Saturday Gravel Grinder

I am planning a Saturday afternoon Gravel Grinder of about 60 miles. We will start around 1:00 give or take 10 minutes and then follow head over to McFarland Park to take the double track over to OP's house to pick him up! HINT to OP! We will then head east on 170th until near Fernald and then will follow the roads south near Indian Creek. We can stop for a water break if we need to at Hickory Grove Park outside of Colo. We will then head back west heading towards Kelley and then come into Ames from the west on Ontario. Then we can grab a drink somewhere if we want before I head back to Gilbert. Let me know if you are in! I am guessing it will take around 4:45-5 hours at my speed.

Here is a route slip map!

Matt, Alex, OP, Emily? Everyone is welcome! The more the merrier!

Paul

Morning Ride

I was itching to get out for a morning ride today so I was out the door by 5:45. It has finally stopped raining for a few hours so I had the opportunity to get out on the smooth gravel. I was riding 32 X 17 this morning which is a nice gear for the gravel. In my current horrible fitness I don't think it would be a good gear for a century ride so for the TI ride I may go back to 32 X 18 since there will be hills and some off roading. I am going to continue to ride with the 32 X 17 set up to get a bit stronger and see how it goes. I may find that it is the right gear as I get stronger.

Happy training.

No riding

We have been having rain nearly constantly all weekend. I just didn't want to ride in it, especially with the new bike. I did throw on the new 17 tooth cog so I am excited to give it a go, but looking at the forecast that doesn't look like it will be happening anytime soon.

A hell ya out to Chris Plesko for a great job at 24 Hours of Moab!

Ride

I would like to go on a 40-50 mile gravel ride on Saturday morning leaving around 8-9 am. If you are in leave a comment. I am thinking on riding over to the Colo area and then south around Indian Creek and towards Maxwell then back to Ames.

Yummy

I went out on a perfect day (50 degrees and sunny! Sorry. I love the cooler weather) and put in about 2.5 hours of riding. It was probably around 30 plus miles of gravel and single track.

I think I have found my gear for now. I am running 32 X 18 and it isn't hard. I just ordered a 17 tooth cog last night so I will throw that on to test that out. It actually should be better for the flats and the small hills around Gilbert, but not so good for the single track around here (for me anyway!). It should get me standing a bit more on some of the bigger hills in the area. Of course, I haven't gone over to the Des Moines River valley yet either! Heck, I will probably want my 20 tooth back on and that might not be enough!

Looking forward to the Trans Iowa ride coming up!

What it is all about

This morning I slept in, rolled out of bed, made a pot of coffee and watched a movie with my wife while laying on the couch together.

Both of us complained about how we miss out on a segment of life when we aren't out working out and enjoying exercise. We didn't leave the couch for 3 hours. I went out and mowed the lawn and came back in to eating french toast and fried potatoes. Only and hour earlier I had told Tammy that I really missed french toast. I am living the good life.

Now I just need to get a workout in to top it all off.

Happy training.

Loving Being Single

Single speed that is! I am absolutely loving my Monocog Flight 29er ss. I threw on a new gear last week so I am running 32 X 18 now. It is still an easy gear except for the toughest of hills, which I have not ridden yet. I am still spinning pretty good on the flats, but I can also sit through nearly all the hills around hear just fine (while fresh) and it is tough against some of the 20-25 mph winds we have been having. I took off for a gravel grinder ride on 160th west and then north on what must be V Ave to 150th and came back home. The ride ended up being around 19 miles and I averaged something like 14.3 or so. I really thought this was good for me as I am not in shape, I was spinning quite nicely (which I like) on the flats and all of the hills were very doable. With one more tooth on the back I think I would have been around the 15 mph range for the ride and would have been just fine. What I love about the single speed is that I can tell that I am not pushing a cassette. I feel like the power I am putting into the pedals are more directly connected to the wheel and that I have less drag than with my geared bike. Also, with the 29er wheels I feel that this one gear has more variety than a single speed 26er. It is hard to describe but it feels like the gear has more range than what that gear would have on a 26er. Make sense?

Well, my next long ride is going to be the Trans Iowa get together. Click the link for more info!

Do you think GT would want to come and ride 100 miles around the Des Moines River Valley for a Trans Iowa training ride in early December? Would you want to?