GTDRI '19: Barns For Jason

The Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitational went through Poweshiek County, for the most part, with short forays into Tama and Iowa Counties. There was a LOT of new roads to me covered this year, and as a result, I saw a LOT of barns. For those new to "Barns For Jason", it is a running series of posts/images that I collect from the saddle of my bicycle documenting the barns of Iowa's rural countryside. Structures that are becoming more rare by the year, as many farmers do not need barns, and so the ones that remain are often times in various states of disrepair. Added to this is the ever increasing amount of corporate farms which take over these old family farmsteads and either raze the existing barns, or let barns fall into disrepair.

Pardon the smudge, but it was raining when I took this image!

Of course, not all the barns are falling apart, nor are they all not in usage. The fact is that there still remains a good portion of barn structures that are in use and well maintained, and this is perhaps no better represented than by the barns in Poweshiek County. Most barns I saw were in excellent, or very good condition, and most looked as if they were still "working barns" and not restored for show only.

To be sure, there were barns in awful states of disrepair in Poweshiek County, but these seemed to be in the minority. One other thing- barns in Poweshiek County and a few surrounding counties have a very unique barn architecture. You'll note it most in the hay loft overhang. Some of the barns I have pictured from this year's GTDRI feature this unique look. I first noticed this when we brought Trans Iowa to Grinnell and having been all over in the surrounding counties, I can safely say the majority of these unique structures are located in rural Poweshiek County.

Finally, before we get into the images, this whole "Barns For Jason" thing was originally a contest between Jason Boucher, at the time the brand manager of Salsa Cycles, (he's since moved on to other responsibilities within QBP) and myself. The rule being that only barns seen while riding a bicycle could be employed in this "contest". Jason has since ceased posting any barn pics, but I have continued with the focus of my efforts being the preservation of barns in imagery. By the way, Jason has moved on to much better subject matter, and his images are stunning. If you'd like to check out his stuff, go to his Instagram page here. I hope that you enjoy these "Barns For Jason".

GTDRI '19: Barns For Jason

The Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitational went through Poweshiek County, for the most part, with short forays into Tama and Iowa Counties. There was a LOT of new roads to me covered this year, and as a result, I saw a LOT of barns. For those new to "Barns For Jason", it is a running series of posts/images that I collect from the saddle of my bicycle documenting the barns of Iowa's rural countryside. Structures that are becoming more rare by the year, as many farmers do not need barns, and so the ones that remain are often times in various states of disrepair. Added to this is the ever increasing amount of corporate farms which take over these old family farmsteads and either raze the existing barns, or let barns fall into disrepair.

Pardon the smudge, but it was raining when I took this image!

Of course, not all the barns are falling apart, nor are they all not in usage. The fact is that there still remains a good portion of barn structures that are in use and well maintained, and this is perhaps no better represented than by the barns in Poweshiek County. Most barns I saw were in excellent, or very good condition, and most looked as if they were still "working barns" and not restored for show only.

To be sure, there were barns in awful states of disrepair in Poweshiek County, but these seemed to be in the minority. One other thing- barns in Poweshiek County and a few surrounding counties have a very unique barn architecture. You'll note it most in the hay loft overhang. Some of the barns I have pictured from this year's GTDRI feature this unique look. I first noticed this when we brought Trans Iowa to Grinnell and having been all over in the surrounding counties, I can safely say the majority of these unique structures are located in rural Poweshiek County.

Finally, before we get into the images, this whole "Barns For Jason" thing was originally a contest between Jason Boucher, at the time the brand manager of Salsa Cycles, (he's since moved on to other responsibilities within QBP) and myself. The rule being that only barns seen while riding a bicycle could be employed in this "contest". Jason has since ceased posting any barn pics, but I have continued with the focus of my efforts being the preservation of barns in imagery. By the way, Jason has moved on to much better subject matter, and his images are stunning. If you'd like to check out his stuff, go to his Instagram page here. I hope that you enjoy these "Barns For Jason".

Trans Iowa Stories: Changes And Evolution Part 2

Among Jeff Kerkove's many talents was his ability to design graphics. This was for T.I.v2

Last week I detailed some of the lessons learned and the changes those lessons led to during and after Trans Iowa v1. Going into the first one, I was completely blind and awestruck. By the end of it, I had a steely determination to make things better. In other words, I felt I had little purpose or reason to be anything other than a "go-fer" at the beginning, but immediately afterward I had a focus and a fire lit underneath me which gave me the motivation to grab more responsibility for the event. Jeff could have pushed back, and rightfully so, but he had his own priorities which were drawing him down a different path. This dynamic is what eventually led to Jeff leaving me Trans Iowa and going to Colorado to work for Ergon.

Side Track Story: Ironically, Ergon played a big part in the first Trans Iowa and it was this sponsorship which Jeff secured for the event which began his relationship with the company he has worked for up until this very day. Ergon was an unknown company in 2004. They had a presence in Europe, specifically Germany, which was their home country, but in North America, in 2004, no one had ever heard of them. They were trying to crack the market here with a new, radical grip which they said would revolutionize cycling. They had made some overtures to the endurance crowd when, by some way I am still not aware of, Jeff made a connection with them. Whether or not Jeff instigated the relationship or Ergon did is not clear to me, but at any rate, they sent every registered rider a pair of grips to be stuffed into their "goodie bag". This was their initial introduction to the North American market, and it was a major coup of sorts for such a weird event to pull off that sort of deal.

But that wasn't the only big deal Jeff put together. He also was aware of an upstart eyewear company by the name of Tifosi. He managed to get them to send every registered rider a pair of one of their casual wear models, which, as I recall, were orange framed and kind of styled after the classic Ray-Ban glasses. So, for your $20.00 entry fee, which was what it took to cover our insurance bill and nothing more, every rider received about $80.00 worth of goodies, once you include the other bits and baubles Jeff procured from sponsors like Hammer Nutrition and others. That didn't go unnoticed by the riders, by the way.

