My Evil Twin

Everyone has an evil twin - that little one that shows up the night before/morning of a big event and says "let's try this" - even if you've never done "this" before.  Most of the time, the results are fairly benign, maybe a little funny, but can be chalked up to a 'learning experience'.  And they make great war stories. "There I was..." - Nah.  More like "...and then I realized..."

Many of the examples are reminders of a cardinal rule of racing - never experiment on race day.  You train hundreds of hours to prepare for races, and then the morning of the race, your evil twin decides to try some 'superfood' one of your buddies picked up at the expo last night.  And you try to ride a 4 hour event on the stuff, even though you've never used it before, and didn't read the label to find out it has zero carbs and lots of caffeine.  And 3 hours in, "well hello, Mr. Bonk".

Some of my classics:

• My evil twin set my mountain bike wheel on the opposite side of my wife's car (where I rarely pass) and then driving 5 hours to a race.  Realizing at 9:30 at night that I have no wheel, calling home and asking my sainted wife to meet me halfway with the wheel - and not picking the right meeting place.  (I made it. I took 2nd. I had a lot of dinners to cook over that one).

• My evil twin decided to completely pull the saddle off the bike the night before the State Time Trial (I guess to clean it).  22 kilometers into the TT, I realized it was loose.  I kept it on the bike by periodically reaching under the seat and hand tightening it for the next 18km.  

• The day of an 18 hour canoe race, my buddy's evil twin decided it was too hot, and he should wear a pair of shorts with mesh lining instead of his normal gear.  Did you know that mesh turns into a cheeze grater after it gets warm and sweaty?

• My evil twin has, on several occasions, placed new tires on my wheels the night before a race.  *Usually* this is an OK thing, but on one occasion the tube got caught under the edge with very predictable results - about 10 miles in.  And with no support wagon.  And no spare.  And... And...

• Food is often a favorite of the evil twin.  Mine has, on more than one occasion, taken a free bar or gel from someone (usually a race sponsor) flacking their product.  Mostly there are no bad consequences, but once in a while, I've either come up short on energy or long on gas.  Either way, it makes for a miserable day in the saddle.  

• Holds true for ski races too.  My evil twin put my wax belt in my finish line bag so it would be easier to carry.  And it went to the finish line.  Which meant I was reliant on sponsor supplied food (see above) for 3.5 hours. 

• And unfortunately, evil twins don't just affect you.  Mine decided to use a binder I *never* use the night before the high school section ski meet.  Well, the athletes thought their skis were great - until the track softened up and their legs got tired.  And then, no more grip and no winning team.  

The point of these little episodes is to drive home the cardinal rules -

• Never experiment on event day - be it a race, a century ride, a canoe trip, or whatever.
• Always check your gear a couple of days before your event and then ride it before the actual event day.
• Have, and stick to a plan.  What you'll eat, what gear you need, where you'll stage gear, etc.  
• Last minute changes are almost never a good idea.  And if it seems like a good idea, it probably isn't.

Leaving the pavement behind

If you grew up riding a bike on unpaved country roads, riding BMX or mountain bikes, then you are probably confused by all the fuss about gravel.  After all, it's not nearly as gnarly as hitting a triple jump on a pump track.  And if the only way to get to Jimmy's farm two sections over was to get on your bike and ride - what's the fuss?

Shockingly, a lot of the folks interested in trying gravel have never ridden the stuff!  And so for those pavement only riders, gravel riding can seem something mysterious, and perhaps a little forbidden or even dangerous.  Hopefully we'll take a little of the mystery out, and help you get ready for your first few rides.

Just like pavement, there are all sorts of gravel roads, from freshly dumped beds of 1/2-1" size granite (usually reserved for underlayment  before pavement) down to limestone or granite dust that packs down hard and smooth.  We rode a recently repaired section of the Minnesota Valley Trail that was smoother and harder than any pavement in town. Probably won't stay that way, but it was smooooth.
'Gravel' also encompasses all manner of dirt roads, roads that the state no longer paves, farm "B-roads" (barely a road?) that are only used at planting and harvest time, 'two track' forest roads, and a whole lot of well maintained gravel that is left unpaved but heavily traveled by cars, tractors, pig haulers, turkey trucks and harvesters. Rounding a corner in farm country and coming face to face with a combine that is 10' wider than the road is always entertaining!  A good gravel bike can take you places that you'd really rather not ride a full suspension mountain bike, too.  Long headwind rides get pretty numbing on an upright position - which is why we have drop bars and hoods as an option!

Actually learning to ride gravel isn't hard, it's just a matter of progression.  For your first rides, find a packet limestone path (like many of the state trails in Wisconsin and a few in Minnesota). You can ride your road bike, hybrid bike, mountain bike or whatever.  Get used to how the bike feels. Learn to focus on what's coming in 50 feet and 50 yards ahead, not right in front of your wheel.  what you see in front of your wheel will already be under your tire by the time you react. On bumpy roads - like washboard, the best technique is to 'float' slightly off the seat (transfer your weight to your feet as you pedal so you push your butt slightly off the seat) as you see even small bumps.  You'll find even this slight bit of suspension will make your ride much more pleasant and cut down on pinch flats.
Next, find a dirt parking lot or baseball diamond at the local park. Practice riding turns on this.  Make up slalom games, practice sudden stops and some 'fast' turns.  Get used to the feel.  Learn to corner with your bike in different angles, and positions.  Practice really slow riding.  Ride on the grass. Note- in certain regions, be careful with grass.  I was in Oklahoma last fall, and learned the hard way about the burrs in a lot of the municipal grass!  Two flats, and absolutely ruined a set of tires. Darn goatheads.

Riding gravel takes a bit more energy than an equivalent road ride.  Rolling resistance from the surface and knobbier tires, and loose gravel contribute to this energy consumption.  I also find that I'm better off dropping my cadence a bit and pedaling in a slightly harder gear.  This makes it much easier to float off the seat as mentioned above, and unless all out top speed is needed, is a little easier on energy consumption..  Also, I'm constantly looking at the road for the firmest/smoothest line.  Don't be afraid to move back and forth across the road (with an eye on other riders and any traffic).  Use common sense, but look for the harder packed surfaces.

