No Events For You!

Postponed, deferred, or cancelled. Most 2020 events I signed up for are not happening.

What a weird year 2020 is going to end up being. ("No duh!", as the kidz say) But I still keep finding new ways to be astonished, disappointed, and put off balance every day. Monday it was the news that another event I signed up for is postponed, or deferred, (optional) and I cannot attend in 2020.

Yeah......first world problems. I get it. But I was looking forward to seeing my brother MG down in Lincoln, seeing that new course, and just getting away from here for a while. Now that this event, the Solstice 100, by the way, is off my calendar, I only have Gravel Worlds to look forward to in mid-August, and who knows if that will even be allowed to happen? I'm going to say 'nope', I really would be surprised if we were allowed to do any big gatherings at that time.

So, I have a plan, and I think it aligns with much of what many events are doing too. I am setting up my own adventures, and planning to do those, and while it'll be just me, that's fine. I generally almost always end up on my own at events anyway. What's different? Well, the pre-event and post-event fun with friends, but I'll have to make do. So, here are my plans for 'events' now that regularly scheduled programming has been postponed, cancelled, and deferred.

• Single Speed Century: I have been digging riding the Salsa Cycles Stormchaser single speed and that has me stoked to do a century on a single speed. I had planned on doing this at some point anyway, and I even went so far as to draw up a course, so I don't even have to plan that part out. This will likely be my first 'event' this year.
• Fat Bike Century: My friend Tony and I were going to do this again. We did one several years ago now, and while it was tough, it was a heck of a lot of fun. I have the bike lined up and all I need is to get a course for this and I'm off. 
• Guitar Ted Death Ride- Solo Version: I called off the GTDRI, but this whole "death ride" deal started with me doing solo crazy road rides, so I thought I could just revisit that, only on gravel. I have a route too. 

That's probably enough to get me into trouble.

I probably won't get to use the Stormchaser on my single speed century ride, but that's okay.

So, for the single speed deal, I have to come up with a choice of bike. Yes.....I have single speeds (plural). I have three single speed mountain bikes, so those are likely out. Too low a gear on both of those. The other two I'm thinking of are my drop bar single speed 'kind of' mountain bikes. The Pofahl and the OG Karate Monkey, which I actually put my longest ride ever on. Then there is the Orange Crush #49.

So, here's where I separate the pretenders from the contenders. Whatever one I choose, I have to make sure I can carry enough water and food to make it and this cannot include a hydration pack. So, I think it comes down to the Pofahl or the Orange Crush. both have 180mm cranks and both are pretty comfy, but I'd likely give the edge, at least now, to the Pofahl.

For the Fat Bike Century I am thinking about giving the nod to my 50th birthday present, The Snow Dog. (The OG Mukluk for those of you who aren't longtime readers here.) That old thing has the perfect gravel tires for a fat bike, the OG Larry 3.8's, and it has all the bottle mounts, plus it is set up 1X9, so I have gear enough for most anything on gravel. I also have a Cane Creek Thudbuster on there and that should make things pretty comfy for the long haul.

The solo version of the GTDRI will be on one of my more comfortable gravel bikes, of course. Probably either the MCD or the Fargo. I'll get great comfort and performance out of either one of those, the difference being the tire size on the Fargo.

Stay tuned for more on these special 'events' here on the blog in the upcoming weeks and months.

No Events For You!

Postponed, deferred, or cancelled. Most 2020 events I signed up for are not happening.

What a weird year 2020 is going to end up being. ("No duh!", as the kidz say) But I still keep finding new ways to be astonished, disappointed, and put off balance every day. Monday it was the news that another event I signed up for is postponed, or deferred, (optional) and I cannot attend in 2020.

Yeah......first world problems. I get it. But I was looking forward to seeing my brother MG down in Lincoln, seeing that new course, and just getting away from here for a while. Now that this event, the Solstice 100, by the way, is off my calendar, I only have Gravel Worlds to look forward to in mid-August, and who knows if that will even be allowed to happen? I'm going to say 'nope', I really would be surprised if we were allowed to do any big gatherings at that time.

So, I have a plan, and I think it aligns with much of what many events are doing too. I am setting up my own adventures, and planning to do those, and while it'll be just me, that's fine. I generally almost always end up on my own at events anyway. What's different? Well, the pre-event and post-event fun with friends, but I'll have to make do. So, here are my plans for 'events' now that regularly scheduled programming has been postponed, cancelled, and deferred.

• Single Speed Century: I have been digging riding the Salsa Cycles Stormchaser single speed and that has me stoked to do a century on a single speed. I had planned on doing this at some point anyway, and I even went so far as to draw up a course, so I don't even have to plan that part out. This will likely be my first 'event' this year.
• Fat Bike Century: My friend Tony and I were going to do this again. We did one several years ago now, and while it was tough, it was a heck of a lot of fun. I have the bike lined up and all I need is to get a course for this and I'm off. 
• Guitar Ted Death Ride- Solo Version: I called off the GTDRI, but this whole "death ride" deal started with me doing solo crazy road rides, so I thought I could just revisit that, only on gravel. I have a route too. 

That's probably enough to get me into trouble.

I probably won't get to use the Stormchaser on my single speed century ride, but that's okay.

So, for the single speed deal, I have to come up with a choice of bike. Yes.....I have single speeds (plural). I have three single speed mountain bikes, so those are likely out. Too low a gear on both of those. The other two I'm thinking of are my drop bar single speed 'kind of' mountain bikes. The Pofahl and the OG Karate Monkey, which I actually put my longest ride ever on. Then there is the Orange Crush #49.

So, here's where I separate the pretenders from the contenders. Whatever one I choose, I have to make sure I can carry enough water and food to make it and this cannot include a hydration pack. So, I think it comes down to the Pofahl or the Orange Crush. both have 180mm cranks and both are pretty comfy, but I'd likely give the edge, at least now, to the Pofahl.

For the Fat Bike Century I am thinking about giving the nod to my 50th birthday present, The Snow Dog. (The OG Mukluk for those of you who aren't longtime readers here.) That old thing has the perfect gravel tires for a fat bike, the OG Larry 3.8's, and it has all the bottle mounts, plus it is set up 1X9, so I have gear enough for most anything on gravel. I also have a Cane Creek Thudbuster on there and that should make things pretty comfy for the long haul.

