The GTDRI Stories: The 2017 GTDRI - Part 4

 "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 ride pulled into Traer where I had stopped various rides and for events before. Kevin hooked back up with us and so the group was, at least for a time, all back together again. 

The GTDRI, and any ride I've done, really, has to be seen as an opportunity to ride places that we may never get to ride again. I am not sure I had that sense back in 2017, at least not fully baked in to my brain, but this particular ride stands out as a prime example of why we need to cherish every time we get to ride anywhere. 

Leaving Traer we went out Westward and took the first left hand turn we could. This led up and past a farmstead, then the road went downward toward the Wolf Creek and a low water crossing. The road turned to dirt after the farm, and it was a fabulous little stretch of Iowa rustic roadway. "Was" being the operative word as I have learned now that this chunk of awesomeness has been gated and is now a limited access "C Level" road. 

Glad I got to ride that the few times that I did!

My bike laying on the low water crossing of Wolf Creek in 2017. Now it is a gated C Road, so you cannot ride here anymore.

The hits didn't stop as now a section South of the low water crossing is also a C Level roadway and was used on the 2017 GTDRI. In fact, it had a "Road Closed" sign on it that year, were only a couple of weeks prior, it was open. I hear that many Level B's are being decommissioned in and around Tama County now, which, honestly, is not all that surprising. 

But it does point out that these sorts of rides are gifts and that the experiences can be a one-time affair in more ways than one. It probably seems silly to many people that I feel this way, but getting to see these rural slices of paradise is a privilege and an honor. I don't take it lightly now days. I try to be intentional when I ride to be present and be soaking it all in. I do that for many reasons, but this is about roads. 

Changes. The only constant is change.....

O Avenue. Once one of the longest unbroken sections of Level B travel you could experience anywhere in Iowa. 

Kevin was hurting, although he did leave Traer with us, it didn't last long, so we gave him directions back to Reinbeck and he slowly rolled away. Now down to six riders we rode onward into the most interesting roads of the day, and it was now hot and humid. A "real" GTDRI after all!

This was the ride where I discovered that "N" Avenue had this long, winding, grinder of a climb. It started out tame enough, but it ramped up at the end and it persisted in its gradient long enough that you either were walking at the end or mashing your lowest gear, just barely moving up bit by bit. 

This is one of those great climbs that many don't think Iowa has. Well, I invite you to ride N Avenue in Tama County from the North and then you can tell me what you think. 

N Avenue climb. Looks easy. It is not easy!

The ride moved over to the West side of Highway 63 after this and there were more awesome roads to ride on. My biggest regret about the ride after this was that my camera battery crapped out at this point and I only had a cell phone camera with me a a back-up. That was fine, but I had to dismount to use that, so images were few after this section. 

Next: The end of the 2017 GTDRI.