One safety note - cars and trucks DO NOT expect riders to be out on 'their' roads.  I've rarely had an issue on this, but the place you do not want to be is on the wrong side of the road nearing the crest of a hill or in a blind turn.  If you can't see the road, the cars can't see you!

Weight distribution is also important, especially when climbing, braking and cornering.  Again, try to look out in front of you, being at least peripherally aware of everything around you.
When climbing, if you find your back wheel slipping, you'll need to scoot back on the seat a bit.  This is especially true when climbing out of the saddle.
Cornering, you may want to ride with your bike a bit more upright than you would on the road, which means your weight needs to move inside a bit.  Stand on the outside pedal (it's down, of course) with your butt off the saddle, and move your nose over the inside brake lever.
And when descending, make sure your weight stays back and on your pedals, not your butt.  This will ensure the bike stays 'sprung' and in contact with the road, not bouncing up and down. It's easy to overthink this, but in terms of function, "the front brake is for stopping, the back brake is for steering." Put another way, the rear brake will lock up easiest, and a sliding back end is not exactly what you want to deal with in most cases.

The bottom line - start out on easy surfaces, fun trails and work your way up to the more challenging unsupported rides and routes.  Have a great ride!

~mj

Test driving gravel bikes

This is sort of a 'part 2' of yesterday's post.

What makes a good gravel bike?  Opinions vary, but I'll try to give a few thoughts on what makes one good to me.
Note - even if you fall in love with the very first bike you ride, you owe it to yourself to ride several more. This is a major purchase - you may like every one you ride, but to be sure - one will talk to you.

First and foremost, it's got to fit you.  My preference is to have it sized just a little more upright than my 'best fit' for a road bike.  Most gravel bikes will be set up with a slightly wider bar which makes the position feel 'right'.  You want to make sure you don't have an overlap between your toes and front wheel (toeclip overlap).  While this isn't a big deal on the road, I think it's a lot more of an issue on gravel. You are a lot more likely to encounter 'awkward positions' that entail very low speed turns like going up a steep hill and tacking back & forth.

How does the saddle feel?  Start out with it dead flat, and adjusted to 1/4" less than your road saddle height (you did bring your own shoes and pedals, right?).  Why the difference?  Most people find they push back a little bit more, and the extra reach gives better leverage at lower cadence.  You may find it better at the same height.  I have the same length cranks on both road and gravel, and set my seat about 1/8" lower than road.  My bars are about 1/2" closer at the flats, and almost an inch closer at the hoods (different bar).

Run up and down through the gears. How does it shift? Does it feel right to you?  If not, ask the shop guys to check it and make sure everything is adjusted well.  And do the brakes work without squealing or shuddering?  Be careful how hard you grab disc brakes until you get used to them. It's very easy to lock up the brakes even on dry, clean pavement.  This will take a bit to get used to the action.

When you test ride, make sure the tires are pumped up to something like 60 psi.  I did a test ride, and the very diligent shop guy pumped the tires up to the rated 90 psi and sent me out.  I got all the way around the corner before I dropped the pressure to around 50 psi for the rest of the ride.  When I got back, the other shop guy apologized for sending me out on such low pressure.  I spent a few minutes educating the guys on 'good' gravel riding pressure and why it wasn't the sidewall pressure.

Try to find a sidewalk or some rough, crappy pavement that you'd ordinarily avoid and ride that.  You still can't bang into lips, breaks and potholes, but normal breaks in the sidewalk are perfect.  You should get a feel for how the bike handles rougher stuff.  If you need a reminder, borrow a road bike with properly pumped road tires and ride that first.  You'll get the idea.

Next, take it around a few corners, progressively faster.  Not criterium fast (if you've ever ridden crits), but see how it feels.  Make sure it doesn't 'push' (want to keep going straight) when you corner.  This is often where bikes will emit a very Zen-like 'Ommmm.'  The right bike will 'flow' around the turn.

And now climb.  Climb in the saddle, climb out of the saddle.  It's a sad thing, but most bike shops are located on the flats, and away from hills.  Try to find *something* to climb.  You should feel connected to the bike - not flopping around when you climb, and without a bunch of flex in the bottom bracket.  Hint - if you hear the front derailleur rub when you climb, the bottom bracket is flexing.

Finally, try some fast riding. If you can go downhill, make sure it feels OK.  Any twitchy feeling?  If so, it will feel more pronounced at full speed on gravel.  Make *sure* it feels right to *you*.  Most things can be fixed.  A noodle-ey, twitchy bike on a long downhill is one thing you can't fix.  A good bike should feel solid, not bouncing around, and not require tons of steering input to hold it on line.

Make sure you can reach the water bottle without difficulty, that 2 bottles fit, and that you understand how to take off the front wheel, the rear wheel and more importantly put them back on!

Now go ride your new bike!

~mj

Picking out and equipping a new gravel bike

I love my gravel bike.  I built it pretty much like I wanted it, but I know not everyone has the time, expertise or desire to build up their own bike.  Like every IT project, every bike purchase needs to start with a set of requirements.  These can be a little fuzzy, but you do need to have some.  And it's OK to recognize that you may not get it perfect.  If you haven't ridden a lot of gravel already, I'll almost guarantee that you'll wind up with bike lust again after a year or so simply because you'll know more, skills will have improved, and you'll have a better idea of the type of riding you want to do.  It's OK - it's just a tool, you aren't married to the bike.  Just get a different one.

I'm a big believer in "just a bike".  Too many people go for a bike that has unique handling characteristics, a really cool custom paint job, super relaxed (or twitchy) geometry, or an unusual design (like the Cannondale lefty fork).  Unless you are a builder or manufacturer, gravel bikes are TOOLS to be ridden hard, occasionally put a way damp, and a fancy paint job is going to get trashed - or you aren't riding hard enough!  Just a bike.

