1200 Miles & a Cup 'O Dirt

The latest update (not including 2010)

2010-01-22T18:49:00.004-06:00

So, here's what I got so far:

Nick Wethington; 18 full, 12 Metric
Tim Riekena, 12 Metric
Dave Giegerich, 48 Metric, 6 full
Joe Meiser, 23 full
Matt Maxwell, 10 full
Drew Wilson, 12 metric
Steve Fuller, 6 full
Dave Mable, 0. Zip. Nada. None. Nuthin.
Ben Shockey 14 metric 4 full.

If ya want on the board, you have till 1/29 - then I'm ordering the Cups!

I'll be presenting the 2009 Cups and remaining 2008 Cups at CIRREM (2/27) Ya hear that Grelk? :)

Thanks for playing - and thanks to those sending some cash-ola! I totally appreciate it!! I'll be posting the 2010 chasers here: http://thecupodirt.blogspot.com/

Peace - Dave

Drew Wilson's 1/2 Liter O' Dirt!

2010-01-14T11:28:00.000-06:00

Last year I went on an early season, April, training ride with a large group in which I logged about 65 miles. It took virtually all day because of stops and "no-drop". That ride started in Cannon Falls and swooped over to the Red Wing area and back.

I rode the Almanzoo (104 miles)

I rode back and forth to my parent's place (they live in Red Wing and I'm in Rochester) 3 round trips in April and May as well (approximately 68 miles on 90% gravel). One of those weekends I also got in a 70 mile, mostly gravel, ride that took me into the hilly part of Wisconsin just across the river. That part of Wisconsin is some of the best gravel I've had a chance to ride... All together that is 7 more metric centuries (3 of them back to back to back)

I took a long time off from the distance riding and focused on my xc racing in late spring/early summer.

I raced in the Salsa 2-4 in the 8 hr class. Made 10 laps and had a total mileage for the day of 68 brutal miles.

I rode down from my house to the start of the Almanzo Gentleman's ride and then to the 62 mile checkpoint before getting a ride home (had other responsibilities). Total mileage there was about 70 miles, again with plenty of it on gravel.

I rode the Heck of the North. What a fun race! and a milestone in my training. At that point I was very proud of staying with the lead group! 100+ more miles of gravel.

I got 3 more metric centuries in during the late fall on rides where I went out backwards on the Almanzo course and other gravel behind my house.

I guess that's 13 metrics and 2 full centuries (would have been a lot more if I hadn't put in so many lonely days on real roads prior to selling my road bike in August)

As I already emailed- I have two metrics on snow already in this year as are detailed in my blog. I intend to try for the full Almanzo course this Saturday. My goal for the year is to be 30 metrics and 14 fulls. I wasn't aware of the "cup" until just recently, but it's already helped me to push myself just a little bit further on a couple of brutal winter rides. Thanks for doing this, hope I can inspire others-- keep in mind that I couldn't ride 30 miles on pavement on a road bike 18 months ago.

thanks

-Drew

Cup O' The Day, Matt Maxwell

2010-01-07T11:14:00.001-06:00

Dave,
If it isn't too late here are the dirty century rides I got in this year. I don't remember dates, but I do have vague memories of each of them.

1 To Eldora & Back
2 Des Moines River with Wade
3 To Cedar Rapids (135)
4 Dirty Kansa (140)
5 Crash on Y Camp
6 On the Pugsley
7 GRAID
8 GRAID (245 in 23 hours)
9 Ames to Cedar Falls
10 Cedar Falls to Ames

I'm pretty sure I did about six metrics as well, but who's counting...

Matt Maxwell

Cups O' The Day - Joe Meiser

2010-01-04T21:15:00.004-06:00

This is a pic of Matt Gersib - who blogged about Joe once and rides a bike. Plus, he's sportin' a sweet pair of Oakleys.

Dirty ol' Joe - what's this I hear of you nailing the Cup O' Dirt in 21 days, 10 hours and 34 minutes? Oh, not just the Cup O' Dirt, but the Cup O' Mississippi Mud as well, as you've finished the 2300 mile Tour Divide Race on your #1 rated Salsa Fargo? Impressive! And for that, you've earned yourself a Cup O' Dirt! Congrats and thanks for playing! - Dave

"The GDMBR is the world's longest off-pavement cycling route. It's highlighted by long dirt roads and jeep trails that wend their way through forgotten passes of the Continental Divide. The Route travels through Canadian Provinces of Alberta and British Columbia, and the United States of Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico. By Route's end a thru-rider will climb nearly 200,000 feet of vertical (equivalent to summiting Mount Everest from sea-level 7 times)." Visithttp://tourdivide.org/ if you're so inclined.

Cup O' The Day: David Giegerich

2010-01-02T10:27:00.002-06:00

Hi Dave,
Hmmm How would I summarize the year? Let's see. "Lots and lots of bicycling and enjoyed every minute of it."

I have to blame some my craziness on Dave Mable. Yeap. Fall of 2007 I stumbled on the Cup O'Dirt blog. Spring of 2008 arrived and I modified my old road bike to ride dirt trails. After 12 metrics and realizing my addiction I purchased a Trek XO2, and banged out another 6 for 2008. After some snow riding I was chomping at the bit in 09to get started again. So 48 metric centuries and 6 full ones later, I wrap up 2009. I love it.

So now I ride year round, bought a Trek 6700 with Nokian studs, and as a matter of fact I rode 40 miles today (12/30/09)on snow mobile trails and I am entered in Triple D. Good grief.

It's been a good and/or crazy year. Maybe next year I can get one in once a month too. The snow is a killa.

March 22nd 1st Metric Century
March 30th 2nd Metric Century
April 3rd 3rd Metric Century
April 8th 4th Metric Century
April 11th 5th Metric Century
April 16th 6th Metric Century
April 22nd 7th Metric Century
April 29th 8th Metric Century
May 3rd 9th Metric Century
May 8th 10th Metric Century
May 10th 11th Metric Century
May 14th 12th Metric Century
May 28th 1st 100 Miler
May 31st 13th Metric Century
June 3rd 14th Metric Century
June 11th 2nd 100 Miler
Knee goes out one me
July 5th 15th Metric Century
July 11th 16th Metric Century
July 12th 17th Metric Century
July 14th 18th Metric Century
July 18th 3rd 100 Miler
July 24th 19th Metric Century
July 26th 20th Metric Century
July 31st 21st Metric Century
Aug 2nd 2nd Metric Century
Aug 6th 23rd Metric Century
Aug 9th 24th Metric Century
Aug 12th 25th Metric Century
Aug 23rd 4th 100 Miler
Aug 30th 26th Metric Century
Sept 2nd 5th 100 Miler
Sept 23rd 6th 100 Miler
Sept 6th 27th Metric Century
Sept 13th 28th Metric Century
Sept 19th 29th Metric Century
Sept 30th 30th Metric Century
APPENDECOMY
Oct 19th 31st Metric Century
Oct 20th 32nd Metric Century
Oct 21st 33rd Metric Century
Oct 31st 34th Metric Century
Nov 1st 35th Metric Century
Nov 7th 36th Metric Century
Nov 8th 37th Metric Century
Nov 14th 38th Metric Century
Nov 15th 39th Metric Century
Nov 16th 40th Metric Century
Nov 21st 41st Metric Century
Nov 22nd 42nd Metric Century
Nov 27th 43rd Metric Century
Nov 28th 44th Metric Century
Nov 29th 45th Metric Century
Dec 2nd 46th Metric Century
Dec 5th 47th Metric Century
Dec 26th 48th Metric Century

Way to go Dave! You've come a long way in a short time - You are motivation for the rest of us! Keep ridin'!

Cup O' The Day - Tim Riekena's Chase

2009-12-31T11:22:00.001-06:00

Dave,

While my North Missouri riding weather is usually milder than Iowa's (and I should know since I grew up in Iowa Indianola HS-1977), getting in all 12 metrics has been a journey in itself. I have a lot of respect for you guys/gals up north.

From icy gravel to eating hot July dust, this challenge has been a blast. It's taken me all over North Missouri, and then some.

I never got in a true century which was disappointing, but I guess that's why we make goals.

Last July, I got in two metrics, which ended up being a good thing. During my cross
country season (I coach) I was diagnosed with a hernia. The doctor said he would do the procedure after the season was over. So, in November, two days after I rode my 12th metric, I had the procedure. Recovery was stupid slow, still is. I had my 12 metrics, but I was hoping to get in one every month (December). Time was running out.

I've had a few days off during Christmas Break and started thinking about trying to get the December one in. Local riders have told nothing but horror stories about our icy gravel we currently have. One buddy actually went to the doctor concerning injuries he sustained while riding our gravel. I didn't think trying to ride 62 miles on local icy gravel was a good idea. The last thing I wanted to do was crash and re-injure the hernia thingy.

Yesterday, I loaded up the bike and drove south. I went to the KATY trail down by the Missouri River. The KATY is a flat, 220+ mile crushed limestone trail. They had less snow there, but enough to make me to pull the plug.

The first 10 miles took me well over an hour... plus a lot of effort. I couldn't believe what was happening. Where I wasn't plowing through 2 inches of crusty snow, I would be on soft sandy-type gravel. The freeze/thaw cycle had already hit the surface making it like riding through sand. There was nothing easy about it. Surface conditions, plus the fact that I hadn't ridden in 7 weeks, took its toll. I got in another 8 miles and realized I wasn't' going to make it back to the truck if I kept going.

So I turned around. I think my total was around 36 miles. I'm glad I had the 12 metrics in, but I really wanted to get in that December one.

Since I've been riding MTBs, I've had a few DNF's due to equipment failure, or not making a cutoff time, but never have I had to DNF myself. Still, it was strangely one of my best rides. I saw awesome scenery, a bunch of bald eagles, zero cars, truck or tractors, and only a handful of people. When I rode up to the truck, I was much more tired than any other metric I've done.

Like they say, even a bad day on the bike is better than not riding.

Thanks again for putting on this challenge. I hope to get up to your CIRREM event...surly my hernia thingy will be totally mended.

Tim Riekena
Chillicothe, MO

"None are so old as those who have outlived enthusiasm."
Henry David Thoreau

Cup O'the Day - Nick Wethington's Pursuit.

2009-12-29T16:01:00.002-06:00

Dave,

Well, I set out at the beginning of this year with a dream of finishing all three of the available cups. My first ride for the cup was a long, single-speed slog out in hills of the Des Moines River valley, and the last one was at the Tuscobia Ultra, a 75-mile haul on nice loose snowmobile trail. I rolled over that last qualifying mile in the dark somewhere near Park Falls, Wisconsin, and it was quite a moment to realize that I had just finished my dream. So, yeah, that makes 12 metrics and 18 full dirty rides!

For posterity (and to remember how many I'd done), I kept a record of all the qualifying rides and their dates. Here's that for you:

January 18th - 62 miles
February 2nd - 135 miles
February 15th - 62 miles
February 22nd - 100 miles
March 8th - 62 miles
March 15th - 100 miles
March 29th - 115 miles
May 31st - 100 miles
June 11th - 62 miles
July 9th - 65 miles
July 13th - 110 miles - 6 Full
July 20th - 105 miles
July 27th - 100 miles
August 3rd - 165 miles - 6 Metric
August 9th - 100 miles
August 16th - 115 miles
September 17th - 65 miles
September 27th - 104 miles - 12 Full!
October 4th - 62 miles
October 17th - 210 miles
October 25th - 100 miles
November 1st - 65 miles
November 14th - 103miles
November 15th - 103 miles
November 29th - 63 miles
December 6th - 100 miles - 18 full centuries!
December 12th - 65 miles
December 19th - 78 miles - 12 Metrics!

I'd really like to receive all three cups, but I know that you're doing this all out of your own pocket and the kindness of your own heart, so let me know how much those cups cost and I will gladly tip you a few bucks to cover the cost of my three.

Thanks for putting this on - it really pushed me to add a lot more miles to my rides than I would have, and travel to some places that I normally wouldn't see. Plus, it was great training for my winter bike racing season.

~Nick Wethington

Ed: ROCK IT OUT NICK! Glad you enjoyed the chase - congratulations!

3 cups will be ordered (and delivered randomly throughout the year, right Grelk? #2 is here....) - or handed out at CIRREM?!?

And to the rest of you - watch for a new Cup O' The Day daily (or mostly, I hope!)

It may be quiet... but I am watching!

2009-12-23T14:32:00.002-06:00

So, send my your stuff - Cups will be ordered by mid Jan - and presented in the snow and rain at CIRREM!

dave@bikeworldiowa.com

Peace! - Dave

18?! At one time?!? Are You CRAZY?

2009-08-06T10:40:00.003-05:00

Yep.

Here's a little note from Joe Meiser - Trans-Iowa veteran... and now Trans United-freakin-States-via-the-freakin-Continental-Divide veteran - congrats Joe! Dave,

Completed the Tour Divide Race on July 3rd. It's hard to say how many
centuries were in there for the 21.5 days that I rode. I know there
were at least three days under 100 miles, somewhere in the 50-85 mile
range. So I'll call it 18 centuries for the whole event, most of them
120+ mile days with some in the 140+ and three 170+ days. I guess I've
hit the goal...

Photos and info here: www.eojmeiser.blogspot.com

Feel free to use/post any of the Flickr photos that can be accesed via
the sidebar on my blog.

Thanks for putting this good fun on!

Joe

And this is from Nick in Ames:

Dave,

I saw you updated the site. It's good to know that there are other
crazy people out there trying for the cup! I did a sweet 165 miles on
Sunday last, riding up to Mallard, Iowa to see some family, then back
down to Humboldt along part of the Three Rivers trail. My girlfriend
thankfully picked me up in Humboldt so I didn't have to camp, but it
was a gorgeous day for such a long ride. That puts me at 9 full and 6
metric, exactly halfway for my projected three cup goal. I'm hoping
to get a full at the 24-hour race this year. Are you gonna be there
again for the fun? (maybe!-ed)

~Nick

July Cup' Dates

2009-08-01T05:42:00.002-05:00

I've been lurking - reading your email entries - and waiting for a little computer time to update the site - and as that little ride across Iowa came and went - I decided to do a cumulative update for July -there's been alot of riding going on!

Nick Wethington is A) enjoying his Cup (read on)and B) enjoying his bike. He's now racked up 8 full and 5 metric centuries - and only has a little road rash to show for it! He's been riding with Matt Maxwell and the two are exploring every dirty little nook and cranny of Story and Boone counties!

Dave,

Well, I just got my 2008 cup, and let me tell you, coffee tastes much
better from a mug earned than one bought. It's also inspired me to
continue my quest for at least two but hopefully three cups in 2009.
I got another century in three weeks ago. I rode out to Seven Oaks
from Ames, met up with some friends there and did a lap, then rode
back, switched to my gravel bike and rode down to Big Creek. I took a
short nap at Big Creek by the lake, then rode back to Ames to get
about 102 miles. It seemed more like a series of shorter rides than a
century, and the nap in the middle made it feel like little work at
all! I've also done two metrics since I last wrote, so that puts me
at 5 full and 5 metric. Now that summer is in full swing I expect to
get a few more under my belt before the weather turns cold again.
Thanks, as always, for inspiring to ride just a little bit more.

~Nick Wethington

From our friend in Mizzou: (this is an early entry - but I liked the story!)

Dave,

Put me down for another metric.

Last Saturday I raced in the Lumberjack 100, except for me it ended up the Lumberjack 50. I broke not one, but two spokes on my second 25-mile lap. I decided to DNF the race, but was still able to get in a total of 62 miles by riding service roads in the park. Plus I had five hours to kill waiting for by buddies to finish.

This wasn't the century I was looking for, but it was the most fun so far.

Have a great day,

Tim Riekena
Chillicothe, MO

And from Colorado, as Drew prepares to battle a 'race ready' Lance Armstrong:

Did my third metric of the year last Friday....a pre-ride on the Leadville 100 course from Leadville to Twin Lakes Dam and back. Eighty miles total, but 10-15 on pavement. A legit 62 or more on the dirt though...will try to post to my blog soon!?

Did it solo in about 7.5 hours....too bad those fast guys do the whole hundred in that time or less! Rain threatened most of the day but never materialized in any major way. Should be stacking them up with a bit more regularity through the rest of the year between events and training.

Hope everyone is well in Dirty Cup land. Would love the opportunity to hook up at Cheq if the schedules permit!

Drew Miller
Buena Vista, CO

And Pete Lira is knocking off centuries left and right down in the heat and hills of Kansas:

Hey Dave,

Had some great fun this weekend in Madison Kansas. The Flint hills Deathride was 81 mile this year. What is great about this ride is that it is different each year. This was my 6th trip down and I still found myself on new gravel.

