Podcasts about trans iowa

We have with us today a legend of gravel cycling. Dan Hughes is the only winner of gravel's unofficial Triple Crown (Unbound, Gravel Worlds, and Trans Iowa). He is a 4-time Unbound 200 winner, including the event's first winner back in 2006. As such he was inducted into the inaugural class of the Gravel Cycling Hall of Fame. Husband of Paulina Batiz, Dan is also a gifted storyteller and photographer. We are so honored to welcome Dan Hughes!Links:Gravel Cycling Hall of Fame @gravelcyclinghofFollow Dan on InstagramThe Fun-Bound Gravel Podcast is hosted by the Legans, Kristen and Nick. With years of Unbound and gravel coaching experience, they share their insights and those of their expert guests to help you have the best time possible at Unbound Gravel. Detailed course previews, equipment suggestions, training tips, and efficient checkpoints are just some of the topics discussed. And of course, you'll get to hear from the top athletes, organizers, and people who make gravel such a special cycling space. Follow Kristen on Instagram @kpleganFollow Nick on Instragram @nleganAlso check out Kristen's coaching services at Rambleur.com

The newest induction of the Gravel Cycling Hall of Fame, winner and finisher of countless endurance events including the Tour Divide, Iditarod and “short” endurance events like Trans Iowa, Unbound, and so many more, JP is an absolute icon in this sport who now happens to be a race promoter! We were so excited to interview this guest, and he left us speechless, inspired, and reflecting. This is a can't miss episode! If you are looking for a cool summer family friendly event, check out his race: Teton Valley Backyard Rally on July 6th in Victor, ID!

In it's 15 years, the Garmin Gravel Worlds has become one of the biggest gravel events on the U.S. calendar. Boasting a heritage of champions that range from Trans-Iowa alumni to World Tour cyclists - and all without huge prize purses - until now. Recently, a $30,000 prize purse was announced for the elite mens and women's races - but along with that, they will also be donating another $30,000 to charities AND have welcomed Hannah Shell into the Gravel Family in an initiative to celebrate the back of the pack, as much as the front in their new F2L (First to Last) program. I invited Jason on, not only to talk about their exciting news, but also the continuing evolution of the sport of gravel cycling. We'd encourage you to register early for Gravel Worlds - and when you do, you can get 10% off your registration fee by using the code: biketalkwithdave at checkout. And when you do Bike Talk with Dave will ALSO donate 10% of your fee to the 80-35 BMX/Iowa Bicycle Coalition effort to build an indoor Olympic-quality BMX track in Central Iowa. Just sign up at www.gravel-worlds.com today and use that biketalkwithdave code to save some $$ and help a local group support cycling! If you need a BANDito Sling to help carry your bike through the mud, you can order at BIKEIOWA.com and be ready for all those muddy B-roads! https://bikeiowa.store/products/bandito-slingIf you'd like to donate to the feasability study, managed by the Iowa Bicycle Coalition, click this link and help support the growth of our sport! https://iowabicyclecoalition.org/bmx-skills-hub/We would love it if you would consider supporting Bike Talk with Dave by rating, reviewing and sharing on your favorite podcast platform. We'd invite you to support the show financially at www.buymeacoffee.com or on Venmo @David-Mable. You'll receive a Bike Talk with Dave sticker! Bikeiowa.com is the online host of Bike Talk with Dave. Get your event listed on the extensive ride and race calendar for free! Create an account and add and edit your event to reach thousands of cyclists. Register for the core4 today! New distances in 24 include a 20, 40, 60 or 100-mile option. Register at www.core4.bikeFollow Bike Talk with Dave on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/biketalkwithdave/ and Facebook so you don't miss any of the fun, and you can now find every episode on your computer at www.biketalk.bike. And now available on YouTube on the Bike Talk with Dave YouTube channel!And if you need any digital media work: photography, videography and editing, podcast production and editing, look no further than Mable Media. Connect at www.mablemedia.net to help grow your brand and connect with your audience!

Unbound XL winner Kristen Legan & Gravel legend Nick Legan on racing, adventure, bikepacking and teamwork in sport, life and marriage as lived at Unbound Gravel, Ride the Divide, TransIowa and more. The inside line on the months of prep, recon and planning that went into Unbound XL, why Kristen and Nick like to go deep, why they choose the hard way and recommend that you do, too. Kristen Legan won the 350-mile, 2023 Unbound XL gravel race in 26 hours and six minutes, beating her closest competitor by nearly two full hours. She modestly describes herself as a sometimes-pro racer who competes in gravel and endurance mountain bike races with a healthy heaping of bikepacking in the mix. She also leads communications for Shimano North America and Mosaic cycles and works with endurance athletes of all kidneys through her coaching company, Rambleur. Nick Legan has worked as WorldTour and Olympic mechanic, a tech editor and now leads gravel marketing for Shimano. He's completed the Tour Divide, Trans Iowa, Unbound XL and Unbound 200 five times. He's also the author of “Gravel Cycling: The Complete Guide to Gravel Racing and Adventure Bikepacking.” If memory serves me correctly, the first time I did the Unbound 100 back in 2013, Nick and Kristen were there. You can watch a chunk of Kristen's Unbound XL victory in the Vegan Cyclist's video about the event, he closely trailed her for much of the race before he tapped out and she went on to win. Nick has graciously helped me with a decade's-worth of tech questions about my gear for which I'm deeply grateful and I'm excited to bring this conversation to you today where we cover everything about Kristen and Nick's meticulous preparation, planning and teamwork to put Kristen in the best possible position to execute to the best of her ability on race day at Unbound XL and dive into many of their other adventures and how Kristen is working with athletes through her coaching company. Find Kristen on social @KPLegan and learn more about her coaching practice at rambleur.com and find Nick @nlegan and on bookshelves everywhere if bookshelves still exist, otherwise find him on Amazon and buy his awesome book.   In This Episode:  Kristen Legan Instagram Nick Legan Instagram  Watch on YouTube Sign up for the Hard Way Newsletter - - - - - - - - - -  Choose The Hard Way Website | Instagram Andrew Vontz LinkedIn Subscribe: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher

Corey Godfrey began sailing the gravel seas around Lincoln, Nebraska nearly 20 years ago. After experiencing many long voyages through the rolling landscapes of Iowa in early Trans-Iowa adventures, he and Lincoln's Pirate Cycling League invited others to pin on a number and ride their favorite roads around Lincoln. Now in it's 13th year, Garmin Gravel Worlds has become a monument of gravel in the burgeoning gravel calendar. His impact in the gravel scene led him to be nominated and elected to the inaugural class of the Gravel Hall of Fame. Garmin Gravel Worlds: August 25-26, 2023www.gravel-worlds.com Another race worth putting on the calendar is the multi-surface Core4 Race in Iowa City, Iowa on August 19, 2023. Get everything you need to know about the 100-, 50-, or 25-mile races which can be done solo or as part of a team at www.core4.bike Please consider supporting Bike Talk with Dave by rating, reviewing and sharing on your favorite podcast platform. We'd invite you to support the show financially at www.buymeacoffee.com or on Venmo @David-Mable. You'll receive a Bike Talk with Dave sticker! Bike Talk with Dave is supported by Chain and Spoke Coffee. Order your favorite flavor at www.chainandspoke.com. The Chain and Spoke retail location is open now in Des Moines, Iowa featuring great coffee, bikes and the new Bike Talk with Dave Studio! Bikeiowa.com is the online host of Bike Talk with Dave. Get your event listed on the extensive ride and race calendar for free! Create an account and add and edit your event to reach thousands of cyclists. Follow Bike Talk with Dave on Instagram and Facebook so you don't miss any of the fun, and you can now find every episode on your computer at www.biketalk.bike.

