It's Over - But It's Not Over Yet

 March of this year was looking to be a busy, busy month. N.Y. Roll and I had the C.O.G. 100 coming up fast. Last minute recon needed to be done, and things were coming together in that old familiar way for this guy who has put on events for 15 years. I was looking forward to all the reviewing and all the changes coming in the gravel scene. Then.......

Well, you know all about what came next. 

For the next three months I lived in great fear and a renewed sense of wonder simultaneously. On the one hand, I avoided people like crazy, washed and sanitized like my life depended upon it, (because that was the messaging then) and my only time out of the house besides work was to ride my bicycles in the country. 

Out there I found the wonder, the peace, the beauty of creation that had always been there, but which I hadn't really appreciated all that much. Not like I should have been. And I found escape. Escape from news, from politics, from people saying one thing, and then another. Escape from the fear and anxiety. There were times I never wanted to ride back home. 

The rides to work were weird. The normal crazy traffic was gone. I almost didn't have to look for cars. There was a quietness that was unprecedented. It was the missing din of cars, trucks, and motorcycles. People were staying home, and the effects on the outdoors was immense. I actually found this aspect of what happened really nice, actually. 

There was something about April and May that I miss. Not the fear and anxiety part, but there was a peace over the land and everyone had slowed waaaaay down. The pace of life seemed much more manageable to me, anyway. Maybe not to you and others. I liked that part of what happened too.

I spent a little more time tuning in to stuff like this.

Then May ended and so did the peaceful, slower pace of life. Folks eager to 'return to normal' made the highways busy again. Folks seemed to relax and go back to pretty much the way things were before with the caveat that there were none of the recreational/distractional facets of 'normal' life. Things like restaurants and movies, motels and amusements of all sorts- these were still discouraged. So, the focus changed to outdoors activities, including cycling, and the economy got hammered on that end while the 'normal' businesses were left hung out to dry. And then the political mayhem kicked in.

Presidential election years are something I disdain and I do not look forward to all the grandstanding, hearing the lies, and seeing all the money wasted on print ads and digital stuff. It's rather embarrassing from a national standpoint, not to mention extremely annoying to deal with. Schools were gearing up to bring students in and with a son still in public school, I had that fear and anxiety to deal with concerning his safety as well. Fall came and so did the higher numbers of cases and deaths caused by this plague. The weight of all this and having more concerns about myself and my family's safety was overwhelming. 

Winter is here now and we are still going through the dark valley. The days aren't just shorter, but the times are dimmer as well. People are struggling. Hope seems thin. Holiday seasons are rough enough for many of us without the extra weight of the rest of this nonsense.  So far, we're okay. I am still having rough days, as I am sure many of you out there are. 2020 may be over, but we're still needing to make our way. I'm reminded of an old John Mellencamp song these days:

"Now more than ever 

The world needs Love.

Not just a slogan

But the world needs Love

Now more than ever I can't stand alone

Now more than ever.

We've got a long ways to go yet to make it to the other side. I know I'll need encouragements and I know others will as well. Let's be part of the solution and not part of the problem. Going forward won't be easy and well........when was it ever? This is really just a different set of problems and obstacles to overcome or, at the least, be dealt with in a way that builds us up, as long as we build each other up as well. 

Tomorrow a New Year starts, but really, it's just an artificial marker. A boundary that doesn't really exist, we just believe that it does, so we make it real. We can make what we need to be real come to life in 2021. All we have to do is believe.

It's Over - But It's Not Over Yet

 March of this year was looking to be a busy, busy month. N.Y. Roll and I had the C.O.G. 100 coming up fast. Last minute recon needed to be done, and things were coming together in that old familiar way for this guy who has put on events for 15 years. I was looking forward to all the reviewing and all the changes coming in the gravel scene. Then.......

Well, you know all about what came next. 

For the next three months I lived in great fear and a renewed sense of wonder simultaneously. On the one hand, I avoided people like crazy, washed and sanitized like my life depended upon it, (because that was the messaging then) and my only time out of the house besides work was to ride my bicycles in the country. 

Out there I found the wonder, the peace, the beauty of creation that had always been there, but which I hadn't really appreciated all that much. Not like I should have been. And I found escape. Escape from news, from politics, from people saying one thing, and then another. Escape from the fear and anxiety. There were times I never wanted to ride back home. 

The rides to work were weird. The normal crazy traffic was gone. I almost didn't have to look for cars. There was a quietness that was unprecedented. It was the missing din of cars, trucks, and motorcycles. People were staying home, and the effects on the outdoors was immense. I actually found this aspect of what happened really nice, actually. 

There was something about April and May that I miss. Not the fear and anxiety part, but there was a peace over the land and everyone had slowed waaaaay down. The pace of life seemed much more manageable to me, anyway. Maybe not to you and others. I liked that part of what happened too.

I spent a little more time tuning in to stuff like this.

Then May ended and so did the peaceful, slower pace of life. Folks eager to 'return to normal' made the highways busy again. Folks seemed to relax and go back to pretty much the way things were before with the caveat that there were none of the recreational/distractional facets of 'normal' life. Things like restaurants and movies, motels and amusements of all sorts- these were still discouraged. So, the focus changed to outdoors activities, including cycling, and the economy got hammered on that end while the 'normal' businesses were left hung out to dry. And then the political mayhem kicked in.

Presidential election years are something I disdain and I do not look forward to all the grandstanding, hearing the lies, and seeing all the money wasted on print ads and digital stuff. It's rather embarrassing from a national standpoint, not to mention extremely annoying to deal with. Schools were gearing up to bring students in and with a son still in public school, I had that fear and anxiety to deal with concerning his safety as well. Fall came and so did the higher numbers of cases and deaths caused by this plague. The weight of all this and having more concerns about myself and my family's safety was overwhelming. 