Pete Lira

Up in NE Iowa - David G is cranking out mile after mile - and kilometer after kilometer - he's up to 20 metrics this year - I'm so proud of that boy!!!!

Ben Shocky isn't asleep either - as he's taking advantage of a broken frame and getting a full hundy in. (what? His race bike broke - so he decided to ride a long gravel ride since he couldn't race... - We're sorry to hear about your bike!)

And a whole group from Des Moines had fun on the chase:

Dave,

Congrats on the tri yesterday! Still, you missed out on a pretty fun ride. Sedore, Oakley Rob, Kurt Benson, Fuller, Joe from BW West, and myself took off from Legends on 60th and Ashworth and the crack of dark Saturday night which equates to roughly 10:20 PM after some food and liquid fueling. Heading west on EP True we went baja style riding through the dead end past Jordan Creek and eventually worked our way down to Booneville road and over to Booneville proper by 11. We briefly debated the first beer stop of the evening, but eventually bypassed the Waveland in favor of heading to the Cumming Tap for our first round of the evening. We hit the tap somewhere need midnight and split a pitcher between us while Kurt also thought it was necessary to bolster our spirits with a round of Red Bulls as well. Most everyone chugged theirs down, but I wisely packed away that gem for a later pick me up.

From Cumming we decided to try for last call in Martensdale. A mile or so out of town we had our first flat of the evening on Joe’s trusty La Cruz. Now here’s how you can tell you’re in Iowa. Here we were at 1ish in the morning, a group of 6 guys standing around working on a bike and 2 separate cars happened to roll by, both checking to make sure we were good to go and offering to shine their headlights on the situation to help. We got the flat repaired in time to make last call. After another pitched split, we headed back from whence we came. Somewhere about halfway back to Cumming we decided to stop and break out some food. I think we were all feeling a bit punchy at the time as the stop also included a rousing game of duck-duck goose played in the midst of the gravel road in the wee hours of Sunday morning. We wound our way back through the Booneville loop and made our final break at the Waveland west where we enjoyed their great hospitality. Of course they weren’t actually open at 4 in the morning (who knew?), but we did find the patio furniture to be quite inviting. After a bit more snacking on processed meat sticks aka Slim Jim’s, we headed back towards town only to stop for the 2nd flat of the evening.

Rather than run through the bigger rollers on Booneville road, we opted to head back out to Grand and roll it double file paceline style clear down to Raccoon River Park to let the heckling and shananigans begin for the Hy-Vee Tri. All told, I showed 68 miles and change with 3000’ of climbing for our overnighter along with more laughing, fun, and folly than I can remember having for a long time. One punctuation to the evening was experiencing flying down the various hills at 25+ mph in the pitch of night which was thrilling and terrifying at the same time. I finally rolled back home and to bed around 10:30 after having eclipsed the 26th hour of awake time before dropping like a ton of bricks for a few hours nap.

Thanks,

Rick

Adding to that - Fuller wandered around with some friends for dirty hundy with some friends while the rest of the state was gathering in Council Bluffs for RAGBRAI -

Went on a little Death Ride with Guitar Ted, David Pals, Jeremy Fry,
Craig and Doug on Saturday morning. Left West Union around 7:00 AM.
Got back quite a while later. Camped out, drank some beers, rode some
flats, climbed a few hills, enjoyed the conversation and scenery, and
had damn good time. 118 miles, 9994 feet of climb. Route link: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/9148382

Steve Fuller

Finally - one thing I suck at is mailing stuff - I've got Cups headed to Cedar Falls via the State Road Race, Dubuque via the mail and to Mr. Never Rest via the mail - sorry it takes so danged long - but the Cups are like a fine wine - better aged!

Peace all and safe riding! - Dave

New Guy

2009-06-24T12:09:00.002-05:00

Let's all welcome the new guy, Pete Liera, to the chase! He's got a few in already, and had this to say:

"Thanks Dave,
So far this year I have one full century and 4 metrics. I have been planninig a route between the Illinois and missisippi rivers,but the bridge is out to get there.
Ill let you know how it goes.
Pete"

On a side note - we're getting jazzed about the Honey Creek Fall Cycling Festival - and plan on calling the gravel road races (100m and 100k) the Midwest 100 mile Champships - a real midwest throwdown!

Info here: www.tworiverstouringco.com

I hope to see you all there!
Peace - Dave

Anutha full hundy for DaveyG!

2009-06-13T11:44:00.003-05:00

Hi Dave,
Well, last Saturday I wrote you and stated I was headed to a 100 miler the following day. I waffled. I didn't do. Didn't even make 30 miles. However!! :-) Today I rode 107 miles. My most ever in a single ride. 95% on dirt. I want thee "CUP" It is a long ways away. We shall see. Pictures of the ride attached.
Thanks for the chase.
Dave Giegerich

Send Me Your Addresses!

2009-06-06T08:26:00.004-05:00

Cup earners from afar.... - send your shipping address to dave@bikeworldiowa.com

I am sending the Ames Cups to the Ames Bike World for you to pick up - and I'm hoping to get to CF for the TTT next weekend and deliver that crews Cups up there.

Fuller, stop in the shop - I've got yours there - and it's always good to see you.

If you ain't among those 3 groups - send me your address!

Peace - and happy riding!

Dave

PS - I'm thinking maybe I should be going for a real Cup this year... hard to smack-talk without putting up myself, eh?

Lessons On Modern Cycling, A DK Top 10, and other fun stories from around the World

2009-06-04T08:29:00.007-05:00

Shockey's old bike

Shocky had this to say:

"hey dave,
got out for my harmony-and-back metric yesterday and ended up finishing a metric in under 4 hours for the first time. i think people might be onto something with these "freewheel" things. they're kinda fast and kinda fun. weird.

shockey"

Shockey and his newest bike:

First of all, Mr. Shock-meister - that's pretty quick - nice ride... secondly - you'd be shocked (pun intended) at all the new-fangled developments since man first stepped off the Ordinary! All kinds of sweet stuff - gears, pnumatic tires, frames made out of stuff other than iron - bikes these days rock! Ya should check into em!

Fuller rocked out a 10th place finish at Dirty Kanza - a HOT Dirty Kanza too! You should read his write-up - but for those who have full time jobs, I'll summarize: Early morning, Flint Hills, Kansas - a whole herd'o folks take off for this crazy, hilly, dirty 200 mile race. It gets hot - real hot (like - 94!). A whole herd'o folks call it a day, cept for our own, intrepid traveler, Mr. Steve Fuller - He plugs on to the finish line some 20 hourse later - in an impressive 10th place! Great job Fuller!!!

A DK fan from Tennessee stumbled upon our little Cup chase and decided to throw his hat in the ring:

"Just found this website after looking for post write ups on dirty kanza. This is an awesome idea and I want to join in on the fun! My name is Scott McConnell. I am from Nashville, Tn and ride with a group of gravel grinder enthusiasts here. We hit the gravel a lot more last year, but hoping to get back at it more throughout the remaining part of the year. My new ride is a Moots Mooto-x Slider that is set up to run single speed. Thus far this year, I have completed the Cohutta 100, and 104 miles of Dirty Kanza. I also have the Shenadoah 100 on the agenda this year as well as a 24 hr race. I'll work on getting you some pics and forward your website to the rest of the crew. This will give me a target to shoot for. Let me know if you need anything else from me.

Scott"

Welcome aboard Scott!

And from Mizzu:

"Dave,

Got in another metric yesterday, May 30. Nothing too spectacular, but once again, got to see some country side that didn't know existed.

Headed southeast out of Chillicothe, Mo and shot straight north to meet up with a buddy in Laredo. We got in another 25 together and then we headed back in his truck. Kinda a neat way to get in some miles.

Total mileage was 62 and average was 11.8 mph.

Tim R."

Meanwhile, in northern Iowa, David G. is racking up the metrics - maybe on his way to a couple of 1/2 Liters??? Maybe on his way to a Cup O' Mississippi Mud? We shall see! We shall see!

Keep em rolling!

Peace -Dave

Att'a Boy!

2009-05-29T18:10:00.002-05:00

"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!

2009-05-27T07:54:00.001-05:00

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!)

2009-05-25T15:44:00.004-05:00

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!

2009-05-07T08:24:00.003-05:00

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

Giegerich Nails #5

2009-04-16T15:09:00.003-05:00

Hello Dave,
I took advantage of gf at work, and took a day off from work and rode Dirt Metric Century #5. Pushed the pace after a faster rider passed me and I tried to hang with him. Needed that. Notice picture of mother cow, dead, with head trauma laying on her mutilated calf. I don't know what happened here it was eerie to say the least.
Dave Giegerich

Yikes!

Blog http://mrdaveygie.blogspot.com/

ed. Keep rolling Dave!

Shockey Shocks Ouachita!

2009-04-07T09:03:00.002-05:00

hey dave

had a great time down in arkansas with a very successul finish at the ouachita challenge. ended up 1st ss and 19th overall. 63 miles (race total, more counting warm-up) and a finishing time of 5 hours and 44 minutes. great weather, awesome trails, good results...not a bad weekend to pick up my 9th metric. only the second one so far not fixed. like the shirt idea but i'd vote dirt=brown and go with a brown shirt. but i don't mind rocking pink occasionally.

thanks again!
shockey

ed: All of us, here at Cup O' Dirt HQ, chasers past and present, would like to congratulate Mr. Shockey on his great ride to single speed victory!!! We'd also like to recognize, and congratulate Mr. 24, Jeff Kerkove, on his overall victory in the Ouachita 60 this past weekend. I'm sure it's his Iowa roots, not his high altitude training of Colorado, that helped him to victory!!! ;)

March Cup'dates

2009-04-04T07:33:00.004-05:00

News from the dirty world of Cup O' Dirt Chasers!

Dave,

After a month layoff, I finally hit the gravel for my fifth metric.

Since my last one, I've been sick, spent a couple weekends doing trail work,(earn your dirt) and even raced in Kansas one Saturday. This past month has really flown by.

I went out yesterday (March 21) and headed straight south into the wind for 31 miles and then turned around with the wind at my back. I went south of Chillicothe, MO and eventually made the Bogard area. Very hilly most of the way. I'm hoping the hills will prepare me better for the Lumberjack 100. I just missed the 75mile cutoff last year by a few minutes.

My speed was right at 10 MPH.

This friendly Cup O Dirt of yours is making me explore new parts of the area I've lived in for nearly 30 years. Every time I go out for a gravel road ride, I find more interesting things. Yesterday, I saw a bald eagle flying low toward me. Very awesome. The gravel roads often turn to dirt/mud. I rarely get passed by a vehicle in these remote areas.

Still looking to get in a true century.

Thanks again,

Tim Riekena

Dave G. is in the chase for 2009!

Hello Dave,
Dirty Metric Century #3. Beautiful day, happy to be out there. I hope for many more. Enjoy the pictures in my blog.
Thanks for the challenge.
Dave
Blog http://mrdaveygie.blogspot.com/

And from the Ames crew:

I believe it was March 14th Stephen Carney and I took off on a beautiful day to accomplish a metric century. We left Ames and headed over to Colo and back hitting up some pretty decent size hills around Indian Creek. It was a great trip and Stephen and I were pushing each other pretty good. This was the first metric I have ever average over 14 mph on the gravel.

Then on March 29th Nick Wethington, Matt Maxwell and I took off for a full century ride going from Ames to Eldora and back. While the sun was out the wind continued to pick up and we had a pretty tough day. The gravel was in good shape other than the frost boils coming out so that helped. I believe I completed the century in just under 10 hours so not blazing, but considering the wind I was very happy to get my first full century in this year.

Thanks again for the opportunity to shoot for the cup!

Paul Jacobson

And on March 29th

Hi Dave, I got in another metric today. I went out late this morning and had planned on heading south. Once I got out riding, I decided a better idea would be to head out west. I always like a nice tailwind blowing me home. I took some little side trips to add in some extra miles and turned around at the Casey's in De Soto. On the way home, I had something happen that has never happened to me on a gravel ride. I ran into some other bikers! I was going to join them for a while, but then it became apparent that we were heading in opposite directions. Not wanted to head back into the wind, I continued on home. My total for the day ended up at 105 km.

(This is in addition to another couple o' metrics that Tim got in earlier in March! Keep rolling Tim! - ed)

Tim

And Shocking news: Shockey had Trans-Iowa on the brain.

hey dave,

not sure if this one counts with all the pavement...your call.

took off yesterday and rode up to rochester to pick up the vue with her newly replaced tranny. it was a good day/excuse for doing some gear testing for transiowa. cold, rain, wind and a good mix of all kinds of gravel conditions. 92 miles total with somewhere around 50-55 of it on gravel.

longer story and pics here.

thanks,

shockey

And finally, I'm hoping to pick up the Cups at Easter when I see my sis next weekend! Stay tuned!

Would you guys buy a sweet Cup O'Dirt t-shirt if I made em? Thinking like, $15 plus a couple bucks for shipping? whadaya think? I'm thinking a pink t-shirt with the cup logo in purple - you know, to match your tights and leg warmers. I'd consider some other color scheme, if you insisted. Like maybe browns. maybe.

Oakley Rob's Great Big Day Out

2009-03-30T12:23:00.000-05:00

THIS SATURDAY, april 4, there is a CITA trailwork day happening at Banner pits (Summerset State Park) near summerset. It is being sponsored by me, Oakley Rob. I am hopeful to solicit the help of a bunch of folks that USE the trails that CITA works so hard to build. Will you help?

We have, in an effort to get participants, made this on a weekend with no MTB races on the calendar. For you folks that 'have to train'...perfect! A group will be riding down on gravel roads (35 miles), working, then riding home, so you can get 70 miles on the bike and 3 hours of cross training. There is an IMBCS race scheduled to be held at Banner later this summer, so it's in ALL of our best interests to get it looking and riding nice this spring.

The ride down will start between 6:30 and 7 AM with a leaving destination TBD. TRAIL WORK goes from 9 to noon regardless of if you drive or ride. Â for those that work, LUNCH will be provided by ME. We'll also give away some OAKLEY glasses, and we'll all help CITA build trails we can all enjoy, which is really the point of this.

PLEASE RSVP to me if you can come. I want to have enough food there for folks who come out. IF it is raining the day of, we'll probably have to reschedule. I'll send a mass email if that happens.

Additional information you need can be found at http://www.centraliowatrails.org

THANKS in advance, i look forward to seeing you on Saturday.

oh, and if you're NOT a CITA member, please consider it!

pass it on-

Rob V.

Spring is HERE!

2009-03-22T06:02:00.003-05:00

These dirty rides all happened before Spring - but we'll celebrate the changing of the season with them anyway!!!

Dave - my man
Here we go for another 12!

Paul Meyermann, Robert Fry, Kathleen Porter and I went out for our first
100K of the year. Robert Fry just completed another 100K checking out a route for one of his Iowa Randonneurs events. He is going to run this event on the same
weekend as the Gravel State Champs that we are promoting September 12th near Cedar Falls!

John Adamson

Dave,

Well, since yesterday (March 15th) was the nicest weather we've had since about
November, Maxwell and I went ahead and got a full hundy in. It was so
very nice to be able to enjoy the riding without 3 or 4 layers on
every square inch of skin.That puts him at 3 metrics and a full, and
me at 3 metrics and 3 full. We'll be keeping them coming!

~Nick Wethington

hey dave,

shook off the lingering effects of st. paddy's day and took off about 8:15 this morning. cool temps to start but a calm wind made for an amazing morning. did my harmony and back route that is barely over the 62 miles. the cool temps warmed a bit and the day just got better. time to rest and eat a bit before heading in to work.
-shockey

Well, that makes 7 more this past week - I can't imagine that there weren't more garnered in yesteredays 70 degree sun! Personally, we're heading off to Mitchellville for the Dirty Road Race promoted by the All9Yards crew. It's not a metric, but it'll still feel good to get out on the gravel on a dry day that's above 34 degrees!!

A couple more things -
First, Oakley Rob is hosting the first of several "Great Big Day Out" rides on April 4th. Meet at El Bait in Des Moines, ride gravel to Sommerset St. Park to do a few hours of trail work (he'll provide food), ride back to DSM and he's having beer and food back at El Bait - sounds like a great day for riding and giving back - and thanks to Oakley and Rob - It won't cost you a thing! So, hike on your sweet Radars, and c'mon down!

Secondly, I'm hosting the first ever, hopefully annual, Honey Creek Fall Cycling Festival on the weekend of October 9-11 down at the Honey Creek Resort on Lake Rathbun. The main event will be a 100 miler or 100k gravel RR on Saturday. In addition, we'll have all kinds of great stuff going on, like campfire parties, a banquet with entertainment and speakers, an XC race, kids races - and for your roadie friends, we'll have some long, scenic and supported road rides too! Check out the details www.tworiverstouringco.com - I hope to see you all there!

