Fatbikes, CX, Fall (it's dark in the evenings!)

Here are some pictures of what's been going on around here-

 One of the last 135mm offset bikes from last year on close-out...  not for me

 Yes, this lives.  Redoing it slacker now...  I had a feeling I wouldn't have time or interest in riding a fatbike in the summer months and this year proved me right.  Definitely excited to get it back on the road now though...  Pugnago!

 Marge Lites and more Coda hubs...  will work on either of the above bikes

 Not too long ago it was sunny and hot on my walk to Jimmy Johns for dinner

 Bird Abatement needed already-  this is the true sign of fall coming to Rochester

Probably a ton more CX pictures out there.  I raced just twice last weekend (well, 3x but I rolled a tire after two laps on Saturday in the SS race and didn't do SS Sunday at all).  I still plan to race SS and Cat 3 this coming weekend.  So far I've been 2nd, 1st, 2nd in the Cat 3 races I've entered.  I will likely move up soon.  However, I have learned valuable lessons in each race...  particularly in the losses.  In both cases looking back I know how I could have given myself much better odds of winning.  In both the races were close but neither time did I get into position to wind up my 'real' sprint due to bobbles or being in the wrong place at the wrong time etc..  There has to be some huge value in seeing how races slip away that I might not get if I were just struggling mid or back of the pack in the faster race.

Looking forward to quite a lot more CX and then fat biking!

disc brakes for cyclocross, steel is real?, tubulars

Finally got this thing all the way together today and rode it a bit.

Frame- 1996 Marin Pine Mountain.  Disc tab added to rear by Eric Peterson, paint by Lin Anderson.
Fork-  Nashbar carbon disc
Brakes-  shimano mechanicals (I like the feel better than the Avids actually-  they are built like bricks though)/tektro levers
Crankset-  stock White Industries by Sugino, stock BB from 1996 too!
Pedals-  Eggbeater SL
Wheelset-  Mavic gl330 taken out of a dumpster laced to Hope Ti-glide hubs by Ben Witt.  Hubs are 5-bolt disc using a removable spider.  The rotors have little flames in them...
Tires- Tufo Primus
rest is pretty miscellaneous

Initial thoughts-  it handles right.  The disc brakes work.  On singletrack it's amazing how awesome it is to have the power of discs.  Right away I was really enjoying myself.  This bike 'feels' like a mountain bike rather than like my CX bikes despite the drop bars.  The handling is somehow very different than the CX bikes but not in a bad way.  Best example is that there is a bit of a hairpin turn on a fast descent which I ride all the time.  The Tommaso Diavolos dive 'into' the hairpin and almost snap through leaving it.  This bike does not but it handles it very proficiently still, just in a more stable manner closer to the way my Cannondale 29ers feel.

I will be racing it four times over the next two weekends.  The schedule is such that each day I will race geared first and then have about a 20 minute break before the next race.  This should give me a lot of time to really get used to the differences between disc brakes and not.  I kind of know what my conclusion will be already- that they are incredibly confidence inspiring but as of now too heavy and not necessary anyways-  but I will keep an open mind.  Regardless, I definitely cannot afford to upgrade the rest of my bikes to high-end discs with new wheels.  There is no doubt that my 16 lb CX bikes and high end carbon wheels are faster than whatever disc stuff I could afford to replace them with in the near future.


So far as steel is real...  sure.  Working on this project has made me think a bit about it beyond that though too.  I wouldn't buy a new steel frame unless it was true custom.  What's the advantage again?  Especially when there are so many cooler ones out there waiting to be reclaimed.  What would you rather have-  something welded in Taiwan or something with some character?  I also don't get "high-end" custom steel frames...  what do you get?  Recently I've seen some builds on custom steel frames (mountain and CX bikes) that made me wonder why you wouldn't just buy a carbon frame and a used volkswagon...  with the only apparent answer being "because I want to look cool".  Not cool to me anyways.


Lastly, so far as tubulars.  Go get some if you plan on riding your skinny tired bike on grass, mud, or dirt, you won't go back.