This week the microphone is turned the opposite direction with Dave Mable, host of Bike Talk with Dave, interviewing your host Craig Dalton. Dave had mentioned the many references I've made to my career and felt the audience should get to know me better. This is a re-broadcast of the original conversation from the Bike Talk podcast feed. Episode sponsor: Dynamic Cyclist (use THEGRAVELRIDE for 15% off) Bike Talk with Dave Spotify Support the Podcast Join The Ridership  Automated Transcription, please excuse the typos: [00:00:00] Craig Dalton: Hello, and welcome to the gravel ride podcast, where we go deep on the sport of gravel cycling through in-depth interviews with product designers, event organizers and athletes. Who are pioneering the sport I'm your host, Craig Dalton, a lifelong cyclist who discovered gravel cycling back in 2016 and made all the mistakes you don't need to make. I approach each episode as a beginner down, unlock all the knowledge you need to become a great gravel cyclist. This week on the podcast, I'm actually going to be the guest. So a little while back I was the guest on bike. Talk with Dave. With host Dave Mabel. Dave reached out to me and said, he's been a long time listener of the podcast. He and I connected earlier via one of his film projects. And he mentioned that he felt like I left a bunch of Easter eggs in each episodes. Easter eggs about my history or a little mentions of things that I've done in my life. And he was curious to unpeel the onion and get to know me a little bit better. And it dawned on me that so much of my time on this podcast is spent interviewing others that I rarely share that much about my history, how I found a love for the sport of cycling, how I became a podcaster. And what I do for my day job. So with Dave's permission, I'm going to republish the conversation I had on bike. Talk with Dave. That was originally found on his feed, just so you can get to know me a little bit. So I hope you enjoy the conversation again for the frequent listener. You'll get to know me a little bit. If this is your first time listening to the gravel ride podcast. Maybe this isn't the episode to start with, unless you want to get to know a little bit more about me in the meantime, I did want to thank the dynamic cyclist. I mentioned them in the last episode as a long-time sponsor of the show. At this point, dynamic cyclist offers a stretching and strengthening programs specific to cyclists. It's a video series. Each video is about 15 to 20 minutes long. It's designed to be easy to fit into your life. Something you can do. In addition to all the cycling training you're doing. But it's critically important, especially as you become older, that you really do strengthen and stretch those parts of the body that get overworked. You can imagine as a cyclist, we all sit in this kind of awkward, unique position, and it's important to kind of work other muscles as I'm learning more and more as I'm getting older. So I encourage you to check out dynamic cyclists, just go to dynamic cyclists.com. They've got a free one week trial. So you really know what you're getting into and very inexpensive, either monthly or annual memberships, if you're a gravel ride podcast listener, which obviously you are, because you're hearing my voice. Simply enter the code, the gravel ride, and you'll get 15% off. Either one of those programs. So I highly recommend making it part of your routine. And with that free trial, that's a no reason not to try it out. So with that, I'm going to hand over the microphone to Dave Mabel, who is going to interview me. [00:03:10] Dave Mable: Craig Dalton, I am so thrilled to have you on Bike Talk with Dave. You are the OG of Gravel Podcasts and just talking to you before this thing, I'm just having these flashbacks cuz I do listen to your podcast very, very regularly and even go back to before I started listening to podcasts to hear your old episodes. But it's a treat to have you on and hear your voice in my. Uh, yet another time today. So welcome to the podcast. Thanks for [00:03:40] Craig Dalton: Thanks. Yeah, thanks Dave. I'm, I'm appreciative of you having me and looking forward to the conversation. [00:03:46] Dave Mable: I wanted to have you on because, well, a, you've got a cool podcast and you've done some cool things, but you throw out these little teaser about your past history or past life, and you've just peaked my curiosity to be perfectly honest, and I'm like, I just gotta ask this dude. Who he is and how he came to be. So first of all, um, where you call it, where, where are you right now? [00:04:13] Craig Dalton: So I am in Northern California in the town of Mill Valley, so we're right at the base of Mount Tam, which is purportedly the birthplace of mountain biking. [00:04:22] Dave Mable: bike. No doubt. Do you have an old mountain bike? [00:04:25] Craig Dalton: I do, I've, I've, despite the Gravel Ride Pods podcast being my main public persona in cycling, I am an avid mountain biker and have been for, for a very long. [00:04:36] Dave Mable: So I asked you if you had an old mountain bike. How old? What's your oldest mountain bike? [00:04:42] Craig Dalton: My oldest mountain bike is probably 12 years old, [00:04:46] Dave Mable: oh, all right. It's getting [00:04:47] Craig Dalton: so not, yeah, not, not exceptionally old. And I probably, if I had enough room, I probably would've had a few more laying around. I do have one access to. [00:04:56] Dave Mable: to one [00:04:58] Craig Dalton: 25 year old Dean titanium mountain bike that is with my father right now. And the long term vision is that'll come back into my life and hopefully that'll be a bike my, my now eight year old son can grow into at some point. [00:05:13] Dave Mable: a, oh, that's that. That's pretty cool. You better hang onto to that. That's, that's very cool. [00:05:18] Craig Dalton: Yeah, it's got a, you know, in addition to being like a neat titanium bicycle from that, that era, I actually, and we can get into this later, I worked at Dean Titanium. That was my first sort of professional job out of college. [00:05:32] Dave Mable: Oh, cool. Oh, I, I do wanna get into that cuz that's one of the things you throw out are little, uh, tidbits about you working in the cycling industry, um, and, uh, and being a lifetime cyclist. , I, I feel like cycling often leads us to cycling industry jobs. So am I guessing right that cycling came first in your life? [00:05:56] Craig Dalton: Yeah. Yeah it did. And I'll, I'll take you on the way back machine for a minute here, Dave. So my father, my both my mother and father are from England, and my dad was an avid bicycle racer before he came to the us. And a little bit when he set foot on US soil, always a road racer. By the time I was around, he had transitioned into marathon running because having kids wasn't allowing him enough time to ride. But the bike has always been sort of around my life, but I, I certainly didn't pick it up with great interest. I did a little bit of BMX racing, which my father thought was. [00:06:35] Dave Mable: was completely [00:06:36] Craig Dalton: Crazy and uninteresting. He thought that was a, a discipline of cycling. He didn't understand. And thankfully my neighbors raced BMX and they would take me because my parents really had little interest in fostering my BMX career. [00:06:50] Dave Mable: Did your dad ever use the word silly? I'm just picturing an English guy. What are you doing with that silly sport? [00:06:58] Craig Dalton: E exactly. I mean, I think his progression to his progression from cycling as he would describe it, First he had a truck bike, so I had to translate that to being like, you know, beach cruiser kind of city bike style and then fell in love in, you know, in, in the UK they have a lot of cycling clubs that are fostering interest for the kids. So, you know, by the time they're 10 or 12, if they're showing interest. They're getting offered bicycles to use on the weekends and really kind of fostering them and developing them. In fact, my father is one of five boys, and I think four out of the five boys all raced as kind of teenagers into their early twenties. And it's a, it's been a, a unifying thread for the entire family, just the sport of cycling. In fact, my cousin from Australia, originally from the UK is staying with me right now, and he and I reconnected as an adult via Facebook as a platform and our love of cycling. And we ended up going and riding in Belgium together. But I completely digress my progression, again, BMX kind of then just used the bike for getting to and from school. My freshman year of high school, my dad took us on a, a bike tour. It was three of us, freshman in high school and him, uh, up through upstate New York and Vermont. We were living in New Jersey at the time, but it was still not a, something I was craving to do, riding a bike. It was just something. It was a great activity and a lot of fun. It wasn't until my freshman year of college and after my freshman year of college, my dad had bought a mountain bike, and this is to just to date me. That would be sort of around 19 86, 19 85 timeframe. So pretty early on he bought a Cannondale Mountain bike, and while I was home for the summer, I fell in love with it and I decided I really wanted to get a mountain bike. I was in school in Washington, DC. Um, got a job in a bike shop to bring that cost of entry down and ended up buying a Trek 7,000 aluminum hard tail and started cutting my teeth. Uh, mountain biking in Washington, DC for the uninitiated. Washington DC believe it or not, has a lot of dirt trails. You have to figure out how they're all interconnected and it, you know, it's certainly not like being in, you know, Iowa or Colorado, where there's a lot of open space to kind of pursue these. But it was there and it was a quite a fun community. So started racing mountain bikes, kind of my junior and senior year and falling in love with it. It coincided with me falling out of love with being a university student. And fortunately, maybe, I dunno, fortunately or unfortunately, I said to myself, if I can get a degree in business, I can apply that to anything. And in order to finish this degree, my intention is gonna be to go work in the bike. [00:09:48] Dave Mable: the bike. Oh, cool. Wow. That's pretty intentional. Did you end up getting the degree? [00:09:55] Craig Dalton: I did, yeah, I finished my degree and I was managing a bike shop in Washington, DC and I said to my son, you know, I was also bike racing mountain bikes at that time and being fairly competitive at the expert level in the mid-Atlantic region. And I decided, well, if I, if I'm just managing a bike shop, I can do that anywhere. Why don't I move to Colorado? And at the same time, I was applying to bike companies. Via, gosh, snail mail probably at that [00:10:21] Dave Mable: Right, right. Licking a stamp. [00:10:23] Craig Dalton: Yeah. And, uh, I remember, I, I had got some interest from Dean Titanium and Yeti. They both had potential positions available and I said, that's enough. And I packed up all my stuff, moved to Colorado, went down to interview at Yeti. That didn't work out. Moved to Boulder, got a job in a bike shop, connected with the team at Dean and they, they brought me in for an interview about a month after I. And that led to me becoming National Sales Manager of Dean Titanium. [00:10:54] Dave Mable: Wow. Cool. [00:10:56] Craig Dalton: That title would imply some lofty position and experience, but at that time it was, uh, that meant I answered the phone and tried to convince bike shops and customers to buy bikes. [00:11:09] Dave Mable: Fair enough. Fair enough. So what bike shop in Boulder in what year? [00:11:14] Craig Dalton: I worked for psychologic. [00:11:16] Dave Mable: Okay. [00:11:17] Craig Dalton: And that would've been, uh, 1993. [00:11:22] Dave Mable: huh? Okay, [00:11:22] Craig Dalton: And for, yeah, it was a pretty brief stint actually at the, at the shop before I ended up moving over to Dean. [00:11:27] Dave Mable: actually. Yeah. I had a little history with bike shops in Boulder. A friend of mine was part of the, uh, Morgo Bismarck crew and uh, and then ended up that closed and there was another cycle works, or I don't know. Anyway. [00:11:46] Craig Dalton: so many great bike shops there in Boulder. [00:11:48] Dave Mable: So many great bike shops there in Boulder and so much great riding there in Boulder. I spent a summer in Boulder and, oh, I mean, we still love to go back with our road bikes, believe it or not, and uh, and do some of those road roads either up into the mountains or out into the planes. Like some of those rides out towards Nawat and Longmont and, I don't know, just go east. Were awesome. [00:12:14] Craig Dalton: yeah, yeah, for sure. [00:12:16] Dave Mable: So how long were you at Dean? [00:12:18] Craig Dalton: I was at Dean for about a year and a half, and then I, I took a break and was focusing a little bit more on, on racing, which I was still doing. Turns out working for a small bike company doesn't actually give you a lot of time to ride and train on your bike, so I took a break and, you know, got some menial job and, and raced. And then I got an opportunity to move out to California to race for a team that was sponsored by Voodoo Bicycles. And Will Smith and I had a, had made a friend who was out in Palo Alto and got me a place to live out here, so I moved out to race for that team and I was able to get a job with a bicycle computer and accessory manufacturing company called aat. [00:13:01] Dave Mable: Aset. Awesome. I, I should have gotten 'em, but I've, I probably have three old AEC computers in my garage in some old box somewhere. [00:13:12] Craig Dalton: I would love to see them. [00:13:14] Dave Mable: Uh, Avice. I'm thinking of the wrong thing. Who made the Fat Boy? Was that Avice? Did they make [00:13:22] Craig Dalton: that wasn't. They did, yeah. They did have a very popular slick tire. Their computers were, um, had numbers associated with 'em. So Theat 20, [00:13:33] Dave Mable: Yeah. [00:13:34] Craig Dalton: 30, and the AAT 45. And then one of the big innovations that happened while I was there was the aviset vertex. And the vertex was the first. Watch, digital watch that could track elevation, gain and loss. [00:13:49] Dave Mable: I remember that. [00:13:51] Craig Dalton: And it was really, I mean, the older listeners will understand this moment. At that time when you were talking to your buddies about a mountain bike ride and the only piece of data you had was mileage. It was really difficult to compare one ride to another, right? So you could say, I rode 10 miles, but if you did 10 miles and 5,000 feet of climbing, that's a lot different experience than 10 miles and a thousand feet of climbing. So the, the v the vertex became this, this great unlock that we all take for granted today. Like when you go to a course profile for an event, they're always talking about mileage and, and elevation gain that you're gonna experience. But prior to that point, that just wasn't available as a data set. The average consumer. [00:14:33] Dave Mable: Yeah, it was a big deal, wasn't it? Uh, barometric, fresher based. [00:14:37] Craig Dalton: That's exactly it. Yep, [00:14:39] Dave Mable: Yeah, that's pretty interesting and