CIRREM

des moines, ia
Saturday February 27, 2010
by: Kent Carlson

this past weekend jed and i put on the 2nd annual CIRREM. 100k gravel bike race through the beautiful madison county countryside. last year we had 25 signed up, while this year we increased to 73 registered racers. who knows what next year holds, maybe a capped registration at 100 or 125? well all i know is jed and i will continue to throw this event as long as we get more of the same good folks who’ve shown up over the last couple of years. for those that volunteered, donated, or raced CIRREM…thanks for making the event a blast to put on!
now for a quick write up on my race. i decided to ride my freshly built single speed surly cross check with 32c cross tires. i had exactly one hour ride time in on the bike before CIRREM, so it was sink or swim time. luckily it was right at home on the gravels and gave me no mechanicals all day. just like last year jed and i had the pleasure of leading the group out of town. roads were frozen and conditions were perfect with the sun warming us while the actual temp was 18. the pace was pretty chill for the first few miles, but it wasn’t long before the pace picked up and i moved back in the lead pack. after a missed turn by the lead group jed and i found ourselves in the lead. perfect timing for a photo op!

shortly there after a few of the guys riding geared cross bikes kicked up the pace and it made me question how hard i was willing to push it that early in the race. well i was just hanging a few yards behind the pack when we crested a hill and i saw jed pull off to the side. i stopped for a bit to see if jed needed anything that i had. he was having tubeless issues so i lent him my big air, but he couldn’t get the bead to reseat. about the time he decided to put a tube in ben and adam road up and i said farewell to jed and latched on. chit chatted a bit with them before upping the pace a bit to see if anyone else had been dropped by the lead group. i picked up a few riders strung out from the pack, but figured the group was too strong for me to catch up to. i stuck with chris skogan for a few miles to discuss his upcoming race, the almonzo 100. 400 registered riders…wow! i have no doubt he will throw another outstanding event even with the huge number of racers. well chris wished me luck and let me continue on. about a mile from the checkpoint at mile 34 i saw the group. i stopped at the checkpoint just a minute after they left. ryan vh filled one of my bottles and told me that was the group but that 3 went off the front. in two or three miles i caught the group of 7 or 8 riders. i was just dangling off the back for a couple miles really getting no draft. that’s when chris locke turned to me with kind of a surprised look and asked if i had bridged the gap by myself. i said yep and he joked back that i should continue on and pull the group to the 3 off the front. well i was already thinking about moving up front and continue on my pace that brought me up to the group. when we turned on to old portland road i waited for a climb and moved to the front.

four guys jumped on until the next climb broke 2 more off. nate hicks and steve robinson stayed with me through a few of the tougher climbs. i think nate was just resting a bit while with us because with 12 or so miles to go he just rode away from us. i looked at steve and said i had no intentions of chasing him down. steve agreed and we kept each other company to the finish. steve and i finished tied for 5th overall at 4:05, but that was good enough for me to take first single speed.
i had a great time talking to everyone along the route…another reason why gravel racing is such an excellent format. jed and i are already excited about next year and hope everyone returns for the 3rd installment. next up for me is spring training up in exotic decorah iowa. gravel goodness awaits…one can only hope the roads cooperate. thanks for reading..