Winter is here now and we are still going through the dark valley. The days aren't just shorter, but the times are dimmer as well. People are struggling. Hope seems thin. Holiday seasons are rough enough for many of us without the extra weight of the rest of this nonsense.  So far, we're okay. I am still having rough days, as I am sure many of you out there are. 2020 may be over, but we're still needing to make our way. I'm reminded of an old John Mellencamp song these days:

"Now more than ever 

The world needs Love.

Not just a slogan

But the world needs Love

Now more than ever I can't stand alone

Now more than ever.

We've got a long ways to go yet to make it to the other side. I know I'll need encouragements and I know others will as well. Let's be part of the solution and not part of the problem. Going forward won't be easy and well........when was it ever? This is really just a different set of problems and obstacles to overcome or, at the least, be dealt with in a way that builds us up, as long as we build each other up as well. 

Tomorrow a New Year starts, but really, it's just an artificial marker. A boundary that doesn't really exist, we just believe that it does, so we make it real. We can make what we need to be real come to life in 2021. All we have to do is believe.

Rear View '20: The Top Ten Posts of 2020

 The 15th year of the blog deserves to have a few different things done in celebration of not only what I did, but what you thought about the posts here this year. So, I thought it would be fun to rank the Top Ten posts from the blog during the calendar year 2020. These posts are ranked according to what Blogger stats tell me were the most read posts of the year. 

I'll start with #10 and work up to #1 and then I will put up what post I got the most feedback about, but isn't on the Top Ten List at all for reads. 

Now- On with the list!

#10: A Further Commentary On The Cummins/DK Story, June 23, 2020: 

Much of 2020 was marked by what happened to what was the event known as the "Dirty Kanza 200". Previously, before the turn of the calendar to 2020, back in 2018, it was announced that Life Time Fitness had purchased the Dirty Kanza 200 and its associated events. With that change in ownership, a new set of corporate driven decisions were possible concerning the event and its core principles. Not that anything was meant to change, but with new owners the reins had been handed over. 

This post was an explanation of how corporate decision making and culture trumps personal actions when it comes to public perceptions. It sought to explain 'cancel culture' in this particular instance, and it sought to show that - not only would the event's name have to be changed, but how that all would render this event something completely different going forward. When you 'cancel' your history you don't get to cherry pick elements you want to keep.  

#9: Gravel Grinder News: Dirty Kanza 200 Co-Founder Fired, June 20th, 2020:

Obviously #10 doesn't happen without this happening first and it slotted in at #9 for the most read post of 2020. Pretty self-explanatory here. All over a viewpoint shared on Jim Cummings personal Facebook page. This is representative of a lot of what is frustrating about 2020. But, what about calling people in instead of calling people out? Hmm..... (Some food for thought)

#8: A Concept Bike Revisited Part 4, February 6th, 2020: 

Around about 2011-2012 or so, I was dreaming up what I thought would make for a good gravel bike. This was a pretty deep dive, it was nerdery of the highest order. Then the Tamland happened and that put an end to that dreaming. Well, as I was wont to retire the Tamland going in to 2020, I picked up the thread and started reviewing several bikes I felt were right for me. Apparently, many people thought this was interesting as well. This post slots in at #8 for 2020. 

#7: Salsa Cycles Introduces The Rangefinder, February 1st, 2020:  

The press release machine never stops anymore these days when trade shows are pretty much a dead horse and consumer trade shows are non-existent, even pre-COVID. (Sea Otter notwithstanding) So, these days companies and brands along with marketing agencies often send news to "influential" sites, bloggers, Instagrammers, and the like in a way to get the word out. This post was pretty much my take on the Rangefinder 'range' of bikes introduced by Salsa Cycles along with some of the press release info. It slotted in at #7 for the most read posts of 2020.  

#6: The Elephant In The Room, March 12th, 2020:

On the eve of our World being upended by the pandemic, I wrote this post concerning gravel events for 2020. I asked why in the world no one was talking about just postponing, or even cancelling, the season's events. Obviously, the gravel community thought this was an important topic then, and it still is today. That's probably why it slots in at #6 on my most read posts for 2020. 

#5: A Concept Bike Revisited Part 3, January 28th, 2020: 

Another post from the four part series, this one looked at what materials I preferred in a gravel bike and why, with several examples reviewed. Apparently you readers like nerding out about bicycle stuff here. This put this post at #5 over-all for the year. 

#4: The New Job Announcement, January 7th, 2020: 

 The career of Guitar Ted apparently was of some interest to many readers as the announcement of my new job in January drew enough hits to place it comfortably in the #4 slot of the most popular posts for 2020. 

#3: Gravel Grinder News: DK200 Postponed, Cancelled.......Dead?, July 8th, 2020: 

Among the events cancelled for 2020, Life Time Events announced in early July that they were calling off any gravel events in Emporia Kansas for 2020. There was a move afoot to change the name of this event, which we know now has been done. It will move on as a new event called "Unbound Gravel".

New? Isn't this just going to be the DK200 renamed? I said this in July, "The Dirty Kanza 200 died as an event on July 7th, 2020. It's over folks." The rest of the third most popular post on the site for 2020 goes on to explain why I think this still is the case. 

#2: The State of the Gravel Scene 2020 Part 1: January 1st, 2020: 

Since 2018 I have made a "State of the Gravel Scene" proclamation on the site. Coming into 2020, it looked as though moves by a few major players in the gravel scene- Life Time Fitness, USAC, and a group of high profile promoters, were about to take the grassroots out of gravel and monetize, promote, and codify the scene into 'the next level'.  Basically replacing the old crit/road race scene with gravel events pushed more into what those old racers, promoters, business people, and influencers thought should be the "way things are done around here". I mentioned that I thought there were going to be a LOT of changes.

Boy howdy! Were there ever! Just not in the way I figured there would be. 

