Friday News And Views

New Guitar Ted Podcast Out:

If you haven't heard it yet, check out the longest Guitar Ted Podcast yet which was published last Tuesday. In it N.Y. Roll and I interview Kevin Lee, "ride host" of The Spinistry.

The Spinistry is an organization that has been around in North Texas since 2009. They have put on several classic gravel events like The Red River Riot, The Texas Chainring Massacre, and The Hell of North Texas, to name a few. 

In this new episode, Kevin takes us from the early days of his backroad explorations and how those eventually informed his take on gravel events. The Spinistry's vision for the present and future is laid out and  we learned an awful lot.

In my estimation, The Spinistry has been one of gravel grinding's best kept secrets. Maybe that will change now, but I bet a lot of people have never heard about The Spinistry or their events. Check out the podcast where you get you podcast feeds or at Anchor.fm HERE. 

The new Ritchey Skyline. (Image courtesy of Ritchey)

Ritchey Announces New Skyline Drop Bar:

Ritchey announced their newest drop bar called the Skyline early in the week. It is an ergonomic bar with a classic road drop style. (No flare - No sweep to the extensions)

Now normally I wouldn't bother with a roadie drop bar in the news, but..... It seems that flare and sweep for drop bars is falling out of favor with the Pro/Elite classes of gravel racers. I have noted a slight swing backward to "classic road drop designs" of late, and a LOT of weirdness surrounding aero bits for cycling. 

Before I get too far in the weeds here, there is a link to the Ritchey bar HERE.  

Okay, so what do I think about aero for gravel? Well, it is at odds with the "mountain bike-ification" of gravel, that's for sure. But there is a point to be made about being aero-concious. I mean, you probably wouldn't consider wearing a flappy jacket on a windy day because it catches the wind like a sail and you know that is sapping your strength. So, if you care about that, you actually do care about being aero. It's just a matter of degrees at that point. 

But sacrificing comfort and control for being aero on gravel? I think that's not a good trade-off. So, there are more times I'd want a flared drop bar - for comfort and control - than I would want a traditional road drop for being aero. Your mileage may vary.

Gravel Cycling Hall of Fame To Announce The 2nd Class of Inductees:

I voted as a previous inductee and I am excited to see who will be announced next week to be inducted into the Gravel Cycling Hall of Fame on May 31st in Emporia, Kansas.

So, as I understand it, there will be some sort of ride with the GCHoF members on the 31st as well. (Details TBA) I'm trying to arrange my schedule to attend and Mrs. Guitar Ted may even be coming with me. All kind of up in the air right now, but we will soon know what I can or cannot do.

I have a feeling some of this year's inductees will be a bit 'polarizing' for some and maybe a bit of a 'slam dunk' for others when the list gets revealed. I don't know who is getting in and who is not, but I did see the list we could select from and well, the possibilities for some interesting choices exist, I'll just say that.

At any rate, you'll know as soon as I do, and we can all dissect and comment on the choices made afterward. I think that things will pan out for the best, so I am hopeful that how the GCHoF started out last year will be the direction it goes in this year as well.

Mid-South Kicks Off Gravel Season:

I know, there has been a Belgian Waffle and a few other gravelly events already in 2023, but to my mind, the Mid-South is the "official" start of the gravel season. 

This weekend it happens again, and while I know that Bobby Wintle probably would rather not have this be the case for anyone, but this event will always be a "time marker" for when the pandemic hit in 2020. 

There was a lot of speculation as to whether Mid-South should, or even could, safely hold an event in light of what we thought then, but they did it and got away with it, I suppose. Not that they did anything wrong, but in the context of 2020, it was a huge risk then. 

I know, this may seem unfair to many of you out there, but those two things are what I think of when Mid-South happens in March. It's gravel event time again and I remember what my feelings were in mid-March of 2020 once again. 

All the best to those who are attending the event this year!

 That's a wrap for this week! I hope that you all get out for a ride! Thanks for reading Guitar Ted Productions!