A Throwdown For The Rest Of Us!

(this text taken straight from Squirrels blogger - enjoy!)
Dennis Grelk, Scott Sumptner, Tom Anderson, Steve Fuller and I (Squirrel) headed out at 8am for a days ride. 3 geared rigs,one single,and one fixie. Yes Scott Sumpter road his 26'r fixie. We left thee house with temps in the low teens....knowing by afternoon we'd be in for warmer temps around the 30's. Our first stop would be Booneville a quick 5min. break...I think Dennis put some toe warmers in. Then it was off to Winterset...we arrived there at 10:50am....rolled up to Kum&Go for some snacks....and albe damned if they weren't giving away breakfast sandwiches....SAWHEAT! Throw down our goods and its 25miles to thee next stop of St. Charles....on our way here Fuller some how lost one of his rear break pads but this would be the least of his problems later on in the ride. This would also be the rides first unrideable section for me, we hit this level B road that has deep snow and a hill that seemed to go on for ever at an incredible incline. Grelk and Fuller road to the top...while Sumptner, Anderson and I walked it...was a nice break for the legs. A few more miles and we're at another Kum& Go throwing down more viddles. Tom was planning his departure from the group....we would not let him go....the wind out of the west was kicking all of our asses and Tommy boy wasn't going to get off easy. We ended up talking him into staying on....he seemed to be glad he did. Not far after leaving St. Charles.... Fuller would have another problem....blew his rear der cable housing to pieces right by the steer tube....resulting in no shifting....he was now a single speed. After adjusting the der to keep him in the middle of his cassette we boogied on towards are next destination of thee Cummings Tap:) But not before the rides wildest episode yet....Fuller and I are flying down the huge hill that takes you to thee Holliwill Covered bridge in Madison county. Almost to thee bottom some trucks are coming up at us when all of a sudden outta no where 20 deer bolt from this yard and right into our path.....Fuller and I lock'm up sliding wildly in disbelief as one doe literally a foot in front of us just misses us and thee lead truck coming up the hill.....that was crazy. Just after that it was off the bike for the second time too walk a huge hill. As soon as we hit Warren st. this road is full of rollers...and steep ones at that....it was 7 miles to hwy G14 and another 1.5 miles to the tap.....Dennis flew off the front with me in tow.....then the next thing I know is our other brothers are no where in site....they had maps...we all knew we were stopping at thee Tap...so I just kept plugging along. Rolled right past John Krantz place...he just happen to be outside...so I bs'd it a bit thinking I might see them boyz....nope...so I rolled on. Dennis sat waiting at thee intersection on Warren st and G14 it was getting dark and our sweaty clothes were starting to get a little chilly....we boogied it to the pub. Once there phone calls were made to see if them boyz were alright...all was good...Tom had made the call....he was done with riding outdoors...his wife picked him up with 97 miles in him. He said he was going home and spinning the other 3 miles to get his hundy....Great ride Tom even if you didn't do the whole 110 route....next time we're taking your phone away:) Steve and Scott made it to the tap 15 minutes later. Austin Gill, Molly, Kramer and other mates were in the pub drinking from a long day of ice fishing....funny walking in there and knowing most of the patrons. It was very good company. Thanks for the beer Austin...I appreciate it. 2 beers, a change of clothes and back on the road....we made it home at 8pm with a ride time of 9hrs 40mins and 110miles of smiles:) Thanks for coming out guys....planning Februarys ride for a cold weekend....I'm not ready to ride in the sloshy shit till May:)

Hurray!

The Cups are DONE! I'll be picking them up on Friday Jan. 25, boxing this weekend and mailing on Monday! Hurray!

Now - Get out there and RIDE!

C - R - A - Z - Y

Triple D....I'm tellin' ya - I really can not believe that some folks actually finished this thing, -6 at the start, -9 at the finish... yes folks...actual temperature. 30 below windchill.

Next time you are out - throw this question out there and just see who responds:
"Hey, It's negative 6, let's all go for a bike ride - who's up? Oh... where? How about on an ungroomed trail through the snow for some 60+ miles?"

My guess - you won't have many takers - and those that do... well... crazy - crazy and tough!

