Country Views: Hints Of Fall

Back on Iowa gravel again.

The recovery from the Gravel Worlds beat down went pretty well. I had a bit of soreness in the legs, maybe for a day or two. I was tired, mostly, and I rested some instead of riding Wednesday on my day off.

I've always thought that Gravel Worlds marked the "real" end of Summer. There always are a few days here and there right after Gravel Worlds where the temperatures at night start getting down into the 50's and daytime temperatures can be down into the 70's, on occasion. Sure- you still get the 80's, humidity, and warm, sticky nights, generally speaking, every year, but this year has been very different.

It was almost as if a switch went off after Gravel Worlds this time. The air has been drier, the temps down dramatically both day and night, and the hints of Fall are everywhere if you are paying attention. The corn is starting to dry out, the flowers have all faded, with the exception of August's yellow fellows, always seen about now.

I saw that the weather was trending toward this sort of late Summer version of perfection, so a Saturday ride just had to happen. I decided to ride the Tamland Two, and so late in the morning, I decided to head out North. The temperature was down into the 50's earlier in the morning, so I waited for it to warm up a hair before I headed out. Imagine that. Last weekend in Lincoln it was in the 70's, and now we were almost 20 degrees cooler a week later here in Iowa. Like I said, it seems like a switch has flipped and signs of Fall are everywhere.

Beautiful weather over the Moline - Andersen Farm North of Waterloo on Moline Road.

I headed out from my house, which I haven't done for a while, but it was such a nice day out that I figured more riding was better than less. The wind was out of the Southeast, and it was not just a breeze, so I would have that to contend with, but otherwise it was about as perfect a day as one could ask for. Humidity levels were even low, so it was actually kind of nice not to sweat straight through all my clothing in the first ten miles.

The vineyard on the North side of Dunkerton Road on Moline Road had this green netting protecting all of their grapes. 

These tall, leggy yellow flowers and Goldenrod dominate the ditches now.

The gravel started out being rather tame, then it went chunkier the further I went North. The hard underlying road bed made for a jarring ride compared to the smoothness of Nebraskan gravel around the Lincoln area. It was dusty as well, which made for a great "welcome back to Iowa" gravel ride.

Barns For Jason

 I decided to go within sight of Denver, Iowa, then head eastward on a road I hadn't ridden before. Two miles east then I made a right turn South. Once I got back to Black Hawk County, I would be on Schenk Road. I like riding this road because it has a lot of cool, old barns. It's also almost all on a "high plateau" of sorts, for Iowa. The highest point on my ride was on this road just North of the county line and it consistently stays around or above 1000ft. (I know that doesn't sound like much, but I live in a state where the maximum elevation is a bit more than 1600ft.) Anyway, Schenk Road seems flat due to its consistent elevation.

A flock of sheep grazing

Big rollers on Airline Highway

I made the length of Schenk Road South to Airline Highway's Eastern terminus and turned West. This starts out at that same elevation as before, but then it drops and turns into a set of fast rollers downward toward Moline Road and the way I came out of Waterloo. With the aid of that Southeast breeze, it was fun to speed over the tops and coast fast down the hills until I made the left turn back into the city.

I took it easy on the paved roads back to the house and walked into the door at noon. A nice 30 miles in before lunch and I had the rest of my day to myself. It's a good thing I didn't go further or harder since by 9:00pm I couldn't stay awake anymore! Maybe I still have a bit of rest that I need to get. But I felt really good on the bike Saturday, so that was an encouraging sign.

Speaking of signs- (again!) The air, the earlier setting of the Sun everyday, the lack of songbirds, and the browning of the prairie are all telling me that Fall is nigh. While it sucks that all the green things will be turning brown and the fields will become barren again, this can be some of the best riding weather of the year. I'm hoping that it will turn out that way.

Country Views: Hints Of Fall

Back on Iowa gravel again.

The recovery from the Gravel Worlds beat down went pretty well. I had a bit of soreness in the legs, maybe for a day or two. I was tired, mostly, and I rested some instead of riding Wednesday on my day off.

I've always thought that Gravel Worlds marked the "real" end of Summer. There always are a few days here and there right after Gravel Worlds where the temperatures at night start getting down into the 50's and daytime temperatures can be down into the 70's, on occasion. Sure- you still get the 80's, humidity, and warm, sticky nights, generally speaking, every year, but this year has been very different.

It was almost as if a switch went off after Gravel Worlds this time. The air has been drier, the temps down dramatically both day and night, and the hints of Fall are everywhere if you are paying attention. The corn is starting to dry out, the flowers have all faded, with the exception of August's yellow fellows, always seen about now.

I saw that the weather was trending toward this sort of late Summer version of perfection, so a Saturday ride just had to happen. I decided to ride the Tamland Two, and so late in the morning, I decided to head out North. The temperature was down into the 50's earlier in the morning, so I waited for it to warm up a hair before I headed out. Imagine that. Last weekend in Lincoln it was in the 70's, and now we were almost 20 degrees cooler a week later here in Iowa. Like I said, it seems like a switch has flipped and signs of Fall are everywhere.

Beautiful weather over the Moline - Andersen Farm North of Waterloo on Moline Road.

I headed out from my house, which I haven't done for a while, but it was such a nice day out that I figured more riding was better than less. The wind was out of the Southeast, and it was not just a breeze, so I would have that to contend with, but otherwise it was about as perfect a day as one could ask for. Humidity levels were even low, so it was actually kind of nice not to sweat straight through all my clothing in the first ten miles.

The vineyard on the North side of Dunkerton Road on Moline Road had this green netting protecting all of their grapes. 

These tall, leggy yellow flowers and Goldenrod dominate the ditches now.

The gravel started out being rather tame, then it went chunkier the further I went North. The hard underlying road bed made for a jarring ride compared to the smoothness of Nebraskan gravel around the Lincoln area. It was dusty as well, which made for a great "welcome back to Iowa" gravel ride.

Barns For Jason

 I decided to go within sight of Denver, Iowa, then head eastward on a road I hadn't ridden before. Two miles east then I made a right turn South. Once I got back to Black Hawk County, I would be on Schenk Road. I like riding this road because it has a lot of cool, old barns. It's also almost all on a "high plateau" of sorts, for Iowa. The highest point on my ride was on this road just North of the county line and it consistently stays around or above 1000ft. (I know that doesn't sound like much, but I live in a state where the maximum elevation is a bit more than 1600ft.) Anyway, Schenk Road seems flat due to its consistent elevation.

A flock of sheep grazing

Big rollers on Airline Highway

I made the length of Schenk Road South to Airline Highway's Eastern terminus and turned West. This starts out at that same elevation as before, but then it drops and turns into a set of fast rollers downward toward Moline Road and the way I came out of Waterloo. With the aid of that Southeast breeze, it was fun to speed over the tops and coast fast down the hills until I made the left turn back into the city.

