Notes From The Tent: (But It Is Not A Tent!)

 Today was Day 5, Crofton to Wayne Nebraska. I’m writing to you dear readers from the comfortable cabin in Pork Belly Adventures trailer converted to a “bunk house” of sorts. There are five of these trailers being pulled across Nebraska and each has four spaces which can sleep up to four individuals each.

And they have AIR CONDITIONING! 

A few of the BRAN staff got to access one bunkhouse when a client could not use the whole week  Those BRAN guys offered me a chance to try it out tonight  Yes. It is better than being in a tent! 

Now, on to other things  Today’s ride was unique for a couple of reasons. Firstly, it was an entirely gravel route which went through a couple small villages. There was pavement there, of course, but the vast majority of the roads were gravel. 

Secondly, the scenery changed from the big, rolling prairie vistas to the big, rolling row crop vistas! This looks like the Nebraska I know from gravel events  

I guess it was also a day to mark for visiting a dairy farm and massive Northwest winds which pushed us Southward to Wayne  

The dairy farm capped off a dreary, wet, morning of 23 miles where we got rained on for about twenty minutes. It is a family dairy farm belonging to the Burbach family. They let us sample their milk choices and tour their little processing plant. Plus we got to see baby cows! 

Then a cold front came through while we were there at the farm and the skies cleared out. The big Northwest winds which pushed took over and we were sailing down the roads. Well, until the roads pointed up, and down, and up, and rinse and repeat! 

The “grid” of gravel roads was coming back as we went further South. The gravel was very loose, small, like playground gravel, and it was hard to find “The Good Line”. 

We stopped in a town named Coleridge and we ate at Rodeos Bar and Grill which was excellent  

Then we rolled on. There was a minimum maintenance road on route with an out of commission bridge over a small creek  There a man met us on an ATV vehicle named Steve who told us a bit of the history of the immediate area. You don’t get adventure and history like this riding pavement. It was cool  

The rest of the afternoon was a big stretch South into Wayne over roller after roller. Nearly 50 miles again today  

I met my brother from another mother, MG and we hooked up with Jacquie Phelan and ate at a local Mexican restaurant. The conversation was deep and varied  

Tomorrow is another 55 miles. A day of mostly gravel from Wayne to a town named Oakland  It should be a good one, but you never know until you get out there  

More soon 

Notes From The Tent: Day 4

 A short day on tap after a sag ride and overheating the day before. But before I get to the ride into Crofton, I have to tell the story of Tuesday night. 

It started out well enough with steak dinner at the local Czech Hall, an old theater/dance hall which, for the small size of this village, was huge. It probably could easily hold a thousand people. 

During the dinner word started circulating that we may have to abandon the campground to take shelter in one of three buildings in the village. We’d have to pull up stakes, pack everything up, and wait to see if anything would come of the severe weather threat.

Fortunately for us the powers that be decided to allow us to make our own call. I and many others decided to stay in the campground. The storms came, but it was a garden variety Mid-West thunderstorm and besides a bout with hard rain and a few gusts of wind, it was more than manageable. 

Before the storm Jacquie Phelan and Michael from the BRAN staff hung out and we chatted by my tent. Jacquie doesn’t sleep in tents unless she has to, apparently. Anyway, she asked me if things got bad, could she sleep in my tent. I mean, it sounds weird, but I said “Sure”!  I’d rather she be safe and dry, right? 

But it didn’t come to that and the people she was with got her taken care of. 

Anyway….  

Due to the rain Michael announced in the morning that gravel was off the menu because he wasn’t interested in a mud fest.  BRAN kind of took it on the chin last year because of a day on the gravel route with some stretches of mud. 

So, out of caution he made the call. Now I had a little over 40 miles on pavement to get to Crofton. I wasn’t too disappointed. 

I got to ride through Niobrara and see the site where 31 years ago I and two others stopped and through a series of minor miracles were able to continue a cycling tour. 

Then I got to see the same roads between Niobrara and Crofton we rode back then. I will say now a LOT has changed and I had forgotten even more things. 

And I hit 46.8mph on a long downhill coming into town. That was fun

Crofton is- so far- the best town we’ve stayed in. Big welcome into town. Lots of food choices within a short distance of the campground. Nice set up too. 

Going to eat spaghetti tonight and- hopefully- drift off to sleep and Day 5 of BRAN where I have been promised we will do the gravel route and stop at a dairy farm to pet cows. 

Stay tuned. 

