It has been five years since we started all of this. In January of 2007 we opened up the mailbox to receiving postcard entries from any and all who might be interested in racing on Minnesota gravel. We had more than 20 entries that year with 13 of them actually taking the start. What has happened in the years to come has perpetually astounded us.

Following our first adventure into long-distance event promotion, the numbers went up every year thereafter. Way up. We've been over that though. No need to beat that drum again. However, it is important that we bring it up and we'll explain why. In seeing the numbers for our own events increase and watching the other events like ours pop up all over this part of the country, we've realized a new need for this growing culture, a need that has been turning through our minds for the last couple of years. A need for some level of organization that will allow these events, as well as the foundation upon which they have been built, to live on so that our children (and perhaps even their children) can enjoy them in the same fashion that we do.

With that, we are proud to introduce to you to our newest idea, The Almanzo Project: A Non-Profit Organization. Our hope, with getting this project off the ground, is first and foremost to promote, motivate and inspire individuals to live healthy lifestyles through the participation in non-profit bicycling and other similar events. In executing the aforementioned goals, we will continue producing and promoting events that are now, and forever will be FREE to the general public like the Almanzo 100, the Royal 162, the Gentlemen's Ride and the Wilder Foot Races. In addition, we aim to support and educate, financially or otherwise, individuals and organizations that wish to produce and promote free cycling and sporting events that align with the goals, objectives and general spirit of the Almanzo Project.

As we mentioned, this idea has been in our minds for a couple of years. Frankly, this is something that has kept us up at night, occupied our minds at work and led us to countless miles on (and off) the bike. It is a conclusion that has been drawn after scores of other ideas came and went. It is, as we can best describe, the natural progression for Almanzo. We have something very special here in the Middle West and we insist on keeping it alive. By beginning the filing process to make this organization official, we do not (and never have) intend to lay down any rules, limits or defining elements as to how a person should or shouldn't host an event. We are all adults, clearly capable of making those decisions on our own. Our goal is simply to promote what we've already been doing, help promote others that see the world the way we do and make it absolutely possible for anyone and everyone that has the slightest interest in getting on a bike and entering an event to do so.

We are proud to be cyclists. We are humbled to be servants to the cycling community and we are excited for our collective future. We are getting closer and closer to filing for non-profit status, but we cannot do it alone. We need your help. The total dollar amount needed to file for 501(c)(3) status is nearly $1,000. Please consider making a contribution to our efforts. At this time (until our filing is complete), donations can be made via Paypal below or by sending a check to (the banks won't allow us to open an account without documentation stating we've filed):

Chris Skogen
1217 7th Ave NW
Rochester, MN
55901

Thank you very, very much for your support and we look forward to riding with you as soon as we can.

Respect,
Chris Skogen & Co.

     

As we mentioned yesterday, Ragnarök registration is open. There is still time to get your cards in the mail before the end of the month. Do it! Hopefully, if we can get approval from the directors, we'll be there on the hill again this year with refreshments and encouragement (of all varieties). We'll see.

Also, the boys down near Des Moines, Iowa have announced that registration for CIRREM is open. This is an excellent event that serves as a great warm-up for the Spring Classics (read: early AGRS races). There is information on their site...so ye'd be wise to check into it.

Over the years we have received some fairly brilliant postcards as part of the annual registration process. We think it goes without saying that we're pretty excited for the onslaught that is about to commence. With that, we figured we'd try to up the creative ante by offering a reward (if we can really call it that) for the most creative postcard.

Here's the deal, you send us your best work-of-art postcard and if it wins, we (Chris & some of the Almanzo Crew) will come to wherever you live and join you for your favorite ride and then buy the first round afterward. Pretty simple. You make something amazing, drop it in the mail and we'll come ride with you.

