Virtual Ride For Jacob Report: Henry Pratt

I mentioned last week that anyone who could not make the Ride For Jacob on the 25th could do a virtual Ride For Jacob if they wanted to. I also added that anyone wanting to pass along a story with some images could do so and I'd post this on the blog. Kind of like how I have done for the Virtual Turkey Burn rides. 

I know a couple of folks who did their own Ride For Jacob recently, and this is heartwarming. I really appreciate anyone thinking of my son and his family.  

Well, Henry Pratt of New York took me up on the invitation to share his ride and he sent in a beautiful report. I hope that you enjoy this as much as I have. With no further delay, here is the Virtual Ride For Jacob post from Henry Pratt. 

Dear Guitar Ted,
​
​As it happens, I was able to do the Virtual Ride for Jacob on the 25th, perhaps even simultaneous with your own ride, as I left at 9:00am EST. I had a good three hours to use, and I wanted to get in something scenic. It would be my longest ride so far this year, recovering from a wrist badly broken in April (which I'm happy to say has now stopped limiting my riding!). In the mid-Hudson valley of NY, we don't have the endless gravel of the midwest, but we do have some pretty great stuff, including the privately-owned Mohonk Preserve (requires a membership or day pass) and the adjacent Minnewaska State Park. Both are part of the Shawangunk ridge, which is primarily known for world-class rock climbing, but which also features 100+ miles of bike-legal "carriage roads." Most of these are either fine gravel or dirt double-track, with a few chunks of single-track for the adventurous.
​
​On the 25th, I saddled up the Titanium Hoss, my trusty Lynskey Pro GR, and had at it. The weather was beyond ideal: no real wind, clear and a million, low 70s. I don't like to drive in order to bike if I can avoid that, so rode 8 miles of paved rail trail and road to the Testimonial Gateway. This structure was gifted to the Smileys (the folks who used to own Mohonk and it's uber-fancy resort/hotel) by their rich friends as an anniversary present. It has no function now other than looking cool (see picture).

The Testimonial Gateway

 From there, I went through some other parts of Mohonk, mostly uphill, to the Undercliff carriage road--I should have gotten some pictures of the climbers there, but it's under construction and I didn't want to stop. Instead, I went out to Awosting Falls up in Minnewaska. We've had a dry summer, but there's still some pretty good water flowing from it. It's a 65 foot drop.

Awosting Falls

I'd thought of going farther into Minnewaska (there are some great sky lakes to ride around), but was about half done with my available time, so turned around at 20 miles or so and headed back. This time I took Overcliff carriage road, which looks like this, pretty representative of a lot of the trails. The picture doesn't capture it, but this is carved into the side of a ridge that falls off steeply to the left. It's lined with blueberries, huckleberries, and dwarf pitch pine, which is a rare habitat in these parts.

Overcliff Carriage Road

 After that, I ventured up a good hill on Laurel Ledge, nearing the Mohonk Mountain House. The Mohonk folks built these funny little gazebo-like structures along this carriage road for their guests, and the views of the ridge are quite something, so I stopped at one for a small snack and a photo. This is looking northwest at the Trapps, Millbrook Mountain, and, in the distance, Sam's Point.

Overview of Trapps, Millbrook Mountain, and Sam's Point.

 After this stretch, I was at the top of the ridge, so lots of downhill to follow. I shot down some of the aforementioned singletrack, underbiking it a bit, then down the longest and fastest hill of the day, Lenape Lane. About 2/3 of the way down I started to feel an occasional, disconcerting "clunk." Not so good at 30mph with this terrain. So I pulled over, and sure enough, I'd flatted the rear tire. It was a small cut not far off the centerline, not a puncture--I think I must have ripped it on some exposed shale. A ranger happened by and asked if I needed help, but it was an easy fix. Luckily, after pumping it back up, the sealant did its job and I didn't need to put in a plug or a new tube. I don't think I've had a flat for 4-5 years, so I was due.
​
​I was feeling stronger as the ride went on--it's great when that happens--so put some effort into the rest of the gravel and the pavement home. I finished in a touch over 3 hours, including time stopped to take pictures and fix the flat, with a shade over 42 miles and 2500' of climbing on the day.
​
​I feel grateful to have been able to do the Virtual Ride for Jacob. I try as often as I can to reflect on just how lucky I am--to have the time, resources, health, fitness, and family support to be able to do things like this, and this ride in particular brought that home, given the occasion. I hope it was similarly meaningful out in Iowa. I'd have loved to join y'all in person, but that's something of a trek! Needless to say, any who visit the mid-Hudson should definitely check out the Shawangunks. It's a stunning place.
​
​All the best,
​Henry

