Grey Sky Gravel

Sunday I left to the Northwest on a multi-terrain beginning to a gravel ride. The trails on the way over saw me run across grass, dirt, chip seal, double track, and busted up pavement. Then I hit the bike trails to get out of town to the North and the old 3GR course beginnings. My intentions were to ride that entire course.

I ran across my old neighbor on the Big Woods bike path, which was nice. We chatted a bit then I rolled onward. It was almost the same temperature and humidity as last week when I about burnt up with overheating, but this time it was strangely fine. I did ride with my jacket unzipped a bit. Otherwise it was windy from the South/Southwest and I was getting pushed along well by it. I decided I needed to get worked coming back, which is the old Jeff Kerkove way to do a ride.

#unlearnpavement

 

Off into the gloom!

I got out there and saw that the light was not good already. Looking at the clock on the computer I ascertained that I would run out of light long before I got around the old 3GR course. Hmm......a modified route was in order then. I went straight on Mount Vernon road until I reached Sage Road. That was a long stretch into a quartering headwind, but there wasn't enough time and I probably need the harder work.

Once again the gravel wasn't really wet. It was "damp", and the wind and humidity were not letting up, so I have to assume that the roads are soaking a lot of this up now, which would indicate that they are not frozen anymore either. Either way, it wasn't very messy at all, which was fine with me. Once again, the vapors would form if I turned my head, and everything facing forward was dripping wet. It seems odd to have this cool, moisture rich atmosphere this time of the year. This is very "late Fall-ish", not at all what I would expect for a date so close to Christmas. Oh yeah.......it happened to be the Solstice. I didn't feel anything magical or different in that regard. Just a "day".

The legs felt a lot better this time, which was a good thing, even after a ride the day before. But that isn't to say that I was flying. I wasn't, but I was able to hold a steady tempo and I didn't bog down on the climbs.

A grain auger sales lot in the middle of nowhere.

The rural church at the corner of Mt. Vernon and Sage Road.

Visiting The namesake rock.

By the time I turned down Sage Road I was seriously running low on light. I figured out that I shouldn't spend a lot of time at the big rock of Big Rock Road, but I had to stop for just a short visit! Unzipped the coats and let some heat out. Everything was damp, but I was comfortable in my two under layers of wool clothing.

I snarfed down an Apple Cinnamon Hammer Gel packet here. Man......it's like liquid apple pie! That was tasty. Some water to wash it all down, a couple of images snapped, zip up and take off. Oddly enough, where I turned onto Sage Road and here at the big rock were the only two places I ran into soft, wet gravel.

Now it was a race to see how soon I could get back into town before it got completely dark. I had a tail light on, but I had no head lamp. Once I reached Waterloo, the street lights would be my guide, but I didn't want to get stuck out here in the rolling hills without some light. There would be no moon, and the grey, dun atmosphere would make discerning features harder in the dark. I pedaled onward at a pretty decent clip now. My good fortune was that I reached town at the last possible moment and the street lights were all ablaze in the town so I could easily find my way back home.

It was a good ride, and I got two plus hours in. Better than sitting on the couch and another bonus gravel day at the end of 2014! I'll take it.

Grey Sky Gravel

Sunday I left to the Northwest on a multi-terrain beginning to a gravel ride. The trails on the way over saw me run across grass, dirt, chip seal, double track, and busted up pavement. Then I hit the bike trails to get out of town to the North and the old 3GR course beginnings. My intentions were to ride that entire course.

I ran across my old neighbor on the Big Woods bike path, which was nice. We chatted a bit then I rolled onward. It was almost the same temperature and humidity as last week when I about burnt up with overheating, but this time it was strangely fine. I did ride with my jacket unzipped a bit. Otherwise it was windy from the South/Southwest and I was getting pushed along well by it. I decided I needed to get worked coming back, which is the old Jeff Kerkove way to do a ride.

#unlearnpavement

 

Off into the gloom!

I got out there and saw that the light was not good already. Looking at the clock on the computer I ascertained that I would run out of light long before I got around the old 3GR course. Hmm......a modified route was in order then. I went straight on Mount Vernon road until I reached Sage Road. That was a long stretch into a quartering headwind, but there wasn't enough time and I probably need the harder work.

Once again the gravel wasn't really wet. It was "damp", and the wind and humidity were not letting up, so I have to assume that the roads are soaking a lot of this up now, which would indicate that they are not frozen anymore either. Either way, it wasn't very messy at all, which was fine with me. Once again, the vapors would form if I turned my head, and everything facing forward was dripping wet. It seems odd to have this cool, moisture rich atmosphere this time of the year. This is very "late Fall-ish", not at all what I would expect for a date so close to Christmas. Oh yeah.......it happened to be the Solstice. I didn't feel anything magical or different in that regard. Just a "day".

The legs felt a lot better this time, which was a good thing, even after a ride the day before. But that isn't to say that I was flying. I wasn't, but I was able to hold a steady tempo and I didn't bog down on the climbs.

A grain auger sales lot in the middle of nowhere.

The rural church at the corner of Mt. Vernon and Sage Road.

Visiting The namesake rock.

By the time I turned down Sage Road I was seriously running low on light. I figured out that I shouldn't spend a lot of time at the big rock of Big Rock Road, but I had to stop for just a short visit! Unzipped the coats and let some heat out. Everything was damp, but I was comfortable in my two under layers of wool clothing.

I snarfed down an Apple Cinnamon Hammer Gel packet here. Man......it's like liquid apple pie! That was tasty. Some water to wash it all down, a couple of images snapped, zip up and take off. Oddly enough, where I turned onto Sage Road and here at the big rock were the only two places I ran into soft, wet gravel.

