Mother Nature Won.

As she normally does, Mother Nature threw down at Trans Iowa making it the epic that is. 58 riders starting, 0 finishing: race was called between the 1st and 2nd checkpoints. We've gotta love technology, there were plenty of live audio updates from the event organizers and a few of the riders kept their Twitter feeds live and going throughout the event... check out #tiv6 and see a little of what all the riders went through.

A hats off to all of you would showed up to ride and battled with the elements. Of course, the final group of riders that made it the longest in until the event was called deserve a special shout out:

Joe Meiser

John Gorilla

Corey "Cornbread" Godfrey

Matt Braun

Eric Brunt

Jay & Tracey Petervary

Charles Parsons

For more insight, reports and pictures on all things Trans Iowa related check out the Trans Iowa site, Guitar Ted's site, and the TI History page.

In all things Grand Rapids related:

The other event we told you about last Friday was the Hop Cat Alley Cat here in Grand Rapids. From all reports the event went off without a hitch and the weather held off all allowing our GM to take 2nd overall in the event.

The Grand Rapids Bike Park is in it's final push to meet the deadline for completion. We've mentioned this a few times on the blog and can't help but bring it up again. This week there are 3 days people are going to be out there getting this place into shape: Tonight, Thursday Evening and Saturday. Keep up on all things GR Bike Park on their Facebook page.

We all love riding the local trails, it's easy to forget all the work needed to develop and maintain the trails we love. Regardless of where you are, get connected to your local MBA and play a part.

Axle time

There is a demographic within the cycling world that we all know, the Clydesdale class. This is a group of riders that share the same love for the sport but are more of a diesel than a race car. One of the most notable, but now former Clydesdale's is Fat Cyclist. To achieve the prestigious title of Clydesdale rider, one must be 200+ lbs. That's it.

I don't know if proud is the right term for it but I am an unashamed member of this class, coming in around 225 lbs. If you're like me, you have encountered a few tiers of weight requirements within the cycling industry: 175 lbs, 200 lbs, 225 lbs and 275 lbs. There a lot of factors that come into play with these recommended rider weight requirements. Depending on a riders style, intended use and material strength to weight ratio there can often be a fluidity to where one can land. Race day products perform differently than that of training and can have a differing longevity.

I say all this to lead into today's Friday Product Highlight. Our ability to custom build wheels to your exact specifications and desires does not end at rim and spoke combinations. We know that all sorts, sizes, and abilities of riders are using and enjoying our product; because of that, on our rear road hubs we offer the ability to change out the stock alloy axle [left side in picture, 20 grams] for chromoly axle [right side in picture, 56 grams]. Our rear road hubs come in at a competitive 250 grams with the alloy axle and a respective 286 grams with chromoly.

So who would be a candidate for the cromoly axle? Remembering that the differing factors which come into play, we would suggest anyone over 200 lbs consider using the chromoly axle. And here's the rub, what do I ride? Based on my riding style and use [mainly commuting] I rock the alloy axles and have had no issues. It's always important to note that, we all ride differently and consulting your LBS can help clear up what might best suit your needs. These axles are available aftermarket through your local bicycle shop or can be installed when we are building up your custom wheel.

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Two races going on this weekend, as mentioned before Trans Iowa looks to be soggy affair, I'm looking forward to following G-Ted and David Pals [event organizers] updates on the race throughout the weekend on Twitter [hashtag #tiv6]. Here in Grand Rapids we have the 3rd Annual Hop Cat Alley Cat. The previous years, this has been an extremely stellar event and this year looks to be the same with 79 people already slated to come via the Facebook event page. $15 for a great time and a chance to get your hands on some Benny Gold rims!

Race Days

Today, we just wanted to do a little shout to a few races:

As mentioned Friday, the Yankee Springs Time Trial was Sunday, it went off without a hitch and was another successful year. Both Ryan and Jacobi sounded pleased with their results, although Jacobi has a bit more of a story involving his disc brake rotor bolts. I'll see if I can swing some sort of race report out of one of them this week along with some pictures.

