GTDRI 2008: No, We're Not With RAGBRAI...

Before the 2008 GTDRI - the crew hangs among their drop bar steel steeds, the unanimous choice for the day. The tally - 1 Soulcraft; 1 Surly; 1 IRD; 1 Badger and 3 Salsas. One of the Salsas was very special...

I spent this weekend in Iowa, participating in Guitar Ted's Death Ride Invitational (GTDRI), along with Lincoln singlespeed mafia hitmen, Matt Wills and Jeff Bonsall. It was even MW's birthday -- Happy Birthday buddy, and gave the day just a little more to celebrate. Also in attendance was Salsa Cycles Super Amigo, Jason Boucher, Mike Beck from Colorado (thanks for helping me figure out your last name Mike), super good guy and TransIowa co-promoter, David Pals, and of course, Guitar Ted himself. It was an awesome crew to ride a hundred-plus miles of Iowa gravel with.

Tigerlillies -- Beautiful.

We were reminded of the institution of RAGBRAI on the ride. Every single time we stopped in a town, we were asked if we were either training for, or with, the famous ride, which started today in Western Iowa, and actually did pass through the area we were riding in about six days. Even though I joke about it, I think it's cool that everybody in Iowa knows about RAGBRAI, and seems to relate in a positive way to it. So hey, if that's what it takes to bring cycling to the common denominator, I give it a hearty thumbs up.

But that said, we were on a distinctly different type of adventure than RAGBRAI... One filled with adventure, beauty and most importantly, DIRT. Almost too much dirt in fact, as the B-road sections were muddy almost to the point of not being ridable. But we rode 'em and we survived.

Choose your weapon -- I choose La Cruz. For the GTDRI, my Salsa La Cruz was the perfect weapon. I was never under-geared, and never ran out of clearance in the mud. I ran a Schwalbe Marathon Cross 700x38c getto tubeless in the front, with a WTB Interwolf 700x38c getto tubeless in the rear. Both tires are wire bead, and both work great in that application. None of us had any flat issues, or bike issues for that matter, to speak of all day. That was awesome!

The end of the first B-Road section. We felt fortunate to have navigated it successfully -- it was muddy and had conditions been just a bit different, could have been disastrous.

The course started at the Hickory Hills campground near La Porte City, IA. and traveled southwest overall before coming back to the northeast. It worked the wind perfectly and took advantage of the best, curviest and most scenic roads the region had to offer. And for weather, it was a pretty darn good day, for July in Iowa. The morning started overcast, with an almost air conditioner effect with the wind. Once the clouds burned off, the temps rose to the mid-90s by mid afternoon. At least the humidity was manageable.

As Jason and I pounded out the last four miles of pavement back to the Hickory Hills campground to meet up with his wife and kids (more than an hour late, of course), I looked down just as my computer turned over 101 miles. Jason was pulling around me at 20.5 mph on a slight uphill with a 10mph headwind. Here this was a guy who, less than 24 hours earlier was telling me of his apprehension about riding his first century in more than a dozen years, and now he was absolutely killing it on the last remaining miles of the ride, leading the pack home. It was awesome to see, because I know how hard he's worked this year to be as lean, fit and strong as he is. In the end, we finished with seven and a half hours, wheels turning, which gave us 102.5 miles of gravel goodness.

Good show, Jason. Thanks for coming down and rollin' the back roads of Iowa with us. That steed you were on was swank. Can't wait to actually be able to show full pictures of it, because it'll prove how mentally invested you are in this type of rider... it'll prove you are this type of rider. Heck, anyone whose been to your blog even once knows that's the case anyway (Gnat Likes Bikes).

The singlespeed bros -- Wills, Mike and Bonsall -- had super strong rides too. Bonsall in particular was just killin' it on several occasions during the ride, most of the time on the steepest climbs. It was awesome having half the ride be homies from Lincoln as well. Major props to both of you guys -- killin' 40s, then killin' it on the climbs -- impressivo.

Dave Pals rode his sweet Salsa Casseroll, and even though its tire clearance is generous for a road bike, it's still a road bike. As a result, he ended up walking a couple of the B-road sections, but he kept a big smile on his face the entire time, and I never heard a single complaint come out of his mouth. And at the end of the day, he was still rollin' strong. Way to go brother.

Thanks to Guitar Ted for taking the time to put together an awesome course for us, and for sponsoring me during the ride when I completely forgot my wallet as we pulled out of camp! You totally saved my butt on that one, good buddy. I really appreciate it, and will not forget the favor.

After the ride, Jeff, MW, G-Ted and I rolled to La Porte City for some pizza, and then I drove back to my sister- and brother-in-law's in Des Moines (where Laura was staying) through one of the most amazing lightning storms I've ever witnessed. There were multiple ground strikes within what had to be a one mile radius of my car -- incredible! There were sparks and webs of lightning the likes of which I've never seen before. It was making the radio in our Subaru do crazy things... It was a fitting end to what was a positively electric day.

