The 55-mile course for Morganzo: Double Nickels on the Grime is looking great. I rode parts of it last night while trying to figure out which machine would suit me best for the actual event on July 14th.

Wanting desperately to use the fully rigid ride pictured below, I installed 42mm tires, dropped the psi, and tested it out last night. Alas, some of the rutted, dried mud sections were still a bit too rough for my comfort level. The rocky, molded sections of road even rattled my water bottle out of its cage at one point.

Fortunately, at least 45 miles are more like the lovely gravel you see above. Even so, I believe suspension (probably a hard tail) is the best choice for the terrain.

And why do they call it Morganzo? See here...

Yup. A bunch of them Morgan kids still have property up there north of town. Hopefully they won't mind us sharing this lovely land with them.

See ya out there in a couple weeks.

To support National Bike Month, GOOD and CLIF Bar are asking you to tell us how you would promote bike riding and get more of your neighbors on bikes. You can vote to bring $1000.00 to support trails around the Hyalite Reservoir.

Dan Lacey kills everything in this clip.  
1:24      180 to fakie smith cab to manual to 360 out
Don't forget the huge 360 over a rail and of course the toothpick to over toothpick. Ridiculous!


 

Bike polo has been canceled for Wed. June 20th.

Join us for the inaugural riding of 

The Morganzo: Double Nickels on the Grime

Saturday, July 14 @ 9am TIME CHANGE

Meet at the corner of Dry Creek Road & Theisen Road north of Belgrade in time to get set up for a 10am start.

WHAT IS IT?
It's a 55-mile bicycle race on gravel roads in the shadow of the Bridger mountains. The course is scenic, hilly and curvy, gaining over 3000' of vertical along the way -- that's the equivalent of climbing Mount Everest from sea level more than 1/10th of the way to the top.

WHY GRAVEL?
Gravel is more fun than pavement and offers more consistent kickass views than singletrack. Plus, there's a movement afoot. Check out Almanzo or Gravel Grinder to learn more about the awesome races that have been going on in the Midwest for several years now.

HOW DOES IT WORK?
In keeping with the spirit of gravel racing, The Morganzo is an unsupported race and you are wholly responsible for your own safety and well-being. Winner gets first choice of beer from the cooler. There is neither an entry fee nor prize money.

RULES

• You are on your own. Bring everything you need to fix anything that might break or go flat.
• No littering. Let's show respect for all the beautiful private land we'll be riding through.
• Helmet required.
• Winner will be showered with praise and probably cheap beer.
• Last one home is a rotten egg.
• Here are more well-written rules to consider that they use in the Trans Iowa.

GOOD IDEAS

• Be sure to carry plenty of water. 2 bottles probably won't be enough.
• Ride what ya got, but road tires are not recommended. There is no perfect bike, only perfect doping techniques that can't be detected by the feds...yet.
• Have a way to easily view the cue sheet (which will be provided). They make fancy stuff for it if you're into gear. Or just hang near the course marshall who created the route.
• Carpool with a buddy

MORGANZO? DOUBLE NICKELS?
It's local history. It's punk rock. See here for more.


RSVP in the comments if you're in or have questions.

Wed 6/13/12

Sam H, Kirk Ahlberg and myself set out earlier this afternoon from Bozeman to the Butte area to see if we couldn't catch up with some CDT Mountain Bike Racers. Using the smart phones of my bike geek friends along with the spot tracking system ( http://trackleaders.com/tourdivide ) we were able to catch a few riders just west of route 15 south of Butte.

We caught up with a dude named Kevin who started a time trial along the route 2 days before the race began. I wish I could remember his last name, but without the tracking list of riders it is lost on me.We were talking about the riding and the bear bell his daughter gave him for his ride. I hope that his family will find this post and enjoy seeing him in the field getting it done.

Behind Kevin was the fabled Babe the Blue Tandem ridden by last years winner Kurt Refsnider and Caroline Soong who also raced last year. 

I had wondered about Babe and if he was steel or a ti frame. Kurt told me that they always prototype in steel.

 Here is a close up of the Rohlhoff they're running.

 And the grip sifter that Kurt said is giving him some pain while riding.

Ryan Correy riding in close on the tail of the tandem.

Ryan making a move.

The tandem wasn't gonna let him get too far ahead.

Kirk, Sam and myself rode North of the trail to try and catch more riders.  

Dylan Taylor rolling into the top of the pass.

Dylan said he was feeling good and that his new pink bar tape on his bar ends helped.

Katherine Wallace rolling in.

A close up of her fork. I think she said it was a whiskey.

Representing the Kiwis.

Apparently, for you bike geeks out there, Ollie Whalley is running a Rohlhoff with a belt drive.

We were stoked to talk to some of the riders in this years race. They are keeping us stoked and inspired as we follow their beacons from the comfort of our office chairs. 

Ride the Divide!

Interested in following the Tour Divide? Here are some good resources:

• follow the participants visually on the SPOT Tracker leaderboard.
• rss or check in to daily audio updates at http://mtbcast.com/site2/ 
• or, for the same reports, subscribe to MTBCast on iTunes
• messageboard discussions at bikepacking.net

And if you haven't seen "Ride The Divide" you can stream it on Netflix.

This whole web video was made using some of them there fancy Iphones. It's artsy and shows off much of the amazing street riding to be found in Paris.
enjoy

via Strong Towns