I took it easy on the paved roads back to the house and walked into the door at noon. A nice 30 miles in before lunch and I had the rest of my day to myself. It's a good thing I didn't go further or harder since by 9:00pm I couldn't stay awake anymore! Maybe I still have a bit of rest that I need to get. But I felt really good on the bike Saturday, so that was an encouraging sign.

Speaking of signs- (again!) The air, the earlier setting of the Sun everyday, the lack of songbirds, and the browning of the prairie are all telling me that Fall is nigh. While it sucks that all the green things will be turning brown and the fields will become barren again, this can be some of the best riding weather of the year. I'm hoping that it will turn out that way.

Trans Iowa Stories: Tales Of v2 Part 3

If you look carefully, you can see riders on the left in the ditch. Image by Jeff Kerkove

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

Well, Trans Iowa v2 was the event that set the tone for Trans Iowa for several years afterward. It took until v11 until the legend of this event was eclipsed. Some versions came close, but T.I.v2 was one for the ages.

My experience is pretty much a remembrance of a few key things during the event. First off, I can not recall that the start was that big of a deal. Yes- it was the first 4:00am start, but riders were especially nervous, quiet, and hoping the mist that was falling wouldn't break out into a full on rain. Which, by the way, it would not have made any difference at all if it had not rained. The damage was done already.

But back to the start. We rolled out and this being my first rodeo with a nighttime start, I found that I was immediately into that "alone zone" which I had experienced the year before, only this was right out of the gate. I couldn't see anything but what was illuminated by my headlights. I ran across a couple of "support people" on the route. One was Majiec Nowak who was looking for his brother, Marcin. Apparently he had already called in for pick-up and the Sun hadn't come up yet! My next encounter was with the father of another racer, Joe Partridge. It didn't look good for Joe to make it in v2 as he had the year before. This deal with cars on course was going to have to be dealt with.

The first Level B Road was cause for excitement for Jeff and I. We both rendezvoused at the beginning of that section where we saw about 12-20 guys rolling in a group all head right into the muck head on. Many expletives were expressed! Then I went to the other side of that mess to time how long it might take for riders to ride through it all.

The Level B Roads killed everyone's ability to reach the cutoff time point in Algona. Image by Jeff Kerkove.

 Well, I was floored by how long it took. I never dreamed they would be walking a whole mile! This was bad, bad, bad! I had a gut feeling things were not going to go well for me that day. I assumed wholeheartedly that I would be dealing with very angry racers and maybe I would even get punched out. Seriously! I was totally ready to take a LOT of abuse for this course choice. However; as bad as it was, that fear never materialized. For years afterward I would always joke that someday someone would punch me in the face for the courses I dreamt up, and this is where that saying came from.

Unlike v1, Jeff was there and his blogging skills were such that he snapped a lot of great, iconic Trans Iowa images that day. If you have a particular image in mind from this event, chances are Jeff shot it. By this time I had a digital camera as well, but I did not get as many images as Jeff did that day, nor any as iconic as those he got. Of course, Jeff was familiar with what it took to do an ultra-endurance effort, so he kind of knew what to look for in an image.

Jesse LaLonde, staring blankly at a piece of pizza covered in Cheetos, at a convenience store in Sutherland Iowa. Image by Jeff Kerkove.

Well, there was the Paulina convenience store, where the lead group was still hoping against hope to somehow claw back enough time to get to Algona in time. It was full on raining by this point. Most of the field had, by this point, dropped out. This was what was left of T.I.v2- about ten to twelve riders.

Then the interminably long wait at the end of a three mile stretch of Level B's just terminating North of Sutherland, Iowa. This was where Trans Iowa v2 ended for most everyone else that hadn't dropped out by then. The convenience store in town was the focal point for the decision to quit for most. Most - other than two riders from Canada who carried on until about 5:00pm. Dallas Sigurdur and Lindsay Gauld were the two who went the furthest, reaching Mallard, Iowa and then holing up in a bar until they were picked up by their fellow Canadian, Patrick Humenney.

Well, that was that. Afterward, Jeff made a couple of You Tube edits featuring the end of the last mess of Level B's and then another with his van following Sigurdur and Gauld up the hill out of Wanata State Park on 125th South out of Petersen, Iowa. That last edit was a haunting one showing the windshield wipers on delay and the two riders slowly clawing their way up to the sounds of "The Verve's" Bittersweet Symphony. I must have watched that clip a thousand times. (It was pulled down eventually due to copyright issues, of course) Anyway, I can clearly see that clip every time I hear that melody.

A rider picked up a "souvenir" along the road during Trans Iowa v2. Image by Jeff Kerkove.

Jeff had a way with media and that was clearly evident in his handling of the Trans Iowa v2 imagery. He clearly made an impact afterward upon several folks with what he produced, and of course, the tales coming out of that event were legendary. The event no one could finish! It was too odd that this was happening in Iowa of all places. I know that it raised some eyebrows, and going forward, Trans Iowa had a certain "something-something" which struck fear and awe into the minds of those who tried to comprehend what we were up to.

In many ways, because we had set such a course for a gravel event, it made others do things very differently, and others were starting to offer alternatives to Trans Iowa, (and by association, Dirty Kanza), which weren't so daunting, but still were gravel based and free from restrictions set by the ways things had been done in the past. But that is a different story. This is about Trans Iowa.

Next: Trans Iowa v3 - Moving On.

Trans Iowa Stories: Tales Of v2 Part 3

If you look carefully, you can see riders on the left in the ditch. Image by Jeff Kerkove

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

Well, Trans Iowa v2 was the event that set the tone for Trans Iowa for several years afterward. It took until v11 until the legend of this event was eclipsed. Some versions came close, but T.I.v2 was one for the ages.

My experience is pretty much a remembrance of a few key things during the event. First off, I can not recall that the start was that big of a deal. Yes- it was the first 4:00am start, but riders were especially nervous, quiet, and hoping the mist that was falling wouldn't break out into a full on rain. Which, by the way, it would not have made any difference at all if it had not rained. The damage was done already.

But back to the start. We rolled out and this being my first rodeo with a nighttime start, I found that I was immediately into that "alone zone" which I had experienced the year before, only this was right out of the gate. I couldn't see anything but what was illuminated by my headlights. I ran across a couple of "support people" on the route. One was Majiec Nowak who was looking for his brother, Marcin. Apparently he had already called in for pick-up and the Sun hadn't come up yet! My next encounter was with the father of another racer, Joe Partridge. It didn't look good for Joe to make it in v2 as he had the year before. This deal with cars on course was going to have to be dealt with.

The first Level B Road was cause for excitement for Jeff and I. We both rendezvoused at the beginning of that section where we saw about 12-20 guys rolling in a group all head right into the muck head on. Many expletives were expressed! Then I went to the other side of that mess to time how long it might take for riders to ride through it all.

The Level B Roads killed everyone's ability to reach the cutoff time point in Algona. Image by Jeff Kerkove.