pretty kind of vague. I mean, it's certainly not an exact science, [00:14:47] Craig Dalton: yep. Yeah. And it drifted, right? The barometric pressure would drift and there have to reset your elevation to a known elevation in order to get it to. [00:14:56] Dave Mable: yep. I, I remember those days. I never had one, but I do remember that I did have the ACET 20, ACET 30, whatever they got up to. [00:15:05] Craig Dalton: I think there was definitely a 40 and, and I can't remember if there was a 45, there was one that actually had that Vertex technology into it. Um, that might have been theat 50. [00:15:16] Dave Mable: yeah. [00:15:17] Craig Dalton: But my experience there was gr, my experience there was great. I, I ended up, um, uh, going to work on the national mountain bike circuit. So I would go to all the events and kind of represent AED and have an opportunity to do a little riding myself. I was able to go over to the tour of France once and represent aed. At that time. I mean, the, the thing that, that always, I always come back to with Aset, they used to have these bi, these ads in the bicycle magazines where they would show the front of the, the professional peloton, and every one of those riders had an aviset computer on their bike. And my favorite tagline was, what 90% of the workforce brings to work? [00:15:57] Dave Mable: That's awesome. I can picture that ad. [00:15:59] Craig Dalton: yeah. I was so sold. So I was one of those guys who went over and made sure everybody was dialed when, when onsite changed from their traditional yellow to their Tor De France pink. We gave them all custom pink computers. [00:16:13] Dave Mable: Nice. Nice. That's awesome. What a fun experience. What a great, great, uh, if you're a cycling enthusiast, what a great gig. [00:16:24] Craig Dalton: Yeah, I think, I mean, the bike industry as an as as you know, like, it, it, it has its ups and downs. I do think, you know, as a young person in their twenties, it's a phenomenal place to work. It's just you have to start questioning your career path later in life. Like, where am I? Where am I gonna get to? Obviously the bike industry is fairly small. There's some exceptions, but you know, a lot of these businesses, unless you're the owner, it's kind of hard to really move up the food. [00:16:51] Dave Mable: Yep. And, uh, time is, uh, like if you want to have a family, it's, it's hard to be. At the tour of France for a month every year. And then the tour of Spain, and then the tour of California, and then the et cetera. Et And then you go to Interbike and then you go to the Outdoor Retailer show and you, you, you can be home, gone from home a lot, lot, lot. So it is a lifestyle for sure, but, uh, [00:17:18] Craig Dalton: to that, To that exact end, I, I ended up accepting a position with one of a's competitors, Veta and I moved over to Switzerland to be European. I forget, I was European sales and marketing manager. And effectively they, they, they had a person in the position who was um, usurping too much power. As according to the US bosses, and they wanted someone young who they could control, who was willing to live in Europe, travel around country to country and represent the company. And I was like, that's me. I raised my hand. I'll go. I had a great, I mean I had a great time. The, the company was, was in the course of my brief tenure over there, which was only about six months. The company was bought by a private equity firm and I had some issues getting paid, but I don't. I don't, uh, you know, I had a great experience for six months over in Europe living on someone else's dime. Again, just talking about bikes with people. But I will say after that experience, I was like, I need to take a professional break from the biking industry and go find something else to do. I'll still love riding my bike. In fact, I may even like it more if I don't have to talk about it, you know, 50 hours. [00:18:35] Dave Mable: There's true truth to that statement for sure. Uh, so what'd you end up doing? I mean, that's still a while ago. [00:18:42] Craig Dalton: yeah. Yeah, so I mean, I guess the sort of abbreviated version is, um, moved back to California, ended up going to business school and St studying technology management. Did a series of work for a series of small companies in the mobile. And then, um, in 2010, I founded a company that made iPad and iPhone accessories, a company called Dodo Case. And, and it ended up taking off, I won't belabor this since this isn't an entrepreneurship show, but ended up building a manufacturing facility in San Francisco. Our products were handmade. I a hundred percent referenced back to my early experience at Dean Titanium in terms. How to build a brand, how to build an aura, how to build quality products, how to, how to stand behind those products and really kind of take and accept consumer input as like the guiding principle of where you take the business. It was in the early days of social media being here in the Bay Area. We sort of understood the game that needed to be played at that time, and we amassed a pretty big following because we just had a great compelling story. I mean, who's hand building phone and iPad accessories in the United States? [00:19:58] Dave Mable: iPad. Yeah, nobody, [00:20:02] Craig Dalton: Exactly. So obviously cycling continued to be part of my life, but it was just a, a recreational activity. I wasn't doing much. I don't think I was attending any, I wasn't going down to Sea Otter, like I let most things come and go. Maybe I would pin a number on here and there as I sort of went out to Leadville and did the Leadville 100. I had a brief stint doing Ironman triathlons, but it was all just in the, you know, the pursuit of fun and scratching that endurance athletics itch. [00:20:33] Dave Mable: bag. Do you remember what year you did? Leadville [00:20:37] Craig Dalton: Um, it would've been either 2007 or 2009. [00:20:44] Dave Mable: Hmm, I'm gonna have to look. We were in that era, so we might have lined up together. [00:20:50] Craig Dalton: Amazing. [00:20:51] Dave Mable: you were probably ahead of us, but, uh, nonetheless, I think my first was like oh, three or four. I did it solo and then I told my wife, I was like, Hey, I think this is tandem about, and she believed me actually. She said, if we get a new tandem, I'll do it. I'm like, uh, I, I'm calling the bike shop right now. [00:21:15] Craig Dalton: Oh man, I can't e [00:21:16] Dave Mable: And she said, yes. [00:21:19] Craig Dalton: I can't even, I can't imagine going up Columbine nor down Columbine on a tandem. [00:21:24] Dave Mable: You know, up Columbine was a lot of pushing, as you can well imagine, and down Columbine. Uh, we bought a Ventana full suspension rig with the Maverick Fork. So six inches of travel front and rear, and I needed all six inches. Like you're going down Columbine and there's people coming up on the other side of the trail. And there's a giant rock in front of you. All you can do is hit it, you know? And so I did, but uh, we always made it down. Uh, the only time we crashed was going up the power line and uh, you know, it's just rocky and hard and. I, uh, come around a corner and the front wheel like just gets up on a lip and then hits another rock and just stops all of our momentum. And for some reason we leaned to the right and there was nothing but air below our feet. And so down we went. friend of us was, a friend of ours was with us at that moment, and he looked at us, he's like, you guys good? Yeah, we're all right. He's like, I'm outta here. [00:22:34] Craig Dalton: Goodbye. It's already been long. If you're on your way back up power line, it's already been long enough of a day. You can't, you can't wait for down soldiers at that point. [00:22:42] Dave Mable: No, that's true. That's true. We made it home though. Uh, so you have a lot of mountain biking in your history. Where did Gravel. [00:22:54] Craig Dalton: Yeah, so the story around gravel, I had moved from San Francisco to Mill Valley where I live today, and I was riding into the city, and for those of you who don't know the geography here, There's actually a lot of, um, there's the coastal range of hills that kind of go right from the Golden Gate Bridge into Marin County, so you can actually ride in on the dirt. And so I had this new commute and I'm, I'm gonna mention that this was also when I discovered listening to podcasts. And we'll put a pin in that statement for a minute here, but I was riding into the city and I had an opportunity to ride on the dirt or ride on the trail. And I had had a cyclocross bike back in the day and I. [00:23:34] Dave Mable: in the, like [00:23:35] Craig Dalton: It was, this was would've been around 2015 timeframe just to give a, a, a timestamp there. So I bought a, a niner aluminum gravel bike with a max tire capacity, I think of maybe 33 millimeters. And I started riding that and it had mechanical disc brakes, and I started riding that into the city. And, uh, listening to my podcast and I thought, well, this is sort of an enjoyable hybrid of, you know, it's a drop bar bike, so it's efficient. So when I get on the pavement, I can ride to my office, which was, it was about a, an hour and 15 minute trip. Um, one way, but with probably 60% of that being on pavement. So again, like playing, playing in that mixed terrain angle. But I also started to recognize, One that I was enjoying it, but two, that the bike didn't have the capabilities that I needed. The, the hills were steep, so my mechanical disc brakes were requiring too much hand strength to brake, and I, it felt like a huge shortcoming, only having 33 millimeter tires around here. Disclosure, the gravel riding we have around here is, is rough, and many people would argue that it's mountain biking, but it's my cup of tea. But again, so I, I thought. How was I around the sport of cycling my entire life as we've just discussed? How did I botch this bike purchase and buy something that wasn't suitable? And you know, I was reading about the gravel market. It was obviously early days at that point in terms of like the amount of models that were out there, et cetera. And I just had like, I want to go all in on this. Like this is the type of riding I really like. I. [00:25:17] Dave Mable: I get [00:25:18] Craig Dalton: The best bike that I can afford. I want disc brakes and I want big tire capacity. So after a bunch of research, [00:25:27] Dave Mable: I think that's called a mountain bike. [00:25:31] Craig Dalton: possibly, possibly a bunch of research, I ended up, um, selling a road bike and pushing all in on a, an open up with two wheel sets. So I had a road wheel set and, uh, a gravel wheel set. And I absolutely fell in love with it. [00:25:49] Dave Mable: huh, what was the tire capacity of that? [00:25:51] Craig Dalton: Oh, I could run 40 sevens, six 50 by 47 [00:25:55] Dave Mable: huh. Wow. That's, I mean, that's, that's pretty early. I mean, those are, if you're talking 15, 16, like we're still riding cross bikes on gravel those days. I mean, that's, you go by a cross bike and that's your gravel bike. [00:26:10] Craig Dalton: Un unquestionably that open bike was visionary and ahead of its time. It's it. I would still argue that it's spec still holds up with the sweet spot of gravel cycling today. [00:26:23] Dave Mable: Huh, interesting. [00:26:24] Craig Dalton: Yeah, [00:26:26] Dave Mable: So I feel like you dove in Headfirst podcast and you're going all over the freaking world riding a gravel bike. [00:26:36] Craig Dalton: Yeah, so I, I pushed all in. I realized like one, I had a di, I had a, uh, caliber brake road bike and I was like, this thing's gonna be worthless a few years from now as people go to disc brakes. So I was like, I just need to clear out the garage, take the money I get from that, sell the niner and, and buy this one bike for me. The type of road riding I do, I found that the open totally cap. As a road bike with, you know, 28 sea tires on 700 sea wheel sets. And then as I said, with those six 50 B 47 s, incredible bike for everything we have in front of us here on Mount Tam. At around the same time. Now this is going to 2017, we ended up selling Doto case. The business I had. And I had mentioned as a little something, we put a pin in that I had been listening to a bunch of podcasts. Doto case was a manufacturing business. It was also an e-commerce business and a social media business. So I was always in front of a computer, you know, building websites con, you know, trying to convert E-commerce customers to customers. And I said to myself, I need to do something totally different for a break. And selling the company gave me, I don't have to get a job tomorrow. Money. It did not give me, I don't have to get a job ever money, but you know, it gave me a little bit of a window to just kind of explore my own creativity. So I said I'm enjoying podcasts. I'm flabbergasted that I managed to screw up this gravel bike purchase. There's so much going on in gravel. I get so many questions about how to spec a bike. I said, why don't I, you know, I took, I took a podcasting course and I began the Gravel Ride podcast in 2018. With this simple vision of, I was gonna interview people, product designers, and event organizers. [00:28:25] Dave Mable: which I feel like you've stuck to for on five years now. [00:28:31] Craig Dalton: Yeah. It's been pretty much the journey and I still, I mean I, you know, as you and I both as podcasters, there's days where you're like, can I keep up the energy and enthusiasm to do. Obviously being conversational podcasts like we both host, it's important that you're engaged and excited to talk to your guest. And I still am. I mean, I, I, I do think, you know in, as, as we hit 2023, some of the, the massive innovation in the, the bicycle design maybe is behind us for gravel. There was a long journey of many years. For designers to figuring out like, well, how do we get the right tire capacity? How do we get the right geometry? And I don't think the, the, there's not one single right answer to that. I think what has emerged is you've got this great category that as writers explore their own interests as they reconcile their own terrain, there's, there's the right bike for. And I'm always the first to say the bike setup I have here is not the bike set up for Kansas, for example. Like, it's just, it would, it would be way overkill. Um, and there's, there's nothing wrong with what I've set up my bike as, and there's nothing wrong with how you've set up your bike. [00:29:52] Dave Mable: with Yeah. Well, you would totally make fun of me. I'm still on a, uh, Uh, this is kind of interesting, a trek Crockett, the pink one, and, uh, flat bar, which is interesting. And it is signed by both Gary Fisher and Katie Compton. Which, I don't know, maybe that went down in value a couple years ago, but I feel like it still has value. I, I'm a Katie Compton fan, but uh, it was kind of funny cuz they were, it was at the TRX CX Cup and truth be told, I wanted spend nest to, uh, uh, to sign it. And every time as a journalist, every time he was available, I was working and. I wasn't working. He was working, coaching, doing whatever. So, uh, I walked past the Katy Compton compound and uh, I was like, Hey, you should sign my bike. She did. Gary