was looking forward to tying up all the details and pulling all the disparate parts together to pull off, what I hoped would be, the best Trans Iowa ever. Especially from a rider experience standpoint. Obviously, the weather was not under my control, but I was also very hopeful there that it would be a year that would be finish-able. Not a year truncated due to weather related issues, which would have really soured me on ending at ten editions of Trans Iowa. 

Next: Some more observations on the tenth edition of Trans Iowa.

Trans Iowa Stories: Planning For A Big Exit - Part 1

The digitized logo I came up with for T.I.v10.

 The running of the tenth Trans Iowa event was immediately on my mind post T.I.v9. I was excited, after I got over my emotional melt-down post T.I.v9, to get on with getting to "The End." I'm really not sure I can communicate how hopeful and expectant I was to be out from underneath doing Trans Iowa ever again as I prepped for "The End". Not only that, but I also had made headway toward getting out of being the proprietor, main writer, and main editor of "Twenty Nine Inches", the website I got tangled up with back about the same time I was starting up Trans Iowa with Jeff Kerkove. 

Ten years. Ten years of running around like a chicken with my head cut off, stressed out, missing friends, family, and other opportunities because of my feelings of responsibilities toward the website and Trans Iowa. The stress of getting people happy, satisfied, and taken care of. People that weren't always reciprocating in kind. All these "THINGS" were unnecessary to living a happy, peaceful life. I didn't care about being "Guitar Ted" if it meant being drained of life and energy most of the time. I blamed the website and Trans Iowa. It was time for me to get out of both. And to be honest, there was a third thing I was completely ignoring, and that was my job, which was probably the worst of the three things by far. 

Yeah, looking back I was probably having more fun doing the website and Trans Iowa, but the job paid me and the other two did not, so hacking out the 'unfruitful' elements of my life made more sense from a practical standpoint. But really, it probably all came down to my dissatisfaction with my job situation back then, but that's another story.

Anyway, the tenth edition, and probably more importantly to me, the last Trans Iowa, needed to go out with a bang. Fortunately I had a benefactor with regard to sponsorship for Trans Iowa in Lederman Bail Bonds. Yes.....a bail bond company. See, one of the principals of that company was a huge fan of gravel cycling and Trans Iowa. His name is Josh Lederman, and he participated in Trans Iowa from v9-v13 every year. So, for v10 he sponsored the event allowing me the freedom to do a few things to celebrate, what I was intending to be, the last Trans Iowa. Hats and t-shirts were designed up and made available for every attending rider. 

The original v10 header I designed on the computer.

The original logo/header design for this version of Trans Iowa was also a departure from the past. For all the years leading up to Trans Iowa v10, Jeff Kerkove would graciously design up a logo/header for the event. By the time T.I.v9 was over and I was thinking about v10 in late Summer of 2013, I figured maybe I should just design the thing myself. Jeff's life had taken a turn so far away from the event that I felt asking him was more of an annoyance to him than a way to keep his name attached to the event. Plus, this was going to be the last one. I thought it was high time to put my touch on the proceedings. So, one late afternoon in August, I came up with this digitized mess of oranges, reds, and dark hues and made it the 'temporary header' for the site. 

As we will find out, those oranges and reds with a silhouetted row of hills was a sort of prophetic scene for the actual event. But I have already alluded to this in a previous entry to this series. I will touch upon this again soon. That said, this became the de facto header for much of the lead-up to T.I.v10, although that was not my original intentions. The t-shirt design logo ended up as the header art, but that came later. That logo was inspired by a container trailer sitting on the East side of Waterloo that I would pass by every time I got a haircut at my local barber shop. It featured a stylized eagle with long, angular wings. I adapted this idea with a bit of the Van Halen band logo from the late 70's and voila! A new Trans Iowa logo! This logo became the inspiration for the v13 and v14 as header art as well. 

Still the best t-shirt for Trans Iowa, in my opinion, we ever came up with.