Now it was a race to see how soon I could get back into town before it got completely dark. I had a tail light on, but I had no head lamp. Once I reached Waterloo, the street lights would be my guide, but I didn't want to get stuck out here in the rolling hills without some light. There would be no moon, and the grey, dun atmosphere would make discerning features harder in the dark. I pedaled onward at a pretty decent clip now. My good fortune was that I reached town at the last possible moment and the street lights were all ablaze in the town so I could easily find my way back home.

It was a good ride, and I got two plus hours in. Better than sitting on the couch and another bonus gravel day at the end of 2014! I'll take it.

Anything Cage HD: Update

Carrying ....well, anything!

As stated in the previous review on these cages, (seen HERE), I have continued to use the Anything Cage HD's and I wanted to follow up on a few criticisms I have seen of them from my viewpoint. By the way, thank you to all who linked and came to read the review. It has turned out to be the #1 read post in my almost ten years of blogging here. Outpacing the previous record holder by almost twice the number of readers.....for an accessory cage/rack for a bicycle. Yeah, I couldn't believe that either, but apparently lots of folks want to "Adventure By Bike".

So, let's take on the fact that these are not of metal construction, but an impact resistant nylon instead. Part of the inspiration for the Anything Cage HD was a plastic water bottle cage that despite its cheap price, was nearly indestructible and held the water bottle very well. You can read all about that and more HERE, but this is the pertinent quote:

"A real kick in the pants to get the project moving came when Sean mentioned a cheap water bottle cage he used to have. It just so happened that for the last eight-plus years, I’ve used that same cage on my bar-cruiser bike.
This particular bottle cage was friendly to my then college budget, has been smashed and crashed about 20 different ways, and still does a great job to this day."

Andy Palmer- Salsa Cycles.

Oddly enough, I have also had great luck with a couple "plastic" cages like the old Cat Eye one I have and several Velocity Bottle Traps that I have employed. That isn't to say that all plastic water bottle cages are great. That isn't the case at all, and I can point to a couple Bontrager and Profile cages I have tried that have either failed or have been not very good. As Sean Mailen says in the Salsa article I linked, there is plastic and then there is plastic!

The nylon reinforced plastic that Salsa uses for the Anything Cage HD is compliant to a point and I can see it flex to accommodate different items I have loaded onto it. I have also wrenched on it with my bare hands, forcing it to flex in unnatural ways to see if it would fail. It didn't. However; I would say that if it fails, it will likely be at the mounting points, in my opinion. That's why I believe that it is imperative that you use the provided washers under the Allen bolt heads when mounting the Anything Cage HD.

The next thing I saw that was a "comparative complaint" was a comment on Salsa's blog about the Anything Cage HD vs Cleaveland Mountaineering "Everything Bag". Here's my take on that comment and a few points to consider....

• The Cleaveland Mountaineering product is cool, but for over 10 extra bucks, it should work better.
• The point made about slipping straps? Not an issue in practice with the Anything Cage HD and not an issue when tightening down cargo. It's all in the wrist. 
• Irregular shaped objetcts, or non-round objects, can be carried on an Anything Cage.
• You can remove and replace a water bottle of any size but not while riding, and I doubt that you could do that safely with the Cleaveland product. So, it's a wash there. 
• The Anything Cage HD cleans up easily with a simple washing of water. My experiences with the fabric used to construct the "Everything Bag" show that this is more difficult to do. 

Both have their merits, for sure, but for ease of maintenance and versatility, I would get the Anything Cage HD for less money. My two cents there.

The water bottles issue is also a non-issue as you can easily strap water bottles to the Anything Cage HD's as seen in my images here. While it is true that you cannot grab one while riding, (in a way that I have figured out, at any rate), I don't see that as an issue with a bike you might be "hike-a-biking" with a lot, or touring on. For those travelling fast and wanting to grab a water bottle, try the Chaff Bag from Bike Bag Dude and put them up on your handle bar, as shown on my Blackborow DS here. Easy-peasy! 

Anything Cage HD: Update

Carrying ....well, anything!

As stated in the previous review on these cages, (seen HERE), I have continued to use the Anything Cage HD's and I wanted to follow up on a few criticisms I have seen of them from my viewpoint. By the way, thank you to all who linked and came to read the review. It has turned out to be the #1 read post in my almost ten years of blogging here. Outpacing the previous record holder by almost twice the number of readers.....for an accessory cage/rack for a bicycle. Yeah, I couldn't believe that either, but apparently lots of folks want to "Adventure By Bike".

So, let's take on the fact that these are not of metal construction, but an impact resistant nylon instead. Part of the inspiration for the Anything Cage HD was a plastic water bottle cage that despite its cheap price, was nearly indestructible and held the water bottle very well. You can read all about that and more HERE, but this is the pertinent quote:

"A real kick in the pants to get the project moving came when Sean mentioned a cheap water bottle cage he used to have. It just so happened that for the last eight-plus years, I’ve used that same cage on my bar-cruiser bike.
This particular bottle cage was friendly to my then college budget, has been smashed and crashed about 20 different ways, and still does a great job to this day."

Andy Palmer- Salsa Cycles.

Oddly enough, I have also had great luck with a couple "plastic" cages like the old Cat Eye one I have and several Velocity Bottle Traps that I have employed. That isn't to say that all plastic water bottle cages are great. That isn't the case at all, and I can point to a couple Bontrager and Profile cages I have tried that have either failed or have been not very good. As Sean Mailen says in the Salsa article I linked, there is plastic and then there is plastic!

The nylon reinforced plastic that Salsa uses for the Anything Cage HD is compliant to a point and I can see it flex to accommodate different items I have loaded onto it. I have also wrenched on it with my bare hands, forcing it to flex in unnatural ways to see if it would fail. It didn't. However; I would say that if it fails, it will likely be at the mounting points, in my opinion. That's why I believe that it is imperative that you use the provided washers under the Allen bolt heads when mounting the Anything Cage HD.