Happy riding - Dave

'Cup'dates

2009-03-14T07:02:00.002-05:00

Yep - there's been lots goin' on. Lot's o'ridin. And it's still early Spring! Gunna be a busy summer!! Here's what we've missed this past month:

From Mr. Shockey: (starting with # 6, then 4 and finally #5)

#6 Metric;
hey dave,

cirrem actually made metric #6 for me this year and was hands down the most difficult by far. anyone who was there knows, anyone who wasn't might be able to sympathize with past experiences of their own but we all know that's not the same. huge congrats to anyone willing to start that thing. i think my face is still stinging from the driving hail/sleet/whatever that was coming out of the sky. might still have the write-ups from metrics 4 and 5 and i'll try to send those over. hope everyone's enjoying this slap-in-the-face reminder that its still winter out there.

#4 Metric:

took advantage of sunday's warm temps to get in another metric. headed straight west into the wind and passed just north of ridgeway then just south of cresco. turned back eventually and paused at vernon springs for a quick snack then flew with the tailwind just south of ridgeway and back to town. highlight of the trip: scaring up a herd of buffalo and watching them run. just over 62 miles when i was done. gravels were just starting to get sloppy from the thaw as i was getting done so timing was good.

#5 Metric:
headed out sunday with scotty who used to live here in decorah and is now just visiting from the milwaukee area. a year and a half ago he was my main training partner for my first attempt at transiowa. his visit and some warm temps made the decision to do a metric on sunday a no-brainer. headed out of town kinda northish up through bluffton then headed east through locust and sattre, dipped into allamakee county just a bit and circled back around to town. somewhere around 64 miles with gravel conditions far less sloppy than the day before and a pretty mild wind made for a great day of riding.

shockey

Nick Wethington & Co. have been busy too:

Dave,

Well, February turned out to be a great month for Matt, Paul and I. A
few weeks ago, Matt Maxwell and I both got a metric century in. We
rode with Paul Jacobson and a couple of other guys for a while, but
our ride up to Gilbert and back rounded it off to a complete 62. Two
weeks ago Sunday I did 20 miles in the morning, met up with Matt and
Paul and did about 60 miles with them (they both got a metric, which
puts Matt at 2 for the year and Paul at 1). After riding with them I
did another 20 to round it off to a complete century, putting me at 2
full and 3 metric (after completing Cirrem) for the year and leaving
me in a good place to get 12 apiece! It's supposed to be kinda nice
this Sunday, so I might try to get my full in for March and possibly
another to start up my Cup o Mississippi Mud chasing. Dennis Grelk
has inspired me to try for all three, but we'll see how good I feel
about that come December.

I hope you had fun at Cirrem yesterday, and got all dried off and
picked the gravel bits out of your teeth. It was a great ride, if not
a little sloppy.

Cheers,
~Nick Wethington

And Buckshot Blackford is in the chase;

Dave,

Throw me in for a metric as of yesterday.

Regardless of the suffering throughout the course, the real fun was the last half hour. Kurt Benson (aka Kyle’s Uncle) and I duked it out for a semi-climactic finish. I caught him a couple miles out of town and rather than attempt to kill each other pushing the pace we reached a gentleman’s agreement to find a suitable sprint point close to town and go from there. Kurt, ever the showman, decided to make it more interesting by wiping out hard not once, but twice inside the last 3 miles. He dropped a wheel off into a crack on a nasty wooden bridge flipping over the bars and apparently didn’t think he’d done enough damage at that point and opted to have me roll over a couple various body parts as I attempted to miss him. Holding to the agreement, I waited while he got himself back together and we let that sneaky Ben Shockey slide past us. From there we determined the turn onto 25th street would be the start of the sprint (if you can call 7 tenths of a mile a “sprint”). I did my best to drop him off my wheel as we headed up a slight incline since that seemed to be my strong point of the day. Alas, I had nothing left in the tank and he gritted his teeth determined we would be sprinting it out across the Cumming Highway to the tap. As we both stood up to hammer the last hundred yards he later told me he was attempting to give me the old slide job and cut me off. A slight miscalculation on his part (only by 5 feet or so) had him bouncing off my back wheel and skidding across the highway leaving me to finish out the sprint wondering what the hell just happened. We finished close enough to DFL to taste it, but alas, we weren’t quite that lucky.

Thanks,

Rick Blackford (www.buckshotsblog.com)

As is Tim Bierbaum:

Hi Dave. I was able to take advantage of the nice weather we had back on Feb 8th. I headed south past Bevington until road construction forced me west. Then I just wandered around a while until heading back. I ended up with 105 km for the

Thanks,
Tim

I know the Cedar Falls crew has been riding - send me a note at dave@bikeworldiowa.com and I'll get it all updated!

Happy riding!
Peace -Dave

I wondered.....

2009-03-08T17:02:00.003-05:00

...just why it's been so quiet out there! Seem's though my email box is messed up - from now on, email info on your rides to dave@bikeworldiowa.com with the heading "Cup O Dirt" - and if you have some older stuff that you haven't seen posted... I'd ask you to resend it. Also - I've gotten 2 cups so far... with 13 more on the way... they're coming!

Now that we've gotten the business out of the way - It was an honor to present Mr. One-A-Month Club sole member, Tom Anderson, with his hard earned Cup prior to todays 100k. Congratulations, again, to Tom - his tenacity was inspiring!

Speaking of todays 100k - Looks like maybe 8 or 9 folks finished todays ride... and only a few are serious Cup chasers, Ben Shockey, Nick Wethington and Matt Maxwell. Grelk had a bad day with his crank... and the rest of us... well... it was freakin' cold, wet, windy and, of course... muddy! A hard day indeed! It was agreed (in the warmth of the Cumming Tap) that we nailed a 50k - and that Sumpter is hosting the "Thimble O'Dirt" this year.

Many thanks to Jed and Kent for hosting the event and congrats to those who dared brave the bitter elements (rain, wind (from every freakn' direction!)sleet, snow and hail!) - and a hearty congratulations, a pat on the back... and a long, hot shower to those few that finished. At this time, I belive the finishers were: Jed Gammell, Jared Osterloh, Sean 'Wrong-Way' Walker, Kent Carlson, Matt Maxwell, Nick Wethington, Ben Shockey, Aaron (something from Iowa City), and Kyle Sedor's Uncle. (and not in that order)

The pre-race Cup distribution seemed like a good thing - and, should Jed and Kent host this event next year (in July!!!), we'll do the Cup passing out there next year!

Happy riding - Peace, Dave

Cup Chasers Finish A COLD Arrowhead 135!

2009-02-08T21:26:00.003-06:00

Congratulations to multiple Cup earner, Dennis Grelk, for his 3rd place finish in a VERY cold Arrowhead 135 Ultra Marathon Bike Race! We're looking forward to his report when his fingers thaw!

And Ames ultra-cyclist, Nick Wethington finished an incredible 18th! His brief report is below. Congratulations to Nick and Dennis for finishing this grueling event - as well as Iowan Lance Andre for his efforts in the Arrowhead - made even more difficult by his moving to Florida for some "cold weather" training! While he finished, enduring the -34 degree temps, he was disqualified for 'ride' (??) We'll look forward to an explenation from him on that one... anyway - congrats to them all!!

Now for Nick's report:

Dave,

I finished the Arrowhead 135, making that my first of hopefully many
centuries this year. That puts me at one metric and one full for the
year. The Arrowhead was great, and even though it took me forever I'm
so excited to go next year I want to start getting my gear ready
right now. Camped out one night when it was below -30 degrees F, and
that put cold in perspective for me. It was about 35 degrees
yesterday, and I rode home from work with no gloves or hat, feeling
like it was a balmy day in summer.

Anyway, I hope to get another metric and full this month after a
little bit of recovery time, so I'll keep you posted. Thanks!

~Nick Wethington

and from Tim Reikena:

Dave,

Got in another metric yesterday along with 20+ riders. Not sure how many riders went the full 62 miles, but there were quite a few. The ride was the "Chucky's Challenge - Groundhog Ride" and started/finished in Jamesport, MO.

The weather was perfect with temperatures past 65 degrees. A little windy, but not bad. The figure-8 route was hilly, flat, and then really hilly. Most of the roads were dusty-dry, but one hill was so steep, the angle of the sun never got to it. Soft and muddy. Rumor was that only one Expert rider rode up it.

A unique aspect of this ride was that it took us deep into Amish country. Many homes were passed that didn't have electricity running to the house. Everyone waved and were friendly. Horses and buggies everywhere. The group I was riding with actually had to pass a horse drawn wagon at mile 10. Everyone was cool with it and made sure the horses didn't get spooked.

The most intriguing part of the ride were the "Amish" dogs. I've ridden
thousands of road/gravel miles here in North Missouri and I know how dogs can be. At times, they can be aggressive and cause accidents. Most riders I know have been bit at least once.

Any dog (and there were many) on an Amish farm showed interest in us, but was friendly. They never once barked in a threatening manner, or looked at our spinning feet like they were trying to judge when to take a bite. It made the ride even more enjoyable.

Riding with a group must have helped me sustain a better effort because my average was 11.5 MPH - faster than the other metrics I've done this year.

Thanks again,

Tim Riekena

Gosh, Lots Goin' On!!!

2009-02-02T21:58:00.005-06:00

Dave,
Okay, so I'll try for the half liter, but I need to crack one metric century first. I enjoyed the ride very much but changed my route as I mentioned due to wind and pending darkness. By the time I hit mile 46, I was back in Decorah and unwilling to do two more hours in the dark alone. I hope to organize the next attempt better... and apply some things I learned. My road bike is really old, and my good bike is my mountain bike. I think I'd like a cross bike for stuff like this. Here's a photo at mile ten and thanks for inspiring me to ride distances I'd probably not do otherwise!

Robert Campbell (future Cup sipper-fromer)

From Shockey:

hey dave,

took advantage of sunday's warm temps to get in another metric. headed straight west into the wind and passed just north of ridgeway then just south of cresco. turned back eventually and paused at vernon springs for a quick snack then flew with the tailwind just south of ridgeway and back to town. highlight of the trip: scaring up a herd of buffalo and watching them run. just over 62 miles when i was done. gravels were just starting to get sloppy from the thaw as i was getting done so timing was good.

shockey

and from our friends in Cedar Falls...

Dave - my man
Here we go for another 12
Paul Meyermann, Robert Fry, Kathleen Porter and I went out for our first
100K of the year. The roads were most clear, dry and smooth. Looking
forward to many more miles of dirt this year. Your Cup of Dirt is a
very nice inspiration/carrot for us and we certainly appreciate the work
you do to make this happen.
John

An invitation from Mr. Fuller:

That's Gravel Road Ride 2 BRR.

The weather is supposed to be fan-FREAKING-tastic on Saturday. We've
been discussing this, so I'm going to start the organization now to
avoid some of the keystone cop-esque changes we normally have when
trying to organize one of these rides.

Any route that I've mapped out has Perry at about 30 miles from my
house in Johnston. Winds are supposed to be out of the south most of
the day. I'm thinking of leaving around 6:30 - 6:45 (AM) to head up to
Perry via gravel roads. Ride BRR. Have a beverage (or two, or three,
or...) and then figure out the route home. I'm open to riding back, or
getting a ride. If you don't want to ride BRR, you'll still get in
60ish miles of gravel for the day. I'll offer my place in Johnston up
as a meeting point. I'm about a mile and a half from gravel that will
take us either over to Dallas Center, or north towards Woodward.

Anyone else? Feel free to pass this along to anyone else you know that
might be interested.

And from Dave:

Good luck on your chase Mr. Campbell, welcome to the insanity!
Way to go Shockey! 4 in a month. You'll break Grelks record!
and Johnny and the CF Crew - Rock out! You guys make me smile!

Makes me kinda wanna ride!
Peace - Dave

Mr. Mizzu get's one more than two*

2009-02-01T18:10:00.004-06:00

(*that was kinda cute, huh?)

Dave,

I was able to get in a 64 miler yesterday. My plan was to go 100 miles and end up in
Kirksville, MO where my daughter (who just graduated from Truman University), has an
apartment. We needed to move some stuff back home. Still need to.

Anyway, I got to the 50 mile mark and realized the sun would set long before I got there. I had made a big loop southwest of Chillicothe, MO before heading NE toward Kirksville (much of it into the wind)and was only averaging 10 MPH. I don't mind riding in the dark, but without any lights, I thought it would be a bad idea. I called my wife and told her to pick me up in Brookfield. It was a great metric, but a DNF century.

Bottom line is that I started way too late in the morning to have gotten in a century during the daylight hours. Unless I get faster, I better allow 10 hours (at least) of sun to make a daylight century.

This Saturday, a group of us are riding in the 2nd annual "Chucky's Challenge-
Groundhog Ride" being held in Jamesport, MO. There will be a 40 mile and a 62 mile
option - all on gravel/dirt roads in the area. It's a show and go which I think starts around 10AM. Jamesport is a small north central Missouri town 40ish miles from Iowa.

The area is known for the Amish that populate the scenic countryside. Very, very hilly with some flat, flat bottom ground thown in.

Thanks again,

Tim Riekena
Chillicothe, MO

ed. Anyone wanna head down for the MO Century???

Mr. Bikeiowa.com in for a full Cup O' Hurt!

2009-02-01T18:01:00.001-06:00

Don't ever let anyone tell ya that a 40 degree day in Jan is a good day for a gravel ride.

Sat Jan 31st - 2 3/4 Booneville loops and a 20 miles out and back loop north of Ankeny and I turned triple digits shortly after dark.

7am - Met Fuller and Will at Tom Andserson's house, then met Squirrel and Blackford as we hit gravel toward Boonville.
course was frozen and fast. Rode loop to Rassy's to do another loop with 10am crowd (West, Matt M, Kurt, Lou, Chad V, Courtney)
rode 2nd loop not near as fast... things were thawing out. before heading back into WDM, West, Courtney and myself turned around and rode back to Boonville in revserse.
It was very sloppy and I was starting to bonk. We made it to Boonville where Countney and I needed food. West kept going. After food we rode back toward DM. Courtney and I split off and I rode back to Tom's house to pick up my car (mile 80).

I decided to drive north of Ankeny with the hopes of higher ground might no be so soupy. that was a farst! The last 20 miles were has at only 8-10 mph...
Like ridin' through sand...

Either way check me off for a full hundy in Jan 09.

Thanks for using BikeIowa!!
Scott Sumpter

Shockey lands on #3

2009-01-28T22:35:00.000-06:00

From Ben:

"left this morning just before 9 a.m. with an actual temp somewhere around -4* so i headed north with a gentle tail wind hoping that by the time i turned around the temp would have risen some. made it up to hesper then headed west til i was north of bluffton. came south through bluffton and continued south just a bit before heading west toward ridgeway. when i turned south just before ridgeway the temp had come up but unfortunately the wind had as well. had enough miles to go south til i was just below highway 9 that the wind really beat me up. headed back east then and got to finish with a handful of miles going north/northeast so the wind kinda blew me home. ended up around 66 miles (fixed). now its off to the bar for the next 8 hours (unfortunately just to work)."

shockey

Tom's One-A-Month Club Story

2009-01-28T22:34:00.002-06:00

Thanks for chasing Tom, and thanks for the story!

Cups......

2009-01-26T08:59:00.004-06:00

In case you think that there are Cups running around the neighborhood willy-nilly - think again. To this point there have been exactly 2 Cups that have been in the hands of people who did not earn them by riding the required centuries. Myself and Brian Duffy. Me? Well, I have the prototype. #1. It had some flaws and served as the model for the REAL Cups. And Duffy? Well, he designed the logo - that's only fair, wouldn't you agree?

That's been it.... until now.

I thought it only fitting, as this weekend ticked by, that the one who laid the ground work for our humble sport, the one who coined the term "mountain bike", the one who sweats a passion for this great sport from his pores... should have a Cup.

Saturday, while he was signing pictures, drawings and bikes at Bike World, I presented Mr. Gary Fisher with a Cup O' Dirt! I gave him the link to our little blog, inviting him to read up on your adventures across this great land. He was impressed by the stories I regaled upon him of your pursuits to earn the Cup.

So, this Cup just became a little more storied - and, as you continue to turn the pedals over dirt and dale across the country-side - it shall become even more storied - Keep on plugging on - and enjoy the fact that you can share a Cup of joe with one of our fore-fathers!