Any old cyclocross bike will do quite well, but most have limits on tire width, have a tall bottom bracket (for clearance, rim brakes and the kind of handling CX requires), and few brazeons.

Picking out your requirements (in order of priority):

The big thing is to go ride at least a handful of bikes.  You probably won't be able to ride gravel, but you can often sneak off onto into a park and onto a soccer field or baseball diamond to at least get a feel for 'off pavement'.  Ride the bike, ride another bike, ride another bike.  One of them will sing to you.  PAY ATTENTION!!!

Granted, this is *my* priority list. Your choices may be in a different order or have different criteria.  These will give you an idea of what to think about.  I am working from the assumption that most people will be on road bikes now.  If all you've ever ridden is mountain, the information is still about right, but I'd steer you toward a 29er with 35-38mm tires, flat bars and no suspension.  

Where are you going to ride?  

If your plan is to just ride on the Wisconsin 'gravel' state trails, you will approach several of these choices differently.  On the other hand, if you have dreams of the Dirty Kanza, Land Rush 100, or Rebecca's Private Idaho, you'll want to select on the 'beefier' side of things.

Price point.  

Start out by figuring out what you can afford to spend.  This is probably the most important criteria, since it will set out components choices, frame materials and other choices.  Within a given price point (like $1000, $1500, etc), most bikes will have a very similar group of components.  The brands may change, but the quality and weight are very similar.  It'll be the minor details that help with your choices.

Brakes

Price point is really going to drive your frame material choice, but within a range, you'll probably have the option of disc or rim brakes.  After riding both rim brakes and disc brakes this season, often on back-back days, my jury is in.  I have bought my last rim brake bike.  Disc stops better, allows more rim choice, better modulation of power, and they stop better.

Tires

Pick your tires based on where you ride.  Maybe you'll even want a couple of sets.  I have 28mm tires for the road only, and 38mm tires for gravel, plus a set or two in between.  If you are spending 1500 and up for a bike, you can afford an extra set of tires for smooth cinder trails and the road if it matters.  Otherwise, go with as wide as you can cleanly fit in your frame, and look for something moderately smooth in the middle with knobs out on the edge.  Something like a Clement MSO or Challenge Gravel Grinder.  And if you can afford them, I'm very partial to Challenge Latex inner tubes. Thinner, lighter, and more puncture resistant.

Wheels

The late Steve Hed designed possibly the ultimate gravel rim - the HED Belgium C2+.  The wide rim gives you extra volume, a better ride, lower rolling resistance, and probably folds your laundry while you sleep. In any case, I firmly believe they'll improve the ride, comfort and handling of any bike.

Frame material

Everybody seems to have a preference. I've heard all the 'steel is real', 'buzzy aluminum' and 'harsh carbon' comments, Bah.  Steel rusts, aluminum is inexpensive and can be formed to make laterally stiff, vertically compliant frames, and carbon can be tuned to perfection.  At lower price points, steel or aluminum dominate, at the upper reaches, expect carbon or titanium.  Ti is a great material, but is difficult to form, and expensive.  Any buzz from aluminum can be dampened out with good bar tape. A purpose designed 'gravel' frame will have a longer stay and more relaxed fork, which will also smooth out the ride.  And yes, I'm in love with my Foundry Auger, and highly recommend it, but there are plenty of other good rides out there.

Drivetrain

At a given price point, you'll get what you get, and unless your price point is <$500, you'll get pretty good.  BUT - look for, or talk to your LBS about getting 'cyclocross gearing' or even more custom.  36x46 or 34x44 front rings will give you plenty of top end gears and still allow for a low-low without resorting to that hideous combo known as a triple.  In fact, it is possible to set up Shimano Ultegra 10 with an older Shimano XTR 9 speed derailleur and use an 11-36 rear cluster, which will give you a 1:1 ratio on steep climbs.  I've only walked once this year, and have climbed numerous 14%+ grades.

Cockpit

Stay with Aluminum stems and bars. Period.  Carbon bars are a lot better than they used to be, but they still should be regarded as 'one bounce', and may snap at the worst possible moment after that.  I'm really partial to Ritchey WCS stems, tape, and Salsa Cowbell bars. There are any number of other good brands on the market, this happens to be my preference.

Accessories

Bags - start with a seat bag.  Banjo Brothers and Revelator both make great bags that expand and provide some level of waterproofing.  Add a frame bag for really long rides, and maybe a Bento box if you really want to.  For rides under 100 miles, I find that I can fit everything in my tail pack, jersey pockets.  Your mileage may vary, of course.

Cages - you want something secure.  I'm sold on the Arundel Sport cages.  Cheap, light, idiotproof.

Lights - lots of good choices out there.  I'm picking up a set of Seca 1700 Enduro.  Bright, long life, and easy to mount.  Did I mention bright?

And that's a short list of picking out your own gravel bike.  See you next spring at the Miesville 56 or maybe the ride formerly known as Almanzo.

~mj

 

2000 mile review - Foundry Auger +

If you've read my initial thoughts on the Foundry Auger "Plus", I fairly gushed about my intents and early thoughts on how it rode.  Now that I've got a couple of thousand miles of road, gravel and

everything in between, I thought I'd share a few more thoughts at the end of a season's riding.
First, I'm still in love with this bike.  I've had a number of bikes over the years, and my riding style/goals have certainly changed as I've aged.  Bikes that felt good 20-30 years ago now are overly twitchy.  What felt just right for crits is not much fun to bump along on backroads.  And frankly, I don't care.  I'm not riding crits, time trials or road races.  The occasional road gran fondo can be ridden just fine on a responsive cyclocross bike (with decent brakes, of course).