The next thing I saw that was a "comparative complaint" was a comment on Salsa's blog about the Anything Cage HD vs Cleaveland Mountaineering "Everything Bag". Here's my take on that comment and a few points to consider....

• The Cleaveland Mountaineering product is cool, but for over 10 extra bucks, it should work better.
• The point made about slipping straps? Not an issue in practice with the Anything Cage HD and not an issue when tightening down cargo. It's all in the wrist. 
• Irregular shaped objetcts, or non-round objects, can be carried on an Anything Cage.
• You can remove and replace a water bottle of any size but not while riding, and I doubt that you could do that safely with the Cleaveland product. So, it's a wash there. 
• The Anything Cage HD cleans up easily with a simple washing of water. My experiences with the fabric used to construct the "Everything Bag" show that this is more difficult to do. 

Both have their merits, for sure, but for ease of maintenance and versatility, I would get the Anything Cage HD for less money. My two cents there.

The water bottles issue is also a non-issue as you can easily strap water bottles to the Anything Cage HD's as seen in my images here. While it is true that you cannot grab one while riding, (in a way that I have figured out, at any rate), I don't see that as an issue with a bike you might be "hike-a-biking" with a lot, or touring on. For those travelling fast and wanting to grab a water bottle, try the Chaff Bag from Bike Bag Dude and put them up on your handle bar, as shown on my Blackborow DS here. Easy-peasy! 

Trans Iowa V11: A Look At The Rules Part 14

T.I.V2 was a game changer

Last year I did a historical overview of each Trans Iowa up to T.I.V9. This year I am going to revisit something that I feel many folks have overlooked for a long time; The "Race Rules".

Last week I talked about how the cue sheet thing evolved in Rule# 14 HERE. This week I am going to hit on a subject that the rules had to be added to to cover correctly, and why that was. In fact it happened twice, if I recall correctly, that the rules were added to. Anyway, here are Rules # 15 & 16:

15: This event will happen regardless of rain, sleet, snow, drought, wind, rabbit infestation, etc. You get the idea.
16: Weather Related Stoppage and Time Cut Off Rule: In case of severe weather during the event, we will do the folowing things so you can act accordingly. Remember: YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOURSELF!! If the sky is falling, or you see Dorothy's house go spinning by your head, you should take appropriate actions to protect yourself. We will not be responsible for ill advised heroics in inclement weather. Be smart, or be pig fodder! This is only given out so that you as an event participant will know what our actions will be in regards to keeping tabs on your progress and what will be done with prizing.
Weather related cancellation of the event will be enforced at the checkpoints. All participants will be directed as to where and when any prizing will be distributed at checkpoints by our volunteers. If you pull out before a checkpoint, you will need to contact the Event Director to find out if the event is being terminated. Results will not be tabulated if we have to stop the event. If cut off times to a checkpoint are not met by any event participant then the event will be terminated and all will be considered as DNF's.
Prizing will be distributed by raffle to the remaining participants in the event at the time of stoppage or when it becomes clear that the cut off times will not be met. Must be present to win. Decisions of the event's directors is final. 

Yes- that is a lot of reading! However; it was all necessary to cover the "wild card of Trans Iowa", The Weather. It didn't take long for us to have to amend the rules for Trans Iowa due to weather related issues!

Riders have to use their best judgement when it comes to the weather.

 Jeff Kerkove was no stranger to riding in poor weather conditions and this extended to events he partook of a well as training. He was adamant from the beginning that we would do Trans Iowa no matter the weather. Rule #15 reflects his attitude on that and is written in his typical style. 24 hour racing sort of reflected that kind of attitude as well, that is until a few events ran into really severe weather and caused all sorts of mayhem with regard to policy. Trans Iowa was no different in that regard, albeit we were eased into our changes somewhat. 

Trans Iowa V2 certainly was a "game changer" when it came to how we would have the rules set up. At that event, no one was on pace to make the checkpoint cut off time in Algona, Iowa that year. So, as I recall, Jeff called me and said we should call the event at Algona, and that I should announce that on Trans Iowa Radio, which at that time was an audio blog service posted to my personal blog. In other words, some riders got the message, many did not. 

That caused some disgruntled responses from a few riders that year. Jeff decided that, based on our conversations, we should amend the rules and add one that dealt with how we distributed the prizing in the event that the race wasn't doable or cut short. That's when Rule #16 became Rule #17 and we inserted a new Rule #16 to take its place. In the beginning, Rule #16 dealt with prizing, mostly, and was originally a version of paragraphs two and three of the current rule. Jeff allowed me to write the rule, and it served us well up until after T.I.V6. 

Trans Iowa V6 was greatly affected by bad weather. Image by A Andonopoulous.

 In that event, we suffered severe lightning strikes at different points in the event, and later on, a 30mph wind with heavy rains. The conditions were exceptionally bad. Not to mention scary!

So right after that one, I dug into Rule #16, added the first paragraph, and amended the second one. Things were kind of quiet on the weather front for T.I.V7, 8, and 9, but in last Spring's event, the intentions of the rule came into play once again. 

With riders already past the second checkpoint, the severe weather that blew through in the middle of the night forced several riders to take action to protect them selves. With plenty of abandoned barns and homes in the country these days, riders found shelter and rode out the worst parts of the night. Some called in the cavalry, and a few were mostly unaffected depending upon just where they were during the night. This was Rule #16 being put into play perfectly. 

 Next Week: More on navigation......

Trans Iowa V11: A Look At The Rules Part 14

T.I.V2 was a game changer

Last year I did a historical overview of each Trans Iowa up to T.I.V9. This year I am going to revisit something that I feel many folks have overlooked for a long time; The "Race Rules".