In the mean time... Mr. Shockey has been riding:

hey dave,

spent most sunday afternoon on a fixed gear tour of the gravel roads north and east of decorah. a quick weather check before i left predicted a -5* windchill but the bright sun and mild breeze certainly didn't seem quite that cold. finished the ride at 64 miles just before the sun (and temps) started to drop. aboslutely gorgeous day out there.

shockey

It's An Adventure Out There....

2009-01-21T16:49:00.001-06:00

I decided to go out for a gravel road ride today while it was warm. I came across several large dogs...all friendly. One encounter was with a rather massive, scraggly St. Bernard that was chowing down on the remains of a deer carcass!!! I was unsure if he killed it himself, if it was road kill or if it was some hunters discard...the blood on his face indicated he was enjoying it though. He tensed up briefly when I rode right by him, but he went back to business when he realized I had no interest in his meal.

It is always an adventure out there.

John Newell

Iowa is in the Chase!!

2009-01-21T15:53:00.001-06:00

From Ben Shockey:

if i remember right from my days of high school cross country...
5k=3.1miles
10k=6.2miles
so...i'm assuming a metric is 62?

hit just over 62 this last sunday. gravels from decorah through bluffton up to harmony, mn and back. got a brief write up on the blog. www.theshockstar.blogspot.com

let me know if i'm off on my metric conversions :)

thanks again,
shockey

Mr. Mizzou Gets Two!

2009-01-19T20:04:00.002-06:00

Dave,

I was able to get in another metric yesterday. I'm fortunate that the winter weather is probably better than most of Iowa. I grew up in Iowa and know for a fact that Missouri gets a lot less snow than Iowa, and what snow we do get doesn't stick atound. The weather was 30 degrees with NW winds 15 to 20 MPH.

I headed north-northeast out of Chillicothe until I made my way up to a little town of Galt. From there I turn southeast and rode to Laclede where my wife and daughter picked me up. Overall there were many hills and few flat sections. The worse part was the intermitant fresh gravel laid down. Total milage was 64. My average was 10.6 MPH.

The ride was extremely uneventful except that I broke a rear spoke on my Niner. First time I've ever broke a spoke off singletrack. Must have been the fresh gravel!

Thanks again,

Tim Riekena
Chillicothe, MO

On some other notes:

1. Don't forget to come to Bike World West (60th and Ashworth in West Des Moines) on Saturday afternoon to meet the one, the only, Gary Fisher! 11am- 2:30pm or something like that.

2. Cups have been ordered from New Harmony Pottery - what with all the great advertising I've been giving them from this Cup O' Dirt thing, they've got some good orders going - so our precious cups will be a few weeks - but hey - we've been waiting all year, huh?

Thanks! Dave

Mizzu Leads the 2009 Chase!

2009-01-14T09:16:00.001-06:00

Dave,
I'm a Missouri rider throwing my hat in the ring. Got in a dirty metric yesterday.

Left Chillicothe, MO and headed north for just a couple of miles and then headed back to the southwest. I had to pick up a blacktop to cross the Thompson River and then headed off on some very hilly gravel that took me to the Grand River Bottoms (as we say around here). Eventually it headed north and west. Flat, flat, flat gravel and eventually flat, flat dirt. I rode around on the bottoms for a total of 25 miles. Luckily it was frozen as I followed the dirt lane up river. After the 31 mile mark, I turned around and headed home the same route.

It was in the low 30s and very windy. The strong wind was out of the northwest which made the flat bottom riding very frustrating. There were times where I struggled just to get 7 MPH. After I turned around it was a different story! I flew most the way back home which was good because I hadn't started my ride until noon. I only averaged a 10.4 MPH which meant I finished around 6:00PM ....well after the sun went down.

I've followed your website for the last two years and this is the year I'm hoping to go the distance.

Thanks for doing such a interesting competition. Great training! I'm talking with a few other riders down here that might have an interest.
Hope to get in a true century this month.

Tim Riekena
Chillicothe, MO

That Must Be It!

2009-01-10T09:27:00.003-06:00

A week into 2009, and I haven't heard of any additional hundies logged by anyone - which means that we have our final tally!

Here's the breakdown of 2008 Cup Earners:

Cup O' Dirt (12 full centuries)
Tom Anderson, One-A-Month Club!
Dennis Grelk

Cup O' Mississippi Mud (6 full centuries)
Dennis Grelk
Matt Maxwell
Steve Fuller
Norbert Koenigsfeld
Scott Sumpter
Mike Johnson
Paul Meyerman
Nick Wethington

1/2 Liter O' Dirt (12 metric centuries)
Dennis Grelk (yep, all three!!)
John Adamson
Kat Porter
Dave Geigerrich
Tim Bierbaum

Congratulations to one and all for taking on this challenge - That was so fun... let's do it again! (it will probly continue until I get a freakin Cup of some sort! - maybe this is the year!!)

I'll be ordering the Cups next week from New Harmony Pottery - creators of hand-thrown stoneware pottery. They can create custom pieces to mark special occasions - great baby gifts (how's a small plate and cup with the baby's name on them?!) Wedding gifts (pie-sized plates with the couple's name and date) Dinner sets, awards... all kinds of cool stuff - Jugs, bowls, plates, mugs, saucers, crocks...
You can see their work at the FolkArt Shop -333 5th Street in Valley Junction.

enough of the plug - send me the address you want it shipped to - or otherwise coordinate the Cup delivery. dmable@juno.com

Thanks for playing!

Peace - Dave

One-A-Month!

2009-01-01T09:31:00.002-06:00

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

Grelk Earns A Third Cup!

2008-12-29T10:44:00.003-06:00

I have 3 ways to earn a Cup... The Full Cup O' Dirt, a watered down version called a Cup O' Mississippi Mud and the metric one called the 1/2 Liter O' Dirt.

One Cup is hard to earn. Just ask me. I created the danged thing and haven't earned one yet. Ask anyone. They just don't come easy. Earning a Cup -any of em - is recognition of time spent in the saddle - intentional time. You don't just turn around at the end of the year and say "Hey! I earned a Cup!" - it is something that is sought. Earned.

Dennis took the challenge. Took it full on. The dude's blog name is short for "Never Rest". He didn't For all of 2008 he didn't rest. The dude rode. And rode. And rode.

By mid summer, he'd earned the full Cup O' Dirt - 12 full dirty centuries. Not content, he started riding metrics - and by mid-fall had earned his 1/2 Liter O' Dirt. Then he decides that that's not enough and goes after the watered down Cup O' Mississippi Mud. That means 6 full dirty centuries before December 31.

Well, he did it. With 3 to go at the beginning of December - Dennis 'never rested'!

Congratulations Dennis. you have the honor of the quickest Cup earned and now, the most Cups earned. Not only in a single season, but total. Impressive!

Now, here is his final report:

Started my weekend by hike-a-biking around in the crusty snow in the forest for five hours on Thursday afternoon. That didn't get me very far though.

Friday was forecasted for a 15-20mph South wind with 30mph gusts, so I apted for something new, a tailwind ride. Rode from home up to IA City. Started out super fast on the glazed ice, like 16mph avg fast. Then it turned to slush/mud about 40 miles in and the average died. The tailwind was still appreciated, got in to town before dark.

Saturday's Data
Todays forcast was much nicer with a 10-15mph winds and a fresh layer of ice on the gravels. Unfortunately the ice was short lived, and the mud was abundant. TI training conditions. I'm not sure I like TI training conditions. I found a bunch of new roads to ride and linked a bunch of old favorite routes together for the route. Finished just after watching the sunset, a good finish for the cup quest.

Sunday's Data
Thanks for the motivation Dave!

DG

Two to go for Grelk!

2008-12-22T08:02:00.001-06:00

From Thursday, the 18th of December:

So we got 1/2" of glare ice on everthing Thursday and temps in the single digits with forcasted winds holding 20mph gusting to 30 Saturday afternoon? Good time for a century!

I converted the cross bike back to winter duty with the addition of studded tires and gears and I'm glad I did. The Nokian W240s did alright on the glare ice, but the small piles of ice/snow on top of the ice were sudden death. I only lost it three times throughout the day though, so I think I did pretty well. The winds did indeed pick up about the time it got dark. Lucky for me that was about halfway through the ride and it was a headwind! It's really neat when the wind is strong enough that it can actually slide your tires sideways on the ice. And you know its a good ride when your eyelashes start freezing together.

Click here for motionbased route

Will They Make It?

2008-12-18T06:33:00.004-06:00

It's December 18 (dang!) and Grelk and Anderson are still in pursuit of some hardward. Or glasswear - or, well, tableware? No, no - it's STONEWARE! That's what they are in pursuit of! Stoneware! Anyway - Grelk is after his 3rd Cup of the year. He's earned a Cup O'Dirt (for 12 dirty centuries), the 1/2 Liter O' Dirt (for 12 metric dirty centuries) and now he's after the Cup O' Mississippi Mud, a watered down version of the Cup O' Dirt, earned by completing 6 dirty centuries. He's got 3 done, and two weeks and 3 to go. Will he be the first person ever to earn all 3 Cup? With a blog name like 'nvrrest' my bet is on him getting it done. After all - what else is there to do, but go for a bunch of long dirt road bike rides this time of year -eh?

Mr. Anderson, while he's earned his Cup O' Mississippi Mud, is in pursuit of the Cup O' Dirt - and not just any Cup O' Dirt, but the Holy Grail of dirty coffee transportation devices- the One-A-Month Club Cup! You may not have known that we have that.... well, neither did I.

Last January a bunch of guys around the Des Moines area, set out for a hundy - planning on doing one every month. Little by little guys bagged the effort. Some earned some Mississippi Mud along the way, some just plain bagged it. Not Anderson. Every month I'd get his report. Every month, sometimes in the nick of time, I'd get his report. Except this month.

He had a hundy planned for December 7th, but bitter cold, wind and maybe a late 'Nadas' show curtailed his effort.

Will he make it? Will he be the first, the one, the only, to earn the coveted One-A-Month Club award? (I'm still working on what that may be....)

Stay tuned - 13 days to go. I just realized - some ambitious soul could start today and earn the full Cup... so, all you kids that have been laid off from your mortgage or real estate job and have an Uncle in Pheonix, pack up your bike and head south - get a work on it - and get those centuries in! The Cup O' Dirt - MMMmmmm - doesn't it just make you drool?!

Here's Grelks latest report, from last weekend.

Another century down, and three to go.
I started out Friday at 6pm, riding off into the moonlit night on snowy roads. The moon was bright enough that I only turned the lights on for cars, beautiful. My Garmin battery died at midnight, so I had to pause for awhile to get that charged back up. In the mean time temps went up, snow turned to mud, and winds picked up to somewhere in the twenties, gustng to the thirties. Finishing it off Saturday was nowhere near as much fun as the night before. Anyway, two weeks and three hundys to go.

The Full Set

2008-12-05T07:59:00.002-06:00

Way back when I started all this ultra nutty cup challenge you said this:

"we've got 3 cups, Cup O' Dirt - 12 dirty centuries
Cup O' Mississippi Mud - 6 dirty centuries
1/2 Liter of Dirt - 12 dirty metric centuries"

I've got the Cup O Dirt and the 1/2 Liter of Dirt. I figure if I can manage 6 more centuries in November/December, that should make for good training motivation for the TripleD/Arrowhead 135/ TransIowa/ Ect.

So here's my first stab at those last six:

40 miles of state forest trail riding and 60miles of gravel on Thanksgiving Thursday.

Another 100 miles riding from home to Jingle CX on Friday: http://I was going to ride back home after the races, but I was smoked and I'm glad I stayed to watch the mayhem, that was awsome!

One month and 400 miles to go.

DG

Editorial by Dave: I say we're all invited to Grelks for coffee - he'll have enuough Cups for all of us!!! Keep rolling!

David G. Is still rolling - and Nick W. wants a 1/2 Liter too!

2008-11-29T09:31:00.004-06:00

Now, I think, with 18 metric centuries under his belt, Dave G. should be getting a 3/4 Liter O' Dirt... whaddya think? - Dave M.

Hi Dave,
Went for #18 100K ride today. Temperature changed quite a bit during the ride, went from lobster gloves to fingerless biking gloves. Light snow in a lot of places, and some places ice underneath, made riding a bit cautious. Ruts and mud in a lot of places made the ride slower paced.

The Road Less Icy!

All Hogs Go To Heaven!

Flood ravaged trail

Now Nick, it seems, isn't going for the extra large single Cup - but seems to be a generous fellow - as he's working on two cups - one for him, and a spare Cup for when company come's a visit'n. So nice of him to share! Read on:

Dave,
The ride the other day went swell! (a 125mile double metric on Nov. 26th) It was cold to start, and I had a bit of wind coming from the North, but I was going to Storm Lake and once I got past Fort Dodge it went alright. I ended up with 125 - just enough to make two metric centuries. I don't think I'll have the time to finish the full on cup, but what I was thinking of was this:

6 full centuries to qualify for the Cup o' Mississippi Mud
6 (after Wednesday) metric centuries, to get me halfway to the 1/2 liter.

I'm really just chasing the 1/2 liter as a way to motivate me to keep in shape for the Arrowhead Ultra in February. I should have enough time in the next month to get 6 metrics in, but probably not enough to get 5 full centuries in. I figure it can't hurt to have both the 1/2 liter and the Mississippi under my belt. Next year I want the full 1200 miles and the 1/2 liter! I'll keep you posted over the month of December on the metrics.
~Nick

Good luck Nick! To the rest of you (myself included...) We've got a month left! Tom, when's your December hundy?

To all of you - don'f forget the joys of winter running - December 6th is the 6th Annual Sycamore Trail Run- a 4 or 8 mile run down the Sycamore Trail. It's being promoted by CITA this year, to encourage use of the Sycamore Trail. Go here for info: www.centraliowatrails.com

Great Christmas Gifts!

2008-11-28T10:39:00.002-06:00

Hey everybody - this is a helpful little commercial. My Mom is an artist, and has a shop in historic Valley Junction with a couple of my sisters.

She's opened an online outlet - and her stuff is cool - so I'm sharing it with you.

Folk Art Online

She makes super cool Santa figures out of locally collected driftwood. Her story is online - so click, read and buy! She does make custom Santas - and has been known to create a bike riding Santa or two (there might be one that adorns our mantle every Christmas season!!)

Merry Christmas! - Peace, Dave

Bell Lap For Mr. Anderson!

2008-11-20T11:59:00.003-06:00

"One to go! One to go!" Tom Anderson is getting close to the fullest of Cups - only one more hundy, one more month - Rock out!

"Another hundy completed. Rode most of it with Rick Blackford. The miles into the headwind sucked…but the nap I took at the Cumming Tap was wonderful!!! I did find a magical piece of dirt that was 1.5 miles long that appeared to have a tailwind in both directions. I rode it twice to get the required dirt mileage in J. This makes hundy number 11, one in each calendar month this year. One more to go for the goal. A few more details on the blog. Tom http://iowagriz.blogspot.com/2008/11/11-down-1-more-to-go.html"

Tim and Dave - at it again!

2008-11-18T19:30:00.004-06:00

Tim Beirbaum on Sunday:

"I went out today and headed out west to De Soto, adding a couple of side trips to
make sure I got enough distance. I must admit that the wind was pretty demoralizing at times, but the return trip home went by awfully quick. I finished up with 108 km."

He's getting close! Based on our combined math... this is his official 1/2 Liter O' Dirt! Check out the dates of his rides;Aug 10, 17, 24, Sept 6, 14, 21, Oct 5, 11, 18, and Nov 1, 2 & 16; - good things come in packages of three! Congratulations Tim!

Meanwhile, Dave Geiegerich just keeps going and going and going....

"Dave to Dave,
Took the day off work and rode. Did metric #16 on dirt and gravel. No pictures, my son snuck my camera. Enjoyed the day, drizzle, scenery and IPOD. Trek XO2 makes a for a nice ride. Will be doing more of the same soon. Appreciate your cups."
Dave Giegerich

Get on it folks - only 44 more days of 2008 left!

ed. note:
Hey - has anyone else noticed? Tim and Dave... Just like Dave and Tim.. Like Matthew's and Reynolds! That's cool! enjoy!

Tim's been busy, while Dave G.'s been doing extra credit!

2008-11-04T05:18:00.005-06:00

From Tim B:

"Hi Dave. The roads have been busier lately with all of the combines grain trucks
but the weather has been absolutely beautiful.

October 11th - Headed west and then north over I80. I stopped on the way back for a
quick snack and to refill my water bottles at the Casey's in De Soto, finishing the day with 102 km.

October 18th - I headed south. I didn't really go anywhere, I just headed south just east of I35. Finished up with 102 km.