During v1 I had time for lighthearted stuff, like leaving gnomes alongside the road.

But I digress..... By 2005 in the Summer I had plans to make the next Trans Iowa a much better, much smarter run affair. Jeff was in the throes of a busy, sometimes international, race calendar. The responsibilities of organizing some things began to be my realm. I actually did a recon or two by myself. Route finding was refined. How the checkpoint was going to be facilitated was radically changed with the drop bag idea. The finish line would become our responsibility, and the plan was for Jeff and I both to be there. There were to be two course observers within the last third of the course. We weren't going to miss anyone this time!

Furthermore, after much discussion with riders and the Decorah folks, we decided to move the start time to 4:00am on Saturday and to plan on a 2:00pm Sunday finish to facilitate the longer course and still have a relevant conjoined finish celebration with the Decorah Time Trials. Besides the finish ceremonies, we would have no connection with the Decorah event at all. This was mostly at the Decorah folks insistence, since we were not quite on the same page with regard to organization as that longstanding event. But that said, it was Richard "Deke" Gosen's idea that we have a "DNF call in number" that we were to enforce riders to use in the event of dropping out or emergency. This we did by using my personal cell phone number, which stayed in use throughout until the last Trans Iowa.

Other than upping the entry fee to something like $30.00 due to increased insurance rates, there were no other significant changes to discuss going into our second try at this.

Next: Tales Of v2 Part 1

Trans Iowa Stories: Changes And Evolution Part 2

Among Jeff Kerkove's many talents was his ability to design graphics. This was for T.I.v2

Last week I detailed some of the lessons learned and the changes those lessons led to during and after Trans Iowa v1. Going into the first one, I was completely blind and awestruck. By the end of it, I had a steely determination to make things better. In other words, I felt I had little purpose or reason to be anything other than a "go-fer" at the beginning, but immediately afterward I had a focus and a fire lit underneath me which gave me the motivation to grab more responsibility for the event. Jeff could have pushed back, and rightfully so, but he had his own priorities which were drawing him down a different path. This dynamic is what eventually led to Jeff leaving me Trans Iowa and going to Colorado to work for Ergon.

Side Track Story: Ironically, Ergon played a big part in the first Trans Iowa and it was this sponsorship which Jeff secured for the event which began his relationship with the company he has worked for up until this very day. Ergon was an unknown company in 2004. They had a presence in Europe, specifically Germany, which was their home country, but in North America, in 2004, no one had ever heard of them. They were trying to crack the market here with a new, radical grip which they said would revolutionize cycling. They had made some overtures to the endurance crowd when, by some way I am still not aware of, Jeff made a connection with them. Whether or not Jeff instigated the relationship or Ergon did is not clear to me, but at any rate, they sent every registered rider a pair of grips to be stuffed into their "goodie bag". This was their initial introduction to the North American market, and it was a major coup of sorts for such a weird event to pull off that sort of deal.

But that wasn't the only big deal Jeff put together. He also was aware of an upstart eyewear company by the name of Tifosi. He managed to get them to send every registered rider a pair of one of their casual wear models, which, as I recall, were orange framed and kind of styled after the classic Ray-Ban glasses. So, for your $20.00 entry fee, which was what it took to cover our insurance bill and nothing more, every rider received about $80.00 worth of goodies, once you include the other bits and baubles Jeff procured from sponsors like Hammer Nutrition and others. That didn't go unnoticed by the riders, by the way.

During v1 I had time for lighthearted stuff, like leaving gnomes alongside the road.

But I digress..... By 2005 in the Summer I had plans to make the next Trans Iowa a much better, much smarter run affair. Jeff was in the throes of a busy, sometimes international, race calendar. The responsibilities of organizing some things began to be my realm. I actually did a recon or two by myself. Route finding was refined. How the checkpoint was going to be facilitated was radically changed with the drop bag idea. The finish line would become our responsibility, and the plan was for Jeff and I both to be there. There were to be two course observers within the last third of the course. We weren't going to miss anyone this time!

Furthermore, after much discussion with riders and the Decorah folks, we decided to move the start time to 4:00am on Saturday and to plan on a 2:00pm Sunday finish to facilitate the longer course and still have a relevant conjoined finish celebration with the Decorah Time Trials. Besides the finish ceremonies, we would have no connection with the Decorah event at all. This was mostly at the Decorah folks insistence, since we were not quite on the same page with regard to organization as that longstanding event. But that said, it was Richard "Deke" Gosen's idea that we have a "DNF call in number" that we were to enforce riders to use in the event of dropping out or emergency. This we did by using my personal cell phone number, which stayed in use throughout until the last Trans Iowa.

Other than upping the entry fee to something like $30.00 due to increased insurance rates, there were no other significant changes to discuss going into our second try at this.

Next: Tales Of v2 Part 1

Trans Iowa Stories: The Landslide

Trans Iowa v4 was fraught with difficulties on my end, but one thing stands out.

Note: With the recent developments in this year's Tour de France, I was reminded of a story from T.I.v4 which seems relevant to tell now, even though it is a bit out of sequence with the timeline I've established. I hope you all enjoy this story.

When time came to run a Trans Iowa, you never knew what "Mother Nature" was going to throw at us. When Trans Iowa v4 occurred, it came after a Winter much like the one we experienced in 2018/19. We had a lot of snow late into early Spring, and then a fair amount of heavy rain followed that. The roads were torn up pretty badly, not unlike what we witnessed this Spring, and there were "other things" which we were quite unprepared for.

The Back Story For Today's Post: The Tour this year had an important climbing stage. The situation was that the peloton was to climb up to 2,770M and then descend a bit to a final climb which would end the second to last stage. With a Frenchman in the lead with two days to go, and a possibility of ending a 34 year drought for the French, you can imagine the importance of this stage to them.

