Bar Yak For The Fargo

The BarYak Q: Pro

I just got a piece of new gear for my old Fargo that I am pretty excited about. It is an item from a company called "BarYak". Before I get into the part I purchased, I wanted to give some background on BarYak and its founder, Joe Stiller.

I first came across Joe when he e-mailed me wanting to get into Trans Iowa several years ago. I started checking him out via the "innergoogles" and found out he was big into Winter events like the Arrowhead 135, Tuscobia 150, and more. Eventually, at Trans Iowa v10, I met Joe and then it wasn't long before I started hearing more about Joe's exploits including his Trans South Dakota bikepacking event. Well, to say that Joe is an endurance event junkie is putting things mildly.

The interesting thing about endurance cyclists is that many of them are problem solver/inventor types. Most of what we have come to know as "bikepacking gear" was developed by some genius bikepacker's mind while fighting sub-standard gear during a long event. That's one thing about endurance events- you have a lot of time to think through a solution for a problem while you are out in the field. Necessity is the mother of invention? This never rang more true, I think, then it does with endurance cycling events.

Well, getting back to Joe, one of the things he saw when he came to Trans Iowa was the various cue sheet holder systems that were invented by many of the riders. Joe took the idea of what he thought would be best and made it a reality as the "Q:Pro" cue sheet holding system. I actually got to see and hold the first couple of prototype Q: Pro cue sheet holders at Trans Iowa last Spring when Joe's BarYak company sponsored the event and put up two for the Pre-Race Meat-Up raffle. That is where I got real interested in perhaps owning a component from BarYak. Interest was further piqued at this year's Dirty Kanza 200 where I spoke with Joe at the DK200 expo and got to see and handle his "Complete" BarYak set up and hear about the development and construction of the parts and pieces. One day, I was going to get one of these set ups.

My mileage (computer was off on the low side) from Gravel Worlds. Note cue sheets in lower RH corner

Well, as I related in one of my posts on Gravel Worlds, I had issues switching out cue sheets. That was just one of the many issues I had with the system I used for cue sheets at that event. Gravel Worlds publishes route information just a couple of days ahead of the event. As a rider, you can either download a GPS file for a device, or you can print good ol' cue sheets for yourself. Since I do not own a GPS device, nor would I trust one 100% anyway, I decided to print my own cues.

My printer formatted the things so that they came out fairly large and were bigger than my Cyco-Active Bar Map's pouch. They actually hung out the end far enough that I had to use a rubber band to hold them in so they would not get lost. Switching out cue sheets was a trick while riding. I had to momentarily let go of the bars when I was executing a swap, which wasn't always possible on the sandy, wash-boarded roads of the course. What is more, the border of the Bar Map obscured several lines of cues at the bottom of each sheet, which made for some frustrating navigation. This was the straw that broke the camel's back for me. I contacted Joe shortly after Gravel Worlds.

My BarYak system arrived well packaged and safely.

The nice thing about BarYak is that it is truly a one man operation and you talk to the owner when you call the company number. I first contacted BarYak by the e-mail contact form on their site and received a response asking me to call. Joe and I discussed my needs and he provided a few options. The BarYak system is configurable and can be combined with the Q:Pro cue sheet holder, which is the route I took. Joe suggested to me that if I had a spare handle bar that wasn't being used I could use it as part of the system. I happened to have an old Bontrager 118 titanium bar which Joe suggested would be a perfect substitute for the carbon cross bar he uses as stock. So, I got the BarYak bars, Easton carbon bar ends, and the Q:Pro minus the 3D printed bars that usually go with that.

I received the items double packed in bubble wrapped envelopes and shrink wrapped to a cardboard base. Very secure and safe. I got some blue anodized bar stock, just because it isn't black! BarYak does blue and red as stock colors, I believe, along with black. All attachment hardware is also included, of course. I should mention that the clamping size at the handle bar is 31.8mm, which is the most common size people have, but it isn't the only size out there, so double check your bike before ordering. The cross bar is a clamp size of 25.4mm, so if you plan on using your own handle bar stock, make sure it is a mountain bike handle bar.