November 1st - I had a family gathering in Huxley. It seemed like a good excuse for a bike ride to me. I headed south out of town, then west to Booneville. I passed within spitting distance of both Waukee and Woodward; and stopped for a refill at the Casey's in Madrid. I ended the day with 112 km.

November 2nd - There isn't anything like riding a bike to use as an excuse for not doing yard work! Headed out west, up through De Soto and back for 101 km.

Thanks,
Tim Beirbaum"

And from Dave G.

Dave,
I would have never thought a year ago that the most expensive bike I have ever bought would be a dirt bike, a.k.a. Trek XO2. Its a sweet ride.
However yesterday I started out for #14 and I was riding down this path headed towards the gravel.

I was going about 12-14 mph, and rolled over a couple of branches about 1" in diameter, and the next thing I know, myself and my bike are doing a flip in the air. Somehow one of those branches caught my front tire and locked it, and I flipped with the bike. Not sure how it happened??? Glad I had a helmet on my head smacked the dirt good, I remember hearing myself grown. It happened so fast. Tried to keep riding my wrist was throbbing, so headed back home.

So today back on the road, with wrist brace and did a 100K on gravel/dirt/trail....:-)

Dave G."

A Full Dinner Set????

2008-11-04T05:09:00.002-06:00

This post is from Dennis Grelk... There are centuries and then there are centuries... this is one that will go down in the old memory book - you know, one of those rides that gets told at the Telemark Lodge bar over pizza and popcorn the night before Chequammy EVERY YEAR! (You know... to the poor happless first-timer that happens to stumble past your table...) Enjoy - I know he did!

"So I wanted to get a test ride in on my Surly Big Dummy and I needed to knock out that last metric so I shot for both Friday night. Started my ride at 6:45 or so. I thought I was doing alright holding a 13.5mph avg on the longtail running Nokian Gazzalodi 2.4s, then my timing started to fail. I rigged up simple dyno light to test out my shimano dyohub and I was using my superbright modified cheapie headlamp for backup. For the first couple hours the dynolight seemed pretty weak, then it started looking brighter than my headlamp....because my headlamp was going dead. This is the advantage to the dynolight, you see. Unfortunately it was indeed a hastily assembled dynolight with no capacitors to smooth things out at low speed, so what you get is this incredibly bright and annoying pulsing light until you get up over five mph. Only a problem when starting and stopping, climbing, and bonking. Anyways, so I took a couple of wrong turns and ran into some dead ends. Got kinda bonky, as I rushed out and didn't bring any food, just two bottles, enough to get me to the halfway point. By the time I got to my halfway refuel point it was 9:45, and apparently the gas station in Bonaparte closes before 9:45. I scrounged around in my Wingnut and found a granola bar, yay! So I ride to the next town. By the time I get there it's 10:30, again all stores are closed. Ride on. Pretty soon the corners are feeling a little funny and my pace is really starting to struggle, the rear tire is flat. Friggen double wall DH tire goes flat on a gravel ride, wtf. The bad news is changing a flat double wall DH tire on the back of a longtail really sucks, the good news is you can ride a double wall DH tire flat and it isn't much different than being full. I ride it flat for awhile, air it up when I want to go faster, repeat until finished. Finished 63 miles at midnight. Thought about doing century but I ran out of October. Here's the data

So 6 more centuries this year and I get the full tea set right? Seven weeks for six centuries, hopefully mostly on the Pugsley, or so is my plan. - DG"

Lots of miles, lots of hills, lots of dirt.

2008-10-28T08:55:00.002-05:00

In a tie for the mostest biggest deal ride of the month (you didn't know we had that competition, did you?!)- Nick Wethington, Matt Maxwell and Tom Anderson each logged some centuries.

Nick and Matt decided enough was enough and hosted the 2nd(?)Annual TOBASCO ride, logging 201 miles - and earning a Cup O' Mississippi Mud each! Nick's first and Matts second! Congratulations! Here's their report:

Maxwell and I were both at 4
until Saturday, on which we did a very long, somewhat windy 201 miles
for the TOBASCO ride. We couldn't fool anyone else into going, so it
was just he and I this time around. I think we'll likely do another
ride of the same length about this time next year.

We went through Ledges, then North along the Des Moines River valley
to Stratford, were blown East to Gilbert and past McFarland park,
then fought the wind all the way down to Maxwell. It died down a bit
and we went over to Polk City to see my girlfriend, who gave us
cupcakes. After that, we went just north of Big Creek and then were
basically blown home by that wicked West wind that picked up about
10pm and made Sunday all windy up here. Started at 5am and got done
around Midnight. That puts us both at 6 centuries, and a Cup O' Dirt
earned apiece! When do you send those out? Hope all is going well,
and thanks so much for organizing this: it inspired me to ride a lot
more this summer than I would have.

~Nick Wethington

Meanwhile, back in Des Moines, Tom Anderson completed what many have been talking/thinking about for years - a full century on the Center trails! Sweet!
That keeps Tom in the One-A-Month Club - and in great shape for Cross season!

Here's his report: http://iowagriz.blogspot.com/2008/10/center-hundy-completed.html

Dave Giegerich fell in love with this sprot so much - he bought himself a sweet Trek XO2, and had to nail a bonus 100k! It must be lucky 13!

I'm pretty sure Fuller nailed a hundy the same day as the Dr. Bob ride - (I'll verify) and I was the only one to take me up on my offer to count the distance ridden at the Dr. Bob ride - as long as it was on a mountain bike on fat tires... 100k of pavement... and wind... and very fit people on road bikes... I was tired!

Anyway - Keep riding and enjoy the Fall!

Peace - Dave

Ten...... eleven.......

2008-10-07T07:52:00.003-05:00

Mr. Grelk did a couple metrics last weekend...In his own words:

30 miles of unassisted longtail from work to home, then switched to the mtb for another 35 on Friday: Details

And another pretty hilly 63 on the mtb with a little trail mixed in with the windy gravel, Sunday: Details

Meanwhile, Tim Bierbaum has been logging the dirty miles -

Hi Dave, finished up another two metric centuries over the past couple of weekends.
Way back on Sept 21st, I got out of Des Moines and headed west. Didn't go anywhere, just west and then I turned around for a total of 103 km.

On Sept 27th, I went out for another metric and had mechanical problems. I ended up
hiking a couple of miles to the Kum & Go at the I-35 and highway 92 where my absolutely wonderful wife came and picked me up.

Finally, last Sunday I went out and headed towards Indianola and then wandered around in circles just south of Norwalk for a total of 102 km.

-Tim Bierbaum

I must say that I'm pretty amazed at what people are willing to do for a chunk of clay - that being said - I'd imagine that, whether you finish out the year with one century, or a whole bunch of em - just getting out on dirt and enjoying the day was worth the chase! I know I've enjoyed each of my long dirty rides - from a couple of long gravel rides on the tandem with Dee, and, of course, Leadville, to my 100 miles of Seven Oaks - each ride stands alone as a great day on the bike. Nuthin wrong with that!

As a little bonus - I'd like to offer this to anyone out there looking to fill their Cups this weekend... Saturday is the Dr. Bob Ride - and if you do it on a mountain bike (fat tires - not cross bike, not 29'er with cross wheels.. but a real mountain bike) I'll give you credit for your distance. The ride is either 100k or 200k -
Why? Because Dr. Bob was a good friend and I'd love to see ya'll out there supporting the ride - and the cause - The proceeds from this ride benefit area trails - both paved and dirt- (Richard Brown, the DSM Park and Rec Trail Guru, is a huge proponent of the center trails - and supports CITA and it's work in a big way!)

Anyway - the ride starts and finishes at Bike World West at 7:00am Saturday. Cup O' Dirt logo designer Brian Duffy will be along for the ride - as will the girls from the All9yards Cycling Team -- and it's always a treat to ride with them! (If I DO say so myself!!) So - get those fatties out and get out and RIDE!

See you in the dirt! - Dave

Fuller Continues.... and gets a new steed!

2008-10-06T11:33:00.003-05:00

Steve Fuller nailed a hundy this weekend: "101 miles from Johnston to Adel. With the ride home on the RRVT from Adel, 118 miles total. 7800+ ft of climb. Plenty of critters, a plethora of combines, and one shaken up pickup truck driver."

I think there is a story or two in there somewhere.... maybe he'd be willing to regail us of the stories while riding his shiney new steed -a Specialized One-Cross won at the Crohn's and Colitis raffle at the Cross Mafia race last weekend - congratulations on your great victory!

Reguarding this little cup chase - I thought I'd share with you a bit of history of the cups, themselves -

See - back in the mid-seventies my sister, Jackie, went to UNI to earn an art and teaching degree - and upon graduation, and maybe during the summers during her stint at UNI, she worked at Living History Farms - She worked in the Textile building - you might have seen it on your right as you head up to get your dognuts after the Living History Farms Race! Anyway - she met this potter, see - Russ - He worked in the pottery shop which was right behind the textile building... and they gazed lovingly into each other's eyes - fell in love and got married.

Russ continued to be the potter at LHF for many years - until he voiced his oppinion on organic farming during a Dow Chemical company picnic... and he was promply excused.. so began New Harmony Pottery!

Russ and Jackie have been creating authentic stoneware pottery ever since - selling their wares at Folk Art in Valley Junction, the State Fair and at the Covered Bridge Festival - as well as creating custom pieces for special orders, like the Cup O' Dirt! They have created awards for races such as Living History Farms Race, the Most Excellent Run and the Sycamore 8... and now these hand thrown, custom mugs for your Cup O' Dirt!

Only a limited number of these exclusive mugs are ever created - and to sip a bit of joe from one is surely an honor - an honor that the sipper had worked hard all year to achieve!

So - there is still time - get out there and ride -and share a toast with GPickle, Big John, and others - in your very own Cup O' Dirt!

Well, That was a fun weekend!

2008-09-29T14:49:00.002-05:00

No, I didn't get any kind of hundy in - but I sure rode my bike alot....and I got to meet Mr. Freakn-ride-his-bike-a-lot-nvrest-Dennis Grelk! What a treat!

Of course, his first comment to me, when I introduced myself was "Hey, you're the guy who always looses my e-mails!"

I thought that was funny!

So - what was he doing in Des Moines, and why did I have so much fun this weekend? Well -the newly annual great dirty stage race across Polk County... or at least parts of some little parks in Des Moines - With Squirrlies Quarter Rage on Friday night and Robbie V's Capital City Cross dressing on Saturday and Sunday, it was just like a freakn stage race across France or some such thing.

Near as I can figure, only me and Kurt Benson did all three stages (like anyone even knew it was a stage race) - but the Friday night $.25 rage and the cross dressing was enough to lure Mr. Grelk up here from SE Iowa. I was a little disappointed that he A) took to lots of pavement and B) rode his little weed-eater engine bike up here - so "No centuries for you!" - still, it was good to meet him and great of him to come on up for a couple o' days of good racing!

Now - there was some Cup chasing going on this weekend - seems the good Mr. Anderson was motivated to get his September hundy in - here is his report....

Dave,

Finished my September hundy this past Sunday. Did 55 miles of gravel via Dallas Center, Adel, DeSoto, Cumming and entered Waterworks park from the south. Then did 25 or so on the Center trails. Finished by heading out Booneville road to VanMeter and up to Waukee. Somewhere around 106miles. A good ride and route. I’ll have to find a way to shorten the first half and add more miles on the Center trails, although I think that 50 at Center would be my max. I was getting dizzy in Denmans after the 25 (dizzy in denman’s – sounds like a good song title).

Tom

Grelk has 9 metrics and Nick and Matt are in the Chase!

2008-09-22T10:02:00.003-05:00

From Dennis:

"Took another crack at the Missouri metric I did a couple months ago, only this time I tried to reverse the route.
Felt good to be back on the cross bike. Weather was good cross training weather too, brisk, alittle breezy, and it rained for the last twenty or so miles.
Sure looks alot different without the flooding, but I still did alot of backtracking. I still want to know how the mail gets to those people, no street signs to be found, crazy."

Meanwhile - up in Ames...

"Dave,

We met at the 24-hour race: I'm Matt Maxwell's friend. I'm chasing
the 600 mile cup this year, and as of now have 3 of the centuries
done. Should have another this weekend. So go ahead and put me up on
the blog and be ready to send me some mud soon!

Also, (Matt) Maxwell and I are planning to "organize" a double gravel
century on the 25th of October. We did a shorter one two years ago,
and decided to call it the TOBASCO ride (Tour Of Boone And Story
COunties). I'll get some more info about the route and meeting place
and whatnot, and when I do I'll pass it on so that you can put it up
on the site.

Thanks!

~Nick (Wethington)

So I say - Rock out Grelk - 3 more and you've got yourself 2 cups!
And Nick and Matt - welcome to the 2008 chase - we'll look forward to your 200 miler in October! Hmm - with that on the calener - I might actually have a chance at a real cup this year! (ed. note: I do enjoy a daily cup of coffee from an official Cup O' Dirt - but somebody had to end up with the prototype.....)

PS - I've heard that the Sycamore Trail is in good to great shape from one end to the other! There are also rumors that, starting next Spring, more trail could be added to the area..... watch for details on that exciting bit of news! So - I've mapped out a Denman's style trail... check it out - 21 miles, one way!!! Wouldn't THAT be fun! Geez - 21 miles... Do it twice and have a metric! That WOULD be cool!

Grelk and Fuller Just Keep Riding!

2008-09-21T07:59:00.002-05:00

From Mr. Grelk:

Another metric for the tally. Rode home from work un-assisted on the longtail for the first 30miles, than finished it off with a little quicker 30 mile loop on the cross bike.

From Steve Fuller:

I had planned on doing a double this past weekend: 100 up to the CITA
Ales and Trails event on Friday with my camping gear attached, and
the same route in reverse for a ride back on Sunday while someone else
ferried my gear for me. As you may have heard, we had a bit of rain
come through during the week which made this ride a lot harder than I
had bargained for. Two photos that sum up the day perfectly are
Yuck
and
MRE?

I had 80 miles or so done when I decided that enough was enough and
accepted a ride from a great guy named Gil. It was well worth the case
of beer I forced him to accept for his trouble. With the skies not
looking good on Sunday, I opted to drive home and lick my wounds. I
had hoped to get my century total up to 9 so I could finish out the
year with 12. Instead, I'm still sitting at 7 and trying to figure out
a way to dig out of the hole. The rest of the year is gonna be tough.
We'll see what the next three months hold, I'm not completely ready to
throw in the towel yet.

Steve Fuller

Tim's Clickin' em off!

2008-09-15T20:03:00.000-05:00

Dave,

Last Saturday I headed down to Patterson and then up through Bevington and going
north parallel to the interstate. A pretty uneventful ride that totalled 104 km.

This morning, I decided to get up early and try to get my ride in before the football games started. My original plan was to head out west to Earlham. I got about halfway there when the cold front moved through and the skies clouded over. I wasn't feeling too confident about the weather any more, so I decided that I would just stick closer to home and ride around in circles for a while. The only 'town' I visited was Orilla and I went back and forth from there to west of the interstate a couple times and explored every dead end road that goes north of there. I finished the day with 105 km.

Tim Bierbaum

Welcome To The Chase, Tim!

2008-09-04T11:21:00.000-05:00

Hi Dave,

I'd like to throw my name into the list of people pursuing a 1/2 Liter O' Dirt.

I did my first metric on August 10th. I didn't really plan where I was going much. I started at home, down through Waterworks and past the airport to Cumming. From there I headed west. I turned around at a rural water tower just west of 169. I finished with 100 km and change.

Number two came on August 17th. I went down through Cumming, over through Prole. I made a quick stop at the Kum & Go north of St. Charles and ended up with 110 km.

August 24th I wound my way down to Indianola where I refilled at a gas station on the west end of town and wandered on back for a total of 107 km.

I'll keep you posted as time goes on.

Tim Bierbaum

Yikes! That was HARD!

2008-09-03T10:01:00.002-05:00

Well, I mustered up another full hundy - but it took a toll on my body!

I signed up for the 24 hour race at Seven Oaks over Labor Day weekend - and I was kinda hoping to win the dang thing - knowing Squirrel won it on 14 laps last year, and also knowing that he wasn't racing this year - I thought that maybe, just maybe, I'd have a shot at the cool grand o' cash! My other objective was to get 100 miles in - after all, being married, with 3 kids, 3 businesses and all that -it's not often I'm given the gift of 24 solid hours just to go ride my bike - better take advantage of it!

Gun goes off in the sunny heat of high noon and the scramble for the bikes begins - I find myself with about 10 riders in front of me as we enter the single-track... and I know of only 1 who is a 24Hr soloist... causing me to think I'm in 2nd!