From Twitter. A view of the mudslide that stopped the stage.

 The Frenchman, Alapillippe, led overall when the stage started, but stronger climbers were leading the way up to the penultimate summit. One of these, a Colombian by the name of Egan Bernal, had put enough time into Alaphillipe that by the time he reaches this penultimate summit he is the virtual leader of le Tour. This becomes a very crucial point.

Alaphillipe, obviously, is concerned, but being that he is the best descender in the peloton, and Bernal is merely adequate, he is banking on the long, technical descent before the final climb to claw himself back into the lead. But......

There was weather. Apparently a heavy storm had crossed the lower slopes there where the descent was to pass through and had dumped copious amounts of hail. This piled up like snow. It also caused a mudslide to occur. With riders careening down the mountainside at speeds you'd drive down the highway at, the Race Commissars were forced to neutralize the stage for the rider's safety. They took the time splits at the top of the penultimate stage as the final timing marks and called it all off for the day. Alaphillipe was "robbed" of a possibility to claw back into the lead by a freak of nature.

Now as I watched this, (at work- my boss runs the Tour replays on a big screen there), I was instantly reminded of Trans Iowa, and in particular, the craziness of Trans Iowa v4. This version of the Trans Iowa series of events has more than enough intrusions by Nature to write a small book. However; I won't drag all that out and unpack it here. That will be for later.

David Pals, my co-director for T.I.v4, scrambles over a freak Iowa mudslide. The route continues in the background.

We were at the checkpoint in Wadena, Iowa, a small village in Northeast, Iowa which is found down in a valley amongst the surrounding hills. Cell phone service, at that time, was sketchy at best in Wadena. Many riders were late to this checkpoint and had to abandon the event. It was due to many factors, but all that aside, we still had a healthy amount of leaders and they were all in a bunch yet.  This was unlike later Trans Iowa events, where everyone broke up into smaller couples, or were singly duking it out with the course and conditions.

So, David Pals, who was helping me direct Trans Iowa back then, and I decided we'd better get on up the road ahead of the racers as they were beginning to organize and leave the checkpoint themselves. We climbed up a hill, turned around it to the right, and then our jaws hit the floorboards of David's vehicle. What we saw was unprecedented. A landslide blocked our course!!

David is a trained and highly skilled geologist, so he hopped out, assessed the severity of the situation, and proclaimed that it appeared that the ground was firm enough for riders to cross over. I agreed, so we quickly found the smoothest crossing, marked it with surveyor's flags, and as we were wrapping up, the lead group came screaming around the corner. Their wide-eyed looks were comical, but we had no time for humor.

We quickly pointed out the flagged route, and as if on cue, the riders shouldered their bikes, tip-toed across, remounted, and were gone before we could even get a camera out to document the effort. One rider, who distrusted the pile of Earth, took off his shoes, crossed a fence, and ran around the mudpile! Either way, everyone was across. With that task taken care of, we backtracked to warn the remaining riders still in the event, and moved onward.

Thanks for reading! More "Trans Iowa Stories" will post on Sundays in the future.

Trans Iowa Stories: The Landslide

Trans Iowa v4 was fraught with difficulties on my end, but one thing stands out.

Note: With the recent developments in this year's Tour de France, I was reminded of a story from T.I.v4 which seems relevant to tell now, even though it is a bit out of sequence with the timeline I've established. I hope you all enjoy this story.

When time came to run a Trans Iowa, you never knew what "Mother Nature" was going to throw at us. When Trans Iowa v4 occurred, it came after a Winter much like the one we experienced in 2018/19. We had a lot of snow late into early Spring, and then a fair amount of heavy rain followed that. The roads were torn up pretty badly, not unlike what we witnessed this Spring, and there were "other things" which we were quite unprepared for.

The Back Story For Today's Post: The Tour this year had an important climbing stage. The situation was that the peloton was to climb up to 2,770M and then descend a bit to a final climb which would end the second to last stage. With a Frenchman in the lead with two days to go, and a possibility of ending a 34 year drought for the French, you can imagine the importance of this stage to them.

From Twitter. A view of the mudslide that stopped the stage.

 The Frenchman, Alapillippe, led overall when the stage started, but stronger climbers were leading the way up to the penultimate summit. One of these, a Colombian by the name of Egan Bernal, had put enough time into Alaphillipe that by the time he reaches this penultimate summit he is the virtual leader of le Tour. This becomes a very crucial point.

Alaphillipe, obviously, is concerned, but being that he is the best descender in the peloton, and Bernal is merely adequate, he is banking on the long, technical descent before the final climb to claw himself back into the lead. But......

There was weather. Apparently a heavy storm had crossed the lower slopes there where the descent was to pass through and had dumped copious amounts of hail. This piled up like snow. It also caused a mudslide to occur. With riders careening down the mountainside at speeds you'd drive down the highway at, the Race Commissars were forced to neutralize the stage for the rider's safety. They took the time splits at the top of the penultimate stage as the final timing marks and called it all off for the day. Alaphillipe was "robbed" of a possibility to claw back into the lead by a freak of nature.

Now as I watched this, (at work- my boss runs the Tour replays on a big screen there), I was instantly reminded of Trans Iowa, and in particular, the craziness of Trans Iowa v4. This version of the Trans Iowa series of events has more than enough intrusions by Nature to write a small book. However; I won't drag all that out and unpack it here. That will be for later.

David Pals, my co-director for T.I.v4, scrambles over a freak Iowa mudslide. The route continues in the background.

We were at the checkpoint in Wadena, Iowa, a small village in Northeast, Iowa which is found down in a valley amongst the surrounding hills. Cell phone service, at that time, was sketchy at best in Wadena. Many riders were late to this checkpoint and had to abandon the event. It was due to many factors, but all that aside, we still had a healthy amount of leaders and they were all in a bunch yet.  This was unlike later Trans Iowa events, where everyone broke up into smaller couples, or were singly duking it out with the course and conditions.