Now that we've peaked your interest, we'll let you know what we'll be looking for. The criteria by which the postcards will be judged is as follows:

• First Impression
• Creativity
• Originality
• Composition
• Overall Design
• Quality of Craftsmenship

As we mentioned in a previous post, please send postcard entries with your NAME, EMAIL, GENDER and AGE to the following address:

Almanzo 100
c/o Chris Skogen
1217 7th Ave NW
Rochester, MN 55901

Good luck and we'll be waiting by the mailbox...

For anyone that knows us, it's probably pretty obvious that we have a tendency to keep things pretty clean and organized. Well, a few years back we used to live with a gentleman who preferred to direct his attention toward a few other avenues. In fact, he was always doing something that never allowed him much time to finish up the clean dish process.

Since then, he has gone on to accomplish many things (including, but certainly not limited to this), but it seems his predisposition to not putting away dishes has stuck with him. So much so that he has decided to begin recording it and has been thoughtful enough to share it with us. It's kind of a running joke we suppose...

Either way, we figured it was appropriate enough to share with you (even if it isn't bike related). Welcome to our newest series, an inspiring photo essay that gives us the motivation to clean house every once in a while. We call it Dishes From Mars.

In a lot of ways we imagine we feel just like this little girl at this very moment. See more of what we did this weekend over here.

via @BikesNBeats

The emails regarding registration for the 2012 Almanzo 100 and Royal 162 have begun and we're pretty excited about getting them. In the interest of answering as many questions as possible in one fell swoop...here goes.

• NAME
• GENDER
• AGE
• EMAIL ADDRESS

ALMANZO 100
c/o CHRIS SKOGEN
1217 7th AVE NW
ROCHESTER, MN
55901

***Please note, if we receive your card a day or two early we're not going to throw you out or relegate you to the back. We only restrict entries to the month of January so we can get an idea of how much stuff we need to buy to make this thing the best it can be.

Sample Postcard

2012 Almanzo Racer Jersey

2012 Almanzo Flannel Jersey

So we just read a portion of an article from the local paper (there will probably be another article here on the fact that we could only read a portion of it, but we digress) that was emailed to us with a subject line that read: Poor Art Center!

The aforementioned article was addressing the fact that the Rochester Art Center was looking to the city of Rochester to get an increase in their funding that would bring the total annual city contribution to $230,000. That is a lot of goddamn money! Especially considering that the Art Center (which happens to be inappropriately named because it's hardly the center of anything) seems to be a harbor for pretentious art-o-philes and want-to-be up and comers.

In a space that we would certainly deem beautiful, the staff at the Rochester Art Center has effectively alienated the majority of it's immediate audience by continuing to curate minimal shows that highlight established artists from around the country. With a vision statement that reads; "To be a cultural center for innovation and creativity through contemporary art" the Art Center has completely missed the boat on reaching their target market. While we are certain that this institution would be a great success in a larger, metropolitan environment, the fact that they've taken this approach in the quiet, working class community that is Rochester is beyond us.

It's no secret that one-third of Rochester's population is employed by the same company (read:The Coal Mine). That means that one in every three houses is occupied by someone who pulls a paycheck from the same company. Our neighbors, on either side work in The Coal Mine and we know that neither dwelling has occupants that give a shit about what happens at the Art Center. In fact, in all the outreach we've done with cycling and the like, we've gotten to know quite a few people that don't really care about the Art Center.

Perhaps we have it all wrong and they actually do, or would, care about what goes on there? We suppose there is no real way to tell, but we do know this, attendance at the Art Center is way down. Their hours of operation are minimal and their staff is bare bones. Their openings for events are filled with an air of pretension and often include "artist talks" that sail over the heads of those in attendance.

We'll give them some credit though as they've recently added a "local" exhibition series that included work from one of our very own. However, the series seems to be a load of lip service that has been relegated to a corner room that was once a classroom on the Center's uppermost floor.

