Trans Iowa here we come!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ready or not we are coming to the fields of Iowa to play hommage to the broken little pieces of rock. Many a sleepless night wondering what lights to carry, what to eat, how to stay awake. No amont of training can prepare for this slugfest and at this point there is no turning back. I have been checking the weather and tuning the gear as much as possible.

Today dr. Giggles drove in from Syracuse and Tomorrow Pizza shows up. We will be rolling Friday morning and starting on Saturday at 4 am. If all goes well and we are able to finish we should see a finish line around 2 pm on Sunday.

More when we come back,

Ari

Geekhouse Bikes

Thanks to Dr. Giggles for this excelente video. Now order up a custom bike and dump the Huffy.
ari
Geekhouse Movie from Geekhouse Bikes on Vimeo.

Fargo Express Ready to Go

More blood tonight as I got my finger caught in a rotating rotor. Man, them fingers sure like to gush blood. Anyway the Fargo was a blast and a challenge to build. I built it up with the following parts:

king hubs

king headset

king bb cups

DT rims

dt spokes

wtb 700x44 mutanoraptors

salsa skewers

thomson post

rolls saddle

salsa stem

salsa bars

salsa bar tape

9 speed barend shifters

xt converted cranks 48x36x26

shimano chain

sram 11x34 cog

BB7 mtn disc brakes non hydralic

Tektro brake levers

Salsa skewers

Salsa Nickless Cages

Cateye Micro wireless computer

Tomorrow Helmut will do the breaking in and streching of the cables to get this baby ready for the Trans Iowa.

Now I am tired,

out,

Ari

More Trans Iowa Training

Helmut hitting the new Pavement on Silver Glen

Helmut and I started out our ride at 9:30 p.m. and hit the GWT trail all the way to virgil. We then split off the trail and took the I.C. Trail rd. to rte 47. WE then headed north to Silver Glen and took that all the way down to the Fox river. It is a new route that I came up with and it really is a good one. We had absolutely no problems with traffic. Once we hit the river we went north a bit and then switched banks to head south to St. Charles. In st.Charles we hit the GWT trail back home.

We had a 6 mph N.E. wind for a tailwind and the riding was good. Once we hit the fields again we started to get really cold to the point that it was getting uncomfortable. We kept riding as to not get any colder. My stomach started to play games on me since I had not eaten anything salty but only sweet.

April 15th and what I was wearing:
Merino Base layer

Merino long sleeve jersey

Windproof Jacket

Patagonia balaclava

Helmet cover

bib shorts

amfib bib tights

Liner socks

wool socks

lake boots

Manzella gloves

I was soaked from the effort and the sweat was getting cold. Less layers would have worked but the cold temps were not condusive to riding with less clothes. We rode with a Custom light from Dennis, an Eos helmet mount light, a Princeton Tec front light, Planet bike superflash and a new super-powerful light from Trek.

Ride total was 5 hours and we got home around 2:00 am. I am thankful to Helmut for riding with me and helping me recover my fitness after all the respiratory problems that I have had.

best,

Ari

The Fargo Express

Gettting this bike done. It was 1:30 a.m. before I realized it was late and that I was getting tired. I ordered the wrong clamp diameter on the stem and forgot to buy brake cables and housing. I forgot that only shimano includes them in their brake levers. The Chris King BB cups went in like Butter and I transformed the Mountain Biking XT cranks to trekking by changing to 48x36x26. Little detail was that Shimano decided to go to Torx screws on the chainring bolts. Now we have to also carry a T30 wrench on us too. WTF!
Also if you build a Salsa Fargo with the Trekking chain you will need all 116 links from a Shimano chain. Sram Chains only come with 114 links and that will not suffice if you accidentaly go into the 48x34. I am excited to get this project finished so I can get organized for Trans Iowa. Today I will order the other stem and move along.
out,
ARi

Rock Argentino:::::::::::: Crucis

I grew up with this in Buenos Aires, Argentina


best,

Ari

More Trans Iowa training

Taking a break in the cold night

Gravel is nice and firm, for now.