Fisher walks by at that moment. He's like, well, how come she gets to sign it? I'm like, dude, here's a pen right here. And then they argue about who had more input into its design, which I just stood back, listened and. But, uh, you know, it's a pretty old sc I mean, it's a cross bike. It's a high, it's a high performance cross bike, and it is a bit sketchy on loose gravel, but on the, when the gravel is concrete, it is awesome. It flies. I have 33 millimeter tires on it, which people are like, I didn't know they still made those. Oh God, I saved them. But, uh, You know, looking at the, the well, 40 sevens. Holy moly, those are big. Uh, I could envision a pair of forties I could envision, um, you know, the, the benefit of a longer bike. Talking to a guy about, um, fat biking recently, he builds his own bike. You'll want to tune in, um, to Steve McGuire and, and hear how he has come up with his fat bike design. Um, Is long, like, really long chain stays because it acts like a keel in the loose gravel. And I'm like, oh, that, I mean, that really makes sense. So there is kind of something for everyone. I, I also have to say, like, I talked to a dude, um, the podcast I dropped today. The guy is, uh, the reason he loves gravel is nobody cares what you're. Nobody cares what you're wearing. Nobody cares how fast you are. They don't care what color your skin is. They don't care how you talk. Like it's just a gravel ride. [00:32:38] Craig Dalton: Yeah. [00:32:38] Dave Mable: uh, and he really appreciates that. So, boy, that was a rant, wasn't it? [00:32:43] Craig Dalton: a little bit, but we learned a lot about your bike. [00:32:48] Dave Mable: Like I said, there's little Easter eggs we can throw out in these podcasts, right? [00:32:52] Craig Dalton: Yeah. Yeah, for sure. I think that the, the sport of gravel's in an interesting place right now, um, just in terms of like the, for lack of a better term, the professionalization of the front end of the pack and that that's impact on the rest of the field. I mean, obviously like we talk about the spirit of gravel and the type of experience that anybody who's willing to sign up for one of these. Should have, like, we're generally, we're not at the front. We're really just just there for the experience, but there is this ongoing kind of evolution of what the front end of the pack looks like and act, you know, the requirements for safety and, um, competitiveness that need to be figured out. [00:33:34] Dave Mable: signal out [00:33:35] Craig Dalton: I'm. I'm, uh, sort of optimistic. There's a lot of experimentation going on this year. You know, Unbound just announced that they're gonna start the professional men by themselves, and then the professional women two minutes after that, and then the rest of the field, uh, eight minutes after that, which I think is interesting. I, I do think, you know, in talking to female athletes, it's, it's always been this curious race dynamic of clearly you're working with. [00:34:03] Dave Mable: men, [00:34:04] Craig Dalton: And other women throughout the day, like anybody would, right? No one wants to ride by themselves, but so much of that can come into play with who takes the win, right? If you, you could, you know, a strong woman can go off the front and someone drafting men could bridge that gap putting in, you know, 20% less effort. And that could be the difference between winning and losing and. I, I have no idea what the right answer is, but I, I do like this idea that they're gonna have some time to themselves to kind of strategically do one thing or the other, [00:34:40] Dave Mable: And [00:34:41] Craig Dalton: knows what those things will be. [00:34:42] Dave Mable: right? And at least have the opportunity to see where people are relative to themselves. Like, oh, there's five women ahead of me and there's 25 behind me. And then the men come and you get mixed in there. You still know like, okay, there's still five women ahead of me and 25 behind me, and so I'm in good shape. As opposed to just not having any idea where the rest of the women are. Cuz you lose them in the, the me. [00:35:09] Craig Dalton: exactly. So I know the, the Shasta Gravel hugger, which I just did an uh, episode with him a few weeks back. Uh, Ben, he's trying a few things. That'll be interesting to see. We'll see the results of that in, in March. Um, yeah, I just think it's gonna be an interesting year for. [00:35:23] Dave Mable: for sure. It, it is going to be an interesting year and it was an interesting year, especially with the world UCI, world Championships and that was definitely an interest. I wouldn't call that US style gravel, uh, women raced on a completely different day than the men. [00:35:44] Craig Dalton: Yeah. Not at, yeah, totally Not at all. US style gravel. In fact, I, I just had, um, the gentleman on, I haven't released the podcast yet, who's got, who's running the UCI world's qualifier out of Fayetteville for the second year in a row. Um, the name of the event is escaping me. It'll come to me in a minute, I'm sure. But it was interesting talking to him both on the podcast and offline. You know, the, the expectation, I guess, at the USA cycling level for a long period of time was that this first inaugural, um, uci, uh, you know, world Championships was going to be held in the US and I think they just, UCI just wasn't communicating really well with USA cycling. And ultimately it wasn't until, like the very sort of last quarter of the year that they really figured out and leaned in. Hey, if we're gonna pull this off, it needs to be in Italy. It needs to be somewhere, somewhere where they've run events and it's close to home and they can kind of, they, I think they just felt like that was the only way that they could execute. [00:36:49] Dave Mable: was, huh. Interesting. Um, yeah. U S USA cycling, I feel like instead of, it was just interesting who showed up, how they showed up. And then how the race went. And I feel like it was a sep kind of day versus a, or Keegan Swenson for sure. I mean, he probably could have, [00:37:11] Craig Dalton: Yeah, [00:37:11] Dave Mable: uh, but, um, but it was such a road race. It was like Perry Rube with gravel sections. [00:37:18] Craig Dalton: yeah, yeah. And, and obviously like shorter than we're accustomed to. I'm not necessarily opposed to like that shorter length because I do think. An argument to be said, to say, you know, it's hard to be racing after 200 miles, whereas everybody's racing hardcore after a hundred. Um, I don't know what the right answer is, but I'm, I'm like, my gut tells me like those ultra distance ones are like their own special thing. Um, while I, I just pulled it up. So it's the Highland Gravel Classic in Fayetteville, put on by Bruce Dunn at All Sports Productions. He's got the, the UCI qualifier for this. Um, in Fayetteville again. And I think the interesting thing is, um, you know, who's gonna show up? Like what is the process he and I were talking about, you know, as an age grouper, I could go to Fayetteville and if I'm in the top 25% of my category, I could go compete in the world Championships doesn't mean anything sort of, of my relative ability here in the United States across, you know, any of these big races we have here. But I have to say that that's, that's a compelling story. Like I, I would go to, I would go to Italy and represent the United States. I'm, look, I'm a tourist cyclist, but to like have that honor of like, in the 50 plus category to go over there, I would, I wouldn't, you know, snub my nose at it. [00:38:41] Dave Mable: it? Yeah, for sure. I'd, I'd, I'd jump at that chance. I've got a lot of work to do to even hope for top 25% of our group [00:38:49] Craig Dalton: You, you and me both. [00:38:51] Dave Mable: but, uh, but nonetheless, you're right. It, it would be super cool. I, I feel like there's room for all of it. You know, if you, I feel like gravel cycling. An analogy is marathon or just running road [00:39:06] Craig Dalton: Yep. [00:39:07] Dave Mable: And, uh, anybody can sign up. You can do 5k, you can do the local 5K in your neighborhood and get a t-shirt. Or you can do like the world's largest 5K in, I don't know, Boulder, Colorado. That'd be a 10 K. But, um, same with marathons and uh, you know, Chicago Marathon. 30,000 people, the front line's up at the front and the mid packers line up at their pace and then they go run it. And I feel like gravel's pretty similar. [00:39:40] Craig Dalton: I do too. I think, I mean, I think that the moment in time to build a big race, like a thousand plus person race, it's difficult to find a spot on the calendar where that'll work. [00:39:52] Dave Mable: mm-hmm. [00:39:53] Craig Dalton: Um, today I do think there are, there are always gonna be geographic opportunities, right? Like if there's not a lot of racing in upstate New York, there's an opportunity for someone to create a great race in upstate new. It's probably also important that the economics match up, right? So if, if you've got a, if you're gonna make, if a 200 person race is gonna be the size of your race, just understand that going in and don't overinvest, and you know, it's gonna have little, little bit more of a community feel and some of these major events that are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars in their product. [00:40:27] Dave Mable: Yeah, it is kind of amazing having watched this happen. Everything from like the beginning I was in Trans Iowa, number two and uh, to full-time staff, full-time year round staff, multiple full-time year round staff running these gravel events. That's kind of crazy actually. Um, We can dissect the world of gravel forever. But, uh, I wanna know more about your podcast. Um, you've got a co-host with Randall, and, uh, I'm curious how that works. Uh, how'd you find him? And, uh, how do you guys, how's it work between the two of you? [00:41:08] Craig Dalton: Yeah, that's a good question. So Randall and I got connected. Randall Jacobs is the founder of Thesis Spike and more recently Logos components, which making, uh, some great carbon wheels. He and I connected because he started that business in San Francisco. He was offering people demo rides of the bikes, and, uh, Randall was an ex specialized employee, helped design the original diverge. I got to know him and appreciate his, his personality, his technical acumen. Um, ultimately ended up buying a thesis bike and riding one. So I transitioned from the open to the thesis. The thesis is a fraction of the price of the open. [00:41:48] Dave Mable: Yeah. [00:41:49] Craig Dalton: Incredibly capable. In fact, for anybody on video, it's the, the pink bike right behind me is my thesis. Bicycle, [00:41:56] Dave Mable: I love that pink bike. [00:41:59] Craig Dalton: but very much like the open. Anyway, so, um, he and I just became friends and became people. We, we rode together. We, we saw many elements of the, the, the industry and the world. Similarly, I also recognize that Randall became my go-to guy for technical question. [00:42:15] Dave Mable: guys [00:42:16] Craig Dalton: And it started out, um, first did an episode about thesis bikes and got to know him a little bit, and then I invited him to do a gravel bike 1 0 1 episode. So in kind of quizzing the community, what they were looking for, I realized, you know, a lot of time the starting point of our discussions on the podcast are a little bit more. I'll make the point that I absolutely endeavor to start at the beginning and try not to make too many assumptions, and I'm not trying to be a tech podcast at all. Um, but I brought Randall on and I was able to, he and I were able to have a discussion of, what do you look for when you buy a bike? Let's break it down. Let's help the listener understand at the time in which we recorded the first one, what should you be thinking? [00:43:03] Dave Mable: about? [00:43:04] Craig Dalton: We did the same thing a year later because I felt like the industry kept changing and it was just this great thing to have in the podcast feed, you know, 2019 Gravel bike 1 0 1 episode. Um, as he and I continued to communicate, it became clear, like there were probably some themes, some discussions, et cetera, with people in the industry that he was going to be a. Person to interview them with. So, Randall's episodes tend to either be more highly technical than mine. So for example, he did a great episode with Matt from Enduro Bend, uh, Barings. Where, where they really kind of dug into ceramic and stainless steel bearings and the viscosities of oil and stuff. That's kind of, you know, I can sort of, I'm smart enough to be, you know, it sounds somewhat intelligent about, but I definitely don't know everything those, those guys and girls know. So I said I'm loose on that. And then the other big thing he's super keen on is just community and the community of cycling and the, uh, frankly, the mental health value of cycling as an activity. Uh, and cycling the cycling community as something that, you know, we benefit from not only physiologically as athletes, but. Emotionally in that it, it, it does become this, this release for us when we get out there. And it is one of the things that's always attracted me about riding Off Road is that, you know, you ride a technical section and you just stop and you wait for the next guy or girl to come through and High five 'em, whether they crash or clean it, it's just, it's the best feeling in the world. [00:44:48] Dave Mable: No doubt, no doubt. I it really is. You mentioned community and you started a thing called the ridership. Uh, tell our listeners what it is and what's, why'd you start it? What, [00:45:03] Craig Dalton: Yeah, the the rider, the ridership, a free global cycling community. It has a sort of orientation towards gravel and adventure cyclists, but, Everybody's welcome. It serves two purposes. One, you know, I, I definitely wanted to have a, a easier back channel to me as a podcast host. I wanted people to be able to chat with me directly and, uh, but I also realized like I'm, I'm, I'm potentially a authority in the world of gravel cycling, but I'm not the a. And to my earlier comments about, you know, my technical shortcomings, I realized that, you know, I had this amazing community of listeners that are very capable of interacting with ano one another and they have hundreds of different experiences than my own, or, or Randall's, for that matter. So we're basically built, uh, a community on Slack, and that may not be, Going forward platform, but Slack, for those who don't know, it's just a, a program or an application you can get on your computer or phone and we can sort of segment the conversations into what are called channels. So we have a channel on tires, we have a channels on nutrition, and we have also have regional channels. And the vision was, you know, as gravel cyclists, when you're a road cyclist, it, it, to me, it seemed easy to find. Like I could go and there wasn't a lot of questions. Like as long as I knew the mileage and maybe the elevation gainer loss, like I kind of knew what I was gonna be pedalling on. But gravel, I feel, I felt like you, you missed the real gems. Like it's easy for me to tell you to go up old railroad grade and come down here on Mount Tam, but I've got 20 different, you know, little