An ambitous Mr. Grelk took Lance Andre up on his challenge - and, after nine and a half hours of pushing his bike through the snow, wind and brutally cold temps - was the 4th and final finisher of the first Triple D Adventure Race.

Read all about the race here

Dennis' own experience is behind this click

A hearty congratulations to Dennis, Ben, Joel and Josh for finishing the grueling event - as well as the 40 others who pushed off from the starting line - and Dennis, welcome to the chase for a Cup!

Don't forget the Squirrley 100 this weekend

PS - Still waiting for the cups to come from the potter - They are busy filling post Christmas orders - and the Cups really should be done any day now!

OK - We'll Let Him In!

Dang good thing I ordered an extra Cup! This dude deserves one!

Great Divide Race Results

Matthew Lee of North Carolina takes the cake - (sorry Gpickle!) - with 41 'hungas' as he calls em down south - I'd say he should have his own Cup O'Dirt!

Not only did he complete the 2480 mile Great Divide Race, but finished 2nd in a time of 15 days, 22 hours and 40 minutes! All that distance and he was a scant 22 minutes behind winner Jay Petervary! The equivilant of a SPRINT FINISH!!!!

The Great Divide Race is a solo, self-supported race from the Port of Rooseville Montana to Antelope Wells, New Mexico. You must follow the 85% dirt (mostly gravel, but a little singletrack for fun) route, restocking in towns along the way. Racers are required to phone in their locations from certain towns as they pass through. Racers are also given a 24 day limit in which to finish the cross country route through the mountains.

Matthew - It is an honor to be able to present you with a Cup O' Dirt - I'm sure I speak for all dirty Iowans - in giving you a hearty congratulations and a belated welcome to the Chase!

Speaking of that - I'll need each of your land address' - Cups don't travel well through cyber-space! email me at dmable@juno.com

Peace! Dave

Final Tally

Well, I recieved no last minute emails from anyone who nailed a bunch of centurys in the final days of December, so the tally is this

GPickle - Steve Goetzelman - 12 Our only Cup O' Dirt earner! Steve will soon be sipping his morning coffe from his hard earned Cup while sportin' his sweet shades, compliments of Oakley and Rob Versteegh! Congratulations to Steve on his dirty year!

John Adamson - 7 Dirty Hundys - John was the first to attain the Cup O'Mississippi Mud (a watered down version of the Cup). An impressive feat, considering only one of those hundys was during a race.

Matt Maxwell - 7... and he didn't even know it - I hope he enjoys sipping from said Cup up at Skunk River Cycles!

Paul Jacobson - 6.95 - a few short miles shy of 7. Congrats on nailing that final hundy to earn your Mississippi Mud!

Mike Johnson - 6 - Mike logged lots of miles with Adamson to earn his Cup O' Mud - well earned and in good company!

The next closest were Cully Todd and yours truely - Dave Mable - with 4. So close... I dare say a Fall marathon made logging those last few tougher than I expected.. Cully - what's your excuse!?!?

The Cups, and thier respective contents will be on their way to your homes in short order - I hope you enjoy them and drink from them proudly!

In retrospect - I look back at this crazy idea - and I'm glad I did it. (only sorry not to earn a Cup!) It was fun to read about peoples quest for the cup - the dogs, mud, snow, heat, hills, rain, flats.... so many memories! I'd like to thank everyone for playing along!

It's January! Time to start logging those hundys again! Yep - we'll do it again - but with a change or two.
1. Log a dirty century (or metric century) each month for a special prize!
2. Log 12 dirty centuries for a Cup O' Dirt
3. Log 12 Metric dirty centuries for a Cup O' Mississippi Mud (hey, it's about 750 miles, pretty dern close to a half a dozen centuries!)
4. Log 6 dirty centuries for a Cup O' Mississippi Mud!

Remember, 80/100 miles (or kilometers) need to be on dirt/rock/grass.

You've got 364 days to log them - you get a bonus day this year due to Leap Year! You've got a great opportunity on Januray 19th at the Triple D race in Dubuque - I know it's officially 2 miles short of a metric century, but because it's in the snow - I'll give anyone who completes it full credit for a metric! (don't ever say I gave ya nuthin'!)

And as always - follow along right here as folks start logging thier rides!

Peace - Dave