Trans Iowa Stories: The Wind, The Hills, The Lightning!! Part 4

Just hiding out here for a bit. Image taker unknown.

  "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!

With this tale of Trans Iowa v10 now wrapping up, I will focus a little more on the very early morning hours and the end of this event. I have covered the crazy night time bits from my perspective a lot, and recently in this series, I gave an accounting of things regarding how dreadful that time sitting at the corner of 190th and J Avenue in Tama County was. There were things going on I didn't know about though. Things that later on I would find somewhat shocking and awe inspiring. 

So just a brief telling here of the tales as they were relayed to me. These stories belong to those guys and gals who were in the thick of things that night. I doubt any of us will ever forget that night, but especially those who became dwellers of abandoned farm houses and barns. Sheltering from crazy lightning and sideways rain, these inventive and probably desperate riders did what they had to do. Of course, after I heard about this I was horrified. Trespassing on private property and 'breaking and entering' isn't on my menu of things I would have allowed anyone to do under my watch. But seeing as how the riders did the deed and asked for forgiveness later, (even if that is actually necessary in such dire consequences), I left it be as it was. No harm- no foul. I wonder sometimes what I would have done had I known the situation was to be that way ahead of time, but that is not going to change anything. And I very much doubt a single one of the riders involved would have had it any other way, looking back. 

In fact, I heard later from Steve Fuller, when he spied me in my truck at the corner of 190th and J Avenue, that he was angry thinking I was pulling the riders off the course and truncating the event.  I'm sure he maybe thought better of that later, or maybe not.....

This brings up the situation of Trans Iowa itself, the crux of the event, if you will. It was a balance between what risks I, and the riders, were willing to take against what cautions I should enforce upon those riders. It was a fine-tuned balance on the knife's edge sometimes, and this night was a great example of that risk taking versus being conservative with regard to risks. I was not risk averse. Let's face it- I put on Trans Iowa with no safety net for me at all. So, it stood to reason that risk was a pretty big factor in regard to how the event was done. Sure, it could have all gone 'pear-shaped', as some say, and I would have taken the hit and been forever labeled as a 'bad race director'. Fortunately, that never happened. The bad part, that is. I still was labeled as a bad race director in some parts. Anyway......

This situation with the severe thunderstorms maybe went on for an hour or maybe somewhat less. The squall line moved through pretty quickly, and most of the riders affected were caught out in Northern Tama County Northeast of Gladbrook, Iowa. An area with many derelict buildings including farm houses, barns, and outbuildings. It was in these crude structures that riders took cover and made this bit of Trans Iowa one of the most unusual and memorable bits of the event's 14 year history. 

A friendly pooch takes refuge with Trans Iowa v10 riders in an old barn. Image by Paul LaCava.

I heard shreds of the stories afterward. Rain was bad, lightning came up out of the ground, and that was enough to send Steve Fuller and those with him into a nearby barn for refuge. I heard Charlie Farrow and another rider with him headed into a farm yard and were in an outbuilding with some livestock. Sarah Cooper, having had to make friends with a surly farm dog out on the road, was another that took refuge in a barn with eight other guys. 

I found out what was actually going on during the event when some riders started texting me, like this from Corey, "Cornbread" Godfrey:

 "1:34 am: "Hey Mark! The nine of us are hiding out in a barn for now to wait out the worst of this storm. We plan on rolling again. We have Mike Johnson, Fuller, Joe Stephens, Josh, Sarah, Ben, Patrick, and Andy.""

These were situations that on the one hand no race director ever wants, but riders cherish as being just 'part of the adventure'. It's part of what they signed up for, really. Something memorable, something risky, a situation that pushes them outside of their comfort zone. But something they come through and will be able to tell the tales of afterward. I mean, how many people do you know that had to hide in a barn during a gravel road event?  

At any rate, the stories were incredible, and the few images that were shared with me were at once shocking and charming all at the same time. Only in Iowa. Only at Trans Iowa.....

Dawn of the Sunday of Trans Iowa v10 - Image by Paul LaCava.

 

Well, eventually that passed, all the riders got back at it, and most of those that were in that severe thunderstorm made the finish line later Sunday. Some of the chase group behind eventual winner Greg Gleason actually got caught in another thundershower and had to stop for a bit, hiding underneath the eaves of a farm house porch. But no one suffered any injuries from the dealings with the wind, rain, and lightning, and for that I am forever grateful. 

Ironically this event had two of the eventual race directors for Iowa Wind And Rock participating in it- Steve Fuller and Sarah Cooper. It wouldn't be much of a stretch to imagine that their participation in this particular Trans Iowa set off their desire to make their event happen after I concluded with Trans Iowa events after 14 years. While I don't know for sure that is the case, it wouldn't surprise me to find out that T.I.v10 was a big part of their inspiration to do so.

As the events of this particular Trans Iowa wound down, I found myself standing at the end of the long double track to The Barn. That rustic finish line which was really the perfect ending for this particular Trans Iowa. It would be the last time I would get to use this venue for the event, but I didn't know the reason why would be anything other than what I had intended- That this be the last Trans Iowa. Forever....

Next: Some Observations From A Failed Ending

Bikes Of 2020: 2003 Karate Monkey

 It's THAT time of year again when I have my year-end reviews. This series will cover my bikes I used during 2020, any changes made, and why I still like each one- or don't! Thanks for reading!

This bike has been around about the longest of anything I have here in the stable. Hmm.......I have owned bikes previous to the Karate Monkey. Pretty sure they are gone. With the outside exception of my original touring bike which is in the Lab as a rolling chassis.  And that bike hasn't been ridden in decades. Maybe I should get that up and running again......anyway....

The Karate Monkey was announced at the 2002 Interbike show about the time I got back into the bicycle business again. I had just left my job as a car mechanic and was working as a bicycle mechanic once again. This meant that I could finally pursue my dream of a few years running to own an actual 29" wheeled mountain bike. Of course, I'd been hanging on every word on the internet concerning them and after many hours of careful consideration, I knew this thing was for me. I sold a perfectly good 1996 highly customized Bontrager Race 26"er from the Santa Cruz shop to buy this new fangled wagon wheeled rig. Well, actually, I had to build the entire thing from scratch. Karate Monkey's were frame/forks to start with. 

I won't bore y'all with the entire history of this bike of mine. I will only say that this bike spent many years in mothballs, mostly due to a stuck UN55 cartridge bottom bracket. I finally freed that unit from the rusty grip of corrosion quite some time ago now and got the bike up and running again. Karate Monkeys, at least the early ones, were one of those 'jack-of-all-trades' 29"ers, as many early ones were. You could go geared, single speed, disc brakes, or cantilever brakes. I set it up single speed and disc to begin with and have only switched it out to rim brakes recently. 

I had a goofy Velo Orange stem on this bike for a bit and I have determined it just sat me up too high, so I removed it. That happened early this Summer, and since then this bike has been a great rig to bomb around on when I need a quick spin. Future plans are to build a new set of wheels for it using some Surly Jim Brown hubs I have and return the bike to a disc brake set up since those hubs are disc compatible. These will be bolted on and then I may be looking for a few bags to deck this out with, new tires, and I think it may return as a bike I use more often. 