Links to other sites likely to be covering the GTDRI:

• Guitar Ted's Site
• Gnat Likes Bikes
• Gnat's GTDRI Photo Album
  

Tuesday Monkey Wrench - Ridin' the Storm Out...

Taco Hell -- Strike one for the night was the fall of MW's front wheel on Holmes Lake Dam. It was replaced and the ride resumed without incident, until we got back into town. Then the Gods unleashed their fury. Photo: Conrad

Big Bladder... Conrad catches me admiring this HUUUUUGE bladder we found on our way out of town.

Before the storm -- Rolling south out of Cheney. Woodman's off the front. EP and Clarke are the first group of two, while MW and Conrad are immediately in-front of me.

Last night's Tuesday night Monkey Wrench Ride sure had its share of calamity. It started right from the gun, when DK and MW got together on the way up the Holmes Lake Dam, and dub's front wheel got a one-way ticket to Taco Hell. After securing a replacement from Nate, we rolled south out of town through Cheney. Threatening skies (what else is new) and waning light caused us to cut our planned route to Hickman short however. As we made a bee line back into town via the Jamaica North trail, right as we got into Lincoln, all Hell Fire broke loose and we got clobbered by some gnarly rain and light hail. No, I didn't have any sort of rain jacket with me... Yeah, it was crazy. Total survival mode. In a way, it was kinda' sweet.

I took shelter at Antelope Park for a spell and ended up calling Laura to came down and pick me up. (Thank you sweetheart.) I realized my BlackBerry had gotten pretty wet, and I had gotten pretty cold, and me being the big 'ol softie I am, I figured those two factors combined were enough to call in the bailout option.

It's gonna' be a good weekend coming up. I'm headed up to Guitar Ted's Death Ride Invitational, and will be dropping Laura off in Des Moines at her sister's place on the way out. Bonsall and MW are headed out too, so that'll be fun. I'm looking forward to riding and hangin' out with good friends out there.

Solo Gravel Adventure - Rollin' Lincoln to Columbus...

5:39am, Rollin' out -- If you could actually read the display on my computer, that's what it said. But since I had so little coffee in my body at that point, I couldn't hold the camera steady enough to get a decent shot...

Sunshine on my shoulders -- Everybody should see at least one or two of these a year. By this point, I was already near Darin Schlake's place out by Branched Oak Lake. A tailwind early in the day kept my average speeds in the 17 mph range, which is great for a solo, non-race gravel ride.

THUNDER!!! -- I got to watch on the sidelines as this thunderstorm swept across the plains without spilling a drop on me. Sweet! I was riding south of Surprise, Nebraska at this point.

It sure is a Pleasant View... I found this sweet cemetery on the southern bank of the Platte Valley and had to stop to take in the view. It was just too good.

Pleasant View #2 -- Headstones dated back to the early 1800s for those I could read, and there were some that I was not able to make the words out on, suggesting to me that this was a cemetery that contained some seriously historic remains... They sure had good taste for resting places when they chose their final spot though, even back then!

Thumbs-up -- All-in-all, it was a great morning of riding, followed-up by an afternoon of food and family fun. Great stuff all around...

Laura and I had a family picnic in Humphrey, NE Sunday, so after checking the wind and finding it to be favorable, I took off at 5:30am to see if I could make it up there -- about 105 miles in total -- in time for lunch.

Though I hadn't ridden most of the gravel I used for the trip, I am very familiar with the area, so I didn't need maps for the ride. Anytime I hit a dead end, I simply took a page from Cycle Works founding father, Norm Sonderup's book and "made it work," and sure enough, in the end, it did.

While I didn't end up making it all the way to Humphrey due to time concerns, I did end up getting in a super sweet 6 hour, 85 mile ride in, during which I saw some incredible scenery, a cool thunderstorm sweeping across the plains (that didn't hit me, which made it even cooler), communities and families still recovering from recent tornadoes and flooding, and lots of assorted wildlife. It was an awesome adventure, in a distinctly Nebraska sort of way.

Cyclocross bikes, gravel roads and Nebraska adventure are sort of like peas in a pod. They all just go together. That's part of the reason my La Cruz has been getting so much play this season. The other part is that it's such a butt kicking ride, but that's fodder for another story -- this story is about the ride. And what a ride it was...

Wilderness Work, Birthday Parties, Bacon... It was a great weekend...

13 riders showed up at 6am for the Bacon Ride Sunday morning -- that's a lot for 6am, but we were treated to a beautiful tailwind-dominated ride out to Platte River State Park, and plenty of sweet bacon once we arrived...

... as evidenced by my plate. JP looks on as I dig into my first helping. I can't tell if that's a look of humor or concern for my health on his face. Don't worry buddy -- I'll ride it off.