Notes From The Tent: Day 3 (It Got Real)

Another headwind day with above 90 degree temperatures and lots of long climbs made for a full sag wagon. I know, I was on it. 

The night before the ride I just could not get into deep sleep. Not sure why at the time but I would guess the two high exertion days ahead of today contributed to that. 

Jacquie Phelan is a character, as we would say in the Mid-West. That just means she doesn’t look at the world in quite the same fashion as most of us do. This is good. It knocks one off their comfortable spot. And if you are a kind person who cares about others, the World, and how it feels we are in a burning spaceship , well then you stop to think. You know, exercise the brain. 

I didn’t get along with my Dad growing up, but once in a while he’d have a nugget worth grabbing ahold of. He used to say ,”Ya know, you should engage the brain BEFORE you engage the mouth.”  He used the phrase as a sort of put-down, but I figured out what really was going on. 

Anyway, people like Jacquie are flown into your life for a reason, and it ain’t about hero worship or romancing the old daze. It is about thinking outside of your self and what you see as every day, thoughtless living. I mean, the Western World wastes a lot of food, we all know this. But would we ever actually be moved to do anything about it? Jacquie described herself as a “professional dumpster diver”. That’s some bold thinking, and actions motivated by a crisis most of us ignore. 

Anyway, hot wind, hills, and overexertion are a recipe for a quick burn out by Guitar Ted. And I could feel the matches being struck right out of Spencer. 

I didn’t make it far, but I survived.  Plus I got a horse and wagon ride around town. 

By the way, the dew was incredible at Spencer so all my gear was soaking wet   This made setting up in Verdigre a chore as I had to dry everything out first before setting up. 

I guess 25-35mph winds and heat are good for something. 

More soon. 

Notes From The Tent: Day 3(?) Loosing Track Of Time

 I’m not sure if I am posting images or not from my phone. So, I apologize but this will just be text today. 

What a difference a day makes. Today was overcast, cool, and featured an all-day long tailwind. Riding the pavement bits was super-easy. 

Gravel was split up into three sections. It was fun. Maybe not super-scenic but far different than Iowa. Big ranches, lots of grass, and funny shaped hills dominated the landscape. It’s a big, empty feeling area which is full of song birds and cattle. Very peaceful. 

The last bit of gravel was challenging with a few big, long climbs. Again, very different from Iowa where our climbs get steeper at the top. Here the steep part is in the middle of the climb and the climbs are longer for sure. 

Got in 75 miles  I haven’t ridden that far since last year  

Got to the campground in Spencer  Got settled in and was looking for the showers when I noted an okde woman  she was slender, about 5’8”, and looked as though she was looking for something or someone  she turned to me and asked if I knew where the showers were  

That’s when her face suddenly brought me to attention  The unique eyewear, her voice, and I knew it had to be Jacquie Phelan, but was it really?  Why on Earth would she be on the BRAN ride  

Well, as it turned out, it WAS her! 

More soon… 

Notes From The Tent: Day 1

Day one of BRAN, leaving Valentine and going to Springview. Route: 57 miles. 

I hooked up with Michael and Jeremy from BRAN. Jeremy did the gravel route and was assisted by Michael   We are some awesome breakfast burritos at the same church we had our evening meal at on Saturday. Leaving town I noted my GPS was giving me directions a bit off from the other two guys. Keep that in mind for later. 

Gravel roads can vary a lot from place to place. This area is no different. Sand is dominant here, but there is a clayish base as well. It had rained recently around Valentine so this helped out the roads tremendously. 

This area is beautiful. Especially around the Niobrara River, where today’s image is from. That bridge lead us to a spanker of a climb. Oh my!  Long, steep, and really long. I had to walk the upper third of it. 

Did I say the climb was long? All the climbs are long out here. 

Okay, so that climb did something else too. I lost touch with Michael and Jeremy. I rolled out back on the highway and there was an outfitters store named Sparks which my GPS told me to turn North to find. Well, a mile down the road I stopped and went back to where I turned off. Then it showed Sparks was almost right in front of me down a short side road. And it was there. Okay…. 

Leaving Sparks the GPS literally had me riding circles around the store in a seemingly endless loop. I bailed and headed East on Highway 12 as this was the paved route. 

Two miles down the road the GPS has me turn right on gravel. I knew there was a “part two” to the gravel route. Alright!  Back on track..,,.

Nope! Two miles into a brutal headwind and the next turn came up going backwards to the general course direction. Back to Sparks Road and the store! 

