Cup O' Dirt

Craig Irving's Masterpiece

2012-02-09T11:10:00.003-06:00

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

2012-02-09T11:05:00.002-06:00

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

2012-02-09T10:57:00.002-06:00

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

2012-02-09T10:54:00.001-06:00

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...

2012-02-09T10:43:00.002-06:00

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...

2012-01-10T08:49:00.000-06:00

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

2012-01-10T08:36:00.002-06:00

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...

Cup Delivery to Courtney Hilton

2012-01-10T08:28:00.000-06:00

In the spirit of the Cup O' Dirt, I decided that I needed to try and hand-deliver as many of the cups from previous years that Dave has given me. (You East-Iowans will get yours someday, I swears!) So, this past Sunday I rode down to Des Moines and delivered Courtney Hilton's 2010 cup. We met on the Neal Smith trail, and he played tour guide around a lot of the trails in Des Moines. We found some wonderfully muddy ATV trails near the river. We would ride about 100 feet (or less) and then poke all of the sticky mud that accumulated in the chainstays/forks of our Pugsleys.

After that, we ate junk food at a gas station, then checked out the Center Trails (which were also a bit muddy). Courtney had to be home later in the afternoon to watch the kids, and I had to head back to Ames. So we headed out north of town, and parted ways on a gravel road near Granger. Courtney bagged 70 miles for the day, and I ended up with my first full century of the year with 118 miles. It was a great day on the bike. Screwing around in the mud on a fat bike makes one realize that you never really grow up, and the little kid in you that would purposely ride through mud puddles on your BMX bike hasn't completely disappeared.

Courtney proudly holding his Cup O' Victory.

I collected enough mud on my Pugsley to fill all the cups with it for 2012!

The Moon reflecting of an icy creek on my way home.

Rob Schneider and Charles Showalter Join Up

2012-01-03T13:57:00.000-06:00

Craig Irving is indeed delivering the New Year Babies. We have another two new cup chasers, both admitting association with Craig. Welcome Rob Schneider and Charles Showalter to the chase. They went with Craig and Courtney on a Jan. 1st metric that I am sad to have missed (family stuff...). More details and pictures are on Craig and Courtney's blogs. Kudos to all of you guys for braving the ridiculous winds and earning a metric on the first day of the year. This should inspire everybody to get out and ride this winter!

New Chaser Andrea Venteicher

2012-01-03T13:50:00.002-06:00

Not one full day into 2012 I got the first Cup O' Dirt update! Andrea Venteicher is joining the chase for 2012, and is wasting no time getting out on the gravel. Here's what she had to say about the ride:

Hey--i'm new to this scene, but i'm super excited about trying to complete a Cup in 2012. So excited, as a matter of fact, that i just completed 103.5 miles (from Manly, IA, to Waukon, IA) today. I wanted to get out of the starting gate right away and get this party started! It worked out nicely that i could celebrate a belated Christmas w/ my parents yesterday, then Lee dropped me off partway back home, and I rode the rest of the way to complete my century. I did find out that sometimes Gmaps is a bit off on which roads go through, but any ride that includes a creaky suspension bridge is automatically legit. (I hope that i attached the confirmatory pictures correctly). Thanks for hosting this challenge, and i'll hopefully be emailing again in February to let you know about ride #2.

Sincerely,

Andrea Venteicher
Waukon, IA

Baby New Year is Delivered

2012-01-03T13:43:00.000-06:00

Craig has kept up the fake Richard craziness to the bitter end of the year. I think a new character is in the works for 2012. Maybe it will be the bringer of destruction upon mankind. Or perhaps not. In any case, here's the 2011 final update for Craig. Way to go on all of the rides, man!

Procrastination is awesome at first, but after a while it really starts to suck. I'd been putting off my updates, but now here I am on the last day of the year scrambling up a Fake Richard pic worthy of topping off 2011. Anyway, I have three more metrics to report on the year. It was almost four, but I had a race that fell a few tenths of a mile short of that magic 62. Since I'd already had that cup locked up, I didn't bother taking the necessary laps around the parking lot to finish it off. Anyway, let's get down to business...

Nov. 25th: Headed out with my new riding buddy Charles for a trip to the Amanas and back. Hit the Hawkeye Wildlife area for five miles of DK rough roads and finished the day with 69 miles *snicker*

Dec. 4th: Head out with Charles again and hit a long series of B roads north west of West Branch. They were sloppy and we ended up hiking it though a few miles of mud and sludge. We could have gone around, but then I would have felt compelled to shave off all my chest hair in shame. Forgot to start my Garmin until a few miles into the ride, but I figure we did between 63 and 65 miles.

Dec. 17th: Tuscobia! First and only snow ride of the season to date (lousy winter). I came in 6th place in the 75 mile bike event, which was my best result of the year. My Garmin wouldn't pick up a signal, fought mechanicals and bonkage for half the race, and I dropped my sunglasses in the toilet in Winter because it seemed like the thing to do. Still, it was good to get out on some snow. Learned some valuable lessons along the way that I'll be taking in to Arrowhead.

That's it for me this year. Starting off the new year proper with a gravel metric. My goal for 2012? Snag that one cup I'm still missing. Cheers!

And here I always thought it was the stork...

Nick Wethington's 2011 Cup

2011-12-30T08:58:00.002-06:00

Well, I didn't qualify for all three cups this year or anything, but I at least eked out a Cup o' Mississippi Mud. In total I had 10 metrics and 6 full century rides on dirt/snow.

Matt Maxwell and I did a ride down to Chichaqua Valley Bottoms on December 4th on our Pugsleys. We got 72 miles in on gravel/icy B-roads. It was officially the first time I had to ride in the grass on the side of a B-road because it was too slippery instead of too sticky. The day after that, December 5th, I took the Pug over to Jefferson to visit a friend, then rode down to Adel on the Raccoon River Valley Trail. It was icy/snowy enough in the northern part to get me about 85 miles on dirt/snow, and the last 15 or so on relatively dry pavement to get a full century. I also finished the Tuscobia 150 in Wisconsin on the 17th of December. 150 miles of crusty, icy snow with a few miles of rutted, mushy stuff in there. It was a great ride, despite some GI problems about halfway through.

This B-road was pretty sketchy. Image courtesy of Matt Maxwell.

Last Chance for 2011 Rides!

2011-12-30T08:49:00.000-06:00

2011 is almost over. Kinda unbelievable. You only have today and tomorrow to get in those last rides for the Cup o' Dirt! Forget those New Year's parties that you've been invited to. Fill your Camelbak with champagne and get out on the dirt.

The list to the left has the current information for all of the cup chasers for 2011. If you notice that I have the wrong numbers, let me know. If you've completed enough rides for a cup, send them to me ASAP at iowacupodirt@gmail.com. I'll start looking into getting more cups made mid-January for the 2011 running.

I hope to get rid of some other responsibilities in 2012 and spend a bit more time with the Cup o' Dirt. Expect some more regular rides and challenges.

Here's to hoping that your resolution for 2012 is to get your very own Cup o' Dirt!