So, David Pals, who was helping me direct Trans Iowa back then, and I decided we'd better get on up the road ahead of the racers as they were beginning to organize and leave the checkpoint themselves. We climbed up a hill, turned around it to the right, and then our jaws hit the floorboards of David's vehicle. What we saw was unprecedented. A landslide blocked our course!!

David is a trained and highly skilled geologist, so he hopped out, assessed the severity of the situation, and proclaimed that it appeared that the ground was firm enough for riders to cross over. I agreed, so we quickly found the smoothest crossing, marked it with surveyor's flags, and as we were wrapping up, the lead group came screaming around the corner. Their wide-eyed looks were comical, but we had no time for humor.

We quickly pointed out the flagged route, and as if on cue, the riders shouldered their bikes, tip-toed across, remounted, and were gone before we could even get a camera out to document the effort. One rider, who distrusted the pile of Earth, took off his shoes, crossed a fence, and ran around the mudpile! Either way, everyone was across. With that task taken care of, we backtracked to warn the remaining riders still in the event, and moved onward.

Thanks for reading! More "Trans Iowa Stories" will post on Sundays in the future.

Minus Ten Review 2009-30

Jason and the Fargonauts. Image by Ben Witt

Ten years ago this week I was in Minnesota doing the second Fargo Adventure Ride*. This was one week past my 118 mile GTDRI and a week's worth of RAGBRAI madness at the shop. (Back when that was still a thing) I arrived at Lebanon Hills camping area late and didn't sleep worth a hoot in the humidity. But that all did not matter as it turned out to be one heck of a fun weekend.

The ride started out with some of the QBP guys. (In image, Left to Right: Rob Walters, Mike "Kid" Riemer, Guitar Ted, Joe Meiser, MG, Sean Mailen, Jason Boucher, and Paul Zeigle.) Then they peeled off leaving Walters, MG, Boucher, and myself. We ended up doing a loop in Leb, then the River Bottom trails where the QBP guys left us, then we went on to Murphy-Hanrahan trails, then back to Leb and the cars. It was a 57 mile jaunt!

Walters had to leave, so MG, Jason, and I went to the Chequamegon area, met up with some other guys at a fancy-pants cabin, and the next day we all rode Rock Lake Loop. I didn't get much riding in because by this time all the lack of sleep, beer, travel, and accumulated riding had me tapped out. I recall that it was super-swampy humid. The day was bright and clear. As only a day near the Big Lake can be. There is just something about Northern Wisconsin. Anyway, the guys all came back to the car and we made plans to get back to the cabin for a barbecue. Then when it came time to leave, MG decided to stay behind while Jason and I left to come back to the Twin Cities. Then I had to be picked up by my wife, and a 200 plus mile trek back to Waterloo. Burnt out! Man, but that was a good time.

The Four Fargos: (L-R) Jason's is obscured by the fence, then Walters, GT's, and MG's. Note: Walters and MG have flat bars.

*NOTE: There is some debate about whether this is the second Fargo Adventure Ride or the first. I have maintained that it was the second one based upon the fact that I had been on a ride with Jason Boucher and Mike Riemer, (At that time the heads of Salsa Cycles brand), and almost everyone on the ride were either on Fargos, or prototypes of Fargos. We rode the River Bottoms and a few extra things that day, and that was in November of 2008. To my mind, this was the "first" adventure ride on Fargos, thus, the first Fargo Adventure Ride. But others say this ride in July of '09 was the first "called" a Fargo Adventure Ride at the onset.

Whatever. It's the second Fargo Adventure Ride. (HA!)

Minus Ten Review 2009-30

Jason and the Fargonauts. Image by Ben Witt

Ten years ago this week I was in Minnesota doing the second Fargo Adventure Ride*. This was one week past my 118 mile GTDRI and a week's worth of RAGBRAI madness at the shop. (Back when that was still a thing) I arrived at Lebanon Hills camping area late and didn't sleep worth a hoot in the humidity. But that all did not matter as it turned out to be one heck of a fun weekend.

The ride started out with some of the QBP guys. (In image, Left to Right: Rob Walters, Mike "Kid" Riemer, Guitar Ted, Joe Meiser, MG, Sean Mailen, Jason Boucher, and Paul Zeigle.) Then they peeled off leaving Walters, MG, Boucher, and myself. We ended up doing a loop in Leb, then the River Bottom trails where the QBP guys left us, then we went on to Murphy-Hanrahan trails, then back to Leb and the cars. It was a 57 mile jaunt!

Walters had to leave, so MG, Jason, and I went to the Chequamegon area, met up with some other guys at a fancy-pants cabin, and the next day we all rode Rock Lake Loop. I didn't get much riding in because by this time all the lack of sleep, beer, travel, and accumulated riding had me tapped out. I recall that it was super-swampy humid. The day was bright and clear. As only a day near the Big Lake can be. There is just something about Northern Wisconsin. Anyway, the guys all came back to the car and we made plans to get back to the cabin for a barbecue. Then when it came time to leave, MG decided to stay behind while Jason and I left to come back to the Twin Cities. Then I had to be picked up by my wife, and a 200 plus mile trek back to Waterloo. Burnt out! Man, but that was a good time.

The Four Fargos: (L-R) Jason's is obscured by the fence, then Walters, GT's, and MG's. Note: Walters and MG have flat bars.

*NOTE: There is some debate about whether this is the second Fargo Adventure Ride or the first. I have maintained that it was the second one based upon the fact that I had been on a ride with Jason Boucher and Mike Riemer, (At that time the heads of Salsa Cycles brand), and almost everyone on the ride were either on Fargos, or prototypes of Fargos. We rode the River Bottoms and a few extra things that day, and that was in November of 2008. To my mind, this was the "first" adventure ride on Fargos, thus, the first Fargo Adventure Ride. But others say this ride in July of '09 was the first "called" a Fargo Adventure Ride at the onset.

