Craig Irving's Masterpiece

Craig has a few rides to report for this year. Click on his name in the 2012 Chasers sidebar to read more about all of these adventures. He also put together this wonderful animated GIF to entertain your beady little eyes. Enjoy it or I'll send Richard to your house to eat all your sausages and steal all the change out of your couch. Click the image to view the slideshow.

New year, new adventures, new characters.  Here's a list of what I've done so far:

Jan 1st:
New Years Day Hangover Metric.  71 miles around Des Moines with four other fine fellows.  This one was already recorded on my tally, but I still feel the need to mention it.  Crazy winds that day with up to 60MPH gusts that would occasionally wind up and kick your front wheel.

Jan 8th: 
Pre-ride of the Triple D course with Charles and Davie Gie.  64 miles on the day and one stupid decision made that I couldn't back out of.

Jan 15th:
Triple D, this time with real actual snow!  Unfortunately I had already committed to converting the Pugs to a fixed gear for it, so I was stuck.  Didn't even get bragging rights for being the first, since there was another and he beat me.  65 miles on an undergeared bike made for a long day.

Jan 30th-31st: 
Big.  Bad. Arrowhead.  It made me want to cry.  I persevered though, and finished after 39 hours and 135 miles.  Like giving birth to a lumpy watermelon, tasty joy and triumph have already dulled the memories of the suffering.  I'm sure I'll be back at it again next year.

As Richard would say: "Click me! I Daaaaaarreee You!!!"

New Cup Chaser Chad Terrell

I'm happy to see so many new names on the chaser list this year. We've got yet another one. Chad Terrell has decided to join the chase for 2012. Welcome to the chase, Chad. Here's what he had to say:

Hi Nick. Thanks to Courtney Hilton I’ve developed a taste for gravel. I don’t know if I should thank him or blame him for it though. On Tuesday, Jan 31, I did my first metric gravel ride. It was an 83 mile ride from Des Moines to Winterset with 51 miles of gravel. Only 11 more to go!

Thanks for the challenge,

Chad Terrell.

 

 

Missed Showalter Update

It looks like I missed this update from Charles Showalter. Thanks for reminding me, Charles. What a great photo!

Nick, I did a gravel metric this morning (Jan. 7th). A little under 70 by the time it was over. I have a metric scheduled with Craig tomorrow, so I will probably be hurting by Sunday night. Take care,

Charles

Venteicher Updates

Here's a few updates from Lee and Andrea Venteicher. I think they are the first couple to enter the Cup O' Dirt chase together. It sounds like they are having fun chasing each other!

Hey Nick,

Since Andrea joined the chase I figured I should at least try to tag along.  So I headed out for my first gravel century of the year (and my first one for several years) on the 10th.  I thought the record highs would make it "easy" but between lots of sloppiness and a general lack of fitness I managed to finish after dark with a couple blinky lights (it really is amazing how much ambient light there is is the middle of nowhere).  I did get in some nice hills, a level B, and a road that appeared to be paved with wood before dark (the "wood" road was due to county workers clearing brush around the corner).  All in all, it was a good ride and will hopefully make the next one a bit easier.

-Lee Venteicher

And another one.

Hey!  You guys have gotten Lee and me so excited about the Cup that we've decided to try for both a full and a metric each month of 2012.  We completed a metric on Jan 15th, and finally found the mythic road in Allamakee county that has eluded us for 5 years:  Itchy Koo road!  (Formerly the site of the Itchy Koo school).  Tragically, the signs that used to mark this one-lane rocky descent into a wooded ravine near the Minnesota border have been repeatedly stolen (i can't figure out why?!), so we had no way to photo document our accomplishment.  A reliable source at the county tells me that they stopped bothering to replace the Itchy Koo signs at about the same time that they stopped replacing the Rubber Road signs.  We also got to ride on Hartley Dr, which is now largely abandoned and turned into a cornfield, but has a cool old steel bridge over the Upper IA river that we used "illegally," as it's posted as "SNOWMOBILES ONLY".  Super fun, super hilly, but i'm glad that my next long ride can wait until next month cuz i am sore from climbing, and crashing like 4 times on the ice rink named Itchy Koo. 
Thanks again for letting us play!