Last week I talked about how the cue sheet thing evolved in Rule# 14 HERE. This week I am going to hit on a subject that the rules had to be added to to cover correctly, and why that was. In fact it happened twice, if I recall correctly, that the rules were added to. Anyway, here are Rules # 15 & 16:

15: This event will happen regardless of rain, sleet, snow, drought, wind, rabbit infestation, etc. You get the idea.
16: Weather Related Stoppage and Time Cut Off Rule: In case of severe weather during the event, we will do the folowing things so you can act accordingly. Remember: YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOURSELF!! If the sky is falling, or you see Dorothy's house go spinning by your head, you should take appropriate actions to protect yourself. We will not be responsible for ill advised heroics in inclement weather. Be smart, or be pig fodder! This is only given out so that you as an event participant will know what our actions will be in regards to keeping tabs on your progress and what will be done with prizing.
Weather related cancellation of the event will be enforced at the checkpoints. All participants will be directed as to where and when any prizing will be distributed at checkpoints by our volunteers. If you pull out before a checkpoint, you will need to contact the Event Director to find out if the event is being terminated. Results will not be tabulated if we have to stop the event. If cut off times to a checkpoint are not met by any event participant then the event will be terminated and all will be considered as DNF's.
Prizing will be distributed by raffle to the remaining participants in the event at the time of stoppage or when it becomes clear that the cut off times will not be met. Must be present to win. Decisions of the event's directors is final. 

Yes- that is a lot of reading! However; it was all necessary to cover the "wild card of Trans Iowa", The Weather. It didn't take long for us to have to amend the rules for Trans Iowa due to weather related issues!

Riders have to use their best judgement when it comes to the weather.

 Jeff Kerkove was no stranger to riding in poor weather conditions and this extended to events he partook of a well as training. He was adamant from the beginning that we would do Trans Iowa no matter the weather. Rule #15 reflects his attitude on that and is written in his typical style. 24 hour racing sort of reflected that kind of attitude as well, that is until a few events ran into really severe weather and caused all sorts of mayhem with regard to policy. Trans Iowa was no different in that regard, albeit we were eased into our changes somewhat. 

Trans Iowa V2 certainly was a "game changer" when it came to how we would have the rules set up. At that event, no one was on pace to make the checkpoint cut off time in Algona, Iowa that year. So, as I recall, Jeff called me and said we should call the event at Algona, and that I should announce that on Trans Iowa Radio, which at that time was an audio blog service posted to my personal blog. In other words, some riders got the message, many did not. 

That caused some disgruntled responses from a few riders that year. Jeff decided that, based on our conversations, we should amend the rules and add one that dealt with how we distributed the prizing in the event that the race wasn't doable or cut short. That's when Rule #16 became Rule #17 and we inserted a new Rule #16 to take its place. In the beginning, Rule #16 dealt with prizing, mostly, and was originally a version of paragraphs two and three of the current rule. Jeff allowed me to write the rule, and it served us well up until after T.I.V6. 

Trans Iowa V6 was greatly affected by bad weather. Image by A Andonopoulous.

 In that event, we suffered severe lightning strikes at different points in the event, and later on, a 30mph wind with heavy rains. The conditions were exceptionally bad. Not to mention scary!

So right after that one, I dug into Rule #16, added the first paragraph, and amended the second one. Things were kind of quiet on the weather front for T.I.V7, 8, and 9, but in last Spring's event, the intentions of the rule came into play once again. 

With riders already past the second checkpoint, the severe weather that blew through in the middle of the night forced several riders to take action to protect them selves. With plenty of abandoned barns and homes in the country these days, riders found shelter and rode out the worst parts of the night. Some called in the cavalry, and a few were mostly unaffected depending upon just where they were during the night. This was Rule #16 being put into play perfectly. 

 Next Week: More on navigation......

Rear View 2014- Part 1

Well, as I forewarned, and as I have done about every year end now, here is my series on a look back over at 2014 before it is gone.

Hard to believe it, but this old year is about to become history. It seems like a long, long time ago, in 2013 at the end of the year, that I hinted about some changes coming along, and some of those things are happening/will happen very soon, while one other thing almost did happen, but didn't. I'll get to all of that later....

First things first- January was all about getting ready for my third attempt at Triple D, the Winter bike/ski/run event held in the middle of January in Dubuque. I was going to ride the Ti Mukluk and shortly before the event, I went tubeless with the tires and got a Velocity Dually 26"er fat bike wheel set to try out for that event. I was pretty deep into my looking back at all previous Trans Iowas on the blog here, and Winter was kicking it down hard all month.

Triple D went well, as I had gotten very ill earlier in the month and wasn't as trained up as I wanted to be. Still, I finished for a third time in a row and got 33rd out of almost 90 riders. Not too shabby for an old guy! The rest of the month was filled up with more snow, more cold, and ramblings about gravel stuff.

One for Odin

I sent my post card off for my second Odin's Revenge attempt and decided to take the Fargo Gen I again. I also decided to use a wider range gearing than I had before and placed a triple ring set up on it that I figured would work well.

In other bicycle news I got my old Snow Dog back together finally after having had it robbed of parts to get my son's Mukluk going the previous Fall. It was nice having it back, but I also had really frustrating rides on both Mukluks due to the lack of flotation and control in the drier, blown out conditions for snow we endured last Winter. I had decided to get on board with big rims and tires and with that decision came a set of purple ano Salsa Conversion hubs that would see a totally different usage down the road.

Part of a Trans Iowa booth display at Frostbike

In the middle of this terrible Winter and of the month of February I received news of a friend's death and I played at his "Celebration of Life" ceremony. If you ever see me riding with an orange bandana on my head, it is in memory of this person. That hit me harder than I thought it might.

Then it was Frostbike. Whoo boy! Mrs Guitar Ted and I drove up to the Twin Cities in the worst weather I've driven in for years. The interstate was actually closed at one point, but we somehow got on it anyway and eventually we made it. It wasn't fun at all! Frostbike itself was another marathon session of seeing old friends and making new acquaintances.

