GTDRI 2019: Update

Proposed Route or hippo-nosed flying dragon- You decide.

Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitational 2019: Route News:

Well, since I hear that more than a few folks are thinking about doing this crazy ride, I thought I'd better get to gettin' 'er dun. I'd drafted a route earlier but I scrapped that and started over. Also, I had originally felt like only doing about 60-70-ish miles, but this route turned out to be longer...... Oh well. It may have to get a tad bit longer yet. More on that in a bit.

But let's not get too far ahead of ourselves here. I need to recon some of this route, so things may change. Here's what I can share of what I already do know about where we will be going.

• Dirt Roads: Since the last two years of GTDRI's, where I inserted about a 1/4 of the total distance in dirt roads, was so popular, that theme is being used again. Only this time in Poweshiek County. The ride definitely will have a ton of dirt roads, but as of now, I have no idea what the mileage will be. A final tally will be given after I recon the route. Suffice it to say that a quarter to a third of the overall mileage will be on Level B dirt roads. 
• Some Familiar Roads: Obviously, with the route running out and back into Grinnell, a lot of former Trans Iowa roads will feature into this route. Even some of the Level B's will have been on previous Trans Iowa routes, and also- I am using some of the old GTDRI that was run out of Grinnell back in 2012, I think it was. 
• Three Counties: I had intended on keeping this an all Poweshiek County ride, but I sneaked in a tempting twisty section of gravel up in Tama County, and an interesting bit that I was unaware of means we will be fully in Iowa County for a stretch. The GPS map I looked at shows the County border between Poweshiek and Iowa Counties but it runs significantly to the West of Poweshiek/Iowa Road, which I always assumed was right on the county border. Apparently, that hasn't been the case. So, if this is correct, we will be in Iowa County for a few miles. 
• Two Towns: There are two towns we will go through, one with a convenience store. Brooklyn has been on several Trans Iowa routes and even a Geezer Ride passed through there once. Malcom is the other town, which was also on a Geezer Ride. The only thing is, these towns don't come until well into the route, so figure on carrying enough stuff to get you 75 miles down the road on this GTDRI. 
• Hilly! The GPS track I used showed nearly 5,000ft of elevation gain, and those are always too conservative. Figuring in for what reality may be, I'd say it'll be closer to 8,000ft. So, yeah......it won't be flat! Bring your climbing legs. 
• Distance: As stated above, I ended up making this quite a bit longer than my first draft. Right now it stands at 92+ miles. Given that recon could force me to change the route, this is not a hard and fast number. Should I just go ahead and make it a hundy? Probably should, but..... We'll see. 
• Recon: I will be starting recon Wednesday (tomorrow) weather permitting. Stay tuned..... 

That's about all for now other than to say that the date is July 27th, 2019 starting and ending in Grinnell, Iowa at Bikes To You. Parking can be had at their main park downtown, a couple blocks away. Start time will be 6:00am and the ride may take all day. In case of inclement weather or wet dirt roads the event may get truncated, re-routed, or cancelled altogether. There will be a GPS downloadable route made available later after the route is confirmed and possibly an alternative "Dry Route" will also be offered. Stay tuned here and keep in touch on the Official Page for the Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitational.

More soon......