Christine Carragee's 2011 Rides

2011-12-30T08:35:00.004-06:00

I got a message from Christine Carraggee about her 2011 rides. She had a question about rides she should do in 2012. I gave a couple of ideas, but I thought I would put it to the illustrious athletes of the Cup o' Dirt to reply as well. What rides are YOU planning for next year? Leave your ideas in the comments!

I ran across your challenge as I was looking for next year's races. Do you make them yourself? Ceramic mugs are way better than pint glasses and to earn one doing something you love is great!

This year:
I attempted, but didn't complete the Royal 162 due to getting horribly lost, got a good century out of it though.

completed:
Dirty Kanza
West Side Dirty Benjamin
Heck of the North
Dirt Bag (only 88 miles)

Next year my plan is to do as much of the AGRS as I can, but I already know I can't make Almanzo because its my sister's graduation. I'm looking for some other ran races -- maybe something in the south east during the spring? Any suggestions?

Happy Riding, Christine

Matt Maxwell's Metrics

2011-12-30T08:32:00.003-06:00

Matt scored a Cup o' Dirt for his 12 metrics in 2011. If you add the 75 miles of Tuscobia trail that he rode after sending this post, it makes a lucky 13 for the year. The photo below shows the gigantic hole in his Pugsley tire from our Tuscobia adventure. How did it get there? Find out for yourself.

A size 15 boot might not even fix this flat.

Here's a few links to his blog with details of a few other of these rides.

http://lonesomeluddite.blogspot.com/2011/12/pugsley-metric-and-pre-tuscobia.html
http://lonesomeluddite.blogspot.com/2011/11/memories-on-gravel.html
http://lonesomeluddite.blogspot.com/2011/03/bike-of-theseus.html

Courtney Hilton's December Cup Ride

2011-12-30T08:26:00.000-06:00

Courtney sent me this about his last official Cup o' Dirt ride for the year. I think he was the only person chasing to get one a month! I'll have a special prize for him when I deliver his cups (though I don't know what that is yet...). Way to go, Courtney!

So for my last Cup (one a month) I finished! December Metric was single speed cross bike, I hit Carlise, Indianola, Martensdale (twice due to wrong turns) and Finished at the tap just like the first one in January. Fell into a couple ice puddles on ERT but stayed upright (see Picture) this was a little freakier than it looks. Also hit a "Closed" B road out of Carlisle the map shows the road under water but it's just a mud hole after the spring rains are over (Arthur ST) Trans-iowa idea? The rest of the day was un-eventful except the wrong turn on 33 and 5 miles back to martensdale...oops

Thanks for a good time this year doing the Cups,
Courtney

Thanksgiving Day Metric

2011-11-25T08:28:00.001-06:00

Instead of lounging around and eating ALL day long on Thanksgiving, I decided to go for a metric. Matt Maxwell and I had been talking about a gravel road in Boone county that looked interesting, but that we'd never been down. L road/115th, if anyone's interested. It makes a nice curvy loop on the map, and it's just north of Fraser (where there are some other interesting, hilly roads that I took on the way back). I met a number of nice folks out on the road that stopped to say hello. The denizen of the house at the bottom of the hill on L road stopped in the middle of the gravel road, and when I pulled up next to him said, "I've seen a lot of things come down that hill, but never a biker. Well, at least not that type of biker." He must have been getting ready to head over to a family member's house for Thanksgiving, as he was putting a can of Busch Lite in his cup holder.

With the hills and the 25mph wind, it was a great day to be out on gravel. I remember thinking that I might expend more calories than I consumed this Thanksgiving, but after coming home and eating a few platefuls of delicious food that my girlfriend cooked for us, that's pretty doubtful.

There's only a few weeks left in 2011, so get out and ride!

~Nick

Courtney's Fat Bike Metric

2011-11-25T08:25:00.001-06:00

Courtney Hilton is still going strong. This sounds like a fun ride, in that Type II fun sorta way:

November's metric was going to be a century but :

1 B Road
2 sandwiches from caseys
2 powerades
2 mikes lemonades
3.5 hours of tire changes
4 flat tires
6 thorns
=
only 85 miles of Pugsley fun

Three More from Drew Wilson

2011-11-01T21:36:00.000-05:00

Drew Wilson had the following to report on his rides for the Cup. Sadly, I failed to get him his cups from past years at the Heck of the North, but word is that he'll be down in our fair state for some rides soon. Click on the links for a full write up on his blog.

Heck of the North: Not my best day - but beautiful riding up there.

Haymaker Write Up: I won "The Heroic" and then crawled 9 miles on my 29er to round out the full metric.

Dirt Bag 2011: 84.5 miles of Fall Classic and another win (this one quite lucky- right place at the right time)

Craig Irving Catches Up

2011-11-01T21:30:00.002-05:00

Here's what Craig Irving has been up to in the Cup O' Dirt department. This report officially gets him both the 1/2 Liter O' Dirt and the Cup O' Mississippi Mud! Keep on working towards the full cup, Craig, and props for riding with the injury instead of using the good hand to dial up the ol' lady on yer cell phone.

I've been slacking with the updates, but not with the rides. This is me catching up. I have another full century and three more metrics to report. Here's the breakdown:

October 1st: 101 miles total, but my Garmin died at mile 97. Had to map out the last few miles when I got home to make sure I had an honest hundy. Spent the day getting lost and then finding my way back.

October 9th: Pre-rode the Moonshine Metric course with a friend from work. He later said it was the hardest ride he's done this year. That was his first gravel metric... Ever. He's got the mind of the gravel racer though. I offered him multiple bail out opportunities and even though he was really suffering, he refused each time. Right on, brother!

October 15th: Moonshine Metric! Turned out to be a great night for a ride. Eight of us took the start and five of us finished, including fellow Cup O' Dirt rider Courtney. Just to shame us all, he rode here from Des Moines and then did the ride. He ended up with ~240 miles in 40 hours. Badass!

October 23rd: Wanted to check out the course for a race I'm doing on the 30th so I rode to Marion, reset the Garmin and hit the course. I had originally planned on riding a full, but crashed 35 miles into my ride and banged up my hand. I rode another 10 miles before I decided to bail out, but I was still 35 miles or so from home. I couldn't grip the handlebars properly so I was more or less one-handing the rough stuff and fast descents... Seemed like a bad idea for a training ride. I still managed to get enough gravel in for a metric before stopping for something to eat. I polished off a meatloaf sandwich and some mozzi sticks and hit pavement for the bulk of the remaining miles. Ended up with 85 on the day.

Courtney's 13th Metric and 8th Full

2011-11-01T21:24:00.002-05:00

Courtney Hilton had this to say about his most recent rides:

Metric 13 was a good ride to Belle plain Iowa were I camped on the way to Mt Vernon. It was 110 miles but only 60 was gravel so It's a metric. This of course was on a loaded touring bike, too. The next day I got in 2 metrics Belle plain to Mt Vernon and the moonshine metric, but since the total gravel mileage was over 80 for the day (well 30 minutes of it was after midnight) I'm calling it century 8. Still on track for 1 a month but the hardest month is yet to come....December not for the cold but because of working retail and short days and it is cold usually.