One of my original changes was to go with the thru-axle fork, and I've been very (very, very) pleased with the choice.  I like the total lack of ambiguity in steering, and I don't notice any bad habits with jarring or buzz from the stiffer front end.  The overall configuration of the Auger helps here too - good vertical compliance, but rock solid lateral stiffness at the bottom bracket.  I've noticed no click/creak in the BB30 either.  A couple of people have asked why I use the heavier, cheaper Gossamer crankset instead of one of the more svelte carbon ones.  The answer is pretty simple - it's bulletproof.  Not that much heavier, 1/3 the price, no flex, no bad habits.  Understate, overperform.

A couple of changes I've made since the original configuration. I think I'm swapping the saddle back over to my old favorite Selle Italia Flite '91 instead of the more current Flite, complete with center relief.  This thing has just never felt quite right, although it's a pretty comfy saddle most of the time.

15% pavement descent on LaCrosse Gravel race

Also, I have changed tires. I still think the Challenge Almanzos are one of the best tires I've ridden, I've had no problems with them, and no complaints about the way they ride or durability. But then I got on a pair of Challenge Gravel Grinders, 38mm and in basic black.  Whoa...  what a feeling.  These tires are marked '3 bar' for racing on the sidewall, which seems just about perfect for mixed surface use.  I've ridden road paceline at 23-25mph, paved descents at 45+, and gravel drops at over 40.  They fly.  With latex tubes, they don't have a bouncy 'ping' to larger rocks, and really smooth out pavement cracks, rough roads and track through loose gravel amazingly well.  Yeah, these are a keeper.  The only downside is that the tread life may not be super great, which isn't really surprising since they weren't intended for a lot of road use.  I've got to rotate front to back to balance wear.  I'd love a set of 35-38mm road tires with the characteristics, but a harder compound and more of a road profile. Maybe name them IARBGARs or something.

To date, the only adjusting I've had to do was to the brakes.  I *did* find that the bosses for the Whisky 9 match up to a 140mm rotor (options?, don't know), so I added the bar to move it to 160mm.  After a couple of rides, I noticed an occasional clicking, which I finally traced to an slight interference between the edge of the rotor and the caliper.  Huh? What?  So I started to look at moving washers under the caliper - and realized that the bar could be turned around and then it lined up perfectly.  Again, who knew? I'll rack that up to unfamiliarity with proper adjustment...

I've got my bike for the next few years.  Anybody want a really nice Ridley Noah?
Future tweaks and enhancements.
- 1000 lumen headlight set.  Night riding on commuter lights isn't bad if you are in town and there's lots of ambient light.  Pretty sketchy on gravel though.
- Different rotors.  The stock TRP rotors have a tendency to 'sing', and growl/grind under braking.  I'll put on some kind of 2 piece rotor to see if that improves things.
- 2nd set of wheels, configured more for road.  Fewer spokes, smaller freewheel (like an 11-26 instead of 11-36).

Foundry pushes the 'workman' status of their bikes, and I agree.  Not the lightest, not the sexiest, but it tops the 'just a bike' list,  And that's a high compliment in my mind.  No bad habits, nothing to snark about, just a bike. Again, understate and overperform. Chapeau, Foundry.

Fall Riding

Fall is a great time of year to get out on bikes for a few last rides.  It's difficult to pass up days when the air is getting crisper, leaves are brilliantly colored, and there are far fewer people on the trails in the metro.
This morning was such a day - 45 degrees, with the expectation that it would warm to 65 or so.  Doug and I started out at Hopkins on the Minnesota River Bluffs trail, and with the exception of a couple of missed turns (like where the map shows the trail going under the road, but the trail actually goes up and across the 4 lane on an overpass), we had a great ride.  Easy "slow-roll" pace, good conversation, nice scenery - the perfect way to spend an October Sunday morning.
Riding the hard packed limestone trails of Minneapolis doesn't really require any sort of special tires.  You could do it just fine on 23mm road tires, but I can tell you without question that the wider tires like Clement MSOs, or [my favorite] Challenge Gravel Grinders are the cat's pajamas. The Challenge GGs are great at 45-48psi(3bar) - I had them pumped too high on my last ride, and they didn't feel nearly as smooth.  At 3bar, they absolutely float over gravel and bumps.
Fall riding is a time for easy distance, conversational speed, maybe a nice cup of coffee along the way.  It's too cold to paddle, too warm to ski, and too noisy to hike.  It's a great time of the year.

End of summer

What a year!
Lots of activity this summer, which drastically cut into my interest in posting, writing or even thinking about this blog.
The numbers -
More hours than I care to add up spent repairing boats, coaching kayak racing, traveling to races, traveling to camps, retrieving trailers, etc.  My Community Relations person at work called to verify the hours I'd logged on the volunteer site.  I told them it was probably low.
Ten athletes paddled regularly with the kayak training group this summer.
Eight went to Nationals.
Three brought home hardware!
Since Nationals, 7 more have come out for a 'trial paddle/lesson', and most will sign for next season.
Three athletes bought their own K-1s this season.
The club bought a new trailer capable of hauling K-4s (35' long)
Seven athletes went to Oklahoma for their fall regatta and made 4(5?) podiums
Two gravel rides promoted
Four gravel events ridden

It was a busy summer, but was it ever fun!.  I'll try to resume a regular posting schedule this fall/winter.

~marsh

Miesville Redux - June 8- update with maps

We're getting closer to the Miesville Redux, a Gent's ride for Genteel Ladies and Gents.

The map and turn list are up at Ride with GPS.  You can generate a TCX or GPS file from there.  Long range weather is promising, and the burgers will be good!

A couple of notes about the route - I ride this area pretty often on a singlespeed CX bike with 28mm tires.  It's fine.  Road tires may get bogged down on the infamous "B" road, and there are a couple of spots where a little more float would be good, but even road tires may suffice.  Fat tire riders - enjoy!

See you in 2 weeks!

~marsh

Miesville Redux - a little more info

I added a sign-up form just so we can let King's Place know that we're invading.  Same deal as before - no fees, no times, no much of anything except a nice ride with good people.

Looking forward to riding without the glacier - but there could still be mud! And turkeys!