The solo version of the GTDRI will be on one of my more comfortable gravel bikes, of course. Probably either the MCD or the Fargo. I'll get great comfort and performance out of either one of those, the difference being the tire size on the Fargo.

Stay tuned for more on these special 'events' here on the blog in the upcoming weeks and months.

Gravel Grinder News: Evidence Of Gravel Cycling's History

Courtesy of Warren Wiebe. Thanks!

Gravel riding has produced a niche, an offshoot of cycling, which had, up until this pandemic, been one of the bright spots in the cycling industry. That and HPC/electrified, motorized bikes. Anyway, this has engendered much speculation and thought in some circles as to 'who was first'.

I generally dislike such pursuits since they almost always end up in speculations, hurt feelings, and inconclusive evidence. I always just say that we know people were cycling off-pavement before us, and then there came Trans Iowa, the Dirty Kanza 200, the Good Life Gravel Adventure/Gravel Worlds, and the Almanzo 100. Events which essentially helped put gravel riding on the map. The 'Modern Era' of gravel riding, if you will, started in late 2004.

But be that as it may, we all know, and I have oft pointed out that, gravel riding was happening on an organized level for years before this. We know Richard "Deke" Gosen was putting on events on gravel around Decorah, Iowa in the 1980's, and we know that there was a "Colesburg 40" event in Northeast Iowa on gravel before Trans Iowa. We also know about something called the "Flinthills Death Ride".

John Hobbs had been putting this event on starting in 1988. It was mostly understood at that time to be a mountain biking ride, but it was always on the gravel roads of the Flint Hills in Kansas. I was recently reminded of this again by a good friend, Warren Wiebe, who is a native of Kansas and had done this event in the past. As he was cleaning out some things during these times of staying around home, he found an old "Flinthills Death Ride" newsletter. (Remember those? Times before e-mail!)

I posted an image here which is pretty high-res, so you should be able to 'embiggen' this enough to read it. If you do, you'll notice a few things that might remind you of events that came afterward. I never was influenced by John Hobbs, but it would seem that in some areas, we were on the same page.

Anyway, it is good to be reminded that all this hullabaloo about 'the world's premier gravel event', or this is 'the grandaddy of all gravel events' is kind of - well not kind of, it is ignorant of the past and basically self-important marketing chutzpah. There are pioneers of gravel grinding, and then there are the unknown, the forgotten promoters of the past that were doing just what we are today, but within the confines of the 'Analog Age' which kept them a secret from most of the cycling world.

Starting in the 2000's, we had the benefit of the 'Information Age', where ideas were shared at lightning speed and little revolutions like gravel riding and racing got a foothold and spread around. Now we have to remind people that this was the case, or they will remember what they want to remember, and invent stories where there are no memories to fit a narrative. History can make us aware and teach us if we let it, and I think this is a great thing. Thanks Warren, this was a good reminder of times past and gravel riding's history.

Gravel Grinder News: Evidence Of Gravel Cycling's History

Courtesy of Warren Wiebe. Thanks!

Gravel riding has produced a niche, an offshoot of cycling, which had, up until this pandemic, been one of the bright spots in the cycling industry. That and HPC/electrified, motorized bikes. Anyway, this has engendered much speculation and thought in some circles as to 'who was first'.

I generally dislike such pursuits since they almost always end up in speculations, hurt feelings, and inconclusive evidence. I always just say that we know people were cycling off-pavement before us, and then there came Trans Iowa, the Dirty Kanza 200, the Good Life Gravel Adventure/Gravel Worlds, and the Almanzo 100. Events which essentially helped put gravel riding on the map. The 'Modern Era' of gravel riding, if you will, started in late 2004.

But be that as it may, we all know, and I have oft pointed out that, gravel riding was happening on an organized level for years before this. We know Richard "Deke" Gosen was putting on events on gravel around Decorah, Iowa in the 1980's, and we know that there was a "Colesburg 40" event in Northeast Iowa on gravel before Trans Iowa. We also know about something called the "Flinthills Death Ride".

John Hobbs had been putting this event on starting in 1988. It was mostly understood at that time to be a mountain biking ride, but it was always on the gravel roads of the Flint Hills in Kansas. I was recently reminded of this again by a good friend, Warren Wiebe, who is a native of Kansas and had done this event in the past. As he was cleaning out some things during these times of staying around home, he found an old "Flinthills Death Ride" newsletter. (Remember those? Times before e-mail!)

I posted an image here which is pretty high-res, so you should be able to 'embiggen' this enough to read it. If you do, you'll notice a few things that might remind you of events that came afterward. I never was influenced by John Hobbs, but it would seem that in some areas, we were on the same page.

Anyway, it is good to be reminded that all this hullabaloo about 'the world's premier gravel event', or this is 'the grandaddy of all gravel events' is kind of - well not kind of, it is ignorant of the past and basically self-important marketing chutzpah. There are pioneers of gravel grinding, and then there are the unknown, the forgotten promoters of the past that were doing just what we are today, but within the confines of the 'Analog Age' which kept them a secret from most of the cycling world.

Starting in the 2000's, we had the benefit of the 'Information Age', where ideas were shared at lightning speed and little revolutions like gravel riding and racing got a foothold and spread around. Now we have to remind people that this was the case, or they will remember what they want to remember, and invent stories where there are no memories to fit a narrative. History can make us aware and teach us if we let it, and I think this is a great thing. Thanks Warren, this was a good reminder of times past and gravel riding's history.

Country Views: Investigating The Level B Road

The level of smell here was at 10.

Saturday was a day I had several things to do around the house, and it kept threatening rain, so I postponed my bike ride to Sunday. That turned out to be a good deal since it was clear, warm, and very dry out. In fact, it was so dry out we had fire warnings. 24% humidity is unheard of here in the month of May, so this felt like riding in the desert to me. I'm used to it being 'swampier' than that.

Anyway, I decided since I had 650B wheels on the Stormchaser that I should go try out the Level B Maintenance section of Petrie Road. I hadn't been down that way in quite some time, so I figured an exploration of its current condition was warranted. I also was wanting to see if there were signs it might be getting turned into a C Maintenance Road, which would mean it would be gated off and access to riding it would be pretty much gone. After having spoken to an adjacent landowner there during T.I.v12, I have had the distinct feeling that this could happen at anytime. So far, it has not.