Whatever. It's the second Fargo Adventure Ride. (HA!)

Friday News And Views

20mph, Bluetooth Speaker, $1250.00- Free Shipping-NO pedals

Because Easy:

Recently a "Bicycle Retailer and Industry News" article covered the lack of any enthusiasm for HPC (Hybrid Powered Cycles) or "pedelecs", as the industry calls them now, in the Taiwanese market. The reason given by those who are there is that the "e-scooter", which has connectivity for devices, storage compartments, and no physical input from the rider besides steering, is easier and more appealing to Taiwanese people. It doesn't help that these motorbikes cost the same, or less, than HPC's do in that country.

This is what I have been saying about these HPC's all along. That someday a vehicle that doesn't require pedaling and that has more amenities than any bicycle based hybrid powered rig has, would usurp any place a HPC might have in America. Not to mention our longer traveling distances and a climate, which in most areas, means people don't want to be exposed to the elements during large chunks of the year. Pedaling in any extreme weather, at least here in the U.S., automatically qualifies you as having "freak of nature" status amongst those who lock themselves indoors, either in cars, homes, or apartments. I won't even mention "safe places to ride".

I hopped on-line and typed in "e-scooter" into the search engine and the first thing that pops up are several vehicles like the example shown here. Cheaper than "pedelecs", has more amenities, (Bluetooth Speaker!), and doesn't require you to put any sweat equity into your mobility. All with free shipping. Besides- it can haul two people up to 350lbs total weight. The bike industry offers what? Really bad looking bicycles that happen to have an electric motor and cost 2K or more in most cases. No speakers, no nuthin'. Haul two people with a high weight limit? Ha!

While there may be a few examples that are nice for the price in the bicycle-like realm, the point I've been making, and continue to be convinced of, is that most people here in America are like the Taiwanese are. Not only that, but we are not set up for bicycles to be the main focus of transportation. If we ever get there, which would be decades in the making, I'm guessing, the electric vehicle market will be so well entrenched that "pedaling" will be seen as some arcane form of transportation that only a "freak of nature" would ever entertain using.

In other words, pretty much like it is today.

Hittin' the dirt tomorrow.

The 14th Annual Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitational:

Four-teen freakin' years! I just thought about that. Holy Cow! That's a long line of these crazy rides in the country. Talk about "freak of nature". Most folks think I am insane for doing this stuff. Guess some things never change.

Anyway, it looks as though I have about a dozen confirmed crazy people to ride with. Maybe more will just show up? Probably. You never know with this ride. But whatever happens, it should be a good time. I just hope I can make the 92 miles!

Also- I never did a final calculation on how many miles of Level B Road there is on this route. Maybe if I am not too forgetful I can keep a running tab. I probably should fire up my Lezyne GPS device just to make sure it is charged. (These gizmos just do not capture my fancy, so I tend to forget about them) So, yeah.....a computer might come in handy! Makes following cues a bit easier.

So, the ride starts at 6:00am. I am driving to the start, so I have to get out of bed at 4:00am Saturday morning to make it on time. That means I have to be packed up today. No time to grab any last minute stuff in the dark of morning time. Then the hour and twenty minute commute to the start, and hopefully I won't have any issues getting there. Should be a scene at any rate. (Don't forget your clipless shoes, right? HA!)

Weather looks like it will cooperate. Not the coolest, but not the hottest I've had for this ride by far. 25% chance of rain of some sort. We'll see! Expect a full account come Monday.

Salsa Cycles 2020 Blackborow

Salsa Cycles Releases 2020 Fat Bike Info:

Short version: New colors, minor spec changes.

Annnnnnd.........that's about it. 

Reaction: Surprised by two things here. One- That Salsa Cycles did not jump on the chance to stick an electric motor on the Blackborow. Surly has that, and you'd figure that Salsa couldn't be far behind. The Blackborow platform would be- maybe- a great idea for hunters, and electrifying a Blackborow might appeal to those who drag all kinds of gear into the back country and need a rig to drag out carcasses of dead animals. I don't know- I don't hunt - but it makes sense to me that doing that to a Blackborow and targeting hunters would be a good idea.

The second thing that surprises me is that the Mukluk line has been cut down to two models. Hmm..... The Mukluk was the "expedition"/exploration fat bike for Salsa. This was their focus when they hit the scene back nine years ago. Now it seems racing (Beargrease) and long tailed "cargo" fat bikes (Blackborow) are the focus. Exploration and expedition stuff must not be too "Adventure by Bike" anymore, or something. Anyway, the feeling I get is that either Mukluk is on the way out, or being replaced by something new in a year or so.

Besides that, the "battleship camo" graphics have been retained again for another year. Not a fan, myself, but apparently some folks dig it. I like the straightforward look of beautiful hues of paint, like the Blackborow's deep green. I can get behind that. Besides that.....yawn. Make a titanium fat bike again, and then we'll talk.

And with that, I am done for the week. See ya on the other side when I come back with the GTDRI report Monday. Until then, enjoy the "Minus Ten Review" tomorrow and another edition of "Trans Iowa Stories" on Sunday.

Get out and ride folks! Summer is fading away...........

Friday News And Views

20mph, Bluetooth Speaker, $1250.00- Free Shipping-NO pedals

Because Easy:

Recently a "Bicycle Retailer and Industry News" article covered the lack of any enthusiasm for HPC (Hybrid Powered Cycles) or "pedelecs", as the industry calls them now, in the Taiwanese market. The reason given by those who are there is that the "e-scooter", which has connectivity for devices, storage compartments, and no physical input from the rider besides steering, is easier and more appealing to Taiwanese people. It doesn't help that these motorbikes cost the same, or less, than HPC's do in that country.