The Heroic, Holzinger Hot Lap, Twilight CX

The Heroic (there is a recap there as well) certainly did not disappoint.  Awesome to throw down on the vintage bikes.  In short, I felt pretty good all day.  It was surprising how well the Legnano handled on gravel with the 30c Ritcheys Speed Max tires.  Other than not having the gears I would have wanted I don't think it held me back in the slightest.  That said, the cable slipped out of the Nuovo Record front derailleur around halfway and I was down to a 42x13-24 the rest of the way.  It didn't really hurt me anyways, but it wasn't ideal.  Here is the bike-

If you are not familiar with Legnano as a brand you may find it interesting to google it and poke around a bit.  These were great bikes.  This is the Roma Olimpiade model with Nuovo Record/Suntour parts and some extremely early Phil Wood hubs.  Sadly? the hubs have been relaced to Sun clincher rims and the original Brook's Professional is gone.  I was forced to put my own seatpost on it to get the extension I needed as I'm much taller than my father.  The fit was OK, but I would have been happier on a 4-6cm longer top tube.

Race recap-  Hard pace from start pushed by Skarpohl and I.  First large hill and Todd Thorsgaard wasn't waiting for anyone.  I was able to scamper up with him and we found ourselves with a decent gap.  Bob Gritman worked hard to close and we tried to put as much distance/hurt on Skarpohl as possible before he caught.  There were a few minor attacks and Alex Butterfield snuck away following a hard Skarpohl attack which I had worked to close.  We let him go around mile 24.  I pushed it through a couple corners and Skarpohl countered hard at mile 28...  no one reacted and I was winded.  We were three against whatever was going on up the road (it would become just Skarpohl alone quickly) but Thorsgaard, Gritman and myself were either unwilling to work hard enough or unable to make up ground on Skarpohl.  His move was ideal.  I don't think he would have had such an easy time if he had waited for the hillier section of the course on the back half.  As it was he was able to climb at his own pace and put major time into the 3 of us on the flats.  In the end I was happy to get to the finish line and move on to my next stop with as fresh of legs as possible.

Here is the strava file-





The 29nsngl Holzinger Hotlap was next.  I rode my rigid SS Cannondale Caffeine for this as it seemed most appropriate.  Last year at the Heroic I had gone solo for the final 12 miles or so for the win and had felt 100 years old at the start line of the TT.  This year was totally different.  I certainly wasn't fast, but I had good enough legs to enjoy myself on the course.  Holzinger is a great trail and it takes a lot of skill/concentration to make it feel flowy on a rigid bike but I felt like I was making it happen.  Didn't spend too much time partying after, but it was nice to see some friends I hadn't seen much recently.


Wound up taking a nap and then sleeping a solid 10 hours too Saturday night (not only had I ridden a lot, but I think I slept less than 4 hours Friday night).  I woke up feeling OK, did some random work around the house and then started preparing for the evening cyclocross race.

Last year I didn't really start racing cross until two weekends from now and I started slow but picked up a lot of steam later in the year.  I think my overall fitness is better this year, but I'm not really any more organized for CX specifically.  My goal for going to the race, especially after Saturday, was to get a high end workout and start putting myself in position to be fast in 4-6 weeks.  I had no idea what to expect from my legs and some weird pain on the outside/back of my right knee.

By the time I got to the venue I could tell my legs had benefitted from the long rest and I was hoping for an OK finish.  That was pretty much dashed in the first 20 seconds of the race when my chain slipped and I found myself in last.  Luckily I was able to keep my wits and slowly move from group to group for the next lap and a half until I found myself with just my good friend Trevor chasing a single rider (Rhett Finley) up the course.  In retrospect, we should have patiently rotated 50-100 yards behind him and let him burn himself out but we closed the gap and rode as three most of the rest of the way.  It was clear no one else was catching and I started resting a lot and tried a couple of punchy little attacks.  Trevor and I should have worked together better, but we haven't been in that situation before in a CX race and the strategy out there was more like a crit than anything else due to the long straights/wind.  We sort of blew our opportunity as a "team".  I attacked very hard with 1.5 laps to go but it was closed down on a long straight by Rhett (could Trevor have gone right then?).  I sat on almost the entire final lap and knew that I had a great shot at a sprint, but got antsy about it and started ramping it up too soon...  I would have liked my odds from 50' behind to start the sprint, but instead I tried to make the pass prior to the final barriers and briefly went down.  Hard to know what happens in the sprint if I hadn't done that but I was definitely in position to sprint as fast as I ever do physically anyways.  In the end-  2nd to Rhett was awesome and a bit of a surprise at this point in the season.