Another event we are pleased to be part of is Trans Iowa. Surely not the original in the growing epic gravel races but truly one that has gained the reputation for being one of the toughest. The race goes on this weekend out of Grinnell, Iowa and is 'one big ass loop' of 315 miles of unsupported gravel goodness. With rain in the forecast for this weekend, it will be interesting to see how the race plays out and who finishes. With the 70+ riders registered for the race, we wanted to make sure all the riders at least walked away with some thing and supplied one of our new Bottle Traps for everyone. Stay hydrated, stay safe and ride hard!

To give you a little taste of the race, here a few videos from previous years of Trans Iowa put together by some of the riders on it:

Gravel

Endurance Gravel Road Racing. I don't know if I want to call it the latest trend since riding on gravel is nothing new or maybe that's just coming from my days as a shop rat back in Iowa. Either way the popularity of the 24 hour races seems to have morphed it's way into endurance gravel racing for one reason or another. Open courses, 100+ miles, no support, no non-sense riding. Races like the DirtyKanza, Heck of the North, Trans Iowa, and the newly minted Gravel World Championships all have sprung up all in the last 10 years. Not to say that this is a purer form of racing but often these have no fees, done on some sort of raffle format with a cap on the number of riders, put on by riders for riders. As with any of bicycle event, simply just a great time. There are also a number of shorter gravel races like Michigan's very own Barry Roubaix that are out there if you'd want to just see what all the fuss is about, a few of the Velocity crew will be doing this event. For a great list of gravel races check out the Gravel Grinder News website.

I say all of this to announce our sponsorship of Trans Iowa. We are providing every participant with one of our bottle traps for this late April race. This was announced over at one of the race promoters sites, G-Ted, this past Friday with what I must say a great endorsement for the Trap:

I've actually used these cages and they grip your bottle with authority! I highly doubt you will lose a bottle on a rough gravel road using one of these composite/plastic cages.

Both Ted and David put countless hours into putting on this great event and we're excited to be a part of it! Good luck riders!

Our Rides, because We Ride

Today, a new little segment we'll be starting up called 'Our Rides, because We Ride' series. If you've frequented or stumbled onto the regular Velocity site you'll notice a section under the About Us there's a few links to some of the guys bikes. This will be similar to that, but hopefully with a little bit more depth on the bikes themselves, maybe a story or two from on the ride. Plus give you all the opportunity to familiarize yourself with more of the Velocity crew.

We'll start off with one my rides, my Cannondale Cyclocross Optimo 3. This bike only has a few stock pieces left on it and has taken quite a few different transformations over the past 2 years; I'm sure there will continue to be a few changes as time passes. For now I have upgraded the wheel set to a custom Velocity Brown Fusion rims [Velocity road hubs, 32 hole, 3 cross, DT Swiss Champion spokes, with blue alloy nipples, using Veloplugs], rocking it 1 x 9 [inspired by Carl Buchanan's cross set-up] a 105 crank set with a Salsa Crossing Guard and 41T Salsa Ring, topped off with Kore White Canti brakes and stem, a Brooks B17 saddle, and recently install new bright white bottle traps. All in all, She's a looker.

The bike has seen the gravel of Iowa for Trans Iowa last year and competed in a few of the Kisscross events here in GR. This bike is really my all around bike, I'll swap out tires quite frequently from the Bontrager 700 x 34 CXR's to Continental 700 x 25 Ultra Gators and rock the bike as a commuter when I feel the need for some gears. Of the 7 bikes I have, this is 1 of 3 that I would have a hard time parting with.

Spec on the bike:

2007 Cannondale Cyclocross Optimo 3

Frame: Cyclocross Optimo
Fork: Slice Ultra XR Carbon
Wheels: Velocity Fusion 32H
Spokes: DT Swiss Champion w/ Alloy Nipples
Tires: Bontrager CRX 700x34
Pedals: Crank Brothers Egg Beater SL
Crank: Shimano 105 41T w/ Salsa Crossing Guard
Chain: Shimano 9-speed
Rear Cogs SRAM PG-950, 12-26
Bottom Bracket: Shimano 105
Front Derailleur: None
Rear Derailleur: Shimano 105
Shifters: Shimano Tiagra
Handlebars: Cannondale C3, 31.8 mm,
Stem: Kore K34 100mm [+6 degree]
Headset: FSA Alloy integated
Brakeset: Kore Race + Canti
Saddle: Brooks B17
Seat Post: Cannondale C2 Carbon-wrapped