~marsh

Miesville Redux - Gent's Ride - June 8

Since there doesn't appear to be anything on the calendar on June 8, I'm going to offer up the Miesville Redux - a 40 mile "gent's ride" (for genteel ladies as well).  The course will be up in the next week or so, but count on it hitting the 'best bits' of the Miesville Grinder, including stopping at King's after.
The idea of a gent's ride is that people will start out together, and generally stay as a group for the first half of the ride.  That means waiting at the tops of climbs, floating back to check on folks who are stopped/drifting backwards, and generally making it a social occasion instead of a typical testosterone filled 'I can hurt worse than you can' event.
Once we hit the top of Miesville Ravine, you are on your own. A couple of downhills, a couple of good climbs, and done.  Nobody's going to take times, sweep the course, or anything of the sort.  This is just for fun and gravel.

Also, no signup this time.  Just show up.

Rules -
Have a good time
Be gentle men and women out there
Wear your freaking helmet. If you don't want to wear one, don't show up on my rides.
Don't pee in people's yards or in front of them
Tip well at Kings - they are nice people.
Introduce new people
Have fun

When:  8:00 AM, Sunday June 8, 2014
Where: Miesville ballpark (if there's something going on, park to the right of the ball field, there's plenty of parking back there
Distance: about 40 miles (if you want to go longer, there's an easy lap option of the best part of the course)
Cost: nada, zilch, zippo, zero
What do you get? a fun ride

Compendium of errors

Watching water levels rise over much of the country this week, plus seeing a posting that the Snake River Canoe Race is going to require PFDs to be worn this year has me thinking about safety.  I started out planning to write about boating safety, but after watching the carnage at Trans Iowa, creek levels on the Almanzo course, and dodging storms driving back from Oklahoma last weekend, I'm going to broaden out a bit and write mostly about common sense.

Years ago, in another lifetime, I was a sailor.   I raced on Puget Sound in everything from 14' dinghies to 50' ocean racing yachts.  But most of the time, I was racing in 24' one design boats of one form or another.  And we raced in some truly idiotic conditions.  Usually, foul weather gear, wool pants and a wool sweater were enough to keep you pretty toasty, but with 48 degree water, 42 degree air, and often a little rain or spray - hypothermia could be a real danger.  And there's nothing like a 30knot breeze, too much sail, bad judgement and an abortive spinnaker run to put you in the water, further hampering your decision making processes.
  After a couple of instances like that, I took safety a little more seriously - in fact attending a symposium on rescue techniques and survival.  One of the presenters was a Coast Guard captain who talked about several incidents, and their chronology.  I've never forgotten the phrase "a compendium of errors" that he used to describe the chain of events leading up to the final disaster.  In most of the cases he cited, it wasn't one single event that caused the problem - it was a chain of manageable crises, any one of which could probably have been survived, but when coupled together spelled disaster. Wife unfamiliar with operating the diesel, husband knocked unconscious by the boom, poor grounding on the electrics affecting radio and instruments, no radar reflector and rapidly degrading weather.  Any one or even two of these could likely have been handled, but in the end...
A compendium of errors.

I've gotten home from springtime bike rides shaking so badly that I had a hard time opening the door and stood in the shower with my clothes on until the hot water was gone trying to warm up. A flat tire would've been more than I could've handled.  I've also done a quick strip on the side of the river to put on dry clothing after an untimely swim in mid-April, when staying wet would've likely been problematic - but dry and quickly warming up, I continued on for the rest of the 4 hour paddle.  And I've lost a good friend in a surfski accident on an inland lake due to that same compendium of errors.  Temperature and precipitation are not your friends in the spring and fall.

I haven't had a chance to talk to Trans Iowa riders yet, but I'd bet that the ones who survived and the ones who had to stop have some incredible war stories of cold, wind, rain, storms, mud and maybe a little glory.  Incredible effort this year.

OK, enough doom and gloom.  Whether riding, paddling, sailing or hiking in the spring (or any other time) be prepared for conditions.  "Check six" as pilots say - look behind you to see what the weather is doing.  If you are paddling, have a change of clothes and a warm hat.  Bring a rain jacket, fingered gloves, a vest, cape or whatever.  Bring a little extra food, and make sure you know the conditions.  Traveling in the spring often gives you a different perspective on the countryside, so enjoy it.  But be prepared for the conditions.

2014 Miesville Grinder WrapUp

[The 2015 edition of the Miesville gravel event is called the Miesville 56. New and improved promoters, minor tweaks to the route, it'll be great! - ed.]

The 2014 Miesville Grinder is done.  On what turned out to be a cool, dry and quite breezy day, we had about 70 riders actually start - which is not bad considering 100 was the cap.  I'm not sure how many

Ready to roll out

actually started - it could've been a few more.  We had a few 'possums', a few last minute arrivals, and a few who just didn't get over to register.  But I think most folks had a pretty good time.
The roads were in good shape, with some obvious work by Dakota County to grade and fill some of the worst spots (not on our behalf, but thanks anyway!).
The B road section was everything you'd hope.  A little gnarly, a little muddy, but generally not too bad. Nicky Terpstra (winner of today's Paris-Roubaix) would've felt right at home on it.
My heartfelt thanks to the riders who braved the elements and came out today.  I think King's Place was pretty happy as well. I counted at least 30 people at the tables, on what was probably an otherwise quiet Sunday afternoon.

Photos are now up.  If you have photos from today, please send me a link and I'll post those as well.

Results...   I billed this event as a no fees, no forms, no frills, but at the end of the day results are fun.  What I didn't have was a finish line crew to do 'real' results, but I hung around the finish for about 75 minutes after the podium places were decided.  Here are the RAW results.  There are some obvious errors and glaring omissions.  "Possum" is someone who didn't register for a free race.  If you have a correction, have a time, but don't know where you finished, want to record yourself as a DNF or any other issues with the results, please feel free to contact me (mnswamp@gmail.com).  I'll try to correct the record!

