this is the first version of the route for saturday's century. still need to drive/ride it ahead of time to make sure its all in good shape/rideable. couple of things to note...refueling stops are at the sattre store (more info on this place later) around 35 miles and in ossian around 85 miles and total mileage will be around 105. around mile 50 you will backtrack on a road for about a quarter mile. i don't like the idea of having us do this because of possibility of confusing riders but as of right now its my best option. just pay attention to what you're doing and on the off chance you meet someone make sure you understand the route. also, at about the 100 mile mark you will be riding the shoulder of highway 9 for about a quarter mile. this is just outside of town and its something we do a lot as its part of a common gravel route. the shoulder is huge there and its possible to stay well out of harms way until you're ready to cross the highway. only problem will be mental fatigue that far in. don't be stupid.
CLICK HERE FOR MAP
Monday, January 25, 2010
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
friday metric
most likely route for the friday metric. an out&back to harmony, mn. don't worry about creating your own cue sheets, i'll have those for you. gonna go ride it today to make sure there aren't any road closings, etc. oh, and get excited, we ride past an elk farm.
CLICK HERE FOR MAP
also, it appears i am officially full at my apartment for places to crash. i have gotten multiple offers of other places to crash so please email me if you're still interested and i will get you in contact with possible housing opportunities.
CLICK HERE FOR MAP
also, it appears i am officially full at my apartment for places to crash. i have gotten multiple offers of other places to crash so please email me if you're still interested and i will get you in contact with possible housing opportunities.
Friday, January 15, 2010
FAQ's
ok, so far there's been two questions coming up with some regularity that i'll try to answer without rambling on unnecessarily.
1. concerns about being too slow/holding the group back: thursday night will be sort of a meet everybody, get the blood flowing after driving here, chill kinda ride. we're just gonna cruise for a few hours. saturday's century will be self-supported so there won't be anyone to hold back. early finishers will probably collect at my place and get cleaned up before eventually moving to a bar. everyone will have directions to the bar and my cell number so feel free to join us when you finish. that only leaves friday's metric. i have a hard time expecting to hammer this thing knowing that we've got a century to do on saturday and my intentions are for it to be a no-drop ride. obviously this is within reason. as stated before, you will have cue sheets should you get split from the group. however, i still don't expect this to happen. some of us will be capable of riding faster than others, that's natural, but if you can average 12-13mph on gravel i figure we'll be doing okay. most likely the metric on friday will be an out and back to harmony, minnesota which has a few good hills but certainly isn't as grueling as what we're capable of around here.
2. what if i can't make it for all three days? come anyway. PLEASE. i love having people to ride with and the more the better. a heads up if you're planning on coming would be great but i will make plenty of extra cue sheets for friday and saturday so come along for the ride and bring some friends. i'm pretty sure we'll be having a number of locals join us for some, if not all of the rides also. the only difference for people not making the whole thing is that i'll leave what space i have available for sleeping for those committing to all three rides. as of right now i only have one or two spaces left anyway. i have had a couple of local riders mention that they might be able to help house so the number of free housing spots might be going up also. again, just email me with any questions.
i'm am doing these rides to get in miles, not to set any sort of speed records. i would rather ride with slower people that enjoy the ride and the possibility of suffering through some really nasty conditions than hammer out a 6 hour century with some total d-bag racer boy. come ride your bike and have fun.
1. concerns about being too slow/holding the group back: thursday night will be sort of a meet everybody, get the blood flowing after driving here, chill kinda ride. we're just gonna cruise for a few hours. saturday's century will be self-supported so there won't be anyone to hold back. early finishers will probably collect at my place and get cleaned up before eventually moving to a bar. everyone will have directions to the bar and my cell number so feel free to join us when you finish. that only leaves friday's metric. i have a hard time expecting to hammer this thing knowing that we've got a century to do on saturday and my intentions are for it to be a no-drop ride. obviously this is within reason. as stated before, you will have cue sheets should you get split from the group. however, i still don't expect this to happen. some of us will be capable of riding faster than others, that's natural, but if you can average 12-13mph on gravel i figure we'll be doing okay. most likely the metric on friday will be an out and back to harmony, minnesota which has a few good hills but certainly isn't as grueling as what we're capable of around here.
2. what if i can't make it for all three days? come anyway. PLEASE. i love having people to ride with and the more the better. a heads up if you're planning on coming would be great but i will make plenty of extra cue sheets for friday and saturday so come along for the ride and bring some friends. i'm pretty sure we'll be having a number of locals join us for some, if not all of the rides also. the only difference for people not making the whole thing is that i'll leave what space i have available for sleeping for those committing to all three rides. as of right now i only have one or two spaces left anyway. i have had a couple of local riders mention that they might be able to help house so the number of free housing spots might be going up also. again, just email me with any questions.