This bike holds the distinction of being the bike I rode the furthest in one sitting going an estimated 160+ miles in a day. I don't have an exact mileage since it was a kind of an afterthought to record the mileage on the spot the day I did that. That would have been the very first Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitational. It's the first 'gravel bike' I ever used for that purpose. So, this bike has been kind of special to me ever since.

Bikes Of 2020: 2003 Karate Monkey

 It's THAT time of year again when I have my year-end reviews. This series will cover my bikes I used during 2020, any changes made, and why I still like each one- or don't! Thanks for reading!

This bike has been around about the longest of anything I have here in the stable. Hmm.......I have owned bikes previous to the Karate Monkey. Pretty sure they are gone. With the outside exception of my original touring bike which is in the Lab as a rolling chassis.  And that bike hasn't been ridden in decades. Maybe I should get that up and running again......anyway....

The Karate Monkey was announced at the 2002 Interbike show about the time I got back into the bicycle business again. I had just left my job as a car mechanic and was working as a bicycle mechanic once again. This meant that I could finally pursue my dream of a few years running to own an actual 29" wheeled mountain bike. Of course, I'd been hanging on every word on the internet concerning them and after many hours of careful consideration, I knew this thing was for me. I sold a perfectly good 1996 highly customized Bontrager Race 26"er from the Santa Cruz shop to buy this new fangled wagon wheeled rig. Well, actually, I had to build the entire thing from scratch. Karate Monkey's were frame/forks to start with. 

I won't bore y'all with the entire history of this bike of mine. I will only say that this bike spent many years in mothballs, mostly due to a stuck UN55 cartridge bottom bracket. I finally freed that unit from the rusty grip of corrosion quite some time ago now and got the bike up and running again. Karate Monkeys, at least the early ones, were one of those 'jack-of-all-trades' 29"ers, as many early ones were. You could go geared, single speed, disc brakes, or cantilever brakes. I set it up single speed and disc to begin with and have only switched it out to rim brakes recently. 

I had a goofy Velo Orange stem on this bike for a bit and I have determined it just sat me up too high, so I removed it. That happened early this Summer, and since then this bike has been a great rig to bomb around on when I need a quick spin. Future plans are to build a new set of wheels for it using some Surly Jim Brown hubs I have and return the bike to a disc brake set up since those hubs are disc compatible. These will be bolted on and then I may be looking for a few bags to deck this out with, new tires, and I think it may return as a bike I use more often. 

This bike holds the distinction of being the bike I rode the furthest in one sitting going an estimated 160+ miles in a day. I don't have an exact mileage since it was a kind of an afterthought to record the mileage on the spot the day I did that. That would have been the very first Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitational. It's the first 'gravel bike' I ever used for that purpose. So, this bike has been kind of special to me ever since.

Bike Of 2020: 2005 On One Inbred

The Inbred as it appeared in June of this year.

 It's THAT time of year again when I have my year-end reviews. This series will cover my bikes I used during 2020, any changes made, and why I still like each one- or don't! Thanks for reading!

This bike has quite a history with me and I haven't really ridden it much in many years, and in fact, it didn't belong to me for a long time. This bike is one I sold a long time ago to a former co-worker of mine. At that time, we were working together, and Craig got the bike and rode it on one of the old Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitationals back in the day. Then Craig gave it to his brother, it spent a long time in Kansas, and one day, it showed up again on my bench at work. Craig gave the husk of the bike back to me! 

So, I eventually built it back up with drop bars and used it earlier this year as a way to test some big MTB tires for gravel in a review for RidingGravel.com. It was 'okay' as a drop bar bike, but there was something that just didn't quite feel right to me about that set up. Not enough to make me get around to switching parts and experimenting on it though. I just kept riding it for the review and then I figured I'd get around to swapping out parts this Winter.

However; another item which came in, the Archer Components D1x electronic shifting system, came up for review. I needed a flat bar bike to test it with and that was the impetus I needed to swap the Inbred back out to flat bar controls. At first, I put the Whisky Parts Co. Millhouse Bar on it but that was a ridiculous set up. So, I swapped bars with the Snow Dog, which had a pre-production carbon bar that Brant Richards, then of Ragley Bikes, gave to me. 

You cannot really see the handle bars here, but trust me- they are not drop bars!

So now I have these weird, bent bars on it that resemble the old On One Fleegle Bars in a way, and flat bar controls, of course, with a flatter stem than before. the result is that the On One Inbred now rides like it is supposed to ride. It's definitely not a drop bar rig! 

So, in the future I am not sure how I will handle this bike. Originally it was my single speed bike and it handles Mid-West single track superbly well. It also makes a great flat bar gravel bike as I found out when I rode this bike in the first Dirty Kanza in 2006. This is from an era where 29"ers had to be a jack of all trades to make sure they sold at all. So, this Inbred supported cantilever brakes with these funky, bolt on brake bosses, (which I still have), a sliding rear drop out that is so diminutive it almost isn't there, and cable routes for a fully geared set up. The only thing these early 29"ers didn't have was a ton of braze-ons. That craze didn't start to happen until the Fargo came around. 

I suppose I will make this another single speed, eventually. I mean, why not? It would be kind of a tribute build to mimic my 2006 DK bike set up, although some things I had then could not be recreated on this bike today. Anyway...... It's fun to have this back and up and running again.

Bike Of 2020: 2005 On One Inbred

The Inbred as it appeared in June of this year.

 It's THAT time of year again when I have my year-end reviews. This series will cover my bikes I used during 2020, any changes made, and why I still like each one- or don't! Thanks for reading!

This bike has quite a history with me and I haven't really ridden it much in many years, and in fact, it didn't belong to me for a long time. This bike is one I sold a long time ago to a former co-worker of mine. At that time, we were working together, and Craig got the bike and rode it on one of the old Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitationals back in the day. Then Craig gave it to his brother, it spent a long time in Kansas, and one day, it showed up again on my bench at work. Craig gave the husk of the bike back to me! 

So, I eventually built it back up with drop bars and used it earlier this year as a way to test some big MTB tires for gravel in a review for RidingGravel.com. It was 'okay' as a drop bar bike, but there was something that just didn't quite feel right to me about that set up. Not enough to make me get around to switching parts and experimenting on it though. I just kept riding it for the review and then I figured I'd get around to swapping out parts this Winter.

However; another item which came in, the Archer Components D1x electronic shifting system, came up for review. I needed a flat bar bike to test it with and that was the impetus I needed to swap the Inbred back out to flat bar controls. At first, I put the Whisky Parts Co. Millhouse Bar on it but that was a ridiculous set up. So, I swapped bars with the Snow Dog, which had a pre-production carbon bar that Brant Richards, then of Ragley Bikes, gave to me. 

You cannot really see the handle bars here, but trust me- they are not drop bars!

So now I have these weird, bent bars on it that resemble the old On One Fleegle Bars in a way, and flat bar controls, of course, with a flatter stem than before. the result is that the On One Inbred now rides like it is supposed to ride. It's definitely not a drop bar rig! 

So, in the future I am not sure how I will handle this bike. Originally it was my single speed bike and it handles Mid-West single track superbly well. It also makes a great flat bar gravel bike as I found out when I rode this bike in the first Dirty Kanza in 2006. This is from an era where 29"ers had to be a jack of all trades to make sure they sold at all. So, this Inbred supported cantilever brakes with these funky, bolt on brake bosses, (which I still have), a sliding rear drop out that is so diminutive it almost isn't there, and cable routes for a fully geared set up. The only thing these early 29"ers didn't have was a ton of braze-ons. That craze didn't start to happen until the Fargo came around. 

