Att'a Boy!

"Mr D. Mable,

Well once again you have been an inspiration to me to go past my "norm" "What will you do? What will you do?" Had the day off to ride. Rode 40 miles out from house on Trek XO2 riding gravel and dirt trail. Realizing that I had 40 miles to get home, making it 80 miles. Made it home, had a coffee and some home made breads for carbs. Back on the bike again, back to the "trails" for another 20. That would be my 4th life time 100 miler ever. The previous three were 12 years ago on pavement, younger man, on a road bike. Feels good. Hope do some more. Had great energy levels today, it has been 2 weeks since my last metric.
Thanks again
Dave Giegerich"

Way to go Dave! And best of luck to all those taking on the back roads of the Flint Hills of Kansas this weekend! May the wind be at your back, and your bikes behave flawlessly!

- Dave

New guy... and I love the title of his most recent blog post!

Dave,

My name is Drew Miller and I live in Buena Vista, CO. I'd like to throw my hat in the ring for this thing. I've got two metrics this year so far:

12 Hours of Mesa Verde: 80 Miles all dirt (mostly singletrack)
Original Growler: 65 Miles (60 on dirt)

My blog site is www.millersmile.blogspot.com.

I'll let you know when I have pics/updates for you to post.

Cool idea...Thanks for doing this!

Drew

Some New Players! (and Dave G & Shockey get a Mug!)

All kinds of going's on this month, kids. Where do I even start?

Well, for one, David G. nailed his 12th metric to earn his 1/2 Litor O' Dirt! Congratulations Dave... there's alot of year left! What will you do? What will you do?!

Shockey's got his 1/2 Liter O' Dirt too - with 9 metrics and 3 full centuries - that's a total of 12 - unless, of course, he wants to separate them and get the 1/2 Liter AND either some Mud or go for a full Cup! (???)

Fuller completed the Almanzo 100, getting a full century in as he continues his preparation for the Dirty Kanza (a 200 mile beauty in the Flint Hills of Kansas. Kansas ain't flat, Dorothy!)

Rick Blackford is back at it- actually enjoying the CIRREM course in the warmth of May! (Hmmm - now THERE'S and idea, Jed)

And O'l Robert Campbell has rejoined the chase: Read up on his report:

"Hello!

It's been a long time since I first attempted this way back on
January 31st. Yesterday, it all started when I changed my front
rubber from knobby trail thing to Vulpine gravel thing. The mercury
was nudging north to the eighties for the first time all year, and it
would be in the nineties before the day was done. I had no idea I
would ride sixty-two miles before it was over, and while there were
lengthy stops for various good reasons, in a stretch of twelve hours
with various other tasks thrown in, I'd logged 64.5 miles,
predominantly gravel even when I had to ride the shoulder...

here's the write-up, you decide if it qualifies for my first:

http://bandersandbruises.blogspot.com/

I figure I had ten blacktop miles; six during the first stretch when
I didn't know I was started a dirty 100km, and four more in/around
town the few times I needed to start/do another loop after eating,
meeting friends, etc. It could have pushed twelve, not sure.

Robert Campbell"

Matt Maxwell is adding to his quest - with a whole bunch o' riding during the Trans-Iowa weekend and a couple O' others, he's added 2 metrics and a full to his tally - and he's on his way to Dirty Kanza next weekend too -

And finally, Joe Meiser, of Trans-Iowa fame, has thrown his hat into the ring.. read his report and watch for his stories about the GDR in June. All goes well, he'll have a few Cups under his belt by June 30th!

"Dave,

What a great idea! I'd love to get in on this. I'm up to 5 so far
including: Ragnarok, Almanzo, and TransIowa (How many for this event?
I assumed 3). I'm fairly certain I'll hit the quota. I head for
Banff and the Tour Divide on the 10th of June!

Joe"

Yes, Joe - I, too, am fairly certain you'll hit the quota!

So, what'r you all chasing? I dunno - why don't you ask the poor schmucks who chased these Cups down last year? After all, they'll be sipping some sweet coffee from their hard earned mugs shortly... assuming, of course, they re-send me their shipping address - dave@bikeworldiowa.com (Cups are done and will be shipped asap!)

Keep riding!

Peace - Dave

I'm Back... Finally!

Sorry for the dirth of postings - time has been unkind to me lately.. anyway - Your centuries have not gone un-noticed - and you all have been racking them up like cord-wood in the fine Spring weather we've been having!

Most notably, Cup Chasers Paul Jacobson, Ben Shockey and Steve Fuller toe'd the line at Trans-Iowa last weekend for a glorious 300plus mile non-stop dirt-fest. Shockey never quit pedaling for the entire event - and as such, became the 2nd person to finsih the event on a fixed gear bike. Crazy.

Paul Jacobson stuck out the hills, headwinds and dark of night to become the 15th and final finisher of this years event. He must have liked it... "Dave, you really need to sign up for TI. It rocked this year!" Paul

Steve Fuller found his way to the check point at 150 and and was done. Luckily, that counts for 2 metrics - so his efforts were not in vain - that and the fact that he's signed up for the Almanzo 100 and Dirty Kanza, both later this month. (Note to self: If Fuller asks if I wanna go for a ride, say 'no' cuz it will be an 8 hour gravel ride.... and a short day for him!)

Congrats to all who dared toe the line at this annual ritual called Trans-Iowa. With Pauls urging... maybe I will rethink my "NEVER AGAIN" attitude and get up the guts to sign up for next years event... maybe. (Hey Guitar... can you guarantee no rain next year??? I still have nightmare from TI2!!)

Meanwhile, David Gie has been just enjoying the dirty trails in NE Iowa and has posted another 3 metrics since our last update. I tell ya - when this dude applies for a job with any of you readers out there - hire him. When he decides he's gunna do something... he does it!!!

In central Iowa, Tim B. got to it at the end of April, " A combination of drizzle, rain, mud, wind and soft gravel made for a very long day. I finally got home with 110 km." - A long day indeed.


Down south, Mr. Rienka got some riding in - here's his note:

Dave,

Yesterday, (April 28) I got in another Dirty Metric. I'm still chasing that "real" century, but had to get creative just to get in 62 miles.

I took off from Chillicothe, Mo and headed mostly north. I didn't get started until after school let out, so I knew I needed my lights. When it got dark, and I still had 40+ miles to go, I just kept riding back and forth on a 6 mile strech until I had enough to head home. I was a little worried about getting too far from home.

I probably confused the dogs on that strech because not only did I do an out-and-back, I did an out-and-back, out-and-back and out-and-back. They seemed pretty organized on my last pass.

I finished after 10:30 PM. My speed was 11.7 MPH and my overall milage was 64 miles.

Have a great day!

Tim Riekena
Chillicothe, MO

Keep up the riding - I appreciate your efforts and stories!
And I promise the Cups are on thier way!!!!

Peace - Dave