Been doing some good rides out in the night. We have not been able to shake off the winter gear. The other night I was wearing shorts, leg warmers and my craft winter tights and I was freezing. As soon as the sun goes down the temps drop specially on the clear nights. It also felt very humid and one feels wet when riding.

We have come to the conclusion that nothing works as well as wool. We have been layering with wool undershirts and then using windproof tops. Balaclavas and two pairs of gloves are essential.

The photos above are of a 30 mile night ride that we did which involve pavement and a really cool gravel road called shaefer rd.

Tonight I a am hacking away at Dr. Giggles Fargo since the Trans Iowa is right around the corner. Then I will finish off the long awaited Gunnar Rockhound for B-Dog.

Hope you are all getting out on the bicicletas,

best,

Ari

More Trans Iowa Training

Riding Home Tonight

Riding to Work into a Headwind

Last nights Riding out to St Charles

Great Western Trailhead 9:00 p.m

Last night the Russ-cle (a.k.a. "the German") met up at the trailhead and headed east to make it to St. Charles. The trail was o.k. but the maintenance trucks had driven all over it clearing falling trees and brush so there were a lot of ruts. It made for some tricky riding but the wind was at our backs and the company was good.

We motored into town in about 1.5 hours on cross bikes and a distance of about 25 miles. We rode around town a bit but it was getting colder and the temps were not so inviting. We refueled at a gas station and headed home into the wind. Around St. Charles the wind seemed calm but as soon as we reached the fields it got colder and colder. Russ-cle wore a second jacket that I had stapped to my rack and was able to warm up. We pedaled and pedaled against the wind and soft surface until we came around the last bend and saw the end of the trail. We arrived in Sycamore around 1 am and hungry like a pack of wolves. I went home and ate and went right to bed. I was really happy with the ride and I was pretty chirpy and hyper at 1:00 am. so I don't think I will have a problem riding until the sun comes out again.

Todays commute was cold and the way back colder. For you beerdrinkers out there I am having some Magic Hat #9 ( Vermont) and some of my dear Bell's Kalamazoo Stouts.

best to all,

Ari

Sunday 80 miles on the cross bike

Monday 62 miles (50 mile night ride + commute) cross bike

Tuesday 15 miles Commute and beer run cross bike

Sunday, Mutant,Trans-Iowa style riding.

Mutants hanging out in the ditch, staying out of the wind

More Flat tire issues

Make that two Flats today

Mowers rd in route to Oregon, IL. Yest at one point the sun did come out.

We got out today with the intent to make it to Oregon and we accomplished that. We had a tailwind going out and we knew that it would cost a price. I had two punctures because of a minute piece of glass that was hiding in the casing. Between all 8 eyes we were able to find the 1mm square of glass and be on our way.

As we rode home the wind became terrible and we decided to take breaks every 10 miles to rest and refuel. The wind became colder and stronger to the point that we resorted to hiding in the ditch out of the wind.

We arrived home demolished but happy to be home. After a while it started to snow and I feel grateful to have missed it. Good training ride. Almost 80 miles on the clicker with an average of 12.3 mph.

Ari

Charge Bikes "Scissor"

Here is a great video of Charge Bikes team members testing out the new "Scissor" Bike. A fixed gear frame with Bmx-looking forks and Cyclocross Tires clearance.

Night and wind riding

Slice-o-matic on front tire. booted with a dollar bill

Russ-cle and I on a really, really dark Road.

Starting to get back on the bike slowly after a good bout of Influenza. I am glad I caught it 5 weeks before Trans Iowa and not closer to the date. Been getting my strength back slowly. Been taking vitamins and drinking lots of fluids to get the bod back in shape. I hope to do a long slow ride this sunday.

Ari

Tom LaMarche

I really think this guy has it. He lands stuff that most hipster just dream about. Team rider for Charge bikes.


aRi