Lee & Andrea Venteicher
Waukon, IA

And yet another one.

Howdy,

Looks like Arrowhead went well - nice work.

Got another gravel century in yesterday, Thursday, February 2nd.  Started off with freezing fog and then the road got nice and squishy - ouch.  Had a few cramps by the end but I got to see a few nice vistas, ride a road named crazy corners, get over 10,000 feet of climbing in, and generally exhaust myself.  Hoping to get a metric in this weekend and maybe have time to look for some Mississippi Mud this month as well.  Thanks for putting this quest out there...it's a great way to get me motivated to get some miles in.

-Lee Venteicher
Waukon, IA

P.S.  Oh, and I learned how to geotag photos from my old camera:

And one last one.

I got in another metric today.  Started out with 4 friends, but they all turned off before the end...and before the creek crossing (pictured).  Ended up with 64.74miles...a good followup to Thursday's ride.  I'm a tired boy but still in the hunt for the Dirt and the Liter...hoping to get after the Mud soon.

-Lee Venteicher

And the Winner is...

I just got this from DaveyGie the other day. 72 dirty metric centuries is an "off year" for Dave! From the comments, it looks like Bill G is the winner. Mind sending your info to iowacupodirt@gmail.com? A box of Clif Gels will be on your way.

Dear Sir Nicholas,

Ok after going back over Facebook, my blog, and my random entry diary accounts I have come up with a count for Metric and Full C’s for the year of 2011. The number are (Drum roll) Metric = 72 and Full C =6.  I didn’t get my first one this year until April dealing with rotator cuff injuries, which I am currently recovering from surgery and pedaling In my basement, see attached picture. I hope to be back out on my bike in a few more weeks.  December was a great month, often doing 3 a week.

I certainly don’t expect cups for all these and if we can hook up sometime, I would be glad to relieve you of one of these prestigious awards.

I have done two metrics for the year of 2012 one at Triple D and one the week prior.

I want to set some goals for 2012, just no sure what that is going to be.  I just know there will be lotz and lotz and gravel.

Dave Giegerich  a.k.a. MrDaveGie

Speaking of Mr. DaveyGie...

I haven't had an update from Mr. DaveyGie for his 2011 rides. For someone who managed to bag 100 metric centuries in one year, I found this curious. So, I thought I'd make a game of guessing just how many you think he got in 2011. As of right now I have no idea. I think it's above 13, though. 100? 15? I'm inviting anyone to hazard a guess as to the real number. I'll get the answer out of him soon enough, even if I have to break into his house, steal all of his bikes and hold them ransom. Sure, I'd need a semi trailer to nab his collection, but I have connections.

I am offering an award to the person whose guess is closest to the number of metrics that Dave completed last year. I have a full box of Clif gels to offer up. No Price Is Right rules, just whoever is closest. I'll get creative with any ties. Leave your guesses in the comments! I'll probably reveal the genuine number sometime next week.

It only took Dave three minutes to reduce this animal to bone. Just imagine how many miles he can get in one year with his superpowers? Image gratuitously stolen from Dave's Facebook page.

Another Metric from Charles Showalter

Charles Showalter sent me this. Two metrics for the year, and we're only 10 days into it! Keep it up, Charles.

I rode a metric today with Craig and MrDaveyGie in Dubuque. Dave took us on a slightly modified version of the Triple D course. I forgot my camera at home so no pics from me other than the few I snapped with my phone. This one is of Dave after we settled into a nice trail ride. It was a good ride, and thanks to Dave for being our tour guide. Take care,

Charles

That's funny. This image of Dave Giegerich doesn't have any photoshopped antlers, a doppleganger or any illicit cycling drugs. I've always wondered what he really looked like in the wild...