My titanium Bontrager bar was a shimmed one, so it was 25.4mm all the way across its length, so I used the center portion of it and cut back the ends myself.  This allowed me to customize the length of the cross bar to my liking, which was nice.

And here is the Fargo Gen I with the BarYak system attached.

A look from the saddle.

Okay, so just above you get the look from the saddle at the BarYak system and how I set it up for now. Note- LOTS could change with this, so don't take any of the above as my "final set up". That said, I have some comments about what I have going on here below.

• On that cross bar: I noted the old Ti bar had some back sweep, so I used that as "forward sweep" to somewhat better align the bar ends with my arms if I use a more aero grip while riding. By the way, there is the Peregrine Arm Rests which can attach to the BarYak system as well, which was out of stock when I ordered, which I will add in the future. One could go sans arm rests, if that doesn't seem to bother you. 
• I popped on my wired (!!) Cat Eye computer and my Trelock Control Ion 950 light onto the cross bar. While it doesn't appear so, I can grasp the bar ends comfortably with these components there. Now that doesn't mean that they are staying there! They won't, but for now, it works. 
• Notice the Q: Pro cue sheet holder is rather spacious. This would have been the trick set up for my Gravel Worlds cues. Also of note- Joe got rider feedback on the Q: Pro saying that the original, shiny clip which holds the cues down was a reflector and was blinding if the Sun was just so. Joe laminated a sheet of carbon fiber on there to alleviate that issue. 
• The bar ends were purchased from BarYak, but any old mtb bar end you have that you really like can be substituted. 
• Note my Bike Bag Dude Chaff Bags. I was able to strap one to the slotted bar stock of the BarYak to allow for a different placement. (Left side). My original placement is on the right of the stem in the image above. 
• The BarYak system is not only configurable, it is adjustable as well. You can rotate the rails up or down to taste and the bar ends can be rotated on the cross bars as well depending on your desired ergonomics. 

Here you can see the slots in the rails which allow for a multitude of strap attachment options.

So that's the set up for the Fargo Gen I, but I probably will move this around to different bikes as the seasons change. I will, for instance, swap this over to the Blackborow DS at some point where the BarYak system will allow me to strap on a front bag and not foul my brake cables. It may end up on the Fat Fargo at some point depending upon the needs I have. Or, it could easily go on one of my gravel grinding rigs for cue sheet duty.

The fit of the parts are precise and the rails are claimed to carry some ridiculous amount of gear, so I expect that I will be able to use this system for years to come. Like I say, it is configurable, and I am certain to add the Peregrine Arm Rests soon and I may utilize this system in different configurations as the need arises. Besides that versatility, I could also see myself adding a Q: Pro cue sheet holder to another rig as a standalone piece. Keep in mind that the rails on the Q: Pro are 3D printed, so they are not up to gear hauling, should you think you want that. In that case, I would advise the regular BarYak as the solution.

Okay, so stay tuned for more as I get used to this set up and make any changes.

Country Views: Starting To Look Like Fall

Late Summer morphs into early Fall, but the color never stops out on the gravel roads.

Seasons turn and times are a changin'. I kind of felt like things were hitting their end of Summer look shortly after Gravel Worlds. The grass looks more ragged, the greens look duller, the corn started getting brown on the edges.

Well, now the signs are all there for us to see.The trees are showing signs of leaves turning color, and the corn is drying down real fast. However, that all doesn't mean that we are bereft of late season color. No way!

I took a couple of rides recently and had the opportunity to stop and check out the wild flowers that are gracing the roadsides now. Dominated by mostly yellows, these are a completely different set of flowers than we're used to seeing earlier in the year. I found many of them along the Sergeant Road bicycle trail, actually, but I also found many out in the country as well.

There were also some other colors witnessed out there, but these were mostly smaller flowers and not easily spotted at times. In fact, I was taking a completely different image when out of the corner of my eye I saw these little pink flowers in the ditch behind me.