Strava-



Results/everyones lap times can be found at endurance promotions

CX Images courtesy of Brendan Bellew and Kim Larson

Heck of the North 2012

Please check out race organizer Jeremy Kershaw's beautiful images!



For those not familiar the Heck is a relatively flat 'gravel' race on what are often bumpy/dusty gravel roads NW of Duluth.  The route is punctuated with a long finishing climb and a scattering of trail sections.  Most years the trail sections are very wet to the point of requiring dismounts.  The flat nature of the course often keeps a large lead group together late into the race which has made for some exciting finishes.

I've been going good and was willing to try to take a flyer early in the race.  Such a strategy had been bubbling up since late summer and was further reinforced by my experience at the Gravel Conspiracy.  The pace always starts pretty high but I was looking for a way to get up the road from the start.  Figured I had to get it done early as possible or else it wouldn't seem 'stupid' on my part and wouldn't be allowed to happen. 

I couldn't make it happen.  Each time at least one other rider went hard enough to join me and the group chased or I cut my effort because I knew it was futile.  Finally, at mile 12 or so? there was a small group of us that the main pack was closing down and I decided to give it one more real effort to spring solo.  As soon as they caught I went hard and again a single rider came with.  This time I had hurt myself pretty good with the effort and had no desire in working more in a doomed effort and I dropped back.  He wouldn't be seen again for a very long time.

The lead pack settled into an uneasy cooperation with some apparent team tactics/wheel sucking taking place from the start.  Honestly, it was nice to see.  This was a bike race.

First trail section and my cue cards were flipped wrong.  Riding right on the wheel of the first rider lead to some interesting situations with deep culverts coming up fast.  Had to bunny hop pretty big a couple of times to avoid total destruction.

Back on the road and more of the same with no one really wanting to work.

Knew where the 2nd trail section was to begin and made a point of getting in first.  This was where I had flatted the year before, lost my GPS and literally 30-35 minutes of time.  A repeat wasn't going to happen.  Leaving the trail Ted was interested in pinning things and we did ride fast, but any effort to drop the lead 18 or 20 was quickly made obviously flawed.

There was again some jockeying as we neared the checkpoint.  Legs felt great and so I decided to play along and went into the checkpoint hard and left as a solo first chaser (I didn't know that the solo guy had already gotten lost at that point).  I had it in my mind that the group was moving slowly and that if I could get to the next trail section solo and pin it through there I could possibly bridge up and/or go back to my original plan.  Once again it was not to be.  Initially, the single rider on my wheel was OK.  I thought maybe it would be a helper, but then he never pulled through and I shut it down again.  This time there was some discussion amongst the lead group.  Over the next few miles some allegiances both secret and otherwise were solidified.  Ted (who should have been my number one rival...) and I plotted how to get away from the big group.

We hit a road I remembered from previous races and I knew it had enough of a grade to allow for something to happen.  It was one of those moments where I could see the move, new it was the 'right' move from some perspective.  At the same time I think I had lost track of what I was really trying to do out there- winning the race.  I just wanted away instead.

I gave it most of what I had, then more and then everything and I didn't look back.  Afterwards I was dismayed to realize there were still people with me.  Ted Loosen, Charlie Schad, Dominic Talerico were all lined up right on my wheel.   I was happy it was those who I most wanted to ride with and to help, but still a bit shaken that they had stayed with me.  We had 28 miles to the finish and a widening gap as we rotated.  I took another too long pull and then realized I needed to conserve.  Everyone looked fresh and strong and I wasn't playing the game right.  I had shown all my cards and only gotten 85% of what I needed.  I thought about the seemingly random extra work I had done earlier.  I knew my overall plan had failed.