Along about this time I also started a retrospect look at Trans Iowa starting at the beginning and running up to 2013. It was called "Trans Iowa: Ten Years Of Tales", and the series ran up to the beginning of Trans Iowa v10 with one, or two at the end, entries every weekend. There were 49 entries in all, and since much of the meat of Trans Iowa was told in those stories, I have, in this series, tried to focus on more personal details and stories left untold. At any rate, the series started in 2013 was done as a way to recap the story of the event so that once I did lock the door and throw away the key, all of the past would have been fresh in many people's minds. It was just another way to celebrate ten years of doing Trans Iowa. 

In addition to all of that, prizing for this edition of Trans Iowa was off the hook. We had prizing from small shops where some of the T.I. riders worked, we had a bunch of stuff from Salsa Cycles, and more on top of that. The tables at the Grinnell Steakhouse were laden with goodies back in the meeting room awaiting the riders when we held the event in 2014. It was, by far, the biggest swag haul since v1, and that was by design. I wanted the riders to benefit and be a part of an unwitting 'last rodeo' ride for the event. 

Now all of this hub-bub seemed to telegraph something which I feel made this version of Trans Iowa more urgent to riders than maybe subsequent ones were. I don't know why, but Trans Iowa v10 holds the record for the highest number of starters. We had 106 take the start that year, and it remained as the only Trans Iowa to have over 100 starting at the roll-out. Was there a feeling amongst Trans Iowa fans that this would be the last one, or was it the whole 'decade' thing that made them all show up? Maybe it was the weather, which for a Trans Iowa was looking far more warm and Spring-like than many had in the past. Who knows? 

All I know is that I was excited to be in the process this time. I was looking forward to tying up all the details and pulling all the disparate parts together to pull off, what I hoped would be, the best Trans Iowa ever. Especially from a rider experience standpoint. Obviously, the weather was not under my control, but I was also very hopeful there that it would be a year that would be finish-able. Not a year truncated due to weather related issues, which would have really soured me on ending at ten editions of Trans Iowa. 

Next: Some more observations on the tenth edition of Trans Iowa.

Volunteers

 So, today I am off doing something I haven't done in years- volunteering for an event's production. Yep! I mentioned earlier this week that I wasn't doing any event promotions/productions anymore, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't help someone else. 

Besides, I figured that my volunteers for Trans Iowa were invaluable to helping produce that event, and so when the call went out for volunteers for the Spotted Horse Gravel Ultra, I figured I would return the favor and maybe give back a little in recognition of my fortunes in getting stellar volunteers. 

I hope that my help is one-tenth as valuable as the volunteers help I got for Trans Iowa was and that my tiny contribution is of some worth. It will be fun to see some of the folks I haven't seen in a long time and maybe see some folks for the first time. 

The weather should be interesting. A high of 44°F with a light Easterly breeze, and I know it will be slightly colder than that in the morning which is when I am scheduled to be "on point" for my assignment. I will be traveling three hours each way to get there and back, so my day will be pretty much driving and standing around for a bit. That will be most of today's time I have to spend. 

A report on my tiny slice of the Spotted Horse Gravel Ultra will appear here on Monday. 

Volunteers

 So, today I am off doing something I haven't done in years- volunteering for an event's production. Yep! I mentioned earlier this week that I wasn't doing any event promotions/productions anymore, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't help someone else. 

Besides, I figured that my volunteers for Trans Iowa were invaluable to helping produce that event, and so when the call went out for volunteers for the Spotted Horse Gravel Ultra, I figured I would return the favor and maybe give back a little in recognition of my fortunes in getting stellar volunteers. 

I hope that my help is one-tenth as valuable as the volunteers help I got for Trans Iowa was and that my tiny contribution is of some worth. It will be fun to see some of the folks I haven't seen in a long time and maybe see some folks for the first time. 

The weather should be interesting. A high of 44°F with a light Easterly breeze, and I know it will be slightly colder than that in the morning which is when I am scheduled to be "on point" for my assignment. I will be traveling three hours each way to get there and back, so my day will be pretty much driving and standing around for a bit. That will be most of today's time I have to spend. 