I suppose I will make this another single speed, eventually. I mean, why not? It would be kind of a tribute build to mimic my 2006 DK bike set up, although some things I had then could not be recreated on this bike today. Anyway...... It's fun to have this back and up and running again.

Bushwhackin'

This is bare creek bed in Black Hawk Creek. That's ice not snow.

 Wednesday I went out and did a little 'tune-up' ride on my Salsa Cycles Blackborow DS just to make sure it would be ready if we ever get weather conditions that warrant 4.8" tires on 100mm rims. A tune-up on a dingle speed drive train is pretty easy. Things go roundy-round and the wheels are propelled forward. You can steer and brake? Good? Then you are done. Simple.

But you know you just cannot go around the block and go home. You have to go 'bushwhackin'' if you don't have snow. You know, find the sand, the duff, the places where other bikes cannot go, and you go there. So, the best place for that near me is the Green Belt, and I don't have to go very far to get there either. 

Sand is available in copious amounts around Black Hawk Creek which runs through the Green Belt. Right now that creek is so low that many sand bars and the actual sandy bottom of the creek itself is open for some great fat biking action. Most of this is grainy sand, compacted, and easily ridden upon. But there is sand that is nearly impossible to navigate by bicycle out there as well. 

This sand is the stuff that gets filtered out during floods in the faster moving water. This then gets deposited wherever that water gets slowed down enough that the weight of the sand is pulled out of the rushing flood water by gravity or its inertia, if the water hits an object, or gets turned suddenly by an object like a fallen tree, a big rock, a embankment, etc. This sand can pile up two to three feet or more in depth and is as fine a sand as you could wish for. It's akin to 'hour glass' sand, if that helps to visualize this loose, unconsolidated stuff. 

So, you have those two challenges which are perfect for the Blackborow DS, but there is more. You have your regular paths, of course, and any bicycle can try those, but there are a lot of wooded areas with a ton of brambles, downed trees, and brick-a-back of all sorts, such as you might find in a wooded flood plain.

You have to wonder from how many miles away did this old stove come from.

You just never know what you might find down there along the creek. Plus you just never know where it may have come from. With the frequency and ferocity of floods through here, it could be flotsam and jetsam from upstream. Or it could simply be just stuff dumped off there by someone who should have known better than to discard their junk in such a manner. Either way, there are interesting discoveries to be made on a regular basis due to both of those reasons. Maybe others as well. 

I probably walked my bike a fair piece while bushwhackin' and that's all part of the fun in my opinion. That and figuring out how to cross muddy, water runs that cut across the flood plain here and there down to the creek. I had one that had me doing some pretty fancy gymnastics with my bicycle as a tool. It can best be described as a moveable stepping stone! I like figuring out that end of things while bushwhackin' as well. 

So, the Blackborow DS is all ready to go now. Plus, I got a ride in and that's never a bad thing. Now the Blackborow will await the opportunity to do battle with Winter, once it decides to come around with its snow and ice.

Bushwhackin'

This is bare creek bed in Black Hawk Creek. That's ice not snow.

 Wednesday I went out and did a little 'tune-up' ride on my Salsa Cycles Blackborow DS just to make sure it would be ready if we ever get weather conditions that warrant 4.8" tires on 100mm rims. A tune-up on a dingle speed drive train is pretty easy. Things go roundy-round and the wheels are propelled forward. You can steer and brake? Good? Then you are done. Simple.

But you know you just cannot go around the block and go home. You have to go 'bushwhackin'' if you don't have snow. You know, find the sand, the duff, the places where other bikes cannot go, and you go there. So, the best place for that near me is the Green Belt, and I don't have to go very far to get there either. 

Sand is available in copious amounts around Black Hawk Creek which runs through the Green Belt. Right now that creek is so low that many sand bars and the actual sandy bottom of the creek itself is open for some great fat biking action. Most of this is grainy sand, compacted, and easily ridden upon. But there is sand that is nearly impossible to navigate by bicycle out there as well. 

This sand is the stuff that gets filtered out during floods in the faster moving water. This then gets deposited wherever that water gets slowed down enough that the weight of the sand is pulled out of the rushing flood water by gravity or its inertia, if the water hits an object, or gets turned suddenly by an object like a fallen tree, a big rock, a embankment, etc. This sand can pile up two to three feet or more in depth and is as fine a sand as you could wish for. It's akin to 'hour glass' sand, if that helps to visualize this loose, unconsolidated stuff. 

So, you have those two challenges which are perfect for the Blackborow DS, but there is more. You have your regular paths, of course, and any bicycle can try those, but there are a lot of wooded areas with a ton of brambles, downed trees, and brick-a-back of all sorts, such as you might find in a wooded flood plain.

You have to wonder from how many miles away did this old stove come from.

You just never know what you might find down there along the creek. Plus you just never know where it may have come from. With the frequency and ferocity of floods through here, it could be flotsam and jetsam from upstream. Or it could simply be just stuff dumped off there by someone who should have known better than to discard their junk in such a manner. Either way, there are interesting discoveries to be made on a regular basis due to both of those reasons. Maybe others as well. 

I probably walked my bike a fair piece while bushwhackin' and that's all part of the fun in my opinion. That and figuring out how to cross muddy, water runs that cut across the flood plain here and there down to the creek. I had one that had me doing some pretty fancy gymnastics with my bicycle as a tool. It can best be described as a moveable stepping stone! I like figuring out that end of things while bushwhackin' as well. 

So, the Blackborow DS is all ready to go now. Plus, I got a ride in and that's never a bad thing. Now the Blackborow will await the opportunity to do battle with Winter, once it decides to come around with its snow and ice.

Friday News And Views

So the other day my daughter showed me a site where you input your art and then anyone can go to the site, choose an item to have said artwork emblazoned on, and get a t-shirt or what have you to sport around with the artist's artwork on it. The artist gets a cut, the merch company gets a cut, you get something for yourself. That's how it works. 

Well, my daughter offered to put my art work on her account at this site and this makes it so that you- the readers of G-ted Productions- could have a G-Ted logo'ed item of your very own to have and to hold. Why you'd want that, I cannot say, but just in case you do, there ya go.

The site is called Redbubble and the 'store' with the stuff you could get is HERE. A couple of points need to be made here. First- I have no idea what the quality of the merch is. I should get a t-shirt or something coming for myself to check it out, but just know that I have zero knowledge of this company's quality of t-shirts, etc. Secondly- the money goes partially to Redbubble for the merch and the remainder goes to my daughter. NOTE- I am not making anything off this. Not one penny. So, if you buy, part of your money goes to support my daughter. 

I need another t-shirt like I need a hole in my head, but I will get one coming and see what the deal is. Plus, it will be cool as far as celebrating 15 years of blogging. So, if you'd rather wait to see what I end up with, stay tuned, otherwise, if you are a risk taker, have at it. Like I say, it doesn't support me directly, and it's just for fun. 