I roll around a few laps. Rolling around is too nice a word to describe the trail of Seven Oaks. If you love hard, technical singletrack with lots of 3-5 stroke hills (you know, those ones that take 3-5 hard strokes to muscle up over the top) - you'll love Seven Oaks! It is 8 miles of pure singletrack - no breaks for water, food or just to rest your butt or hands - all work, all the way!

Anyway - it gets to be mid afternoon, about 3:30 and I stop for a refuel and say to my beautiful bride, Dee "I think I'm in 2nd!"

As I am on the last quarter of my next lap, 3 guys roll up behind me. "You guys are riding strong!" I yell back, "What're you riding?" "24 solo" was the reply from Jesse Bergman. "The two guys behind me are 24 solo too."

Crap. I'm in 5th, at best, now - a full lap down on the top 3. Well - there goes my hope of winning the danged thing. My strategy then changes to get 12 laps in, which, with the quarter lap start and some extra rolling around after the race, would give me 100 miles.

I rode at an easy pace - not wanting to succumb to the heat that took it's toll on so many other riders - just wanting to make it to dark in good shape. I took a half hour break about 7 or 7:30 for some dinner, then back out at 8, just as dusk was settling in. I needed full lights as soon as I entered the woods - and had an enjoyable lap in the dark. I had been keeping my laps right on an hour, with a short break to refuel and refill the bottles. I ate a 1/2 a peanut butter sandwich or banana after every lap, along with a swig of Mtn. Dew. On the bike I had one Powergel each lap and would drink about 2/3 of a large bottle of Powerbar Endurance, plus 1/2 a small bottle of water every lap. This seemed to work, as I never felt even a hint of bonk.

The only thing that I really felt was just pure, simple fatigue. Tired. Those 3-5 strokers really get to you. The roots, ruts, rocks and bumps really get to you. My wrists seemed to be taking it the hardest. It got to the point that I had to hold on to my bars via the bar-ends, and only held the grips if I needed to use the brakes (which is alot!). As time wore on - my wrists really gave me the most trouble.

At 9:20pm, I did a fun lap with Kim Hopkins. Kim wanted to do a full lap in the dark, but wanted company. I was happy to oblige. It was fun. I kept her in front of me, so to keep her flooded in my light as well as hers. That was good, cuz at one point her light went out! Yikes! Light restored we continued our lap. As we came down into 'camp' I rode by the MOB squad - who yelled "HEY MABLE! CAN YOU BUNNY HOP?" "Yep." I came around the corner and Kyle Sedore was lying down across the trail! Bunny hop, yes. But over a human (I use that term loosely!)at 10:40pm, after 66 miles of Seven Oaks!?!? "DON'T MOVE!!!" I yelled, as I picked up the speed needed to clear him - JUMP! Up and over - I, thankfully, cleared him! I can not believe he did that, but I am glad I made it!

It was a fun lap - but my fatigue was setting in - and with 8 laps behind me - I decided a long break was in order - plus the midnight chairlift rides and pasta party were looming just ahead! I checked on the results and I was in 4th, as Charlie Tri dropped out. I thought that was cool, but I still went to bed, falling to sleep about 2am.

I woke up at dawn... ate and dressed... and checked the results. 7th. rats. Well, If I ride a lap, I'll move up to 6th. No matter what - one more guy was done, so If I get a lap in, I'll move up. I didn't really care. I had 100k in, and that'd count for the Cup (rather, Half Liter)... but Dee says "Well, YOU signed up for the 24 Hour race, not the 12." Geez. She's right. OK -she talked me into getting on my bike and doing at least one lap. By the end of that lap, I felt great and went for another, doing my fastest lap of the race - 55 min. I did two more, right on an hour, and got my full 12 laps in. Rode around the gravel road for a bit to get my 100 in- and I was DONE!

100 miles of Seven Oaks - that is by far one of the hardest 100 miles I've ever done - and I ended up 6th/16. I'm pretty happy with that- I could have done maybe one or two more, but that's about it. Jesse, Andrew, Matt, who each did 16, 18 and 15 laps, respectively, My hat is off to you! That's guts and discipline! Congratulations to them, and everyone else who took on the singletrack of Seven Oaks.

Now, it's time to re-hab my wrist in time for Chequamegon. My left wrist has swollen and it hurts to hold/lift stuff. It'll be OK - I'll freakn tape the thing and we'll make it through Chequamegon in 2 weeks - even if I need a cast when I'm done!!!

Thanks for reading - and anyone else wants me to post their Seven Oaks stories, send em my way!! dave@all9yards.com

A Nap??!!??

2008-08-27T08:08:00.000-05:00

Hi Dave,

I rode a really mixed up slow metric with a nap in the middle Saturday. Link. Started riding at noon, piddled around riding a 15mile hilly gravel loop with my banker, then did another lap of that on my own, then headed into the forest for sixteen miles of bushwhack/buff equestrian trail, then I rode home for a snack and a nap. Woke back up at 3am and finished out the metric with another 16mile gravel loop. The 3 am loop felt really good, hope that means I'm in shape for the 24hour then. Hopefully I'll have a metric and a hundy of pure dirt to report after this weekend.

DG

A Dirty August

2008-08-25T07:13:00.001-05:00

Headed out from Johnston at 7AM on Sunday with Scott Sumpter (LeMond
Poprad), Rick Blackford (Bianchi Axis), and myself (Surly Karate
Monkey) in the group. We met Tom Anderson (Specialized Stumpjumper) on
the way and headed west with no particular route in mind. After
passing by some gas pipelines north of Redfield and brief foray into
adventure racing courtesy of a bridge construction project, we were in
Panora for lunch after about 60 miles. After lunch we stopped briefly
to let Sumpter fix a slow leaking tire. Tom wasn't feeling quite like
himself after lunch so he told us to go ahead to Adel and he'd keep on
at his best pace. Rolled into Adel, snagged some drinks at the Casey's
and after a rest in the shade Tom came around the corner with a
Gatorade in hand and a smile on his face. We rode by Tom's house and
then Scott, Rick and I finished up the ride. 103 miles in total. 7:40
ride time.

Steve 'Mr. DSM Register' Fuller

A Perfect '10'!

2008-08-19T06:50:00.003-05:00

Dirty Man, John Adamson made it 10 for 10 at this years Leadville 100 Mountain Bike Race - earning himself, not just a silver buckle for finishing - but the BIG one for finishing his 10th - the coveted 1000 Mile Buckle!

An he did it in style - finishing in a fast 10:05:13 - a great finish for anyone - much less some old dude in his 60s! He placed 3rd in his age group of geezers - We, at ye ol' Cup O' Dirt, solute you, Mr. Adamson. You have proven that 60 is the new 30! Thank you for being an inspiration to all of us!

Now - to the Cup chase - Others who knocked off another notch on the chase include Mike Johnson, who finished hand in hand with John at Leadville, knocking about 20 minutes from his previous PR and who now has 7 on his way to the full Cup. Doug Keiser who finished in a very fast 9:34 at his first Leadville race, being the 19th fastest guy from folks east of Colorado! Paul Meyermann finished his first Leadville, coming in under the 12 hour mark. Paul is halfway to his 1/2 Liter of Dirt! Congratulations to all of you Bike Tech folks for your race - and for having the guts to sign up, especially Kat, who put all those miles in and toed the line in the Nation's toughest 100 miler!

Then there's Dee and I, who, in November, had a momentary brian lapse, and decided to sign up again, for our 3rd ride on tandem. With Dee's racing this summer, we were curious how that would effect our results, and were pleasantly surprised to find ourselves battling for 2nd place in the tandem division agian - managing to hold on for 2nd in the closest tandem race in Leadville history and shave 17 min from our 2007 time, finishing in 10:24:33. So, we nailed another hundy, took home a buckle and some swag, and are looking forward to our next race at Chequamegon.

Oakley Rob finished his first Leadville, earning a 2nd century, in 10:24:05, enjoying the day and is already looking forward to next year. Brian Benson gutted out the last half of the day, not having 'it' at the halfway point - but, being spurred on by Langer at the 2nd Twin Lakes (TL2) aid station - rode on and finished in a PR 11:28! Way to gut it Benson!

Brian Duffy and Dave Fish fell behind their expected cut-off times at TL2 withdrew - but did manage a metric century in the process - a very difficult metric century!

Again - congratulations to all for toeing the line in a historic Leadville Trail 100! See you next year?

Peace - Dave

Grelk Adds Another 100k

2008-08-05T06:49:00.003-05:00

Dennis Grelk and Squirrel loaded thier gear... like - everything... from trail tools to camping gear and a race bike (you gotta see this!) and headed to Boone for the IMBCS #6 at Seven Oaks. They spent the day working the trail on Saturday - enjoyed an evening under the stars and then enjoyed the race on Sunday... - Dennis enjoyed all 3 laps of it it while Squirrel, lacking enthusiasm, bagged it after one lap - and joined the crowd to watch.

This counts as Grelks 7th metric - seems he's on his way to add a Half-Liter O' Dirt to his recently earned Cup O' Dirt! This will be Squirrels 3rd either metric or full.

Myself - I'll be heading off to Leadville with a crew from Central Iowa tomorrow - including Oakley Rob, Brian Benson, Dave Fish, Brian Duffy and my bride - Dee Mable. This is Robs first attempt at Leadville, while Fish and Duffy are working to earn thier first buckle and Benson hopes to better his PR. Dee and I are hoping to have an uneventful day - and if we do - are also hoping for a PR and maybe finish top 3 tandems again. That would be fun.

Other Iowans, and Cup chasers, include John Adamson and Kat Porter from Cedar Falls - John is a longtime vet - in fact will be looking to earn his 10th buckle this year, and Kat is attempting this gig for her first time. They are joined by Pb'ville veteran Mike Johnson. Good Luck to all Iowan's toeing the line!

Big news for this year is the fact that Lance is reportedly racing this year- I guess he and Charmichael still have that bet going from last year - and Landis is officially out - so there is no "Yellow Jersey Throwdown" or anything - Lance just wants to beat Charmichael - and maybe finish top 10 along the way. This author doesn't think that Dave Wiens, last year's winner, has anything to worry about from Lance - but we'll see - I could be wrong. Reguarding Landis - he's got this little suspension thing - and Leadville is a USAC sanctioned race - so he can't do it without adding time to his suspension, which is up in January of 2009.

I will be calling the Kim West Radio Show on Sunday evening at about 6:50pm CST for a brief report - and the August 17th show will feature Leadville with full results and stories from riders around Iowa, and the country! Tune in to 1460 KXNO!

We'll see ya on the flipside of the weekend!

Peace - Dave

One-A-Month Club

2008-07-31T14:53:00.002-05:00

A recent (07/30/08) note from Steve Fuller:

100.01 miles. Went with Tom Anderson through Granger, Woodward and to
Ogden and back, with a side trip over towards Dallas Center and a bit
of pavement to finish it all off. Ride time of 6:48:change. Saw fox,
deer, and a lot of small frogs. - Steve "Mr Famous RAGBRAI Guy" Fuller

Sounds like Steve and Tom are still looking for that awesome One-A-Month Club prize at the end of the year. Whatever that is... Hey Sumpter - how about throwing in a few "Bikeiowa" Calenders for the kids??? Or maybe I should be asking Rick Paulous... were those from Bikeiowa.com or Bikeiowa.org? I'm so confused.

Anyway - congratulations on keeping up the streak!

RAGBRAI, Leadville and Lance.

2008-07-30T11:08:00.002-05:00

While Big Johny and Kat were riding gravel, racking up metric centuries - I quote, from July 24th:

Dave -
Kat, Mike Johnson, Chris Congdon, Paul Meyermann, Pete B. and myself went
over to Colesburg and did their epic gravel race course twice - 80 miles
of Leadville test - we all passed with colors.
I'm having trouble keeping track of the other guys rides, but Kat and I
should have 11 now.
Thanks,
John

And then this from July 27th:

Dave - Welcome back from the Ragu. Can't hardly beat it for a vacation
- riding your bike with 1000's of others in celebration of our sport. I
hope the weather was good and all went well for you and yours.
Kat and I have another - and last 100 - before our trip to the top of
the world. That makes 12 for each of us. Thanks for doing this.
See you at the coffee shop
John

To John and Kat I say - congratulations! I'll buy you a cup of coffee in Leadville! You should be VERY well prepared with all those miles! We'll see you next Thursday! - Dave

Meanwhile there was a little ride across the state - on pavement (alas) but a fun ride none-the-less. Fuller, not wanting to take the easy way out - or across - packed up the kitchen sink and rode fully loaded out to Mo Valley and then across the dang state - and picked up a little press on his way. While he did get plenty of miles in - they WERE on pavement - and he's still got to get out on dirt to maintain his membership in the ONE-A-MONTH club - Good luck Fuller! Click below for his article!

Fuller isn't the only one that crossed the state last week (ha) - the Mable's were at it too - hauling not gear, but kids. A nice wheel came by at just the right speed on Tuesday... as Lance passed buy our train. With just the right slope of road (in otherwords - none) and the right wind conditions - it allowed us to hop on his wheel. I wasn't quite sure it was him at first - he has hairy legs (gasp!) but the look from a guy riding with him told me that my intuition was correct - Never at a loss for words, I gave him a little smack talk - then was treated to "The Look". Know I know what Ulrich felt like. That being said - we went with him for another 6 miles or so. He was kind enough to make sure we hung to his wheel and even went back to chat with Dee and the kids.

Lance mentioned our rig at his speech at the Styx concert - and we appeared in a Duffy cartoon on Thursday - what fun! No doubt we'll all remember the day we rode with Lance!

Well - on to Leadville! We'll hope there are about 8 Cup entries after the little 100 mile race on the 9th - Stay tuned!

A few late June and early July additions!

2008-07-08T07:50:00.004-05:00

If my math is correct - I'm giving away a couple more Cups this year- This marks our first Full Cup O' Dirt awarded this year to Dennis Grelk - and by July, no less! Impressive - that dude likes to ride! He's half way to a Half Liter O' Dirt too -let's see if he earns that as well! He could have a matching set - one for the office and one for the home!

It looks like Norbert has earned a Cup O' Mississippi Mud - The year is only half empty (or is it half-full - you decide!). Will Norbert continue on to earn a full Cup O' Dirt? Only time will tell!

From Dennis Grelk:

June edition: (he's in the one-a-month club, you know...)
"I wandered around long enough to get a century yesterday. (6/29/08)

The flood waters are receding, but they still have hold of my normal routes so I tried wondering around in Missouri a little. I don't know how those people find their way around, none of the gravel roads are marked! No street signs, no dead end signs, gravel roads pass for driveways, driveways pass for gravel roads. It was a really interesting ride on some really remote roads, but I sure made a lot of little loops.

Pics 009-024 here are from the ride"

July edition:
"Thought while I was trying to get through your spam filter I may as well add another dirty century to the list. Here's my kickoff century for July."

Pete Ylvisaker - seems though he's been recruiting! We'll add Big Al to the list!
"Hey Dave,

I put in 62 miles (almost exactly) with the single speed on Linn County gravel roads July 4... and another 45miles of gravelicious single speed riding this morning. Best riding weather in months. Anyway, chalk me up for another 100k. And if you'd be so kind, add one more rider to the list. Al "Big Al" Schmidt joined me for Friday's 100k."
A pic from Pete:

And from Norbert Koenigsfeld:

"Went for a ride yesterday and it ended up being a century...at mile 89 I crashed but was able to finsh...stupid me for crashing...hit a hole in the road."

A Night O' and Morning O' Dirt

2008-06-28T10:48:00.003-05:00

Oakley Rob's Nite O' Dirt featuring Rob (as himself), Fuller, Paul, Sumpter, Chuck, and Kyle, with an appearance from Matt.

Had a great ride last night. Despite the line of storms that blew
through after getting home from work, 9 of us left Kyle's bikes in
Ankeny at 8:30 AM for "Oakley Rob's First Annual Night Of Dirt". Our
route took us straight north to Ames (we literally made 4 turns
getting onto the gravel and nothing after that). After a quick bite,
Matt from Skunk River Cycles joined us around 11:00 PM and we headed
back south, with 6 of us then heading over to Huxley and Cambridge and
back on the HOINT (very nicely groomed dirt/gravel trail), then back
to Ames for a quick 2 AM burrito fix. Matt went home, leaving Mr
BikeIowa, Oakley Rob, Kyle and Chuck from Kyle's bikes and myself to
ride straight south back to Ankeny, arriving back at the shop around
3:30 or 4:00AM. Kyle, Chuck and I called it a morning with 80 miles on
the odometer. Rob and Sumpter kept rolling around town to get their
remaining mileage in. So there you have it, a quick night metric to
keep myself active in the "One 'o Month" club. Talk of doing another
one in August if there's interest (and even if there's not).