#1: The State of the Gravel Scene 2020 Part 2, January 2nd, 2020:  

I take on the notion that HPC's (otherwise known elsewhere as 'e-bikes') are going to bring in more participation in gravel events. I show how these types of motorized vehicles will be used to cheat to gain advantages, and that money to buy technology will actually decrease, not increase, rider participation. I ask what we are doing to reach marginalized and disadvantaged people and bring them into gravel riding, and that only an open heart to these folks and open minds as to how to get them out there really matters. No electrified bike is going to do that. It became my #1 most read post in 2020 by a country mile. 

And Now For The Most Impactful Post Of 2020: 

Once in a while, I get private messages or emails concerning what I have written and how it affects you- the readers of G-Ted Productions. This year, being what it has been, was rather trying and I did not escape this. I wrote a post that elicited a response of the sort that has not been seen by me before in all the years I have blogged. 

It was a risky post to make, but I felt so strongly about expressing these feelings that I just had to go ahead and publish it. That post was titled "Country Views: Learning To Fly", published on July 23rd, 2020.  

And that wraps up my look at posts that pulled the biggest numbers and best responses in 2020.   

Rear View '20: The Top Ten Posts of 2020

 The 15th year of the blog deserves to have a few different things done in celebration of not only what I did, but what you thought about the posts here this year. So, I thought it would be fun to rank the Top Ten posts from the blog during the calendar year 2020. These posts are ranked according to what Blogger stats tell me were the most read posts of the year. 

I'll start with #10 and work up to #1 and then I will put up what post I got the most feedback about, but isn't on the Top Ten List at all for reads. 

Now- On with the list!

#10: A Further Commentary On The Cummins/DK Story, June 23, 2020: 

Much of 2020 was marked by what happened to what was the event known as the "Dirty Kanza 200". Previously, before the turn of the calendar to 2020, back in 2018, it was announced that Life Time Fitness had purchased the Dirty Kanza 200 and its associated events. With that change in ownership, a new set of corporate driven decisions were possible concerning the event and its core principles. Not that anything was meant to change, but with new owners the reins had been handed over. 

This post was an explanation of how corporate decision making and culture trumps personal actions when it comes to public perceptions. It sought to explain 'cancel culture' in this particular instance, and it sought to show that - not only would the event's name have to be changed, but how that all would render this event something completely different going forward. When you 'cancel' your history you don't get to cherry pick elements you want to keep.  

#9: Gravel Grinder News: Dirty Kanza 200 Co-Founder Fired, June 20th, 2020:

Obviously #10 doesn't happen without this happening first and it slotted in at #9 for the most read post of 2020. Pretty self-explanatory here. All over a viewpoint shared on Jim Cummings personal Facebook page. This is representative of a lot of what is frustrating about 2020. But, what about calling people in instead of calling people out? Hmm..... (Some food for thought)

#8: A Concept Bike Revisited Part 4, February 6th, 2020: 

Around about 2011-2012 or so, I was dreaming up what I thought would make for a good gravel bike. This was a pretty deep dive, it was nerdery of the highest order. Then the Tamland happened and that put an end to that dreaming. Well, as I was wont to retire the Tamland going in to 2020, I picked up the thread and started reviewing several bikes I felt were right for me. Apparently, many people thought this was interesting as well. This post slots in at #8 for 2020. 

#7: Salsa Cycles Introduces The Rangefinder, February 1st, 2020:  

The press release machine never stops anymore these days when trade shows are pretty much a dead horse and consumer trade shows are non-existent, even pre-COVID. (Sea Otter notwithstanding) So, these days companies and brands along with marketing agencies often send news to "influential" sites, bloggers, Instagrammers, and the like in a way to get the word out. This post was pretty much my take on the Rangefinder 'range' of bikes introduced by Salsa Cycles along with some of the press release info. It slotted in at #7 for the most read posts of 2020.  

#6: The Elephant In The Room, March 12th, 2020:

On the eve of our World being upended by the pandemic, I wrote this post concerning gravel events for 2020. I asked why in the world no one was talking about just postponing, or even cancelling, the season's events. Obviously, the gravel community thought this was an important topic then, and it still is today. That's probably why it slots in at #6 on my most read posts for 2020. 

#5: A Concept Bike Revisited Part 3, January 28th, 2020: 

Another post from the four part series, this one looked at what materials I preferred in a gravel bike and why, with several examples reviewed. Apparently you readers like nerding out about bicycle stuff here. This put this post at #5 over-all for the year. 

#4: The New Job Announcement, January 7th, 2020: 

 The career of Guitar Ted apparently was of some interest to many readers as the announcement of my new job in January drew enough hits to place it comfortably in the #4 slot of the most popular posts for 2020. 

#3: Gravel Grinder News: DK200 Postponed, Cancelled.......Dead?, July 8th, 2020: 

Among the events cancelled for 2020, Life Time Events announced in early July that they were calling off any gravel events in Emporia Kansas for 2020. There was a move afoot to change the name of this event, which we know now has been done. It will move on as a new event called "Unbound Gravel".

New? Isn't this just going to be the DK200 renamed? I said this in July, "The Dirty Kanza 200 died as an event on July 7th, 2020. It's over folks." The rest of the third most popular post on the site for 2020 goes on to explain why I think this still is the case. 

#2: The State of the Gravel Scene 2020 Part 1: January 1st, 2020: 

Since 2018 I have made a "State of the Gravel Scene" proclamation on the site. Coming into 2020, it looked as though moves by a few major players in the gravel scene- Life Time Fitness, USAC, and a group of high profile promoters, were about to take the grassroots out of gravel and monetize, promote, and codify the scene into 'the next level'.  Basically replacing the old crit/road race scene with gravel events pushed more into what those old racers, promoters, business people, and influencers thought should be the "way things are done around here". I mentioned that I thought there were going to be a LOT of changes.

Boy howdy! Were there ever! Just not in the way I figured there would be. 