Our gap widened.  We rode another trail section and on the way out Dominic crashed.  We waited for him.  The chase was in sight...  albeit much slimmed down.  Chaos.  I tried to dial up full gas and got very little.  The four of us were spread over the road but we were finally able to regroup and begin adding to our 35-45 second lead once again.  We knew it was about to be all climb to the finish and the gap was sufficient.  We had made it.

There was a fire truck, I was in front and snuck by to the left...  "you guys are going to die, there is a powerline down".  It didn't have it's lights on or any signs.  We were forced to stop.  We agreed to neutralize the race and "tie"?

The chase caught up and locals knew how to get around the mess and back onto the route.  "We" decided to restart the race from there with existing time gaps.  I was frustrated all the way around.  I heard others complaining, saying they wanted to protest and stop.  I just put my head down and went.  Again, I wasn't thinking clearly about what my actual purpose was.  I lead to much but I felt rejuvenated from the bit of rest we had gotten on the reroute.

We hit the steep grade of the finish line climb and I knew it was too steep for anything but just riding.  Ted and I traded some, he dropped back, we crested the top of the hill and both Ted and Dominic sprinted.  I could not.  I didn't cramp or really redline, I just couldn't sprint.  They rode away and it was over fast.

Overall, I feel great about my riding.  I know how much harder I've worked this year and how much faster I am in training etc..  I'm not sure the Heck is the ideal course for me or perhaps that I had the right plan for how to ride such a course.  There is also no way to know what would have happened if I had snuck away at mile 10.

I really enjoyed the racing that took place.  All of it.  I wish the culverts had been marked or a warning had been given in some way.   Other than that the course is incredibly scenic and I believe it likely is the best route/roads in the area.  The event is well run and enjoyable.  I regret missing the after party, but I was trying to get home to move on Sunday and also really wanted to stop by Yker acres fundraiser for Josey's cyclocross.

Franconia Sculpture CX... Strava time attack on Plover

Trying to catch up on events...

Franconia Sculpture CX was fun.  I started fast, smacked my nuts HARD, rode slow, finished fast.

This is Fred Mills showing his bike-limbo skills pre-race...

Apparently, he said to my mom (she had my camera) "watch this" and called his shot.

 The "Lounge Lizard"

 Funny how you don't notice some of the sculptures as you race

This one I definitely noticed!

I finished that weekend off over in Steven's Point/Plover where I totally Cat 6 time attacked the Standing Rocks trail.  Complete with brief warm-up on the road...

make fun of me if you want, but it was fun.

2012 Almanzo Gentleman's Ride- brief race recap and images

Thanks Kim for the photos-  there are lots more, but I'm partial to those that include me and people I know. 

The 'race' was brutal.  The winning four were simply stronger than hell.  My own team was also strong, but not strong enough.  We hung in for a while, gave extremely hard chase but ultimately came up short.  Once I felt we weren't going to win I struggled physically and mentally to keep the pedal down and found myself struggling to keep pace with my team for mile upon mile. 

In the end it was a great day though, it was a great day spent with friends on bicycles.  The highlight may have been heading back to the checkpoint and hanging out with some of the DFL contenders. 

Gravel Conspiracy part II

This was an incredible event.  It's just awesome that something like this can happen AND with zero entry fee.  That has a lot to do with some great sponsors (cyclova xc, salsa, A-train cycles and three stars)  and I certainly appreciate that they provided the money that helped make this happen but Josh ACTUALLY made it happen-  thank you Josh.  I think the best thing I can say about this weekend was that over and over again I thought to myself that the route, format etc. was exactly the way I would have made it myself.  

9:38pm Thursday night- lab shift finally complete, head home to meet DG.

9:45pm- find out we no longer have a place to spend the night, camping has been effectively rained out

1:00am Friday-  pull into Duluth hotel that we booked after approximately 12 phone calls.

8:00am- Waffles and tea, free with room

11:15am-  Coho cafe Tofte, wonderful pre-race food.  One of my favorite stops.

12:30pm- At the start line on Artists Point-  awesome to see everyone and get a feel for who was in the field.

1:20pm- slightly late start but a hot pace out of town, wanted nothing to do with it but eventually took a pull so as not to feel like a total moocher.