Ride On!

Awe, Heck

2011-10-18T09:57:00.000-05:00

If you haven't had the chance to ride the Heck of The North, put on by the illustrious DBD'er Jeremy Kershaw, you owe it to yourself to send a postcard in next year. It was gloriously chilly to start out the ride, then warmed up just enough for it to be comfortable. I think I had my leg warmers on the entire time. The route was a good mix of pavement, gravel, and snowmobile/hiking trails. The red and auburn colors of the trees are simply stunning this time of year, and it was a good departure from my usual roadside decor of corn or soybeans. This was probably my most enjoyable event of this year, with no super-muddy B-roads, drifts of snow, or outrageous heat/humidity. It's always great to see so many of the people that consistently show up to gravel events, and there are a lot of Arrowhead 135 riders at the Heck.

This makes 5 full centuries, and combined with the metric I bagged a little over a week ago on the mountain bike out at 7 Oaks, 9 metric centuries. Maybe I'll catch up to Courtney yet...

Joe Meiser Cup Delivery

2011-10-18T09:48:00.003-05:00

I was up at Heck of the North (see next post) a couple of weeks ago, and was able to deliver Joe Meiser's two cups from 2009 to him. He was pretty excited - so excited, in fact, that it propelled him to a 4th place finish. Or at least that's what I'd like to think. Way to go, Joe! I snapped this photo of him enjoying his two well-deserved mugs.

I'm organizing other cup deliveries, but if you've got one coming and haven't heard from me, drop me an email.

Courtney's Two Cups

2011-09-28T08:21:00.000-05:00

Well, Courtney Hilton has made it to the 12 metric mark. Way to go, man! With his 7 full centuries, this makes him the first person for 2011 to receive two cups. Here's what he had to say about the last two metrics:

Gravel Metric #11 (not the century I tried for)
I took off early this morning on my day off (I got Inventory day off!) with the goal of my 8th gravel Century for the year. I could feel early on that wasn't going to happen. I wanted to go to Pella today but I ended up at Lake Aquabi instead. Good day on the bike even though it was a 9 hour metric (lots of stops). Did I mention I saw the Google Street view car! It followed me for a mile or so (hoping to be in some pictures) and then took off.

Metric #12
So on the first day of a juice fast it's always a good thing to go do an endurance ride right? Still turned out okay though.

Drew Wilson's Update

2011-09-28T08:15:00.000-05:00

I'll be giving Drew his Cup O' Dirt from 2009 and 2010 this coming weekend at Heck of the North. He's gotten a few in this year, too. The links in his post will take you to his own photos/writeup of the ride. You gotta respect that a few of his metrics just happened to be days of "running errands and commuting."

I spent a lot less time on gravel this year than in the last couple of
years. Consistently putting in most of my bigger days on the road
throughout most of the spring and summer. I think I also, overall, went
on less long rides. Here is my current cup update with links to some of
my earlier write-ups.

Metric-

1/6- 65 miles of snow covered roads/gravel. Notes say that I rode hard
down the post office, hit some bike paths and then realized that if I
stretched my commute home a bit I could hit the Metric mark.

1/16- Triple D. 1st place non-snow bike. Really fun duel with Ben
Shockey and his Pugsley (which I lost).

1/29- Another day of commuting and running errands that slipped over the metric mark.

2/26- CIRREM!

2/27- Gravel to Plainview and the Road Trip Bar and Grill in Dover.
Remember being VERY tired.

3/26 and 27- Spring Training Decorah. I only made metrics both days.
Century day I got a sore back.

4/8- Awesome ride over to Red Wing with Almanzo himself and Josh Kruck.
The next day we served wine, grapes, cheese etc. to the racers in the
Ragnarok 105.

5/1- B.A.L.L.S. Madison. This was day 2, felt great!

6/13- Copper Harbor trails etc.. I did a week of two-a-day rides up
there, this day was longest.

6/18- Namakegon/Cable area trails, had to stop and ride hard on my way
back from the Keeweenaw

Full-

4/30- B.A.L.L.S. Madison

5/14- Almanzo Royal 162- 5th place finish. Focus on shorter training
rides paying off?

6/4- Dirty Kanza 200- Too hot for me!

(8/13 Dairy Land Dare- doesn't count, but if you don't mind pavement
this is an awesome ride. It WOULD be gravel if it weren't in Wisconsin
where they pave everything.

9/24- Almanzo Gentleman's ride. Doesn't get much better than this!

Craig Irving's Shameless Promotion

2011-09-20T08:50:00.001-05:00

I was just about to finish up these updates, and then got this from Craig Irving. Go do this ride, it should be fun!

Crap, I've been slacking on my updates! Hopefully this gets to you in time to make the latest batch. I've got two more metrics to report, one on August 28th (84 miles) and one on September 11th (64 miles). I don't have a Fake Richard pic for these yet, so instead I'll throw in this flyer as a shameless plug for my own ride.

Hope I'm allowed to do this :-)

65 mile night ride on October 15th everyone! Leaving from my place at 7pm and returning around midnight. Campfire and beverages to follow. There may even be free food. Details on my blog.

Metrics and Full for Nick Wethington

2011-09-20T08:44:00.005-05:00

I have a few rides of my own to report. The first is a metric century that I got by riding up into Hardin County on August 21st. I went just south of Hubbard, then down to Colo and back to Ames. It was surely a hot one. I also did a bit of riding at one of Jared Morford's cyclocross training camps on the way out of town, so got a little of the Greenbelt in there.

The second is also a metric century, obtained on August 28th by riding from Ames to Seven Oaks on gravel, doing a couple of laps, then the return to Ames on gravel. I went with my friend/coworker Ross. The first lap at Seven Oaks was good and dry, and it was one of those first cool days we had after the heat dome was dismantled. It was overcast, and we were expecting some rain at some point during the day. Turns out, that rain started just as we were riding the second lap, and it made the trail a bit wet and muddy. Since we were both riding some new tires that we were excited to try out on different conditions, it made the perfect product test. I've never had two successive laps at Seven Oaks be so different.

I got a full century on September 7th. My girlfriend and I had started on a tour to Stewartville, MN via Decorah, and made it as far as Waverly before her knees decided that this particular cyclotour wasn't gonna end in Minnesota. So, instead of calling for help I decided to ride back to Ames and grab her Jeep. Started out at 9:11 am with cool weather and a light wind to my back. This 3-5mph tailwind helped to gently push me all the way home, and I successfully finished the fastest dirty century I've ever ridden, completing 100 miles in 7hrs 20min, and the entire 112.5 mile ride in 8 hours 10 minutes. Even though the tour was over, it was a great way to end it!