This is what I have been saying about these HPC's all along. That someday a vehicle that doesn't require pedaling and that has more amenities than any bicycle based hybrid powered rig has, would usurp any place a HPC might have in America. Not to mention our longer traveling distances and a climate, which in most areas, means people don't want to be exposed to the elements during large chunks of the year. Pedaling in any extreme weather, at least here in the U.S., automatically qualifies you as having "freak of nature" status amongst those who lock themselves indoors, either in cars, homes, or apartments. I won't even mention "safe places to ride".

I hopped on-line and typed in "e-scooter" into the search engine and the first thing that pops up are several vehicles like the example shown here. Cheaper than "pedelecs", has more amenities, (Bluetooth Speaker!), and doesn't require you to put any sweat equity into your mobility. All with free shipping. Besides- it can haul two people up to 350lbs total weight. The bike industry offers what? Really bad looking bicycles that happen to have an electric motor and cost 2K or more in most cases. No speakers, no nuthin'. Haul two people with a high weight limit? Ha!

While there may be a few examples that are nice for the price in the bicycle-like realm, the point I've been making, and continue to be convinced of, is that most people here in America are like the Taiwanese are. Not only that, but we are not set up for bicycles to be the main focus of transportation. If we ever get there, which would be decades in the making, I'm guessing, the electric vehicle market will be so well entrenched that "pedaling" will be seen as some arcane form of transportation that only a "freak of nature" would ever entertain using.

In other words, pretty much like it is today.

Hittin' the dirt tomorrow.

The 14th Annual Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitational:

Four-teen freakin' years! I just thought about that. Holy Cow! That's a long line of these crazy rides in the country. Talk about "freak of nature". Most folks think I am insane for doing this stuff. Guess some things never change.

Anyway, it looks as though I have about a dozen confirmed crazy people to ride with. Maybe more will just show up? Probably. You never know with this ride. But whatever happens, it should be a good time. I just hope I can make the 92 miles!

Also- I never did a final calculation on how many miles of Level B Road there is on this route. Maybe if I am not too forgetful I can keep a running tab. I probably should fire up my Lezyne GPS device just to make sure it is charged. (These gizmos just do not capture my fancy, so I tend to forget about them) So, yeah.....a computer might come in handy! Makes following cues a bit easier.

So, the ride starts at 6:00am. I am driving to the start, so I have to get out of bed at 4:00am Saturday morning to make it on time. That means I have to be packed up today. No time to grab any last minute stuff in the dark of morning time. Then the hour and twenty minute commute to the start, and hopefully I won't have any issues getting there. Should be a scene at any rate. (Don't forget your clipless shoes, right? HA!)

Weather looks like it will cooperate. Not the coolest, but not the hottest I've had for this ride by far. 25% chance of rain of some sort. We'll see! Expect a full account come Monday.

Salsa Cycles 2020 Blackborow

Salsa Cycles Releases 2020 Fat Bike Info:

Short version: New colors, minor spec changes.

Annnnnnd.........that's about it. 

Reaction: Surprised by two things here. One- That Salsa Cycles did not jump on the chance to stick an electric motor on the Blackborow. Surly has that, and you'd figure that Salsa couldn't be far behind. The Blackborow platform would be- maybe- a great idea for hunters, and electrifying a Blackborow might appeal to those who drag all kinds of gear into the back country and need a rig to drag out carcasses of dead animals. I don't know- I don't hunt - but it makes sense to me that doing that to a Blackborow and targeting hunters would be a good idea.

The second thing that surprises me is that the Mukluk line has been cut down to two models. Hmm..... The Mukluk was the "expedition"/exploration fat bike for Salsa. This was their focus when they hit the scene back nine years ago. Now it seems racing (Beargrease) and long tailed "cargo" fat bikes (Blackborow) are the focus. Exploration and expedition stuff must not be too "Adventure by Bike" anymore, or something. Anyway, the feeling I get is that either Mukluk is on the way out, or being replaced by something new in a year or so.

Besides that, the "battleship camo" graphics have been retained again for another year. Not a fan, myself, but apparently some folks dig it. I like the straightforward look of beautiful hues of paint, like the Blackborow's deep green. I can get behind that. Besides that.....yawn. Make a titanium fat bike again, and then we'll talk.

And with that, I am done for the week. See ya on the other side when I come back with the GTDRI report Monday. Until then, enjoy the "Minus Ten Review" tomorrow and another edition of "Trans Iowa Stories" on Sunday.

Get out and ride folks! Summer is fading away...........

Country Views: Fields Of Flowers

Big sky day in Iowa

Yesterday was another in a string of awesome, lower humidity days. A very welcome respite after the inferno we endured last week. I had heard from my friend Tony that Northern Black Hawk County was mostly "hero gravel" with spots of deeper patches where the county is still trying to fix the blowouts created from last Winter. So, I figured I'd better go investigate that, and see some roads I haven't been on all year.

I drove out to the North edge of Waterloo and parked at Gates Park where the city put in a small gravel lot a few years back. From there it is a short mile to Moline Road and gravel not long after that. I can be on gravel within ten minutes from parking, which is nice. Sometimes I ride all that way from the house, which adds about 3-4 miles, one way, of city riding. I wasn't interested too much in doing that since just this past Wednesday a guy got hit and run on his bike not more than a block from where I live and ended up in critical condition. These things have a way of spooking me. I'll probably get over it, but yesterday....no. I was not going down that street. 

A truck going down a road I was about to cross. It's really dusty out in the country now. Recent rains notwithstanding.

 Moline Road was the "out road" on the old 3GR route I used to do every Saturday morning. I haven't used it in over a year since I ran into a big, what I think was a Great Pyrenees, dog that was pretty vicious. I have avoided Moline and used Sage Road since then. But I've heard that there has been no sign of late of the big, yellowish, hairy beast, so I figured I'd risk going the old way again.