paths that I can take you on that are gonna create those high five. [00:46:53] Dave Mable: s [00:46:53] Craig Dalton: And we all do. And I wanted, so if I go to Iowa, I want someone in Iowa to tell me where I should go gravel ride, and I wanna ask questions of them. If I go to Europe, I wanna ask questions of someone who lives in the country that I'm visiting. So we started out with that basic premise that everybody's welcome. We've created this open platform that's free to use. Its devoid of any advertis. We, you know, I originally had like a Facebook group for the podcast, and it's like, I don't want to bring you into Facebook to have other ads shoved in your face. I want you to get out on your damn bike. So we wanted something that was like, come talk about bikes to your heart, heart's content, then put it away. We're not looking to be part of the attention economy. I'm not. Monetize your attention. We're just trying to create this community where we can share, share, and exchange value. [00:47:50] Dave Mable: can. Is it working? [00:47:52] Craig Dalton: Yeah, it is, you know, we've got a, a pretty passionate group in there. There's probably, I haven't checked lately, but probably around 2000 people that participate in the forum. The channel, you know, every day you go in, the channels are lighting up from, you know, people. Having a mechanical question that they're getting someone more technical to answer, or we tend to get a, a bunch of like event organizers who get in the mix there saying, Hey, you know, Shasta gravel huggers coming up. If you have any questions, I'm Ben, I'm the promoter. Just, you know, I'm happy I'm here to answer things like that. And then, you know, a lot of direct messaging, people sell stuff there to, you know, when they're getting rid of a bike or a wheel set or what have you. So yeah. Yeah, I would say it's working. It's not my day job. So, you know, we've, I believe we've created a thoughtful structure. We don't, we haven't had any issues that we've needed to police. Everybody's self-selecting as someone who's just there for information and the enjoyment of the sport. [00:48:51] Dave Mable: there. One of the, there are no rules in gravel, but one of the rules is don't be a dick. So maybe you have people who abide by the rules and are not dicks. [00:49:04] Craig Dalton: That. That's pretty much it, and for anybody who's listening, it's just go to the the www.theridership.com and you'll get a free invite to join. [00:49:13] Dave Mable: Perfect. I love it. I love it. So I want to ask a couple of podcast questions. Who is the guest that you were most surprised? Said yes. [00:49:29] Craig Dalton: Uh, I'll answer this in two ways. I think Rebecca Rush was that guest and the, the second part of that is she could not be a nicer person. [00:49:39] Dave Mable: correct. That is a true statement. [00:49:43] Craig Dalton: Unbelievably engaging, inquisitive, generous with her time like. That's the one I point to that I just, one super stoked that she came on and two super stoked to see that she is every, she shows up in a podcast interview as much as she does on her social media. [00:50:02] Dave Mable: on. Yeah. That's cool. That's kind of fun. What was a surprising moment for you with a guest? [00:50:10] Craig Dalton: Gosh. I mean, I mean there's, there's sort of tricky moments, I think, in any podcast interview sometimes, you know, I don't, I don't do a lot of, um, like pre-show interviewing because it's conversational. Like I just generally want it to happen. I've had a few guests who weren't as. Verbose as I would like them to be. [00:50:35] Dave Mable: or you have to like pull those words out of their mouth. [00:50:40] Craig Dalton: Exactly. I mean, we're obviously an audio medium and, uh, you know, we need people to talk and we need people to tell stories. And, you know, I, I wouldn't invite someone on who I didn't think had an amazing story. I've just had a, a few odd occasions where, you know, they weren't good at telling their own. [00:50:57] Dave Mable: occasions. Yeah. Yeah. I, I can relate to that. And only 50 some in, but, uh, yeah, you, you are right about that. Where, what's your vision? Where do you want it to go? [00:51:11] Craig Dalton: Yeah. You know, I think, as I mentioned earlier, like I, I still am excited to pull the mic in front of me and have these conversations. Um, if I wasn't, I wouldn't keep doing. [00:51:23] Dave Mable: a, [00:51:23] Craig Dalton: scratches an itch for me. As we said earlier, like I've been around bikes and bike racing my entire life, and I do enjoy. Having a foothold in this world and the Gravel Ride Podcast has provided me, you know, opportunity to build an audience and build a community and build relationships within the bicycle industry. I'm fortunate enough that I've got a handful of sponsors that'll come in and help me pay for some of the overhead of the podcast, and on a rare occasion, you know, give me an opportunity. Go to an event or attend something that otherwise might be difficult to get into. And that, you know, that, that to me was the in, in my mind when I started the podcast. That was the reward I was looking for since I'm going to be involved in this sport anyway, having a little perks here and there and, and opportunities because of the, the hours and hours of effort that I put into this podcast seemed like a fair, fair. [00:52:25] Dave Mable: fair, yeah. I actually had somebody ask me today, is this your full-time gig? [00:52:31] Craig Dalton: Yeah. [00:52:32] Dave Mable: So Craig, is this your full-time gig [00:52:34] Craig Dalton: you don't really understand the economics if you're asking that question. [00:52:37] Dave Mable: You're right. No, I did not win the, was it the Powerball $1.1 billion thing? I did not win that. [00:52:46] Craig Dalton: right. Any of you think about it? You mentioned when we were offline about some recent interviews we've been doing with cycling media. Uh, journalists and, you know, with outside laying off a bunch of staff and a bunch of publications, kind of grappling with what the future of media is. You know, I've always felt very blessed in the fact that I, the podcast has never had to provide income for my family. It has never had to put food on the table because that, that's complicated. I mean, the economics don't really work out. For this could not be a full-time position for me. And I am, I'm certainly empathetic to the plight of people who have dedicated their lives to become proper journalists, um, and who are struggling to sort of make ends meet in this current environment. [00:53:38] Dave Mable: Yeah, it's, uh, it's definitely a challenge. I actually was editor of a actual paper magazine that was printed on real life paper and you like, sat on the toilet and read it. Um, [00:53:54] Craig Dalton: Love it. [00:53:56] Dave Mable: And I feel like I am a Cartwright in 1912 when people are st starting to buy the, the Ford model A or whatever, and that I'm seeing the writing on the wall that like, in a few years, there will be no more Cartwrights. [00:54:15] Craig Dalton: Yeah. Yeah, I, I think it's a super difficult transition because, I mean, the obvious answer is like, consumers should pay for the content that they consume, whether it's audio or the written word, but the, frankly, like even if there's a willingness to do that, the mechanisms to do so are still klugy and create, you know, the minor hurdles for people to get over. Right. Do I want to get out my credit card to read a particular article that I, you know, became exposed to? N no. But if it was like embedded into my web pay, like into my web browser, like this micro transaction that could be made simple, like I would, I would do that. So I'm sort of, I'm stuck in that, like there are definitely content channels that I pay for, but there are certainly other bits of content that I enjoy consuming. That I like the mechanisms for paying for them. Just the, the friction's just too much for me to do. So, and you know, you, you as podcasters, we see this all the time, right? We, we occupy this very intimate place with the listener, right? We, we've spending, they spend an hour a week with us. And if you think about like that, that attention that we're, we're fortunate enough to garner from our listeners, that's a massive amount. Attention. People know a a lot about me from the years of podcasting and my myself on the mic. Yet [00:55:46] Dave Mable: Yet [00:55:47] Craig Dalton: it's very difficult for anybody to figure out how to compensate me for their appreciation of my words. [00:55:53] Dave Mable: Right, right. They could buy you a coffee. [00:55:57] Craig Dalton: Yeah, indeed. Yes. That's a little, I appreciate the plug, Dave. I mean, I have, I've always had this sort. Super modest, buy me a coffee account, buy me a coffee.com/the gravel ride. And I mean, I'm always like super appreciative if someone takes a moment and does that cuz it's not, it's not first and foremost, it's sort of like something I do mention, but I, I don't push it and I don't have a, like a, a really elaborate Patreon program that allows you to get bonus episodes. And if I had more time, I would love to do that. Cause I, I. A hundred percent like to provide more value for those people who, who are supporting me. [00:56:35] Dave Mable: yeah, I send, uh, my supporters as sticker. So it's, I mean, it's something, but you're right, it's, it's, it's a treat to get an email that says, uh, Hey, somebody bought you a coffee. Like, ah, that's super nice because it's, I mean, they do have to log on and they do have to like, get out their credit card and punch a bunch of things on their computer and push send and, and, uh, it's time outta their day to show their appreciation for what, what you're doing and, and what you're bringing them. And you're right. Uh, an hour a week and we're like, Like drilled into people's heads through their ears. Like that's, [00:57:14] Craig Dalton: Yeah. [00:57:14] Dave Mable: that's, uh, that's privileged space and time, isn't it? [00:57:21] Craig Dalton: Yeah, for sure. And I will say like, I think just to give the listeners some perspective, I think for every hour we publish probably is three hours of combined effort to kind of get to that hour. That's, that's sort of my, like back of the envelope math around like the effort it takes to kind of produce the podcast. [00:57:39] Dave Mable: Yeah, I feel like you're more efficient than me. [00:57:45] Craig Dalton: I mean either that Dave or my editing is, is really low pro. [00:57:49] Dave Mable: Oh, I don't know. You should listen to the podcast I dropped today. There was a moment where I just drew a blank in this conversation and I said to the guy, I was like, you ever like just have a blank moment and you can't come up with whatever you're gonna say? And he's like, yeah. And I was like, yeah, it sucks cuz I did not want to edit this and I'm gonna have to. And then as I was listening to it, as I was editing, I'm leaving that in there. Like, that's raw me. I'm leaving that in there. So I [00:58:17] Craig Dalton: Yeah. I do have to say Dave, like I, I, I had that issue early on in the podcast where I felt like I wasn't eloquent enough and I wanted to go in and edit everything out. And, you know, eventually I came to the conclusion like, the, the effort is not worth the. Meaning like people came for this kind of raw conversation and the fact that I may have stumbled over my words, et cetera, like that's just part of the conversation and yeah, just gotta go with it. [00:58:48] Dave Mable: Yeah. And it's, it's a, okay, uh, Don, uh, Dan Patrick says, um, quite a bit, [00:58:54] Craig Dalton: Yeah. [00:58:55] Dave Mable: you know what I mean? [00:58:57] Craig Dalton: exactly. [00:58:58] Dave Mable: Well listen, we've been, uh, just about an hour. I really have enjoyed getting to know you face to face here. I'd love to meet you on the bike sometime, whether I make it to Cal, California, whether you make it to Iowa or we meet somewhere in between. Uh, do you have any big rides planned this year? [00:59:18] Craig Dalton: I'm still like, I'm still thinking about my schedule and I probably spend too much time thinking about that. This is the off that one of those positive offshoots of like, I feel like I have the opportunity. If I, if I'm, if I can afford it and get the time off from the family and work, like, there's a ton of things that I can do. Um, and I, I need to get my head around here in January, like, what are the things I really wanna advocate for myself? There's a few races that I'm super keen to do. One being Rebecca's private Idaho. The second being, uh, the Oregon Trail gravel grinder. The weeklong stage. Both, you know, super great reputations. I love the idea of multiple day events because I feel like when you travel to go do one of these events, um, [01:00:10] Dave Mable: events, [01:00:11] Craig Dalton: you're taking up the time anyway, so you might as well ride and enjoy that area for multiple days versus popping in, being super anxious about a race and then just doing that race. So I'm really trying to think about that. I had the great fortune of going to Jer with track travel in November, and that was fantastic. So I'm super bullish on like just the general idea of gravel travel. So, Long answer to your question, definitely you'll see me at at at a handful of events this year, and definitely like I hope to do at least one cycling vacation type trip. [01:00:46] Dave Mable: Ah, very. Very cool. Well, you're, you're welcome to come out and put your 28 millimeter road tires on and do rag Bry with us. It's a fifth 50th anniversary of Rag Bry and I'm an old hat at Rag Bry, so if you want to come out and spend a week riding on the road and eating pie drinking beer, that's about it. That's about what we do. Ride our bikes. Eat pine, drink beer. Uh, you're always [01:01:13] Craig Dalton: uh, I appreciate that, Dave. I've had a couple Iowans on the podcast talking about various events there, and gosh, we, there's so many places to go. I would love to end up in Iowa, one of these years. [01:01:24] Dave Mable: Yeah. Well, you, you've got a, a friendly face here and you got my number, so look me up. Yep. [01:01:30] Craig Dalton: Right on. [01:01:31] Dave Mable: All right. Well thanks tons and, uh, good luck with the pod. Say hey to Randall. Tell 'em I enjoy listening to, uh, his conversations as well as yours and keep up the good work. [01:01:41] Craig Dalton: Yeah, I definitely will, and it was a pleasure being on the show, Dave. I appreciate what you're doing. [01:01:45] Dave Mable: I, uh, I appreciate that you're, uh, a good, um, role model for me. [01:01:49] Craig Dalton: Chairs. So that's going to do it for this week's conversation. Big, thanks to Dave Mabel for having me on bike. Talk with Dave. I hope you as a loyal listener, enjoyed getting to know me a little bit better. If you have any questions about the things that I've done or want to get connected with me. I encourage you to join the ridership. That's simply www.theridership.com. That's a free global cycling community. We created to connect gravel and adventure, cyclists. From all around the world. So I think we'll leave it at that this week. And as always until next time. Here's to finding some dirt onto your wheels.  

