The Single Speed Cyclocross World Championships, SSCXWC, brings together the greatest well-rounded riders in the world to test their mettle through Feats of Strength and the most demanding cyclocross the host town can find to dish out. In the words of Sarah Sturm from 2022 in Durango:

"Single Speed Cyclocross World Champs is the not-so-underground, fringe, party event that calls itself a World Champs and, in many ways, it is. But instead of (doing drugs) (marginal gains) that make you faster, you do things that make you slower like keg stands, whiskey shots, and hot dog hand-ups."

The 2024 edition was hosted in Madison, Wisconsin and an old friend of mine, now living in Missoula, Montana, made the 24+ hour drive to go for the gold! (or tattoo!). Brian West has been chasing the tattoo for several years, and finally found himself at the front at the right time - the end of the race. This is his story!

For winter riding and racing, we recommend Pogie Lites to help keep your hands warm. Find them in the online store on BIKEIOWA. https://bikeiowa.store/products/pogielites

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!

Follow 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!

Erik Schlimmer is no stranger to long, difficult days either on foot or on the bike. As a mountain biker, he raced at the top level in the early 1990's, then turned to long distance bike packing adventures, but not just his love of long distance hiking got in the way of his cycling - so did life and some time served in the military. He found himself going years and years without riding. Until recently, that is. In 2023 he took a tragic event in his life and turned it into a reason to embrace life - and hopped back on the bike again. Just over a year since that event, he's now doubled down on his focus and decided to pin a number on again and give racing a try. His is a compelling story of triumph, tragedy and triumph again! And while he has carved out time for his newfound joy, he also took his passion for hiking and history in the Adirondacks and has authored nine books about the area, it's trails and history. You can find them all at www.erikschlimmer.com as well as follow his current adventures and mountain bike training on instagram at @schlimmer_goes

If you want to demo a mountain bike from Pivot Cycles head to their website and book a time slot at a demo near you! https://www.pivotcycles.com/en/demos-us/

For winter riding and racing, we recommend Pogie Lites to help keep your hands warm. Find them in the online store on BIKEIOWA. https://bikeiowa.store/products/pogielites

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!

Follow 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!

In an era that is becoming increasingly friendly to online ordering for bikes and bike parts, and increasingly hostile to brick and mortar retail stores, Clint Mongan has carved out a niche, selling high end full suspension mountain bikes to an ever growing list of clients out of a small, remote shop in an unassuming little town in south-central Iowa. He's also the owner and manager of Boone Factory Racing, supporting some of the top junior downhill racers in the country - if not world - including Kallie Stewart, winner of the 2024 Monster Downhill Race Series. You can connect with Clint at www.boonecycles.net or on Instagram and Facebook at Boone Factory Racing.

For winter riding and racing, we recommend Pogie Lites to help keep your hands warm. Find them in the online store on BIKEIOWA. https://bikeiowa.store/products/pogielites

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!

Follow 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!

Jenna Rinehart, a Midwest mountain biking icon, a competitor in the Lifetime Grand Prix (get to know her in Episode 141!) just returned from racing in Belgium at the UCI Gravel World Championships and was kind enough to stay up late (past 7 pm #jetlag) and download her European Vacation and what it was like racing in the third ever UCI Gravel World Championships.

Jenna and her husband, Justin, own and operate Nicolette Bike and Ski, a shop in downtown Mankato, Minnesota. Jenna races on a Specialized Crux on gravel and an Epic on dirt, fills her tires with Orange Seal sealant and rides for the Mazda Orange Seal Off Road team.

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!

Follow 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!

"Pay Nothing. Give Everything" is the moto of the Limestone 77.7 State of Iowa Single Speed Gravel Championship Race held on Oct. 5 of 2024. The race is promoted by CK (Chris Kyle) and is almost as grass roots as you get - except for the details - CK and friends cover the cost of the event - numbers, insurance, food and water at the aid stops and prizes- and as such, he charges zero to enter. Two courses are offered - a 37.5-mile fun ride (no scoring) and the championship 77.7-mile distance. At a moment of weakness I signed up for the championship event, and spent the summer training for it (a very hilly, long gravel race on a singlespeed bike) on my light, snappy, quick road bike on mostly 35- to 50-mile spirited group rides. If all this sounds like a recipe for success, tune in to find out! In my nervousness, I decided to bring my portable microphone along and record the day as it went along - and this is the result. A note on music - Mt. Joy's Jesus Drives an Astrovan played me into the event and stuck in my head throughout the day - so it was only proper to send you out of this episode with their 2021 version recorded live at Red Rocks - I hope you enjoy and subscribe to all their stuff on Spotify and Apple etc. then go see em in concert.