Little, pink, and pretty for early Fall/late Summer.

There were these similar, but white petaled flowers alongside the pink ones.

Barns for Jason

I decided to ride somewhere different this weekend and went out West of town. I saw a lot of stuff I don't think I have before and some stuff I haven't for a long time. Black Hawk County maintainers have been busy! Judging by the corn, I would guess that the county is worried about the roads getting pummeled by semi tractor/trailer rigs and large farm machinery soon. Every report on the local agriculture I have seen says that the harvest will start early this year. So, that's why I am saying maybe the county is getting a fresh carpet of gravel down in preparation for the onslaught of heavy traffic.

Miles of this..... It was rough out there!

Looking forward to getting some great Fall gravel rides in. 

Hope y'all are having a great Labor Day Weekend! I'm hoping to get out to do another gravel ride yet before we all head back to work and school next week, but we'll see. So much to do in just three days that I can't be riding all the time!

Country Views: Starting To Look Like Fall

Late Summer morphs into early Fall, but the color never stops out on the gravel roads.

Seasons turn and times are a changin'. I kind of felt like things were hitting their end of Summer look shortly after Gravel Worlds. The grass looks more ragged, the greens look duller, the corn started getting brown on the edges.

Well, now the signs are all there for us to see.The trees are showing signs of leaves turning color, and the corn is drying down real fast. However, that all doesn't mean that we are bereft of late season color. No way!

I took a couple of rides recently and had the opportunity to stop and check out the wild flowers that are gracing the roadsides now. Dominated by mostly yellows, these are a completely different set of flowers than we're used to seeing earlier in the year. I found many of them along the Sergeant Road bicycle trail, actually, but I also found many out in the country as well.

There were also some other colors witnessed out there, but these were mostly smaller flowers and not easily spotted at times. In fact, I was taking a completely different image when out of the corner of my eye I saw these little pink flowers in the ditch behind me.

Little, pink, and pretty for early Fall/late Summer.

There were these similar, but white petaled flowers alongside the pink ones.

Barns for Jason

I decided to ride somewhere different this weekend and went out West of town. I saw a lot of stuff I don't think I have before and some stuff I haven't for a long time. Black Hawk County maintainers have been busy! Judging by the corn, I would guess that the county is worried about the roads getting pummeled by semi tractor/trailer rigs and large farm machinery soon. Every report on the local agriculture I have seen says that the harvest will start early this year. So, that's why I am saying maybe the county is getting a fresh carpet of gravel down in preparation for the onslaught of heavy traffic.

Miles of this..... It was rough out there!

Looking forward to getting some great Fall gravel rides in. 

Hope y'all are having a great Labor Day Weekend! I'm hoping to get out to do another gravel ride yet before we all head back to work and school next week, but we'll see. So much to do in just three days that I can't be riding all the time!

Minus Ten Review- 35

Tomatilla Green. I miss this color scheme.

Ten years ago on the blog I was running through a series I called "Materials Of Choice" where I researched all the materials commonly used in cycling. It was pretty enlightening. I actually learned quite a bit by doing it and it became one of the most popular revisited set of posts on my blog for quite a while.

The last post of the week was concerning all the great 29"er news coming out of Eurobike in 2007. At the time, this seemed rather ironic since Europeans were rather cool, (and to some degree still are) concerning the big wheeled bicycles. They were still all about 26"ers back then. So it was a bit puzzling at the time.

Now with the benefit of ten years of perspective, it was really all about how Eurobike was rising in prominence as the show where companies and brands showed off the newest goods first. Interbike was never quite the same after that. Of course, things are still changing, and now with so many people on mobile wifi connections, it is at a tipping point to where it seems a digital launch on news and innovations is really the focus now. The flip side is the dealer only/traveling demo truck shows which aim more at hands on, grassroots marketing. Anyway.....

Ten years ago it was cool to find out more tires were coming out, and rims, and forks. 29"ers were starting their takeover of 26"er mountain bike categories. Those were some exciting days for the 29'er fans.

