The GTDRI Stories: The Lead-up To The 2018 GTDRI

 "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!

Well, it was early 2018 and everything leading up to that last weekend in April was about Trans Iowa. I was so overtaken by ending that event that I really have no memory at all of anything else that happened that Spring unless I am prompted by an image or someone reminds me of something beyond that event. 

And the GTDRI was on the back-burner until May as well. But as I have said in earlier posts, the fact that I was bringing back the previous year's course made this an easier GTDRI to put on. 

Of course, I was full-gas with all manner of stuff on my plate post-Trans Iowa. I had signed up for the Solstice 100, I was reviewing product for Riding Gravel, working at the shop, and raising a family. Part of this was out of tradition, part out of necessity, and in 2018, partly out of a way out of dealing with ending Trans Iowa. 

I was testing this beautiful Jamis Renegade in 2018.

I was also anxiously anticipating the arrival of my second Black Mountain Cycles bicycle. I had an advance notice from Black Mountain Cycles' owner, Mike Varley, that a pink colored MCD model was to be coming out. Mike had asked to sponsor the last Trans Iowa event and so we had been communicating earlier in the year, so that's how I found out about the pink MCD's coming in. 

I had thought that a newer frame was in order for my Riding Gravel gig and I had always been envious of the previous run of pink Monstercross frames Mike had imported a few years earlier. Plus, I wanted to reward myself for Trans Iowa, seeing as how no one else was going to do that, or at least, that's what I thought at that point in time. 

The point being that this was a big part of my thinking going into the Summer, and I was hoping to ride this new bike for the GTDRI. Besides that, anything having to do with the GTDRI was pushed back until I had gotten past the Solstice 100 event, only thing was I never got there. The day before I was to leave my truck broke down, so I missed that event, and that was a bit of a bummer. But then it was all about the GTDRI. 

Instead of riding in the Solstice 100 I did a shorter ride that day on part of the GTDRI course.

I also had gone down again to the DK200 with my friend Tony and did a stint as a support person for Matt Gersib's DKXL attempt, which he was successful in. That led to a meeting at the All Things Gravel Expo with the folks from Otso Bikes and that in turn led to something that had an affect on the GTDRI and myself. That being that I got in another Otso bike to test which coincided with the running of the GTDRI. 

So, I had a lot of irons in the fire and I was stoked on getting to the GTDRI, riding that course again, and feeling out this new bicycle. Meanwhile, I was talking up this event on my blog like it was a Trans Iowa or something. Maybe I was "making up" for the loss of TI in my life? Maybe.... But generally speaking, I might have done a couple of pre-GTDRI posts. But this time I did twice that many and more detailed. 

So, there was a lot of excitement and anticipation on my end for the GTDRI in 2018. But how many other folks would show up? That and more as I get to the 2018 running of the GTDRI next week.