The GTDRI Series: The Run-up To The Last One

 "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!

For the 2019 edition of the Guitar Ted Death ride Invitational, I had two things in mind. One- Go back to Grinnell, Iowa for the start. I was no longer doing Trans Iowa and this was a good an excuse as any to get back to that lovely town. 

Two - I wanted to do another version of the PCL's "Tour of Dirt Roads" but in another location. Poweshiek County has loads of great Level B dirt roads, so this fit the mold very nicely. I was genuinely excited to get to work on a new course, but running the C.O.G. 100 earlier that year took a lot of my focus and I didn't actually announce the 2019 GTDRI 'officially' until early June that year. But once I announced it I was very focused on the event and how it would be pulled off.

The 2019 route for the GTDRI was a bit of a logistical conundrum.

I had originally only planned on about a 70-75 mile route. This was due to the fact that Poweshiek County has few villages with services, and secondly, it is very hilly there. My thoughts were that with all the Level B roads and those being on the grade of the surrounding landscape, that climbing would be the name of the game. On a hot Summer day that can equal "no fun" and with fewer available spots to stop and get refreshments, I was afraid that a bigger route would be nearly impossible for many folks. 

But I couldn't help myself once I sat down and started putting a route together and I ended up at around 95 miles! I was really excited about the possibilities for the scenery and experiences, but water and food were still a huge factor and I was thinking it all may have to be changed. I was wanting to get down that way to drive the course, if possible, and then decide, but weather was preventing me from doing that. 

June and early July were marked by days with some big thunderstorms which somehow fell on planned recon days.

The thing was that my early recon plans were sunk when both times I had time off to do that work it rained. So, in a bit of desperation, I put the word out on the blog that I was in a bit of a pickle with not knowing how many riders I might have and therefore no real way to plan for stowing water out on the course. What if I brought too little? What if I spent a lot of money and time on water and very few showed up? How would I stash the water? What if someone sabotaged my plans by stealing the cooler?

Fortunately two individuals stepped up and provided the means to facilitate the rider's needs. Jon Duke from Grinnell and Rob Evans of Nebraska, who was planning on coming with a friend, vowed to help out. That made life a LOT easier for me and my peace of mind was fortified by their volunteering to help out. 

The route? Well, I never did get around to looking it over and I would estimate that about 60% - 70% of the roads were unknown to me. It would then truly be an adventure for all who showed up!

Next: The 2019 GTDRI Part 1