 

Barns For Jason. (From the mega-barn find ride recently)

An Update On "The Quest":

As many of you know, I am nearly finished with "The Quest", my attempt to ride every gravel road in Black Hawk County. I have been shot-gunning posts every week lately on this attempt and you may have noticed a lull in the action this week. Well, there is a very good reason for that.

It's too cold!

We had a bit of an Arctic air outbreak here and with little daylight to counter-act the effects of this cold blast, it only gets 'barely tolerable' for a country ride for a few short hours every day now. This has made it so that I have to be very picky about when I attempt a ride. To add difficulty to this, hunting season will be impacting my choice of day to ride also. Here are the finer details:

Okay, the good news? I have ONE RIDE LEFT TO DO! WooHoo! Yes, it's true. I have one longish ride in Southern Black Hawk County near LaPorte City to do and I will have completed my goal for the year. Now, I have a bit of leeway in terms of the exact day, but not too much. I mean, it could be snowy and cold already! So, here's what I am looking at for a window. 

 The next week, week and a half has a few choice looking days if the temperatures hold up. Highs into the mid-40's works for me. However; one of the better looking days is Saturday. But why is this an issue? Deer hunting, that's why. It's the first day of shotgun deer season, and I've been out on that day on gravel before and it is no fun! Plus, it could even be dangerous. Not for me! So, another day will have to do, and right now that might be next Wednesday or......??? 

I cannot wait too long because at any moment this could get really ugly with snow, cold, and frozen, icy roads. So, the sooner I get this knocked out the better. Stay tuned.........

This was my 'flat bar' gravel rig in 2005 used at the first Dirty Kanza 200.

Flat Bar 'Gravel Bikes'? Nothing New!

 Recently I've seen a few bits about how 'flat bar' gravel bikes are a thing now and that these are causing a 'big stir' with some keyboard warriors out there and all. Well- Two things to note here. One- Flat bar 'gravel bikes' are not new, and have been around since the onset of 'modern gravel' events. Secondly, all this hullabaloo concerning what people think is just click-bait nonsense. 

See, I happen to have been around in 2005/2006 when all this crazy stuff got started, and guess what? There were flat bar bikes, drop bar bikes, bikes with suspension, no suspension, and old and new bikes. You 'run whatcha brung' and no one cared or gave a second thought to what you rode. So, when I see an article rebuffing certain internet commenters for not being "open-minded' about flat bar gravel bikes, well, how about we just go back to the way things started out? We were doing just fine for years before the digital desk jockeys at the big time cycling media joints chimed in. I think some of the "controversy" is a bit manufactured for 'traffic's sake', if you know what I mean. 

So, the bottom line is that if you don't know the history and where this all came from you don't understand much. Making ill-informed comments for or against flat bar gravel bikes, or anything else having to do with gravel/back road cycling, with a shallow view of history is a recipe for making foolish mistakes. It's so bad in some cases it cannot be passed off as even being funny. But it won't change, I am sure of that much.

Just know that much of what you see in the niche cycling media about 'gravel' anything is usually coming from a source that isn't very deep or well informed or both. At least, I've noted this in the last several years. 

The Revonte design echews typical bicycle drive train parts. (Screen grab from Revonte's video)

HPC Innovations Point To More "Moto" Style Features:

In the slow progression from motorized bike with pedals to a fully automatic, no pedal 'motorcycle' -which we have been witnessing for the past five years- another new 'innovation' from a company called Revonte has been released for our consideration. It is, essentially, an automatically controlled drive system that eliminates the need for a traditional bicycle drive train. 

Revonte doesn't say explicitly what is going on, but from listening to a video that they published, it appears that this drive system may be a constantly variable transmission. Riders do not have to control any facet of the torque application mechanically, as sensors relay to the motor what level of torque the rider is applying to continue at their desired speed, and adjusts power accordingly. So, it applies more torque when going uphill and less when going down, depending on the speed the rider tries to maintain. At least that's how I understood it. That would make sense if the system was a constantly variable transmission. 

But the news here isn't how it does the power application, it is the elimination of a "bicycle" feature and the introduction of a moto feature- the single chain and two cog drive system. This is a further distancing of a direct connection to the rider, which traditionally has supplied power, and control over that power, to a two wheeled vehicle.. This is further enhanced by being fully autonomous from the rider in terms of 'gearing' choice. However; the system can be configured to work with a "virtual gearing" set up via a Bluetooth app on a smart phone. Revonte says this may be desirable in difficult terrain which might confuse the auto torque sensing feature. 

Furthermore, this elimination of typical bicycle drive train parts means that this system doesn't have to rely on a typical bicycle supply chain, traditional bike mechanics, or  traditional bicycle design which must accommodate for certain 'standards' which derailleur based drive trains are constrained by. In other words, a system like this doesn't even have to resemble a bicycle in any way anymore with the obvious exception of two wheels and the "Tyrannosaurus Rex-like arms" which are the cranks and pedals. In other words, once you've made the easy leap to fully automated rider experiences, pedaling will be seen as even more of an annoyance. The evolution will continue......

 That's a wrap for this week! I hope you all stay safe and get outside and recreate some! Iowans- BE CAREFUL! Saturday is opening day of shotgun deer season. Stay outta the woods! Thanks for reading!

Friday News And Views

So the other day my daughter showed me a site where you input your art and then anyone can go to the site, choose an item to have said artwork emblazoned on, and get a t-shirt or what have you to sport around with the artist's artwork on it. The artist gets a cut, the merch company gets a cut, you get something for yourself. That's how it works. 

Well, my daughter offered to put my art work on her account at this site and this makes it so that you- the readers of G-ted Productions- could have a G-Ted logo'ed item of your very own to have and to hold. Why you'd want that, I cannot say, but just in case you do, there ya go.

The site is called Redbubble and the 'store' with the stuff you could get is HERE. A couple of points need to be made here. First- I have no idea what the quality of the merch is. I should get a t-shirt or something coming for myself to check it out, but just know that I have zero knowledge of this company's quality of t-shirts, etc. Secondly- the money goes partially to Redbubble for the merch and the remainder goes to my daughter. NOTE- I am not making anything off this. Not one penny. So, if you buy, part of your money goes to support my daughter. 

I need another t-shirt like I need a hole in my head, but I will get one coming and see what the deal is. Plus, it will be cool as far as celebrating 15 years of blogging. So, if you'd rather wait to see what I end up with, stay tuned, otherwise, if you are a risk taker, have at it. Like I say, it doesn't support me directly, and it's just for fun. 

 

Barns For Jason. (From the mega-barn find ride recently)

An Update On "The Quest":

As many of you know, I am nearly finished with "The Quest", my attempt to ride every gravel road in Black Hawk County. I have been shot-gunning posts every week lately on this attempt and you may have noticed a lull in the action this week. Well, there is a very good reason for that.

It's too cold!

We had a bit of an Arctic air outbreak here and with little daylight to counter-act the effects of this cold blast, it only gets 'barely tolerable' for a country ride for a few short hours every day now. This has made it so that I have to be very picky about when I attempt a ride. To add difficulty to this, hunting season will be impacting my choice of day to ride also. Here are the finer details:

Okay, the good news? I have ONE RIDE LEFT TO DO! WooHoo! Yes, it's true. I have one longish ride in Southern Black Hawk County near LaPorte City to do and I will have completed my goal for the year. Now, I have a bit of leeway in terms of the exact day, but not too much. I mean, it could be snowy and cold already! So, here's what I am looking at for a window. 