1:50pm?- finally onto gravel, immediately onto a hill...  is this thing a race?  Figured it was going to go up for a while as we left the lake and settled into a fast climbing pace, no looking back.  Nearing the top, a glance, could only see Ted.

3:56pm-  Ride into Bearskin campground with Ted.  Very tired, average speed had been 18.6 with a ton of climbing.  Super great ride!  We had repeatedly talked about the beauty of the roads and how cool the event was, just amazing.

5:40pm-  Max cap. of 3 persons hot tub signed out in our names and quite full with 5 guys.

7:00pm-  Send email out to family with regards to the day so far.  Think about how absolutely awesome an event this is and is going to be.  The rest of the night was a lot of sitting around and bullshitting with the other riders.

7:00am Saturday-  Long day ahead of us and with no idea what to expect topography wise etc..  Feel OK,  surprisingly feel healthier than Friday morning...  happy to be getting over my cold.  Excited for the day.

8:36am-  everyone has left but Ted and I...  

mile 30-  we've been riding with a decent sized group of guys but for some reason the pace is picking up.  I feel a little tight but try to mix up the way I'm pedaling and work it out.

mile 33- take my turn pulling at the front and legs don't feel as tired as expected (I've learned that on multi-day rides like this it takes me 1-2 hours to get going in the morning)

mile 35-  the group breaks up a bit and we hit the base of a hill.  I make a decision and don't look back for a while.

mile 38- I still see them but don't think they are catching, decide to really go for 5 more miles and in reality that was when I actually put it down.  I never see anyone again.  I realize that this is sort of race/ride/tour event and appreciate what that means with regards to going solo, I think I'm going to have more fun riding solo anyways.  There is a rhythm that I just can't find riding in a group and the time to think.

mile 42-  Settle into my normal pace and mood for "touring" type riding.  Plan to treat the rest of the day just like all the long rides I've done over the last 6 weeks or so.  

mile 57-  Josh rumbles by in the Uhaul and they let me know I have a huge gap.  I just ride.  I focus on standing to climb in order to mix up the muscles I'm using.  Think about how great the route is, how perfect the weather is for me.  Rain, wind, cold, hills...  why can't all races/rides/tours be like this, this is exactly what I wanted when I signed up for this thing.

mile 70-  quick turnaround at rest stop-  a coke, three snickers, chain lubed and water bottles filled by Josh...  awesome!  I leave the checkpoint just flying and loving life.

mile 97-  hell yes!  ATV trail, punchy climbs.  Almost overcook a corner or two descending.  Think about how this  whole ride is exactly what I've been doing for fun this summer when I wasn't racing my bike.

mile 101- another dismount, is this right?  whatever, GPS says so...  it's CX practice I suppose.  Then it dead-ends.  GPS says the road is 300-400' away.  The woods up here are pretty thick with undergrowth, paved with bear-sized boulders covered in moss and riddled with thickets of shit you just can't walk through.

I walk to the purple line.  I walk past the purple line and back over it, again, again.  I do not want to be off route.  I want to win this race/ride/tour, I feel like I've had enough bad things happen in endurance races to last a while.  I curse.  Make my first, another?, mistake and continue searching for the phantom road.

After about 20 minutes, and very likely less than 500 yards total progress, I have not found the road.  I look at my GPS and my tracks are moving, but I am not.  It dawns on me that I do not know for sure which direction is "back".  I spend the next 10 minutes trying to backtrack, I give up on that and look at my options on the GPS.  I make a second? mistake by not completely giving up and walking way back to where I know there is visible trail.  

I try yet again to find the phantom road.

45 minutes or so into the woods I realize that I'm not finding that road and that I don't really know where the barely there trail that got me into the woods is located.  The GPS is acting weird enough at the level of zoom needed that it's basically useless.  I start walking toward the only other road that I can see on the GPS (this happens to be the road I was supposed to be on btw).  It is roughly .5 mile to that road.  I figure that will take me roughly 30-60 minutes.  The going is very tough.  