Initially the gravel was as my friend Tony had reported. Very smooth, fast, and punctuated occasionally by short patches of deeper fresh gravel. Then I came upon Dunketon Road and after crossing it I rode on a fresh patch of the deepest gravel I've ridden on in quite some time. The Tamland was squirrely and fishtailing all over. Not a lot of fun, but it wouldn't be the last patch of that!

I'd forgotten how many places on Moline Road were lined with trees.

I saw several fields filled with wildflowers of yellow and purple. 

I rode past the place where the big hairy mutt had pinned me down a couple of years ago and saw nothing but a nice lady in the yard who gave me a wave. Hmm..... Maybe that mutt has been neutralized or is gone. Don't know- don't care. All I know is I was able to pass by peacefully.

So, I rode on past Denver and up another mile, then West. I rode only a mile of Ivanhoe and then peeled off South again on Killdeer since I had to get back to the house to get some things in order for my son's birthday celebration. He turned 16 yesterday.

Barns for Jason #1

Barns For Jason #2

The road I turned on was probably the fastest and smoothest so far. In fact, there was still evidence of frost boils and some dirt. It's a section of road with some big, roller coaster style hills that are fun to roll. Then you cross the Denver blacktop, and it is mostly down hill for quite a while. The thing was, South of the Denver blacktop the gravel was all fresh and very deep. Tony mentioned that Bremer County had laid the gravel down like this. He was right about that on this section! I came off a pretty good sized hill and hit the loose stuff and was basically at the mercy of physics. Good thing bicycles like to stay upright! The back end was loosey-goosey as I'd ever want it to get and the front wasn't far behind! Sorry about the technical terminology there, but that's the only way to describe it!

About two miles of the loosest gravel ever here. (And another Barn for Jason)

I worked my way back South and East until I made it back to Moline Road again, then it was a short jaunt to the truck. It was a very enjoyable ride and I think it possibly may have been one of the nicest days of the year.

Now I have to just get the Bubblegum Princess done up for the weekend, grab some gallons of water for the water stop, and get some good sleep tonight and tomorrow night then it will be off to the GTDRI. I felt pretty good during this ride, but as Mrs. Guitar Ted said to me later, I haven't been getting in many long rides at all this year. It will be a tough go to do 92 miles in the hills of Poweshiek County, but it is what it is.

Country Views: Fields Of Flowers

Big sky day in Iowa

Yesterday was another in a string of awesome, lower humidity days. A very welcome respite after the inferno we endured last week. I had heard from my friend Tony that Northern Black Hawk County was mostly "hero gravel" with spots of deeper patches where the county is still trying to fix the blowouts created from last Winter. So, I figured I'd better go investigate that, and see some roads I haven't been on all year.

I drove out to the North edge of Waterloo and parked at Gates Park where the city put in a small gravel lot a few years back. From there it is a short mile to Moline Road and gravel not long after that. I can be on gravel within ten minutes from parking, which is nice. Sometimes I ride all that way from the house, which adds about 3-4 miles, one way, of city riding. I wasn't interested too much in doing that since just this past Wednesday a guy got hit and run on his bike not more than a block from where I live and ended up in critical condition. These things have a way of spooking me. I'll probably get over it, but yesterday....no. I was not going down that street. 

A truck going down a road I was about to cross. It's really dusty out in the country now. Recent rains notwithstanding.

 Moline Road was the "out road" on the old 3GR route I used to do every Saturday morning. I haven't used it in over a year since I ran into a big, what I think was a Great Pyrenees, dog that was pretty vicious. I have avoided Moline and used Sage Road since then. But I've heard that there has been no sign of late of the big, yellowish, hairy beast, so I figured I'd risk going the old way again.

Initially the gravel was as my friend Tony had reported. Very smooth, fast, and punctuated occasionally by short patches of deeper fresh gravel. Then I came upon Dunketon Road and after crossing it I rode on a fresh patch of the deepest gravel I've ridden on in quite some time. The Tamland was squirrely and fishtailing all over. Not a lot of fun, but it wouldn't be the last patch of that!

I'd forgotten how many places on Moline Road were lined with trees.

I saw several fields filled with wildflowers of yellow and purple. 

I rode past the place where the big hairy mutt had pinned me down a couple of years ago and saw nothing but a nice lady in the yard who gave me a wave. Hmm..... Maybe that mutt has been neutralized or is gone. Don't know- don't care. All I know is I was able to pass by peacefully.

So, I rode on past Denver and up another mile, then West. I rode only a mile of Ivanhoe and then peeled off South again on Killdeer since I had to get back to the house to get some things in order for my son's birthday celebration. He turned 16 yesterday.

Barns for Jason #1

Barns For Jason #2

The road I turned on was probably the fastest and smoothest so far. In fact, there was still evidence of frost boils and some dirt. It's a section of road with some big, roller coaster style hills that are fun to roll. Then you cross the Denver blacktop, and it is mostly down hill for quite a while. The thing was, South of the Denver blacktop the gravel was all fresh and very deep. Tony mentioned that Bremer County had laid the gravel down like this. He was right about that on this section! I came off a pretty good sized hill and hit the loose stuff and was basically at the mercy of physics. Good thing bicycles like to stay upright! The back end was loosey-goosey as I'd ever want it to get and the front wasn't far behind! Sorry about the technical terminology there, but that's the only way to describe it!

About two miles of the loosest gravel ever here. (And another Barn for Jason)

I worked my way back South and East until I made it back to Moline Road again, then it was a short jaunt to the truck. It was a very enjoyable ride and I think it possibly may have been one of the nicest days of the year.

Now I have to just get the Bubblegum Princess done up for the weekend, grab some gallons of water for the water stop, and get some good sleep tonight and tomorrow night then it will be off to the GTDRI. I felt pretty good during this ride, but as Mrs. Guitar Ted said to me later, I haven't been getting in many long rides at all this year. It will be a tough go to do 92 miles in the hills of Poweshiek County, but it is what it is.