So, I headed on down South via the Sergeant Road Trail and I noted that all the flowering shrubs were doing their thing now. It smelled like a refreshed bathroom which had been sprayed with some flowery air freshener. Only, you know......more natural, and beautiful. Not that sickly fake smell of man-made crap. Anyway, the odor was intense. I cannot remember it being that way before. Does less air pollution and traffic have anything to do with that? Perhaps.... Anyway, I was digging it.

This large glacial erratic is located South of Waterloo, but is often obscured by vegetation. This is a rare clear view of it.

Most fields I saw had been planted already.

Of course, the Level B Maintenance section of Petrie Road is pretty much straight South of Waterloo, and it doesn't take long to get there. I figured I would give myself an option to go there and come back, or to ride a bit further and perhaps catch a bit of Level B I am aware of in Northern Tama County. The roads were super dry, chunky, and rough with all the agricultural equipment passage for planting recently.

There was still some planting going on on Sunday.

I foumd Petrie Road and since I've been down that way we've had wetter weather, planting, and who knows what sort of traffic has been down that road. I was certain the ag equipment had been through there since almost everything I saw was planted now. What I found was a bit shocking.

I don't think I've ever seen the Level B part of Petrie Road so rutted out and torn up.

The Stormchaser with 650B wheels and tires.

First off, approaching from the East, that section where the road is almost always low and muddy has been filled in with white rock. This isn't any ordinary gravel, but it is fist-sized chunk that was tough to navigate with 47mm tires. Then the hill going up from that point is blown out sand, as usual, but at the top the road gets into a clay section and the ruts were so deep I had to be very careful to avoid running down into them. This pretty much stayed the case until I got out on the West end. Before I got there I was startled by a rooster pheasant. The tell-tale flapping sound and whistle of its wings were unmistakable.

Another planter putting seeds in the ground.

I decided that the chunk that was predominate on the roads combined with the Stormchaser's very unforgiving front end was making riding not so much fun, so I turned the bike back Northward and headed back to the shed. Probably a good thing considering how fatigued I was Saturday. Maybe I need to take a short break. Give myself some time to rest.

But this Spring going on Summer has been just too fantastic to pass up for riding.

Country Views: Investigating The Level B Road

The level of smell here was at 10.

Saturday was a day I had several things to do around the house, and it kept threatening rain, so I postponed my bike ride to Sunday. That turned out to be a good deal since it was clear, warm, and very dry out. In fact, it was so dry out we had fire warnings. 24% humidity is unheard of here in the month of May, so this felt like riding in the desert to me. I'm used to it being 'swampier' than that.

Anyway, I decided since I had 650B wheels on the Stormchaser that I should go try out the Level B Maintenance section of Petrie Road. I hadn't been down that way in quite some time, so I figured an exploration of its current condition was warranted. I also was wanting to see if there were signs it might be getting turned into a C Maintenance Road, which would mean it would be gated off and access to riding it would be pretty much gone. After having spoken to an adjacent landowner there during T.I.v12, I have had the distinct feeling that this could happen at anytime. So far, it has not.

So, I headed on down South via the Sergeant Road Trail and I noted that all the flowering shrubs were doing their thing now. It smelled like a refreshed bathroom which had been sprayed with some flowery air freshener. Only, you know......more natural, and beautiful. Not that sickly fake smell of man-made crap. Anyway, the odor was intense. I cannot remember it being that way before. Does less air pollution and traffic have anything to do with that? Perhaps.... Anyway, I was digging it.

This large glacial erratic is located South of Waterloo, but is often obscured by vegetation. This is a rare clear view of it.

Most fields I saw had been planted already.

Of course, the Level B Maintenance section of Petrie Road is pretty much straight South of Waterloo, and it doesn't take long to get there. I figured I would give myself an option to go there and come back, or to ride a bit further and perhaps catch a bit of Level B I am aware of in Northern Tama County. The roads were super dry, chunky, and rough with all the agricultural equipment passage for planting recently.

There was still some planting going on on Sunday.

I foumd Petrie Road and since I've been down that way we've had wetter weather, planting, and who knows what sort of traffic has been down that road. I was certain the ag equipment had been through there since almost everything I saw was planted now. What I found was a bit shocking.

I don't think I've ever seen the Level B part of Petrie Road so rutted out and torn up.

The Stormchaser with 650B wheels and tires.

First off, approaching from the East, that section where the road is almost always low and muddy has been filled in with white rock. This isn't any ordinary gravel, but it is fist-sized chunk that was tough to navigate with 47mm tires. Then the hill going up from that point is blown out sand, as usual, but at the top the road gets into a clay section and the ruts were so deep I had to be very careful to avoid running down into them. This pretty much stayed the case until I got out on the West end. Before I got there I was startled by a rooster pheasant. The tell-tale flapping sound and whistle of its wings were unmistakable.

Another planter putting seeds in the ground.

I decided that the chunk that was predominate on the roads combined with the Stormchaser's very unforgiving front end was making riding not so much fun, so I turned the bike back Northward and headed back to the shed. Probably a good thing considering how fatigued I was Saturday. Maybe I need to take a short break. Give myself some time to rest.

But this Spring going on Summer has been just too fantastic to pass up for riding.

Trans Iowa Stories: A Fire In The Belly

T.I.v7- Passing some finishers as we searched for two lost riders Easter morning 2011.

 "Trans Iowa Stories" is an every Sunday post which helps tell the stories behind the event. You can check out other posts about this subject by going back to earlier Sunday posts on this blog. Thanks and enjoy!

Trans Iowa v7 wasn't even over yet and I had already committed to running a Trans Iowa again. "This couldn't be the way Trans Iowa would be run again", I was thinking.

I was, as I wrote in my last edition of these stories, very angry. I typically do not get really angry, I'm just not wired that way, but if I reach a point of frustration where 'that line gets crossed', well, then I am all about making some changes and that forcefully. Now, I had no intentions of violence toward David, although the source of my feelings was my perception at the time that he had let me down for no good reason. My anger wasn't aimed at anyone in particular. No- this was on me, and the next Trans Iowa was going to be the one that defined me. 