I hit a lake and it's actually a godsend as it allows me to walk faster out in the open.  I take a couple of pictures.  On my map this is the smaller bit of water where the lowest white dot is.  

purple-  GPS "route"
red- real road
yellow- dead end road most people ended up on
blue- my route
white (from bottom to top)- beaver dam, moose bed, lake crossing picture etc.


As I leave that smaller lake (beaver pond) I follow a game trail that allows me to move fairly well.  It heads in somewhat the wrong direction, but again the purple line is over there and I convince myself to go to it.  There is a gigantic deer bed along the game trail, I assume it is a Moose bed.  Wonder where the moose is?  I figure that maybe the GPS had just been confused earlier about my whereabouts and this time I will find it.  There is no road there.  Finally I give up on it again and head back toward the other/correct road.  My helmet is on, I use it to push the brush out of the way as I push forward.

Again there are signs of beavers but this time when I get a view of the lake my heart sinks.  I'm blocked from the road.  Think about the possibility of spending the night out with nothing but bike kit and gu shots.  Think about the possibility of having to leave my bike to navigate faster.  The lake looks largest out to my right, I decide to go left.  Throw my bike down and jump off the boulders into the peaty shit that surrounds the lake.  The peaty vegetation stuff supports my weight 9 out every 10 steps as I move around the lake to the left.  Finally I am able to cut back to the East but the going is terribly slow.

Cross one small stream as it cuts through the peaty crap and it is only about knee deep.  I start actually crossing the lake (although in reality I crossed no open water, and generally was always mostly supported by vegetation) and I find another channel.  This channel looks similar to the first one so I throw the bike across and step in...  there is no bottom and I topple up to my armpits.

At that point I was soaking wet, "in" a lake, unsure if any of the roads on my GPS were real and it was 2.5 hours to sunset.  I knew the overnight low was about 40.  Hoped I would make a proper road.  Decided that I would leave my bike if necessary at 6pm in order to be able to pick up the pace.  Considered where/how i would spend the night.

Pushed on across another portion of the lake and into the woods.  Find a road.

mile 107-  stare at my bike and realize it's still useable, hop on my bike and ride

mile 128- UHAUL!!!  I've finished.  I know I've lost the race with my mistake.  Happy to be in one piece.  Josh tells me I'm first finisher (I later find out that Aaron Alto had not gotten lost and had finished 30-40 minutes ahead of me- see below) and my head spins.  Shivering I grab dry clothes, food, hop in truck.  We head down the trail toward the other riders.  In the end everyone was safe and I'll let each of them tell their own story as they see fit.  The majority of the riders made a shorter bushwack and were able to finish the ride roughly 1 hours slower than I had.  A few others followed the right road.  Others, who knows?  In the end everyone was accounted for and safe.

11pm-  back in Ely, need real food.  Head to gas station for $15 worth of microwave sandwiches and arnold palmer.  Knees look like this-

Wonder if I will be able to ride Sunday.  What was at mile 100 looking like a sub-8 hour day had turned into 14.5 hrs between the hike and the uhaul trip.

7am Sunday-  EARLY, cannot get moving.  Eventually drink another arnold palmer, put on some bike clothes, lubricate chain, stare at bike and think about what I'm supposed to pack.  Don't have matches, bring Gu shots and water.

8:30am-  At the start and feeling ready.  I've consumed yet more arnold palmer and gas station breakfast sandwiches.

8:45am-  Carpool teammate DG rolls off the front of the group for a second time.  I think he realizes that we have nearly as much driving time as we do riding time left for the day.  I decide to join him.  The race/ride/tour has become a ride, I think universally.  I ride the next 3 hours or so with Dennis at a nice conversational pace.

1pm-  where is Dennis?  don't see him...  hmm, give him a minute to reappear?  Did he flat?  Eventually, no Dennis and a decision to go on without him.  Only 60 miles left to go.  Can I average 18?  What is left in the legs?

????- countless amazing roads.  Same feeling as Saturday, more of exactly what I've been doing for fun.  No rain today, but other than that small omission I'm in the zone...  everything else I love is there.  So much descending too, I'm flying.  There is a rhythm to the climbs and the turns.  Want to ride 200 miles of this.