Wow! What a gorgeous ride! I definitely had no idea there were things like this in New York. (Now wait for N.Y. Roll to give me the business about this!) Anyway, I really am touched by this gesture and it is so cool to know that someone wanted to honor Jacob in this way who never knew him. What a blessing! 

Thanks Henry. This made my day when you sent it in.  

Ride For Jacob: The Bikes

We saw some pretty interesting bikes at the Ride For Jacob last weekend. I was able to get shots of most of them at our Janesville stop. For a few others I relied on shots from Kevin Fox. They are not posed shots so don't expect anything "professional" here!

No drive side, cranks level, tire patches down stuff here. Just some dusty bicycles in situ. If this trips your trigger then read on. If this offends your sensibilities, well you may want to skip this post and perhaps we'll see ya some other day here on the ol' blog. 

So, with that said, here are the thirteen bicycles used on the Ride For Jacob. 

Rob Evans Otso single speed

Kevin Fox said this doubles as his bike packing bike

Jackie's custom painted Stormchaser

Steve's rare Salsa Cycles Titanium La Cruz. I've only ever seen two of these. 

Doug's Salsa Cycles Journeyman

Tony's Titanium Fargo with a custom WaltWorks steel fork

Tom's Crust Bikes Evasion single speed

Dan's Soul Craft Rohloff drop bar bike

Justin's Lauf True Grit

Jason's W.H. Bradford Designs flat bar gravel bike with Black Sheep titanium handlebar

Dave's Lynskey titanium bike with a Lauf fork. (Image by Kevin Fox)

N.Y. Roll with his drop bar Otso Voytek (Image by Kevin Fox)

Of course, this is my Singular Cycles Peregrine Mk4

And there you have it! Quite the eclectic collection of bicycles. We had MTB drop bar conversions from Trans Iowa, (Kevin's) to rare birds, (Steve's Ti La Cruz), to your "average gravel bike" (Doug's Journeyman), and even a custom bike or two (Jason's W.H.B. Designs, Dan's Soul Craft) 

Single speeds, IGH, and 1X and 2X. Flat bar, drop bar, and weird-bar (Jason's). It just goes to show you that any bike can be a gravel bike as long as it is a bike you like. (Poetry?) Anyway, this is what gravel cycling is all about. Bikes, good people, and FUN.  

Look for a special Virtual Ride For Jacob post tomorrow.  

Ride For Jacob Report: Part 2

Your host: Image by Kevin Fox

Well we'd made it to Shell Rock and everyone seemed to be having a good time. There had been several chances for conversation along the way. I was especially happy to hear that Dave was of the mind that gravel folk should help and support other gravel folk. It was very heartening to understand the motivation for he and the other Nebraskans on the ride to show up in support. 

And that was a universally held thought amongst those in attendance. I must say it is very humbling and I was definitely proud of what I saw in the folks who came to ride. 

I'm certain many of you readers are of the same mind. 

Anyway, Shell Rock. It was a nice little stop. I went in to use the restroom but that was all I needed. I still had water and some food. Looking back on things I probably should have eaten something but I did not. I am always afraid to eat anything because most of the time whatever I eat does not sit well with me, especially when it is hot and humid. And it was humid.....but not really hot, not yet any way. 

 

Kevin looks a little too proud of those Mountain Dew Doughnuts!

There were a few long, grinder climbs on this route. This was one out of Shell Rock

 Heading out of Shell Rock I was still amazed at how nice it was. It didn't look great, and the images kind of show how gloomy it looked, but we were very happy for the clouds! How long would it last was anyone's guess. 

