TOMROV 09'

Tour of the Mississippi River Valley -
No faint heart in this group. Rally at 0600, the first eighty miles will be flat and simple along the Mississippi River. After a twenty mile warm up we will look for swift moving pace-lines: join in for close action. Double pace-line, no room for echelons, our wheels will be one off the next in close quarters - no hesitation lest we all go down. Totally in the moment, awareness levels high, for the value of future rides our bikes are worth more undamaged. Regroup at Hanover, we will attack in the bluffs along Blackjack Ridge. Like banshees, we will descend down the side of Chestnut Mountain at 40 mph+, cognizant that this is where Vern Willy sheared his front fork in ‘96, went down and became a paraplegic. To this day he still rides TOMROV, albeit hand-cranking a specially built bike.

Next is Galena, then comes The Wall and it is every man for himself to make it up and over to Scales Mound. On to Dubuque, 110 miles for the day, rest up and do it again the next day homeward bound.

Far from Fairfield, our bikes and our comrades are our home .

Let it go!

The Law of Diminishing Return

Things started out well enough I had a plan, stay on the hwy. and off the gravel. In the winter when the frost gets into the gravel roads and its been wet and then it warms above freezing the roads turn to goo. The freeze / thaw breaks up the surface, I’ve learned this lesson over and over again.

I was heading south on Stockport Rd. enjoying a 22 mph head wind minding my own business when I was passed by John Deere tractor. This wasn’t your baby Deere this was the double wide double good rig with duels on the back. OK! the rooster crows I was on his wheel like a fly on a manure spreader. I couldn’t believe my good luck a free tow and then a blast home with a tail wind what could be better? We headed down the long hill into the Cedar creek valley then across the Stockport bridge doing about 15. Right when we get on the other side of the bridge heading up the long hill out of the valley Mr. Jo six pack sitting high in his glass cab gives her the gas. I’m thinking WTF! who does this JD diesel jock think he’s playing with some 3 year old riding his tricycle for the first time? I jam her in the big ring and stay tight on his wheel, well actually it was his 3point hitch but you get the idea. A half a mile over the top of the hill I decide the tractor farmer has had enough so I pull over onto the side of the road and try to re-swallow my lungs…showed him. I turn around and head back, might as well check out the tailwind. I don’t know what happened, I think it was maybe a combination of the euphoria of "mission accomplished" and the fact that I had been breathing diesel fumes for the last 4 miles but I allowed myself to be tempted. Cursed are the weak that stray from the path. But there she was heading west just on the other side of the Stockport bridge the allure of gravel, no cars, beautiful sunset, fresh air, all right. The approach didn’t look to bad maybe a little wet and sticky but nothing a true biker couldn’t handle. ¾ of a mile in I drop down into a draw and it’s more then a little wet and sticky, there’s about a ½" of goo on the road but this is a draw it can’t get any worse, go for it I tell myself no turning back now.

Winter gravel road riding, the law of diminishing return states:

" At exactly the half way point of the ride, road conditions will diminish to the point of no return"

I turn north at the next gravel intersection to head back up to Glasgow Rd. and be done with the gravel experience. I’m very familiar with this road I’ve ridden it many times, there’s a fairly long climb up to a plateau then it drops back down into a valley with a bridge over a creek then a climb back out of the valley and a short run up to Glasgow and the pavement. So far things have not been to bad I’ve been in the goo but I’ve seen worse. The long climb up was wet and soft with some areas of ½" thick goo, I move back and forth across the road trying to avoid the worst of it. At the top of the hill at about exactly (oxymoron alert) the halfway point on the gravel road run the law of diminishing return kicks in. I’m now riding in a 1-1/2" thick soup of clay, sand and small rocks. I know I’m having a peak experience because so much of this stuff is being thrown up onto my chain it starts skipping on the cogs.

Ahhh the great outdoors just me, my bike and a two wheeled mud wrestling contest. Lesson learned, yeah right.
tm

A fine pleasant misery...

For those so inclined the gravel roads are in decent shape, the B dirt roads have some snow pack on them and will turn to goo when they warm up. It was 26 degrees with an 18 mph wind when I went out yesterday so bundle up.

tm

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Event- Des Moines, Iowa

Forwarded from John Freeberg -

On January 24th, 2009, the mountain biking legend Gary Fisher will speak at the Iowa Bicycle Coalition's Bike Night in Des Moines at the Holiday Inn Downtown. Fisher is a pioneer in off-road bicycling, originally designing the first mountain bike. Fisher continues to innovate in bicycles with his own line of popular Gary Fisher bicycles. The fourth annual Bike Night raises funds that support bicycle advocacy and safety education throughout Iowa. The event includes dinner, a silent auction, and a talk by Gary Fisher. Tickets to the event are $35 each. Online ticket sales are limited to the first 200 people and the event is expected to sell out quickly.

http://www.iowabicyclecoalition.org/bikenight.htm

The Gary Fisher Story:
http://www.fisherbikes.com/gary/story/

Mt. Evans, 2008

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Words fail me...

Please see our YouTube vid

click here>>>मत। एवंस, 2008

Promises to keep

Sunday, July 20th, a small cadre of cyclists will depart Fairfield at 3:00AM for a 200-mile bike ride. The weather prediction is heat and humidity index in the high 90s. With time for breaks, it should take 18 to 20 hours.

Our Leader, Jeff, aka "Lucky Strike," has been riding this self-created double century for the last seventeen years. He has a dedicated route 100 miles east, then to turn around near Bushnell, Illinois. Rain, searing heat, alone or in groups, he has been perserverant. Now, all too often others need to know, "where to?" I relay the message that it is the journey, not the destination type of ride. This is not a race, no medals or false accolades to make ourselves feel good. The pain and the pleasure of it is that we do not need artifice to motivate ourselves. Rather, one sets the bar higher for the intrinsic value of knowing that each day is a gift. To honor that, we strive to perform at our respective peak levels – continuous improvement. With reference to a Robert Frost poem, the mantra of the day will be,

“promises to keep"

"I have promises to keep,
And miles to go
before I sleep."

So, my dear friends, fellow cyclists and civilians - sleep well. Keep us warm in your thoughts and in your dreams as we head out by moonlight at 3:00AM. Night turns into day, turns into night and we keep going. - Promises to Keep

Triple O