#1: The State of the Gravel Scene 2020 Part 2, January 2nd, 2020:  

I take on the notion that HPC's (otherwise known elsewhere as 'e-bikes') are going to bring in more participation in gravel events. I show how these types of motorized vehicles will be used to cheat to gain advantages, and that money to buy technology will actually decrease, not increase, rider participation. I ask what we are doing to reach marginalized and disadvantaged people and bring them into gravel riding, and that only an open heart to these folks and open minds as to how to get them out there really matters. No electrified bike is going to do that. It became my #1 most read post in 2020 by a country mile. 

And Now For The Most Impactful Post Of 2020: 

Once in a while, I get private messages or emails concerning what I have written and how it affects you- the readers of G-Ted Productions. This year, being what it has been, was rather trying and I did not escape this. I wrote a post that elicited a response of the sort that has not been seen by me before in all the years I have blogged. 

It was a risky post to make, but I felt so strongly about expressing these feelings that I just had to go ahead and publish it. That post was titled "Country Views: Learning To Fly", published on July 23rd, 2020.  

And that wraps up my look at posts that pulled the biggest numbers and best responses in 2020.   

Bikes Of 2020: Salsa Cycles Fargo Gen I

  It's THAT time of year again when I have my year-end reviews. This series will cover my bikes I used during 2020, any changes made, and why I still like each one- or don't! Thanks for reading!

You blog readers could have guessed this, right? I think it has made the list every year I've done this list. And you all know I love this bike and probably y'all know why too. There isn't much left to be said about it after all these years. So, if you are new here and don't understand, I apologize. Just shoot me a comment and I'll answer, but I feel like writing more about this bike is beating a dead horse now after 12 years of owning it.

I will talk about future plans as they relate to maintenance and I should mention a couple changes too. First and most obviously I have mounted these new-ish Surly Extraterrestrial 29" X 2.5" tires. I traded for these with Andy who had them to mount to a Karate Monkey he ended up selling before he got them used. I also switched up wheels and I have these Shimano hubbed, Duster rimmed wheels which were off of my old Sawyer, actually. The Extraterrestrials mounted up well to these tubeless and I expect that they shouldn't give me any troubles at all. They are on the heavy side though. 

Another change I made was to use this Salsa Regulator Ti post with a Brooks C-17 saddle. This combination is really smooth. Combined with the tires I have smoothed out the ride of this bike a great deal. I also put a Redshift Sports ShockStop stem on there for a while but I have a rigid stem back on it for the time being. I fitted the Becker Bags frame bag made for this bike and the J-Pak proto gravel top tube bag. There is also a Bar Yak system cue sheet holder deal on there for my analog route finding. 

I had threatened to upgrade the drive train but with COVID-19 shortages on cassettes and chain rings, not to mention chains, I decided to just keep running this set up into the ground for now. Eventually I hope to replace the aging Deore crank set with the original XT Hollotech triple and a Chris King bottom bracket along with a new 9 speed cassette. 

But that's pretty much it. Dreaming big, I would go with a new set of wheels here, but probably not yet. So, that covers this old girl and you can expect to see it again real soon.

Bikes Of 2020: Salsa Cycles Fargo Gen I

  It's THAT time of year again when I have my year-end reviews. This series will cover my bikes I used during 2020, any changes made, and why I still like each one- or don't! Thanks for reading!

You blog readers could have guessed this, right? I think it has made the list every year I've done this list. And you all know I love this bike and probably y'all know why too. There isn't much left to be said about it after all these years. So, if you are new here and don't understand, I apologize. Just shoot me a comment and I'll answer, but I feel like writing more about this bike is beating a dead horse now after 12 years of owning it.

I will talk about future plans as they relate to maintenance and I should mention a couple changes too. First and most obviously I have mounted these new-ish Surly Extraterrestrial 29" X 2.5" tires. I traded for these with Andy who had them to mount to a Karate Monkey he ended up selling before he got them used. I also switched up wheels and I have these Shimano hubbed, Duster rimmed wheels which were off of my old Sawyer, actually. The Extraterrestrials mounted up well to these tubeless and I expect that they shouldn't give me any troubles at all. They are on the heavy side though. 

Another change I made was to use this Salsa Regulator Ti post with a Brooks C-17 saddle. This combination is really smooth. Combined with the tires I have smoothed out the ride of this bike a great deal. I also put a Redshift Sports ShockStop stem on there for a while but I have a rigid stem back on it for the time being. I fitted the Becker Bags frame bag made for this bike and the J-Pak proto gravel top tube bag. There is also a Bar Yak system cue sheet holder deal on there for my analog route finding. 

I had threatened to upgrade the drive train but with COVID-19 shortages on cassettes and chain rings, not to mention chains, I decided to just keep running this set up into the ground for now. Eventually I hope to replace the aging Deore crank set with the original XT Hollotech triple and a Chris King bottom bracket along with a new 9 speed cassette. 

But that's pretty much it. Dreaming big, I would go with a new set of wheels here, but probably not yet. So, that covers this old girl and you can expect to see it again real soon.

Rear View '20: In Images

 The 12 best images from the blog for 2020 as chosen by me, Guitar Ted. All decisions are final! (HA!) Not that this is a contest, but I have my opinion which may or may not align with yours. Here they are listed in order from January onward and a couple may have some commentary to go with them. Enjoy! 

An extra-long riding season which was carried over from 2019 resulted in this image from January

 

 

February: Winter eventually came. This is from the old Sergeant Road bike trail which passed under that bridge on the right. All gone now.

March: On Leap Day I took Mrs. Guitar Ted to Decorah where I interviewed Marty Larson for the RGRR podcast. The last trip out of town for quite a while!

April: Pandemic induced lock-downs and social distancing. Getting away from the madness here in the Green Belt.

May: I had a great time testing this Salsa Cycles Stormchaser single speed bike. Here seen on Petrie Road.