 The next week, week and a half has a few choice looking days if the temperatures hold up. Highs into the mid-40's works for me. However; one of the better looking days is Saturday. But why is this an issue? Deer hunting, that's why. It's the first day of shotgun deer season, and I've been out on that day on gravel before and it is no fun! Plus, it could even be dangerous. Not for me! So, another day will have to do, and right now that might be next Wednesday or......??? 

I cannot wait too long because at any moment this could get really ugly with snow, cold, and frozen, icy roads. So, the sooner I get this knocked out the better. Stay tuned.........

This was my 'flat bar' gravel rig in 2005 used at the first Dirty Kanza 200.

Flat Bar 'Gravel Bikes'? Nothing New!

 Recently I've seen a few bits about how 'flat bar' gravel bikes are a thing now and that these are causing a 'big stir' with some keyboard warriors out there and all. Well- Two things to note here. One- Flat bar 'gravel bikes' are not new, and have been around since the onset of 'modern gravel' events. Secondly, all this hullabaloo concerning what people think is just click-bait nonsense. 

See, I happen to have been around in 2005/2006 when all this crazy stuff got started, and guess what? There were flat bar bikes, drop bar bikes, bikes with suspension, no suspension, and old and new bikes. You 'run whatcha brung' and no one cared or gave a second thought to what you rode. So, when I see an article rebuffing certain internet commenters for not being "open-minded' about flat bar gravel bikes, well, how about we just go back to the way things started out? We were doing just fine for years before the digital desk jockeys at the big time cycling media joints chimed in. I think some of the "controversy" is a bit manufactured for 'traffic's sake', if you know what I mean. 

So, the bottom line is that if you don't know the history and where this all came from you don't understand much. Making ill-informed comments for or against flat bar gravel bikes, or anything else having to do with gravel/back road cycling, with a shallow view of history is a recipe for making foolish mistakes. It's so bad in some cases it cannot be passed off as even being funny. But it won't change, I am sure of that much.

Just know that much of what you see in the niche cycling media about 'gravel' anything is usually coming from a source that isn't very deep or well informed or both. At least, I've noted this in the last several years. 

The Revonte design echews typical bicycle drive train parts. (Screen grab from Revonte's video)

HPC Innovations Point To More "Moto" Style Features:

In the slow progression from motorized bike with pedals to a fully automatic, no pedal 'motorcycle' -which we have been witnessing for the past five years- another new 'innovation' from a company called Revonte has been released for our consideration. It is, essentially, an automatically controlled drive system that eliminates the need for a traditional bicycle drive train. 

Revonte doesn't say explicitly what is going on, but from listening to a video that they published, it appears that this drive system may be a constantly variable transmission. Riders do not have to control any facet of the torque application mechanically, as sensors relay to the motor what level of torque the rider is applying to continue at their desired speed, and adjusts power accordingly. So, it applies more torque when going uphill and less when going down, depending on the speed the rider tries to maintain. At least that's how I understood it. That would make sense if the system was a constantly variable transmission. 

But the news here isn't how it does the power application, it is the elimination of a "bicycle" feature and the introduction of a moto feature- the single chain and two cog drive system. This is a further distancing of a direct connection to the rider, which traditionally has supplied power, and control over that power, to a two wheeled vehicle.. This is further enhanced by being fully autonomous from the rider in terms of 'gearing' choice. However; the system can be configured to work with a "virtual gearing" set up via a Bluetooth app on a smart phone. Revonte says this may be desirable in difficult terrain which might confuse the auto torque sensing feature. 

Furthermore, this elimination of typical bicycle drive train parts means that this system doesn't have to rely on a typical bicycle supply chain, traditional bike mechanics, or  traditional bicycle design which must accommodate for certain 'standards' which derailleur based drive trains are constrained by. In other words, a system like this doesn't even have to resemble a bicycle in any way anymore with the obvious exception of two wheels and the "Tyrannosaurus Rex-like arms" which are the cranks and pedals. In other words, once you've made the easy leap to fully automated rider experiences, pedaling will be seen as even more of an annoyance. The evolution will continue......

 That's a wrap for this week! I hope you all stay safe and get outside and recreate some! Iowans- BE CAREFUL! Saturday is opening day of shotgun deer season. Stay outta the woods! Thanks for reading!

Rear View '20: The First Quarter

2020 kicked off with the Iowa Gravel expo Pop-up Series.

 Hello Readers! Once again I am doing the annual retrospective on what went down over the year of 2020. This post will focus on the First Quarter of the year. Other posts will cover the other quarters for a total of four, one each week of December on Thursdays.This is the first "Rear View" post of the series. 

First Quarter: This seems like it happened a decade ago, but there was a time during 2020 that was 'pre-COVID-19' in America. The year started out with my usual "State of the Gravel Scene" posts and I'll have a little to say about that later this month. The other thing I had going on was another season of the "Iowa Gravel Expo" with N.Y. Roll. We did a 'pop-up' series with two events in January and two in February at Second State Brewing. 

But the biggest news early in the year was my switch to working at a new bike shop after 17+ years at the previous shop. Andy's Bike shop was my new employer and I got started off working here and there throughout the rest of the Winter until right about when COVID hit where I was working four days a week. 

Late January and early February brought about four to five weeks of decent fat biking weather. With all the time off I had, I was digging into some rides and I actually had one of my best fat biking seasons that I've had in many a year. Even though conditions were only good for maybe a month, and I typically with the old job would have missed out on a lot of the opportunities to ride. So, not much money in that, but it was fun!

The snow was the meat in a weird gravel riding sandwich time. Great gravel riding was had from late 2019 right up through to mid-January, and then again from the mark out of the gate in March onward. "Slop Season" wasn't bad, and the roads were top notch for early riding. I also had a trip in here, my last one for a long, long time. 

T-Bock's sports bar in Decorah, Iowa where the pre-race meetings for T.I.v3 and v4 were held. Seen here in 2020.

 I went up to Decorah, Iowa on Leap Day to interview Marty Larson of the Heywood Ride for RidingGravel. It was a glorious day with Mrs. Guitar Ted and I had a wonderful time. I also was gearing up for an event I was putting on with N.Y. Roll, the C.O.G. 100, which we had to tie up a lot of loose ends for with the event set to happen on the last weekend of March, and right away, a week afterward I was to do the 10th annual Gent's Race, but as we all know, THAT never happened! 

Everything went upside down mid-March and the World as I knew it was changed. No plans mattered, and all the social and economic weirdness kicked in with a heavy dose of fear. I just was freaking out, to be honest, and just riding out in the country alone on gravel roads felt odd, like I wasn't supposed to be doing this......maybe? 

And that was the biggest thing, right? No one knew anything for certain about anything- Just stay away from people, shelter at home, wash yer hands, don't touch your face, sanitize EVERYTHING and good luck finding toilet paper. Oh,,,,,,and all the gravel events were cancelling or moving dates to Fall.

Next on the Rear View '20: April, May, and June

Bikes Of 2020: The Snow Dog

 It's THAT time of year again when I have my year-end reviews. This series will cover my bikes I used during 2020, any changes made, and why I still like each one- or don't! Thanks for reading!