After that it was more Trans Iowa stories and working on the t-shirts, which a few had gotten finished so I could give Jeff Kerkove one at Frostbike. Then I received the news that Grinnell had awarded Trans Iowa the 2014 Tourism Experience Award. So, in one month I see a trade show booth with a Trans Iowa theme and a city gives the event an award based on tourism. That was pretty surreal and humbling. I never figured I'd ever see the day.

More Rear View 2014 coming soon........

Rear View 2014- Part 1

Well, as I forewarned, and as I have done about every year end now, here is my series on a look back over at 2014 before it is gone.

Hard to believe it, but this old year is about to become history. It seems like a long, long time ago, in 2013 at the end of the year, that I hinted about some changes coming along, and some of those things are happening/will happen very soon, while one other thing almost did happen, but didn't. I'll get to all of that later....

First things first- January was all about getting ready for my third attempt at Triple D, the Winter bike/ski/run event held in the middle of January in Dubuque. I was going to ride the Ti Mukluk and shortly before the event, I went tubeless with the tires and got a Velocity Dually 26"er fat bike wheel set to try out for that event. I was pretty deep into my looking back at all previous Trans Iowas on the blog here, and Winter was kicking it down hard all month.

Triple D went well, as I had gotten very ill earlier in the month and wasn't as trained up as I wanted to be. Still, I finished for a third time in a row and got 33rd out of almost 90 riders. Not too shabby for an old guy! The rest of the month was filled up with more snow, more cold, and ramblings about gravel stuff.

One for Odin

I sent my post card off for my second Odin's Revenge attempt and decided to take the Fargo Gen I again. I also decided to use a wider range gearing than I had before and placed a triple ring set up on it that I figured would work well.

In other bicycle news I got my old Snow Dog back together finally after having had it robbed of parts to get my son's Mukluk going the previous Fall. It was nice having it back, but I also had really frustrating rides on both Mukluks due to the lack of flotation and control in the drier, blown out conditions for snow we endured last Winter. I had decided to get on board with big rims and tires and with that decision came a set of purple ano Salsa Conversion hubs that would see a totally different usage down the road.

Part of a Trans Iowa booth display at Frostbike

In the middle of this terrible Winter and of the month of February I received news of a friend's death and I played at his "Celebration of Life" ceremony. If you ever see me riding with an orange bandana on my head, it is in memory of this person. That hit me harder than I thought it might.

Then it was Frostbike. Whoo boy! Mrs Guitar Ted and I drove up to the Twin Cities in the worst weather I've driven in for years. The interstate was actually closed at one point, but we somehow got on it anyway and eventually we made it. It wasn't fun at all! Frostbike itself was another marathon session of seeing old friends and making new acquaintances.

After that it was more Trans Iowa stories and working on the t-shirts, which a few had gotten finished so I could give Jeff Kerkove one at Frostbike. Then I received the news that Grinnell had awarded Trans Iowa the 2014 Tourism Experience Award. So, in one month I see a trade show booth with a Trans Iowa theme and a city gives the event an award based on tourism. That was pretty surreal and humbling. I never figured I'd ever see the day.

More Rear View 2014 coming soon........

Friday News And Views

The Soma Fab Cazadero 42mm tire

Same Song- Different Dance Partner:

Tubeless tires. Everybody wants to know about whether or not the latest tire can be set up tubeless or not. Fat bikes and gravel road going rigs that have no real good systems in place seem to be the next field where tubeless tinkering is taking off at a breakneck pace. It reminds me totally of circa 2006 29"er tubeless experimentations. Some times it worked, and other times......not so much. 

I got the Soma Fab Cazaderos recently and started the review , (here), and although I stated that since it isn't a tubeless ready tire I wouldn't be testing it this way, I am sure someone or three will say the review isn't any good without me trying them tubeless. I know this from my past experiences reviewing tires. The thing is, I cannot fairly review a tire if I use it as it is not intended.

Just like using a 23mm road slick for a cyclo cross race and then saying the tire stinks because it doesn't handle mud well is unfair, so it is with regard to "converting" any tire I am reviewing to tubeless for gravel. The Cazadero was never intended for tubeless usage, or if it was a thought during the design, Soma isn't saying so overtly. Either way, it isn't right for me to judge a tire for tubeless use and have it fail or not do well when it wasn't meant to be tested that way in the first place. Not to mention, there is no real, approved way of doing a tubeless conversion of a non-tubeless tire industry wide. Stan's No-Tubes notwithstanding, no tire manufacturer will approve of that openly.

And so it goes with the bicycle industry. We can make ridiculously light, mega-expensive bikes out of carbon fiber but we cannot have a true, standardized tubeless tire system for bicycles across the board? That's just weird. What other vehicle in existence suffers such disarray when it comes to their tires and rims? I believe a standardized tubeless system can be done, but the industry is so disconnected from what user experience is that it cannot find a way to make it happen. If the industry would come together and just make UST happen on every tire and rim, (for instance), and manufacture every tire to work tubeless, (you could always sub in a tube when you had to), then this whole dancing around with ghetto solutions to tubeless conversions and the roulette wheel riders have to negotiate to find success would not exist. But apparently what riders are doing is cheap R&D or something.........

This is just a random pic of our recently departed James in a cargo box.

End Of The Year Madness:

I'll be posting my annual "Rear View" series shortly and this has been a doozy of a year. I'll probably have to do this year in thirds, but however it comes out, look for that to start next week sometime and of course, the Holidays will bust that up some.

At the end of it all, I will make a special announcement and a few predictions for 2015. Looking ahead, there could be a lot of changes next year, or it could all just go "poof" and it could end up just being a regular year. We'll see....

Okay, that's all for today. Have a great weekend and get outside!