June: More Petrie Road with the Fargo. Testing tires for Riding Gravel.

July: Petrie Road again! This from the "Learning To Fly" post.

August: Prairie Sunflowers in a ditch on Airline Highway.

September: Sunrise on Ford Road

October: Nesbit Road near Dunkerton, Iowa.

November: This farm flies this flag near Hudson, Iowa 24-7

December: A dramatic Sunset. Image taken about a block from G-Ted Headquarters.

Notes: I suppose I could have bombarded this 'Best Of' post with an image of a gravel road twelve times, but I tried to resist that as much as I could here. I also tried to stay away from all the "Quest" images that I could. Y'all know I rode a ton of gravel this year, but there were other worthwhile things I did and great images resulted. 

I also noted that most of the year was fairly lame in terms of quality imagery. There were a couple months where it was very difficult to choose an image because there were more than a few good ones. June and October come to mind, but other months there was really only the one I chose for this 'Best Of' effort. (January and December) I guess that means I need to step up my game in 2020.

Rear View '20: In Images

 The 12 best images from the blog for 2020 as chosen by me, Guitar Ted. All decisions are final! (HA!) Not that this is a contest, but I have my opinion which may or may not align with yours. Here they are listed in order from January onward and a couple may have some commentary to go with them. Enjoy! 

An extra-long riding season which was carried over from 2019 resulted in this image from January

 

 

February: Winter eventually came. This is from the old Sergeant Road bike trail which passed under that bridge on the right. All gone now.

March: On Leap Day I took Mrs. Guitar Ted to Decorah where I interviewed Marty Larson for the RGRR podcast. The last trip out of town for quite a while!

April: Pandemic induced lock-downs and social distancing. Getting away from the madness here in the Green Belt.

May: I had a great time testing this Salsa Cycles Stormchaser single speed bike. Here seen on Petrie Road.

June: More Petrie Road with the Fargo. Testing tires for Riding Gravel.

July: Petrie Road again! This from the "Learning To Fly" post.

August: Prairie Sunflowers in a ditch on Airline Highway.

September: Sunrise on Ford Road

October: Nesbit Road near Dunkerton, Iowa.

November: This farm flies this flag near Hudson, Iowa 24-7

December: A dramatic Sunset. Image taken about a block from G-Ted Headquarters.

Notes: I suppose I could have bombarded this 'Best Of' post with an image of a gravel road twelve times, but I tried to resist that as much as I could here. I also tried to stay away from all the "Quest" images that I could. Y'all know I rode a ton of gravel this year, but there were other worthwhile things I did and great images resulted. 

I also noted that most of the year was fairly lame in terms of quality imagery. There were a couple months where it was very difficult to choose an image because there were more than a few good ones. June and October come to mind, but other months there was really only the one I chose for this 'Best Of' effort. (January and December) I guess that means I need to step up my game in 2020.

Trans Iowa Stories: Fruitless Searching- Part 1

The T.I.v11 site header. I designed this one as well.

 "Trans Iowa Stories" is an every Sunday post which helps tell the stories behind the event. You can check out other posts about this subject by going back to earlier Sunday posts on this blog. Thanks and enjoy!

With a renewed vigor and excitement for another Trans Iowa I dove in head first and started route designing for the all-new course. I wanted to take Trans Iowa into a completely new area this time and the obvious direction to go was East. We'd been over into the Marengo/Williamsburg/Washington Iowa area once for T.I.v5, but it had been a long enough time that going that direction again would seem pretty new. There are, however; several barriers to getting East from Grinnell. 

A cursory look at an Iowa map will show you several reasons why this route direction from Grinnell is hard to do. Rivers, major highways, and major population centers make doing a remote, gravel only route very difficult. To make one worthy of a Trans Iowa? Next to impossible. Perhaps my 'standards' were set too high? Perhaps, but I also had been in this area on gravel before- both on my own rides and in events- so I feel as though I had a handle on what the area had to offer. 

While there was much intriguing terrain, it was broken up into areas inaccessible without use of major highways, county blacktops, or it was cut off by what I liked to call 'mismatched road crossings'. This is when you have a paved road cutting across your route, and the main direction of gravel roads, being at a 90° angle to this paved road, have an offset crossing of the paved road, forcing a short distance on said paved road to 'connect' the gravel route. This most often occurred at major highway crossings, which was not an option for me. Obviously, limited access highways such as I-380 and I-80 presented their own obstacles to passage on gravel. 

This forced me to look Southeastward more, and as I did, I found a way to make things work. Keeping in mind that I had to utilize convenience stores as resupply points at intervals that made sense, this wasn't easy. Southern Iowa is not as well populated, nor does it have larger towns, as the rest of the State seems to have. This eliminated even more choices. But, even so, I was excited to find some promising routes on paper, at least. All we had to do was verify them and off we would go. Simple, right?

Well, a recurring theme with me is "maps are not 100% reliable". GPS data for rural Iowa is a complete joke, so we won't even get into that, and the only way that you can verify a route exists on gravel is to actually go drive/ride it yourself. So, Jeremy Fry, now my right-hand man for Trans Iowa recon and cue sheet productions, rode along with me one fine Fall day in 2014 and we headed off to Southeast Iowa with a route in hand. It didn't take long to find out the maps were incorrect.....again. This ended up becoming the theme for this particular recon trip. 

We decided to leave that right where we found it!

We had identified a likely spot for the first checkpoint. Once again, utilizing the David Pals idea of making the first set of cues a short run to a checkpoint, and then giving riders a new set to head off on a second, much longer leg of the course. In this way, we were thinking we would be preventing riders from 'game-planning' the first big chunk of Trans Iowa, since previous to v5 we were running the first set of cues up to 180-ish miles into the event. So, here we had a small village with what looked to be a great gravel road entry to it from the South. It was on a trajectory which came off 'The Grid' and veered Northeastward into the town, probably following an ancient rail way line or trail from another era. Who knows? But at any rate, we took the slight left-hander and headed off on a rather rustic looking two-track road. We were excited. 

