Sunday Riding

Rode out with the shop on the road with the 29er. Got in 80 miles of road riding with the fat tires. Snake lent me a Hero camera to play with . I think I like it. 

Ari 

Snake, Lovechild, Mikey, Luigi, Noely, Marlow and me in back dying on the 29er. 

Cinco de Mayo 2013 Gravel Cruising

Did not have to work Sat night so we loaded the Subaru, and ran away to Iowa for the weekend. Did some scouting on some great roads in the Jackson county area. 
best, 
Ari 

Gunnar Gravel Prototype

Cookie and I received a phone call from Waterford Precision Cycles telling us that they were interested in building up a Gravel specific bicycle. So, we spent some time on the phone, exchanged emails and blueprints until the prototypes were finally cut, welded, painted and sent to us. We really thank them for providing us with fresh frames for the big Spring Dance. My bike was geared and cookie's built up with paragon sliding dropouts that can be made singlespeed or with another hanger into a geared machine. 
My frame fits very well. It has clearance for 40+ mm tires, a long wheelbase, a long top tube helps in climbing. The long chainstays kept the bike in control on the downhills. The lower than normal Bottom Bracket would also add to stability. We decided on the Lime twist color for the Slender Fungus. 
Here are some  closeup photos. I really enjoyed riding this bike continuously  for 260 miles.

Once again thank you Richard and Johanna from Waterford Precision Cycles/ Gunnar Bikes. 

This bike really rocks!!!

Ari

Gunnar Prototype. Custom Geometry. Waterford Fork Crown. 

Long Top tube with a shorter stem. 44cm Cowbells. Best bar ever. Cane Creek levers. I came to like these more and more. 

Huge Clearanc in the front. 

Avid Ultmates, Clement MSO  40mm. 

Generic Stem, Cowbells and a reliable, large numbered Enduro Cateye computer. 

3 bottle holders. 105 cranks with 34x45 rings. Deore DX front Der. 

These bottles kept me from drinking dust. Velocity cages fit perfect with 1 L size bottles. 

King bearings are the only way to go. downtube shifter bosses. Sti, downtube or barend compatible. Smart.

unbeatable salsa clamp, Thomson post and my favorite Gonzo Saddle from All City. Though  I did envy Special K's Brooks spring saddle. 

XT reverse pull with 11x34 cogs. 34x34 was my lowest gear and I used it a lot. 

Ultimate brakes setup in touring mode for clearance. 

40mm with room to spare. 

I think a really good looking machine. I felt really comfortable on it for  all those miles. 

Full length cable with only 2 braze ons so I can accomodate frame bag. 

I left the bars on high to relieve my back. No back pain at all during the whole ride. 

One layer of Cinelli Gel tape. Padded gloves. if your bars are too thick  your hands will cramp. 

barrell adjuster for back brake. 

These King hubs have over 75,000 miles on them. Billabong overhauls them and keeps them going.  Salsa skewers. 

The greatest tire I have ridden. I wish I had a much wider tire with all the fresh gravel. 

Xtr pedals. 

Trans Iowa April 27-28th 2013 the Final Chapter.

Giggles, Special K and Cookie grilling it up. 

Giggles and the Bonk King

Gumby and Eric Brunt

Giggles, Cookie, Jeremy, MG and Mrs. MG. 

Jeremy and Cookie at the start

Getting ready at the start.

Line them up 

Special K and the Llama enjoying the first rays of Sat morning. 

Rode with the Llama for a long period, then he just dissapeared. 

The llama rode a great race. 

Special K would be my partner for the whole time

The Llama rode strong. 

The B roads were rideable. This is a first time for me. 

Micro breaks were necessary. 

Saturday night got cold and I started to fall apart. 

After I melted I got back on the bike for 5 more miles and then completely fell apart.

     So, this concludes my posting for Trans Iowa. I would like to thank the following people:

My wife and family for the support.

Guitar Ted for an amazing event. 

Hartley's Cycle for their support. 

The Slender Fungus Cycling Association,namely my support crew of Gumby and Bonk King. 

Waterford Precision Cycles/Gunnar for the 

Frame.

Sram for the Brakes I used. 

I would like to congratulate all riders that finished,did not finish, participated. 

I would like to thank the volunteers. 

Thank you Grinnell. Thank you Iowa. Thank you People that gave us water. Thank you weather. 

     There is a lot I am still processing and I will probably have another post at some random time. Trans Iowa is a race like no other. I left it all out there and rode a personal best with 260 miles. I truly could not go any more. I think I have it in me to finish. I would like to come back and give it another go. 