i'm am doing these rides to get in miles, not to set any sort of speed records. i would rather ride with slower people that enjoy the ride and the possibility of suffering through some really nasty conditions than hammer out a 6 hour century with some total d-bag racer boy. come ride your bike and have fun.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
here's the really wordy version of what the hell is going on here
okay, so i like to ride gravel roads as a method of training, racing, socializing, therapy, transportation to local bars, recreation and general jackassery. i prefer riding really far because sometimes it just feels good to hurt. i'll be participating in transiowa again this year and hopefully dirty kanza as well as one or two other endurance/ultra-endurance events. so instead of adding to the list of races that are springing up (which is awesome!), i decided just to plan a spring training of sorts for anyone getting ready for the gravel/endurance racing season. hell...i might even make t-shirts.
the plan is to have people arrive sometime thursday march 11th, then head out for a night session of about 40 miles. rise early friday, have breakfast then head out for a no-drop metric century (62ish miles). friday night we will gorge ourselves either on local pizza or just make a shit ton of pasta. rise early saturday and head out for a self-supported century. most likely then have dinner at the bar i work at.
the first 8 (not that i'll get more that one or two idiots the first year) out-of-towners are welcome to crash at my place. i have a recliner, a couple couches (one pulls out), an air mattress and some extra floor space. locals are more than welcome to join for any and all scheduled rides. yes, scheduled. i will post times and places of departure for each ride. oh, and i live in an apartment above a coffee shop for all of you coffee addicts.
i will have cue sheets made up and both friday and saturday rides will pass by gas stations to allow for necessary refueling. i will also have sag set up for saturday but if you decide to join us for this and just flat out aren't in shape to ride these miles you will be forever shamed.
as for what to bring...EVERYTHING!! it will be mid-march in iowa. bring your mountain bike and cross bike for sure and i'd say a set of studs for one of them just in case. also consider bringing your pugsley, tandem and unicycle cause you just never know. BRING YOUR LIGHTS!!! and make damn sure they last longer than 2 hours. we will make the best use of daylight we can but thursday will be in the dark and my guess is some will end saturday in the dark. bring appropriate clothing for winter riding and pray you don't need it. oh, and bring your cell phone, borrow one or be willing to knock on a farmer's door.
BRING A SENSE OF HUMOR AND A WILLINGNESS TO SUFFER!!! i will not be selective. i will not tell people no, but you know damn well whether or not you can do this. I WILL RIDE ALL OF THESE MILES ON ALL OF THESE DAYS! don't be afraid of showing up and having weather cancel the rides. unless riding a bike is impossible, we will ride. even if it is impossible we might still try. there will most likely be times during the three days that you and i will suffer, just be willing to smile, share some of my bacon and keep pushing.
please understand that northeast iowa has a fairly serious amount of elevation change. i'm leaning toward making one of these three days considerably less climbing intensive than the other two, but that might be thursday making the remaining 162 miles that much more difficult.
we will ride a lot. we will most likely hurt from time to time. we will have a riot doing it. and anyone willing to stick around saturday night...you're damn right we'll celebrate.
check back regularly for more information. most of it really won't matter. just come ride your bike.
the plan is to have people arrive sometime thursday march 11th, then head out for a night session of about 40 miles. rise early friday, have breakfast then head out for a no-drop metric century (62ish miles). friday night we will gorge ourselves either on local pizza or just make a shit ton of pasta. rise early saturday and head out for a self-supported century. most likely then have dinner at the bar i work at.
the first 8 (not that i'll get more that one or two idiots the first year) out-of-towners are welcome to crash at my place. i have a recliner, a couple couches (one pulls out), an air mattress and some extra floor space. locals are more than welcome to join for any and all scheduled rides. yes, scheduled. i will post times and places of departure for each ride. oh, and i live in an apartment above a coffee shop for all of you coffee addicts.
i will have cue sheets made up and both friday and saturday rides will pass by gas stations to allow for necessary refueling. i will also have sag set up for saturday but if you decide to join us for this and just flat out aren't in shape to ride these miles you will be forever shamed.
as for what to bring...EVERYTHING!! it will be mid-march in iowa. bring your mountain bike and cross bike for sure and i'd say a set of studs for one of them just in case. also consider bringing your pugsley, tandem and unicycle cause you just never know. BRING YOUR LIGHTS!!! and make damn sure they last longer than 2 hours. we will make the best use of daylight we can but thursday will be in the dark and my guess is some will end saturday in the dark. bring appropriate clothing for winter riding and pray you don't need it. oh, and bring your cell phone, borrow one or be willing to knock on a farmer's door.
BRING A SENSE OF HUMOR AND A WILLINGNESS TO SUFFER!!! i will not be selective. i will not tell people no, but you know damn well whether or not you can do this. I WILL RIDE ALL OF THESE MILES ON ALL OF THESE DAYS! don't be afraid of showing up and having weather cancel the rides. unless riding a bike is impossible, we will ride. even if it is impossible we might still try. there will most likely be times during the three days that you and i will suffer, just be willing to smile, share some of my bacon and keep pushing.
please understand that northeast iowa has a fairly serious amount of elevation change. i'm leaning toward making one of these three days considerably less climbing intensive than the other two, but that might be thursday making the remaining 162 miles that much more difficult.
we will ride a lot. we will most likely hurt from time to time. we will have a riot doing it. and anyone willing to stick around saturday night...you're damn right we'll celebrate.
check back regularly for more information. most of it really won't matter. just come ride your bike.
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