I was pissed. Back to Highway 12 and I was sticking to that road. Now the wind was 25-35mph and the road went South directly into that wind at a couple of miles at a crack at least twice. The crosswinds were hard to deal with going East. I had to pedal everything up AND down hill. 

Brutal! 

On to tomorrow… 

BRAN Gravel: Notes From The Tent 1

 Hello from Valentine, Nebraska. Due to technicalities with Google, this post will not have images. My apologies. 

The trip from Arlington, Nebraska took 5 and a half hours including an hour long stop in O’Neil for lunch. 

It was interesting listening to all the conversations going on in the bus I was on, one of three touring busses filled with cyclists. 

One gentleman was on his first BRAN after not having ridden for many years. He sounded as though he was essentially coming straight off the couch to do this ride. His bike - a 1984 Bike Nashbar bike with 27” wheels. The man sitting next to him said he rides 200 - 300 miles a week and races triathlons. 

Talk about night and day! 

Another note: I’ve heard at least three different conversations about gravel events and bikes. I will just say that gravel is grossly misunderstood by the average cyclist. 

Big ride to the smallest town on the route tomorrow. More soon… 

BRAN Gravel: The Load Out

Friday I drove out to Arlington, Nebraska. A small city on the Northern edge of the Omaha Nebraska metro area. It is a town of 1,300 folks, so not a real large town. It will be representative of most of the towns and villages I see for the upcoming week. 

In fact, it will be the fourth largest town on the route. Only Valentine, the starting town (2,633), Wayne, a college town (5,973), and Oakland, (1,369), are larger than Arlington. 

Yes, we will be hitting some remote, not very populated areas. On Day 2 we will be passing through Keya Paha County with a population of 792 people. The smallest overnight town is the first one out of Valentine, Springview, with a total population of 238 folks. (Note: My numbers are Googled and may be off by a few souls here or there)

Things will start out feeling quite remote, I have no doubt. I've been out in Southern South Dakota on a bicycle across that state and the terrain and overall feel should be somewhat similar in Northern Nebraska. I'm especially excited to cross a few villages and roads I was on previously in Northeastern Nebraska between Crofton and Niobrara. It has been just over 30 years since I've been there, so maybe things are so different I will not recognize the places. But it will be very interesting to me, nonetheless, because of my previous passage through the area by bicycle. 

Someone asked me the other day who I was going on this trip with. I said "Nobody". I realize not everyone can do what I am about to do, so please understand I recognize my ability due to who I am. No blind eyes here. But on the flip side, yeah, it has crossed my mind that I probably won't know anyone on this trip.....at the beginning. I'm sure this will change throughout the week, or at least I hope it will. That will be part of the adventure, and I will be excited to see how it plays out. 

This week may be a bit chaotic on the blog compared to the normal postings. My plan is to do daily "Updates From The Tent". These will be short thoughts and reactions to the day I experienced. I'll likely post these in the evenings when we have signal and WiFi available. Or.....maybe not!! You have already read how we will be in very remote areas. I cannot promise anything solid, but I'll do my best to communicate. 

Likewise, any comments left on the blog this week may or may not get a reply right away. Circumstances will dictate when and where I will be able to do this. I would expect at least a couple full-blog reports during the week and possibly more if I can manage this. 

There should be a lot of social media stuff from me. Check Threads, Instagram, Facebook, and possibly X. My handle on the Meta platforms is g.ted.productions. I'll be using the #BRANgravel hashtag if you want to search that. 

That's it for now. Thanks for following along!

Friday News And Views

BRAN 44 Ride

Well, today is the day I am leaving for the week-long Bicycle Ride Across Nebraska (BRAM) on its 44th annual ride. I will be doing their gravel route, which stands alongside the traditional paved route and has been in existence for only a few short years. 

Disclaimer:

I was contacted by BRAN to come along and be an "in ride" social media/story-teller for the event in hopes that I could bring more awareness to their gravel route. 

In turn, BRAN has given me free entry to the ride and all ride benefits which any paying rider gets are also available to me. Just to be clear on that. Other outside expenses, (some food, beverage, etc) are on my tab, as well as travel to and from the ending town of Arlington, Nebraska. Otherwise there is no money being exchanged here, so if you think I'm making bank off this opportunity, think again. 

Okay, with this out of the way, I must next say I am grateful to a few of you dear readers and friends who have reached out with encouragement to me on the occasion of this event. I appreciate all your support! Thank you!