The one thing I heard most about the difficulties of the day was in reference to the nature of the climbs. It seemed we had a lot of what I call "grinders". Those climbs that go on and on at a not very steep incline, but end up kind of just being irritating and that get under your skin a bit. We had a long one coming out of Shell Rock going South. Eventually we topped out and then it was more rollers again until we got to the West Fork of the Cedar River and that old bridge there. 

Chasing down N.Y.Roll

 

Heading toward the West Fork of the Cedar River

The clouds started thinning out a bit by this time and it was increasingly hotter, but not oppressively hot. We were still making excellent time on the route. I knew we did not have a lot further to go and having had the benefit of the clouds up to this point was fantastic. 

The old steel bridge over the West Fork of the Cedar River was coming up next. I was hoping we'd all be agreeable to a stop. Since this is such a picturesque bridge and setting, I did not think I'd have to twist anyone's arm to stop. I was correct about that, by the way. 

Rob Evans capturing the scene on the bridge. 

Kevin Fox's image of the bridge scene

It was fairly obvious this was going to be a highlight of the ride. Everyone was engaged in conversations and checking out the view from the bridge deck. Fortunately there is not a ton of traffic on weekends, at least this has been my experience when visiting this bridge. 

There was a couple of cars which came around. The first one was an ordinary pass-by. But the second one? That was a different story altogether! The gray SUV was approaching the bridge at around 20mph, weaving slightly, and everyone backed up against the bridge railing hoping for the best. One rider was heard as the car came up on the bridge decking saying "Just keep it straight, please!". Was this going to be another drunk driver encounter like I had in 2014?

The car pulled up to about the mid-point of our huddled line, and then it stopped..... 

This was a rather odd, surprising encounter!

 The driver was an elderly gent who opened his window and started waving his arm about as he wondered aloud what in the world we were doing. He claimed he thought we were young trouble-makers at first who he said he routinely chased off the bridge, or some such story. 

N.Y. Roll, ever one not to be the shy one, engaged the man who wasn't picking up on the sarcasm N.Y. Roll was laying down. Tony turned to me and said, "That guy can't hear. The jokes aren't as funny if you can't hear them the first time". 

Indeed! N.Y. Roll was not fazed though, and eventually the man had to know who we were and where we had come from. N.Y. Roll started listing off the locales and the man was not absorbing this. Then he asked why we were out there, and someone suggested I tell him. At this point I stepped forward to offer my explanation, but the guy was distracted and then the next thing ya know he is leaving. He stuck his hand out the window to shake mine, not realizing I was not moving in his direction, and he suddenly let go as his shoulder hit the B post of his car. I don't think he hurt himself though.  Well.....maybe he couldn't feel any pain. I'm not really sure. 

Another long grinder on the way to New Hartford

The view looking over New Hartford and the Beaver Creek Valley

No harm, no foul with the encounter with the man in the SUV. I told Tony on the way out from there that if the man told this story to friends they may not believe him, based upon his display of crazy when he spoke with us. Tony said something to the effect that this man should never have alcohol if he wasn't drunk at the time. 

A long uphill grinder awaited us with a few rollers thrown in for good measure until we crested a ridge. This overlooks the Beaver Creek Valley and New Hartford, our next stop on this route. We had to make a bit of a detour to get to the Casey's on the West side of New Hartford, but at least New Hartford is a sleepy village with not much happening around noon on a Saturday. 

Dan Buettner showing the scene at the Casey's in New Hartford. 

Doug checking his phone while Steve checks out a bike.

This stop was where I bought an electrolyte drink and some more water. Again, I probably should have eaten something more than one Epic pemmican bar, but I did actually make it all the way through. I did have a strange deal with my right rotator cuff which ached tremendously the last third of the ride to the point where the last few miles home I almost could not hold the bars anymore with my right hand. 

I surmised it probably has something to do with my weight training and by not having a ShockStop stem on this bike. (Hint to Redshift: Please make a silver ShockStop stem!) Anyway, the stop in New Hartford was great. Now we had a short 14 miles to go on the official route to get back to the start. 