Ep 34 Matthew Kutilek 2 of 3 We discuss DK200, DKXL, Trans-Iowa, Iowa Wind & Rock, and 10yrs after injury Marathon.

May 18, 2020 Riding Gravel Radio Ranch Show Page ABOUT THE EPISODE THIS EPISODE IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY JENSONUSA Special Double Feature release of the Riding Gravel Radio Ranch. In the first episode, the guys contemplate this year’s event landscape. Guitar Ted unveils a new segment called Guitar Ted’s History of Trans Iowa. --------- RELATED SHOW NOTES THIS EPISODE IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY JENSONUSA & GRINDER NATIONALS Happy 15 years! – http://g-tedproductions.blogspot.com/2020/05/the-15th-anniversary-of-guitar-ted.html Gore Wear – https://www.gorewear.com/ Twin Six Standard Rando – https://www.twinsix.com/products/standard-rando-frameset-black?variant=6044881539 Hutchison Touareg – https://www.hutchinsontires.com/en/gravel-cyclocross/tire/touareg-bike-standard Other news & reviews – https://www.ridinggravel.com/gravel-news/ Riding Gravel Event Calendar: http://ridinggravel.com/events/ Riding Gravel Forum – http://ridinggravel.com/forum/ SUBSCRIBE: APPLE | GOOGLE