~mars

Place	Time		Name
1	3:13:27		tim norrie
2	3:13:27		Randall Dietel
3	3:13:27		nick c vetter
4	3:18:18		G$
5	3:29:57		Jay Henderson
6	3:29:57		Alex Oenes
7	3:29:57		Pete Schow
8	3:29:57		Jill Gaulding
9	3:31:53		Andrew folpe
10	3:31:53		Dan Gaz
11	3:33:19		Steven Yore
12	3:37:08		Johnny Woodside
13	3:37:28		devin palmer
14	3:39:41		Pete Morey
15	3:39:41		dave bucholz
16	3:40:52		Bill Stuber
17	4:00:36		Troy peterson
18	4:01:23		bob schwartz
19	4:02:47		Thomas Eibner
20	4:06:47		chris petersen
21	4:07:02		Stuart Raymond
22	4:07:09		Adam Turman
23	4:07:09		Ben McCoy
24	4:07:34		Rob Glieden
25	4:08:42		Mike Mason
26	4:08:50		jeff ingram
27	4:08:50		tess hohman
28	4:11:06		alex anderson
29	4:11:16		Paul
30	4:11:16		Rigel Menard
31	4:20:00		Joel Raygor
32	4:20:00		Tony Thomas
33	4:20:00		trenton raygor
34	4:32:55		Tim Peissig
35	4:32:55		John Powell
36	4:36:00		Sveta Kovalchuk
37	4:36:00		Julia Winkels
38	4:36:30		Shaun Flynn
39	6:00:00		Jack Rayburn (co-Lantern Rouge)
40	6:00:00		Tom Engstrom (co-Lantern Rouge)
1	2:37:28		Ross weinzierl (40K)

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Miesville Grinder Update #6

We are good to go!  Only 66 hours until we head out on a small adventure...  Without jinxing us, the forecast is shaping up to be mid-40s and cloudy with a northerly breeze.  Just pretend it's Tour of Flanders with the wind coming off the North Sea.

A couple of last minute points.  Bathrooms may be open, (and probably will be) but space is still a bit limited.  If you have a choice, go before you get there! Otherwise, King's or the gas station may be accessible too.

Parking is at the ball field. It's going to be a bit tight, so please park responsibly, and make SURE you don't block the public works building access! (very bad karma).  No parking at the church either.  If we get in an overflow, there's some space in the field behind the ball field (better spot for hiding to change, too); otherwise if you ask you can park behind the gas station.

There are one or two (or maybe 3) confusing intersections if you don't pay attention.
- Lewiston -> 205th -> Lewiston ---- maybe not that bad, but somebody is bound to try and go the wrong way.
- Lewiston -> 220th ->Goodwin->220th ---- Don't miss the turn to 220th. If you get to the big arrow in the sky, you just missed it.
- 220th -> Inga. ---- If you are going 56 -- TURN LEFT.  This is where the 40s TURN RIGHT!.
- 220th -> Inga - Deja Vu. ---- You suddenly get the sense you've been here before.  TURN LEFT!
- Inga ---- The 'b-road'.  Hopefully there's a path through the glacier.  It hasn't rained much, so there may still be a snowy spot or two.  Enjoy the challenge, but please stay out of the farm fields!
- Inga -> 280th - 40 riders take note.  The turn list omits the bend to the left and treats it as a continuation.  Bad turnlist. Bad!  According to the turn list, you'll go about 13.9 miles without turning off of Inga. Just follow the road.

After that, just watch out for wildlife (turkeys, deer, possum, skunk) and enjoy the ride.

Common sense tips for riding gravel

There's a whole cadre of really experienced gravel/adventure riders out there, and y'all are welcome to chime in with your thoughts.  This post is for the new to gravel riders, who maybe are used to doing well organized centuries, club rides and weekend rides with friends - but not 4+ hour totally unsupported, where-the-heck-am-I rides in the puckerbush.  (Actually, Miesville isn't puckerbush. Far from it - you are <15 miles from the start no matter where you are on the course, and usually no more than 1/4 mile from somebody's farm.)
So here goes with the tip sheet.
Know where you are - bring turn list, map, GPS, phone - and KNOW HOW TO READ A MAP!!! GPS devices have batteries that die. Phones may not connect and batteries may die. Maps seldom lie.  Pay attention to your map and turns even if you are with a group.  You may decide to stop for a nature break and the group may not.  Keep track of where you are on the course!
Be prepared for the weather - and pay attention to what's coming.  If it's 85 degrees, your biggest weather concerns are hydration and sunscreen.  If it's 45, a sudden shower can bring on hypothermia.  Make sure you have enough clothing to add a layer if you have to stop for a while. (I carry a jacket, stocking cap and long finger gloves on spring rides).  No cotton is the first rule.  Know your body and the weather is the second.  Especially in the spring, be prepared for a sudden storm.  If there is any chance of thunderstorms, keep an eye on the horizon - especially behind you!  Spring storms can travel at 40+mph, and bring wind, rain, lightning and hail. Be prepared to find cover quickly if you see one approaching.
Make sure you have enough to eat.  If you are used to road rides at 15mph, and view 60 miles as a 4 hour adventure, make sure you have enough food for 5-6 hours of riding.  (400 kcal/hour is about right for most people).  Eat things that sit well on your stomach, but not simple sugar based food (like candy and pop).  These cause an insulin rush followed by a crash.  The exception - Shot blocks or gel packs are an essential element in dealing with 'the bonk'.  Quick calories to consume while your body processes better foods.
Carry enough tools, but don't go crazy.  At a minimum 2 tubes, tire irons, patches (none of which you need if you run tubeless), hand pump, optional CO2 inflators, multi-tool, $21 (1 dollar bill makes a dandy boot for a cut tire), a couple of zip ties, quick link for your chain.
Headlight/taillight.  It's amazing how much more visible you are when you use these.  If it's a gray day, maybe a neon vest, too.
Riding habits.  When the going gets rough, you need to ride more lightly.  Soften up your elbows, loosen your death grip on the bars, sit lighter on your saddle, and transfer more weight to your hands and feet.  And maybe click up a gear harder if you have them.  And don't stare at your front wheel.  It's not going anywhere, but the bumps it'll hit are up the road in front of you.  Keep searching for the smoothest hardest line.  I will change lines fairly often as I see patches that look firmer, drier, smoother, or whatever.  If you are in deep loose stuff, look at the shoulder and even at grassy strips.  Don't be afraid to experiment.
Challenge rollers - go down them as fast as you dare, pedal up as hard as you can without going over redline, and strive for the top.  You'll get a quick recovery over the top anyway, so if you can use your momentum to help blast UP that roller, you'll have much less to do to finish it.  This can save many minutes on a typical south Minnesota/Iowa rolling farm road, without spending any extra energy.