That is until we were about 3/4's of a mile in and found that an old bridge had been removed so long ago that trees about two to three stories high had been growing up through the old barriers put up to block off the roadway. It was plain to see that this road had been truncated for years. maybe decades. Yet the very latest State DOT maps showed this road as going through. See what I mean about maps now? 

Jeremy and I decided that if nothing else, this was a prime chance to relieve ourselves of our morning coffee intake which we had picked up at an excellent breakfast joint in Grinnell earlier. As we did 'our business', we noted a lap top computer sitting on the guard rail, as if someone had just been there, only it had obviously been shot through with bullets from a hand gun. 

Weird! 

We didn't want to know any more about that! So we hastened our way out of that area and as we put that weird sight behind us, we forged ahead on the proposed route South and East. 

Next: Fruitless Searching- Part 2

Trans Iowa Stories: Fruitless Searching- Part 1

The T.I.v11 site header. I designed this one as well.

 "Trans Iowa Stories" is an every Sunday post which helps tell the stories behind the event. You can check out other posts about this subject by going back to earlier Sunday posts on this blog. Thanks and enjoy!

With a renewed vigor and excitement for another Trans Iowa I dove in head first and started route designing for the all-new course. I wanted to take Trans Iowa into a completely new area this time and the obvious direction to go was East. We'd been over into the Marengo/Williamsburg/Washington Iowa area once for T.I.v5, but it had been a long enough time that going that direction again would seem pretty new. There are, however; several barriers to getting East from Grinnell. 

A cursory look at an Iowa map will show you several reasons why this route direction from Grinnell is hard to do. Rivers, major highways, and major population centers make doing a remote, gravel only route very difficult. To make one worthy of a Trans Iowa? Next to impossible. Perhaps my 'standards' were set too high? Perhaps, but I also had been in this area on gravel before- both on my own rides and in events- so I feel as though I had a handle on what the area had to offer. 

While there was much intriguing terrain, it was broken up into areas inaccessible without use of major highways, county blacktops, or it was cut off by what I liked to call 'mismatched road crossings'. This is when you have a paved road cutting across your route, and the main direction of gravel roads, being at a 90° angle to this paved road, have an offset crossing of the paved road, forcing a short distance on said paved road to 'connect' the gravel route. This most often occurred at major highway crossings, which was not an option for me. Obviously, limited access highways such as I-380 and I-80 presented their own obstacles to passage on gravel. 

This forced me to look Southeastward more, and as I did, I found a way to make things work. Keeping in mind that I had to utilize convenience stores as resupply points at intervals that made sense, this wasn't easy. Southern Iowa is not as well populated, nor does it have larger towns, as the rest of the State seems to have. This eliminated even more choices. But, even so, I was excited to find some promising routes on paper, at least. All we had to do was verify them and off we would go. Simple, right?

Well, a recurring theme with me is "maps are not 100% reliable". GPS data for rural Iowa is a complete joke, so we won't even get into that, and the only way that you can verify a route exists on gravel is to actually go drive/ride it yourself. So, Jeremy Fry, now my right-hand man for Trans Iowa recon and cue sheet productions, rode along with me one fine Fall day in 2014 and we headed off to Southeast Iowa with a route in hand. It didn't take long to find out the maps were incorrect.....again. This ended up becoming the theme for this particular recon trip. 

We decided to leave that right where we found it!

We had identified a likely spot for the first checkpoint. Once again, utilizing the David Pals idea of making the first set of cues a short run to a checkpoint, and then giving riders a new set to head off on a second, much longer leg of the course. In this way, we were thinking we would be preventing riders from 'game-planning' the first big chunk of Trans Iowa, since previous to v5 we were running the first set of cues up to 180-ish miles into the event. So, here we had a small village with what looked to be a great gravel road entry to it from the South. It was on a trajectory which came off 'The Grid' and veered Northeastward into the town, probably following an ancient rail way line or trail from another era. Who knows? But at any rate, we took the slight left-hander and headed off on a rather rustic looking two-track road. We were excited. 

That is until we were about 3/4's of a mile in and found that an old bridge had been removed so long ago that trees about two to three stories high had been growing up through the old barriers put up to block off the roadway. It was plain to see that this road had been truncated for years. maybe decades. Yet the very latest State DOT maps showed this road as going through. See what I mean about maps now? 

Jeremy and I decided that if nothing else, this was a prime chance to relieve ourselves of our morning coffee intake which we had picked up at an excellent breakfast joint in Grinnell earlier. As we did 'our business', we noted a lap top computer sitting on the guard rail, as if someone had just been there, only it had obviously been shot through with bullets from a hand gun. 

Weird! 

We didn't want to know any more about that! So we hastened our way out of that area and as we put that weird sight behind us, we forged ahead on the proposed route South and East. 

Next: Fruitless Searching- Part 2

Rear View 2020; Looking Ahead

 

As the retrospective series has now ended, I will take a moment or two to try to envision my plans for the blog and for cycling into 2021. Realizing that nothing is guaranteed, (see pre-March plans vs post-March plans for....well, anyone!), I will lay out what I am thinking now for the coming months. 

Now, as I have closed up the book on "The Quest" and have that goal accomplished, I can now focus on some other goals. But first, a word or three about the blog and my plans here. .........

First of all, I don't plan on posting any less or with much different material than in 2020, but there are a couple of things I need to let you know that might shift the direction of things a bit here in the coming months. First off, I am no longer doing any event directing at all. None. Nada. I've retired from that. So that means you won't be getting recon posts or post-event posts as I would have done in years prior to this. This extends to Geezer Rides and Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitationals which I will no longer be organizing. But there will be some ride reports. More on that in a bit here. 

