Something to work on over the winter

This site has been started to help map out dirt roads around the country and tag places of interest, scenic overlooks, bad dogs, good meals, cold beers, etc. Give em a hand if you have the time.

September: Time for a Dirty Double

First, read this. Now, think about taking Friday off work, and getting together with some other dirt and gravel heads, and riding up TO this event from somewhere in the Des Moines area. While we're at it, why not make it count for the Cup O Dirt as well? I'm thinking a Bob trailer with camping stuff and a cooler full of beverages will make for good times. I'm making sure we can camp on Friday night (appears so, but I'd hate to get there and have to camp in a field). Pace will be steady, but not crazy. Stop for lunch somewhere, enjoy the scenery. No rider left behind.
We'll get up there and have a fun day celebrating CITA's 10th anniversary. Then we'll ride another dirty century back home on Sunday.

Friday's route.

Takers? Only interested in one? Want to meet up along the way? Leave a comment.

August Metric or Hundy

Looking to get a group together for a Hundy on either the 23rd or 24th. Don't have a route yet. Open to ideas. I haven't been too far west of DM on any gravel yet this year, and I know there were some interesting looking roads out that way on RAGBRAI. Have to see what I can cook up in the next week. If you think you might be a taker, leave a comment below.

Update:

Leaving on Sunday the 24th. 7 or 8 AM. People are welcome to meet / park at my place. Shoot me an email for my address / phone. We're headed west with no definite route. Ride and explore.

Gravel Grinder - 07/30/08 (Wednesday)

RAGBRAI is done, but I still haven't managed to get a July gravel ride in yet. Heading out from Johnston, Iowa on Wednesday, July 30th starting around 5 PM. We'll likely follow enough of the Gilbert-Woodward-Ogden route listed on the left to get a metric century in. We'll grind some gravel, enjoy the sunset and ride in the dark listening to frogs.

Guitar Ted Death Ride

If you haven't been in the loop, the Guitar Ted Death Ride is on again this year. 100+ miles of gravelly goodness. The date is July 19th. More information can be found at the Death Ride's blog site.

Gravel Road Ride - 7/10/08

There is a Gravel road ride leaving Bike World in West Des Moines at 5:30 PM. 35 - 45 miles in length down towards Booneville and points beyond. Pretty sure this is Leadville training for some, so bet on plenty of hills based on the route.

Ride is still on for tomorrow

Hy-Vee on Grand and EP True. Leaving at 7:30 AM. Still heading south to Winterset. Yes, the second half of the ride is going to be into a stiff headwind and it's going to have hills. As Squirrel says "Suck it up".

Gravel Metric 5/11/08 (Updated 5/8/08)

Update: Sunday the 11th is Mother's Day. If I ride on the 11th, I'll be riding with leg casts the rest of the year. We'll push this to the 18th instead.

I'm planning a gravel metric on Sunday 5/18. I need to ride some miles with the new fitting before Dirty Kanza and I need to get some hills in as well. I'm thinking of leaving Hy-Vee on Grand and EPTrue sometime between 7 and 7:30 (possibly meeting for breakfast/coffee first) and go through Raccoon River park, make our way out towards Booneville, and then south towards Winterset to get some hills in, and then either ride the same route in reverse or find another way home. Comment below if you are interested. I'll work on getting something planned out on routeslip or the like within the next week or so.

Preliminary route is located here Should be no real surprises on this route. I can promise that we won't be riding much, if any shoulders for the majority of this ride. :)