Friday News And Views

Special Ride announcement!

 Gravel HoF Inductee Ride Announcement:

Well, one thing led to another and I have found myself in this Gravel Cycling Hall of Fame deal. I won't belabor that story since y'all probably have read all about here and elsewhere anyway. 

N.Y. Roll decided that there should be a ride to celebrate. So he is putting out this idea. This link is to his blog.

So, here's the deal- This will be kind of like the "Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitational". You are invited. This will be a no-drop, casual paced ride with some stopping for, you know- the sake of stopping. 

It is on a Sunday.

The working date we have arrived on is June 19th. The place? Riverside Park in Vinton, Iowa. there is some parking there for cars. Time? Right now N.Y. Roll is thinking 8-9 o'clock in the morning. (I will post about this again when he decides and has other info)

Looks like a metric century is planned. I am not doing the route, but it will be similar to an adventure we had last year in the same area. N.Y. Roll has promised to keep the highlights of last year's route in there. (He better have that cemetery I stopped at on the big hill! Ha!) 

Stay tuned for more details coming soon, or watch N.Y. Roll's blog. Any new posts he publishes will show up in the right side column here on this blog under the "Pedaling Words and Images" header.  

GCHoF Banquet:

And more on this HoF thing.... 

I've been asked to help spread the word about the Gravel Cycling Hall of Fame Banquet where the inductees will be feted at the Grenada Theater in downtown Emporia, Kansas at 6:00pm on June 1st. 

Tickets to attend the soiree' are available HERE. You can attend the actual dinner or for a reduced price of ten bucks, sit up in the balcony and watch the proceedings unfold. I'm doing this 'word-spreading' for the event on behalf of the GCHoF's request. 

So there! Request fulfilled.

Supply Chain Update:

I've been watching and reading various outlets in the shipping industry and the bicycle industry trying to get a hold of where we are at with supply chain issues now that we are nearing the halfway point of 2022. 

I also have a bit of a feeling from friends and from dealing with ordering stuff via my local bike shop and through the Cedar Valley Bicycle Collective. So, what is the bottom line?

Well, the bottom line is that bottlenecks in shipping affecting not only deliveries of finished products, but also with regard to raw materials, will prove to make getting anything really difficult. Things will pop into inventory briefly and disappear as fast as they came into stock. And to top it all off, demand is cooling off as consumers get stung by inflation and fatigue from waiting for things. 

One channel I follow on shipping claims that 20% of the world's container ships are sitting in anchorages waiting to unload cargo. I tend to believe this as I saw a post from Sam at Singular Cycles the other day showing a shipment of frames that had been delivered which had been sitting waiting to be unloaded from a container ship for six weeks. I expect that will be the norm for the foreseeable future.  Add in China's 'zero COVID' lock downs, a possible longshoreman's strike on the West Coast, and things could continue to be difficult all the way into 2023. 

Keep you bikes clean, lubed, and maybe out of severe weather conditions. Maintenance is your friend now days! 

When Do You Upgrade?

Time flies, and technology never sleeps, it seems. So it is easy to get the feeling that your bicycle is 'outdated' when in reality, you are just fine where you are at.

Marketing works against you in this regard, however; and it is easy to get that "FOMO" (Fear of Missing Out, in case you aren't hip to the kidz lingo these daze) feeling going which might prompt you into making rash decisions. 

I mean, how many times have I read online where someone posts, "I never should have gotten rid of that bike!". Too many times, that is how many! And look- I am not immune to it either. I was thinking the other day that the Noble Bikes GX5 is getting kinda old and maybe that I should look into getting a replacement frame and fork soon. 

Then I checked into things. The Noble GX5 is only three years old! Three years! That's not all that old. I guess I was thinking it was more like five years old or something. Sheesh! Like I said- time flies, but this might be a case of 'FOMO' more than a case where I really need to do anything. 

And what's more- there is not a thing wrong with that bike! It's a great bike. It fits like a glove, and it rides really well. Why would I- why should I replace it? I'm crazy. Never mind....... Just maintain it, keep it clean and lubricated, and ride the crap out of it for five more years, or whatever. There is no need to fear missing out on anything other than a day to ride.

Speaking of riding- I hope y'all get out for one or two this weekend! Thanks for reading Guitar ted Productions!