Friday News And Views

The Soma Fab Cazadero 42mm tire

Same Song- Different Dance Partner:

Tubeless tires. Everybody wants to know about whether or not the latest tire can be set up tubeless or not. Fat bikes and gravel road going rigs that have no real good systems in place seem to be the next field where tubeless tinkering is taking off at a breakneck pace. It reminds me totally of circa 2006 29"er tubeless experimentations. Some times it worked, and other times......not so much. 

I got the Soma Fab Cazaderos recently and started the review , (here), and although I stated that since it isn't a tubeless ready tire I wouldn't be testing it this way, I am sure someone or three will say the review isn't any good without me trying them tubeless. I know this from my past experiences reviewing tires. The thing is, I cannot fairly review a tire if I use it as it is not intended.

Just like using a 23mm road slick for a cyclo cross race and then saying the tire stinks because it doesn't handle mud well is unfair, so it is with regard to "converting" any tire I am reviewing to tubeless for gravel. The Cazadero was never intended for tubeless usage, or if it was a thought during the design, Soma isn't saying so overtly. Either way, it isn't right for me to judge a tire for tubeless use and have it fail or not do well when it wasn't meant to be tested that way in the first place. Not to mention, there is no real, approved way of doing a tubeless conversion of a non-tubeless tire industry wide. Stan's No-Tubes notwithstanding, no tire manufacturer will approve of that openly.

And so it goes with the bicycle industry. We can make ridiculously light, mega-expensive bikes out of carbon fiber but we cannot have a true, standardized tubeless tire system for bicycles across the board? That's just weird. What other vehicle in existence suffers such disarray when it comes to their tires and rims? I believe a standardized tubeless system can be done, but the industry is so disconnected from what user experience is that it cannot find a way to make it happen. If the industry would come together and just make UST happen on every tire and rim, (for instance), and manufacture every tire to work tubeless, (you could always sub in a tube when you had to), then this whole dancing around with ghetto solutions to tubeless conversions and the roulette wheel riders have to negotiate to find success would not exist. But apparently what riders are doing is cheap R&D or something.........

This is just a random pic of our recently departed James in a cargo box.

End Of The Year Madness:

I'll be posting my annual "Rear View" series shortly and this has been a doozy of a year. I'll probably have to do this year in thirds, but however it comes out, look for that to start next week sometime and of course, the Holidays will bust that up some.

At the end of it all, I will make a special announcement and a few predictions for 2015. Looking ahead, there could be a lot of changes next year, or it could all just go "poof" and it could end up just being a regular year. We'll see....

Okay, that's all for today. Have a great weekend and get outside!

On The Radio

After almost 10 years of blogging, I have added a microphone to the battered G-Ted desk

The new Riding Gravel.com collaboration has me doing a podcast now. That is something I have been on a few times in regard to being a "guest host" for the Trans Iowa Radio thing, but now I am a co-host with Mountain Bike Radio's Ben Welnak. Our show, centered around gravel road riding, is called the Riding Gravel Radio Ranch.

Ben sent me a podcasting microphone that showed up just the day before yesterday. With all the hullabaloo surrounding the day in regards to my family affairs, I didn't even crack open the box until yesterday, just mere hours before we were to record, and my wife, the resident techy talent, was off to work. I wasn't going to be able to lean on her for assistance if something was beyond my abilities to understand.

No worries though, as my musical background and the good instructions had me up and goofing around with mic levels before you knew it. Then we got "on air", and for the next 2.5 hours we had a great time with our guest, Bobby Wintle of District Cycles talking about his background, his shop, and his idea dubbed #unlearnpavement. The show link is HERE for those who want to check it out. Be forewarned! It's a long show so maybe it might be best to listen in when you've got a couple hours to spare! That said, it's got a lot of great stuff in it. But I'm biased!

So, a big day yesterday as we got into the first "real" Riding Gravel Radio Ranch. Hopefully folks dig it and there will be a lot more to come. I have to say that it is a bit more enjoyable than blogging!

On The Radio

After almost 10 years of blogging, I have added a microphone to the battered G-Ted desk

The new Riding Gravel.com collaboration has me doing a podcast now. That is something I have been on a few times in regard to being a "guest host" for the Trans Iowa Radio thing, but now I am a co-host with Mountain Bike Radio's Ben Welnak. Our show, centered around gravel road riding, is called the Riding Gravel Radio Ranch.

Ben sent me a podcasting microphone that showed up just the day before yesterday. With all the hullabaloo surrounding the day in regards to my family affairs, I didn't even crack open the box until yesterday, just mere hours before we were to record, and my wife, the resident techy talent, was off to work. I wasn't going to be able to lean on her for assistance if something was beyond my abilities to understand.

No worries though, as my musical background and the good instructions had me up and goofing around with mic levels before you knew it. Then we got "on air", and for the next 2.5 hours we had a great time with our guest, Bobby Wintle of District Cycles talking about his background, his shop, and his idea dubbed #unlearnpavement. The show link is HERE for those who want to check it out. Be forewarned! It's a long show so maybe it might be best to listen in when you've got a couple hours to spare! That said, it's got a lot of great stuff in it. But I'm biased!

So, a big day yesterday as we got into the first "real" Riding Gravel Radio Ranch. Hopefully folks dig it and there will be a lot more to come. I have to say that it is a bit more enjoyable than blogging!

Salsa Cycles Anything Cage HD: A Review

NOTE: I was provided these samples of the Anything Cage HD by Salsa Cycles at no charge for review. I was not paid nor bribed for this post and all of the thoughts and comments are mine alone. 

The Anything Cage HD and what you get in the package.

 Salsa Cycles has been one of the only, (if not the only), company really pushing for riders to go beyond the "normal" limits of cycling. In that vein, they have not only made bicycles useful for these varied "out of the boundaries"  cycling pursuits, but they have tried their hand at various unusual ways to accessorize these bikes. One of those has been the "Anything Cage", which originally was meant to be mounted on the "Three Pack Bosses" of forks like those found on the Fargo, Mukluk, and now the Blackborow.