Today's Last JJM Story

2011-09-20T08:29:00.002-05:00

I hope to space out these updates in the future, so that you'll be yearning for yet another one of Jared's Tales of Amazing Adventures on Gravel:

Hey dude,

I got another metric in. Well it was actually 61 miles followed by a ride to the coffee shop and back but all the same it was a metric's worth of riding. I rode down to hoped on the Heart of Iowa Trail rode into Slater caught the HTT then at X ave I headed towards Snus HIll Winery. Unfortunately, they are closed on Monday. I didn't know that until I got there. Disappointed, I figured if I can't drink I might as well ride. So I decided it was a good idea to ride to Story City and go to my favorite Kum N Go in all of Story City. When I got there I was greet by Logan, or at least that is what is name tag says, who often greets me when I stop by. This time he wanted to tell me about his Haro, which he later showed me because it was parked on the side of the building. His bike was making a "clicking noise." Perhaps the "clicking noise" was from the loose bottom bracket or the rear hub? Either way both were extremely loose. First thing I did was make sure it didn't have an SRC sticker on the frame, it didn't I was relieved... All the same Logan and I had a great bonding experience.

However, what annoys me more than anything is when I meet someone from the city who meets me at the intersection of a gravel road and says, "Hey, are you lost?" I was going 16mph on gravel until I slowed down and you decided to stick your head out the window of your car compact car. How do I know it was someone from the city? Because they were driving a compact car down gravel and there was no dust on their vehicle. Also, when a farmer pulls over in his dusty pickup he asks, "Where are you riding too?" Any farmer knows if I'm silly enough to ride down gravel, I know or at least have a general idea where I am going.

It was a great ride! Last week, I went 80ish and the gravel was pretty much sand so a weeks worth of rain did wonders for the gravel north of Ames.

Aside from the Snus Hill being closed, the city slicker asking me if I was lost, the worst part was I had nobody to ride with, but sometimes even flying solo is awesome!

Cheers
Jared

Wish I could have zoomed in with my phone, but this is a cool corner because over looks Story City and you can see a ton of wind turbines.

Since my tour to SD I really like looking at dead stuff on the road...

Storytime from JJM

2011-09-20T08:20:00.003-05:00

I once asked Jared to send me lengthier updates than "Stanope>Story City and back. Have a good weekend Your friend Jared". I got what I asked for!

So since you wanted to me tell a story here goes.

So when I was deployed in Iraq one of my return home war things I wanted to do was ride from Ames, IA to Watertown, SD which happens to be the town I grew up in. It has been three years in October since I returned home and riding home was all that was left on the list. So I did it! It was great, lonely, but great! I sang alot of songs that I don't want to admit to knowing the lyrics to. The first two days i rode 200 miles 170 of those miles were gravel. That was fun but I had 350 miles to from Ames to Watertown and I was worried riding gravel would fatigue me. So the last two days of the trip were paved highways.

My favorite part of the tour was being surprised by the Three Rivers Trail. Starting in Eagle Grove, IA I rode it to Rutland which was at least 25 miles. It was a complete surprise that this tremendously under used crushed limestome rail to trail path was part of my route. I let google be my navigator... overall that was a bad idea. On the trail I saw five people in 25 plus miles. It was great! It was the kind of trail you dream of because you have it to yourself, but as an avid cyclist you realize you need more riders riding. What a quagmire.

I took some fun photos and did alot of filming, I am hoping to make a video of the ride which is still being worked on. When the video is completed I will get Nick to put it up on the site or get him the youtube link.

Matt Maxwell Joins the Chase!

2011-09-20T08:09:00.000-05:00

Matt Maxwell, who many of you surely know, has decided to attempt a cup or two this year. He's earned his share of cups in the past, and drinks his coffee from one daily at our mutual place of employment. It's been broken twice (and re-glued) by our boss, so he needs another one for the workplace. Here's what he has so far:

Nick,
I'm throwing my hat in the ring. As you can see I haven't been making stellar progress. A lot of that is because my focus is shifting away from cycling to running and skiing. If the judges allow I'll add my run/walk of the Arrowhead (double metric?). Otherwise I don't know if I'm going to make it this year.

CIRREM (63 miles)
Memorial Day weekend back to back (62 miles x2)
Trans Iowa (shortened ~80)
Gentleman's Race (~65)
To GTDRI (134 miles, let's count this as a double metric)
Back from GTDRI (101 miles)
24 Hours of Seven Oaks (104 miles)

That's 7 metrics and two full.

If you read carefully, you'll see that Matt wants to add his run/walk from the Arrowhead (135 miles in the -40 degree temps of northern Minnesota in January/February). What do you think? I'll leave it to the people. I will say this, even if it influences the judges: if a person can run/walk/ski/crawl the same distance on dirt/gravel/snow that you can do on a bike, maybe we should count it? Leave your thoughts in the comments.

A Few More from Courtney

2011-09-20T08:00:00.003-05:00

Here's your somewhat monthly Cup Chase Update! Courtney Hilton sent me a few more of his rides from the end of July/beginning of August:

Metric #9 was on the tandem with my daughter riding up to Ragbrai
And Century #7 was the Guitar Ted Death Ride in Tama County

Both really hot days but a good time non the less.

Metric #10 Yesterday(August 11th). 74 miles of mud, sand, gravel, RR tracks, b roads, atv trails.... Great Pugsley Adventure

Jared Morford and Nick Wethington Updates

2011-08-03T21:58:00.000-05:00

I'm making Jared share this post with me because he didn't send much for lengthy updates on his activities, and he also loves sharing. He did 70 gravel miles in the greatest state of South Dakota around the 26th of June, which should maybe count as a full because it's in South Dakota, but he did it in the eastern half of the state, so there's really question as to whether it counts at all. Jared also did another metric through Stanhope and Story City from Ames around July 3rd.

I did a nice, hot metric to celebrate my birthday on July 29th up to Dakin's Lake Park and back to Ames through Colo. I have to say that the public park in Colo has some nice drinking water.

Keep sending in those updates, and all keep posting them, and will try to do so in a more timely manner!

Craig Irving Metric and Full Updates

2011-08-03T21:50:00.001-05:00

Craig Irving had this to report for his June and July activities. If you're reading this in a feed reader, you will see two of these posts because I was too dumb to scroll down to the bottom of my email reader to see Craig's latest update. Sorry 'bout that.

I have a couple more rides to report, one full century (6/19) and one metric (6/26). I'm doing these singlespeed now since DK ate my second derailleur of the year. I can tell the blackbirds don't approve though. I think it's because they were displaced from their native land by early hipster settlers. I tried pedaling backwards to show them I wasn't riding fixed, but they had already mistaken my bike shorts for skinny jeans so it was too late and I was forced to ride through the relay kamikaze attacks for miles at a time.

So... Yeah.

He had this to say about July. I'm curious as to if the goat caught him or not, and what the goat did with him if that happened...

I've got two more rides to report. On the 4th of July I did a metric hitting many of the B roads in the area. After 50 miles my knees were bothering me and I skipped some steep rollers, but otherwise it was a good ride.

On July 16th I was down in Lathrop, MO to take part in the Farmhouse Classic. This was my first race since converting to singlespeed and it went well for the first 70 miles or so. After that the suffocating heat finally started wearing me down and I struggled to keep moving over the last two hours. Of the four bottles I had with me, two went over my head in a futile effort to keep cool. Our group was the last one in on the day at a little over 8 1/2 hours for 99.2 miles. The course was actually 93 miles, but of course it's not gravel racing unless you get lost. I figure I did at least point eight worth of warmup so I'm counting this as a full hundy.