Thanks to Wrap-it Storage Systems for helping us keep our sh*t together and organized! Get everything you need to organize your van, garage or basement workshop at https://wrapitstorage.com

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!

Follow 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!

Enticed by the mountain bike trails she could see underneath her skis as she ascended the lift at her local ski area, Jenna Rinehart went from carving turns on on snow to carving turns on dirt. In her early mountain biking career, she often stood atop the podium at what is now one of the oldest mountain bike races in the country: the Chequamegon Fat Tire Festival, as well as many other midwest mountain bike races. In 2011 she and her husband bought the Mankato, Minnesota bike shop they worked at and went from starting lines to repair stands and the showroom floor. Nearly a dozen years later Jenna found the time to jump in some local races and ultimately found herself on the starting line of Chequamegon. Her previous form had never left and she did well enough to earn a spot in the Lifetime Grand Prix. After an impressive sixth place overall in 2023, she is working hard for another top-ten finish in 2024. We talked as she has two Lifetime GP races remaining, plus the UCI Gravel World Championships in Belgium. Jenna races on a Specialized Crux on gravel and an Epic on dirt, fills her tires with Orange Seal sealant and rides for the Mazda Orange Seal Off Road team.

Thanks to Wrap-it Storage Systems for helping us keep our sh*t together and organized! Get everything you need to organize your van, garage or basement workshop at https://wrapitstorage.com

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!

Follow 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!

This week we’re going back to Gravel Worlds - and not to hear race highlights or the story of a big victory by gravel national champ Lauren Stephens or norwegian Simon Svendsen - this isn’t even a story about the marquee 150-mile race - but this week we’re talking with a couple of guys who did the Privateer 75-miler - and did they win? Nope - 19th and 20th overall - But this IS a story of friendship, of hard work and overcoming adversity - it’s also a story about how cool our sport is - and how cycling can help nurture unique relationships. Today we’re talking with Ted Longnecker and Jackson Webster - a couple of guys who’ve become friends thanks to the sport of cycling - and we’re talking about their trip to Lincoln Nebraska to race the gravel seas at the 2024 Garmin Gravel Worlds. https://www.gravel-worlds.com/

Thanks to Chain and Spoke Coffee for the use of their backroom studio! https://chainandspoke.com/

If in the central Iowa area, join us at our weekly cyclocross practices at Renegade Cross - Tuesday nights at a variety of Des Moines parks. Tune in to BIKEIOWA.com for details and locations.

Also join the fun on Oct. 4 and 5 for Cross is Cumming and the Limestone 77.7.

Cross is Cumming: https://bikeiowa.com/Event/15926/cross-is-cumming

Limestone 77.7: https://bikeiowa.com/Event/15912/limestone-777-singlespeed-gravel-championships

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!

Follow 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!

The Trans Rockies Race Series is celebrating 20 years of multi-day, multi-stage cycling and ultra-running races through the Rockies. We talked with the series promotor Aaron McConnell about the 10-race series which includes mountain biking, running and gravel stage races as well as gravel and road fondos. The Series spans the Rockies from British Columbia and Alberta Canada down through the Colorado and Utah mountains, deserts and canyons. After you listen to this episode and are all excited to find out more and sign up, head to www.transrockies.com for information, dates and locations on all the events.

If in the central Iowa area, join us at our weekly cyclocross practices at Renegade Cross - Tuesday nights at a variety of Des Moines parks. Tune in to BIKEIOWA.com for details and locations. And pin a number on at Capital City Cross in Des Moines on Sept. 21 and 22!

Also join the fun on Oct. 4 and 5 for Cross is Cumming and the Limestone 77.7.

Cross is Cumming: https://bikeiowa.com/Event/15926/cross-is-cumming

Limestone 77.7: https://bikeiowa.com/Event/15912/limestone-777-singlespeed-gravel-championships

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!

Follow 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!