This bike needs no introduction to anyone who has been reading this blog for the last decade. This is my original fat bike, the one I got as a frame and fork for my 50th birthday from several friends who secretly got together and purchased it for me. (You know who you are- Thanks Again!)

So, that was how it all got started in 2011 as I headed off into the snow with this Mukluk. It was a revelation, it was a lot of fun, and I quickly found the limits of what this platform was capable of. That only served to push me onward to getting the Ti Muk a year later. Then three years afterward I got the Blackborow DS, which has been pretty much the ultimate go anywhere through anything fat bike. 

Meanwhile, the Snow Dog fell into disuse. For several years it was just kind of taking up space in my bike corral. Then I thought about selling it. However; as this feeling came over me I noted that my son was outgrowing his bikes at an alarming pace. It might be that he could use the Snow Dog someday. So, I hung onto the bike with that in mind. 

Last year I set it up for him and he ended up riding it some, but his main need was for a bike he could lock to a rack and to just cruise around on without being hassled. The Snow Dog was not that bike. It drew too much attention when he was riding it from people that I didn't need paying him attention. Plus, it wasn't going to be around long if he locked it to a pole at football practice. My old 1987 Schwinn Sierra was a better bike for him in that regard, so back went the Snow Dog into the Lab.  

Then I decided that I just needed to make use of this bike as my 'gravel' travel fat bike and I set it up for myself again. Since that point I've stuck those Whisky Company Milhouse Bars on it and well, it has been fun to ride it again. What the future holds for this bike, I do not know. 

At one time I was thinking I just needed a fat bike for a bike packing role. One that could be an off-road tourer, and maybe have a rack on it, or what have you. I was considering the last Pugsley version for this, but then I realized, I already have that bike. It's the Snow Dog after all. So, we will see how it all goes.

Bikes Of 2020: The Snow Dog

 It's THAT time of year again when I have my year-end reviews. This series will cover my bikes I used during 2020, any changes made, and why I still like each one- or don't! Thanks for reading!

This bike needs no introduction to anyone who has been reading this blog for the last decade. This is my original fat bike, the one I got as a frame and fork for my 50th birthday from several friends who secretly got together and purchased it for me. (You know who you are- Thanks Again!)

So, that was how it all got started in 2011 as I headed off into the snow with this Mukluk. It was a revelation, it was a lot of fun, and I quickly found the limits of what this platform was capable of. That only served to push me onward to getting the Ti Muk a year later. Then three years afterward I got the Blackborow DS, which has been pretty much the ultimate go anywhere through anything fat bike. 

Meanwhile, the Snow Dog fell into disuse. For several years it was just kind of taking up space in my bike corral. Then I thought about selling it. However; as this feeling came over me I noted that my son was outgrowing his bikes at an alarming pace. It might be that he could use the Snow Dog someday. So, I hung onto the bike with that in mind. 

Last year I set it up for him and he ended up riding it some, but his main need was for a bike he could lock to a rack and to just cruise around on without being hassled. The Snow Dog was not that bike. It drew too much attention when he was riding it from people that I didn't need paying him attention. Plus, it wasn't going to be around long if he locked it to a pole at football practice. My old 1987 Schwinn Sierra was a better bike for him in that regard, so back went the Snow Dog into the Lab.  

Then I decided that I just needed to make use of this bike as my 'gravel' travel fat bike and I set it up for myself again. Since that point I've stuck those Whisky Company Milhouse Bars on it and well, it has been fun to ride it again. What the future holds for this bike, I do not know. 

At one time I was thinking I just needed a fat bike for a bike packing role. One that could be an off-road tourer, and maybe have a rack on it, or what have you. I was considering the last Pugsley version for this, but then I realized, I already have that bike. It's the Snow Dog after all. So, we will see how it all goes.

Rear View '20: The First Quarter

2020 kicked off with the Iowa Gravel expo Pop-up Series.

 Hello Readers! Once again I am doing the annual retrospective on what went down over the year of 2020. This post will focus on the First Quarter of the year. Other posts will cover the other quarters for a total of four, one each week of December on Thursdays.This is the first "Rear View" post of the series. 

First Quarter: This seems like it happened a decade ago, but there was a time during 2020 that was 'pre-COVID-19' in America. The year started out with my usual "State of the Gravel Scene" posts and I'll have a little to say about that later this month. The other thing I had going on was another season of the "Iowa Gravel Expo" with N.Y. Roll. We did a 'pop-up' series with two events in January and two in February at Second State Brewing. 

But the biggest news early in the year was my switch to working at a new bike shop after 17+ years at the previous shop. Andy's Bike shop was my new employer and I got started off working here and there throughout the rest of the Winter until right about when COVID hit where I was working four days a week. 

Late January and early February brought about four to five weeks of decent fat biking weather. With all the time off I had, I was digging into some rides and I actually had one of my best fat biking seasons that I've had in many a year. Even though conditions were only good for maybe a month, and I typically with the old job would have missed out on a lot of the opportunities to ride. So, not much money in that, but it was fun!

The snow was the meat in a weird gravel riding sandwich time. Great gravel riding was had from late 2019 right up through to mid-January, and then again from the mark out of the gate in March onward. "Slop Season" wasn't bad, and the roads were top notch for early riding. I also had a trip in here, my last one for a long, long time. 

T-Bock's sports bar in Decorah, Iowa where the pre-race meetings for T.I.v3 and v4 were held. Seen here in 2020.

 I went up to Decorah, Iowa on Leap Day to interview Marty Larson of the Heywood Ride for RidingGravel. It was a glorious day with Mrs. Guitar Ted and I had a wonderful time. I also was gearing up for an event I was putting on with N.Y. Roll, the C.O.G. 100, which we had to tie up a lot of loose ends for with the event set to happen on the last weekend of March, and right away, a week afterward I was to do the 10th annual Gent's Race, but as we all know, THAT never happened! 

Everything went upside down mid-March and the World as I knew it was changed. No plans mattered, and all the social and economic weirdness kicked in with a heavy dose of fear. I just was freaking out, to be honest, and just riding out in the country alone on gravel roads felt odd, like I wasn't supposed to be doing this......maybe? 

And that was the biggest thing, right? No one knew anything for certain about anything- Just stay away from people, shelter at home, wash yer hands, don't touch your face, sanitize EVERYTHING and good luck finding toilet paper. Oh,,,,,,and all the gravel events were cancelling or moving dates to Fall.

Next on the Rear View '20: April, May, and June

Retrospective Series On The GTDRI

That's MG's leg and a beer from the '08 GTDRI.

 With the announcement Tuesday that I have retired from events productions I have come up with a new idea for a series for the blog here. This also has something to do with the fact that at some point in 2021 I will reach the end of my current series on the blog, "Trans Iowa Stories". What I do with that series in terms of a future project like a book, well, I don't know. It would have to be edited like crazy down to a distilled format for consumption and then reformatted into coherent chapters and........uggh! A LOT of work, but we'll see. I'm not ever going to rule that out, but before I tackled Trans Iowa in book form I'd likely try my hand at another, not so difficult story to tell. Maybe one like the story about my self-supported touring days, which I already have on the site here as a series I did....twice! 