One more thing... I can finally cross "get chased by a goat" off my gravel racing wish list.

Dave Giegerich Metrics 12 and 13

2011-08-03T21:47:00.000-05:00

Dave Giegerich had this to say about his metrics 12 and 13. This qualifies him to be the first winner of our Cup O' Dirt for metric centuries! Way to go, Dave!

Metric Gravel #12 6/23/11

Starting out today the air was thick with moisture. That soon turned into a mist, and then light rains, and then thunderstorms. With the rains came solitude out on the trails. The longer I rode the less everything else became. If was I worried about anything, I had forgotten what it was. I was pulled into my own little world of endorphins as I was viewing the trail in front of me and rotating the pedals. Flying down a dirt trail. I love the simpleness of that. Riding was now lost in my daydreams, no cell phone calls, no time restraints, no reason to care what time it was. Feelings like these, is why a lot of bicyclers bicycle. Health gains are only a side benefit of something done for the sheer joy it.

Metric Gravel #13 6/25/11 Power levels were good today, was able to push the pace most of the Metric. The last 5 miles I ran out of gas, and labored to get home. Beer and food next on the agenda.

Thanks for the Chase
Dave Giegerich

Courtney Hilton - Full Centuries 4, 5, 6

2011-08-03T21:45:00.000-05:00

Here's what I got from Courtney Hilton, who jumped ahead in the full century category and has 6 total. This makes him the first person this year (that I'm aware of, anyway) to get what Dave Mable calls the Cup O' Mississippi Mud. Here's what he had to report from his individual centuries:

I got Century 4 on June 4 at DK200. I failed to complete the race at 158 miles in....
Here is the link to the video from the end the rest of the videos I took from the road are on my blog and Youtube.

Did century #5 on my single speed yesterday (June 29th). Went north to Boone, Luther, Madrid, Woodward. Very warm outside.

Got number 6 yesterday (July 15th) 130 miles. Took the Heart Of Iowa nature trail for 70 of it.

Updates from July in August

2011-08-03T21:37:00.000-05:00

Holy crap - I didn't post any updates for the Cup O' Dirt in July. Sorry about this, guys. Work and more work and some other crap got in the way. But that doesn't mean people weren't racking up rides to qualify for some cups! Read the next few posts to see what people have been up to.

Nick Larson Bags #4 Metric

2011-06-21T06:41:00.000-05:00

Nick Larson - the "other" Nick, as he puts it - had this to say about his fourth gravel metric for the year. On with the chase, Nick! For more photos, check out his Picasa gallery.

I logged gravel metric number 4 on Sunday. I headed off down Adams St. for Earlham with a pit stop at Badger Creek. Missed the turn off for Badger Creek and ended up taking a break in a corn field. Oh well, good times were had.

Dave G. Heats it Up

2011-06-21T06:36:00.000-05:00

Here's a report from the gravel metric king Dave Giegerich.

#7 5/27/11
#8 5/30/11 As you can see below #8 kicked my butt. I got sick the next day took almost 2 weeks to get rid of a sinus/throat/eyeball infection. Maybe I was coming down with it or the heat let in. Well I chalk it up to training and no pain no gain. :-)

YIKES!!! Got Zzapped riding today. Was about 90 and humid. Usually I have tolerated much better then I did today. Perhaps, just maybe it's due to I am older, fatter, and uglier each passing year. At about mile 20 on a gravel road, riding my Trek XO2 Cycle Cross, my fluids were gone. 82 ounces. 10 more riding miles, I came to a small town park water fountain. I drank 24 oz, and filled my 24 oz water bottle full. I didn't know just how much I could trust this water, and needed to drink about a gallon before I would be back home. So I found a vending machine and paid to fill up the rest of my bottles.
My stomach was full of fluids but yet my mouth was dry, I wasn't processing fluids as fast as my body was evaporating them to stay cool.
Then signs of heat stress hit. With out the detail I found a bush to hide behind, I don't know why, I was somewhere in nowhere, and I couldn't hold on anymore, and was glad I packed some wet ones along for the trip. I would have two more stops at outdoor small town park out houses.
Feeling dizzy, no cell phone service, I started heading home. Sprinkling water on me and down my spine to help cool off. The wind picked up and the added evaporation had me feeling better. I had some concern about going down in this heat. I kept a close watch on my thoughts, was feeling a little whacky and my eyes played tricks on me.
I thought about getting in the creek for more cool down, but felt good enough to just keep going and get home.
#9 6/11/11
#10 6/16/11
#11 6/18/11 Rode hard today, felt good but left nothing in my gas tank so taking a few days off from the metrics, and be back at em.

Thanks for the Chase
Dave

Craig Irving's Dirty Kanza Experience Says It All

2011-06-21T06:33:00.000-05:00

As someone who rode as much of the Dirty Kanza 200 this year as possible before succumbing to heat exhaustion, I can honestly report that Craig's rundown of the event here is pretty representative of those couple hundred people that had to hang it up. Mechanical issues from the mud that followed from a quickly moving storm, which followed 94-degree heat and wind made for a fun, challenging race! If you love gravel riding, the Dirty Kanza is not to be missed.

Made it about 140 miles at this year's Dirty Kanza before my rear derailleur decided to donkey up and get stubborn on me. This was it's final act of protest immediately following a 3-1/2 mile slog through some nasty Iowa mud that someone conveniently left in Kansas. Of the 15-20 people that came through that section while I was there, five of us lost our derailleurs on it. I could've converted to single speed, but I weaseled out at this point and called my ride. I feel approximately 18% less manly now. It would be more, but I salvaged a couple points by downing a Bud Light that I scored from some four wheelers while I waited.

On a side note, I got to meet and ride with (for a bit) fellow Cup O' Dirt rider Courtney Hilton. Also spent some time chatting with Mr. Cup O' Dirt Nick the day before the race as well. It's nice getting to know the folks I read about on the COD. I'm looking forward to seeing you guys around more.

As a professional bicycle mechanic, my diagnosis would be to poke at that derailleur and say, "Yup, that's your problem right there."

A Century for Dave Mable

2011-06-09T08:23:00.000-05:00

Here's Dave Mable's century report. This was delivered by telegram (unfortunately he didn't spring for a singing one) and is transcribed here directly:

Put me down for a century. Almanzo 100. Hardest day on a bike. Period.
Dee and I rode tandem. Made it. dude.

You can certainly tell who was stoking the tandem, and who was the captain.

Way to go, Dave!

The Return of a God

2011-06-09T08:10:00.000-05:00

That's a god, not the God. Dave Giegerich is back in the saddle racking up the dirty metric centuries. Here's a couple of reports from the deity himself.

Dear Mr. Nick,
I am guilty of two things. 1. Not getting enough gravel time in. 2. Not reporting my dirty "Cs"

Ok well I am changing that.
I now have four metrics. Here are the last not reported three.
May 7, 14, and 18.
Today's right was great, started to rain and the wind whipped up, I was underdressed, so I just held onto a hard pace to keep warm.