Minus Ten Review- 35

Tomatilla Green. I miss this color scheme.

Ten years ago on the blog I was running through a series I called "Materials Of Choice" where I researched all the materials commonly used in cycling. It was pretty enlightening. I actually learned quite a bit by doing it and it became one of the most popular revisited set of posts on my blog for quite a while.

The last post of the week was concerning all the great 29"er news coming out of Eurobike in 2007. At the time, this seemed rather ironic since Europeans were rather cool, (and to some degree still are) concerning the big wheeled bicycles. They were still all about 26"ers back then. So it was a bit puzzling at the time.

Now with the benefit of ten years of perspective, it was really all about how Eurobike was rising in prominence as the show where companies and brands showed off the newest goods first. Interbike was never quite the same after that. Of course, things are still changing, and now with so many people on mobile wifi connections, it is at a tipping point to where it seems a digital launch on news and innovations is really the focus now. The flip side is the dealer only/traveling demo truck shows which aim more at hands on, grassroots marketing. Anyway.....

Ten years ago it was cool to find out more tires were coming out, and rims, and forks. 29"ers were starting their takeover of 26"er mountain bike categories. Those were some exciting days for the 29'er fans.

Friday News And Views

It's as if a Jones Bar and a Velo Orange Casey's Crazy Bar had an ill advised relationship.

Alt-Bar Action From Surly:

The Surly "Mothership" released some newsy bits on their plans for 2017 stuff. one of those bits was news about a handle bar dubbed the "Moloko Bar". Wait.....what? I've heard that name before.

I read some commentary on the Facebook page for Surly and someone mentioned a Gen I version that may or may not have seen the light of day. Then I knew I'd seen this bar before. Well, not this bar, but the Moloko Bar introduced at the 2012 Interbike show. That Moloko Bar. The new version is......well....... Goofy? Weird looking? Hmm.... I am not quite sure what to say about the looks. Maybe it works really well, but it almost defies description and not in a good way, necessarily.

I'm going out on a speculative limb here and I am going to say that it looks the way it does to avoid a lawsuit or some other legal action against it. Maybe I am wrong here, but the intentions of the bar seem to be very similar to the Jones Loop Bar and anything made close to that design might just draw the attention of the legal team. Maybe.

I sure could be wrong here, but when you see what the first Moloko Bar looked like, it might make more sense. I am not sure this version ever came out for sale, and if it didn't, I could be right and if it did, well, color me wrong. I'm okay with that.

The first Moloko Bar. Did anyone ever get a hold of one of these?

Well, I am not sure I'd ever get a Moloko Bar, and there are other reasons besides the looks. That will make more sense in the coming days, but that bar isn't what I am really excited about anyway. Nope, it is a tire that has me excited.

Imagine this in a 29" X 2.5" size. Yes, I can......

The Bigger Extraterrestrial:

 The 29"er version of the Extraterrestrial is coming out next year early. I have been rolling the 26"er version on my Surly 1X1 for almost a year now. This tire is flat out awesome in 26"er size, so I cannot imagine it will not be similarly great in a 700c format.

Yes- it will weigh a lot. But.....these tires wear like iron, can be set up tubeless, and roll like crazy. I can think of a couple of great reasons to own a set. This would be the bees knees on a Salsa Powderkeg Tandem, or they would be super cool on my Karate Monkey single speed bombing around town, or think of the possibilities of these tires on a Fargo. 

I will be getting a set when they come out. Then I will figure it out. You know......how to use them and on which bike. My initial feeling was that I would get them on my 2003 Karate Monkey because then that bike could be a great urban/gravel grinder machine. Would they fit? Don't know. Probably depends upon the wheel set I choose. These tires necessarily would need to have a wider rim to really work like they should, so a new wheel set would have to be set up. Yeah......I could do that. 