A report on my tiny slice of the Spotted Horse Gravel Ultra will appear here on Monday. 

Friday News And Views

The Snow Dog with the Milhouse Bar.

 The Snow Dog Modified:

Recently I told you about the upcoming tenth year anniversary of my getting my first fat bike, a Salsa Cycles Mukluk. I also added that I had thought about adding the Whisky Parts Co.  Milhouse Bar to this bike. Well, as you can plainly see, I have done just that. I basically just swapped bars between this bike and the On One Inbred.

This match is a much better pairing. The On One/Milhouse pairing just didn't work for me. Not sure why, but mostly I think it was an aesthetic issue. It just looked like a "gangly teenager" set up. On the Snow Dog it looks a bit more 'moto'. So, there is that. However; it also feels better on the Snow Dog and that big, wide bar helps overcome the inertia a fat bike wheel has when you want to turn. 

I also did a couple of other swaps while I was at it. The first was the swap of the pedals. I had a set of some clunky, but light and very grippy flat pedals on there. Those I took off and replaced with these Fyxation Mesa MP Subzero pedals. The Fyxations are a lot slimmer and I have really liked their performance in the past. 

The next swap was of the seat post and saddle. I had a Cane Creek Thudbuster on it with a WTB Pure saddle. This was replaced by the Redshift Sports ShockStop seat post and a WTB Volt saddle. The Thudbuster is a decent post, but it gets loose in the pivots on me in short order, which then starts a clunk, and yeah...... Plus it is an elastomeric sprung system which doesn't play well with colder temperatures. The Redshift post has a coil spring which is not temperature sensitive and the pivots are bomber on this post. Super-solid, no worries. 

I still may be moving over the Archer Components D1x system to this bike. Stay tuned for that......

New Family Member At G-Ted Productions HQ:

Hey everyone, meet Minka. We just adopted her from the local animal shelter this past week. The story of her arrival here is a long one and has to do with a few odd things. None of that matters now, but the tipping point for getting a cat was a mouse problem we had been battling. All it took was for my daughter and I to find out that the mere presence of a cat was a good deterrent against mice coming  in to our abode. 

The surprise is that we have found out in a few short days that all our lives have been enhanced by the addition of Minka to the household. Mice prevention or no, we're all really happy to have her here. She's full of the berries, as she's only about five months and a little more in age. Still has to grow out of being a kitten, but that's okay. I grew up with cats, so I have a bit of experience with them, and it has been a quick refresher course with Minka running riot around the house here. 

I guess we shouldn't have waited so long to get a pet, but whatever. Now is the time and we have a cat now. Life will certainly be a bit different but we are all in on this and we will make it work. Got any cat tips to share? Go ahead and send them to me if you feel so inclined. 

The new Ritchey Ultra MTB frame

It's The Nostalgia Factor:

Every so often Ritchey Design produces one of their mountain bike frames in the iconic red/white/blue fade paint job. Every time I see it, I want it. Why? It's the "nostalgia factor". I remember those early 90's days looking at MTB mags and seeing these being raced, tested, and in the advertising. They were one of the most sophisticated, high performance, lightweight steel frames one could buy back then. Those final days of 'fully rigid' mountain biking were quite the innovative days. 

Ritchey Design has done it again with the Ultra, a 29" or 27.5+ machine with the conservative take on the 'modern trail geometry', so probably not a bad design for most single track here. I looked at this, and looked......and looked. But really? C'mon! When do I mountain bike anymore? I'm always out on the gravel and mountain bikes are a side show for me these days. I like mountain biking, but I can get on a gravel road, do some Level B Maintenance stuff, and get all my mountain biking vibes in that I ever could on what we have for single track around here. In fact, I would wager that many Level B's in Iowa are better than mountain biking anywhere in the state. 

That's a bold statement, but those that know- well they know. So, I really am not in the market for a bike like this Ritchey, but I really like the way it looks and the history it represents. Bad reasons to get a frame, right? And besides, look at that fat bike up there. That's a mountain bike too. I feel like that fat bike is actually a more versatile bike around here than a straight up mountain bike is. My opinion, your mileage may vary.