Headed East to Cedar Falls Image by Dan Buettner

I was bringing up the rear. Image by Dan Buettner

Another strange thing was when we spied a rider alongside the road at the end of some rows of corn. He was sitting in the grass when I saw him with his helmet off. He said he was okay, but I thought he looked pretty cooked. We rolled on by, but I was at the end of the group and had gotten separated by about 50 yards when we reached an intersection of gravel roads. A car was approaching from my left and seemed to be slowing to a stop. I motioned them to continue on through the intersection, but at this moment the car turned toward me, rolled up to me and then stopped. 

The window came down and the driver asked me if I had seen another rider "back there", indicating the way I had just come from. I affirmed him that I had seen this rider and I let him know where he was at approximately. He thanked me and I rode onward. It was nice to know this fellow had someone looking after him. 

This put me way off the back, but not long after the group had stopped at the edge of Cedar Falls and waited for me. The Sun had come out by this time and it was downright hot. It had to come out eventually, but I was so happy it waited until it did. 

Once we entered Cedar Falls we had a bit of bike path and a parking lane which guided us almost all the way to State Street. Then we had to dodge some construction and whatnot to get to Second State Brewing Co. There we repaired inside where it was cool and refreshed ourselves with some of Second State's fine recipes. 

After some great conversations and beers we each said our goodbyes. It was bittersweet, but what a fantastic day! N.Y. Roll accompanied me back home and about a mile and a half from the house he announced we had made it to a metric century. So, what a great accomplishment on the day as this was my longest ride since BRAN. 

I got in the house and found two slices of a quesadilla and a kombucha which I destroyed before taking a shower. What a day on the bike with great people! 

Image credit: Rob Evans

Image credit: Rob Evans

Final Thoughts:

Again, my gratitude overflows for everyone who was there and for all who showed support for The Ride For Jacob. I was told by several riders they really enjoyed the route, the way we rode, and for the people who showed up to ride. It was a success in all those ways for sure. 

But the point of it all was to honor my son, and obviously those who showed up wanted to do this and to support me, Phyllis, and Izabel. I feel that support more than you will know. Thank you. Jacob was certainly honored, and he would have been amazed we rode the distance we rode and all the attention brought to bear by this ride concept. Again - thank you. 

I was asked if the Ride For Jacob was a one-time thing or an annual ride. I think we're going to do this again. I was also told that "...any Guitar Ted ride you do we will show up for it." That's a pretty amazing statement and very humbling. So, yeah.... Look for this to happen again next year. 

We were talking after the ride about how this sort of ride is what draws us to gravel I said that what the media and a lot of folks think is the "meat" of the gravel scene is the "bucket list" events/races. The rides like the one we had just finished are seen as "side dishes". It should be the other way around. The fun, casual, get-togethers on bicycles on gravel should be the "meat" and the races and big events should be the side dishes in the media and in popular thought. But hey.....we know what side the bread is buttered on.  

Tomorrow I will post all the bikes from the ride and then we'll have a special post from a Virtual Ride For Jacob. Thanks for reading this ride report! 

 

Ride For Jacob Report: Part 1

First things first: The Ride For Jacob was a big success. Not in terms of numbers, but in light of why we were riding. It was an expression of love and support for me and my family. All in honor of Jacob Stevenson, who would have marveled at the attention given this ride. 

I thank everyone out there who were not at the ride for your thoughts and doing your own rides, which I know were being done in honor of Jacob. I thank all twelve riders who showed up Saturday to ride with me. I was, and still am, very grateful for all of you. 

Thanks also to Rob Evans, Kevin Fox, and Dan Buettner for sharing images with me which I am using in these reports.  

So, now let's get into the day and the stories which became what made the Ride for Jacob such a success. The ride was attended, as mentioned, by twelve folks. We had Dave, Justin, and Tony from Waterloo. There was Rob, Dave, Doug, and Jackie from Nebraska. We also had Kevin Fox from Nebraska. There were two from the Twin Cities area, Jason and Tom. We had two from Des Moines including Dan and Steve. With myself included we had 13 riders total. 

Escape Route: Right through those shrubs!

My day started out really early when Minka, our cat, barfed up a hairball and woke up Mrs. Guitar Ted. She was not pleased and the ruckus caused me to be pretty much wide awake from that point onward. 

