1200 Miles & a Cup O' Dirt & a little Mississippi Mud!

Take the year long challenge of completing a dozen or half a dozen dirty centuries and join the fun in December! Everybody who completes this challenge will be rewarded with a custom hand-made stoneware mug as well as be in a drawing for other prizes. Read the FAQ for details, and welcome to the fun!

I've increased the fun to give some more folks a shot at the cup - a bit 'watered down' - We'll have the 1200 Mile Cup O' Dirt and a 600 Mile Cup O' Mississippi Mud and new in 2008 is the 1/2 Liter O' Dirt - earned by completing 12 metric centuries in the year! A special award will be presented to anyone completing either a dirty century or metric century in each month of the year.

Thursday, January 01, 2009

One-A-Month!

In January, 6 began a journey that only one could finish.

It took discipline, patience, commitment, perseverance and time, lots and lots of time!

My hearty congratulations goes out to Mr. Iowa Griz, Tom Anderson, for completing a dirty century each month of 2008. It took several tries in December, but on the last day, with only 17 hours of the year left, he ventured out into a cold and windy Iowa day for his last 100 miler of the year. (maybe ever??!!)

I don't have details of his ride yet - but I do know his toes were cold. Maybe he'll be kind enough to send us a little report of his day, and perhaps a reflection on the year. Suffice it to say, that he's gunna have some stories for the grand-kids from his monthly 100mile jaunts in 2008!

This little Cup O' Dirt thing has been interesting to watch - I've been surprised and a bit amazed at the lengths that chasers have gone to earn a Cup. From Dave G. simply deciding to start riding just to get the Half Liter O' Dirt, and ending up buying a new cross bike and completing 18 metric centuries, to Matt and Nick nailing a 200 mile ride to get their last 2 centuries in... and of course, Mr. Grelk earning all 3 Cups so his friends and neighbors will have a nice mug to drink from when they stop over for a cup o' joe.

I've enjoyed the fact that you crazy folks have taken it seriously - seriously enough to go out of your way to earn some form of the Cup. It's pretty cool, actually. I will be the first to attest that earning a Cup - any Cup - is a difficult challenge, an endeavor that takes a real commitment. You don't just "happen to earn" a Cup. You must seek the cup. (a little Monte Python here?)

Again - congratulations to all the folks that got in the miles - I believe there are 12 of you earning 15 Cups. (though it's not too late to submit rides... the deadline for completing the rides is December 31... the deadline for submitting rides is, well, before I place the final order!)If you look at the list and are not on it, and should be - just let me know. I've done this whole thing on the honor system, so I trust ya!

I'm going to continue this little challenge - and, as today is the 1st of January, it's a great day for you to decide. You've got 365 days to get in a dozen rides... that doesn't sound so bad, does it? Take the challenge. See if you've got what it takes for the Cup O' Dirt!

Peace - Dave

3 comments:

MrDaveyGie said...

Dave,
Thanks for creating the challenge. I sure enjoyed every minute of the "dirt" and the new bike. After the snow hit Iowa, I picked up a used mountain bike to keep riding. See blog http://mrdaveygie.blogspot.com/
I look forward to selecting new levels of "cup" challenges this year.
Happy New Year and happy rides.
Dave Giegerich

Steve Fuller said...

I never knew pain, until I pedaled down this particular path. Sitting back and giving this next year some thought.

gpickle said...

Way to be,

I raise this mornings cup o' dirt o' coffee to y'all who earned 1 to 3 this past year.

It has been nice sitting around in my pj's over the holiday and reading about you being out there, somewhere, on the cold and windswept wonder that is Iowa in late December.