????-  Finish line at 7:30 ride time for the day, 114 miles.  I stop at a light for about 45 seconds and then still sprint for the non-existent line.



pictures are in previous post and likely available at the race's own blog



edit-  I received this comment via email.  The poster doesn't have a google account/couldn't post it themselves...

I wanted to post the message below in the comments on your report, but couldn't get it to publish; sorry for lacking the know how. Please post it on there if you would/ can. If not, at least you'll get my experience of Sat and Sun. Twas a damn fun event.

Take care.

Aaron Alto

Drew- On Sat I was rolling with Ted, Tri, Death R, etc until the ATV trail where I rolled on since it was no longer advantageous to ride with others. I wasn't running a GPS and was following the captains orders to look for chartreuse flagging through that stretch. Your tire track was the only one on the route until we got to a left hand off camber turn where there was flagging to the right through a grassy ATV trail; it was an easy turn to miss. Then the trail had no more bike track. It was fun to think that I might be able to get in first if the other boys didn't catch me and you stayed lost for a while (no harm intended, all in good fun) I squeezed the throttle harder. I never saw your track again and kept seeing some flagging every time I got nervous. I hit Spruce Rd and knew I was still on course for sure. I got to Harvey and Hwy 1 in Ely at 5:33. I rode down Harvey and back and around town more and was feeling WTF; my first potential win in 20 yrs and nobody is at the end. I think Josh was bailing out riders that got lost. What time did you get into town? Luckily my wife came up for that night and she was at the hotel after hunting for the Uhaul for a while too.

I got cold riding around town looking for Josh and continued to have wicked chills that evening. The chills and sweats continued all night and I felt like I got no sleep. Since my wife had come to Ely I had an easy way to bail on the final day and drop back home. Here's my account of Sun as reported to my homies that rode too- As I was seeing you guys off and the others rolling down the rd I kept second guessing if I had it in me to do the day. At that time I didn't feel too bad, but was really leery due to the sleepless night of chills and sweats. I actually fell asleep for an hr or so at the hotel after dropping you guys down at the construction zone (and it confirmed that I didn't actually sleep during the night, you know how you can wonder how much quality sleep one gets tossing and turning). As soon as I woke up I had the first of several bouts of diarrhea, including one in my sleep in bed at home (Teresa was not impressed with that since I was too worthless to help clean much). I had the chills and sweats and weakness too throughout the day. I was running through the scenarios of how I would have dealt with the liquid shits and suffering on my bike; they were all stinky, cold (after washing in a lake), and embarrassing (hitching after shitting drawers). In the end I had no regrets about not riding. Good to hear you boys all had a nice final day.

I'll second your sentiments on what a great event it was and how Josh kicked ass pulling it together. He does need to get some helicopter camera coverage for the ATV trail stretch; would've been fun to see it all unfold from above.

Aaron



Drew again-  My finishing time on Saturday was just after 6.  So, Aaron won that day and actually had a lead of somewhere between 15 and 30 minutes going into Sunday as I believe I had about 20 on him Friday.  It is too bad we weren't able to fight it out Sunday!

Gravel Conspiracy recap part I: pictures

 More to come about this map here...



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Bikes in front of Bearskin lodge after day 1

 kitchen in Bearskin Lodge room

 back area/porch

 This party was clearing up quick due to rain

 Group early on Day 2

 It rained for a long time, no pictures!  here is me at a lake I never should have gone to

 more or lake

 at this point it was scenic and "ok", it got worse

 see my arrow?  I'm on the purple line

 same position as in the one above

 Everyone made it in safely and here is a bit of day 3

 Grelk

 a ton of this on day 3

 we had a couple hours of what felt like steady descending!

 Lake Superior!  First view in a couple of days...  this is when I knew I was finishing

 Race, Ride, Tour call it what you will... (in a way it was all of those things) these were the two fastest finishers bikes.

the gravel conspiracy is upon us

Info for those who don't know

I've done this-

All that remains is sorting some laundry and triple checking a few lists.

Only major modification to my normal set-up is that I went to the "Ragnarok/Royal gearing" with 39/53x11-34 and am running my clincher 404s with some 42c continentals as recommended by Ben.

Should be an awesome fun weekend.