 Geezer Ride Update:

Yesterday I detailed a bit on the course for the Geezer Ride. However, I forgot to say that I have decided to modify a few bits. For one, I went a mile too far South on my initial leg, but it turned out for the better. Second thing was a decision to take a flatter section North in one part which I am sure many of you will appreciate when you find out Streeter Road, the route I originally penned in, is nothing but steep rollers. Plus, where we would have come out to turn off that road we would have had to have gone by a home that usually has four dogs that are all chasers. So, I put the ixnay on that choice.

By the way, the course revisions make the route 42.3 miles long. Not too shabby, and I managed to get Bennington School back in there, which was out as of yesterday. Can't leave that gem out of the equation!

Okay, it's the last big holiday for a while. End of Summer, and all of that, so go get rad, be safe, and have a ride on that two wheeled contraption thingie you probably have. It'll do ya good.

Friday News And Views

It's as if a Jones Bar and a Velo Orange Casey's Crazy Bar had an ill advised relationship.

Alt-Bar Action From Surly:

The Surly "Mothership" released some newsy bits on their plans for 2017 stuff. one of those bits was news about a handle bar dubbed the "Moloko Bar". Wait.....what? I've heard that name before.

I read some commentary on the Facebook page for Surly and someone mentioned a Gen I version that may or may not have seen the light of day. Then I knew I'd seen this bar before. Well, not this bar, but the Moloko Bar introduced at the 2012 Interbike show. That Moloko Bar. The new version is......well....... Goofy? Weird looking? Hmm.... I am not quite sure what to say about the looks. Maybe it works really well, but it almost defies description and not in a good way, necessarily.

I'm going out on a speculative limb here and I am going to say that it looks the way it does to avoid a lawsuit or some other legal action against it. Maybe I am wrong here, but the intentions of the bar seem to be very similar to the Jones Loop Bar and anything made close to that design might just draw the attention of the legal team. Maybe.

I sure could be wrong here, but when you see what the first Moloko Bar looked like, it might make more sense. I am not sure this version ever came out for sale, and if it didn't, I could be right and if it did, well, color me wrong. I'm okay with that.

The first Moloko Bar. Did anyone ever get a hold of one of these?

Well, I am not sure I'd ever get a Moloko Bar, and there are other reasons besides the looks. That will make more sense in the coming days, but that bar isn't what I am really excited about anyway. Nope, it is a tire that has me excited.

Imagine this in a 29" X 2.5" size. Yes, I can......

The Bigger Extraterrestrial:

 The 29"er version of the Extraterrestrial is coming out next year early. I have been rolling the 26"er version on my Surly 1X1 for almost a year now. This tire is flat out awesome in 26"er size, so I cannot imagine it will not be similarly great in a 700c format.

Yes- it will weigh a lot. But.....these tires wear like iron, can be set up tubeless, and roll like crazy. I can think of a couple of great reasons to own a set. This would be the bees knees on a Salsa Powderkeg Tandem, or they would be super cool on my Karate Monkey single speed bombing around town, or think of the possibilities of these tires on a Fargo. 

I will be getting a set when they come out. Then I will figure it out. You know......how to use them and on which bike. My initial feeling was that I would get them on my 2003 Karate Monkey because then that bike could be a great urban/gravel grinder machine. Would they fit? Don't know. Probably depends upon the wheel set I choose. These tires necessarily would need to have a wider rim to really work like they should, so a new wheel set would have to be set up. Yeah......I could do that. 

 Geezer Ride Update:

Yesterday I detailed a bit on the course for the Geezer Ride. However, I forgot to say that I have decided to modify a few bits. For one, I went a mile too far South on my initial leg, but it turned out for the better. Second thing was a decision to take a flatter section North in one part which I am sure many of you will appreciate when you find out Streeter Road, the route I originally penned in, is nothing but steep rollers. Plus, where we would have come out to turn off that road we would have had to have gone by a home that usually has four dogs that are all chasers. So, I put the ixnay on that choice.

By the way, the course revisions make the route 42.3 miles long. Not too shabby, and I managed to get Bennington School back in there, which was out as of yesterday. Can't leave that gem out of the equation!