 Well, I was floored by how long it took. I never dreamed they would be walking a whole mile! This was bad, bad, bad! I had a gut feeling things were not going to go well for me that day. I assumed wholeheartedly that I would be dealing with very angry racers and maybe I would even get punched out. Seriously! I was totally ready to take a LOT of abuse for this course choice. However; as bad as it was, that fear never materialized. For years afterward I would always joke that someday someone would punch me in the face for the courses I dreamt up, and this is where that saying came from.

Unlike v1, Jeff was there and his blogging skills were such that he snapped a lot of great, iconic Trans Iowa images that day. If you have a particular image in mind from this event, chances are Jeff shot it. By this time I had a digital camera as well, but I did not get as many images as Jeff did that day, nor any as iconic as those he got. Of course, Jeff was familiar with what it took to do an ultra-endurance effort, so he kind of knew what to look for in an image.

Jesse LaLonde, staring blankly at a piece of pizza covered in Cheetos, at a convenience store in Sutherland Iowa. Image by Jeff Kerkove.

Well, there was the Paulina convenience store, where the lead group was still hoping against hope to somehow claw back enough time to get to Algona in time. It was full on raining by this point. Most of the field had, by this point, dropped out. This was what was left of T.I.v2- about ten to twelve riders.

Then the interminably long wait at the end of a three mile stretch of Level B's just terminating North of Sutherland, Iowa. This was where Trans Iowa v2 ended for most everyone else that hadn't dropped out by then. The convenience store in town was the focal point for the decision to quit for most. Most - other than two riders from Canada who carried on until about 5:00pm. Dallas Sigurdur and Lindsay Gauld were the two who went the furthest, reaching Mallard, Iowa and then holing up in a bar until they were picked up by their fellow Canadian, Patrick Humenney.

Well, that was that. Afterward, Jeff made a couple of You Tube edits featuring the end of the last mess of Level B's and then another with his van following Sigurdur and Gauld up the hill out of Wanata State Park on 125th South out of Petersen, Iowa. That last edit was a haunting one showing the windshield wipers on delay and the two riders slowly clawing their way up to the sounds of "The Verve's" Bittersweet Symphony. I must have watched that clip a thousand times. (It was pulled down eventually due to copyright issues, of course) Anyway, I can clearly see that clip every time I hear that melody.

A rider picked up a "souvenir" along the road during Trans Iowa v2. Image by Jeff Kerkove.

Jeff had a way with media and that was clearly evident in his handling of the Trans Iowa v2 imagery. He clearly made an impact afterward upon several folks with what he produced, and of course, the tales coming out of that event were legendary. The event no one could finish! It was too odd that this was happening in Iowa of all places. I know that it raised some eyebrows, and going forward, Trans Iowa had a certain "something-something" which struck fear and awe into the minds of those who tried to comprehend what we were up to.

In many ways, because we had set such a course for a gravel event, it made others do things very differently, and others were starting to offer alternatives to Trans Iowa, (and by association, Dirty Kanza), which weren't so daunting, but still were gravel based and free from restrictions set by the ways things had been done in the past. But that is a different story. This is about Trans Iowa.

Next: Trans Iowa v3 - Moving On.

Minus Ten Review 2009-34

Check out this 2010 Raleigh XXIX Pro. Remember when head tube angles were steep?

Ten years ago on the blog I was yakking about a new rim. A really wide rim. It was called the P-35 and was going to be offered by Velocity. It was the precursor to all this wider rim stuff we all take for granted now days.

There was also a big announcement from Trans Iowa. Jeff Kerkove knocked out another of his humorous Trans Iowa headers. I enjoyed having Jeff do these and he genuinely seemed to not be bothered by my requests for his artistic talents. The header for v6 was a mostly white background with black lettering and a "spilled pill bottle" theme. It actually inspired one entrant to send me a prescription bottle filled with gravel as his "post card" for that year. Pretty crazy. (And yes- I still have that bottle filled with gravel)

Then another thing that happened annually for a few years was when Raleigh was headed up by Brian Fornes. They were arguably the coolest during his tenure at the helm of that company. The 29"ers Raleigh made, especially the XXIX Pro models, were to die for. They rode awesomely, the spec was unreal, and the frames were top notch steel.

By the time they were hitting their stride I had far too many bikes sitting around and I never could bring myself to getting one. I maybe should have, because I likely would still have it. The geometry wasn't so laid back, low, and stretched as it is today and those bikes would have been perfect for around here.

But, times changed, geometry went whacko, and now most hard tails are so slacked out and short in the rear end that they are like riding wheel barrows here. maybe someday it'll all pull back toward something that makes sense for slicing through Mid-West single track.

Oh, and you probably are yelling at the computer now wondering why I didn't post an image of that T.I.v6 header. Well, here ya go.....

Designed by Jeff Kerkove

Minus Ten Review 2009-34

Check out this 2010 Raleigh XXIX Pro. Remember when head tube angles were steep?

Ten years ago on the blog I was yakking about a new rim. A really wide rim. It was called the P-35 and was going to be offered by Velocity. It was the precursor to all this wider rim stuff we all take for granted now days.

There was also a big announcement from Trans Iowa. Jeff Kerkove knocked out another of his humorous Trans Iowa headers. I enjoyed having Jeff do these and he genuinely seemed to not be bothered by my requests for his artistic talents. The header for v6 was a mostly white background with black lettering and a "spilled pill bottle" theme. It actually inspired one entrant to send me a prescription bottle filled with gravel as his "post card" for that year. Pretty crazy. (And yes- I still have that bottle filled with gravel)

Then another thing that happened annually for a few years was when Raleigh was headed up by Brian Fornes. They were arguably the coolest during his tenure at the helm of that company. The 29"ers Raleigh made, especially the XXIX Pro models, were to die for. They rode awesomely, the spec was unreal, and the frames were top notch steel.

By the time they were hitting their stride I had far too many bikes sitting around and I never could bring myself to getting one. I maybe should have, because I likely would still have it. The geometry wasn't so laid back, low, and stretched as it is today and those bikes would have been perfect for around here.

But, times changed, geometry went whacko, and now most hard tails are so slacked out and short in the rear end that they are like riding wheel barrows here. maybe someday it'll all pull back toward something that makes sense for slicing through Mid-West single track.

Oh, and you probably are yelling at the computer now wondering why I didn't post an image of that T.I.v6 header. Well, here ya go.....

Designed by Jeff Kerkove

Friday News And Views

WTB Hints At 700c Versions Of Popular Road Plus Models:

While at Gravel Worlds last Friday, my friend Tony and I visited several company's booths. One of the most intriguing stops was at the WTB booth.

Of course, WTB's main business is tires and saddles which were both on display there. Tony stepped up and asked something about them making a 700c X 50mm Byway. The rep had a very interesting answer. 

"Keep an eye on our website for the next couple of weeks."