Final tip.  Don't forget to enjoy the ride.  There's always going to be someone who has their head down, hammering away and never realizes that they missed a herd of deer, or goats being silly on a farm.  They never see the green valleys, classic cars, waving farm kids or talking to the people they were riding with.  Which really makes me wonder why they are out here. Much more fun to smell the roses.

Enjoy.

~marsh

Miesville Grinder Update #4

Wow.  Registration is officially CLOSED!!!  However, if you've spoken to me about registering (there are a couple of you), we can still accommodate a few random stragglers.
The melt today and tomorrow, plus forecasted rain could help either fix or completely flood the two problem spots.  I'm not worried about lingering snow that's on the course today. That'll either be gone or just a minor nuisance - but I draw the line at flooded roads, and will make decisions appropriately.

Not much more to say today.  It was a fantabulous day to be on a bike, and that's where I was!

~marsh

Miesville Grinder 2014 - Map up

It's a bit of a teaser, and the Dan Henrys on the map are a bit confusing, but here's a sneak preview of the course.  The arrows denote the *direction* of the turn, not necessarily the direction on the course. GPX, TCX, KML and cue sheet files will be up later in the week. They are still being reviewed by our highly paid team of editors.

Plus one

Riding a bike is pretty simple for most people. We learned how to ride as a kid, and some of us just never grew up.  Riding a bike well - now that's a different subject.  For some, riding is something that they do occasionally - renting a bike at the lake or the beach, pumping up the tires and hooking up the trailer to take the kids to the park, or maybe doing a Sunday afternoon trail ride on one of the paved trails around the region.
Or maybe it's doing rides with friends on the weekends. Going for a breakfast ride or to ride for coffee along the greenway.  Or maybe do part of the Grand Rounds and wind up at a cafe for lunch.
At some point, some part of some people make the slow (or fast) slide into 'bikers' (or riders, depending on your upbringing).  This is accompanied by the inevitable acquisition of a helmet, actual bike shorts, and maybe even a jersey. Which is generally followed by the sad realization that the bike you've been riding since high school isn't really up to the task of riding from here to wherever in the company of whomever it was that you wanted to ride with in the first place, and they aren't really in a mood to wait for you at every single intersection. So down to your local bike shop you go, and the salesperson says "you would be really happy with this year's Hornsucker Zipflash".  It's right there with the Makoozie, and we've got a special discount package on it.  And since it feels *so* much better than the cast iron pig with octagonal wheels that you've been riding, you buy it.  And you feel pretty good about it - at least until you go for a ride with your friends, and now they only have to wait at every other turn.  And as they talk over coffee about tires and chains and things, you listen - and decide that maybe if you get better tires, and maybe a new jersey, you'll be able to keep up better.  And you know what comes next.  Plus one.
You are standing in the bike shop and the owner walks by and sees you eyeballing the Velociraptor 7000 that's a replica of the bike that won some big race you've never heard of, and he says "looks like it's your size, take it for a ride..." and you do. And now you have 3 bikes in the garage, not just two.  And you are trying to explain to your significant other what a great deal this was, and why it is going to help you achieve your fitness goal which will make you a better performer at work,  And. And. Plus One.
And then comes the fall, and you actually can keep up with the guys.  And occasionally be the first one to the top of that hill, and your buddies are all congratulating you on how much you've improved (and they really do mean it).  So now when you sit around drinking coffee on Saturday morning after your 80 mile base ride, and the subject of tomorrow's ride comes up, 'the boys' are talking about going on a little ride that's on gravel roads - just about 50 miles, but it's epic countryside, and you don't want to miss it, but... Your Velociraptor only takes 23mm tires, and it's stiff as a board.  And one of the guys says "I've got a spare cyclocross bike you can ride".  And so you do.  And it's pretty fun feeling dirt on your face, sand in your crotch, and damn that was a cool picture with all of you after the ride, all covered with mud.  And Joe casually mentions that he thinks your friendly local bike shop has the Mudpuppy like his (only black) that's about your size, and clearance priced.  Plus one.
Somewhere along this progression, your sainted wife, who has turned a blind eye to all this adult male pirate-looks-at-50 foolishness, watched you buy new toys, and really hasn't made a big deal about it decides that perhaps she'd like to ride more with you.  Since she is actually pretty fit and active, and you being the smart partner who knows that buying her a cheap bike is not going to make her a better rider, you take her down to your friendly LBS (who by this time is rolling out the red carpet and firing up the cappuccino machine when they see you approach).  And they get her set up with a nice woman specific Terraplaner 3000, helmet, jersey and matching shorts, and all the trimmings as you calmly watch her lay down her platinum card.  Plus one.
Pretty soon, she's riding with you, riding with a group of women on Sundays and Tuesdays, and mentions that a grocery bike would be really good to have so that *you* can go to the store by bike instead of in the car.  Plus one.
And now in December, those same friends are calling you to go ride down along the river on something called a 'fat bike', and since you are both bored to tears riding the trainer, you make another trip to your LBS to get her a fatbike so she can go for rides with the girls all winter long.  Plus one.
And then you realize that she's having a lot more fun than you are, and you know what happens next...
Plus one.