I somehow had realized at this point, innately I think, that Trans Iowa was Guitar Ted and Guitar Ted was Trans Iowa. The two were intertwined and regardless of who was helping me, and regardless of how I might try to deflect attention toward anyone helping, the public was already fixated on me being Trans Iowa. It just was how it came to be. Of course, I knew better, and I still hold to the narrative that I am a bit part player in the whole thing, but I am in the minority. However; at that time, bouncing around in David's Honda Element near the end of T.I.v7, all I knew was that people were looking to me to see what would happen next. And I was bound and determined to make that next experience the best one possible.

Corey "Cornbread" Godfrey on his way in after an incredible ride overcoming adversity in T.I.v7. Shot taken through a muddy wind shield!

The fire was lit. But first I had to get over what had just happened. There was the issue with David which eventually was resolved mid-Summer of 2011. Then there was the friendship with MG, which was on its way to being mended by late Summer as well. So, then I was able to turn my attention to Trans Iowa once again. There was no more distraction from putting on a mountain bike festival, or website work stress. The two sites I was running had been stabilized and the gravel site was running smoothly. Now it was time to make some plans.

We didn't have number plates for T.I.v7. We had "prayer flags"

I had a few people stepping up to help, but this version of Trans Iowa largely was resting on my shoulders. Route recon was, for the first time since Trans Iowa v3, all my baby. So, I was of the mind that I had to get cranking on that sooner than later. Maps were purchased, online resources were tapped, and I spent many nights digging into the possibilities.

One of those seriously considered possibilities was moving the event from Grinnell. I asked a few trusted folks about the possibility of moving Trans Iowa to somewhere West or South of Des Moines. Winterset, Iowa was a consideration, and the thought was we'd circumnavigate Des Moines, like Gravel Worlds does with Lincoln, Nebraska. However; after I considered the difficulties in setting up relationships, finding suitable venues, and making sure none of that cost me money, I quickly realized how well I had it in Grinnell. The event stayed put as a result.

I was on my own with those and other decisions this time, and the feeling of not having David Pals support and wisdom was felt sharply.  But that is not to say that I had no support. No- I had a lot of people and organizations looking to help in any way that they could. Grinnell was going to host again. That was a given, and Rob Versteegh, of Oakley, was onboard to provide access to "The Barn" and prizing for the winners. (Although the barn part fell through in the end) The volunteer list would once again include Wally and George, who had such a cool checkpoint set up that was so popular with the riders that I would have been a fool not to accept them again for T.I.v8. Plus, I had become fond of them rather quickly.

The group of cyclists from the Chicago area who called themselves the "Slender Fungus" were onboard as well to help in any way that they could. That and they promised to bring several riders to the next Trans Iowa. Support from other Trans Iowa stalwarts, such as Corey "Cornbread" Godfrey and Tim Ek were valuable motivations for me. I had more incentives than ever to move ahead with my plans.

Those plans included adding a covered bridge crossing to the route, going South, since we hadn't been that way before, and to have the most perfect cue sheets in Trans Iowa history. None of those things were easy, by the way, and one of those things didn't happen. The route finding was arduous. Not just in terms of research, but in the physical activity of route finding as well. One such story about the recon shows this in both ways.

One of the major hurdles to making any big loop course in Iowa is rivers. They impose a certain way of making routes that dictates what happens for an entire course. This is due to limited options to cross these rivers in many cases. The South Skunk River was a constant reminder of this, which for T.I.v8 happened to be the easier of my obstacles to overcome. The Des Moines River, however; was a beast to get around.

Tim Ek (R) and Charlie Farrow at CP#2 during T.I.v7. Tim was a major help to me back in this era of T.I.

I had searched online using Google Earth for hours trying to find a suitable bridge to get over the mighty Des Moines, and while there are several bridges, you can imagine almost all of them carry major highways. Not suitable or practical for a gravel road event! But I did come across one old steel gable bridge near Pella, Iowa that looked promising. The Iowa DOT maps showed that it was a gravel road, and Google earth images were inconclusive. I couldn't ask anybody, because the route had to be kept top-secret. So, the only way to find out was to make a four hour round trip down just to see. That doesn't include time doing any recon, by the way. That's just travel to and from. So, just to verify one bridge would take, in reality, most of a day. This was the sort of commitment I had to make to get the course developed, and my drive to do it right got me through all objections.

So, you can imagine the gut punch I felt when I found out that a farmer on the South side of that bridge had plowed the road asunder and taken it over as part of his farm field. I stood there at the Southern end of that bridge staring at a mere quarter mile of field to where the road picked up again. A quarter of a mile! No alternative was left to me other than to scrap that part of the planned course and go back home and start looking again. Now, I did get a few tidbits of information and I did figure out some things, so it wasn't a total loss, but getting over the Des Moines River was a huge problem.

Fortunately another find via Google Earth did actually pan out. I found evidence of another bridge over the Des Moines River leading from a gravel road which DOT maps showed coming out of a small town called Agency, Iowa. The town was once a Native American trading post and the site of Chief Wapello's grave. Perfect! I loved sending Trans Iowa through historical areas, even though the riders might never know they were historical areas. Another 2+ hour trip to get down there proved exciting due to the bridge not only proving out, but in that it had been recently replaced. So, there was little fear that it would be closed come time for T.I.v8.

Red arrows show return route of T.I.v8 on a paved county road bridge.

Recon was completed when we had a freak 50+ degree Sunny day the first week of 2012. I managed to get the cues started early, and the route looked great. No covered bridge though! I had one on the radar, but the return route wasn't lining up to take it in without adding a lot of mileage which would have put us over the self-imposed limitation of 340. The other bummer was that I ended up having to route the course over a paved county road bridge for the Des Moines River which was going to put in about two plus miles of pavement. But that was on the return route, and probably in the dead of night with the lowest traffic count possible. Besides, there was no other choice I could make without scrapping everything leading up to that point.

So, I poured over the cues diligently all the rest of the Winter. I mocked up a set, and through communication with Wally Kilburg, I was able to talk he and George Keslin into coming out to help verify my route. It was another layer of 'insurance' which I had conceived of post-T.I.v7 which would independently verify my cues. Originally I wasn't even going to go along, but Wally convinced me that my presence would not affect the outcome. In fact, he motioned that if a call had to be made to clarify a cue, mark a point for reference, or reroute, that my being along would be crucial to my goals. So, I relented and went along.

Wally and George would navigate by my draft cue sheets, and we could also look for a suitable Checkpoint #2 location. So, it was set up for mid-March and we would go on that first, unforgettable recon mission. I'll tell more about that later.