Now, you can read all sorts of things into that remark, but here are a few facts that might help support my guess, which I will share here in a bit:

First off, WTB has already told me that a 700 X 42 and 700 X 50 Venture tire was due this Summer. (Obviously- that hasn't happened yet) At the time that was announced, there was no word about any other of the Road Plus tires being brought to 700c. However; the rep at Gravel Worlds said the Byway is their number one selling tire. Hmmm....

Also, considering the fact that Eurobike is about to happen starting on September the 4th, an announcement of something new around that time would be totally believable. Many companies announce product ahead of shows so dealers will look for it when they attend a show. That would put an announcement "in a couple of weeks" in the perfect time window for Eurobike.

Finally, WTB, who arguably single handedly made 650B tires a "thing" for gravel with the Road Plus line, have none of those models available in 700c, which is the diameter of tire most gravel bikes come stocked with. Original Equipment (OE) contracts with manufacturers are what makes new product roll into the marketplace. So, if a manufacturer says, "Hey, WTB! Make us this Byway in a 700 X 50 and we'll buy thousands of them.", what do you think WTB would say?

Put all that together and what do you come up with? I am saying that the entire Road Plus line will be announced in 700c sizes. We'll see.......

For more of what I saw at the Gravel Worlds Expo, check out my RidingGravel.com report here.

A Shimano PRO Koryak external actuated dropper post in 27.2mm.

The Dropper Post Cometh:

Have you noted that many new gravel bikes come with dropper post routing but that you almost never see the actual dropper posts on any of these bikes? Yeah.....me too, but that is about to change.

One of the big reasons why this has been is due to the size of almost all gravel bikes internal diameter (ID) on the seat tube. Traditionally this has been 27.2mm. The reason why dropper posts haven't been prominent on gravel bikes is because most dropper posts are 30.9mm and 31.6mm in size, which reflects what an MTB bike's seat tube ID is most commonly.  There are 27.2mm dropper posts, of course, but generally speaking, the dropper range is either too much, the post is too expensive, (Thomson and Fox being prime examples of 27.2mm dropper posts here), or the quality is so poor, that manufacturers are possibly avoiding spec'ing them.

However; and this has been my experience using a dropper post on gravel, the component is something that would be a huge asset to anyone that rides on gravel. Free speed is there for the taking and I, for one, will eventually own a gravel bike with a dropper post. It isn't just a little bit faster on downhills, it is dramatically faster. 

"But", you may be thinking,"a dropper post is only for off road, or racers." Think about this scenario then: My fastest downhill speed at Gravel Worlds last weekend was a tic under 40mph. There is no doubt in my mind, based upon my experience riding a dropper post on gravel, that the max speed I would have seen had I been using a dropper post would have easily been closer to 45mph. Think that might affect average speed a bit? Multiply that over tens of down hills where I reached speeds of around 30mph regularly, and it doesn't take a genius to realize that the effect on overall time and speed on course would be greatly affected in a positive way simply by using a dropper post. All that with practically zero energy expenditure to gain that speed and time.

Now with several manufacturers stepping up with quality dropper posts in 27.2mm size, and more gravel/adventure bikes coming with the internal routing for these components, my bet is that dropper posts will become very common at rides in 2020 and beyond. I saw several in use at Gravel Worlds. No longer will you have to sacrifice your nether regions to the abuses of sitting on your top tube, ala Pro roadies, on descents. (And please- don't do that on gravel. It isn't really very safe on pavement!

The fargo Gen I with the Schwalbe G-One tires mounted.

I Missed You, Knobbies, I Missed You:

One thing I wanted to cover before moving on from Gravel Worlds was the gear I used. and in particular, the Schwalbe G - One 29" X 2.35 tires. Of course, you all that have been reading along already know about the issues I had with air loss in the rear tire.

The culprit ended up being a failed rim strip over a spoke hole. That was my fault since that wheel only had one run of tape, and I should have laid down two. Most times I do it that way, but for whatever reasons I had then, I didn't when I built up that wheel set.

Now- I'll talk about the performance of the tires, because I am taking them off this wheel set, and I'll tell you why in a minute. First- these tires are very light and very fast! I weighed them in at 553 and 556 grams. They had absolutely blazing downhill speed and I was able to out-coast anyone around me. That said, I had to really be careful in Nebraska's looser, sandy corners. These tires have very little grip unless the surface is hard and smooth. So, not much to dislike there, but I would also surmise that in Iowa's looser, deep gravel these tires would also be a handful.

Now, as to why I won't be keeping them on this wheel set. First off, these are WTB i19 rims you see in the image and they typically fit tubeless tires from several manufacturers really well. I've used these rims for at least 7 years, I think it has been, and all sorts of different tires have been mounted on these. And.....they all mounted pretty easily. Not so these G - Ones. They were utter Hell to mount because they were too loose! I had to take eight stabs at mounting one of them last week. Eight! I almost gave up. The other one took a few tries. Now that they have been on there, and that I had to dismount the one that gave me the most trouble, it- of course - is looser than when it was new. It's silly. I cannot mount it, nor would I leave it on,  if it would go, because of fear of blowing it off at some point. Of course, I tried it, it will not mount, and there is just no way I am going to fight to make that work. Not in 2019.

So, I have a Stan's based wheel set, a Sun Ringle' pre-built wheel set, and I'll try mounting them on there, but I am in no hurry to do this. Despite the speed and the size of these, I think I wasted my money if all they will securely fit is a Stan's based rim.  I think that is despicable these days. There is no reason for a tubeless tire manufacturer of Schwalbe's stature to have such poor tolerances in their product on the market. Bottom line- If the G - One 29" X 2.35" tires are all like mine, and unless you use Stan's rims, these tires are not recommended.

Note- I spent my own damn money on this product and was not paid, nor bribed for this opinion. 

Thanks for reading. have a great weekend!

Friday News And Views

WTB Hints At 700c Versions Of Popular Road Plus Models:

While at Gravel Worlds last Friday, my friend Tony and I visited several company's booths. One of the most intriguing stops was at the WTB booth.

Of course, WTB's main business is tires and saddles which were both on display there. Tony stepped up and asked something about them making a 700c X 50mm Byway. The rep had a very interesting answer. 

"Keep an eye on our website for the next couple of weeks."

Now, you can read all sorts of things into that remark, but here are a few facts that might help support my guess, which I will share here in a bit:

First off, WTB has already told me that a 700 X 42 and 700 X 50 Venture tire was due this Summer. (Obviously- that hasn't happened yet) At the time that was announced, there was no word about any other of the Road Plus tires being brought to 700c. However; the rep at Gravel Worlds said the Byway is their number one selling tire. Hmmm....

Also, considering the fact that Eurobike is about to happen starting on September the 4th, an announcement of something new around that time would be totally believable. Many companies announce product ahead of shows so dealers will look for it when they attend a show. That would put an announcement "in a couple of weeks" in the perfect time window for Eurobike.

Finally, WTB, who arguably single handedly made 650B tires a "thing" for gravel with the Road Plus line, have none of those models available in 700c, which is the diameter of tire most gravel bikes come stocked with. Original Equipment (OE) contracts with manufacturers are what makes new product roll into the marketplace. So, if a manufacturer says, "Hey, WTB! Make us this Byway in a 700 X 50 and we'll buy thousands of them.", what do you think WTB would say?