Time for the hard men

When most riders start talking about their 'wanna do' rides, typically something like les Alpe d'Huez, Galabier, or one of the other great alpine climbs comes to mind. Riding your dream bike, weighing a touch over 7kilos, on silken tubulars, carefully selected to minimize rolling weight and maximize climbing/descending efficiency. Traveling  the beautiful roads of southern France, climbing for hours in the sunshine and crystal clear blue skies to gain the insight and wisdom that come from attaining one of the legendary summits of Le Tour.  The warm summer breezes, good French wine and cheeses that await you at your pension upon your return to the valleys.

On the other hand, there are those (like me) who yearn for the cold, grey mornings of March as the wind comes off the North Sea in Belgium and Flanders. Straddling a slightly workmanlike steed shod with distinctly plump tires, low profile rims, and lots of tire clearance. Wearing a rain cape in the damp morning, with the distinct smell of embrocation providing a wakeup call.  No spidery lads from Columbia and the Basque country.  These are the days for the hard men.  Names like Boonen, Cancellara, Flecha, O’Grady, and Voight.  Men who revel in the knowledge that only the strong will survive the day and only the bravest will win...  Today was a day of that sort. Omloop Het Nieuwsblad is the opening race of a series of one-day 'classic' rides in the north country.  Ian Stannard beat Greg Van Avermaet in a sprint.  In the end, only 33 riders could be considered 'in contention' at 10km, and only the two at the finish.  Hard men.  The dominant features of most of these are long, windy flats, secteurs of cobbles, and short, narrow, steep and often greasy climbs.  The legendary Kapelmuur - Muur van Geraardsbergen has pitches approaching 20%, cobbles, moss and mud - on the dry days!  Hard men win bike races here.  Cancellara launched an insane attack on Boonen here in the 2010 Ronde van Vlanderen (Tour of Flanders) that had people talking about a motor in the seatpost (honest!).  

I love the Classics and the hard men who race them at the front.  It’s a particular kind of misery that isn’t for everyone, but God help me, I love it.  Watching a rider court that thin line between speed and disaster as they attempt to thread between the fans on one side, bowler hat cobbles on the other while tapdancing down a little stripe of gravel, grass or hammering a big gear in order to skip across the tops of the cobbles, all while battling dust, grit, rain, mud…It’s poetry of the soul. But it's the long sections of flat and windy roads that send the sunshine riders out the back.  One hundred and eighty or so kilometers of wind, rain soaking through your cape, wet gloves, dripping glasses, and leg numbing cold are sure to make the sunny boys look to the warmth of the team car, and another 'training ride' come to an end. 

There's a special reverence in the pits and garages for the mechanics who carefully select the wheels, tires and frames, all customized to meet the individual needs of their riders.  The perfect saddle, just the right combination of bar tape. That extra O-ring or zip tie to hold the computer in place, or a bit of friction tape on bottle cages to ensure they stay put.  Top tube charts noting the cobbles, feed zones, sprint spots.  The legion of 'team staff' recruited for the day to carry spare wheels to remote locations on the course.  Team cars or neutral support may be many minutes behind the leaders in the special sections. Having a wheel at the end of a cobble section may be the difference between winning and not even being in the group.  And by the end of April, all of this gear will be carefully disassembled, inspected, lubricated and stored for next season.

Tires and bikes play a huge part in the Classics.  Building a bike for the roads of Belgium and the North is very different from a ‘climber’s bike built for the mountains. In the first place, it needs some shock absorbing characteristics.  Longer forks, chainstays and more relaxed angles help, as do double wrapping the bars, and maybe a slightly more padded seat.  Probably even more important are wheels and tires. 

If you look across the pro tour team pits, you’ll see a wide array of sponsored equipment, some of which may even carry the actual manufacturer’s logos.  And some that carries the branding of the team’s sponsors, but doesn’t look quite ‘right’.  Wheels are often a bit suspect.  It’s amazing how many different logos you see on the old standby Mavic SSC tubular rims.  It’s basically unchanged in 30 years, but still a benchmark for ride quality and reliability.  And glued to those?  Well, *anybody* can make tires, but as often as not what you actually see are Dugast or FMB tubulars in ‘drag’ – with someone else’s label carefully applied.  There are a few real brands (like Challenge), but mostly, it's a rebranding game.  In the end, it's really about feel - supple casings resist punctures, soak up shock better, and provide better road feel.  Better contact means better power transmission.  It's hard to be powerful if your tires are off the ground part of the time. 

OK, what the hell does L'enfer du Nord and the other spring classics have to do with riding gravel roads in Minnesota?  Quite a lot, actually.  We don’t really have cobbles here – or at least not enough, but we’ve got an abundance of crappy pavement, gravel roads and crushed limestone trails, a few B roads to explore, and maybe even a ski trail or two.  I’m at a point that criterium setups don’t do much for me.  They’re fun for a quick blast around the lake, after which you make reassuring comments to the kid that let you ride his/her pride and joy, and then give it back.  After riding such an awesome bike, my general thought is “glad I don’t ride *that* all the time!”.    And honestly, the older I get, the more I want something that’s got a bit more ‘give’ vertically than you get from a traditional road race bike.  (I have a very nice Ridley Noah for sale if you are interested).  There are so many good bikes out there now. Custom designs from people like Steve Hampsten, Linskey, Moots, Peacock Groove and a whole host of others (NB - Steve is an old friend from Seattle days).  And lots of production bikes from Foundry, Trek, BMC and many others all targeting the current 'gravel' market.  If I were to guess, I'd bet gravel is the 2nd fastest growing segment of the cycling industry behind fat bikes.  And this is good for bike shops -- and consumers.  Getting people out the door and onto bikes is a good thing.  Having people believe that they are onto something new is a great thing.

Our spring gravel races have a lot in common with the Classics.  Weather is often marginal, the roads are sure to be pitted, gritty and often littered with 'poodles'.  It's that great chance to have an adventure, and finish the day with a beer (now if we could only get good frites!  

And it's a chance to reflect on the hard men.