And that's a wrap for this week. Have a great weekend and get in some riding if you can.....outdoors!

Friday News And Views

The Snow Dog with the Milhouse Bar.

 The Snow Dog Modified:

Recently I told you about the upcoming tenth year anniversary of my getting my first fat bike, a Salsa Cycles Mukluk. I also added that I had thought about adding the Whisky Parts Co.  Milhouse Bar to this bike. Well, as you can plainly see, I have done just that. I basically just swapped bars between this bike and the On One Inbred.

This match is a much better pairing. The On One/Milhouse pairing just didn't work for me. Not sure why, but mostly I think it was an aesthetic issue. It just looked like a "gangly teenager" set up. On the Snow Dog it looks a bit more 'moto'. So, there is that. However; it also feels better on the Snow Dog and that big, wide bar helps overcome the inertia a fat bike wheel has when you want to turn. 

I also did a couple of other swaps while I was at it. The first was the swap of the pedals. I had a set of some clunky, but light and very grippy flat pedals on there. Those I took off and replaced with these Fyxation Mesa MP Subzero pedals. The Fyxations are a lot slimmer and I have really liked their performance in the past. 

The next swap was of the seat post and saddle. I had a Cane Creek Thudbuster on it with a WTB Pure saddle. This was replaced by the Redshift Sports ShockStop seat post and a WTB Volt saddle. The Thudbuster is a decent post, but it gets loose in the pivots on me in short order, which then starts a clunk, and yeah...... Plus it is an elastomeric sprung system which doesn't play well with colder temperatures. The Redshift post has a coil spring which is not temperature sensitive and the pivots are bomber on this post. Super-solid, no worries. 

I still may be moving over the Archer Components D1x system to this bike. Stay tuned for that......

New Family Member At G-Ted Productions HQ:

Hey everyone, meet Minka. We just adopted her from the local animal shelter this past week. The story of her arrival here is a long one and has to do with a few odd things. None of that matters now, but the tipping point for getting a cat was a mouse problem we had been battling. All it took was for my daughter and I to find out that the mere presence of a cat was a good deterrent against mice coming  in to our abode. 

The surprise is that we have found out in a few short days that all our lives have been enhanced by the addition of Minka to the household. Mice prevention or no, we're all really happy to have her here. She's full of the berries, as she's only about five months and a little more in age. Still has to grow out of being a kitten, but that's okay. I grew up with cats, so I have a bit of experience with them, and it has been a quick refresher course with Minka running riot around the house here. 

I guess we shouldn't have waited so long to get a pet, but whatever. Now is the time and we have a cat now. Life will certainly be a bit different but we are all in on this and we will make it work. Got any cat tips to share? Go ahead and send them to me if you feel so inclined. 

The new Ritchey Ultra MTB frame

It's The Nostalgia Factor:

Every so often Ritchey Design produces one of their mountain bike frames in the iconic red/white/blue fade paint job. Every time I see it, I want it. Why? It's the "nostalgia factor". I remember those early 90's days looking at MTB mags and seeing these being raced, tested, and in the advertising. They were one of the most sophisticated, high performance, lightweight steel frames one could buy back then. Those final days of 'fully rigid' mountain biking were quite the innovative days. 

Ritchey Design has done it again with the Ultra, a 29" or 27.5+ machine with the conservative take on the 'modern trail geometry', so probably not a bad design for most single track here. I looked at this, and looked......and looked. But really? C'mon! When do I mountain bike anymore? I'm always out on the gravel and mountain bikes are a side show for me these days. I like mountain biking, but I can get on a gravel road, do some Level B Maintenance stuff, and get all my mountain biking vibes in that I ever could on what we have for single track around here. In fact, I would wager that many Level B's in Iowa are better than mountain biking anywhere in the state. 