Background: Original Anything Cages were made from tubing and  had a reputation for being less than successful at staying in one piece for some folks. That was back in 2010. Since then Salsa Cycles has responded by introducing a redesigned Anything Cage which became available earlier this year. However; unbeknownst to us, they were working on a new design. A heavy duty version of the Anything Cage which has become public knowledge only just today. Dubbed the "Anything Cage HD", it is obviously quite different and I was forwarded a couple samples to try out about two weeks ago.

Technical Info: The Anything Cage HD is made from injection molded impact resistant nylon. It features a new shape but still does the old job of carrying your roundish shaped objects like water bottles, Nalgene jars, dry sacks, or what have you. Basically anything that will sit well on the cage and weighs 6.6lbs or less. The new Anything Cage HD still mounts to the Three Pack Bosses found on many Salsa Cycles forks or down tubes. Each cage comes with longer bolts, three washers, and two Salsa Cycles webbing straps to lash cargo to the Anything Cage HD. Each Anything Cage HD will cost $35.00USD and the two samples sent to me weighed in on the scale at 160 grams with hardware. For comparison, the original Anything Cage, which I own, weighs 100 grams.

An original Anything Cage (L) next to the new Anything Cage HD

The Anything Cage HD mounted to my Blackborow DS and loaded with a tent and dry bag

In Use: The mounting of the Anything Cage HD is straight forward if you own a Salsa Cycles product with the Three Pack Bosses. I followed the simple instructions and they went on easily. Now to mount up some suitable dummy loads and ride! I chose a Topeak By-Camper tent, which is a heavy-ish one man tent that comes in its own dry bag, and an Outdoor Research dry bag stuffed with various items such as extra warm clothing, tubes, an air pump, and on occasion, a flask with coffee and extra water bottles. The loads in the dry bag varied, but the tent stayed on during the entire review period. NOTE: It is important to lace the webbing straps as Salsa indicates in the instructions for the Anything Cage HD for proper load bearing and cinching up of those straps.

I used the Blackborow DS with two Anything Cage HD's on rides that varied from commutes to work to single track to some bushwhacking and beach rides. I cannot go on with this review without making mention of how well the Blackborow DS rides with two loaded Anything Cage HD's on board. That was a nice surprise. You'd almost think those wily Salsa engineers thought of that ahead of time, eh? (<==HA!)

Anyway, the dry bag side was unloaded almost everyday for the two week review period to reflect how one might use this in a bikepacking set up. I changed the load occasionally as well. As Salsa Cycles indicates, using "roundish" objects will work best, and my tent was a testament to that, never getting loose or hardly shifting around in the Anything Cage HD at all. The other side featured those "not so roundish" loads, and with a bit of care and a touch of extra attention, even those stayed put. I had to wrench on the straps pretty severely, but the Anything Cage HD stood up to the task and I felt that these racks performed flawlessly at carrying loads.

With the Anything Cage's past in mind, I tried everything I could, within reason, to put the loaded racks to the test. This included ramming curbs at speed, bounding through rough, frozen, tussocky grass, riding frozen dirt churned up by heavy construction equipment, and doing the whoop-de-doos on local single track to put all sorts of forces into these cages. Nothing shook them loose, nor did they break or show any signs of doing so. I think these "Heavy Duty" cages have earned the moniker and that they should do well in the long run.

Verdict: With a solid two weeks of bouncing around fully loaded and using several various loads on the one side, I have to say that these cages are the real deal so far. They are easy to use and make any Salsa Cycles rig with the Three Pack Bosses into a mule capable of hauling around more than you could without them.

On a negative note, I will only say that they are an unlovely beast of a component. Unloaded on the bike, they look like some sort of freakish radar/ microwave receptors. It is a sure bet that the new Anything Cage HD will not win any beauty contests. Well, that is unless you decide to rely on them to pack your tent and sleep system on some long outing. Then they may be the most beautiful things you've ever seen. It's all in the eye of the beholder, as they say. Of course, you can still buy the Anything Cage in its tube constructed version if the HD is just too much for you to handle visually.

The Anything Cage HD is a worthy compliment to any Salsa fork or down tube where you may want to pack on some cargo. This rack certainly fits into the "Adventure by Bike" ethos and the new design should provide many miles of faithful service to those who decide to employ it. The ease of use and versatility make the Anything Cage HD something you could use for touring or everyday use. I'll be looking for more ways to use these in the future and I'll be back with a long term use update later on.

As noted above, these Anything Cage HD's came from Salsa Cycles at no charge and I will strive to use my honest thoughts and opinions about these products here and in the future.

Salsa Cycles Anything Cage HD: A Review

NOTE: I was provided these samples of the Anything Cage HD by Salsa Cycles at no charge for review. I was not paid nor bribed for this post and all of the thoughts and comments are mine alone. 

The Anything Cage HD and what you get in the package.

 Salsa Cycles has been one of the only, (if not the only), company really pushing for riders to go beyond the "normal" limits of cycling. In that vein, they have not only made bicycles useful for these varied "out of the boundaries"  cycling pursuits, but they have tried their hand at various unusual ways to accessorize these bikes. One of those has been the "Anything Cage", which originally was meant to be mounted on the "Three Pack Bosses" of forks like those found on the Fargo, Mukluk, and now the Blackborow.

Background: Original Anything Cages were made from tubing and  had a reputation for being less than successful at staying in one piece for some folks. That was back in 2010. Since then Salsa Cycles has responded by introducing a redesigned Anything Cage which became available earlier this year. However; unbeknownst to us, they were working on a new design. A heavy duty version of the Anything Cage which has become public knowledge only just today. Dubbed the "Anything Cage HD", it is obviously quite different and I was forwarded a couple samples to try out about two weeks ago.