I ended up getting out of bed at 5:00am and having some breakfast. Two eggs and some cheese on top. Then I got dressed and ready to hit the road over to Big Woods Lake.  I was riding my Singular Peregrine Mk4. I almost took the Fargo Gen ! because I had a message from Jason Boucher that he was coming down. Jason was the one who let me have that Fargo I have now, so I kinda feel obligated to ride it when he's going to be around, but the Singular ended up being the call. 

I stepped outside at 7:20am to ride over to Big Woods Lake and the North parking lot. I figured on it taking close to an hour to get there at an easy pace, so that would be about right for the 8:00am start. The weather was odd. Very humid, but on the cooler side, with very little wind. It seemed almost foggy. My camera lens was prone to being covered in moisture it was so humid. You can kind of see that in my "Escape Route" image here. 

I don't know if it was excitement about the ride or what, but I ended up arriving at Big Woods Lake by 7:00am! I thought I'd sit in the shelter house there but the mosquitos were too bothersome, so I sat on a wooden post alongside the parking lot edge instead, and I waited for the first arrival. 

About a half an hour later the first rider showed up. It was obvious who it was by the very distinctive bicycle on the roof rack. A red Soul Craft with red anodized appointments. It could be no one else but Dan Buettner from Des Moines! 

Image credit: Kevin Fox - who is not shown here.

 Soon others rolled in and by about 7:50am everyone that was going to show up had done so. I assembled the riders and gave them my usual "fatherly advice" speech, and ended it by cutting myself short and saying"...Well, you guys all know what to do!" We had the group photo and then we rolled out a few minutes past 8:00am.

Heading up Symons Road

The jack ass and two horses were very interested in our passage

Heading out toward Mount Vernon Road, where the gravel would start, I was surprised to find Symons Road was just chip sealed. Fresh chips are almost like riding on gravel. To boot, Symons Road was a gravel road at one time, and I had ridden it back then. So this was a pleasant surprise, to me, and almost a throwback to the old days. 

Instead of doing the route like last year where I went North up Burton Avenue, we went up Leversee Road instead. I hadn't ridden up Leversee in many years. It's a nice road to ride. It was capped off with a jack ass and some horses which were running with us a bit. Then we zigged and zagged over to our first stop in Janesville at the very busy Kwik Star convenience store. 

Heading toward Janesville. Note the fuzzy image due to all the humidity

Gathering outside the Kwik Star in Janesville. Image by Kevin Fox

The stop at Janesville was nice. I did not go inside, but a few of the others did. A while goes by and then we started out for Shell Rock by heading West out of town over the Cedar River. The road is pretty flat here and there was fresh gravel which was quite dusty as well. My tires were white with the dust. I assume the moist air was partially to blame for the dust sticking to the tires. 

Jason (L) and myself leading the group out of Janesville. Image by Kevin Fox

 

Heading up to new-to-me roads.

Last year this section past Janesville is where I totally messed up in terms of navigation. I missed a turn which would have taken me on some new road along the Shell Rock River. Then I missed a turn-off to Shell Rock. This landed me on Highway 3 and then a not very pleasant run into town on that highway's shoulder. 

Now I have to take a minute to go over my latest GPS failure. You know me, dear readers! I have no good luck with GPS navigation! So, back at the start, I had my GPS on to measure the mileage out to the Big Woods Lake parking lot. It was a little over 8 miles. I then selected the Ride For Jacob route in the ride history and tried to load it. Only it would not load. So.... After N.Y. Roll told me he thought I did not have the Iowa maps loaded (!!), I just opted to start a new ride and record that. All was well. 

Until....

Just outside of Janesville the Wahoo went "WAHOOO!" and flew off the mount! I stopped and Tony fetched it for me. Looking a little worse for the wear, I stared down to see it was on some new page. I tried getting back to start a new ride but it would not do my bidding. So, frustrated, I decided to shut it off, stash it in my jersey pocket, and enjoy the ride. As long as I was with friends who had the route, well everything would take care of itself.  (Note: I checked the Wahoo out afterward and it said I had done a 20+ mile indoor workout. Nice...)