That's a bold statement, but those that know- well they know. So, I really am not in the market for a bike like this Ritchey, but I really like the way it looks and the history it represents. Bad reasons to get a frame, right? And besides, look at that fat bike up there. That's a mountain bike too. I feel like that fat bike is actually a more versatile bike around here than a straight up mountain bike is. My opinion, your mileage may vary.

And that's a wrap for this week. Have a great weekend and get in some riding if you can.....outdoors!

Fall Views: Post Harvest

Escape route: Gilbertville Road

 The ride on Wednesday could have been called "Barns For Jason" as there were so many barns in this area that I almost never had the camera out of my hand. I have never ridden or driven these roads in my life, so I did not know exactly what to expect. What was a bit of a surprise was that this area was not in the flood plain, so it was made up of gentle rollers and there were some places that were high enough that I could see for miles all around me. 

The ride started in Gilbertville, Iowa this time, and I rode Southeast out of town from a park right at the edge of town. I don't know why I don't hear more about people road riding down this way because the bit of blacktop I was on was fun and had spectacular views of the Cedar River Valley. I was on that road for a bit over a mile then I dove off Eastward on Rickard Road. 

As I said last time I reported on a ride, I had to forego riding in shirt-sleeves. It was now in the low to mid 40's, mostly cloudy, and a threat of rain was in the forecast for later in the day. The winds were light, but they were 'there' out of the Southeast. So, I wore my heavier Bontrager windbreaker, a wool jersey, a base layer, inner short liners, and Twin Six 3/4's pants. I used GORE-Tex Mid-Stretch Gloves, a Walz Caps wool cycling cap with ear flaps, and my trusty Bontrager helmet. On the feet were Sock Guy long wool socks and Northwave boots. My only complaint was that I maybe was a tic too warm up top. 

This ride featured the Black Mountain Cycles MCD. I haven't ridden that bike much in a while now and I was struck by a couple of things that I've gotten used to with the Standard Rando v2 and the Noble Bikes GX5. That mostly had to do with stack height and the saddle tilt which can be adjusted on the MCD to more closely match that of the other two bikes. It's funny because I thought the MCD was 'spot on' from the moment I got it built up and now it feels like it needs tweaking. 

Rickard Road looking East.

Barns For Jason #1

 

Interestingly, this ride featured roads which weren't dry and dusty! In fact, with the recent misty/rainy days, there was enough moisture at times that my downtube was caked in gravel dirt and it was also splattered on parts of the frame. Riding in these conditions hasn't been seen since Spring. 

Rickard Road dumps unceremoniously into this field adjacent to I-380. (I'll have more on the dog)

Barns For Jason #2

At the expected end of Rickard Road, according to the map, the road turned slightly alongside I-380 and then stopped. This is what I found, but there were no gates, no warning signs, nothing! The road passed by a farm on the South side of the road just before this so you cannot see how the road simply dumps out into a cornfield until you get there. 

To make matters worse, the gravel is freshly maintained right up to the point of the field border. At night, with speed, going around a corner, this is a recipe for potential disaster. I found this out to be true due to the dog pictured above. Yes- the dog led to the discovery of the truth behind this strange road ending. You see, this large, yellow dog of indeterminate breeding was the cause of a chance meeting with the landowner of this particular farm. 

As I approached the farm from the West, I saw the yellow dog first. Glad I saw it because it never barked, and this animal was ginormous. I would place it in the same size range as a Great Pyrenees or a Saint Bernard easily, but it had very short hair for such a large dog, and its eyes were pale yellow-green. As the dog approached me, I dismounted and was chattering to it in a calm manner, as is my way with rural dogs, and I could see that, while it seemed friendly enough, there was something odd going on here. 

Post-harvest poop spreading. They were pumping out the fecal matter at a nearby hog confinement to do this with. 

 

Barns For Jason #3

As I was allowing this large yellow dog to check me out, I saw another dog coming out to join in the fun. It looked like an aged Blue Healer, maybe, or was a cross with one. It was over-weight and older. Not inclined to chase or get into any extra-curricular activities. It also did not bark. Weird! 

