Courtny Hilton's 8th Metric

Courtney Hilton, our leader in the gravel metric category so far this year, has reported yet another one.

5/6 finished metric #8. Single speed mountain bike through the hills west of West Des Moines.  Now getting ready for Almonzo 100.

 The rest of ya - get on your bikes and start reporting those rides!

Another Metric for Craig Irving

Richard Simmons can eat his heart out. Here's the latest from Craig Irving:

I'm a bit late in reporting this, but I logged another metric on May 1st. 65 miles and two bonks in total.  It was one of those days where I got too caught up in the ride and forgot to eat.  Oops.  Luckily I had my nutritionist on hand to take care of my post-ride recovery meal. 

Next up on the agenda:  Royal 162.  It's gonna take a whole lotta Fake Richard to pull this one off...

 You may have to click on that there photo to read what Richard has to say, but it's worth it.

I have my own metric to report, too. I rode out to Whiterock Conservancy on Sunday to fix some bikes, eat good food and go canoeing. Ended up with 75 miles, about 65 of those on gravel. The wind blew me most of the way there, so it felt like cheating, but I rode a single-speed so that made up for it. Right?

Keep the updates coming, folks!

Chalk up Another for Courtney Hilton

Courtney Hilton has completed his second full century for the year. He's racking the rides up fast! Here's what he had to say:

106 miles, 3k of climbing, one B road that ended in an electric fence, and another that ended in a river, over the Hogback bridge complete with dog chase to the top of the hill, and a detour to climb 'cemetery hill' complete with a dog to help push me to zone 5 80 miles into my ride. GOOD DAY.

That sounds like a very enviable ride. Here's photos!

 We've been having some great weather here in the state of Iowa, so get out there and enjoy it on your bikes.

New Cup Chaser - Nick Larson

We have another chaser in the Cup O' Dirt challenge - Nick Larson. Here's what the newbie has to say:

I would like to throw my name in to the hat for the 2011 cup o dirt.

I currently have 3 dirty metrics completed.  On 2/5 I rode the GRR2BRR from Steve Fullers house to BRR and back.  On 2/12 Courtney Hilton, Squirrel and I rode to Earlham and back.  And then there was CIRREM. My goal is to complete 12 metrics.  Only 9 more to go!

Click on the links above for a number of great photos of Nick's various rides. He's well on his way to a metric cup. From one Nick to another - keep 'em coming!

Craig Irving Update

Well, here are a few updates from before Trans-Iowa. I was busy with work and preparations, so didn't get the chance to put everything up here. First, we have Craig Irving's first full century. He writes:

Well, after a handful of rides that either fell just short of a metric or didn't quite meet the 80% rule I finally have another one to report.  I'm happy to say I was able to complete the Ragnarok 105 (111?) last weekend.  I have to admit, I had some unexpected inspiration late in the game as you can see in the picture.

I'll give extra credit to anyone who I see riding around with this image on their shirt, hat, or taped to their handlebars. I hope we get more artwork like this in the future! Check out Craig's blog at http://ocolonomle.blogspot.com/ or by clicking on his name on the left sidebar.

I ran into Craig at the end of our Trans-Iowa experience at the first checkpoint. A huge section of the field missed the first cutoff due to navigational errors, wind, and the other factors that make Trans-Iowa a difficult and wonderful race. It was my first time attempting it, and I'm already excited to try again next year - obviously, I didn't suffer enough.

A bunch of people did ride back to Grinnell (the start) for a metric century. I clocked close to 90 miles, about 30 or so on pavement, so at least I got something out of my DNF. Craig did the same, so he gets another metric next to his name, for 1 full and 3 metric reported so far this year.

Dave Giegerich's 1st Metric

You may be aware of the legend that is Dave Giegerich. If not, look into the archives of this blog or check out his very own entertaining web presence. Mister Giegerich did 100 metric centuries last year, setting a record for the Cup O' Dirt as well as inspiring all of us to get off of our butts and pedal more. He's got one down this year:

I have a confession to make. One Metric completed 4/3/11 on my 58th birthday. Distance is a a bit down this year working out a rotator cuff problems. (Too many ice crashes) Improving. Thanks for the chase.

Methinks the man has been distracted by road riding, as evidenced by the following photo. Hopefully some good drugs from the doc and an orchestrated "disappearance" of his road bike might give the legend another 100-century year. It's for your own good, Dave!

Courtney Hilton Will Crush Us All

Courtney Hilton has another two metric centuries to report. If'n you want to even try to catch up to him, you had better invent a time machine and start last month. Here's what he has to say, along with his photos:

Metric 6 -3/27 - Wasn't even going for a gravel ride,  I really was going to ride the High trestle trail but after the 32 mile gravel ride to the trail I rode "The Bridge" and decided to go rock road back home.
Metric 7 - 4/1 - Holy Wind!  Got back to were I bailed on Cirrem didn't ride the whole course but stopped for a photo op.