Okay, it's the last big holiday for a while. End of Summer, and all of that, so go get rad, be safe, and have a ride on that two wheeled contraption thingie you probably have. It'll do ya good.

Geezer Ride '16: Recon

Things will start out pretty flat for several miles.

Wednesday was a gorgeous day and I took the opportunity to ride the proposed course for the upcoming Geezer Ride which will be on Saturday, September 17th.

As I have said on numerous occasions, this is a super-chill ride and the course is geared toward that as well. The first few miles will be on bike path that undulates a bit but doesn't have anything close to a hill. Then we hit some pavement that will lead out to gravel. That and the first several miles of gravel will be dead flat. Well.......I think so anyway. It is pretty flat out that way. You don't even get a slight incline until you go North on Ford Road. Even then it is a gentle slope. Nothing to fret over.

What you could have fretted about Wednesday was the three inches of fresh gravel strewn across the road. Man! That was a chunky, rough three mile stretch or so. Black Hawk County was doing road maintenance yesterday, or so it seemed. There were other fresh patches of gravel I ran across but nothing compares to that deep carpet of crushed limestone I rode on down Ford Road.

Dump truck fresh for your eye ball rattling pleasure!

Hopefully that gets sorted out before the Geezer Ride in a couple weeks or so. If not, I have two words for you: wide tires! Oh, and at lower pressures. I was glad I had the WTB Riddler 45mm tires on my Tamland, that's for sure. A skinnier tire would have made matters much worse through that section.

Church #1 on the course comes fairly early on into the ride.

One thing I wanted to mention was that I discovered a really cool round ceramic tile barn on the route very early into the first gravel section. I have ridden this road several times before, but it is off the road far enough that it is easy to miss it. We will have to stop and check that out when the Geezer Ride happens.

Not all gravel roads are lined with corn and soybeans. Notice the fresh gravel here.

Church #2 on the route as we approach from the West.

The route will head East and North for several miles and this is where some gentle rollers will kick in. Nothing steep, mind you, but the grades are longer. Unless there is a massive headwind these shouldn't be a big deal. I had a quartering headwind going up these and I was fine. Near to the end of our first Eastward march we will come across another country church at the top of a long, gentle climb.

Church #3, an abandoned one, is only a mile North of the second one.

At the second church on course we will turn Northward for a mile to catch the third church on route and then take a long road Eastward on the northern edge of Black Hawk County. This part is maybe a little tough since there isn't really anything of interest on this stretch of road. Well, there is a dog at the top of a hill right after crossing Highway 63 we may have to watch out for, but other than that, not much of interest. Other than you will be out riding in the country, and hopefully we will see some wild flowers. There were a lot of yellows in the ditch as of this week.

Barns For Jason

Then we will turn from our most Northerly part of the course down a road I hadn't ridden on before yesterday. I was pleasantly surprised to find that it has several interesting barns and farmsteads on it, which should provide some visual breaks from the previous miles of corn and soybean fields.

Church #4 is a much newer, fancier affair.

We will go East a few more miles then and to the furthest point East on the course where we will drop South for one mile to get back going West again. Along this road we will see church #4, which is a newer church building which I am guessing replaced an older building there. I say that because the cemetery behind this church looks rather old.

Church #5 is just a few miles west of #4.

Further up the road we will find another smaller, older church. We will find the roads on this Eastern section to be rather flat, by the way, but after this little church the rollers never really quit. Again, they aren't bad, but there isn't anything flat, really, again until we get back closer to Cedar Falls.

Mount Vernon cemetery. I'd bet that there was a church here once, or very near to this site.

We will ride past Mount Vernon cemetery which has several nice trees. If we need to rest in the shade this will prove to be a fine place to obtain said rest. You may need it too, because the rollers keep coming and we will have been out for a long time by this point. Never fear! The end isn't far from this point. If you make it this far, you'll finish the course.

The route finishes up going down a little known gravel road just North of Cedar Falls and then it will be a smooth, flatter paved ride back to the start, about 42 or so miles after you start. Well, that is.....if you come out to ride the Geezer Ride. 

