CIRREM According to Charles Showalter

I'm sad that I didn't get down to CIRREM this year because I had to work and also because I didn't sign up in time. Thankfully, Charles Showalter (and a bunch more of you, I'm sure) was able to make it and provided this fine report of what always ends up being a sloppy ride through some wicked hills. Enjoy.

I did CIRREM today. It put the hurt on me. It was icy and slick at the start, then when it warmed up it seemed like it went from icy to sloppy in about 30 minutes. At about the 40-mile mark it was really sloppy and hilly. By the time I got through that five-mile tough stretch I was smoked and my bike looked like this. Aside from getting worked over, it was really fun. This was my first full-blown gravel race. I enjoyed the atmosphere, food, and drink. Take it easy,

Charles

Part of the fun of CIRREM is cleaning your bike afterwards, right?

Charles and Craig on the 19th of February

Charles Showalter and Craig Irving teamed up for another metric on February 19th. Here's what Charles had to say about it. I love the photo!

Craig and I rode a metric yesterday. We went to the hilliest stretch of roads in our area and rode loops and figure eights. Each lap was about eight miles. We rode until we were close to a metric, and then parted ways and rode home. I was toast by the time we split up. It was a good ride though, and perfect weather. Take it easy,

Charles

The Venteichers and Grelk Team Up

Andrea sent me this update that includes a cameo by Dennis Grelk, the first person to ever complete the Cup O' Dirt in all three categories (12 metrics, 18 full in one year). Knowing Dennis, I bet he went for a short swim after the run, too...

Howdy!  Lee and I had a guest this weekend--the great Dennis Grelk!  We tried to wreck him by taking him on a ridiculously hilly metric up towards New Albin.  Dennis actually showed some sign of wear by the end, in that he did not insist on going for a 5-mile run after we completed the ride (whew!).  My legs are utterly thrashed thanks to Moore Hill road, among others.  Anyway, that means that Lee has 2 metrics and one full for Feb, and Andrea has 1 full and one metric for Feb.  Thanks again for letting us play!

Andrea Venteicher

Charles Showalter's 2/12 Metric

Charles Showalter and Craig Irving are teaming up to ride a bunch of Cup O' Dirt rides this year. Don't be surprised if they show the rest of us up! Gotta love the tooling around at the end of a ride to get the full mileage - I've made plenty of trips to the store for recovery food to round out my metrics.

Craig and I rode a metric yesterday. Craig rode his Pugsley and I rode one of his mountain bikes. We left Mount Vernon and rode a sand bar along the Cedar River, then headed southeast into Cedar Bluff, east towards Tipton, north into Mechanicsville, and then back west. Somewhere northwest of Tipton we found an area with a bunch of B roads. This photo is from a spot where two intersecting gravel roads both turned into B roads. That's Craig in the intersection. We ended with 62.1 exactly, including some tooling around to get a metric. Take it easy,

Charles

Andrea Venteicher's Beastly Century

Andrea Venteicher and her husband Lee are both chasing the cup this year. Here's what she had to say about one of her February rides.

Hey! I'm getting the sneaking suspicion that my husband is trying to outdo me.  But I am not to be outdone! I rode a Full on a chilly, sunless Feb 5th down through Postville, Elgin, Clermont, and Ossian. Highlights included nonstop hills, Great Owls Club road, and a hillbilly totem pole on Beechnut road with a collection of Pabst cans filled with tobacco spit scattered around it (see attached--the carcasses are mainly deer, with one poor snapping turtle that apparently ambled into buckshot range). Why just mount antlers when you can mount the whole rotting head (or turtle)? Congrats to all who did the Arrowhead--you guys are beasts!

Andrea Venteicher

You see some interesting, uh, culture out on gravel roads in Iowa.

Austin Turner's Triple D Report

I asked Austin Turner to provide me with more details about his Triple D winter race, and he furnished me with this lovely report and photo. Thanks, Austin! More to come from him in an upcoming post.

A.J. Turner January Metric Century Report:

Triple D was an excellent race, and an even better way to get in my first metric gravel century of the year. The first 20 or so miles of the race proved brutally hard with more hike than bike, but soon I found myself in the front group. After a quick attack, up hill, I slipped away from the group and was sitting in a comfortable 2nd place - chasing and gaining on 1st. Either delusion or bonking set in, however, and I got lost for about 2 miles (It's easy to do in fields where everything is white with snow!). Realizing my mistake, I re-routed and set in for the last half of the ride (mostly into headwind on the heritage trail) clawing my way back to a 3rd place finish. Overall the race route was for 64 miles, but I estimate I rode 66~. Good enough for me with a total ride time of 6 hours and 45 minutes. The best part; It was my first time riding a fat bike on the snow, and it was even a borrowed bike!

Attached is the only photo I have...No time for photos - RACE MODE! (Although I did have enough time to stick my tongue out at the camera).

Thanks!
A.J. Turner

Proof that Fat Bikes are Fun Bikes

A Whole Stack of Updates

Hey there, chasers. I've been traveling/slacking a lot this past month, so there's a huge stack of updates for me to put up on the blog. Instead of shooting them out all in one go, I'm going to try something different and do an update every day for the next week. Stay tuned for that. My challenge to you is to provide me with a few more updates, so that we have a steady stream of them for all of you to read and enjoy. Sound good? Good. Send me your rides at iowacupodirt@gmail.com.