We certainly don't have all the answers and have never claimed to, but we do know this: Most people in Rochester don't care about what happens in, or around the Art Center and most likely never will. The staff there has isolated itself in its Ivory (actually copper) Tower and still has the audacity to pander to the city for more money. In our opinion, $230,000 could actually do some good around this community. Why not use it to fund local artists who are barely getting by because they can't show anything locally? Why not use it to build back some of the 30 miles of Mountain Bike trails that the city has taken or squandered away? Why not use it to better sign some of the paved trails in the community? Why not?

Looking ahead to 2012, we figured we'd put together a list of the events we have on our calendar. Keeping in mind the fact that the year is long, we may or may not stay committed to all of these events, but either way they've warranted our approval. Here goes nothing...

January:

• Triple D(100k) - January 15th - Dubuque, IA (Drew will be there)
• The Untitled(100k) - January 29th  - Rochester, MN (Chris & Drew will be there)

February:

• CIRREM (100k) - February 25th - Des Moines, IA (Drew will be there)

March:

• Iowa City/Hills Iowa(25/44mi) - March 3rd - Iowa City, IA (Chris & Drew might be there)
• Colfax(32/48mi) - March 10th - Colfax, IA (Chris & Drew might be there)
• Grinnell(32/56mi) - March 17th - Grinnell, IA (Chris & Drew might be there)
• Slick 50 - March 20something - Minneapolis, MN (Chris will be there)

April:

• Ragnarök 105(105mi) - April 14th - Red Wing, MN (Pending approval, we'll be on the hill)
• Trans-Iowa(300+mi) - April 28th & 29th - Grinnell, IA (Chris will be there)

May:

• Almanzo(100mi) - May 19th - Spring Valley, MN (Obvious)
• Royal(162mi) - May 19th - Spring Valley, MN (Obvious)
• Wilder Foot Races - May 20th - Spring Valley, MN (Chris will be there)
• Chequamegon 100(100mi) - TBA - Cable, WI (Chris might be there)

June:

• Westside Dirty Benjamin(100mi) - TBA - Chaska, MN (Chris will be there)
• Keweenaw Chain Drive(32mi) - June 16th - Keweenaw, MI (Drew will be there)
• WORS Races(varies) - TBA - Wisco (Drew will be in attendance for a couple)

July:

• Free time! Watch for Criteriums, Thursday nights in Wisco and other assorted events.

August:

• Sugar Bottoms Scramble - August 26th - North Liberty, IA (Drew will be there)

September:

• Copper Harbor Fat Tire Festival - September 2nd - (Drew might be there)
• Watch for Cyclocross Racing - All of Sept. - TBA - (Chris & Drew will be there)
• Gentlemen's Ride(100mi) - September 22th - Spring Valley, MN (Obvious)
• Heck of the North(100+mi) - September 29th - Duluth, MN (Chris & Drew will be there)

October:

• The Heroic(100k) - Early October - Cannon Falls, MN (Chris & Drew will be there)
• The Dirt Bag(80mi) - Late October - St. Cloud, MN (Chris & Drew will be there)

November:

• More CX racing

December:

• More CX Racing
• Free Time

That pretty much sums it up. Throw in there some prep and planning for the May events and we've got a full schedule. Actually, the prep and planning for May start in June, ramp up in October and run in full swing through May. We're busy folks here and we like it that way.

If you have other events that you think we should know about, let us know! We're always excited to try new things and see what others are up to. Also, if you're planning on attending any of these events, stop by and say hello! We'd love to see you again...or meet you for the first time.

Thanks to everyone for their input on the last jersey post. We are proud to say that we took all of your opinions to heart and this is what we came up with. We'll be making an announcement as to when the first pre-order will begin in the not-so-distant future (we're looking for a supplier of better quality threads)...so please stay tuned. Oh, and yes, we will be offering two different jerseys.

2012 Almanzo High-Viz & Racer Jersey Preview

High-Viz Sleeve Detail

Racer Sleeve Detail