Put all that together and what do you come up with? I am saying that the entire Road Plus line will be announced in 700c sizes. We'll see.......

For more of what I saw at the Gravel Worlds Expo, check out my RidingGravel.com report here.

A Shimano PRO Koryak external actuated dropper post in 27.2mm.

The Dropper Post Cometh:

Have you noted that many new gravel bikes come with dropper post routing but that you almost never see the actual dropper posts on any of these bikes? Yeah.....me too, but that is about to change.

One of the big reasons why this has been is due to the size of almost all gravel bikes internal diameter (ID) on the seat tube. Traditionally this has been 27.2mm. The reason why dropper posts haven't been prominent on gravel bikes is because most dropper posts are 30.9mm and 31.6mm in size, which reflects what an MTB bike's seat tube ID is most commonly.  There are 27.2mm dropper posts, of course, but generally speaking, the dropper range is either too much, the post is too expensive, (Thomson and Fox being prime examples of 27.2mm dropper posts here), or the quality is so poor, that manufacturers are possibly avoiding spec'ing them.

However; and this has been my experience using a dropper post on gravel, the component is something that would be a huge asset to anyone that rides on gravel. Free speed is there for the taking and I, for one, will eventually own a gravel bike with a dropper post. It isn't just a little bit faster on downhills, it is dramatically faster. 

"But", you may be thinking,"a dropper post is only for off road, or racers." Think about this scenario then: My fastest downhill speed at Gravel Worlds last weekend was a tic under 40mph. There is no doubt in my mind, based upon my experience riding a dropper post on gravel, that the max speed I would have seen had I been using a dropper post would have easily been closer to 45mph. Think that might affect average speed a bit? Multiply that over tens of down hills where I reached speeds of around 30mph regularly, and it doesn't take a genius to realize that the effect on overall time and speed on course would be greatly affected in a positive way simply by using a dropper post. All that with practically zero energy expenditure to gain that speed and time.

Now with several manufacturers stepping up with quality dropper posts in 27.2mm size, and more gravel/adventure bikes coming with the internal routing for these components, my bet is that dropper posts will become very common at rides in 2020 and beyond. I saw several in use at Gravel Worlds. No longer will you have to sacrifice your nether regions to the abuses of sitting on your top tube, ala Pro roadies, on descents. (And please- don't do that on gravel. It isn't really very safe on pavement!

The fargo Gen I with the Schwalbe G-One tires mounted.

I Missed You, Knobbies, I Missed You:

One thing I wanted to cover before moving on from Gravel Worlds was the gear I used. and in particular, the Schwalbe G - One 29" X 2.35 tires. Of course, you all that have been reading along already know about the issues I had with air loss in the rear tire.

The culprit ended up being a failed rim strip over a spoke hole. That was my fault since that wheel only had one run of tape, and I should have laid down two. Most times I do it that way, but for whatever reasons I had then, I didn't when I built up that wheel set.

Now- I'll talk about the performance of the tires, because I am taking them off this wheel set, and I'll tell you why in a minute. First- these tires are very light and very fast! I weighed them in at 553 and 556 grams. They had absolutely blazing downhill speed and I was able to out-coast anyone around me. That said, I had to really be careful in Nebraska's looser, sandy corners. These tires have very little grip unless the surface is hard and smooth. So, not much to dislike there, but I would also surmise that in Iowa's looser, deep gravel these tires would also be a handful.

Now, as to why I won't be keeping them on this wheel set. First off, these are WTB i19 rims you see in the image and they typically fit tubeless tires from several manufacturers really well. I've used these rims for at least 7 years, I think it has been, and all sorts of different tires have been mounted on these. And.....they all mounted pretty easily. Not so these G - Ones. They were utter Hell to mount because they were too loose! I had to take eight stabs at mounting one of them last week. Eight! I almost gave up. The other one took a few tries. Now that they have been on there, and that I had to dismount the one that gave me the most trouble, it- of course - is looser than when it was new. It's silly. I cannot mount it, nor would I leave it on,  if it would go, because of fear of blowing it off at some point. Of course, I tried it, it will not mount, and there is just no way I am going to fight to make that work. Not in 2019.

So, I have a Stan's based wheel set, a Sun Ringle' pre-built wheel set, and I'll try mounting them on there, but I am in no hurry to do this. Despite the speed and the size of these, I think I wasted my money if all they will securely fit is a Stan's based rim.  I think that is despicable these days. There is no reason for a tubeless tire manufacturer of Schwalbe's stature to have such poor tolerances in their product on the market. Bottom line- If the G - One 29" X 2.35" tires are all like mine, and unless you use Stan's rims, these tires are not recommended.

Note- I spent my own damn money on this product and was not paid, nor bribed for this opinion. 

Thanks for reading. have a great weekend!

Ti Muk 2 Upgrade Path: Part 4

The current look of the Ti Muk 2

In my last update, I mentioned getting the SON "Tail Light For Rack" rear light. Then I was going to install that and hopefully get to cleaning up the wiring situation a bit. Well, last week before Gravel Worlds I got to do all of those things. In this post I am going to detail what I did, how, and why I did these things. There are still many details left to attend to, but this is a rideable, durable, and pretty much worry free set up, in my opinion. With a few minor details tidied up, it should be about bomb proof.

The first thing I did was to remove the old Busch & Muller stay mounted tail light. That light is a good light, but it is just the wrong application for an adventure bike such as the Ti Muk 2. That old tail light may get repurposed, but that is another project for another time.

During the process of dealing with the tail light, I also delved into the rats nest of wadded up wiring which had been zip tied to the front cable housing. The connections were just twisted together and the leads were waaaaay too long! I had enough wiring from the tail light and the head light to wire up two bikes. Of course, I was going to have to shorten all of that. Then I had to sit down and give some serious thoughts to how I wanted to have the new wiring done. There were several points which guided my decision making process. Instead of laboriously going through each one, here is a bullet point list instead. If anyone has questions about these points, feel free to comment or e-mail me.

• First- The wiring had to be really durable. Able to withstand rain, mud, snow, and rocks. 
• The wiring had to be clean looking, short as possible, and not interfering with frame bags and pannier mounting. 
• I did not require any provisions for rack removal or travel which might require boxing up the bike, etc. This isn't going anywhere unless it gets ridden there, transported by my truck, or via a bicycle car rack. This meant I didn't need to consider adding additional connectors to facilitate breaking the bike down. 
• I wanted to reduce stress on wires wherever possible to prevent internal breakdown of the copper strands, and ultimately, failure due to that. 

That SON light is TINY!

The first thing I did after removing the old wiring was mount up the tail light. I've found that by doing bicycle computer wiring, and full run cable housing, it sometimes is best to wire from the back to the front, instead of the other way around. This ensures you don't cut your wire too short!

