The GTDRI Stories: The Sixth One Part 2

Image by Scott Ronken

 "The GTDRI Stories" is a series telling the history, untold tales, and showing the sights from the run of Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitationals. This series will run on Sundays. Thanks for reading!

The middle portion of this version of the GTDRI got a little chaotic. With all of the stopping and waiting around that we had done, I felt we were "on the clock" and needed to get to Toledo, Iowa by noon. That was the goal I thought would be necessary to allow us to have a relaxing lunch, but still get back to Hickory Hills before dark. 

We had lost Robert by this point as he had to turn around to get back to Waterloo. However; I knew that there was another rider coming backward on the course to meet us. It was, ironically enough, the same rider that Jeff Kerkove manipulated the image of for the third running of the GTDRI's site header. His name? Matt Maxwell. 

Matt had been in a few Trans Iowas by this point and had also been a volunteer for the event. He was a quiet, mild mannered man of slender build with a long beard. He had been cycling everywhere he went at this point. Based in Ames, Iowa, Matt planned on riding over with a light overnight set up, then meet us on the course, finish the day, and then camp over night at Hickory Hills. He then planned a solo ride back to Ames the following day. 

We met Matt as we were about at the most Southern and Eastern point of my loop course. That was at a point about a mile and a half South of Elberon, Iowa. The course then wound around a couple cemetery sites and went West on a slightly wandering path toward Toledo, about twelve miles away. Matt is a strong cyclist, and he was carrying a faster pace than we had been. I took advantage here to press the group to run a bit harder than we had been in hopes we could make up some time. However; that was some folks undoing. 

An old bridge near Elberon, Iowa circa 2011.

First it was Adam, who fell off the back, stopped, and had called for his Michigan friend Matt to come back to him. I thought something might be amiss when we saw Matt rolling backward on the course. Then the guy I didn't know well, Stephen, with the full-fendered bike, was dragging behind as well. 

By this time late morning on that ride, the heat was ratcheting up and the Sun was giving no quarter. The sudden lift in pace had pushed these guys over the edge, and later it would be my near-undoing as well. I felt bad about this, but I was hopeful that a nice cool convenience store stop and some rset would be the medicine that these guys needed. 

Convenience store take-over in Toledo, Iowa.

At one point we had to go back ourselves to see what was up with Stephen. When we found him he indicated that he was going to have a ride pick him up in Toledo. He was too spent to continue on further. So, we'd lost Stephen, and Adam texted me to say he was done as well and was getting a ride. Matt, his friend, was still in, but he needed to catch us up. So, we'd lost two and gained back one. Would we lose anyone else to the brutal heat and humidity?

Proof of zebras in Iowa

The convenience store stop was almost done before Matt caught us and we then took the West shoulder of the North/South section of HWY 63 out of Toledo and eventually to a left hander and up a long climb. In the chaos of highway noise I hadn't heard Mike yell to us that he had flatted the tire on his Mukluk fat bike. In fact, I didn't realize he, and a couple others, were missing until we reached the zebra farm that I saw on my recon a week earlier. 

It took Mike quite a while to repair that flat since back then hardly anyone had done a fat bike tire flat repair and pumps weren't really suited for super-high volume air applications either. Eventually, Mike and a couple others came trundling up the hill and we all carried on.

The next bit was a lot of climbing, dirt roads, and heat. The image which leads this post was taken during this stretch where we had come across a fire in the ditch. It was blazing and sending flames high into the air. We could sense the heat from it, which made us all swoon and wonder aloud why anyone would start a hot fire in the dutch on a day that was hot as the furnaces of Hell anyway. That was a definite low point!

(L-R) Mike Johnson, Doug Eilderts, Courtney Hilton with his back to the camera at TF Clark State Park

One thing you can bet on if you ride gravel in Tama County and that is that you will encounter a lot of rollers and steep hills. The hits kept coming and at one point, I thought I was going to be the next guy that wasn't going to make it. I was floundering off the back and when I reached the group that had pulled off to wait for me, I flopped down on the grass and figured I was done in for. 

Chatter started up and it seemed to me that several of the guys were short on water and were wondering where they were going to refill bottles at. I perked up and suggested a cut-off of the course that would save miles and go right past a park with a water pump. The vote to go with the option was unanimous, so we assembled to leave. 

At this point I realized that Matt from Michigan was missing. Since he was riding a single speed All City Nature Boy, he had to attack the hills or walk them. This put him waaay off the front of the group. So, we had to trust that Matt would forge on ahead, as we were in no position to go looking for him at this point! 

TF Clark park was only about 8 miles from the finish, but I really believe that it made the day completely different for most of us to have been able to stop there and refresh ourselves.  Then it was a few more turns and we'd be back for the day.

Jeremy Fry wasted no time in deciding we were going across this bridge.

Now we were kind of flying by the seat of our pants, coming in on a different course than planned, so there was some confusion in the group. Some wanted to go over to the busy County Highway to traverse the short distance and the bridge over the Wolf Creek, Others were more interested in the gravel/dirt option. I was more about the non-paved option at this point. However; when we rolled down to where Wolf Creek was, the bridge was marked closed. We all stood there chattering about what to do. Suddenly Jeremy Fry, frustrated by all the indecision, piped up and said in a stern voice, "I don't know what you guys are gonna do, But I'm crossing that bridge!", at which point he promptly clicked into his pedal and stabbed the crank with a big push forward. 

About five seconds of silence passed and then everyone else just followed suit! It was a funny moment that I won't soon forget, and ironically, gets repeated again in the next GTDRI in this series by the same guy! 

We all made it back to Hickory Hills, by the way, even Matt, who ended up doing the entire course as originally planned. He had to stop at a farm house to beg some water and ended up having a nice conversation with the homeowners there. 

Afterward, several guys bugged out, but a few of us stuck around and yes- we ate Tim's Death Cookies! After that Matt Maxwell and I went to a small town nearby for some grub and then I hit the hay for the night. The next day I bid Matt farewell on his ride back to Ames and I drove home. Another successful GTDRI completed! 

Next: The Bikes Of The GTDRI And The Gravel Scene In 2011.