Questions or comments? Hit me up in the comments section. 

Geezer Ride '16: Recon

Things will start out pretty flat for several miles.

Wednesday was a gorgeous day and I took the opportunity to ride the proposed course for the upcoming Geezer Ride which will be on Saturday, September 17th.

As I have said on numerous occasions, this is a super-chill ride and the course is geared toward that as well. The first few miles will be on bike path that undulates a bit but doesn't have anything close to a hill. Then we hit some pavement that will lead out to gravel. That and the first several miles of gravel will be dead flat. Well.......I think so anyway. It is pretty flat out that way. You don't even get a slight incline until you go North on Ford Road. Even then it is a gentle slope. Nothing to fret over.

What you could have fretted about Wednesday was the three inches of fresh gravel strewn across the road. Man! That was a chunky, rough three mile stretch or so. Black Hawk County was doing road maintenance yesterday, or so it seemed. There were other fresh patches of gravel I ran across but nothing compares to that deep carpet of crushed limestone I rode on down Ford Road.

Dump truck fresh for your eye ball rattling pleasure!

Hopefully that gets sorted out before the Geezer Ride in a couple weeks or so. If not, I have two words for you: wide tires! Oh, and at lower pressures. I was glad I had the WTB Riddler 45mm tires on my Tamland, that's for sure. A skinnier tire would have made matters much worse through that section.

Church #1 on the course comes fairly early on into the ride.

One thing I wanted to mention was that I discovered a really cool round ceramic tile barn on the route very early into the first gravel section. I have ridden this road several times before, but it is off the road far enough that it is easy to miss it. We will have to stop and check that out when the Geezer Ride happens.

Not all gravel roads are lined with corn and soybeans. Notice the fresh gravel here.

Church #2 on the route as we approach from the West.

The route will head East and North for several miles and this is where some gentle rollers will kick in. Nothing steep, mind you, but the grades are longer. Unless there is a massive headwind these shouldn't be a big deal. I had a quartering headwind going up these and I was fine. Near to the end of our first Eastward march we will come across another country church at the top of a long, gentle climb.

Church #3, an abandoned one, is only a mile North of the second one.

At the second church on course we will turn Northward for a mile to catch the third church on route and then take a long road Eastward on the northern edge of Black Hawk County. This part is maybe a little tough since there isn't really anything of interest on this stretch of road. Well, there is a dog at the top of a hill right after crossing Highway 63 we may have to watch out for, but other than that, not much of interest. Other than you will be out riding in the country, and hopefully we will see some wild flowers. There were a lot of yellows in the ditch as of this week.

Barns For Jason

Then we will turn from our most Northerly part of the course down a road I hadn't ridden on before yesterday. I was pleasantly surprised to find that it has several interesting barns and farmsteads on it, which should provide some visual breaks from the previous miles of corn and soybean fields.

Church #4 is a much newer, fancier affair.

We will go East a few more miles then and to the furthest point East on the course where we will drop South for one mile to get back going West again. Along this road we will see church #4, which is a newer church building which I am guessing replaced an older building there. I say that because the cemetery behind this church looks rather old.

Church #5 is just a few miles west of #4.

Further up the road we will find another smaller, older church. We will find the roads on this Eastern section to be rather flat, by the way, but after this little church the rollers never really quit. Again, they aren't bad, but there isn't anything flat, really, again until we get back closer to Cedar Falls.

Mount Vernon cemetery. I'd bet that there was a church here once, or very near to this site.

We will ride past Mount Vernon cemetery which has several nice trees. If we need to rest in the shade this will prove to be a fine place to obtain said rest. You may need it too, because the rollers keep coming and we will have been out for a long time by this point. Never fear! The end isn't far from this point. If you make it this far, you'll finish the course.

The route finishes up going down a little known gravel road just North of Cedar Falls and then it will be a smooth, flatter paved ride back to the start, about 42 or so miles after you start. Well, that is.....if you come out to ride the Geezer Ride. 

Questions or comments? Hit me up in the comments section.