I for one am excited for a new venue and terrain. Decorah is beautiful and while it can be argued that the Midwest lacks the majestic beauty of big mountain ranges it definitely has its rural charm.
I hope to see some of the usual suspects and some new faces to. This event isn't a race against the person next to you, that much is true.
I for one am excited for a new venue and terrain. Decorah is beautiful and while it can be argued that the Midwest lacks the majestic beauty of big mountain ranges it definitely has its rural charm.
I hope to see some of the usual suspects and some new faces to. This event isn't a race against the person next to you, that much is true.
Let the jibber-jabber commence.
Rumor has it this may be a tune-up race for you next year. Eh?!
You've been talking with GNAT I see...Heard you were in the Midwest and maybe even in MPLS. Where's the love? I am indeed hoping this race is a tune-up for what you are thinking. Did you hear or see anything else while you were here?
You're asking questions of GT, you're the first to this thread, does that mean you may grace us with your presence at the line?
You've been talking with GNAT I see...Heard you were in the Midwest and maybe even in MPLS. Where's the love? I am indeed hoping this race is a tune-up for what you are thinking. Did you hear or see anything else while you were here?
Sheesh--I was in the building for over an hour. Even leaned on your desk for a few--were you on an extended bathroom break?
Gnat took me out to Leb for a few laps. Fuggin awesome, that.
If your last question above refers to something you may or may not ride on both TI and the 'main event', no, I didn't see a thing...
But I liked what I saw, if you're pickin' up what I'm layin' down...
Originally Posted by JMKM
You're asking questions of GT, you're the first to this thread, does that mean you may grace us with your presence at the line?
I was in Iowa for petesqueaks--it seemed like an appropriate question!
Not much interest in coming back. That whole racing thing is hard, plus you don't get very good views of the wind farms at night...
Well Mikesee, sorry I missed you. I would have likely skipped work to go ride with you and Gnat.
If in fact I am picking up what your throwin' down and if in fact you didn't see a thing, then we're on the same page. I'm looking forward to Eurobike and Interbike it sure is tough to keep things on the inside when we're so excited about them.
I had the goal of about 150 miles of gravel this weekend to iron out some route details and dial in a new rig before the The Good Life Gravel between some family obligations. Quite a bit of riding with the lights on before daylight. I was able to PAINstakingly carefully research a flat portion that's definitely not singles-peed friendly into a direction of prevailing goodness, but wait, that's not all, with friendly sheep dogs to escort your spun out selves. The second is a reroute that will occur due to the presence of several German Shepherds which seemed to have been trained to not be so friendly. Saw my first blue racer of the year and another first was a feral pig. Loud and uglier than Greg LeMond at a Trek Dealers' show.
B-roads, in places, don't seem to be maintained at all since the last winter (and heavy rainfall this spring). Good stuff!
No wind farm pictures, sorry. but actively working on the pig farm and a possible pig-farm-holeshot-preem.
Ended the weekend at the Chuckwagon races. We might learn a thing or two about rules from their governing body.
"Must wear hats and boots western style - judges discretion" "More than one outrider hazing horses or helping driver -4 seconds. There's just something about a team of 4 horses going around a track ~35 mph that got me seriously thinking about potential Big Dummy Races
I leave you with a few pictures. Under the rules of full disclosure I should state the owner of the Halter Shop is my second cousin and he may be tapped as a potential prize sponsor.
loose german hunds suck. That one doggie we cannot afford to mess with. Any ideas anyone out there?????????
85 miles on gravel yesterday. It was hot , around 92, and dry so very easy to dehydrate.
Ari
loose german hunds suck. That one doggie we cannot afford to mess with. Any ideas anyone out there?????????
85 miles on gravel yesterday. It was hot , around 92, and dry so very easy to dehydrate.
Ari
It looks like your bike is being slowly digested by the Great Sarlaac...
I thought all it was good for was to put on a weird, under-the-radar type, ultra-endurance event on bicycles.
......but then, what do I know?
I do know that this weekend we are doing a major recon effort on our proposed course. I also know that Vassago Cycles has pitched in to help out with the event. (See the details here.) I also know that registration will be opening up soon, so pay attention to the site. There will be an announcement coming soon..........
Overall, a very productive day. My first impressions of the course are that it has a little bit of everything. Probably a few more b-roads than previous inceptions. Some steeps and some flats. As a dedicated single speeder, I would have a harder time choosing a gear for this course than previous ones. Nutritional strategies will play a bigger role this year because we've spaced the towns a bit differently. Maybe a little more of a navigational challenge at times, too.
I'm sure GT will add more when he sits down and sorts it all out.
Well, we got most of our major recon done today. Of course, we'll double check on a few things before the event in the spring, but this will take care of 90% of the travel and route finding for the event. We still have some fine tuning and we still will need to verify a few of the B roads, but this was a great day for our plans for T.I.V5.
What's my take on the course? Well, as d.p. alluded to in the previous post, it really does have a little of each of the previous Trans Iowa's wrapped up into one big package.
Overall Time Allotment to finish: 34 hours or less.
Checkpoints: Three total not including the finish. There will be time limits to each checkpoint TBD.
Notes: This will be the most time we have allowed for a course of this length in any Trans Iowa. Reason? Difficulty, that's why. This will be one of the toughest Trans Iowa courses we have ever put together, if not the toughest. I would say this even without inclement weather, but if it rains, we may be forced to alter the course a bit in places. Don't worry! We have a plan!
Lodging: See note at the end of the Registration Announcement at the site.
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Originally Posted by JMKM
