Monday, March 21, 2011

More March Updates

Some soupy gravel near the Des Moines river. There were still a few ice chunks on the opposite side of the road from the river!
A few more updates from those who have been enjoying spring weather in Iowa. Courtney Hilton got his fifth metric on the 14th with a 77-mile ride out of West Des Moines, and scoped out a potential route for an official Cup O' Dirt ride. You hear that right - more details to come.

Myself, Paul Jacobson, and Jared Morford did a full century a little over a week ago on the 13th. It was Jared's first full gravel century, and he rode the tights off of Paul and I. Good work, Jared! It started out pretty darn cold, but the day got much nicer and warmer. We went up to Stratford then to LeHigh and back through Stratford to Ames along the river valley. It was too cold for mushy gravel in the morning, but it got a little tougher to ride in the afternoon. Quite a fun day for a century.

Keep sending in updates, lurkers.

New Cup Chaser - Craig Irving

Richard Simmons, eat your heart out.
We have another Cup O' Dirt chaser, Craig Irving. He jokingly asked if there was any hazing involved in the process, and I jokingly replied, "Maybe one should have to ride their first metric in nothing but a speedo or bikini? With a clown wig." I immediately received the above photo, which is no joke.

To get to know the man behind the wig, here's a bit about Craig:
I live in Mount Vernon, IA and I've been a cyclist for 15 years.  I got back into racing last year after a 10 year layoff and now focus on sucking at endurance events.  My big goal this year is to finish either Trans Iowa or Dirty Kanza, or maybe even both if I can find the right lamp to rub.  When I'm not working or riding you can usually find me tinkering in the garage, wasting time on the computer or (unsuccessfully) attempting to ignore my girlfriend's "requests" for me to do some housework.
Craig finished both the Triple D and CIRREM, for two metrics so far in 2011. Welcome to the chase! We all look forward to seeing more photos.

Friday, March 4, 2011

Updates from Courtney Hilton and JJM

The weather's getting nicer, so you should be out there getting more rides in! Here's another update from Courtney Hilton:
I've been a little under the weather the last couple days but I got the first full century in on 2/17.  South through Earlham and Winterset, this was my first ride of any real distance on a geared bike this year.  Attached are some Pictures.
 We also have another cup chaser, Jared J. Morford. He happens to work with me at Skunk River Cycles, and with his successful CIRREM finish he's got two metrics so far this year. Welcome to the chase, Jared.

I sadly missed out on the snowy, cold fun that was CIRREM because I was on the verge of harfing up my breakfast that morning. There's always next year, right?
Keep sending those updates in to iowacupodirt _at_ gmail -dot- com.