     Trans Iowa has opened my eyes and given me a different perspective on life. It has given me time to think about different topics and analyze what I am doing on this planet. Has it changed my life?? I absolutely believe so. I have made lifelong friends that I will know and have forever. I am able to endure more. I am able to tolerate more. I have become enamored with the Iowa countryside. So, I hope we can all meet again and do this again. Trans Iowa is truly Priceless.  

Thanks and be well, 

Ari 

President, Slender Fungus Cycling Association

Trans Iowa part 3, April 27-28th 2013

     Riding through the night became tougher and tougher. We wondered why we had arrived at checkpoint two and then rode 10 miles to caseys and then were back on the bike at 10:40pm. Where had all that time gone. I think we were tired and just did not want to leave the comfort of the gas station. Leaving town and getting back into the dark, lonely roads was a bit difficult. I had some music pumping and i focused on Special K's neverending flashing light. One O'clock arrived, then 2, then 3 and we continued to ride. We stopped more often and found it difficult to get motivated. I had a real hard time staying awake. I was swerving and going delirious. I saw weird things as I rode. I looked up at the stars and they were all moving in all directions. 
     Special K was getting tired too but he kept it together. My left IT band was so freakin' tight I thought it would snap. I coughed up gummy chunks of phlegm out of my lungs. MY rear end had gone completely raw. I continued on since I knew nothing else was and alternative. 
     Around 5 am, while it was still very dark we rode through and area were there were about 5 or 6 houses. I believe we were around H ave. We made a right turn and I became very cold and shivered all over. I was wearing my leg warmers, wool baselayer, wool jersey, craft vest, gamex jacket, balaclava, long gloves, wool buff. I also had the DBD approved man diaper. I was frozen through and I knew at that point I was hypothermic, delirious and hallucinating. I was also getting a panic attack as I thought that continuing into what seemed wilderness would leave me out there and I would freeze. 
     I was not able to pull it together. My mind had left and I was out of control. Suddenly I told Special K I could not go on. He was in desbelief. I made a U-turn and headed for the houses. I had the idea of seeking help. I needed to warm up. I regretted not bringing my survival blanket and my lighter. I thought I could have started a fire, warmed up and waited until the sun came up. I stupidly knocked on an empty house. 
     Then I came to my senses and started to walk up and down the road to warm up. Special K called our support and Gumby and Bonk King showed up. They told me the sun was coming out and I should continue on. I said Fuck it and continued on. 5 miles down the road my legs seized up and I knew I was done. My whole body hurt. 
     Special K continued on since we still had time to finish. I waited for the ride back and was super-happy to see Bonk-King and Gumby. I was destroyed and had pushed myself more than ever before. I rode 260 miles with 60 to go. I returned to the hotel, passed out inmediately. Special K rode another 20 miles and then called in. In the meantime Cookie had finished on his singlespeed to maintain the Slender Fungus pride. Giggles had mastered checkpoint 1 and checkpoint 2 with about 175 miles completed. We all had a great ride. I was glad to ride with so many people. I was glad to share the road with the Llama. 
     One week later and the IT band is still irritated. I have been stretching and rolling it out. I have a lot to comment about this ride and I might have to put in another part. But this is how my ride ended. I needed more fitness. I needed more mental fortitude. I needed more water. More stretching and conditioning. 
best, 
Ari 

My riding partner for most of the day: Special K. 

We arrived at checkpoint 2 with 1 hours and 45 minutes to spare. 

the Caseys that secretly ate our time. 

Trans Iowa V9, April 27th-28th, 2013 Part 2

     We left checkpoint one at about 8:30 and we had until 9:45pm to cover another 120 miles. This was a long stretch and I think the most fun since we were in plain daylight and the sun was beaming. I put on some sunscreen and kept my light wool baselayer on. I felt like I could have taken more clothes off but I was afraid to get my chest cold on the downhills and trigger my asthma. We hammered a lot of the hills and we did some good rollin when we had a tailwind or encountered the "concrete" gravel. The tires would buzz at over 20mph on this surface and that worked wonders for our average speed. 

     We took a break at a gas station and Chad had found some frozen Burritos in a box in the cooler. we nuked them and they were heavenly. Giggles caught up with us and we saw Jeremy Kershaw riding solo, already heading out while we were going on our break. We talked to the other racers and encountered some friendly Iowa riders on their sunday cruize in the country. 

     We rode and rode and eventually Giggles fell behind. We pressed on to make the second checkpoint on time. We arrived again at 8 but this time pm to the check point with 1 hour 45 minutes to spare. I was really happy with our riding and felt great to have found somebody to pace with. Special K did a great job at navigation and he really kept us going strong. Whenever he would go in front and start gapping me I would whistle and he would ease up a bit.  I took some long pulls on any flat section and made sure he was behind. 