Found out I just can't ride 1000s of miles and not do counter exercises and stretchings not at my old age anyhow. Working on shoulder and wrist injuries recovery. Going good. Hope to start banging out two "Cs" a week now.

"It's no big deal."

Hi Nick,
This weekend was a riding weekend. Saturday and Sunday I rode a Metric gravel each day that makes Metric #6 for the year. Saturday it rained for the first 20 miles, soaking me. But if you want to ride, it works best to learn to ride, rain, heat, snow, or dark, it's part of the fun.
Sunday, the legs were feeling a little tired but knew I would feel better to ride then the feeling of not riding. Ran into a large bull staring me down on the trail and turned around and back tracked, he was unwilling to move out of my way, and he was scaring me.

Attached is a picture of the trail starting to grow shut.
Thanks for the chase.
Dave Giegerich

I just noticed that this post contains references/quotes from two separate films, both spoken by the same actor. Anyone who can identify these should speak up in the comments to win a free pony ride!

3rd Century for Courtney Hilton

2011-06-09T08:00:00.000-05:00

Courtney Hilton has his 3rd century for the year, which he bagged on May 16th. Here's a photo he sent to me. Check out his blog for more!

Craig Irving Gets Serious

2011-06-09T07:51:00.000-05:00

It's been a while! I have a few updates to share with y'all from the month of May. Here's the first, from Craig Irving. His report exemplifies what riding and competing is all about: the enjoyment of the sport. It takes a lot to finish a race that you won't get official credit for, and we've all been out on rides that could be made a lot easier with one cell phone call to the significant other. Hats off to Craig.

I'm giving fake Richard the day off for this one because I don't want to trivialize what this race meant to me. At 7am on Saturday, May 14th I started the Royal 162 alongside sixty other people. At 2am on Sunday, May 15th I finished the Royal 162 alongside two other people. Don, Zack and I finished four hours outside the time cut. We didn't care. We won't be recognized as official finishers in this race. We don't care. We fought wind, rain, cold, navigational errors and crushing lows, but we completed this beast of a race. For us, it was a huge matter of pride. We all missed the first cut at Trans Iowa and we were determined to make up for it here. Mission accomplished, in a big way. On paper this was my worst performance of the year, second only to Trans Iowa. In reality, it's the biggest win I've ever had in bike racing.

Courtny Hilton's 8th Metric

2011-05-14T06:57:00.000-05:00

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

2011-05-12T08:42:00.000-05:00

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

2011-05-04T07:03:00.000-05:00

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

2011-04-28T08:03:00.000-05:00

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

2011-04-28T07:53:00.003-05:00

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

2011-04-12T06:16:00.000-05:00

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

2011-04-12T06:03:00.000-05:00

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.

April Update Showers

2011-04-12T05:53:00.000-05:00

We're finally seeing some decent weather around the state! Next thing you know, it'll be 90 degrees and 90% humidity. Gotta love Iowa for that.

Dave Mable did the Gents Race for 65 miles, putting him at two metric centuries. And we have another chaser - Dave Tyler. He writes:

In the bag: CIRREM and Ragnorok 111. I have 4 more 100 milers on the calendar and one more 100K...the 100k is a Pbville qualifier. If I do well I could have a 6th 100 miler on tap. I'll keep you posted. Don't forget this year's Jackrabbit 100 on Oct. 15.

Welcome to the chase, Mr. Tyler.

I have another full century of my own to report. A windy ride to Jefferson and back yesterday. I felt every bit of the 25 mph gusts outta the northwest, both coming and going. The temperature was around 60 degrees, which made for a really nice day out on the gravel. This puts me at 3 full centuries and 2 metrics. I must be slowing down in my old age...

Trans-Iowa is coming up in less than two weeks, so we should have a decent amount of updates after everyone recovers from that. Enjoy your April showers!

An Update from Dave Mable

2011-04-03T18:42:00.000-05:00

Dave Mable, founder of the Cup o' Dirt, just sent me this last week.

Chalk me up for one metric! With Leadville on the horizon - i might just earn one of these little puppies.

And this rather enticing photo, below. The cups for 2009 and 2010 should be on their way shortly!

This is some nice cup architecture.

More March Updates

2011-03-21T09:02:00.000-05:00

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

2011-03-21T08:43:00.000-05:00

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.

Updates from Courtney Hilton and JJM

2011-03-04T08:36:00.000-06:00

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.

More Metrics to Report

2011-02-14T09:28:00.000-06:00

Those look like some sloppy roads, Courtney!

This wonderful weather in February is certainly getting a few people out the door and onto the gravel. Courtney Hilton has two more, to make 4 total for this year. He wrote about #3:

" Got my 3rd Metric for the year, 79 miles. 30 of us rode the GRR2BRR up to Perry for the annual BRR ride. I took another almost 30 miles after that to complete my metric for the day.

He also wrote to me today to report that #4 was on Saturday on the Earlham loop.

I got a metric of my own yesterday. A few guys from Skunk River Cycles, plus one of our friends/customers, rode up to Stanhope and back. I made up the last few miles with a trip to the grocery store on the other side of town. The roads were really dry for this time of year. Only a few sloppy spots, and lots of great packed gravel. The wind wasn't as bad as the weatherman forecasted, which is always nice.

A few of us boys from the SRC. Thanks to Paul J. for snapping photos on his fancy iPhone.

In other news, Dave reports that the mugs for 2009 and 2010 are being decorated right now. They may be done in time for CIRREM, in which case I'll bring a few of them down for distribution. When the time comes, we'll have them distributed. Exciting!

Keep 'em coming.

A Cupple More

2011-02-05T08:10:00.000-06:00

I know I'll run out of ways to insert "cup" cleverly (or not) into the titles of these posts, but I buy that kinda stuff in bulk. Anyway, Courtney Hilton has this to say:

"Got the second metric in January 31. Dave Cornelison (who might do cup-o-dirt now) joined me for 81 miles and 3k of climbing southern gravel roads."

Here's the accompanying photo.

And I have my first full century to report. I finished the Arrowhead 135 on the single-speed Pugsley. It was a balmy -30 degrees F at night on the 31st, and even colder the second night, though I had finished by then. Total time was 35 hours and 35 minutes, though I had a rather cold bivy during the night, due to stupidity on my part. Sometimes, you can be too warm at -30F, and sweat through your clothes and sleeping bag while conked out. Take heed, folks. Here's a photo I snapped about 20 miles into the race.

That's all. Get out there and ride! Don't forget about CIRREM on the 26th of February. It's always some slushy goodness.

Winter Updates

2011-01-17T19:10:00.000-06:00

Ya gotta wonder what's in Courtney's thermos this time of year...

It may be only January, but I've been getting a steady stream of updates from those who love riding in the snow. Well, maybe it's not love.

Jeremi Walker already has a full century and two metrics in the bag. He wrote, "Well if this weather continues I might get my first cup by the end of January! I wish!!" He did this here 86-mile ride on the 9th, and also finished the Triple D race yesterday (67 miles, a few more for those who happened to get lost).