The point here is that I had to make a huge sacrifice in time, mileage, and effort to get T.I.v8 cues "spot on". I did those two previous mentioned recon trips to vet the bridges existences out, another previous recon effort of the Northern parts of the course, and that big drive in January which was well over 300 miles. The constant pouring over route maps, websites, and thinking about that course took a lot of energy. Then the drawing up of the cues, going over them three times or more to find mistakes, and make sure directions were clear. Look- the point I'm trying to drive home is this: I had a drive to make T.I.v8 perfect. I was energized like never before to pull this off. No false expectations, just 'nose-to-the-grindstone' work. All due to what happened in T.I.v7.

Did it work? Was T.I.v8 perfect? Yes, and no, and "it depends on who you ask". I guess the main thing that came out of Trans Iowa v7 was that this drive, this fire in my belly, well it made the rest of the Trans Iowa organizing and production after this a lot simpler, more precise, and it led to a lot less problems. And that was a good thing after an emotionally draining time going through things that should not have happened which undid friendships and hurt me personally.

I never went through anything quite like that again because of Trans Iowa. But that isn't to say that there weren't issues and excitement that I could have done without. That happened right up through to the end.

Next: We take a break from the story about the next Trans Iowa in the story, v8, and take a look at some of the artwork that defined the event in The Look Of Trans Iowa.

Trans Iowa Stories: A Fire In The Belly

T.I.v7- Passing some finishers as we searched for two lost riders Easter morning 2011.

 "Trans Iowa Stories" is an every Sunday post which helps tell the stories behind the event. You can check out other posts about this subject by going back to earlier Sunday posts on this blog. Thanks and enjoy!

Trans Iowa v7 wasn't even over yet and I had already committed to running a Trans Iowa again. "This couldn't be the way Trans Iowa would be run again", I was thinking.

I was, as I wrote in my last edition of these stories, very angry. I typically do not get really angry, I'm just not wired that way, but if I reach a point of frustration where 'that line gets crossed', well, then I am all about making some changes and that forcefully. Now, I had no intentions of violence toward David, although the source of my feelings was my perception at the time that he had let me down for no good reason. My anger wasn't aimed at anyone in particular. No- this was on me, and the next Trans Iowa was going to be the one that defined me. 

I somehow had realized at this point, innately I think, that Trans Iowa was Guitar Ted and Guitar Ted was Trans Iowa. The two were intertwined and regardless of who was helping me, and regardless of how I might try to deflect attention toward anyone helping, the public was already fixated on me being Trans Iowa. It just was how it came to be. Of course, I knew better, and I still hold to the narrative that I am a bit part player in the whole thing, but I am in the minority. However; at that time, bouncing around in David's Honda Element near the end of T.I.v7, all I knew was that people were looking to me to see what would happen next. And I was bound and determined to make that next experience the best one possible.

Corey "Cornbread" Godfrey on his way in after an incredible ride overcoming adversity in T.I.v7. Shot taken through a muddy wind shield!

The fire was lit. But first I had to get over what had just happened. There was the issue with David which eventually was resolved mid-Summer of 2011. Then there was the friendship with MG, which was on its way to being mended by late Summer as well. So, then I was able to turn my attention to Trans Iowa once again. There was no more distraction from putting on a mountain bike festival, or website work stress. The two sites I was running had been stabilized and the gravel site was running smoothly. Now it was time to make some plans.

We didn't have number plates for T.I.v7. We had "prayer flags"

I had a few people stepping up to help, but this version of Trans Iowa largely was resting on my shoulders. Route recon was, for the first time since Trans Iowa v3, all my baby. So, I was of the mind that I had to get cranking on that sooner than later. Maps were purchased, online resources were tapped, and I spent many nights digging into the possibilities.

One of those seriously considered possibilities was moving the event from Grinnell. I asked a few trusted folks about the possibility of moving Trans Iowa to somewhere West or South of Des Moines. Winterset, Iowa was a consideration, and the thought was we'd circumnavigate Des Moines, like Gravel Worlds does with Lincoln, Nebraska. However; after I considered the difficulties in setting up relationships, finding suitable venues, and making sure none of that cost me money, I quickly realized how well I had it in Grinnell. The event stayed put as a result.

I was on my own with those and other decisions this time, and the feeling of not having David Pals support and wisdom was felt sharply.  But that is not to say that I had no support. No- I had a lot of people and organizations looking to help in any way that they could. Grinnell was going to host again. That was a given, and Rob Versteegh, of Oakley, was onboard to provide access to "The Barn" and prizing for the winners. (Although the barn part fell through in the end) The volunteer list would once again include Wally and George, who had such a cool checkpoint set up that was so popular with the riders that I would have been a fool not to accept them again for T.I.v8. Plus, I had become fond of them rather quickly.

The group of cyclists from the Chicago area who called themselves the "Slender Fungus" were onboard as well to help in any way that they could. That and they promised to bring several riders to the next Trans Iowa. Support from other Trans Iowa stalwarts, such as Corey "Cornbread" Godfrey and Tim Ek were valuable motivations for me. I had more incentives than ever to move ahead with my plans.

Those plans included adding a covered bridge crossing to the route, going South, since we hadn't been that way before, and to have the most perfect cue sheets in Trans Iowa history. None of those things were easy, by the way, and one of those things didn't happen. The route finding was arduous. Not just in terms of research, but in the physical activity of route finding as well. One such story about the recon shows this in both ways.

One of the major hurdles to making any big loop course in Iowa is rivers. They impose a certain way of making routes that dictates what happens for an entire course. This is due to limited options to cross these rivers in many cases. The South Skunk River was a constant reminder of this, which for T.I.v8 happened to be the easier of my obstacles to overcome. The Des Moines River, however; was a beast to get around.

Tim Ek (R) and Charlie Farrow at CP#2 during T.I.v7. Tim was a major help to me back in this era of T.I.

I had searched online using Google Earth for hours trying to find a suitable bridge to get over the mighty Des Moines, and while there are several bridges, you can imagine almost all of them carry major highways. Not suitable or practical for a gravel road event! But I did come across one old steel gable bridge near Pella, Iowa that looked promising. The Iowa DOT maps showed that it was a gravel road, and Google earth images were inconclusive. I couldn't ask anybody, because the route had to be kept top-secret. So, the only way to find out was to make a four hour round trip down just to see. That doesn't include time doing any recon, by the way. That's just travel to and from. So, just to verify one bridge would take, in reality, most of a day. This was the sort of commitment I had to make to get the course developed, and my drive to do it right got me through all objections.