Dave and Dee's 17.8th annual early morning O' Dirt: Metric #2 for the mables and Fishy. Langer joined but only got 55 or so. Lot's o hills, lots o miles, lots o dogs - and a picture perfect Iowa morning. Ride ended with coffee at Amici - that's what I call a perfect start to a perfect day - the conclusion of the day will entail our daughter Anna's dance recital, followed by an overnight drive to mountain paradise... Estes Park - yep - a perfect day.

Peace - Dave

Catching up and adding some new!

2008-06-25T20:37:00.004-05:00

Our friend from the East, Darcy Sanford, got a little twinge of motivation last week when I requested reminders of missed hundies... so she joined Norbert Koenigsfeld, Sandy Kessler and Lisa DeShano for a dirty old ride. (come to find out Norbert is an old friend from my days at UNI!... GO CATS!) She logged 111 miles on the 22nd of June - well on their way to some Mississippi Mud! Nerbert added the full century to his count as well -

Steve Fuller is a card carrying member of the One-a-month club - with 2; 2; 2; hundies in May! (you remember that Certs commercial, don't you???) He ventured to Kansas for the Dirty Kanza - a 200 mile epic through the Flint Hills - middle of nowhere - Kansas... 19 hours, 6 minutes and 48 seconds of riding brought him in 36th out of the 75 starters - I can't even imagine... well maybe, but not really.. Great Job Steve! With those 2 centuries, it brings Steve to 5 hundies and 2 metric hundies - he's only one away from a Cup O' Mississippi Mud - I think he's on for a full cup, though...

I also got a note from another old friend - back in 1995 Pete Ylvisaker and some crazy buddies hosted a January 1 race in Cedar Rapids - I remember it well as it as a cold 7 mile slog through rural Linn County on gravel roads (see a theme?) and some river bottoms trail - all covered in fresh snow (geez - it is all coming together for me now - the gravel, the snow covered trail run, the craziness...). The race was the Hellinback 7, named, not for the fact that we were running to hell and back - but for a long forgoten homesteader near Cedar Rapids - George (?) Hellinback - who was lost in the snow or something... anyway, the winner got a wooden paddle for a year and got to put their name on it - My name graces that paddle to this day, as the winner of the inaugural Hellinback 7 - a proud moment in my storied athletic career!! ;)

Anyway - Pete is joining us on the chase - guess the paddle is getting lonely - and he needs a cup to sip some hot-cocoa from after his 7 mile run on New Years Day this year... He logged 4.6 hours of outdoor fun on his 46th birthday with 100k of gravel roads on a P.O.S. single speed followed up with a 4k run. Welcome to the chase, Pete!

Well, Dee and I nailed our first metric of the year - on dirt anyway. We've each got a century... but on CE-ment - so we got the tandem out with Fishy and Benson for a fast gravel grinder to Perry and back for some Leadville prep - felt good and we're hoping for another buckle this year... tune in August 9th!

And finally - I'm gunna post his email - cuz I liked it - so from Tom Anderson:

You can increase my tally by 2 to 6 total. I'm still in the hunt for 1 a
month status (the only thing I'm chasing this year).

I just finished a ride today, a new personal best of 7:14 for 100; 7:44 with
stops. Amazing to look back at the January Hilly Hundy with Squirrel,
Fuller, Grelk and Sumpter and how that one was 11hours or something like
that (and I was dead tired for days).

I've been doing most of my riding west of Des Moines, some north and some
south. Anyone that is looking for rides can go to www.motionbased.com and
do a search for Urbandale. My rides are uploaded via GPS and they will give
others a good starting point.

June Hundy: http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/6046777
May Hundy: http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/5765987

Thanks again for posting this challenge. I've lost close to 25lbs and am
probably in the best shape of my life.

Tom>

Happy Trails - Dave

June Cup-dates

2008-06-21T06:57:00.004-05:00

While there was a flurry of activity in early June - it got pretty quiet for a couple of weeks as folks were busy sandbagging, pumping out basements, moving to higher ground, and generally trying, each in their own way, trying to mitigate the effects of the flooding that made the Floods of '93 look like a puddle at Chequamegon (which can be massive, mind you... but is a puddle none-the-less).

All that anti-flood work going on around the state aside - there has been some recent action, and some missed action (ie- missed postings and updates by me). First of all - about the only place to catch a mtn bike ride around here are the gravel roads, as lots of trails follow some type of stream or river, and are under water or 6 inches of mud right now. That and- it's just nice to get out and go for an enjoyable gravel ride to escape the challenges of the day(s).

So - Here's what I know...

The Cedar Falls crew, seemingly lead by that dirty old man, John Adamson, has been racking up the metric centuries, both as an escape and as Leadville training (and, it would seem, in pursuit of the Cup!). Johny, has rounded up a crew of 8 from the Bike Tech squad and have been riding riding riding! Latest folks to join the chase include Chris Congdon, Steve Bullerman and Doug Keiser (who has 2 now).

Scott Sumpter has the century that woulda-coulda-shoulda been... but alas - even he won't count it. He took off in the final days of May to maintain his One-A-Month Club status - and headed north for a gravel ride to, like Mason City or something. Well... the first 9 miles took him 2 1/2 hours.... can you say 'peanut butter'? Realizing that he'll never make his destination at that pace - he took to the CE-ment (anyone remember the Beverly Hillbillies?) and finished out the ride. 104 miles that just don't count (until 2009 and the Cup O' CE-ment... kidding.)

Dave (that'd be me) and my beautiful and talented bride, Dee broke the ol' tandem out last weekend for our first metric century. With Dee's new interest in bike racing...she is in great shape - we ROLLED! Joined on the ride by Brian Benson and Dave Fish, we spend a good deal of time around the 20mph mark... even on the way home with a bit of a head-breeze. Really - I now know who's been puttin' all the power into that tandem at Leadville and Chequamegon all these years! Dee has officially become a cyclist - just look at this picture of our living room - this NEVER would have happened - even a year ago - but get the lady a sweet pink LeMond - teach her some racing skills - and look out! Everything changes... and now, even I get to keep my sweet green Guru in the living room!! Honestly - cycling changes people -wouldn't you all agree?!

Now - I think I've got the tally correct on the left there- but I admit that I might not... so, I need your help! If, after reading this and checking the tally, if I've got this all wrong - or you have a short story about a great ride that I need to post, send (I know you've done it already... but, well....send it again!) and make your subject line 'Cup O Dirt' so I can sort through my hundreds of emails and get your story posted.

I do know that Mr. Oakley, Robbie V, is heading out for a darkened century next Friday night - leaving from Ankeny around 8 or 8:30pm - riding to Ames for some chow... riding back to Ankeny - for some chow.. then riding back out for the final 30miles and home in time for a cat-nap before dawn breaks. That does sound like a BLAST - but alas, the Mable-mobile can not make it due to a dance recital and the fact that I'm driving overnight on the next night for a week in Colorado... and two sleep-deprived nights in a row might spell disaster... so Dee and I are heading out from West Des Moines at 5am on Saturday the 28th for a 5-6 hour ride in the hills. All are welcome at each of these - send me a note if ya wanna come to either (I'll hook you up with Versteghehghehgheggehe if ya need).

In the mean time - we'll be enjoying the road bikes in West Des Moines at the Hy-Vee tri tomorrow. Robbie V is pulling some dude who cannot pull himself - as part of a team to give this guy tri-experience - Cheer them on as they cruise by - I bet they'll stand out.... it'll probly be the only trailer on the course! I am really impressed with this effort - Dee and I ran a camp for folks with disabilities prior to this whole real estate thing - and spent some time with Rick and Dick Hoyt, Rick has Cerebral Palsy and Dick, his Dad, pushes and pulls him in the freakn' Ironman, Boston Marathon and all over the freakn place. We had the opportunity to ride/run a day with them in 1992 or 1993 as they rode/ran across the entire country. We did 75 HILLY miles through West Virginia with them - a day we will never forget. Anyway - Rob - that rocks - we'll be rooting for you and your whole team tomorrow!

That's enough for now folks -

Peace - Dave

Tour De Parkersburg

2008-06-05T11:15:00.001-05:00

Bike Tech Racing racked up another 9 dirty hundys this weekend. Kathleen Porter and John Adamson had a long trip to Trear and back for some very fine long miles of gravel. Kat thought it was very long gravel.
On Sunday fellow LT 100 hopefuls Mike Johnson and Paul Meyermann joined Kat and John as the group continues to make the adjustment to riding their mt. bike. Riding X bikes and keeping the pace very fast were Pete Berendzen, Steve Bullerman and Robert Fry. Hoping for another cup of dirt we rode west of CF looking at the storm damage north of New Hartford, on to Aplington and back to Cedar Falls. None of us were prepared for the devastation that we saw with our stop in Parkersburg.
All I can say is that I had trouble finding the house - even the location of the house where we raised our boys and lived for 17 years.

photo by Kathleen Porter
Other than that - the day and riding were grand and we all feel like we are making progress for our trip to Columbine and back
John

Holy Cow!

2008-05-21T06:26:00.004-05:00

Fire up the kiln - We got some Cups to make!

When this year started, I'd get an e-mail now and again, describing someone's dirty century - so I'd quickly log onto my blog and cut and paste, chalk one up on the chaser list - and done.

Seems as though better weather and some folks closing in on specific events that they are training for... and maybe the quest for a Cup... has gotten folks on their bikes and logging some dirty centuries! I shall summarize the weeks events:

From David Geig
"Hi Dave,
Went out and did another 100K today. Was beautiful out, had to grind a bit a.k.a. (too many beers last night) Now I got tomorrow off, and my girlfriend works a double, so decisions, decisions, ride or work on the house.
A choice has been made, RIDE!!!!!!!, Gonna go for #11"

Next Day:

"Hey Dave,
Well number 11 completed today 100K. Was a bit chilly to start, had to shed jacket and gloves half way through. Turned out nice. Here's a couple of pics. Tomorrows hamburgers, and trees are taking over. Not sure where I will go after #12. Maybe a Mile Century. That would be a big addition for me, but these metric Centuries are getting me in better shape. I thank you.
Good biking to you.
Dave"

So the man who started in March with his first 100k - is one away from the 1/2 Liter of Dirt - and he will be the first recipient of said Cup! I'm anxious to see what he comes up with for his 12th!

The Cedar Falls Crew:
LT 100 - READY OR NOT

With 120 days before the start of the Leadville Trail 100 ( really 104) Mt Bike Race I thought - man, there's still 4 month before the big race. My good friend and many time leadville participant, Mike Johnson has one of those countdown things to Leadville on his blog and when we broke 100 days I thought maybe it is time to dig out the Mt Bike for the season. Last week when the damn thing said less than 90 days - we said it was time to get serious about Leadville training. So Mike put out the word that the adaptation was going to begin this week end.

Four Bike Tech Racers - Kathleen Porter (first time Leadviller and my fine training partner), Pete Berendzen, Mike Johnson and I answered the call.We headed west out of Cedar Falls with a goal of riding 4 to 5 hours and earning some Dirty Cup points. The weather was fantastic, the riding was great and the convenient stores were aah convenient.
While we were riding several things occurred to me.
1. There's a reason why we like to ride our X Bikes.
2. How is this gravel grinding going to help with our preparation for the Memorial Day Races.
3. No matter what kind of training/racing you've done you are never really prepared for leadville - except, maybe in Dec and Jan.
4. But what really occurred to me is that there is no better way to spend a Saturday morning than riding a lot of gravel with your friends on your 62 birthday.
We met our goals and immediately started making plans for for the Memorial Day Races.
John"

Dennis Grelk - Dennis politely reminded me of his hundy that I missed at the end of April - and an epic it was - read all about his Trans-Iowa V4 experience here.

In addition - he went out and nailed his 8th full hundy.
"A nice day for a ride today, so I rolled out a gravel hundy. Had to ride some shoulders and rode in circles a few times as it was point and shoot route mapping(aka aimless wandering). Stopped for breakfast/lunch at mile four and had one gut-bomb cheeseburger too many at mile 80, otherwise a decent paced ride."

Squirrel and Blackford went on up to play in southern Minnesota in the Almanzo 100 - a gravel road race in Rochester Minnesota. Read Squirrels account - A) sounds like a great race - a hundy in the spirit of Trans-Iowa, and B)Squirrel is tenacious. - however you spell that.

And finally - Booksbikesbeerbrian nailed a hundy - and went quickly form the high of his ride to the low of his cycling year - The "Fight or Flight" reaction is strong in our cycling brother. Read up.

And, lest I forget, Fullur nailed one as you can see in the comments!! Way to go!

Thanks all, for making this a great year of chasing - With Memorial Weekend looming - I'm expecting a busy busy next week logging all the hundies!

For now - Peace

David Giegerich is moving in on a 1/2 Liter O' Dirt!

2008-05-15T07:41:00.004-05:00

While I may have been quiet these past few weeks - David Giegerich has been busy riding his bike! Since early May he has downed his #s 7, 8 and 9 100k dirty rides!
He is also prolific with the camera and has provided us with some shots of his rides through the north eastern Iowa countryside - and if you ask me - he's found some pretty cool places to ride! At one point - on an old railroad bed he came across the aftermath of a very flooded creek - and you can see the log-jam. One never knows what they'll run across when one takes the road less traveled.

In addition to Dave's ventures across the countryside - Brian, from Iowa City, nailed his 2nd full-on century - 105 miles of windswept gravel roads. Check out his story on www.booksbikesbeer.com

Dave G Hits The Half-Way Mark - Paul Gets 2

2008-04-28T12:49:00.003-05:00

Paul Jacobson insists I missed something at this years Trans-Iowa....I really enjoyed keeping the posting going on Cyclingupdate.com from the comfort of my own home while my wife and the pink ladies were ripping it up in Iowa City - but if you'd like to think so, Paul, you are welcome too! Read about Pauls Trans-Iowa experience here. Nice ride - nice ride. No matter what - that was a tough day!

Meanwhile, a little further south of Decorah, Dave Giegerich found some beautiful roads on which to spend a couple of days - seems as though it is easy to get lost in thought on a lonely gravel road - and based on the pictures - I don't blame him!

He was having so much fun, he nailed two this weekend - metric centuries, that is... get your mind out of the gutter!

Duffy Nails His First

2008-04-26T16:33:00.002-05:00

Cussin' and grumblin', Duffy nails his first hundy of the year on Saturday. Honestly, while I am impressed that he ventured out alone on this cold, windy day after heavy rains soaked the region this week... I still had no sympathy - as I am writing Trans-Iowa V4 updates throughout the weekend on CyclingUpdate.com - and those kids are attempting to ride more than 3 times as far! So, Duffy - while I'm impressed that you nailed it - The kids riding the Trans-Iowa get the official Cup O' Dirt Tough-Guy points this weekend! ;) you know I love you! - Dave

A Big Week!

2008-04-26T08:57:00.003-05:00

I'm a little late in this posting - You all can probly tell when I'm busy at work and home, as there was little updating on CyclingUpdate and it has taken me a week to get these 4 hundy's logged! Anyway - here we go -

Dave Giegerich nailed a couple of metric centuries to bring his total to 4 - a third of the way there! Keep rollin Dave!

Tom Anderson and Steve Fuller were the only ones brave (??) enough to tackle the muddy roads at last Sundays get together - They basically followed Toms route around Des Moines - with some creative adaptations - as it became very evident that the gravel was going to be un-ridable without breaking thier legs or equipment or both - they took to the pavement - but not the pavement - the shoulder! They rode about 45 miles of shoulder! That takes discipline!

I'll post pics and more detailed stories when I have more than 5 min to post - but for now - you should know that these kids are well on their way!

Also - as I type this, 100 (or so) crazy souls are in thier first 5 hours of the Trans- Iowa. Follow along on CyclingUpdate.com throughout the weekend.

Peace - Dave

2 Down.... 10 To Go!

2008-04-17T10:00:00.003-05:00

Hi Dave,
Well, I did it again. Another 100K in the dirt between Dubuque and Dyersville. Took part of day off from work. Now I have to come up with a good escuse to tell my girlfriend why I should take 6 hours of "OUR" weekend off and ride and do another this weekend :-)
The Journey begins.

Was a very windy day, these things were down all over the place.

If bikes could talk this one would say. "What are you doing to me?" "I am a road bike, fatter tires and an elastomer seat post do not qualify me for this you imbecile."

-Dave Giegerich

100+ Mile Ride SUNDAY SUNDAY SUNDAY!!!