Joe Partridge is not only a multi Trans-Iowa finisher (on a single speed!) but also works professionally as an emergency manager.  We talk about what constitutes a disaster, how bikes fit in and his go to bikes for the apocalypse. Support what you love: www.patreon.com/pathlesspedaled

That's probably the most famous and infamous gravel race in the world. The Dirty Kanza, the big monster of the dirty rides. I talked with the organizer, Lelan, I discover way more than what is just scratched from tha surface.Link List:Dirty Kanza – https://dirtykanza.comProject Y – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVOZDmK1oxA&list=WLGCN Dirty Kanza – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qC4t-nF-0twGrinduro Scotland – https://grinduro.com/scotland/Toros de Gravel – https://www.torosdegravel.com/Land Run 100 – https://landrun100.com/Trans Iowa – http://transiowa.blogspot.com/Season 2 of Broom Wagon.The Gravel SeasonVoice by: CalamaroMusic by: Lakey Inspired (https://soundcloud.com/lakeyinspired)My contactswww.calamaro.cchello@calamaro.ccwww.twitter.com/readcalamarowww.instagram.com/calamaroccwww.spreaker.com/listencalamarowww.soundcloud.com/listencalamarowww.strava.com/athletes/2668270

That's probably the most famous and infamous gravel race in the world. The Dirty Kanza, the big monster of the dirty rides. I talked with the organizer, Lelan, I discover way more than what is just scratched from tha surface.Link List:Dirty Kanza – https://dirtykanza.comProject Y – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVOZDmK1oxA&list=WLGCN Dirty Kanza – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qC4t-nF-0twGrinduro Scotland – https://grinduro.com/scotland/Toros de Gravel – https://www.torosdegravel.com/Land Run 100 – https://landrun100.com/Trans Iowa – http://transiowa.blogspot.com/Season 2 of Broom Wagon.The Gravel SeasonVoice by: CalamaroMusic by: Lakey Inspired (https://soundcloud.com/lakeyinspired)My contactswww.calamaro.cchello@calamaro.ccwww.twitter.com/readcalamarowww.instagram.com/calamaroccwww.spreaker.com/listencalamarowww.soundcloud.com/listencalamarowww.strava.com/athletes/2668270

Last year it was announced that Trans Iowa was in its final run. Sarah Cooper and two partners have revived the event as "Iowa Wind and Rock. Registration opens this Saturday with only 120 spots available. With the interest generated to this point, you'd best get your application in as soon as it opens. Sarah joins us to talk about the particulars of the race in the first of our series leading up to the April 20th event! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Trans Iowa is considered the grandfather of the modern gravel event in the US.  We interview Mark Stevenson / Guitar Ted, one of the founders of TI, and talk about the early days of Trans Iowa and how it has influenced other events. We also ponder if we have reached Peak Gravel and other future trends. T This episode is proudly supported by FilmedbyBike.org, a turnkey way to bring bike fun to your local town. FilmedbyBike gives cyclits a reason to gather, have fun and be used for community building and fundraising. Show Sponsor: FilmedbyBike.org Support shenanigans: http://www.paypal.me/pathlesspedaled Supple Shirts: http://pathlesspedaled.spreadshirt.com Support via PayPal: http://paypal.me/pathlesspedaled

April 6, 2018 Riding Gravel Radio Ranch Show Page This episode is brought to you by: TravelKS.com JensonUSA Grinder Nationals ABOUT THE EPISODE Guitar Ted and Ben take some time to chat about a mix of topics and updates that are happening in, on, and around Riding Gravel. Trans Iowa, the new/updated/future gravel geometries and tire widths, drawing in art class, tires, seatposts, wheels, Korean gravel possibilities, and plenty more.  If you have any questions, comments, or have an idea for an episode, please feel free to contact us anytime. -------------- RELATED SHOW NOTES Kansas Mini Guide Trans IowaBar-YakPedal of LittletonWTBIrwin Cycling Wheels Irwin Cycling Wheels “Getting Rolling” Gore Shakedry The DKXL Silca Tattico Bluetooth Pump Cirrus Cycles Kinekt Seat Post Archer Components Guitar Ted’s BlogRiding Gravel ForumInterested in sponsoring an episode? Contact us.

This week we talk with Mark Stevenson, better know as Guitar Ted. He's the co-founder and race director behind the 300+ mile gravel race known as Trans Iowa. The epic contest has spawned countless other gravel races but never strayed far from its roots as a brutal, self-supported, self-navigated gauntlet that pushes riders beyond what they thought they could wring from their weary bodies. Andrea Parrott wraps up the show with savvy advice for a smart question about cycling while pregnant.

January 4, 2017 Riding Gravel Show Page ABOUT THE EPISODE This episode is brought to you by TravelKS.com Guitar Ted and Ben get up to date with an episode by themselves. No guests does NOT mean no fun though. They do a little housekeeping and give some updates of what they have been up to with the website. There are some new, good updates that hopefully provide more riders with more valuable information. Additionally, Guitar Ted discusses a recent question about tires, including the 650b WTB Horizon tires, as well as general information. Then they discuss the near term future of the cycling world. Plus, 2017 Trans Iowa information. If you have any questions, comments, or have an idea for an episode, please feel free to contact us anytime. ------------- RELATED SHOW NOTES: This episode is brought to you by TravelKS.com Previous Interview with Will Ritchie Guitar Ted's thoughts on the future Gravel Tire Finder Trans Iowa v13 Guitar Ted's Blog The Riding Gravel Tire Finder Riding Gravel Event Calendar Riding Gravel Forum Riding Gravel Bike Finder Riding Gravel Tire Finder Interested in sponsoring an episode? Contact us.  

November 24, 2016 Riding Gravel Radio Ranch Show Page ABOUT THE EPISODE This episode is brought to you by TravelKS.com Will Ritchie of WTB joins this episode of The Riding Gravel Radio Ranch. They discuss several topics including the process of developing tires, specific tire details, Trans Iowa, and more. Will shares some great information about how WTB designs and develops tires, as well as how they gauge customer demand in the quickly changing gravel scene. Will also shares some good stories about his Trans Iowa experience. Listen in to get some company information and details that you likely won’t read anywhere. If you have any questions, comments, or have an idea for an episode, please feel free to contact us anytime. ------------ RELATED SHOW LINKS This episode is brought to you by TravelKS.com WTB WTB Nano 40 WTB Riddler 37 WTB Riddler 45 Riding Gravel Nano 40 Review Riding Gravel Riddler 45 Review Riding Gravel Riddler 37 Review Trans Iowa v13 Guitar Ted’s Blog The Riding Gravel Tire Finder Riding Gravel Event Calendar Riding Gravel Forum Riding Gravel Bike Finder Riding Gravel Tire Finder Interested in sponsoring an episode? Contact us.

September 12, 2016 Riding Gravel Radio Ranch Page ABOUT THE EPISODE Welcome back to the Riding Gravel Radio Ranch. In this episode, Guitar Ted and Ben discuss the gravel road code, Interbike, Gravel Worlds, Trans Iowa, and more. Guitar Ted shares his experience at Gravel Worlds, including his bike setup, nutrition, and thoughts on it in general. If you have any questions, comments, or have an idea for an episode, please feel free to contact us anytime. ------------- RELATED SHOW LINKS Gravel Worlds Trans Iowa v13 Guitar Ted’s Blog Guitar Ted’s Gravel Worlds Report: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Epic Bar Teravail Tires Cirrus Cycles Body Float Buy a Riding Gravel Tshirt The Riding Gravel Tire Finder Riding Gravel Event Calendar Riding Gravel Forum Riding Gravel Bike Finder Riding Gravel Tire Finder Interested in sponsoring an episode? Contact us.

August 12, 2016 Riding Gravel Radio Ranch Show Page ABOUT THE EPISODE This episode is brought to you by the Pig Trail Gravel Grinder  In this episode, Guitar Ted and Ben discuss the upcoming Gravel Worlds in Nebraska, Trans Iowa v13 in April 2017, and then give some opinions on the current industry. Both guys give their opinions on several aspects of the cycling industry in general, as well as the gravel cycling niche specifically. If you're looking for some thoughts on gravel, bikepacking, and the sort, have a listen. If you have any questions, comments, or have an idea for an episode, please feel free to contact us anytime. ----------- RELATED SHOW NOTES This episode is brought to you by the Pig Trail Gravel Grinder   Gravel Worlds Trans Iowa v13 Guitar Ted's Blog The Riding Gravel Tire Finder Riding Gravel Event Calendar Riding Gravel Forum Riding Gravel Bike Finder Riding Gravel Tire Finder Interested in sponsoring an episode? Contact us.

April 14, 2016 Riding Gravel Radio Ranch Page ABOUT THIS EPISODE This episode of the Riding Gravel Radio Ranch is brought to you by Travel Kansas and Smooth Operator Premium Lubricant. Guitar Ted and Ben catch up on some things that have been going on with the site, including some reviews and updates. Guitar Ted has been busy testing tires, wider rims, and getting his fill of riding on early season Iowa gravel. He shares some thoughts on the Panaracer Gravel King 40mm and the Clement MSO 36’s. We also give you information about Trans Iowa Radio and Guitar Ted gives some initial info and updates about this year’s upcoming Trans Iowa. If you have any questions, comments, or have an idea for an episode, please feel free to contact us anytime. ---------------- THIS EPISODE IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY Smooth Operator Premium Lubricant (Use code "gravel" at checkout for 25% off)  Travel Kansas --------------- RELATED SHOW NOTES: Guitar Ted’s Panaracer Gravel King post Guitar Ted’s Clement MSO 36mm Travel Kansas Smooth Operator Lube – use code “gravel” for 25% off Trans Iowa Radio Guitar Ted’s Blog Riding Gravel Event Calendar Riding Gravel Forum Riding Gravel Bike Finder Riding Gravel Tire Finder Interested in sponsoring an episode? Contact us.