So, you can imagine the gut punch I felt when I found out that a farmer on the South side of that bridge had plowed the road asunder and taken it over as part of his farm field. I stood there at the Southern end of that bridge staring at a mere quarter mile of field to where the road picked up again. A quarter of a mile! No alternative was left to me other than to scrap that part of the planned course and go back home and start looking again. Now, I did get a few tidbits of information and I did figure out some things, so it wasn't a total loss, but getting over the Des Moines River was a huge problem.

Fortunately another find via Google Earth did actually pan out. I found evidence of another bridge over the Des Moines River leading from a gravel road which DOT maps showed coming out of a small town called Agency, Iowa. The town was once a Native American trading post and the site of Chief Wapello's grave. Perfect! I loved sending Trans Iowa through historical areas, even though the riders might never know they were historical areas. Another 2+ hour trip to get down there proved exciting due to the bridge not only proving out, but in that it had been recently replaced. So, there was little fear that it would be closed come time for T.I.v8.

Red arrows show return route of T.I.v8 on a paved county road bridge.

Recon was completed when we had a freak 50+ degree Sunny day the first week of 2012. I managed to get the cues started early, and the route looked great. No covered bridge though! I had one on the radar, but the return route wasn't lining up to take it in without adding a lot of mileage which would have put us over the self-imposed limitation of 340. The other bummer was that I ended up having to route the course over a paved county road bridge for the Des Moines River which was going to put in about two plus miles of pavement. But that was on the return route, and probably in the dead of night with the lowest traffic count possible. Besides, there was no other choice I could make without scrapping everything leading up to that point.

So, I poured over the cues diligently all the rest of the Winter. I mocked up a set, and through communication with Wally Kilburg, I was able to talk he and George Keslin into coming out to help verify my route. It was another layer of 'insurance' which I had conceived of post-T.I.v7 which would independently verify my cues. Originally I wasn't even going to go along, but Wally convinced me that my presence would not affect the outcome. In fact, he motioned that if a call had to be made to clarify a cue, mark a point for reference, or reroute, that my being along would be crucial to my goals. So, I relented and went along.

Wally and George would navigate by my draft cue sheets, and we could also look for a suitable Checkpoint #2 location. So, it was set up for mid-March and we would go on that first, unforgettable recon mission. I'll tell more about that later.

The point here is that I had to make a huge sacrifice in time, mileage, and effort to get T.I.v8 cues "spot on". I did those two previous mentioned recon trips to vet the bridges existences out, another previous recon effort of the Northern parts of the course, and that big drive in January which was well over 300 miles. The constant pouring over route maps, websites, and thinking about that course took a lot of energy. Then the drawing up of the cues, going over them three times or more to find mistakes, and make sure directions were clear. Look- the point I'm trying to drive home is this: I had a drive to make T.I.v8 perfect. I was energized like never before to pull this off. No false expectations, just 'nose-to-the-grindstone' work. All due to what happened in T.I.v7.

Did it work? Was T.I.v8 perfect? Yes, and no, and "it depends on who you ask". I guess the main thing that came out of Trans Iowa v7 was that this drive, this fire in my belly, well it made the rest of the Trans Iowa organizing and production after this a lot simpler, more precise, and it led to a lot less problems. And that was a good thing after an emotionally draining time going through things that should not have happened which undid friendships and hurt me personally.

I never went through anything quite like that again because of Trans Iowa. But that isn't to say that there weren't issues and excitement that I could have done without. That happened right up through to the end.

Next: We take a break from the story about the next Trans Iowa in the story, v8, and take a look at some of the artwork that defined the event in The Look Of Trans Iowa.

A Bit Of Reflection On These Times

 The Stormchaser with 650B X 47 WTB Venture tires.

Wow......it's May already? Well......yeah. Another month went by and things are still really odd. I figured I should talk about this, since it weighs on my mind a lot, and I am sure it does on many of you as well.

 In some ways I am very much at peace with what is going on. It is easy for me to accept social distancing, for instance. But for many, it is a terrible price to pay to "flatten the curve" because they crave social contact. I feel bad about it all, really. This "new normal" is very unfair. But like my Mom used to tell me, "Don't expect Life to be fair". This is just a new set of circumstances that has changed what is unfair now. The reality of 'now' is shocking many of us into seeing things in completely new ways. Will things ever be the same again? I'd wager a big "no" there.

At Andy's Bike Shop, we get to see several folks that own businesses or that work in different fields. Everyone is saying they don't know what the future looks like anymore, but they almost all agree that it will look different than it was. That's a hard pill to swallow for most people, because as we all know, change is difficult. I've a feeling we are in for a big heaping helping of change for the next year or so.

When this all broke out and the world went into shut-down, I was sent this Salsa Cycles Stormchaser. Wow.....thinking about that name now. The storm is upon us, and will we all weather it? Yeah..... Anyway, this whole reviewing of things. Will that be one of the things that changes? Probably. Retail and marketing, and all of that is going to change radically. I've no doubt about that. But things have beginnings and endings. I know that. It's just that I never dreamed of a time like this that will bring about many comings and goings.

Here's wishing you all the best out there, wherever you are, and that the changes coming don't bring you down. Thanks so much for reading this blog. Hopefully that daily dosage of G-Ted remains the same for some time to come.

A Bit Of Reflection On These Times

 The Stormchaser with 650B X 47 WTB Venture tires.

Wow......it's May already? Well......yeah. Another month went by and things are still really odd. I figured I should talk about this, since it weighs on my mind a lot, and I am sure it does on many of you as well.

 In some ways I am very much at peace with what is going on. It is easy for me to accept social distancing, for instance. But for many, it is a terrible price to pay to "flatten the curve" because they crave social contact. I feel bad about it all, really. This "new normal" is very unfair. But like my Mom used to tell me, "Don't expect Life to be fair". This is just a new set of circumstances that has changed what is unfair now. The reality of 'now' is shocking many of us into seeing things in completely new ways. Will things ever be the same again? I'd wager a big "no" there.