But all that aside, the point is that the "The Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitational" is a story that not many know about, but I think it would make for an interesting series on the blog here. Of course, each running of it had a report afterward, but I haven't ever really dug into this event and told the behind-the-scenes stuff and some elements of this event are pretty important to me and others. Not least of which would be the time in 2014 when I and another rider were struck by a drunk driver in a pick-up truck as we were walking our bikes along the side of a gravel road. But there are other, less dramatic but no less interesting tales to be told as well. 

Looking at how far I've come along with "Trans Iowa Stories" during 2020, I see I had covered about five-ish Trans Iowa events in 12 months. So, with four events and a final reviewing of Trans Iowa to go, I wouldn't expect to see anything about the Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitational as a series until later into 2021. However; I probably will be researching this old event as the days go by preparing to launch that idea when the time is right. 

So, this is maybe a teaser too far in advance, but this idea has been on my mind of late and so I thought I would share this. It is a series which, I hope, will fit into my new outlook on all things gravel. Well, not really 'new', but maybe "more focused on" (?) for 2021 and beyond. Some of what I am referring to will be dealt with in my opening posts for 2021. Stay tuned for that.....

Retrospective Series On The GTDRI

That's MG's leg and a beer from the '08 GTDRI.

 With the announcement Tuesday that I have retired from events productions I have come up with a new idea for a series for the blog here. This also has something to do with the fact that at some point in 2021 I will reach the end of my current series on the blog, "Trans Iowa Stories". What I do with that series in terms of a future project like a book, well, I don't know. It would have to be edited like crazy down to a distilled format for consumption and then reformatted into coherent chapters and........uggh! A LOT of work, but we'll see. I'm not ever going to rule that out, but before I tackled Trans Iowa in book form I'd likely try my hand at another, not so difficult story to tell. Maybe one like the story about my self-supported touring days, which I already have on the site here as a series I did....twice! 

But all that aside, the point is that the "The Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitational" is a story that not many know about, but I think it would make for an interesting series on the blog here. Of course, each running of it had a report afterward, but I haven't ever really dug into this event and told the behind-the-scenes stuff and some elements of this event are pretty important to me and others. Not least of which would be the time in 2014 when I and another rider were struck by a drunk driver in a pick-up truck as we were walking our bikes along the side of a gravel road. But there are other, less dramatic but no less interesting tales to be told as well. 

Looking at how far I've come along with "Trans Iowa Stories" during 2020, I see I had covered about five-ish Trans Iowa events in 12 months. So, with four events and a final reviewing of Trans Iowa to go, I wouldn't expect to see anything about the Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitational as a series until later into 2021. However; I probably will be researching this old event as the days go by preparing to launch that idea when the time is right. 

So, this is maybe a teaser too far in advance, but this idea has been on my mind of late and so I thought I would share this. It is a series which, I hope, will fit into my new outlook on all things gravel. Well, not really 'new', but maybe "more focused on" (?) for 2021 and beyond. Some of what I am referring to will be dealt with in my opening posts for 2021. Stay tuned for that.....

Bikes Of 2020: The Blackborow DS

The Blackborow DS as seen in January of 2020.

 It's THAT time of year again when I have my year-end reviews. This series will cover my bikes I used during 2020, any changes made, and why I still like each one- or don't! Thanks for reading!

Snow. Ice. The cold of winter is coming....maybe? Last year we experienced a Winter so unlike that of others it cannot be expected that we will see anything like it again for a while. maybe. You just never know, right? I mean, this is 2020! 

But the Blackborow DS almost didn't get used at all. January started out being unseasonably warm. We had several 50+ degree days and even one that I documented which went over the 60 degree mark. Weird! And I just do not use this bike unless conditions actually warrant it. 

Then in mid-month, we got it! The snows came and the white stuff mounted up so that I had several great rides on the Blackborow DS. Of course, being between jobs as I was then, I had plenty of opportunities to take advantage of good days to ride. This meant that I was able to discover that I could get this bike to do some pretty incredible things. 

The nearly five inch wide tires, Surly Buds in this case, on 100mm wide Surly Clownshoe rims, makes for a very capable rig to slog through 8" of untracked snow, if you have a mind to do that. I did and I did. Ride it through 8" of snow that is. Of course, the Blackborow DS can do a LOT more than that, but when I have so many options in bikes, this rig only sees time when the conditions specify that only this bike will do. And January provided those conditions in spades. This lasted a month. By mid-February it went all to mush and by the end of that month I'd swapped over to riding gravel and the Blackborow DS went back down into storage for the year. It was a fantastic month of riding though, so good that I called it out as probably the third best fat biking season I'd ever experienced.

The bike? No changes. None necessary. In fact, the bike is so good the only thing I have ever swapped out is the handle bar for a Jones Carbon Loop Bar. Even the tires are tubed on this rig! Which leads me to say that in the area of tires and wheels, I would make a change, but it would be a very expensive one for not a lot of gain in practical terms. 

That, of course, would be to go to a new tubeless wheel set with carbon rims and new tubeless tires. That sort of an upgrade would likely run me what I paid for this bike. So, in other words, I'd have twice as much wrapped up into a bike I use- at most- three months out of a year, likely less than that. So, it just doesn't make sense. 

But never say never, right? 

Look for more "Bikes of 2020" posts coming soon.

Bikes Of 2020: The Blackborow DS

The Blackborow DS as seen in January of 2020.

 It's THAT time of year again when I have my year-end reviews. This series will cover my bikes I used during 2020, any changes made, and why I still like each one- or don't! Thanks for reading!

Snow. Ice. The cold of winter is coming....maybe? Last year we experienced a Winter so unlike that of others it cannot be expected that we will see anything like it again for a while. maybe. You just never know, right? I mean, this is 2020! 

But the Blackborow DS almost didn't get used at all. January started out being unseasonably warm. We had several 50+ degree days and even one that I documented which went over the 60 degree mark. Weird! And I just do not use this bike unless conditions actually warrant it. 

Then in mid-month, we got it! The snows came and the white stuff mounted up so that I had several great rides on the Blackborow DS. Of course, being between jobs as I was then, I had plenty of opportunities to take advantage of good days to ride. This meant that I was able to discover that I could get this bike to do some pretty incredible things. 

The nearly five inch wide tires, Surly Buds in this case, on 100mm wide Surly Clownshoe rims, makes for a very capable rig to slog through 8" of untracked snow, if you have a mind to do that. I did and I did. Ride it through 8" of snow that is. Of course, the Blackborow DS can do a LOT more than that, but when I have so many options in bikes, this rig only sees time when the conditions specify that only this bike will do. And January provided those conditions in spades. This lasted a month. By mid-February it went all to mush and by the end of that month I'd swapped over to riding gravel and the Blackborow DS went back down into storage for the year. It was a fantastic month of riding though, so good that I called it out as probably the third best fat biking season I'd ever experienced.

The bike? No changes. None necessary. In fact, the bike is so good the only thing I have ever swapped out is the handle bar for a Jones Carbon Loop Bar. Even the tires are tubed on this rig! Which leads me to say that in the area of tires and wheels, I would make a change, but it would be a very expensive one for not a lot of gain in practical terms. 

That, of course, would be to go to a new tubeless wheel set with carbon rims and new tubeless tires. That sort of an upgrade would likely run me what I paid for this bike. So, in other words, I'd have twice as much wrapped up into a bike I use- at most- three months out of a year, likely less than that. So, it just doesn't make sense. 