With the light secured to the back of the Salsa Alternator Rack, I then had to sit down and figure out not only where I wanted the wire to run, but how I was going to protect it. This area was going to be getting mud baths, snow/slush thrown around in there, and rocks from gravel roads could easily be flying around back here. While the lead provided by SON is about 20 times better than the flimsy plastic covered wires most dynamo systems use, I wasn't convinced it would survive my brand of fat biking. What to do?

After much deliberation and looking through the enormous piles of bicycle detritus I have, I came upon a great solution. I have, for whatever reasons, about three dead Blackburn floor pumps. (Why do we keep this stuff?!) If I could push the wire through an old hose from a floor pump, then mount that to the bike, it would be ultimate protection for the wire, and I could zip tie that hose without stressing the copper strands inside the lead dress. Cool! So, that is what I did with the tail light lead. It fit in with a bit of room to spare, and my new "rubber conduit" now could be routed from back to front. It would not only protect the lead wires from the elements, but from a rubbing frame bag as well.

This was going to work out well. I was excited to get going on this project, so instead of going to bed early, as I should have in preparation for Gravel Worlds on Wednesday evening, I stayed up until almost midnight wiring the bike up!

Wiring under the rack and to the top tube of the Ti Muk 2

I decided I needed to make sure I could use the rack with panniers, and I wanted to clear the rear tire as much as possible, so I chose the routing you can see above here. NOTE: I am planning on modifying a Dave's Mud Shovel rear fender to go in here permanently as another layer of protection to the wiring.

A view of the business end of all this wiring and cable housing. There is still much to do here.

I had to use a second bit of hose from one of the other dead pumps to make the distance from the rear of the rack all the way up to the head tube of the bike. This left me with a good sized chunk of pump hose and got me to thinking, "Why not do this to the front wire lead as well?" So, I undid the wiring for the front light, which was miles too long anyway, and pushed that even more fragile wire lead through the old pump hose, then "Boucher Routed" it along the back of the right fork leg, behind the fork crown, and exited the wires on the left side of the bike. Conveniently, the hole drilled through the fork crown can then be used as a zip tie mount. I use this same routing for rigid fork disc brake hose/cable routes as well.

I used brand new crimp-on spade connectors and shrink tubing on the connections to the lights and for the connection between the fork wire and headlight. There is a nifty little coaxial connector which looks very robust for the hub to fork wiring, which is available from Peter White Cycling, and at some point I may get that. But from stem to stern otherwise, the new wiring scheme should be very robust.

I did make one minor mistake the first time I got everything back together. This had to do with the light itself. Many readers will remember that when I got this bike that the head light was mounted on the outermost bar of the Carbon Jones Loop Bar. This was fine from a lighting standpoint, but it wasn't good from my perspective when it comes to adventure biking, bashing around in the woods, and the like. That thing cantilevered off the bar, as it was, could have been knocked off easily in a tumble. So, my friend Tony suggested I "hang it down" from the bracket in between the outer "loop" of the Jones Bar and the inner part of the bar.

The light is oriented correctly and much less apt to be damaged in a tumble in this placement.

I did this, but when I went out for my test ride last week, I was baffled by how bad the light was shining ahead of me until I realized what it was I had done. By simply "flipping" the mount and hanging it down, I had put the headlight in an upside down orientation. It is designed to be one way, and not upside down! The light was spilling in the completely wrong way, thus my dissatisfaction with how it looked that night.

Now instead of simply pointing the mount down, I re-oriented the light correctly with the bracket pointing forward and down. That made all the difference in the world, and actually gets the beam up and out of the cable housings.

So, everything functions as it should, the wiring is far more robust, stable, and better looking. The SON tail light is bright, even without a reflector, and it can be seen from the side quite well also. When I get that Dave's Mud Shovel fender in there, the plan is to have it extend out enough to protect that tail light from splash and flying debris. That should do it for the rear end. I may also get one of those minimalist "fenders" as a splash guard of sorts for the front wiring as well.

When I have ridden the bike several times and I am satisfied with it all, I will then heat shrink the tubing where I have it over connections and seal off the open ends of the old pump hose/conduit with silicone gasket material or the like. Then I should have the "upgrade path" completed.

Ti Muk 2 Upgrade Path: Part 4

The current look of the Ti Muk 2

In my last update, I mentioned getting the SON "Tail Light For Rack" rear light. Then I was going to install that and hopefully get to cleaning up the wiring situation a bit. Well, last week before Gravel Worlds I got to do all of those things. In this post I am going to detail what I did, how, and why I did these things. There are still many details left to attend to, but this is a rideable, durable, and pretty much worry free set up, in my opinion. With a few minor details tidied up, it should be about bomb proof.

The first thing I did was to remove the old Busch & Muller stay mounted tail light. That light is a good light, but it is just the wrong application for an adventure bike such as the Ti Muk 2. That old tail light may get repurposed, but that is another project for another time.

During the process of dealing with the tail light, I also delved into the rats nest of wadded up wiring which had been zip tied to the front cable housing. The connections were just twisted together and the leads were waaaaay too long! I had enough wiring from the tail light and the head light to wire up two bikes. Of course, I was going to have to shorten all of that. Then I had to sit down and give some serious thoughts to how I wanted to have the new wiring done. There were several points which guided my decision making process. Instead of laboriously going through each one, here is a bullet point list instead. If anyone has questions about these points, feel free to comment or e-mail me.

• First- The wiring had to be really durable. Able to withstand rain, mud, snow, and rocks. 
• The wiring had to be clean looking, short as possible, and not interfering with frame bags and pannier mounting. 
• I did not require any provisions for rack removal or travel which might require boxing up the bike, etc. This isn't going anywhere unless it gets ridden there, transported by my truck, or via a bicycle car rack. This meant I didn't need to consider adding additional connectors to facilitate breaking the bike down. 
• I wanted to reduce stress on wires wherever possible to prevent internal breakdown of the copper strands, and ultimately, failure due to that. 

That SON light is TINY!

The first thing I did after removing the old wiring was mount up the tail light. I've found that by doing bicycle computer wiring, and full run cable housing, it sometimes is best to wire from the back to the front, instead of the other way around. This ensures you don't cut your wire too short!

With the light secured to the back of the Salsa Alternator Rack, I then had to sit down and figure out not only where I wanted the wire to run, but how I was going to protect it. This area was going to be getting mud baths, snow/slush thrown around in there, and rocks from gravel roads could easily be flying around back here. While the lead provided by SON is about 20 times better than the flimsy plastic covered wires most dynamo systems use, I wasn't convinced it would survive my brand of fat biking. What to do?

After much deliberation and looking through the enormous piles of bicycle detritus I have, I came upon a great solution. I have, for whatever reasons, about three dead Blackburn floor pumps. (Why do we keep this stuff?!) If I could push the wire through an old hose from a floor pump, then mount that to the bike, it would be ultimate protection for the wire, and I could zip tie that hose without stressing the copper strands inside the lead dress. Cool! So, that is what I did with the tail light lead. It fit in with a bit of room to spare, and my new "rubber conduit" now could be routed from back to front. It would not only protect the lead wires from the elements, but from a rubbing frame bag as well.