Anyway, I decided these two dogs were friendly and were going to allow my passage to see the ends of Rickard Road. As I motioned to them that I was moving along, the yellow dog got excited and was coming along for the ride. It took off with a spring and was leading me to the end of the road up around the curve as if we were going on a fun romp. This was when I noted that this dog was powerful, fast, and indefatigable. It showed no signs of working hard and could sprint away from me like a bullet, return just as fast, and look at me like I was some kind of slow-poke. By the way, the older blue dog was content to sit up on a round bale alongside the road and watch. 

Barns For Jason #4

Barns For Jason #5

This was all well and good. I like a fun dog, but now the worry is that the dog will want to run with me until who knows when. I haven't had a dog run with me in years, but I know it happens. We had an instance of this phenomenon during the last Trans Iowa and it caused me no end of grief that weekend. Anyway, thoughts of that dog running away from home following me and an angry owner tracking me down danced in my head as I passed the farm where the dog belonged and the blue dog stopped, but the yellow dog kept right on running. And guess what?

The much more traditional end look to Rueter Road where it truncates due to I-380 on the South end.

A lone windmill looks small in comparison to the modern cell tower, both near I-380 .

Yep.....the dog kept running. Despite my repeated calls to it to go home, it just kept right on going. And then.......you guessed it, the purr of a side-by-side ATV could be heard coming from behind me. I heard the engine slow as it approached, and I knew it was the dog's owner without even looking. Self-fulfilling prophecy earlier in my head? Coincidence? Whatever, here I was face-to-face with a disgruntled, middle-aged farmer. 

After I told the man, in no uncertain terms, that I tried to get the dog to go home with no luck, he softened his look and slumped back in his seat. "Yeah", he said with a distinct resignation in his voice, "That dog is just too dang friendly". Thus started a fifteen minute conversation in which I learned a few things. 

Barns For Jason #6 - And another ugly cell tower.

Barns For Jason #7

I learned of the landowner's frustrations over working with the County to get the dead end road signed better. I learned of this man's frustrations over people being ignorant and just plain stupid when it comes to driving into unknown areas. I learned that GPS data hasn't been updated for this area since at least the mid-1980's, when I-380's construction truncated these gravel roads. I learned about how that very interstate still ruffles feathers amongst the local residents. And, I learned the big yellow dog was half wolf. 

Okay, that explained a lot! That and the dog's seemingly friendliness with anyone he met. The man told me the dog would climb in a car with anybody that stopped on the interstate to collect him if he was out on the road. The man claimed once he had to track the dog over 50 miles away. Apparently he usually is leashed, but had gained a reprieve recently due to good behavior and this is why he was free to roam when I saw him. The man said he was going back on the leash again when he got him home. I felt kind of sad.....

The skies cleared later on into the ride. This is Oxley Road looking North.

Barns For Jason #8

I took my leave of the man and his dogs, (the blue dog was along for the ride as well), and headed West, the way that I had come. There would be a few out-and-backs during the ride. I ended up skirting I-380 for much of the first parts of the ride. Then, after running across another landowner out in the yard right at a dead end sign, I turned back and went West again. I didn't want another encounter and have to spend time explaining why I was going riding on a road that obviously went nowhere. People in this area are friendly enough, but they are also very suspicious of strangers, and outright hostile toward anyone they feel is trespassing or being a nere-do-well. I will come back for that end later.

Barns For Jason #9

Barns For Jason #10

So, I was successful at ticking several miles of roads off the to-do list for "The Quest". This is the biggest area left to mop up and once I get this area done all that will be left are mere 'crumbs' to sweep aside to reach the goal. I suspect the larger part I'm chipping away at now will take about three more rides to get done and maybe four depending on my time allowed and weather. The 'crumbs' part will be a day of hitting them all up via traveling to each by truck and riding the small, short gravels I need to complete my goal. 

So, that's where I am at now. This deal is pressing on toward November now and time is short and weather is less predictable and less kind. It will be nip and tuck, but I am not giving up on it now. This weekend will be taken up with another task I am committed to, so that's a concern, but it'll all work out. 

Stay tuned.......