Technical Info: The Anything Cage HD is made from injection molded impact resistant nylon. It features a new shape but still does the old job of carrying your roundish shaped objects like water bottles, Nalgene jars, dry sacks, or what have you. Basically anything that will sit well on the cage and weighs 6.6lbs or less. The new Anything Cage HD still mounts to the Three Pack Bosses found on many Salsa Cycles forks or down tubes. Each cage comes with longer bolts, three washers, and two Salsa Cycles webbing straps to lash cargo to the Anything Cage HD. Each Anything Cage HD will cost $35.00USD and the two samples sent to me weighed in on the scale at 160 grams with hardware. For comparison, the original Anything Cage, which I own, weighs 100 grams.

An original Anything Cage (L) next to the new Anything Cage HD

The Anything Cage HD mounted to my Blackborow DS and loaded with a tent and dry bag

In Use: The mounting of the Anything Cage HD is straight forward if you own a Salsa Cycles product with the Three Pack Bosses. I followed the simple instructions and they went on easily. Now to mount up some suitable dummy loads and ride! I chose a Topeak By-Camper tent, which is a heavy-ish one man tent that comes in its own dry bag, and an Outdoor Research dry bag stuffed with various items such as extra warm clothing, tubes, an air pump, and on occasion, a flask with coffee and extra water bottles. The loads in the dry bag varied, but the tent stayed on during the entire review period. NOTE: It is important to lace the webbing straps as Salsa indicates in the instructions for the Anything Cage HD for proper load bearing and cinching up of those straps.

I used the Blackborow DS with two Anything Cage HD's on rides that varied from commutes to work to single track to some bushwhacking and beach rides. I cannot go on with this review without making mention of how well the Blackborow DS rides with two loaded Anything Cage HD's on board. That was a nice surprise. You'd almost think those wily Salsa engineers thought of that ahead of time, eh? (<==HA!)

Anyway, the dry bag side was unloaded almost everyday for the two week review period to reflect how one might use this in a bikepacking set up. I changed the load occasionally as well. As Salsa Cycles indicates, using "roundish" objects will work best, and my tent was a testament to that, never getting loose or hardly shifting around in the Anything Cage HD at all. The other side featured those "not so roundish" loads, and with a bit of care and a touch of extra attention, even those stayed put. I had to wrench on the straps pretty severely, but the Anything Cage HD stood up to the task and I felt that these racks performed flawlessly at carrying loads.

With the Anything Cage's past in mind, I tried everything I could, within reason, to put the loaded racks to the test. This included ramming curbs at speed, bounding through rough, frozen, tussocky grass, riding frozen dirt churned up by heavy construction equipment, and doing the whoop-de-doos on local single track to put all sorts of forces into these cages. Nothing shook them loose, nor did they break or show any signs of doing so. I think these "Heavy Duty" cages have earned the moniker and that they should do well in the long run.

Verdict: With a solid two weeks of bouncing around fully loaded and using several various loads on the one side, I have to say that these cages are the real deal so far. They are easy to use and make any Salsa Cycles rig with the Three Pack Bosses into a mule capable of hauling around more than you could without them.

On a negative note, I will only say that they are an unlovely beast of a component. Unloaded on the bike, they look like some sort of freakish radar/ microwave receptors. It is a sure bet that the new Anything Cage HD will not win any beauty contests. Well, that is unless you decide to rely on them to pack your tent and sleep system on some long outing. Then they may be the most beautiful things you've ever seen. It's all in the eye of the beholder, as they say. Of course, you can still buy the Anything Cage in its tube constructed version if the HD is just too much for you to handle visually.

The Anything Cage HD is a worthy compliment to any Salsa fork or down tube where you may want to pack on some cargo. This rack certainly fits into the "Adventure by Bike" ethos and the new design should provide many miles of faithful service to those who decide to employ it. The ease of use and versatility make the Anything Cage HD something you could use for touring or everyday use. I'll be looking for more ways to use these in the future and I'll be back with a long term use update later on.

As noted above, these Anything Cage HD's came from Salsa Cycles at no charge and I will strive to use my honest thoughts and opinions about these products here and in the future.

Gravel Event Calendar PSA

Public Service Announcement: 

If you, or anyone you know is involved in gravel event promotions, listen up. We need to update the calendar on Riding Gravel.com for 2015.  Known as the Gravel Grinder News Calendar, it is the same effort I have put forth since 2008 to catalog all the gravel events across the nation and Internationally. It's completely free and gets you all the eyeballs out there involved in gravel and back road events to check out your deal.

Over the years, I have had many event promoters say that putting their event on the GGN calendar has made a big difference in attendance and enthusiasm for their events. That was fine for the old days, but with the new Riding Gravel, there are more benefits if you want them. You still get the free listing, the eyes looking at that calendar and planning on coming to your events, and the best known and comprehensive listing of gravel events anywhere, but now you can have a forum thread just for your event on the Riding Gravel Forum. You could have links to Facebook pages, and maybe even a guest spot on the podcast specifically aimed at gravel/back road events called the "Riding Gravel Radio Ranch". Don't feel like being "on air"?, no worries, we can talk about your event for you, if you want us to.

We can even do post event coverage of your race/ride with interviews on the podcast, or by having your story written up and posted on the site. If you really want to have me come out to your event to check things out first hand, that may even be possible, just give us a shout. Maybe you are the independent type? Great! You can upload your own event details on the Calendar Page, just scroll down at the bottom for the field to enter your event details. We'd really like to get your 2015 dates on the calendar, so you can even leave a comment here if you want and I'll take it from there.

As you can see, it is a way to really get the word out if you want to, and on the first and biggest calendar for gravel events anywhere with benefits. Of course, if you are a rider, just hop over to Riding Gravel and see what you are looking for, what you want to discuss with others, or for what you want to listen to, all in one site.

Thanks and I look forward to serving ya'all and seeing you out there in 2015.