Next, I want to thank you - the readers of Guitar Ted Productions - for being here to read about this experience. From tomorrow on through next weekend I will be posting randomly and perhaps multiple times daily to bring the feel of BRAN 44 gravel here for your consideration. More on this below. 

And yes, I ordered the jersey. Won't be here till late Summer, but this will be my souvenir, or at least one of them, from this event. 

Image courtesy of MOMBAT

Innovator, Iconoclast, Charlie Cunningham Dies:

Wednesday brought the sad news of Mountain Bike Hall of Fame member and one of the founders of Wilderness Trail Bikes, Charlie Cunningham's death. 

Charlie Cunningham had suffered a traumatic brain injury in 2015 and was recently in declining health. His life will be remembered for his numerous contributions to mountain biking and cycling in general. 

Using what at the time (late 1970's) was a rare metal for frames in aluminum, Cunningham created some of the most forward thinking mountain bikes of the 1980's. His life partner, Jacquie Phelan, was routinely seen winning mountain bike races, often coming in ahead of most of the elite men in the races she contested. All aboard a Cunningham mountain bike. 

In more recent years Jacquie was Charlie's caretaker. The couple lived in Marin County, California where Charlie maintained a shop where he made innovative products such as the roller cam brake and its variants. 

Charlie was an early adopter of drop bars off road and modified existing drop bars into what is now known as flared drop bars, or what was then called "dirt drops". These bars were very influential in the early 29"er days and essential for many gravel riders up to the present day. 

I'll leave you today with this quote, found on Charlie's Mountain Bike Hall of Fame page: " The bicycle is a way for people to gain contact with something that has been misplaced. .....They (bicycles) can be an alternative to the abuse of technology that is so widespread in our world today. The more one uses a bicycle, especially in a natural environment, the more sympathetic and understanding one becomes of oneself and the planet. "

Crux v5 (Image courtesy of Specialized Bicycles)

Trends In Gravel Racing Bikes

Interestingly a couple of trends from last season have faded somewhat in 2026. Two, possibly three things have perhaps been seen at their peak of popularity in 2025. 

First, the 2+ inch tire trend is perhaps at full swing yet at this point, but from comments made by racers previous to Unbound, I can see the trend slipping a bit. 

Sure, there are some bicycles hitting the marketplace now with massive, (for a road bike based bicycle) tire clearances. 2,2" clearances are easy to find now. However, many gravel specific tires are still maxing out at 50mm as are many gravel bicycles. 

The cycling industry has a way of "crossing a line" (see 3" wide 29"er Plus), and then retreating back to a more common sense place. My observations from racer commentary support a move to more aero, and less wide, front tires. In fact, one bike set up for Unbound had a skinnier front tire and a big rear tire, while another sported smooth tread up front and knobbier tread out back. All with aero in mind. 

"Real-world" gravel cyclists probably don't care, but in case you haven't noticed, the cycling market caters to what Pro cyclists want and are doing, event though these riders account for a minuscule amount of gravel riders. But hey! I'm not the one who decided it had to be this way. I just have noted it throughout the years.  

The second thing I've noted is a lot less buzz happening around telescopic front forks for gravel bikes. Certainly, they are offered on a few select builds from most brands. Most cutting edge gravel bikes allow for the usage of a suspension fork. However; again with the racer comments and what is actually being used, I'm seeing less of these devices out there. The same aero reasons exist for not using a suspension fork which saves watts of energy versus more aero rigid forks. 

Finally, aero itself maybe fading in primacy over everything else. Witness the new Specialized Crux v5, which was designed based upon research data gained from years of gravel racing. The Crux has aero qualities, but the design is not 100% aero focused. Given the massive success the Crux v5 experienced at Unbound recently, I would suspect the design style utilized in the production of the Crux v5 will be dissected and regurgitated by other brands quickly. 

And Now For Something Completely Different... 

Okay, with a light news week, and all my time focused on BRAN preparations, this is all you get this week! I'll start tomorrow with a pre-BRAN look at the ride, and then updates from the BRAN route will happen all week at random times. Please keep checking in for a look at my experiences on this week-long gravel tour of Northern Nebraska. 

I'll be posting on Instagram, Facebook, and Threads also all week long. Check on the #BRANgravel hashtag to find my posts, or look for me at g.ted.productions 

Thanks for reading Guitar Ted Productions! Now get out there and ride those bicycles!