2008-04-15T09:26:00.004-05:00

OK - so we got the fact that there will be a group going for a hundy this Sunday - we just don't know where - One thing's fer sure - if ya wanna join the fun - show up at Hy-Vee on Grand and Railroad at 6:30 on Sunday for a little pre-ride feast. Then it's either off to a 100 miles of Center Trails (hoping they are dry) No complaining - it's only 8 laps. That ain't so bad! There'll probly be a lunch stop in Valley Junction or something - taco's anyone????

OR - if the trails are wet from the deluge that is forecast for Thursday - then we'll take to the gravel - and try and follow Toms route - described below.
Or - just pull a pickle and pick out some towns and try to get to em by dead-reckoning. (that is a nautical term)

"Here is the route that I created last night. It is currently 116 miles. I’d appreciate any input on route selection. As I stated before, I’m not familiar with these roads and am pretty much guessing that they are gravel. I also wouldn’t mind chopping some of that extra 16 miles off. I currently have it starting and stopping at the Hy-Vee on Jordan Creek and University and am thinking of on the bikes by 7:30 which gives some time for those that want to meet early for breakfast. -Tom

Click here for the route: Map My Ride"

Keep up the great rides - and keep logging the miles! Only a couple'a weeks till Trans-Iowa!!! Yahoo! I'm gunna try and do some 'Live" reports from the race throughout the weekend on CyclingUpdate.com - That's cool.

A Nice Note From A New Chaser - and some others logging miles!

2008-04-14T10:50:00.005-05:00

Hi Dave,
I'm Dave, from Dubuque, 55 years old and always been a biker. However my typical milage was usually 15 miles a day 10 months out of the year UNTIL, I saw the "1/2 Liter O Dirt. Now I want one.
So today I went 62 miles on Heritage Trail. I think this counts as one, right?
I appreciate what your doing.

Here is the puddle I tipped over in, glad it was near the end of ride, because I got soaked. I thought I could ride through slowly, and my front wheel dropped about a 10 inches, and flipped me over the handle bars and into the muck.
Other picture is why Heritage Trail needs support.
Dave Giegerich

- Welcome to the chase Dave!

On some other notes - Norbert Koenigsfeld and Darcy Sanford knocked off a dirty 103 miles last weekend (April 5th) for Norberts 4th.

And this weekend - it was so cold and gross out that I didn't figure I'd get a note from anybody.... Duh. I should know better by now - Dennis Grelk did not just one - but 2 on his way to the 1/2 Liter O'Dirt. This puts him at 6 metric centuries - half way to his 1/2 Liter O'Dirt. Go Dennis, Go!

Dennis is proving that the sun does actually exist in this shot! MMMmmm warm! (right!)

Rumor has it that Tom Anderson is hosting a gravel hundy this Sunday - he's working on a route that heads south from West Des Moines. I'll post details as they are made available.

GRAID Final Report From Grelk

2008-04-01T09:15:00.003-05:00

GRAID was grand. Nearly every sort of gravel was experienced, lightning fast hardpack, piles of 2" fresh boulders, loamy level B's, sandy roads from Dallas Center to Ames. There were some hills, and some flats, a fair tailwind and some headwinds to finish it out. Steve had enough by Dallas Center, and chose to fight the headwinds early. Matt Maxwell, Paul, and I forged on through the sandy gravel expanse to Ames and stocked up on pizza. By then Matt had enough, so Paul and I rolled on. However the call of warm beds sounded too good to pass up by the time we rolled into Paul's neighborhood, and it was decided that we had learned what we needed to learn, the extra 12 hours of sleep riding wasn't going to improve the experience. T'was a good ride with good freinds, doesn't get much better than that.

Motionbased report

Read the full report at www.happytraining.blogspot.com

This marks the occasion of the awarding of the first Cup of the year - as Grelk's ride to Ames counts as his 6th dirty century of 2008 - earning him the coveted Cup O' Mississippi Mud! Congratulations Dennis - I have the feeling that you will be drying out the water in said Cup - and earning the full Cup O' Dirt by the end of the year (or end of April!!!) Keep rocking and rolling! - Dave

Squirrly Hundy

2008-03-31T13:34:00.002-05:00

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

2008-03-30T19:27:00.002-05:00

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????

2008-03-24T08:10:00.005-05:00

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?

2008-03-23T08:42:00.004-05:00

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

2008-03-17T13:39:00.004-05:00

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

2008-03-16T19:38:00.003-05:00

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!

2008-03-16T08:02:00.004-05:00

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.....

2008-03-10T16:41:00.003-05:00

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???

2008-03-10T06:43:00.002-05:00

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

2008-03-09T20:34:00.002-05:00

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

Way to go GPickle!!!

Frostbike Frenzy Ride Today

2008-03-08T07:20:00.002-06:00

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.....

2008-03-07T07:02:00.002-06:00

Who's In?

2008-02-25T20:18:00.000-06:00

Click here and watch the slide show.

Now, who's in?

A Busy Weekend!!!

2008-02-25T16:38:00.005-06:00

I am humbled! There is just a ton of action goin' on for the Cup'O Month Club! I can see that I'll actually have to find sumthin cool for those nailin' a hundy-a-month! Impressive! Here's the skinny on a weekend of fat-ridin:

Norbert Koenigfeld - 107.93 miles of dirt... all alone! 7350ft elevation gain - eat yer heart out you central Iowa flatties! 3200 feet - whateva! 10.9mph Ave. Quite impressive. In his own words:

"This one about killed me…14 different kinds of slush, 12 different kinds of ice, 5 different kinds of mud, sunburn, gravel roads that I’ve never ridden with hills throughout."

Guess who this belongs to? Yep, Mr. Bikeiowa hissef. Well, I suppose he drilled out his 2nd hundy - and on a fixie to boot! Sounds like Squirrel, Grelk, Sumpter and Rick all nailed the full hundy, while Fuller got a metric in. - I'll confirm and edit as needed. Anyway - sounds like a full-on day. Mechanicals, tacos... more tacos. Beer. Caseys. Peanut Butter. Frozen beards. Yep. A good day. Click Here for the fine print

More frozen beard pics here

Paul Jacobson was out and about for the day as well, enjoying the beautiful sites that Central Iowa gravel riding affords. Paul found his way around the countryside, completing his 2nd metric century. Jam out. Now, the thing about Paul riding around so much, all alone with his thoughts... is that he gets time to think. He dun came up with this hair-brained idea - a gravel ride across the great state of Iowa - in a day (or two!) His first annual GRAID is slated for March 29-30 - so ya best start ridin if yer gunna join him!

Great job to one an all - I'm hopin' to heal my butt enough in the coming months to actually join some a ya on these rides - but for now, 35 miles on pavement is about all I got!

Peace - Dave

One-A-Month Club

2008-02-18T13:16:00.003-06:00

Warm (?)temps this heart-felt weekend, sent folks out onto the gravel by the (1/2)dozens! A couple of solo hundys and a group ride around Cedar Falls gave 6 riders another check mark towards the dirtiest cup of all - and here are their reports:

Dennis Grelk
The DsM Sunday century was canceled due to the impeding weather, so I ended up riding solo Saturday. I swear I pushed headwinds for 70 of the 100miles, and the other 30 were spent walking/riding at 5mph on level b's and iceskating rink hills.
Motionbased Ride Report

Mike Johnson, Paul Meyermann, Kathleen Porter and John Adamson - four
of the five members of Bike Tech Racing who are going to Leadville this
year headed out for a 100 miles of dirt on Sat. The roads were snow
packed and fast, the temperatures were fine and the winds were steady
and strong out of the south. Out route took us West to New Hartford -
rode our favorite hills - Parkersburg, and beyond Aplington. It was a
good time riding slow and steady with lots of conversation and stops for
food and drink. After 8 plus hours of riding and falling temperatures we
got home with about 130 - let's see - 130 - that would be 130 K's and
we were glad to be home, warm and eating.
John

Tom Anderson:
After Sunday’s ride was called due to weather, I knew that I’d have to take a drastic step in order to reach my goal of riding a gravel century for each calendar month in 2008. I also knew that I needed to redeem myself from what felt like a beating during the January Hilly Hundy with the boys.

So with that in mind I set my alarm for 5am, I wouldn’t need it as I woke at 4am in anticipation of the ride. I took my time getting ready in the morning and ultimately hit the road around 5:45am with a balmy 9 degree temp. My route would first head north to Granger for a stop at the Casey’s to lose a layer (Dennis Grelk was in my head remind me to not sweat out the jersey’s early in the ride). A quick 10 minutes later and I was headed to Woodward. Another Casey’s, a Gatorade and quick call to check in with home before hitting the road. The next leg went west and then north for 10 miles into Ogden. I felt great on the northbound leg and was moving along at 17-18mph without really working. I spent a good 30 minutes in Ogden for pizza and choc milk before heading out again.

Then the fun began as I had to start working my way south. After 11 miles, I was at the Northwest corner of the route (X Ave and 230th) for a few pictures to document the accomplishment. Heading south, I was only averaging 9 mph and it was taking a toll on the body and mind. I kept working through it and the route headed east every 3-5 miles which gave some relief from the wind. Just north of Perry I decided to drop the loop into town and head to Woodward. It would be a good decision due to the time restraints I was under (I had promised to be home in time to clean-up and leave for a Drake game by 5:30). A few more roadside stops for food and stretching had me into Woodward around 2:30. At my current average I should make it home in time.

However, the gravel wasn’t going to let me off that easy. Just outside of Woodward the road turned to mud. It wasn’t too bad at first, but it was getting progressively sloppy towards Granger. Just south of Granger it got worse and turned into peanut butter. There was about 7-8 miles of being lucky to maintain 8 mph. My GPS was in the pack so I didn’t have the speed, but it was probably closer to 6mph the majority of the time. Just when I thought it would never end, I hit the pavement and the final 2 miles to home. I had to ride another .6 in the neighborhood to hit 100 exactly. I jumped off the bike at 5:10 and into the shower. To my wives surprise, we left the house on time for the game.

Overall, it was a good ride with some good accomplishments. I did a century solo (I don’t think that any of my road centuries were solo), I learned a lot more about packing and clothing choices, and I learned how to push my body and mind through some of the hard times. I struggled with food choices as something was haunting me most of the day.

By the way, the route needs some work but is not too bad. The first 20 miles are relatively scenic, but from 20 to 60 is boring and wide open. Once on Deer trail it gets scenic into Perry, then boring back towards Woodward. This route is also very flat. I have yet to upload the GPS data, but I’ll be surprised if it has more than 1000 feet of total gain.

Pics are on flickr.com, start with the pic of the computer screen, my commentary is on the pics as well.

Cup O' Snow???

2008-02-04T14:53:00.000-06:00

Lots O' Riding been going on this year - cuz those cups are so cool.

Norbert Koenigsfeld, from Cedar Rapids area entered the chase on January 27th with a 103 mile ride on a 46X18 Fixie!!! With 7:32hrs of ride time - his average speed on the lonley hundy was nearly 14 miles an hour - impressive considering it's A)January B)he was on dirt C)he was alone and D)he was riding a fixie!! His data is pictured>

Meanwhile, Dennis Grelk is going for all three cups - the Cup O'Dirt, the watered down version of a Cup O'Mississippi Mud and the metric verstion 1/2 Liter O'Dirt! His latest info is posted below - and counts for his 2nd metric century of 2008!
Dennis Grelk's Ride

Paul Jacobson, a Cup O'Mississippi Mud recipient in 2007 nailed a metric century this weekend (Feb 2nd) as well.

Mostly, what I'm wondering is this: Did Dennis and Paul see their shaddow while riding on Groundhogs Day?

By the way - in case you are wondering - you could earn all three cups - but you'd have to ride 18 full centuries and 12 metric centuries.... all in one year! You can't count the same century for 2 different cups... in other words, if you want the Cup O' Mississippi Mud AND the 1/2 Liter O'Dirt - you'd have to do a full dozen metric centuries PLUS 6 full dirty centuries. Make sense???

Keep riding! Peace - Dave

A Throwdown For The Rest Of Us!

2008-01-27T19:49:00.000-06:00

(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!

2008-01-24T09:39:00.001-06:00

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

2008-01-23T13:59:00.001-06:00

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!

2008-01-09T13:56:00.000-06:00

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

2008-01-02T14:39:00.000-06:00

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

WAY TO GO GPICKLE!!!

2007-12-30T14:49:00.000-06:00

Our first, our only, our own Cup O'Dirt recipient Steve GPickle Goetzelman! His story here: Enjoy his tenacity, discipline, courage and determination. Congratulations!

The Pics
The report:

I rode my last century of the year yesterday. I promise. It was a nice bookend to the season of centuries. The first gravel century for me was at the Dirty Kanza where three of us kicked one out in six hours. We were flying. Yesterday I was alone and I was not flying. We had gotten six inches of snow the day before and the paved roads were sloppy. The gravel roads were not gravel , they were snow and ice. I bet I did not ride even five miles of dirt. Maybe not even one.
I left early in the morning and the temperature was twenty-something. I had no plan on where to ride and first turned north. The roads in town were in terrible shape and the cemetery I rode through had not been plowed at all. Slow going. Conditions improved on the edge of town and I was making good time. The first gravel road was hard pack snow and some ice. It was surprisingly fast. I took a nice loop up near Solon again and then went out East for some exploring.
I got off track and wound up on the pavement of one of our regular road training rides near the Cedar River. I followed the road a bit and found gravel again, about 30 miles into the ride now. This road was a mess. It looked as if it had only seen tractor traffic and it was soft and drifted. I had switched my gear on the Bridgestone to 34X17 anticipating some slow sections and was able to keep moving, but just barely at times. The first climb had my computer telling me 4.5 mph! I was happy that I was able to stay on the bike but I started to worry about being able to go the distance on this day.
Eventually the road improved and I rolled into West Branch for the usual break with just over 40 miles done. Some loud mouth asked me if I had wrecked much today. Nope, I said, lots of slipping and sliding but no carnage. He laughed and walked off to his warm truck. I rode away and just two miles later biffed it. Crud. I turned South and again the road was in bad shape. Better than the tractor road but soft snow and many drifts. Plodded along, had to clear the road to let a road grater by and in its wake I found decent road surface but still not fast.
I was trying to avoid all B roads, which led me to some silly route making between West Branch and Lone Tree. I tried to go to Hills but many roads only connect with a B section or (even worse) pavement so I weaved around and doubled back on myself and got no closer to any stores of convenience but I did finally get that dratted computer to tell me I had ridden 60 miles. I started to believe I could make it then. I was some miles Northeast of Lone Tree and decided to take one more trip over the tri-county bridge and then head for home.
The road to the bridge was sketchy, lots of parallel grooves in the hard pack snow and slick, too. It kept me paying attention and I almost crashed a couple of times but it was fast. I crossed the bridge and into another world, the worst road I had encountered so far. Deep snow and just a couple of truck tire tracks. This road has a few curves and it was really hard to keep the bike from sliding sideways. It kicked around a lot, my speed was slow and I had to stop a few times to switch tracks, get out of snow banks, pick myself up after crashing and such. I was thinking this section to Riverside might never get better and would take me an hour. Not to worry, the next turn found me on another road and it was in better shape.
The bank clock in Riverside told me it was a balmy 25 degrees. Took a short break and watched an old man in an old car miss his turn completely and ram his boat into a snowdrift with a telephone pole sticking out of the middle. Not to worry, he took a moment to think and then floored the accelerator. As I rolled out of town his tires were still spinning like mad on the wet pavement, going to push through that snow and mow down that telephone pole I suppose. Scary…
The roads between Riverside and Hills were in good shape and for once I did not need to wend around all over to get mileage so I bee lined it. Hit the pavement over to Sand Road and turned for home. I saw a group of three jolly men on mountain bikes roll out of a B road and we had a wave, they looked like they were having much more fun than me. I turned off on gravel and rode gravel into town. 104.97 miles covered! I have
ridden further in colder temps but always on pavement. That was a tough ride.
There you have it, twelve gravel centuries in 2007. I rode two in one day in May at the Dirty Kanza, one in August, three in September, one of them on my single speed townie, four in November and two in December on my Bridgestone single speed.
I am glad it is done and I am glad to have stuck it out. I look forward to taking that computer off my bike and putting it back in the box it usually lives in. I am looking forward to more “fluid” rides that don’t take all day. I am looking forward to getting my dirt cup. I hope it doesn’t really have dirt in it, I would really just like a cup of coffee.

As Dave the cup creator would say, Peace!

Steve?

2007-12-30T08:01:00.001-06:00

We're all waiting and wondering?

The rest of you? It's not too late to log a last minute century - or tell me about your quiet quest for the Cup O' Dirt - you've got until midnight, December 31 to nail that hundy!