This was going to work out well. I was excited to get going on this project, so instead of going to bed early, as I should have in preparation for Gravel Worlds on Wednesday evening, I stayed up until almost midnight wiring the bike up!

Wiring under the rack and to the top tube of the Ti Muk 2

I decided I needed to make sure I could use the rack with panniers, and I wanted to clear the rear tire as much as possible, so I chose the routing you can see above here. NOTE: I am planning on modifying a Dave's Mud Shovel rear fender to go in here permanently as another layer of protection to the wiring.

A view of the business end of all this wiring and cable housing. There is still much to do here.

I had to use a second bit of hose from one of the other dead pumps to make the distance from the rear of the rack all the way up to the head tube of the bike. This left me with a good sized chunk of pump hose and got me to thinking, "Why not do this to the front wire lead as well?" So, I undid the wiring for the front light, which was miles too long anyway, and pushed that even more fragile wire lead through the old pump hose, then "Boucher Routed" it along the back of the right fork leg, behind the fork crown, and exited the wires on the left side of the bike. Conveniently, the hole drilled through the fork crown can then be used as a zip tie mount. I use this same routing for rigid fork disc brake hose/cable routes as well.

I used brand new crimp-on spade connectors and shrink tubing on the connections to the lights and for the connection between the fork wire and headlight. There is a nifty little coaxial connector which looks very robust for the hub to fork wiring, which is available from Peter White Cycling, and at some point I may get that. But from stem to stern otherwise, the new wiring scheme should be very robust.

I did make one minor mistake the first time I got everything back together. This had to do with the light itself. Many readers will remember that when I got this bike that the head light was mounted on the outermost bar of the Carbon Jones Loop Bar. This was fine from a lighting standpoint, but it wasn't good from my perspective when it comes to adventure biking, bashing around in the woods, and the like. That thing cantilevered off the bar, as it was, could have been knocked off easily in a tumble. So, my friend Tony suggested I "hang it down" from the bracket in between the outer "loop" of the Jones Bar and the inner part of the bar.

The light is oriented correctly and much less apt to be damaged in a tumble in this placement.

I did this, but when I went out for my test ride last week, I was baffled by how bad the light was shining ahead of me until I realized what it was I had done. By simply "flipping" the mount and hanging it down, I had put the headlight in an upside down orientation. It is designed to be one way, and not upside down! The light was spilling in the completely wrong way, thus my dissatisfaction with how it looked that night.

Now instead of simply pointing the mount down, I re-oriented the light correctly with the bracket pointing forward and down. That made all the difference in the world, and actually gets the beam up and out of the cable housings.

So, everything functions as it should, the wiring is far more robust, stable, and better looking. The SON tail light is bright, even without a reflector, and it can be seen from the side quite well also. When I get that Dave's Mud Shovel fender in there, the plan is to have it extend out enough to protect that tail light from splash and flying debris. That should do it for the rear end. I may also get one of those minimalist "fenders" as a splash guard of sorts for the front wiring as well.

When I have ridden the bike several times and I am satisfied with it all, I will then heat shrink the tubing where I have it over connections and seal off the open ends of the old pump hose/conduit with silicone gasket material or the like. Then I should have the "upgrade path" completed.

Gravel Worlds '19: Part 3

Rolling into the high country of the "Bohemian Alps" at Gravel Worlds

My plan was working excellently. I felt great so far after 30 miles in, and I almost had an hour "in the bank" to spend on stops, if need be. My first planned stop was going to be at Loma which was about 40 miles into the course.

While on my way there I ran into a couple of folks giving me props on this blog and for RidingGravel.com. (Sincere thanks again to anyone who mentioned my work while we were riding. I totally appreciate it.) I cannot remember everybody, but I remember Shane, and of course, Warren. I do also remember seeing Ben Petty who is from my area and he quipped, "I think I see you more in Nebraska than back home!" I generally run into Matt Wills, a former Trans Iowa finisher and GTDRI veteran at some point during every Gravel Worlds I do, and this one was no exception. Matt took notice of my square taper crank set and said, "Square taper! How do those arms even stay on the bike?!" He was being sarcastic, of course, as he was spinning a set of square taper White Industries cranks!  Anyway, the interactions with other riders was fun and much appreciated.

As I was chatting with Warren, we ended up in Loma. Warren pushed on riding his black single speed, and I pulled up for my first stop. I needed to use a restroom, get more water, and maybe look for some suitable road food to take away with me when I decided to leave. By the time I reached Loma, the Sun had cleared the clouds and it was bright and sunny. Of course, it was also getting hotter. That didn't matter to me. I was having a great ride so far. But I also new that there was a long way to go.

The scene outside the Loma Tap. Free water fill up at the red pick-up truck. That's Pell Duval in the orange tutu. 

The owner of the bar plugging in some coins to get the music rolling. Mostly country music from the 60's and 70's here.

Upon entering the bar I did a double take. There was a woman working there, probably into her 60's, and in good shape for that age, with a raging beehive hairdo, heavy eye make-up, and a shirt that said "Loma Is My Second Homa". She looked like a brunette version of Tammy Wynette. Anyway, I was floored because I don't think I've seen a beehive hairdo in the wild since I was a younginz.

I didn't spend a ton of time there, but I moved on with a full compliment of water and a couple of granola bars for the road. Next stop on the course was going to be Valparaiso. I didn't plan on stopping there, but instead I thought I'd put in another 20 miles and stop next at the first checkpoint at Mile 60. The roads were very hilly, but since we had passed the highest part of the course, it was mostly downhill to Valpo. I think it was in this section where I hit 39.8 mph at one point, which was my max speed for the day.

Valparaiso, Nebraska

I was cruising along when I saw a couple of cyclists as we were about to make a right hand turn. One was a smaller woman on an Ice Cream Truck fat bike and the other was a guy on a nice looking red bike. I almost missed the turn and kind of cut off those two in the process. It wasn't intentional, but I felt bad about that. Anyway, the guy on the nice looking red bike came up alongside on my right and I noted that it was a Singular. Now, those are rare bikes, and so I thought, "Hey! Maybe I know this guy!" Upon more scrutiny, I found out it was Scott, and it was his old red Singular he's had for years. We chatted a bit and then I moved on down the road. I saw Pell ahead of me, and I eventually passed him as well and went right on through Valpo on my way to Branched Oak Farms which was about another ten miles down the road.

In this section I was passed by a young woman on a bike and I thought I recognized her from breakfast earlier at the hotel. I sprinted up to her and sure enough, it was her. We had a fantastic conversation and I was duly impressed with her personality. She suddenly said, "By the way, my name is Meg. What's your name?" Well, of course I answered, but having such a direct question like that was attention getting. Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed chatting with Meg. Thanks, if you ever read this. That made my day better.