Attack of the 8-pound wiener dog!!! Oliver and I are amused, if not the least bit scared. Image: Cornbread

Without a doubt the coolest thing we saw all day -- a B-17 Flying Fortress, at low-altitude and low-speed over Murdock, Nebraska. SWEET! The primary strategic bomber of WWII, there are only a handful of airworthy B-17s remaining today. To see one flying on a random Sunday was just amazing... Image: Cornbread

On the way home, stopping at Elmwood for snacks and supplies. Mike Madcharo was hangin' loose. Image: Cornbread

Saturday, Laura and I spent most of the day out at Wilderness Park with a big group of like-minded friends from THOR and the Friends of Wilderness Park. The recent rains and storms have left the trails out there in dire shape. Flooding, downed trees and overgrowth are the rule of the day, unfortunately. It's going to take a lot of work to get the park back, but we took our first steps towards that end this weekend. Above, a section of the bike trail North of Old Cheney that had received significant attention last year has been flooded. After putting our heads together, we made the tough call to abandon the line and reroute the trail to a higher, less flood-prone line about 20 yards to the West. The reroute gains the trail about 18 inches in elevation, which at that point in the park, is an important 18 inches. Image: Cornbread

THOR Webmaster and super good guy, Tom Winfield made the trek down from Omaha to help out with the trail work on Saturday. Thanks Tom! It was his first visit to Wilderness Park, and the fact that he got lost trying to find us spoke to our need to adopt THOR's awesome signeage system at Wilderness Park ASAP, in my opinion. The sooner the better. Ultimately, Tom found us by following his ears to the sound of JP's weed eater braaaaaping away. Image: Cornbread

Saturday night we helped Monkey Wrench Cycles' Nate Woodman celebrate his birthday with a small get together at his house. It was a super fun time, and the food (especially the cake) was absolutely incredible... I didn't have my camera with me, so no pictures, but man, thank you to everybody who was there, especially Nate and Ellie. To be the birthday boy and host the birthday party, well, that's a really nice thing to do. Thanks again.

I hope everybody reading this had a great weekend too!

Wilderness Park Trail Work This Weekend...

I found this on the Folks From Lincoln:

We're looking for volunteers to come out on Saturday and/or Sunday to help repair the damage to the trails recently dished out by Mother Nature. There are a lot of downed trees to be chainsawed, weeds to be wacked, and debris to be removed off the trail. Expect significant over growth of vegetation and lots of mosquitoes.

All those that ride the trails on a regular basis are encouraged to come out for a couple of hours to put in your trail work dues.

When: Saturday and Sunday 10 AM to 3 PM
Where: Wilderness Park - meet at the Old Cheney trailhead
What to bring: weed wackers, lopers, work gloves, insect repellent, water, and snacks

Please wear long pants and some eye wear for your protection. T.H.O.R. and the city will have release forms to sign.

Thanks!

Thank You Amigos...

Jason from Salsa sent a little "care package" back from the Sol Sessions with Nate from Monkey Wrench Cycles, and when I opened the bag I just about fell over when this gleaming gem was in there. That's no insignificant piece of metal! It could double as a dinner plate!

Thank you Jason! You really know how to make a guy feel like family.

Sweet Sol Sessions Schwag... Now I wish I was there.

Look what the Salsa Sol Sessions participants are gettin' a hold of... Man, makes me wish I was up there. As if the bikes and the riding they're doing weren't sweet enough! LOL!!! Check out the latest updates from the Sol Sessions on Salsa's Amigos Blog, on Guitar Ted's Website, on TwentyNineInches.com, or on MTBR.com.
Photo: Guitar Ted

It's Here... The Salsa Big Mama FS 29er & El Kaboing FS 26er

Photo: Guitar Ted/29Inches.com

Photo: Guitar Ted/29Inches.com

The production version of the Big Mama FS 29er - 4-inches of travel with some "special stuff" going on in the rear end. To find out more about what that special stuff is, you'll have to check back here later, after I've gotten some saddle time on my own Big Mama, which is in the cards for the (edit) not so near future, according to Jason at Salsa. Photo: Salsa Cycles

This is the bike I've been waiting for... I've been biting my tongue for more than a year, after riding prototype number two with Jason from Salsa back in mid-2007. It was really good back then, even in its formative, prototype stages, and I can't wait to see how good it's gotten since then! Check out what's shakin' at the Salsa Sol Sessions on the Salsa Amigos Blog, or on 29 Inches.com. I've been looking forward to being back on a true full suspension 29er for a long, long time, so this is going to be really good, I can tell already. This bike is one that is worth waiting for, and I know I'm not going to be sorry I did. It won't be a long wait now, I hope (Edit: Actually, due to an ultra-successful press launch at the Sol Sessions, it seems my wait may now be longer than I had thought... perhaps as late as September. :-()

New Monkey Wrench Team Kit Has Landed...

Get 'em while they're hot...

Friday afternoon, Pioneers Park... purdy good.

Check Out the Salsa Amigos Blog

The lead pack, perhaps 40 miles into the race. Photo: J. Cummins, Heartland Race Promotions

My tales from the Dirty Kanza 200 were posted on the Salsa Cycles Amigo's Blog today (Monday). Be sure to stop by and check it out.