I also will be cutting way back on events I attend. Well, at least that I plan on riding in. There are two I would entertain coming to now and those would be the Gent's Race, (if it happens) and Gravel Worlds. But other than those two events, I don't see myself riding where I have to pin a number on. I may be talked into a volunteering position for someone else's event, but beyond that, I am going to move my efforts heavily toward solo riding, or maybe with one or two other folks. 

Which brings me to my previous hint about ride reports. (Some of this was written about in this post) There will be, (hopefully) plenty of those. Looking at what I'd like to do I think I need to get that long-put off fat bike century done. I also would like to accomplish finishing a couple of routes I drew up over the past couple of years that I wasn't able to complete for one reason or another. Two of those being old Guitar Ted Death Ride routes. Speaking of which, that 'event' will go back to its roots as a solo adventure I do. I'm not going to paint this as anything other then a ride I'm going out on and there will be no 'big deal' made about it until I post the ride report afterward. Kind of like my "Ride To Indy" post, if you must know. 

Then I hope to be doing new routes. I have one that I've threatened to do for the past two years now that just has to get done. A "Tour of Tama County" is another one I'd like to make up and do. There are a couple places I want to revisit and make a part of a route that I did during "The Quest" as well. Speaking of that....

I don't want to commit to riding every gravel road in another county for 2021 because it would require tons of travel. Black Hawk County is one thing when I can ride right from my front door and get to most of it. Another county? Yeah.......lots of windshield time and that's a big commitment I'm not willing to make just yet. 2021 is going to (hopefully) be the year we come back out of this pandemic, and if we do, then maybe I can think more of doing something like riding every gravel road in another county. 

But doing that, riding every gravel and dirt road in any county, pretty much has to be done at the exclusion of everything else concerning riding. Really? That's not a very fun or realistic plan. I know from having done the Black Hawk County quest that it can kind of take over your life and that's not a good thing. I'd rather do quality routes in different counties myself, and that's my current plan.

So, as you can see, I should have plenty of riding reports here, which seem to be pretty popular judging from the numbers I get. I also will continue doing newsy posts when applicable, the usual "Friday News and Views", the Sunday series detailing the untold stories of Trans Iowa, and answering questions when they pop up, as usual here. The Trans Iowa stuff should end at some point later into 2021 and then I will entertain the thought of doing that series on the Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitational which I mentioned earlier in the month here. 

But, you just never know where Life will take you, so while I do plan on these things, if any lessons from 2020 stick, it should be that if our plans come to fruition, we should be thankful for that because they very well may take a sudden turn. 

Next: Coming up, I list the Top Ten Posts of 2020, and on December 31st I have a special post planned which sums up 2020 for me.

Rear View 2020; Looking Ahead

 

As the retrospective series has now ended, I will take a moment or two to try to envision my plans for the blog and for cycling into 2021. Realizing that nothing is guaranteed, (see pre-March plans vs post-March plans for....well, anyone!), I will lay out what I am thinking now for the coming months. 

Now, as I have closed up the book on "The Quest" and have that goal accomplished, I can now focus on some other goals. But first, a word or three about the blog and my plans here. .........

First of all, I don't plan on posting any less or with much different material than in 2020, but there are a couple of things I need to let you know that might shift the direction of things a bit here in the coming months. First off, I am no longer doing any event directing at all. None. Nada. I've retired from that. So that means you won't be getting recon posts or post-event posts as I would have done in years prior to this. This extends to Geezer Rides and Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitationals which I will no longer be organizing. But there will be some ride reports. More on that in a bit here. 

I also will be cutting way back on events I attend. Well, at least that I plan on riding in. There are two I would entertain coming to now and those would be the Gent's Race, (if it happens) and Gravel Worlds. But other than those two events, I don't see myself riding where I have to pin a number on. I may be talked into a volunteering position for someone else's event, but beyond that, I am going to move my efforts heavily toward solo riding, or maybe with one or two other folks. 

Which brings me to my previous hint about ride reports. (Some of this was written about in this post) There will be, (hopefully) plenty of those. Looking at what I'd like to do I think I need to get that long-put off fat bike century done. I also would like to accomplish finishing a couple of routes I drew up over the past couple of years that I wasn't able to complete for one reason or another. Two of those being old Guitar Ted Death Ride routes. Speaking of which, that 'event' will go back to its roots as a solo adventure I do. I'm not going to paint this as anything other then a ride I'm going out on and there will be no 'big deal' made about it until I post the ride report afterward. Kind of like my "Ride To Indy" post, if you must know. 

Then I hope to be doing new routes. I have one that I've threatened to do for the past two years now that just has to get done. A "Tour of Tama County" is another one I'd like to make up and do. There are a couple places I want to revisit and make a part of a route that I did during "The Quest" as well. Speaking of that....

I don't want to commit to riding every gravel road in another county for 2021 because it would require tons of travel. Black Hawk County is one thing when I can ride right from my front door and get to most of it. Another county? Yeah.......lots of windshield time and that's a big commitment I'm not willing to make just yet. 2021 is going to (hopefully) be the year we come back out of this pandemic, and if we do, then maybe I can think more of doing something like riding every gravel road in another county. 

But doing that, riding every gravel and dirt road in any county, pretty much has to be done at the exclusion of everything else concerning riding. Really? That's not a very fun or realistic plan. I know from having done the Black Hawk County quest that it can kind of take over your life and that's not a good thing. I'd rather do quality routes in different counties myself, and that's my current plan.

So, as you can see, I should have plenty of riding reports here, which seem to be pretty popular judging from the numbers I get. I also will continue doing newsy posts when applicable, the usual "Friday News and Views", the Sunday series detailing the untold stories of Trans Iowa, and answering questions when they pop up, as usual here. The Trans Iowa stuff should end at some point later into 2021 and then I will entertain the thought of doing that series on the Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitational which I mentioned earlier in the month here. 