So, Meg finally outpaced me and disappeared up ahead. I plugged along feeling okay as the heat got hotter and the Sun rode up into the sky. It was getting to be about 11:00am and I had a good hour plus in the bank time-wise. I was looking forward to a bit of a rest at the checkpoint. I thought I wouldn't spend much time there and then just push onward to Malcolm, another ten miles up the road, and rest a bit more there since there is shade in Malcolm, not so much at Branched Oak.

The Branched Oak Farms volunteers were awesome.

Eventually I pulled into Branched Oak Farms and I was tired, but I was feeling like I had more miles in me yet. The weather had gone hot and humid with a good stiff wind. That's always a tough deal for me. But I had time in the bag and my plan at this point into the ride was to take it easy and rest when I needed it. At this point I was just interested in getting water, maybe eating, and then getting out and back into some kind of rhythm.

As I was getting something to eat, (a handful of Fritos, a plain hot dog, and a Coke), I ran into Meg again as she was just getting ready to head back out on the course. We chatted a bit, then I went around the backside of the small outbuilding there to get into some shade while I sipped my soda. I spoke a bit with Steve and Kathy who were doing a tandem class ride. After I sipped the last of the soda. I grabbed my bike to head out. Just as I did I saw Meg take off. I wouldn't see her again, but I heard she finished strong.

WooHoo! A MMR in Gravel Worlds!

I hadn't gone up the road far when I realized something wasn't right. My guts were churning and I was starting to feel like I was not "running right", for lack of a better term. I turned onto a dirt road then and this was where the course was two-way. The 75 mile course riders were going against us and so on these rutted out tracks on the dirt road, I had to watch carefully as I climbed a steep hill and the others were bombing down the same. Yeah......ahhh....Frankly I wouldn't have ever considered doing that in one of my events. It just sounds like trouble in the making, but I made it with no issues. That is, other than breaking off a water bottle cage!

Wait a minute! Something is missing here!

It was comical, actually. I was thinking I needed to get more water down the hatch and climbing slowly was as good a time as any to start hydrating. I grabbed my right fork mounted bottle, and as I did, unbeknownst to me, the cage pulled through the bolts that were holding it. It was a Velocity Bottle Trap, so a plastic cage, not metal.

I took several swigs as I kept an eye on any traffic that might be speeding downhill toward me. Then I tried to replace the bottle in the cage, while not looking, and kept missing the cage, which was frustrating. I have had this bike so long, I can "no-look" a bottle in that fork mount cage any day. What the heck!...... 

So, finally I bend down to look and no cage! What?!! I stopped and looked 20 yards down the trail and there it was laying in a rut. So, I fetched it and stuffed the bottle in my Chaff Bag after rearranging some other stuff. Then I was back on the bike. By this time the heat was raging on that dirt road and I was feeling not so great. I climbed slowly up and finally back on gravel. It was becoming quite the slog and my gut wasn't getting better, it was getting worse. The legs felt fine, I didn't have any dizziness, no sleepy feelings, just a big, bloated gut feeling and churning in the intestines.

Well, my power was being sapped since my guts were shutting down. It wasn't far to Malcom now. I figured on cruising into town, finding some shade, and just giving myself some time. I had a lot of "time in the bank", my average speed was above 12 mph, and it wasn't even noon yet.

As I was assessing my options, Pell Duvall caught me again and asked how it was going, as I tried to answer I just about belched up my dinner. I probably should have. Maybe it would have been gross, but maybe it would have made me feel better. Anyway, Pell gave me some thoughts to chew on and then he rolled on. I made it into town and sat down besides the Post Office in the shade on some cool concrete. I felt awful by this point. My gut was not happy. It was getting painful now. Things weren't fun anymore.

Well, I gave myself until 12:30pm to make a call on whether to go on or to cut the course where the return loop of the next 75 miles came back to Malcom. Rob Evans and his crew were in the car wash building and invited me over. I walked over, a bit light headed and sore in the gut, and by 12:30pm, despite feeling kind of okay, but weak, I had to say no more. I knew what lay ahead. Some of the biggest hills, the hottest part of the day was yet to come, and this would be the furthest point away from the start which I would be headed into.

Crash landing site back at Fallbrook neighborhood.

I made the prudent decision, as I was responsible for myself, to get myself back to the start without encumbering anyone else. I knew it wasn't going to be easy to ride about ten more miles, or whatever it was, but I figured the last drops in the tank needed to be about making sure I got back.

I set off, bidding Rob and his merry men farewell. I felt awful. Not just physically awful, but I felt shame and a lot of disappointment. This last section was going to be populated by guys finishing. Fast guys. I had heard that the winning lead packs were about finished up, and had gone by Malcom already, but surely more were coming. It wasn't going to be fun cutting the course back to Lincoln getting passed by the serious racer crowd, but whatever.

I did get passed by about six guys going, what I assumed was, cruising pace for them. They were guys that probably had gotten shelled out of the lead group. Now, with "nothing to gain" they were kind of like me. Just riding to get back to the finish. Only they were a lot faster at that! 

It was slow, but I slogged it out to the finish area. I stopped at one point to take my number plate off and disable my chip timer. When I made it back, I stopped well short of the finish line to inform a volunteer I was not a finisher, then I dismounted, giving the finish line a wide berth. I did not want any confusion that I was a finisher. Gravel Worlds, to my knowledge, doesn't have a "DNF Line", so this was the best I could think of at the time and in the condition I was in. I ended up walking around the SchillingBridge Tap House looking for a suitable place to sit in the shade but there wasn't anything appealing to me. So, I walked back to Tony's truck, saw some shade under a pine tree, and threw myself into the grass. Just about 77 miles down.

By the time I got back to the finish area, it felt like someone was stabbing me from the inside out. I definitely made the right decision to head back from Malcom. There was no way I was getting much further down the course without assistance later. I writhed in half awake pain and fitful napping for about an hour before the pain relented enough that I could get into Tony's truck with all the windows down and just concentrate on relaxing and recovery.

Then I grabbed my phone to pass the time and take my mind off my disappointing finish. That's when I saw that someone posted on my Facebook timeline and was congratulating me on finishing 11th in Gravel Worlds. What?!! Oh! Hold on! I figured it out. That timing and scoring loop must have picked me up anyway! I sent a message to the person who posted as a comment on that post of there's and made sure I set the record straight. Not long afterward, the guys from Gravel Worlds contacted me and we got it all straightened out. I apologize for that mess! I had no intentions of "finishing" like that!

Oh, and remember my rear tire that had gone soft the day before Gravel Worlds?

Tony ended up finishing at around seven o'clock. We met up then and were going to go out to eat when Tony discovered that my rear tire was dead flat on the bike rack on the truck. Crazy tire! It was fine all day! Well, at least as long as I needed it to be.

This ends the Gravel Worlds '19 report. Thanks to the PCL, volunteers, and riders that make this event so special. I had another awesome day with rad folks.