But never say never, right? 

Look for more "Bikes of 2020" posts coming soon.

Rear View '20: Prologue

 Every year on the blog I take the month of December to review the year which is about to end. This series will appear off and on throughout this month. I hope that you enjoy the look back. And as always, THANKS FOR READING!

This year, obviously, has not been anything like my previous 14 years of blogging here. The COVID-19 pandemic took off in March and pretty much radicalized things in all our lives up to this present time. So, as this has happened and as it has grossly affected myself and what I've done for 2020, this will be a bit of a different look back. 

I'm going to start out with the months of January, February, and March. The last of the 'normal' times where expectations for the year were completely different than they were by the end of March. 

Then I am going to take a look at a few different things which I had to work through as the year progressed, using past blog posts as a way to refer to what has made for a very different experience for me, and I am sure all of you as well. Then I will, at the end of the month, have a special post which I hope will turn out well dealing with some personal thoughts on the what's next for me.

These won't be scheduled for any special days in particular. So, I cannot tell you to look for them on certain days of the week. These will probably get double-posted with the normal daily posts. So, don't forget to scroll back to make sure you are not missing anything. Thanks! 

Rear View '20: Prologue

 Every year on the blog I take the month of December to review the year which is about to end. This series will appear off and on throughout this month. I hope that you enjoy the look back. And as always, THANKS FOR READING!

This year, obviously, has not been anything like my previous 14 years of blogging here. The COVID-19 pandemic took off in March and pretty much radicalized things in all our lives up to this present time. So, as this has happened and as it has grossly affected myself and what I've done for 2020, this will be a bit of a different look back. 

I'm going to start out with the months of January, February, and March. The last of the 'normal' times where expectations for the year were completely different than they were by the end of March. 

Then I am going to take a look at a few different things which I had to work through as the year progressed, using past blog posts as a way to refer to what has made for a very different experience for me, and I am sure all of you as well. Then I will, at the end of the month, have a special post which I hope will turn out well dealing with some personal thoughts on the what's next for me.

These won't be scheduled for any special days in particular. So, I cannot tell you to look for them on certain days of the week. These will probably get double-posted with the normal daily posts. So, don't forget to scroll back to make sure you are not missing anything. Thanks! 

A Note About Events Going Forward

 Over the weekend N.Y. Roll and I hammered out an e-mail for those who are registered via BikeReg.com for what was going to be the second C.O.G.100. Short story: That event is cancelled, maybe for good. Those that need the details should be getting them, or have already received them, via a message through BikeReg, the site used for the registration of the C.O.G.100 athletes. 

Okay, that's really all anyone needs to know outside of the riders about that. This post is going to cover another, somewhat related announcement from me personally. That being that I will no longer be hosting or producing events for bicycling. Basically, I have retired from those activities. 

As many of you know, I have been involved in the productions, promotions, and running of cycling events on gravel since 2004. (Actually, I helped produce and run a couple of XC MTB races before that) I've had some successes and some failures, but what really drives this decision is that I want to just ride my bicycles now. 

The time has come, and this past year of 2020 has really brought this to the fore, that I should not be draining my energies into any more event promotions and in running events. I had so much fun just going out and exploring Black Hawk County on what I dubbed as "The Quest" that it made me realize just how much time I was investing into doing event logistics, promotions, and in running events. I also was pleased to just be a volunteer at the Spotted Horse Ultra event in October, so I could see myself doing volunteering in that capacity again, but as for being in charge? No. I've done that long enough. 

As far as attending events: I will be cutting back on this as well. And really, until this pandemic is in our rear view mirrors, I just do not see why I should risk being at an event anyway. So, don't look for me to load up on cycling events. The occasional volunteering gig? Sure. Riding lots more in varied places on my schedule? Absolutely. 

I've had ideas of places I want to revisit and ride again, and I want to get going on those ideas and make them a reality. Going to an event doesn't allow time to soak things in and really enjoy a place like just riding for the sake of discovery and adventure does. I think back to my Kansas adventures while my friend Tony was riding in that 'big event' that used to happen down there. That's what I want to get back to and do more of. 

I've been itching to do a couple, kind of local to me excursions, that will have to wait until next season and warmer weather, but those and some other dream rides will be talked about over the coming months here. I hope that the adventure/discovery sort of riding is interesting for you, the readers, because that's what I have planned to be doing a lot more of in 2021. So look forward to that sort of content. Any racing promotions, rides, etc- That all is water under my dam. It was fun but now it is time to move along. Thank you to all and everyone over the years that attended rides, clinics, festivals, and group rides I was a part of putting on. Thanks most of all to any of you that helped me in those endeavors. Your efforts on my behalf are always something I'll be thankful for and which I will always think about in the future. 

Now onward......

A Note About Events Going Forward

 Over the weekend N.Y. Roll and I hammered out an e-mail for those who are registered via BikeReg.com for what was going to be the second C.O.G.100. Short story: That event is cancelled, maybe for good. Those that need the details should be getting them, or have already received them, via a message through BikeReg, the site used for the registration of the C.O.G.100 athletes. 

Okay, that's really all anyone needs to know outside of the riders about that. This post is going to cover another, somewhat related announcement from me personally. That being that I will no longer be hosting or producing events for bicycling. Basically, I have retired from those activities. 

As many of you know, I have been involved in the productions, promotions, and running of cycling events on gravel since 2004. (Actually, I helped produce and run a couple of XC MTB races before that) I've had some successes and some failures, but what really drives this decision is that I want to just ride my bicycles now. 

The time has come, and this past year of 2020 has really brought this to the fore, that I should not be draining my energies into any more event promotions and in running events. I had so much fun just going out and exploring Black Hawk County on what I dubbed as "The Quest" that it made me realize just how much time I was investing into doing event logistics, promotions, and in running events. I also was pleased to just be a volunteer at the Spotted Horse Ultra event in October, so I could see myself doing volunteering in that capacity again, but as for being in charge? No. I've done that long enough. 

As far as attending events: I will be cutting back on this as well. And really, until this pandemic is in our rear view mirrors, I just do not see why I should risk being at an event anyway. So, don't look for me to load up on cycling events. The occasional volunteering gig? Sure. Riding lots more in varied places on my schedule? Absolutely. 

I've had ideas of places I want to revisit and ride again, and I want to get going on those ideas and make them a reality. Going to an event doesn't allow time to soak things in and really enjoy a place like just riding for the sake of discovery and adventure does. I think back to my Kansas adventures while my friend Tony was riding in that 'big event' that used to happen down there. That's what I want to get back to and do more of. 

I've been itching to do a couple, kind of local to me excursions, that will have to wait until next season and warmer weather, but those and some other dream rides will be talked about over the coming months here. I hope that the adventure/discovery sort of riding is interesting for you, the readers, because that's what I have planned to be doing a lot more of in 2021. So look forward to that sort of content. Any racing promotions, rides, etc- That all is water under my dam. It was fun but now it is time to move along. Thank you to all and everyone over the years that attended rides, clinics, festivals, and group rides I was a part of putting on. Thanks most of all to any of you that helped me in those endeavors. Your efforts on my behalf are always something I'll be thankful for and which I will always think about in the future. 

Now onward......