But, you just never know where Life will take you, so while I do plan on these things, if any lessons from 2020 stick, it should be that if our plans come to fruition, we should be thankful for that because they very well may take a sudden turn. 

Next: Coming up, I list the Top Ten Posts of 2020, and on December 31st I have a special post planned which sums up 2020 for me.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from Guitar Ted Productions!

With all the best to you and yours this Holiday Season! 

Thank you all for checking in and reading the blog. I appreciate each and every one of you. Here's hoping you all are having a safe, enjoyable, and memorable Christmas or that you are doing something fun today if you don't celebrate this holiday. 

Regular posting will continue tomorrow. See ya then! 

 

Friday News And Views

So, even though it is a holiday, there has been a bit too much going on to 'let slide by' without noting it on the blog. So, here's a special "Christmas Edition" of the FN&V for you all to ponder while you put off that dreaded Face-Time call with the relatives annoying kids. (Just kidding, I know that you simply ADORE them! Ha!)

And while we're here, I may as well pass along that 2020 looks to be on track for the year I posted the most on this blog with 388 being the current record. This post is probably going to push me past that total, but this wasn't something I had planned on doing. It just turned out that way. 

I wouldn't expect there to be as many next year, but I have to admit, I kind of have a personal competition with myself when it comes to blog posting. That said, I also suspect that I'll never quite get this many posts in a year again. I say that for several reasons, but also- They say "Never Say Never- Never Say Always". 

So there is that. Finally, if you didn't get what you wanted for Christmas, I'll mention the G-Ted merch link, which I have posted about previously, is HERE.

Enjoy this bonus post of the "FN&V", the last of 2020. 

2021 Checkpoint SL-5 (Image courtesy of Trek Bikes)

Velo News Gives Checkpoint "Bike of the Year" Status: 

A gravel bike gets "Velo News" "BOTY" award? (!!) 

Yep! Gravel bikes have jumped the shark, as they say. Well, you all knew that. But what I find funny is that these cycling news media moguls stuck with picking road racing bikes for so many years. It took until 2020 to choose a gravel bike for your largely meaningless "BOTY" award? Awesome! That's fantastic. (It should be noted that "Velo News" did choose some "Best Gravel Bikes Of The Year" in 2016 here)

I mean, in all my years doing bicycle retail, no one has ever told me that they bought a bike because someone at a magazine said it was the "BOTY". Never. Not once. So, I don't see the point, really, but it's cool. They like the Checkpoint and it is a great execution in gravel bike design. I've always thought so.  

The other thing that is kind of silly about this all is that they waited until almost 2021 to say a model you can't get anymore is the "BOTY" because Trek moved on to its 2021 models. They always choose these "BOTY" awards after a model year. It doesn't make sense to push a bike as being all that and a bag-o-chips if you cannot get 'that exact model' anymore. Well, at least in this case, with the Trek Checkpoint it's mostly just color changes. 

Silly idea, "Velo News", but I like the Checkpoint, so I thought it was interesting. 

Canyon bike image courtesy of Canyon bikes

Bike Companies Start To Refuse Shipments Into The UK: 

Weird trade and country affiliation nonsense (BREXIT) is causing some bicycle companies to start announcing the cessation of sales into the UK. While this isn't anything that affects me in the USA directly, (at least I don't think it does), I find it alarming and odd. 

Details are rather vague, but it would appear that direct to consumer brands are seeing sales into the UK as being too much of an uncertainty now due to the unknowns of the trade situations. How that goes for these brands and residents of the UK going forward is something I don't know. Canyon, at least as reported in this news article, say the cessation of sales is temporary until they can figure out what is happening. A German brand called Rose has not indicated it will come back to the UK with sales.

I do know that supplies for 2021 (for sure) and possibly beyond are going to be tight. Throwing trade uncertainties on top of an already difficult situation is fodder for trouble. It is not known at this time if other brands will be following suit, or if raw materials imports to UK manufacturers might affect products coming out of the UK. Things like Hope components coming to the USA might be impacted if so.

The Challenge Tire Getaway 700c X 40mm.

A Bit Of An Update On The Challenge Tires Getaway Tire:

While it is true that we had some 40+ degree days of late, they all were marked by winds which were heinous to the point of being dangerous to ride in. That's not good for evaluating products. So, instead I decided to stick to wind breaks and urban stretches of unpaved loveliness. We have a lot of that around here as well. 

So, one of the first tires I ever reviewed for gravel specific use was from Challenge Tire. The "Gravel Grinder" model, and they still offer it. That model name was similar to my gravel site's name, "Gravel Grinder News", back before I joined up with Riding Gravel. I actually had a handshake deal with Challenge Tires not to pursue legal action in regard to the name "Gravel Grinder". I thought that was rare and unusual. Anyway.....back on track!

The Getaway is the newest tire from Challenge Tire for gravel travel. It is a true 700 X 40mm wide and it is tubeless. So far? Well, first off- It is one of the most difficult tires to mount I have ever worked with. Had Challenge Tire not sent along a tire mounting tool, I doubt I would have gotten these things on. We're talking tight! Of course, that meant that they aired up perfectly with my poor functioning Bontrager Charger pump with little problem. 

These tires are a bit more 'peaked' in profile, but they have this supple, soft casing, so with that, and whatever Challenge is doing with the rubber compound, lends this tire more grip than you'd expect and a very fast roll. I'll have to see how they do out in the country, but so far, so good! I also will have to swap to a different wheel set and see how much, if any, the Getaway stretches. Perhaps it will be easier to mount the next time. I suspect it will be.

 Note: Challenge Tires sent over the Getaway tires, Smart Bead Seating Tool, and Smart Sealant for test and review to Riding Gravel at no charge. We were not paid, nor bribed for this review and we strive to give our honest thoughts and opinions throughout. 

That's a wrap for this special Christmas Edition of the FN&V. Happy Holidays!