At Andy's Bike Shop, we get to see several folks that own businesses or that work in different fields. Everyone is saying they don't know what the future looks like anymore, but they almost all agree that it will look different than it was. That's a hard pill to swallow for most people, because as we all know, change is difficult. I've a feeling we are in for a big heaping helping of change for the next year or so.

When this all broke out and the world went into shut-down, I was sent this Salsa Cycles Stormchaser. Wow.....thinking about that name now. The storm is upon us, and will we all weather it? Yeah..... Anyway, this whole reviewing of things. Will that be one of the things that changes? Probably. Retail and marketing, and all of that is going to change radically. I've no doubt about that. But things have beginnings and endings. I know that. It's just that I never dreamed of a time like this that will bring about many comings and goings.

Here's wishing you all the best out there, wherever you are, and that the changes coming don't bring you down. Thanks so much for reading this blog. Hopefully that daily dosage of G-Ted remains the same for some time to come.

Friday News And Views

Specialized Lays Of Workers- Industry Sees Product Availability Issue:

Late last week the industry news outlet, "Bicycle Retailer and Industry News" related a story that Specialized had laid off 46 employees, mostly in the Global Support staff in Europe. The news was blamed on shutdowns in Europe related to the COVID-19 pandemic. This is on top of the news of a week prior when I learned via Facebook that several QBP employees had been furloughed due to the economic downturn caused by the government shutdowns related to the same pandemic issues.

It also has come to my attention that the previously mentioned shortages of product here are now beginning to have an effect upon the industry. While demand is higher in many places due to the city government mandated shelter in place orders and recommendations of the same for most states, the shutdown of factories in China earlier in the year is causing shortages now. It typically takes about 45-90 days for shortages to work through the system, so you can figure that most of the prime selling season for North American bike shops will be negatively affected by this.

A Theory On RAGBRAI's Postponing:

Last week I reported on the postponing of RAGBRAI until 2021. I figured the rival Iowa's Ride would follow suit. I figured it was all the pandemic's fault that these rides would be nixed for 2020, but since then developments have come to light which may change my mind a bit. Here following is pure speculation on my part as to what might be going on here.

Last week it was revealed via a story in several Twitter posts and substantiated by this story on a site called "Poynter", that Gannett Corporation, the owners of RAGBRAI, are shedding employees across their newspaper empire. Apparently the reasoning is the COVID-19 crisis and the fact that Gannett recently merged with another media company. Usually mergers are followed up with a clearing of duplicated employees, but that seems to be a bit of a reach in this case. It's obvious that a financial reckoning of a serious nature is occurring within Gannett.

If you are trying to pare down company expenses, and your plumb event looks to be a divided affair, and probably substantially affected by consumer's reticence to be in large groups due to this pandemic, even if restrictions are lifted, well then maybe you postpone your event. Just a thought. Iowa's Ride, and this pandemic, which will have lasting effect for quite a few years going forward, plus a new organizational team- who were thrown together at the eleventh hour, considering money is tight......yeah, I can totally see it. 

But again- this is all pure speculation on my part. Oh, and Iowa's ride cancelled for 2020. That came out late Monday evening.

The Farr Aero Gravel Bar

Try Removing These Aero Bars:

Aero bar usage was a hot-button topic for a hot minute a few years ago at the DK200, but since then, a few small manufacturers have been toying with the idea of a one-piece handle bar/aero bar set up. Redshift Sports showed something they are cooking up called the "Kitchen Sink" bar which will have a loop out front, like an aero bar extension. Well, the other day I came across these- the Farr Aero Gravel Alloy Bars.

These bars seem to have a healthy amount of 'sweep', at the extensions, and the site says that they have 25° of 'flare'. I'm not sure they are talking about 'flare' or 'sweep', but whatever. (Here's a good tutorial I wrote about the features of an off-road drop bar)

Ninety-nine bucks ain't bad. But here's the issue I have with one piece bar/stem/aero bar things. IF you like what the company chose for positions, well then you are good to go. IF however; you want to, let's say, drop the aero bar part down a bit, but leave the hoods of your levers where they are? Too bad. Ya can't do that! So, buyer beware. Unless this company hits a good middle ground of aero bar position versus the rest of the bar, well then it won't be too popular. How would you know if it might work for you?

Pony up Ninety-Nine Bucks. Good luck........

T-6 Standard Rando now available with a carbon fork and looky there! Three pack bosses!

So It Does Come With Warts Then!

After Tuesday's popular post about two new steel frames for gravel travel, Twin Six did reveal that the optional carbon fork does come with the six warts, or pimples, or whatever smarty-pants thing you want to call them.

Here's the deal from where I sit: Twin Six will sell through those carbon forks like hotcakes because of two things- People's mis-perception that carbon automatically rides better and because they look better than the steel fork does. First off- carbon forks don't ride all that well, most of the time. Usually they are over-engineered to pass the requisite tests products have to pass. Essentially they end up being too stiff. The one thing you will get is a better looking, (if you think so- it is) fork, and it will be significantly lighter than the steel fork is.. 

I hope I am wrong about this carbon fork being too stiff, but if I had to bet..... No, I think I am going to be correct, but I will be finding out soon enough. (More on that later) The steel fork is also overbuilt for the same reasons, but steel being steel, it generally doesn't kill the ride quality as badly as when you have to sell/spec a beefy carbon fork.

So, yeah- the plan is in play for me to be getting a frame and fork. We are working on the details at Andy's Bike Shop and I'll know more soon, but this bike is the one that will be taking over duties from the old Raleigh Tamland Two which I have had in service since 2014? (Checks blog) Yes! Since late March of 2014. So, that's a lot of hard riding in mostly severe conditions. Not that the Tamland couldn't continue onward, because it certainly could. No, it's just woefully out of date in terms of certain standards, like with the wheels and brakes, and steer tube size. But don't worry! The Tamland isn't going away. No......not that bike. You who know that story know why.

Initially the plan will be to set the T-6 up as a 1X with a SRAM Force 1 group I have laying around the shop. I've got the XD driver wheels, running gear, hydraulic brakes- everything. The seat post, stem, bars, saddle, yeah. Got that. So, once I can lay my mitts on the bike it should be go time for a build.

Stay tuned......

 Riding Gravel Radio Ranch Episode #41: 

Andy from Andy's Bike Shop joins me for the latest episode of the Riding Gravel Radio Ranch podcast here. You should be able to click the link and listen from there, or you should be able to find the podcast on Apple or other podcast providers feeds.