     We rode on and off with other riders and it sucked that we could not stay together. 10 miles out of checkpoint 2 we were to find a Casey's. We got distracted with our support picking up other riders and missed our turn. We burned time touring the town looking for the Caseys. It had gotten dark. So we had put our leg warmers, jackets, balaclavas, anything we had. 

     We finally found the Caseys and hammered some Pizza, choc milk, reeses, coke, chocolate, pringles. All the junk you can imagaine. We also ran into Paul Jacobsen. He greeted us and wished us well. We left the gas station and we were full to the gills with food. The gravel roads got dark and cold and we entered the dark part of the ride. It would take me a while to warm up and by now  some aches and pains were showing. 

     The afternoon heat cramps had gone away and now just turned to aches and pains. Special K was instrumental in keeping the moral up while I started to get tired and sleepy. We stopped and jammed a bunch of chocolate covered espresso beans. The moon and a billion stars were out in force. I saw an enourmous falling star and made a wish. WE rode some gnarly downhills in the dark. There was a lot, lot of fresh gravel. After a very long time came 1 am and we had another 5 hours until sunrise. The fog was coming out again and I felt the dampness on my hydration pack when we stopped. I felt my clothing damp and wet. I was happy to have my balaclava, my wool buff and my DBD approved man diaper. That thing was tucked under my baselayer and it was keeping my chest warm and toasty. 

more, 

Ari 

Trans Iowa V9, April 27-28th, 2013 Part 1

The days had counted down and all of a sudden there was no more time to get ready. The winter had baffled any poor cyclist trying to get ready for a monumental ride at the end of April, when most riders just start to dust off their bikes. The Slender Fungus had stayed in touch and we each gave words of encouragement. The longer rides that we had hoped for never really materialized. On my behalf I had done a 120 mile ride on my Prototype. Otherwise I did a lot of commuting and some longer rides here and there. 

     Moving back to IL from NY had us scrambling to get settled. I had started a second job at a French Bistro and that would bring me home late on Saturdays making the early morning Sundays even harder. We did the best we could and finally we gathered out in my old place in Sycamore to drive into Grinnell, Iowa. Giggles and Special K had driven all the way from Syracuse. Bonk King was there from Huntley and Cookie had driven from Woodstock. 

     My dear wife drove me to the meeting point and I loaded my bike and off we were on the 3+ hour drive. We finally had a chance to catch up with Cookie since we both are Bike Shop guys and work a ton. Cookie was ready and confident about his coming ride. I knew I was not physically ready but was willing to leave it all out there. Mentally I was stoked and I was hoping the legs would follow. 

     We arrived in Grinnell, unpacked and laid down to get some feeling in the legs again. It was good to watch the weather channel for a long time. Our tired brains started to recuperate. We also hosted fellow DBD'er Jeremy. Special K was excited and anxious. He was worried that his rice cooker had decided not to work. He had planned on taking rice balls for nutrition. I thought that was an awesome idea. 

     We ended up at the Grinnell Steakhouse and signed and greeted everyone. It was good to catch up with friends. I was amazed at the amount of Rookies. Half the room was buzzing with new faces. The dinosaurs were mixed in between and you could tell by the calmness who was who. We enjoyed the meeting, grabbed our bags and headed to WallyFart for our last minute things. Cookie bought a coffee cake and we loaded up on Some canned coffe. 

     We hit the sack by 10 pm and I really did not sleep well. I kept waking up thinking I was snoring and keeping everyone awake. I kept thinking how the werewolf had kept cookie awake and how we had found cookie sleeping in bathroom under the vanity counter. 2 am came quickly and we slipped into our clothes. It wasn't raining so we donned less clothes. 

     The start was a happy place since the weather was so nice. Everyone was joking and having a blast. The horned sounded at exactly 4 am and off we were. We rolled thru the streets of Grinnell and soon we were on Gravel.The lead group blasted off the front like they were on a sprint. I settled in and let me legs warm up. Cookie was gone. I met and chatted with lots of riders. I saw Giggles, I rode with Special K. We switched up, passed some riders,stretched the legs on the hills. 

     The riding was awesome, the bike felt right, I was dressed perfect. we rolled and rolled and knew we make the 1st checkpoint without a doubt. Special K picked up a nail and flatted. We quickly remedied that. Also his brake pad came loose and we tightened it . 

Checkpoint 1 in Ira came quickly and we arrived at 8 am with 1 hour and 45 minutes to spare. We lubed chains, ate, drank and were back on the bikes. I was feeling awesome. At this point I was settled in and knowing that I would spend the rest of the ride with Special K. 

     He understood the importance of pacing and keeping the average speed. We were averaging around 12.9 mph and this was perfect. Some people would pass us and then we would catch them. Then they would pass us again and then get tired. I wondered why they didn't chill and just ride "steady freddy" with us and make better more efficient progress. 

More, 

Ari