Flats Make Me Want To Ride

Every time I went down to grab a bike to commute on, I'd look at this one bike and think, "That would be fun to use as a commuter, but it has clipless pedals. Meh! I don't want to mess with shoes today!". Then I'd grab the Ti Muk 2, or the Surly 1 X 1, or lately, the Sawyer. All fun bicycles to ride that I have set up with flats.

This also figures heavily into which bicycles I choose to run errands on. Flats are best, since I can just hop on and go. No "special cycling gear" required at all. It's a barrier to riding if I have to stop, sit down, and switch out shoes just to ride a bicycle.

A couple things make me this way, perhaps. My best memories of riding when I was younger were on rides that required zero special gear. That means flat pedals. The other thing is that I don't like hassling with finding a set of shoes and then having to switch shoes both at work and at home. So, those things combined make me like just riding flats sometimes. Not all the time, but a lot of the time.

And maybe I would still use flat pedals in events and bigger rides if I didn't think the shoes were holding me back. Not that I have a problem with clipless- I don't, so I guess I just believe in the stories about how it is more efficient and I go clipless. I should just throw a set of flats in my truck. If I had flats that time I forgot my cycling shoes for the Prairie Burn, well...... Anyway.

The Karate Monkey will get ridden more now that it has flat pedals, and that's a good thing.

Tuesday I looked at the Karate Monkey again and thought, "You know, I really should put flats on that bike." I wasn't going to ride it, and I had actually dragged up another bike to use that did have flats. Then I decided this madness had gone on long enough.

I took that bike back down, grabbed some flats, put the Karate Monkey in the work stand, and spun off those clipless pedals. Once they had been replaced with some old flats I have, I was set to cruise to work. Now......that's much better! Another choice for errands, commutes, and big deal if I go out on gravel with flat pedals. In fact, I not only commuted yesterday on the KM, but I also ran a quick errand with it.

Flat pedals rule.

Now, about the bike, for those who may not know this one. It was my first 29"er back in the Spring of 2003. Probably the first 29"er in the area, and maybe one of the first in Iowa. There weren't too many wagon wheelers around in '03! It's always been a single speed, and for most of its time with me, it has been a drop bar bike. I started out gravel grinding with this rig back in '05, it was my main commuter rig for four years, and went through four Winters. The Winter riding nearly killed the bike when my original bottom bracket, a 90's era UN-52, got frozen into the frame. The bike sat around unused for probably a good five years because of that problem. Fortunately, in 2016, I got that bottom bracket out.

I had planned on using that bike for the 2016 GTDRI, but those plans fell through, and another year went by. Finally, in February of 2017, I got the bike assembled in its final form. Then I rode it a few times and.......clipless pedals. So, I just decided this situation needed to change. This bike isn't going anywhere, as it was my first 29"er and I did my second longest ride ever on it back in 2006. I have ridden thousands of miles of gravel on this bike, commuted on it for years, and it has just got to be a rideable bike, not a garage queen. So, the flats are perfect.

Flats Make Me Want To Ride

Every time I went down to grab a bike to commute on, I'd look at this one bike and think, "That would be fun to use as a commuter, but it has clipless pedals. Meh! I don't want to mess with shoes today!". Then I'd grab the Ti Muk 2, or the Surly 1 X 1, or lately, the Sawyer. All fun bicycles to ride that I have set up with flats.

This also figures heavily into which bicycles I choose to run errands on. Flats are best, since I can just hop on and go. No "special cycling gear" required at all. It's a barrier to riding if I have to stop, sit down, and switch out shoes just to ride a bicycle.

A couple things make me this way, perhaps. My best memories of riding when I was younger were on rides that required zero special gear. That means flat pedals. The other thing is that I don't like hassling with finding a set of shoes and then having to switch shoes both at work and at home. So, those things combined make me like just riding flats sometimes. Not all the time, but a lot of the time.

And maybe I would still use flat pedals in events and bigger rides if I didn't think the shoes were holding me back. Not that I have a problem with clipless- I don't, so I guess I just believe in the stories about how it is more efficient and I go clipless. I should just throw a set of flats in my truck. If I had flats that time I forgot my cycling shoes for the Prairie Burn, well...... Anyway.

The Karate Monkey will get ridden more now that it has flat pedals, and that's a good thing.

Tuesday I looked at the Karate Monkey again and thought, "You know, I really should put flats on that bike." I wasn't going to ride it, and I had actually dragged up another bike to use that did have flats. Then I decided this madness had gone on long enough.

I took that bike back down, grabbed some flats, put the Karate Monkey in the work stand, and spun off those clipless pedals. Once they had been replaced with some old flats I have, I was set to cruise to work. Now......that's much better! Another choice for errands, commutes, and big deal if I go out on gravel with flat pedals. In fact, I not only commuted yesterday on the KM, but I also ran a quick errand with it.

Flat pedals rule.

Now, about the bike, for those who may not know this one. It was my first 29"er back in the Spring of 2003. Probably the first 29"er in the area, and maybe one of the first in Iowa. There weren't too many wagon wheelers around in '03! It's always been a single speed, and for most of its time with me, it has been a drop bar bike. I started out gravel grinding with this rig back in '05, it was my main commuter rig for four years, and went through four Winters. The Winter riding nearly killed the bike when my original bottom bracket, a 90's era UN-52, got frozen into the frame. The bike sat around unused for probably a good five years because of that problem. Fortunately, in 2016, I got that bottom bracket out.

I had planned on using that bike for the 2016 GTDRI, but those plans fell through, and another year went by. Finally, in February of 2017, I got the bike assembled in its final form. Then I rode it a few times and.......clipless pedals. So, I just decided this situation needed to change. This bike isn't going anywhere, as it was my first 29"er and I did my second longest ride ever on it back in 2006. I have ridden thousands of miles of gravel on this bike, commuted on it for years, and it has just got to be a rideable bike, not a garage queen. So, the flats are perfect.