Courtney Hilton bagged a metric on the 7th, riding on "southern gravel". He sent me the accompanying photo, but go to his regularly updated blog for more photos and details.

As for myself, I completed the Triple D race as well, marking my first metric for the year. Anyone looking to get started in the winter racing scene should definitely check it out. There were lots of finishers this year - historically, the bikers have about a 25% rate, this year it was around 75%. The running and skiing categories had much better representation than in the past as well, and it turned out to be a really fun event on what was (this year, anyway) a fast course.

Keep riding and keep the updates rolling in!

First 2011 Cupdate

2011-01-05T08:23:00.000-06:00

It's only January 5th, but we've already got our first update. This one is from Jeremi Walker of Iowa City, who did 114 miles on January 3rd. He wrote:

The weather was great and I had the day off! I figured no better time to get my first hundo done for the year:) Oh and by the way, that special prize for the person or persons who finish a century per month, just as a suggestion, maybe a Mug O' Dirt? Thanks again for providing us crazy folk who like to ride gravel a place to mingle. Jeremi Walker

He also provided me this link to his ride on Map My Ride. Check it out - it looks like a fun route, and with a few hills. I like the Mug O' Dirt idea - maybe like one of those convenience store ultra-huge mugs?

2010 Cup Qualifiers So Far

2011-01-05T08:13:00.000-06:00

I haven't received too many more updates over the last few days. But the good news is that there has been a lot of interest in the Cup O' Dirt for 2011! Here are the chasers I have down for getting a cup, along with their qualifying rides, for 2010.

Drew Wilson - 22 metrics, 15 full (that's two cups, man!)

Courtney Hilton - 12 Metrics - Courtney barely missed getting one a month. Maybe in 2011?

Adam Blake - 7 full and 12 metrics. Adam also gets two cups, and a shout out for probably doing most of those on single speed.

The Nearly Famous Dave Giegerich - 100 metrics (though from his Facebook and blog updates, there might be a few more unreported as of yet) I don't know if a Cup O' Dirt suffices for this accomplishment - maybe a 34,000-liter Tanker Truck O' Dirt?

And last but not least, my own rides: Nick Wethington - 7 full centuries and 9 metrics.

If you had enough qualifying rides in 2010 and are interested in getting a cup, please send me an email at iowacupodirt _[at]_ gmail - dot - com. I'll be accepting updates for 2010 until the end of January or so, when I start to get the cups a rolling.

Great work in 2010, all. You deserve more than a cup, but that's all I've got to give you besides my admiration. On to the 2011 chase!

The End Approacheth

2010-12-29T08:06:00.000-06:00

The end of 2010 is nigh. Be sure to get out in these next few days (which should be warm but rainy in Iowa) and make sure that your cup runneth over with dirty metrics and centuries. Then let me know about it!

Drew Wilson Cupdate

2010-12-15T21:06:00.000-06:00

Here's a list of rides completed by Drew Wilson, as well as a few photos he sent me. 22 metrics and 15 full so far, and, "Will likely pick up a few more before the end of the year here as I'm riding more again now." Good work already, Drew, and keep it up.

Dirty 2010

1/6- 63 miles on Douglas Trail
1/14- 62 miles on 2009 Almanzo course
1/21- 106 miles to Mystery Cave
2/11- 107 2009 Almanzo to St. Charles, explore, return
2/14- 63 miles to Byron, Spring Valley
2/17- 65 miles soft snow, to St. Charles
2/28?- CIRREM 65
3/12- Spring Training Decorah metric
3/13- STD century- HARD, end of first ever 20+ hr week
3/18- gravel metric (fixed)
3/26- metric to Spring Valley (fixed)
3/27- century, part of a 157 mile ride
4/11?- Ragnarok, only made a metric, fell hard!
4/18- metric
4/24- BALLS day 1, 104 miles
4/25- BALLS 65 miles
4/29- 103 mile gravel ride s of Spring Valley
5/9- Sandwich 50, broke bike/two laps on cruiser! also rode to bars later, metric
5/15- Almanzo- fast for me at 5:45!
5/22- Cheq 100, beyond lost 107 miles
5/29- rode to Elroy, WI 177 miles (dm and dc)
5/30- 67 miles, end at wi dells
6/5- dirty kanza (130ish miles completed)
6/10- rode to Milltown Cycles (110 miles)
6/18 trans-wisconsin 155 miles
6/19- 115 miles
6/20- 83 miles
6/21- 70 miles (ended in Ironwood, so DNF! spent rest of time off there and copper harbor)
6/24- 65 miles on SS around Ironwood
7/27- 151 miles- to Stillwater with Skogen, back to Hastings
7/31- Wausau 24 (team) I got 80 miles in

focused almost solely on XC races for a couple months here...

10/2- heck of the north- 80 miles (very sore back- replaced bike after this)
10/23- 118? miles at Night Nonsense (supposed to only be 90)
10/31- 82 miles at Dirt Bag

that was the end of my "season" so far as I look at things.

now-

11/14- 70 miles, group ride, bw3s etc., pretty easy/slow
11/29- Rode to Royal Wilders grave- 70ish miles

Will likely pick up a few more before the end of the year here as I'm riding more again now.

22 metrics and 15 centuries thus far!

...and another

2010-12-11T08:24:00.000-06:00

I won't be posting three times a day regularly, I promise. But since the updates are rolling in (two in the last ten minutes), I figure I might as well get the word out. Maybe it'll inspire some lurkers out there to get in some rides, and I can hand out a few more cups. Here's a list of 2010 cup rides from Courtney Hilton. Courtney kindly provided me with links to a ride report and photos of each ride. Click on the ride to be transported to its specific blog post.

1/16 First Metric
2/6 Second metric
2/27 Third Metric
3/17 Fourth Metric
3/28 Fifth Metric
4/24 Sixth Metric
5/1 Seventh Metric
6/4 Eighth Metric
8/15 Ninth Metric
8/30 Tenth Metric
9/4 11th Metric
10/13 12th Metric
Here is my list for the year. It's sad I missed the one a month in July!

Thanks
Courtney

Well done, Courtney. It was really, really hot in most of July.

Ride Update from Adam Blake

2010-12-11T08:18:00.000-06:00

Here's the first of (I hope) many updates from single-speed superstar Adam Blake:

Thanks for keeping this going. It was great motivation in the winter months last year and I'm sure it will be valuable this year. I have done 7 fulls and 12 metrics. That was all done before September, then I fell off the cliff. Oh well, BRING ON THE SNOW.

Thanks,
Adam

That's two cups, man. Way to go! Hear, hear with the snow - the Pugsleys are getting anxious.

Cup O Dirt Revival

2010-12-10T19:21:00.000-06:00

This is what you should be out doing in the next three weeks! It might have more of a whitish tinge where you are located, however.

Well, it's been a while since there's been an update here, but The Cup is not dead. It cannot die - porcelain cups are eternal, you know.