In this episode Andy and I cover more about the latest Riding Gravel reviews, news about RAGBRAI and then we cover more in-depth on the Dirty Kanza 200 name controversy. We've already got Episode #42 recorded and off to production, so check this one out and stay up to date with us as we try to keep the content coming during these strange days.


Thanks for reading this week! Stay safe, stay healthy, and get some riding in!

Friday News And Views

Specialized Lays Of Workers- Industry Sees Product Availability Issue:

Late last week the industry news outlet, "Bicycle Retailer and Industry News" related a story that Specialized had laid off 46 employees, mostly in the Global Support staff in Europe. The news was blamed on shutdowns in Europe related to the COVID-19 pandemic. This is on top of the news of a week prior when I learned via Facebook that several QBP employees had been furloughed due to the economic downturn caused by the government shutdowns related to the same pandemic issues.

It also has come to my attention that the previously mentioned shortages of product here are now beginning to have an effect upon the industry. While demand is higher in many places due to the city government mandated shelter in place orders and recommendations of the same for most states, the shutdown of factories in China earlier in the year is causing shortages now. It typically takes about 45-90 days for shortages to work through the system, so you can figure that most of the prime selling season for North American bike shops will be negatively affected by this.

A Theory On RAGBRAI's Postponing:

Last week I reported on the postponing of RAGBRAI until 2021. I figured the rival Iowa's Ride would follow suit. I figured it was all the pandemic's fault that these rides would be nixed for 2020, but since then developments have come to light which may change my mind a bit. Here following is pure speculation on my part as to what might be going on here.

Last week it was revealed via a story in several Twitter posts and substantiated by this story on a site called "Poynter", that Gannett Corporation, the owners of RAGBRAI, are shedding employees across their newspaper empire. Apparently the reasoning is the COVID-19 crisis and the fact that Gannett recently merged with another media company. Usually mergers are followed up with a clearing of duplicated employees, but that seems to be a bit of a reach in this case. It's obvious that a financial reckoning of a serious nature is occurring within Gannett.

If you are trying to pare down company expenses, and your plumb event looks to be a divided affair, and probably substantially affected by consumer's reticence to be in large groups due to this pandemic, even if restrictions are lifted, well then maybe you postpone your event. Just a thought. Iowa's Ride, and this pandemic, which will have lasting effect for quite a few years going forward, plus a new organizational team- who were thrown together at the eleventh hour, considering money is tight......yeah, I can totally see it. 

But again- this is all pure speculation on my part. Oh, and Iowa's ride cancelled for 2020. That came out late Monday evening.

The Farr Aero Gravel Bar

Try Removing These Aero Bars:

Aero bar usage was a hot-button topic for a hot minute a few years ago at the DK200, but since then, a few small manufacturers have been toying with the idea of a one-piece handle bar/aero bar set up. Redshift Sports showed something they are cooking up called the "Kitchen Sink" bar which will have a loop out front, like an aero bar extension. Well, the other day I came across these- the Farr Aero Gravel Alloy Bars.

These bars seem to have a healthy amount of 'sweep', at the extensions, and the site says that they have 25° of 'flare'. I'm not sure they are talking about 'flare' or 'sweep', but whatever. (Here's a good tutorial I wrote about the features of an off-road drop bar)

Ninety-nine bucks ain't bad. But here's the issue I have with one piece bar/stem/aero bar things. IF you like what the company chose for positions, well then you are good to go. IF however; you want to, let's say, drop the aero bar part down a bit, but leave the hoods of your levers where they are? Too bad. Ya can't do that! So, buyer beware. Unless this company hits a good middle ground of aero bar position versus the rest of the bar, well then it won't be too popular. How would you know if it might work for you?

Pony up Ninety-Nine Bucks. Good luck........

T-6 Standard Rando now available with a carbon fork and looky there! Three pack bosses!

So It Does Come With Warts Then!

After Tuesday's popular post about two new steel frames for gravel travel, Twin Six did reveal that the optional carbon fork does come with the six warts, or pimples, or whatever smarty-pants thing you want to call them.

Here's the deal from where I sit: Twin Six will sell through those carbon forks like hotcakes because of two things- People's mis-perception that carbon automatically rides better and because they look better than the steel fork does. First off- carbon forks don't ride all that well, most of the time. Usually they are over-engineered to pass the requisite tests products have to pass. Essentially they end up being too stiff. The one thing you will get is a better looking, (if you think so- it is) fork, and it will be significantly lighter than the steel fork is.. 

I hope I am wrong about this carbon fork being too stiff, but if I had to bet..... No, I think I am going to be correct, but I will be finding out soon enough. (More on that later) The steel fork is also overbuilt for the same reasons, but steel being steel, it generally doesn't kill the ride quality as badly as when you have to sell/spec a beefy carbon fork.

So, yeah- the plan is in play for me to be getting a frame and fork. We are working on the details at Andy's Bike Shop and I'll know more soon, but this bike is the one that will be taking over duties from the old Raleigh Tamland Two which I have had in service since 2014? (Checks blog) Yes! Since late March of 2014. So, that's a lot of hard riding in mostly severe conditions. Not that the Tamland couldn't continue onward, because it certainly could. No, it's just woefully out of date in terms of certain standards, like with the wheels and brakes, and steer tube size. But don't worry! The Tamland isn't going away. No......not that bike. You who know that story know why.

Initially the plan will be to set the T-6 up as a 1X with a SRAM Force 1 group I have laying around the shop. I've got the XD driver wheels, running gear, hydraulic brakes- everything. The seat post, stem, bars, saddle, yeah. Got that. So, once I can lay my mitts on the bike it should be go time for a build.

Stay tuned......

 Riding Gravel Radio Ranch Episode #41: 

Andy from Andy's Bike Shop joins me for the latest episode of the Riding Gravel Radio Ranch podcast here. You should be able to click the link and listen from there, or you should be able to find the podcast on Apple or other podcast providers feeds.

In this episode Andy and I cover more about the latest Riding Gravel reviews, news about RAGBRAI and then we cover more in-depth on the Dirty Kanza 200 name controversy. We've already got Episode #42 recorded and off to production, so check this one out and stay up to date with us as we try to keep the content coming during these strange days.


Thanks for reading this week! Stay safe, stay healthy, and get some riding in!