Squirrly Hundy

Saturday Squirrel Boy got a little ride in. We'll mark that one down in the record book. Click here for pictures and story.

I haven't heard from anyone who may or may not have completed the GRAID, other than Fuller. I'll be sure and give ya'll a 'Tell All' when I hear.

GRAID Report

Steve Fuller joined a few other hardy souls for the 1st ever GRAID - Gravel Ride Across Iowa in a Day - Paul Jacobsons brain-child. Here's his report:

"Got my century in for the month. We started in Lamoni and headed north through Murray, Winterset, Adel, and Dallas Center. The other three guys contined north out of Dallas Center while I rode into Grimes. 115 miles"

Click for route

Short but sweet- we'll look for more as reports trickle in. In the mean-time, Fuller's got his March hundy in - and is still a clod carrying member of the One-A-Month Club. Go Steve, Go!

Double Metric... or one full????

We'll go with 'One Full' as Mr. BikeIowa.com is a card carrying member of the One-A-Month club on his way to a full Cup O'Dirt. Be sure to enjoy his full report on BikeIowa.com, and read on down to the bottom - where the good Mr. Sumpter talks about his quest for a coffee cup. Coffee cup??? Wha??? Coffee cup? Dude - this is no regular ol' coffee cup - this, my fuzzy faced friend, is a full on, highly caffinated, no-holds-barred, hand crafted, limited edition Cup O' Dirt! Dirt, my friend, DIRT! Dirt is what you seek - and dirt you shall find! Keep riding you sick sick man.
I can't imagine why anyone in a small-town-Iowa-bar would be scared of this guy - can you?

Easter weekend was busy- as the Nor'easters were hard at it too - Old Man Koenigsfeld was joined by Darcy Sanford for a 107 mile tour around Cedar Rapids. Norbert's 3rd and Darcy's first - welcome to the chase, Darcy! And this only 8 weeks after breaking her foot in a treking accident on her way to Everest Base Camp - You may also notice that Darcy is our first XX chaser! Way to go Darcy!


(I don't know how she broke her foot - but I thought that sounded like a great way to do it, if yer gunna anyway.)

Commute From Hell?

I figured someone would be out there this weekend- as temps were in the 40s in the middle part of the state (a bit colder up north, I hear). As of the time of this writing (Easter morn) I've heard but from one - and now I see why he's called Nev-r-est. The dude never rests!! Discipline, I say. Discipline. Based on the photo - I would consider this commute a gift from Heaven. While the gumbo and headwind made things tough - Dennis was not stuck in traffic in his gas guzzling SUV in downtown LA for 3 hours. I'll take his 3 hour commute instead! (ed note: I must say that I, myself, have the perfect commute - a 7 min walk on a trail through the woods along a creek!) Anyway - here's his report:

"This was another +60mile mock commute to work. This time I tried taking off at the required AM start time, or something near it. I have to be at work by 6AM so I should normally have to leave home by 3:30-4:00AM. Today I left at 5:20AM, I should have left at 2:00AM as it took me over three hours to get there. To sum it up: killer headwind, two flats(via rubbing a hole in the sidewall with a misadjusted brakepad), and gumbo clay. A bit chilly too. I could have avoided the gumbo and flats, the headwind I'm afraid I'm stuck with that till I build an offroad streamliner. The ride back was nice tho." The details

DG

Nvr-rest Hasn't Been Resting

Well, the Spoke Pony 6hour mtb race was postponed due to inclement weather this weekend, and I needed to go to Burlington to pick up a brake master cylinder for my car. I'm having a bit of a falling out with the automotive experience, so I decided to ride up to pick the parts up like a good practical cyclist should. Burlington is 45miles NE of me by pave, so I figured the gravel route should be pretty close to 100, and with a little backtracking it was. The quickcrete consistancy of the roads made for a love/hate relationship with my fenders. I'm tired and clean, which still beats tired and dirty, so the fenders stay.


Click here for the details

A Dirty Day For Bike Tech Riders

We still have some snow.

Dave and all, The Bike Tech Dirt Racers headed out for 100 miles of dirt in search of the coveted Cup Of Dirt by All9Yards and presented by Dave Mable. With the dirty road race canceled in the Des Moines area we decided to ride our own dirt. The weather report for Saturday was not good and roads weren't looking to be much better. Mike Johnson designed a route that took us north and east of CF to Olwein and back on many roads that we weren't familiar with.

Joining in the adventure were Kat Porter, Mike Johnson, Paul Meyerman,
Doug Keiser and John Adamson who are all getting ready for the Race to
Columbine and Back - also riding were Ron Saul, Pete Berendzen and
Robert Fry.

The weather wasn't bad - 28 to 35 degrees and cool enough to keep the
gravel firm and fast. The roads were in much better condition than any
of us anticipated - with little gravel and practically no ruts or soft
spots. We ended up with 105 miles in 8 hours going thur the towns of
Denver, Oran, Olwein, littleton, and Dunkerton.

This early in the season made for a hard day on the bike, but all of the
riders seem to be very happy with their current condition.

Paul's got a 1/4 of a 1/2 liter O' Dirt!

Saturday, Paul Jacobson was joined by Paul Varnumon a peanut butter 2 loop metric century through Boone County. The 35 degree temps have turned the Iowa into a huge slice of bread, sitting in the middle of the U. S. of A. - covered with a thick dollup of super crunchy peanut butter!

Completing the first 35 mile loop in about 3 hours was encouraging - so after sending Varnum home for a nap or whatever, and a slice of pizza, back out the door for lap two - alone, and in the opposite direction. How does it always seem that the 2nd half of these long rides are always harder than the first? Left to battle a change of wind, deep sand and endless peanut butter - Paul found himself thinking (probly saying out-loud to himself...no probly yelling it at the top of his lungs...) "I could RUN faster than this!!!" No. I've never A)talked to myself on a long lonely gravel ride or B) found the going so slow that I could get off and run faster. Nope. Never.

Anyway - after passing this contraption
he found himself back home in about 4 hours - with his 3rd gravel metric century under his belt.

All this is great prep for his GRAID - Gravel Ride Across Iowa in a Day (or 2!) scheduled for March 29th and 30th. Read all about it - and join in on the fun (?) - I've certainly been encouraging him to look at a Sept. or Oct. date... Paul???

Ride on - Peace, Dave

More and more and more and.....

OK, OK,

So Tom has a solid 3 in. He went out with Rick when I was whining about the weather. Plus he did a long lonly one in Feb, and the Squirrly hundy in Jan. So, yes, Tom, yer in the One-A-Month club already.

And Grelk - the dude's nick-name is N-ver-rest... I now see why. Click here for his latest! Looks like a fully hundy and a metric one as well - is this boy on his way to TWO Cups????

A Cold One, Anyone???

So, while I was whining about the cold and getting my zero ride in on Saturday, it seems as though Blackford and Anderson saw the temps as a benefit - not a detriment. You see, the cold weather freezes what had become a mushy road surface - making it ride like concrete - they took advantage of the conditions and nailed a hundy.

Good job gentlemen.

Just so I can save a little face - I did get out on a ride on Sunday. OK - not quite a hundred, but who can argue with the company?!??

Happy Cup'ster

This guy gets twice the coffee as those who got the Cup O'Mississippi Mud, right?

Way to go GPickle!!!

Frostbike Frenzy Ride Today

Today I'm inviting everyone on one of those 'Ride The Temp' rides - you know when your ride, in miles, the temp.

OK - Ready?

GO!

Done.

There - zero ain't so hard, now is it? Let's go get a cup of coffee.

Send my your pics from todays ride.

Dave

This Dude Should Get A Cup.....