There's been a little change with the administration of the Cup, and it has been decided by the council of off-road gods that it shall be I, Nick Wethington, who carries the torch for this current incarnation of the beloved cup.

Now, there's only a few weeks until the end of this current season. As you can see below, there's not much for cupdates. I only have two to report from those on the list in the previous post - the first is that of David Giegerich, who rode a whopping 100 metric centuries since March. That is not a typo. I didn't mean 10. I meant 10 x 10. This certainly deserves recognition - what an inspiration to other cyclists doing this crazy thing that we do. Davey G, we applaud you.

The second person I have to give updates for is myself. I have complete 9 metrics and 6 full centuries this year.

As for all of you other chasers, we need those updates and ride reports and we need them now. You still have three full weeks from today's writing to get a few more rides in. If Dave can ride 100 metric centuries in one year, you can probably stand to get a few in by January 31st. Just think of that when you're out there in the Iowa prairie and it's like -7 degrees Fahrenheit. This right here is an important bit: send all of your Cup O' Dirt correspondence to iowacupodirt _[at]_ gmail - dot - com.

We want your stories, your photos and of course the number of rides you've completed in 2010 that qualify for the cup. Also, send in any rides that you're aware of which would be of interest to cup chasers. More the better if you'll be putting on a ride. If you've been chasing the cup but have slacked off because you thought it was dead, you can still send in your stats and stories and pictures.

The rules remain the same: 12 metrics (62 miles) gets you a cup, 6 full centuries gets you a cup or 12 centuries gets you a cup. If you do any combination of those numbers, for example do over 12 metrics 6 full centuries, you can qualify for multiple cups. I'll have a few links up to rides that you can do in Iowa in early 2011 in the next few days, and will be making a few general changes around this joint to get things up to speed. Good luck!

~Nick Wethington

2010 Cup Chasers

2010-03-30T19:45:00.000-05:00

February is over and things are already heating up for 2010! Until Dave frees up the controls, I'm going to update this post with the names and numbers for the year.

As always, feel free to send in ride and race reports, as well as photos. We want to see where you're riding, what you're riding and who you are riding with. If you in the chase, and you have a personal web site or a blog, let us know and we'll link to it from here as well.

2010 Cup Chasers

Name	Full Century	Metric Century	One A Month Club
Adam Blake	3	4	*
Steve Fuller		4	*
Dave Giegerich		5
Courtney Hilton		5	*
Ben Shockey	1	3	*
Nicholos Wethington	1	2	*
Drew Wilson	3	9	*

More Cupdates

2010-03-30T17:45:00.000-05:00

Updates have been coming in a little more steadily the past week or two. Sorry I didn't get them all posted up sooner. The table should now be updated with the totals for everyone that has sent me an email through March 30th. There are a lot of people getting a lot of miles in so far. I can think of a few reasons why. Tho I'm sure there are just some people that are doing this because they enjoy it too. :) Keep the updates coming in, and I'll keep posting them.

Busy week

2010-03-18T22:19:00.000-05:00

The weather has gotten warmer and the miles are starting to rack up a bit more quickly.

DavieG has cranked out two metrics in the last 5 days. On the 13th he ventured out on studded tires for 8 hours on a mix of sand, soggy gravel and dirt. St Patrick's day meant there was time for another McRide on the Heritage Trail and some gravel roads. Click on Dave's name for details on both of his rides.

Courtney Hilton also managed to get out on the 17th for some gravel on the rural roads of Polk and Madison counties. The lure of beer and wet road conditions forced him to cut his planned full century down to a metric. He's still in the one a month club.

Your's truly headed north to Decorah for Ben Shockey's STD. A planned 200 miles over 3 days turned into 120 due to some back issues. I still managed to survive the Friday ride to Harmony, MN and back for another metric, adding another punch to my one-a-month-club card.

Keep sending your rides in, and we'll keep posting them. :)

Cup-Dates

2010-03-02T21:44:00.001-06:00

A quick post to inform everyone of some administrative changes with regards to the Cup O Dirt. Dave's been a little busy and asked if I would be willing to help out with some of the day to day stuff regarding the Cup O Dirt challenge. I told him I would, so if you have completed a metric or full century this year (2010), and it has not been posted to the site, please resend it to "cupodirt at sfuller dot net" and it will be recorded in all of its dirty glory.

Dave is still handling the cups for the time being, so any questions about those should still go sent to him.

The weather is finally starting to look up, this week, so get out and ride!

Cup O' Dirt, 2010 style!

2009-12-29T16:00:00.001-06:00

Welcome to the new portal for the Cup O' Dirt Challenge.

For the latest Cup'dates, click here

Our new site will be evolving with the Cup O' Dirt Chase in 2010, so watch for details and news - and keep riding in the dirt!

2009-12-27T11:51:00.000-06:00

Cup O' Dirt

Craig Irving's Masterpiece

New Cup Chaser Chad Terrell

Missed Showalter Update

Venteicher Updates

And the Winner is...

Speaking of Mr. DaveyGie...

Another Metric from Charles Showalter

Cup Delivery to Courtney Hilton

Rob Schneider and Charles Showalter Join Up

New Chaser Andrea Venteicher

Baby New Year is Delivered

Nick Wethington's 2011 Cup

Last Chance for 2011 Rides!

Christine Carragee's 2011 Rides

Matt Maxwell's Metrics

Courtney Hilton's December Cup Ride

Thanksgiving Day Metric

Courtney's Fat Bike Metric

Three More from Drew Wilson

Craig Irving Catches Up

Courtney's 13th Metric and 8th Full

Awe, Heck

Joe Meiser Cup Delivery

Courtney's Two Cups

Drew Wilson's Update

Craig Irving's Shameless Promotion

Metrics and Full for Nick Wethington

Today's Last JJM Story

More Stories from Jared

Storytime from JJM

Matt Maxwell Joins the Chase!

A Few More from Courtney

Jared Morford and Nick Wethington Updates

Craig Irving Metric and Full Updates

Dave Giegerich Metrics 12 and 13

Courtney Hilton - Full Centuries 4, 5, 6

Updates from July in August

Nick Larson Bags #4 Metric

Dave G. Heats it Up

Craig Irving's Dirty Kanza Experience Says It All

A Century for Dave Mable

The Return of a God

3rd Century for Courtney Hilton

Craig Irving Gets Serious

Courtny Hilton's 8th Metric

Another Metric for Craig Irving

Chalk up Another for Courtney Hilton

New Cup Chaser - Nick Larson

Craig Irving Update

Dave Giegerich's 1st Metric

Courtney Hilton Will Crush Us All

April Update Showers

An Update from Dave Mable

More March Updates

New Cup Chaser - Craig Irving

Updates from Courtney Hilton and JJM

More Metrics to Report

A Cupple More

Winter Updates

First 2011 Cupdate

2010 Cup Qualifiers So Far

The End Approacheth

Drew Wilson Cupdate

...and another

Ride Update from Adam Blake

Cup O Dirt Revival

2010 Cup Chasers

More Cupdates

Busy week

Cup-Dates

Cup O' Dirt, 2010 style!