Okay, back to the story....

The roads I missed last year were super-cool! Image by Dan Buettner

 

I'll be hitting up these roads again soon!

The bit of road on the East side of the Shell Rock river was outstanding. I am so sad I missed that turn last year now! The road I took last year was so boring compared to what we rode Saturday! Some riders could be heard saying they thought the route was really a good one and were remarking on this stretch of road in particular. 

The turn off to Shell Rock was pretty decent as well. This was much better than going alongside the highway! Once we arrived in town we went off route a little bit to find our next Kwik Star convenience store and a bit of rest. We were making great time. It was not even noon yet! 

Not bad for shooting no-look over my shoulder!

 

The final bit before getting into Shell Rock, Iowa.

So, the ride was going very well and everyone was having a good time. Even my GPS nightmare couldn't affect me on this day. The weather was a huge blessing as we were comfortable and cool-ish all the way into Shell Rock. Had the Sun been out? I don't think we'd have had every rider finish the day. Or we may have cut the route short. Hard to say, but I'm glad we didn't have to do that! 

I'll leave you with one last shot for today.... 

Any guesses as to what this is? 

 Tomorrow the report continues with the Shell Rock stop and onward to Cedar Falls. Thanks for reading! 

In Support Of The Adventure Bike

Cotic Escapade (Image courtesy of Cotic Bikes)

Gravel racing this, aero wheels that.... It seems to be that most brands are hyper-focusing on racing again, and since gravel is the hot ticket, they are marketing the daylights out of gravel racing bicycles and gear. 

But "Gravel™" wasn't founded on racing, per se'. It was more about adventure. Of course, many of you long-time readers will immediately think about Salsa Cycles and their "Adventure by Bike" marketing tag line. That idea was way ahead of its time, and the Fargo was the predecessor to a few trends in cycling we see today, such as bike packing, mountain bike-sized tires for gravel, and more. 

But since those late 2000's days of Adventure by Bike, the narrative got lost, and somehow brands did not find the idea to work for them. That may be due to internal predilections towards road bike racing, a misunderstanding of what makes cycling 'fun', or a lack of imagination. Maybe it was due to all of those things. 

But here we are in 2026. I find many press releases and stories about gravel racing bikes made from the latest carbon lay-ups and integrating components with slick looks and price tags which keep most riders out of the market. I don't see a whole lot of things related to having fun, going on an adventure, and at a somewhat more reasonable price. 

Enter Cotic, a bicycle company from the United Kingdom. They offer a model called the Escapade which, in all honesty, is pretty much what a 2008 Fargo modernized might look like. Notice it isn't suspension corrected in terms of its front end geometry. It has a 1X drive train, like most bikes these days with MTB sized rubber. It's made from steel, which probably will outlast you. You don't have to worry if it gets scratched, dinged, or beat up a bit. It even can easily, compared to carbon, be recycled, if need be. 

Here's what I like about how Cotic speaks of this bike and category. From their webpage on the Escapade: "Some bikes are made for roads. Some for trails. The Escapade was made for the in-between; for the lane that dissolves into gravel, the gravel that fades into dirt, and that becomes wherever you feel like going next."

Now that sounds like fun, and it sounds like a bicycle I could ride almost anywhere. To be sure, Cotic is not the only company doing this, but it is one of few that do. And you may balk at the 4K price for a complete, but in 2008 dollars, this a little over 2K, (what a Gen I Fargo cost then) and well, you aren't getting inflation to reverse itself so you can get those old prices you remember.

Between pure smooth tarmac and rough single track is an area where I felt bicycling, for most humans, was being neglected. A place most humans on Earth can find easily. Smooth tarmac exists for cars and trucks and we all know how that works out for cycling. Mountains are few and far between for most folks. MTB areas exist, but you gotta drive to get there, and well.... Wouldn't it be better to have a bike that you can just hop on, and ride almost everywhere where you live? 

Adventures exist right out our front doors. Races? Not so much. Everyday we can go on a bicycle adventure ride. Organized racing? No..... Adventure riding = free. Races? 

We need to think more about adventures on bicycles and less about the latest 10K+ gravel racing rockets.