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.