iamfortress

Change was in the air. It was cool, but fixing to get a lot warmer. A new venue, Sandhills Event Center, just outside of Lincoln, Nebraska. A new vibe. The event had just changed hands. The route...

https://iamfortress.net/2024/08/29/2024-long-voyage/

Arrived at the starting line 615a and took my place at the back of the pack. Snapped a few shots. Didn’t realize until later, caught Tim Hornik and his tandem partner. I saw them again Sunday m...

https://iamfortress.net/2024/06/06/unbound-24/

Obviously, it’s satire. In truth, most of us are motorists too. At least here in the states there’s literally no other way. I write this to find humor which counteracts hate.

https://iamfortress.net/2024/04/18/top-10-reasons-cyclists-%E2%9D%A4%EF%B8%8F-motorists/

Recap of 2023 The Long Voyage

https://iamfortress.net/2023/09/02/the-long-voyage-pt-iii/

My experience at the '23 Unbound 200 where the finishers rate was 56%. I pulled out at mile 135. Mud at mile 10 and 130. With a storm at mile 90, made for an interesting day. Rather than my usual...

https://iamfortress.net/2023/06/05/why-are-you-here/

It’s 1 am Thursday prior to the start of Unbound. Exactly 53 hours before we have to line up. It has been a good week so far. Arrived Monday and have had a couple of days to get settled in. Tod...

https://iamfortress.net/2023/06/01/gravel-cycling-hall-of-fame-class-of-23/

My brother Timothy mail ordered and assembled this 2015 Raleigh Willard exactly 7 years ago today. It sounds like a cliche that it all changed afterwards, but that’s exactly what happened. The ...

https://iamfortress.net/2023/02/11/how-riding-gravel-started/

Robb Finegan provided this tip after placing 5th at the ’21 The Long Voyage. Riders carried 3 miles after rains washed out the B-Roads on the course. An old mountain biker trick: A duffel bag s...

https://iamfortress.net/2023/02/11/how-to-carry-the-bike-over-muddy-sections/

Sometimes that trip we take ends unexpectedly. Last year’s post sets the stage. I’ll never know for sure, if it weren’t for that bent derailleur, might’ve just finished in ’21. Other th...

https://iamfortress.net/2022/08/22/the-long-voyage-pt-ii/

Javax-to-Jakarta Tales from the Crypt It’s now been almost five years since Oracle announced the donation of Java’s enterprise layer to the Eclipse foundation. It stipulated a name change, re...

https://iamfortress.net/2022/08/13/upgrade-from-javax-to-jakarta-not-yet/