Mark and Steve check in with an update about a lot of different endurance racing topics, including Trans Iowa registration, fatbike races, and much more. They even chat about winter footwear options. Listen in to get caught up on the recent endurance news. Plus, the guys bring up a controversial issue. If you are a race director or racer who would like to hear your race report on an episode of The Last Aid Station, please contact Mark at Mark@Mountainbikeradio.com or Steve at Steve@Mountainbikeradio.com. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- RELATED SHOW LINKS: Cape Epic Crocodile Trophy    Brasil Ride Wembo 24 Hour World Championships Marji Gesick 100 Heck of the North Fatbike Frozen 40 Polar Roll Race Solstice Chase   Cuyuna 5-0 Lula Land Trust 50   Trans iowa 12 FatBike “Worlds”    E 13 Cassettes TRS+ 45 North Wolfgar Shoes Lake Shoes - 303 Winter Model Support The Last Aid Station Support Mountain Bike Radio The Last Aid Station National Ultra Endurance Series Website National Ultra Endurance Series on Facebook The Last Aid Station Facebook Page Mountain Bike Radio Endurance Calendar Email Mark Email Ben BECOME A MOUNTAIN BIKE RADIO MEMBER

EPISODE SPONSORS: Travel Kansas Pedal of Littleton ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Greg Gleason has won Trans Iowa two years in a row. After finishing the 10th annual race in 2014 in 26 hours and 22 minutes and a year of hard work and dedication, Greg was ready to rock at the 2015 Trans Iowa. It was all looking good until the forecast for the race weekend began to change. As the race approached, the gloom and doom sirens rang out among racers and Trans Iowa fans and followers. It began raining on Friday afternoon and evening off and on. By late Friday night/early Saturday morning, it was pouring rain. A cold soaking rain. The roads were soaked and the forecast for Saturday was cold rain. The rain let up for the start at 4am in downtown Grinnell, Iowa, but soon the relentless wind and rain hit, and the field was decimated. Only one racer made Checkpoint 1 on time and that was Greg Gleason. Listen in as Greg shares his story about Trans Iowa v11 and how he managed to get to Checkpoint 1 and complete 120 miles in 12 hours and 20 minutes. He shares his story about getting into gravel racing, preparing and racing for Trans Iowa, and gives a lot of other great information and thoughts. This episode is filled with great insight into racing one of the toughest races out there. If you have any questions, comments, or have an idea for an episode, please feel free to contact us anytime! --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- RELATED SHOW NOTES: Trans Iowa Trans Iowa Radio Wally Kilburg's The Studio at 46 West Jason Boucher's Trans Iowa v11 Photo Story Read Guitar Ted's full, several-part Trans Iowa Report Grinnell Steakhouse Grinnell, Iowa Gravel Event Calendar Interested in sponsoring an episode? Contact us.

This podcast is longer than usual for good reason. Greg Gleason, reigning Trans Iowa champion two years running, gives us an in-depth blow by blow of this year's race - a race in which out of 100 racers, only he made it to the first check point within the time cutoff. Battling a tough course in atrocious weather conditions left Gleason the lone competitor on the route to check point two facing both physical and personal battles. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

EPISODE SPONSOR - EPIC RIDES:   The Grand Junction Off-Road - May 29-31, Grand Junction, Colorado Epic Rides   -----------------------------------------------------------------   Danielle Musto is back in the house! She interviews Salsa Cycles rider, Andrea Cohen, about her life of riding and racing bikes in gravel events. Andrea only started riding within the last five years after having a Jimmy Johns bike delivery job. Since then she has ridden in Trans Iowa four times, with a finish in 2013. She has also been successful at the Dirty Kanza 200. Andrea also chats about her future in mountain biking. Listen in to hear a good discussion of two successful women of cycling.      If you have any questions, comments, or ideas for a future show, please email us at info@mountainbikeradio.com.   From Andrea: "I live, work, and play in Iowa City, Iowa. Iowa may not have epic mountains or vast skylines, but it boasts hundreds of miles of gravel. That is where I found my true calling. In 2012 I attempted my first Trans-Iowa, got lost, and was instantly hooked. I have been there every year since. I am constantly looking for that next adventure to keep me teetering on the line between insanity and clarity." -----------------------------------------------------------------   RELATED SHOW LINKS:   Salsa Cycles Trans Iowa Dirty Kanza 200 Heck of the North Andrea's Blog Gore Women's Bibs Danielle's Blog Danielle's Twitter Danielle's Instagram 2014 Endurance Race Calendar Save $$$ on Carborocket and Tailwind Nutrition and other great stuff, and Support MBR by becoming a member

Welcome to the first episode of the Riding Gravel Radio Ranch. In this episode, hosts and owners of Riding Gravel, Guitar Ted and Ben, give you the big merger announcement. The discuss each other's history in the gravel world, the reasoning behind the name, and details about what you can expect on both the site and the podcast going forward. They also chat about Trans Iowa, including a little of the history, some of this year's registration stories, and more. If you're looking for a behind the scenes discussion of the why, how, who and all the details behind the sites, merger, and the hosts, this is a great episode for you. If you have any questions, comments, or have an idea for an episode, please feel free to contact us anytime! ------------------------------------- Related Show Links: Trans Iowa Guitar Ted's Blog  Trans Iowa Radio on Mountain Bike Radio

8:20pm - April 28, 2014   John Mathias called in with a very honest and great thank you message for Guitar Ted. This messages embodies the character of Trans Iowa   Congratulations to John for finishing one of the hardest races around and one of the toughest Trans Iowa versions to date. That was a gutty and classy performance and even classier message.   J.Paks Adventure Cycling Frame Bags

April 26, 2014   1:51pm   Jeremy Kershaw checks in from North English. He's with a good group and ready to roll.   J.Paks Adventure Cycling Frame Bags

April 26, 2014 3:45 AM Guitar Ted checks in from the start of the 2014 Trans Iowa!

April 26, 2014 6:30am Guitar Ted checks in with the first b-road update.

April 26, 2014 7:30am Guitar Ted checks in with a leader's pack update.   JPaks Adventure Cycling Frame Bags

April 26, 2014 8:07am Jim Cummins (Dirty Kanza director) calls in from Checkpoint 1 and sounds good so far. JPaks Adventure Cycling Frame Bags          

April 26, 2014 8:40am Guitar Ted checks in with a report on the weather and roads.   J.Paks Adventure Cycling Frame Bags  

9:30pm - April 26, 2014   Jake Kruse calls in from the convenience store at mile 184. He sounds like he's doing well.   J.Paks Adventure Cycling Frame Bags

Guitar Ted checks in with a quick report on his way down to the race.

April 25, 2014 8:30pm Guitar Ted checks in after the prerace "meat up". He gives listeners an about about number of racers, sponsors, and even some insider info on the earlier sections.

Guitar Ted is checking in with some of the latest news and updates before tomorrow's race eve.  

April 13, 2014   This is the first episode of Trans Iowa Radio for the 2014 race. Listen in to hear about the course recon and conditions from Guitar Ted.   Related Links: JPaks Adventure Cycling Frame Bags Trans Iowa Website Guitar Ted Course Report Gravel Grinder News Archived Trans Iowa shows   Want to advertise during this year's Trans Iowa? Contact us

August 29, 2013 Guitar Ted checks in after a long time away. He's been busy with his website, Twenty Nine Inches, and Gravel Grinder News, and Trans Iowa. Now is the time of the year that Eurobike and Interbike are flooding the cycling news pipeline with news and new bike-related goodies. Listen in as he shares info on gravel tires and what's new. Trenton Raygor calls in to discuss the ride/race he created, The Filthy 50. It's a very popular fall gravel ride located in Southeastern Minnesota. Trenton's passion for the ride and riding in general comes through very quickly. We apologize for the sound quality. The normal sound system was having technical difficulties. Related Show Links: Guitar Ted's Website - www.g-tedproductions.blogspot.com Twentynineinches.com - www.twentynineinches.com The Filthy 50 - www.thefilthy50.tumblr.com Gravel Grinder News - www.gravelgrindernews.com Trans Iowa - www.transiowa.blogspot.com Pedal Gravel 50 - www.antiepic.blogspot.com (Ben's gravel ride coming soon) Pedal of Littleton - www.pedalonline.com The Guitar Ted Show Homepage - www.mountainbikeradio.com/the-guitar-ted-show/ Go to the episode Extras to see The Filthy 50 rules

Another check in by Guitar Ted

Craig Irving checks in from checkpoint 1.

Guitar Ted with another checkpoint 1 update.

Steve Fuller checks in from Trans Iowa!

Guitar Ted gives another update. More dnf's and more info!

Dirty Kanza 200 director, Jim Cummins, checks in.

Guitar Ted checks in with a midday update.

Another update from checkpoint 2.

Race leader, Chris Schotz, calls in.

Dirty Kanza 200 director, Jim Cummins checks in.

Monika Sattler checks in and sounds good.

Aaron Gammel is sounding a little tired.

Robert and Jeremy Frye give us an update of racers going through checkpoint 2.

Agatha Gryglak checks in for her first time.

The Dirty Kanza 200 director, Jim Cummins, checks in again!

Guitar Ted is back!

Greg Irving checks in again from the Trans Iowa.

GT is checking in.

The third and final Trans Iowa forecast!

This is the second 2Wheel Weather Cyclecast for Trans Iowa. Check in for more on Friday!

Guitar Ted calls in with his first update! A test with some info.

This is the first of a three-part Trans Iowa Forecast by Kristin Clark of 2WheelWeather.com.

The first part of a two-part episode about Trans Iowa. Go the Mountain Bike Radio for all shows.

This is from a more recent Trans-Iowa production called "Serendipity" which was performed at DemiCon 17 on 7/28/06. This clip contains two of the advertisements from the show which include the Star Wars Master Card commercial and the Stargate Barbie commercial. "Serendipity" was sort of a combination of Firefly, Mr. and Mrs. Smith and V for Vendetta- all rolled into one. (Now in the larger ipod format.) This vodcast contains the third "off-season" segment so that you can get caught up on where TICC players are currently appearing.