Friday News And Views

John Ingham (L) and Trenton Raygor (Image by D Markman)

New Article By John Ingham Tomorrow:

Tomorrow (Saturday) a new long form article by John Ingham will be posted. You may remember my introduction to John (Here) or perhaps you read his last article (Here).  

This article will be based upon a similar theme of how endurance training, and gravel riding in specific, can be a good thing for health and longevity. 

If you are unfamiliar with John's work, I suggest that you give the article a try tomorrow, or check out the link above. Be prepared! These are loooooong reads and there is a lot of stuff to think about in these pieces of John's. 

I just want to say that it is a distinct honor to have John's work presented here and I am humbled to be able to collaborate with him on these pieces and get them out in front of people. Truly - this meager site is far beneath what John deserves, so if you can see fit to share the article, that would be great. 

If you have any questions or comments for John just let me know at g.ted.productions@gmail.com and I'll make sure John sees them. Thanks!! 

Ridley & Tommorowland debut collection (Image courtesy of Ridley)

Ridley & Tomorrowland Debut Collection:

The Belgium companies of Ridley and Tomorrowland (Tomorrowland is a large-scale annual electronic dance music festival held in Boom, Belgium) have announced a collaboration which features matching bikes and apparel for those looking for a complete look. 

Calling those types of folks "People of Tomorrow", (gah!) the collection features Ridley's Kanzo Fast models in two configurations. 

Here's a bit from the presser I got:

" Tomorrowland and Ridley are two of a kind, pioneers from Belgium, the beating heart of the festival and cycling culture. By introducing 2 custom bikes, both companies want to encourage the People of Tomorrow to choose a greener and healthier way of traveling."

Comments: Okay, okay.....enough already. I get the matchy-matchy thing, but this seems like a bit of a fashion-fluff piece. Nothing wrong with the bike, per se', but a bike and a music festival that is pretty far outside of what the gravel scene is seems weird. Who knows....maybe the UCI will sanction a music festival now.

Gravel Amplifier: Waterville Gravel Populaire:

A long time ago I was talking about gravel events, the way we used to do them, with written cues and no support, and someone said, "Oh! You mean like an audax?" I said, "Aw-what?" 

Ha! Well, as you may know, "audax" is a form of non-competitive cycling which is time based and generally formatted so that you are cue-sheet navigated and so that you have to hit pre-determined checkpoints within certain time marks. There are two forms of audax cycling: Euraudax and Randoneuring. The event on today's Gravel Amplifier is of the randoneuring type. 

It is put on by the Seattle Randoneurs and it's called the Waterville Gravel Populaire. The event is set for June 1st and will be held out of Waterville, Washington. (Hit the link for finer details.

Image from Whit Johnson/Meriwether Cycles Instagram

More On 750D Wheels:

Cruising Instagram recently I came across a post by Whit Johnson of Meriwether Cycles. He was showing off a bike he made for himself that he calls the "Old Guy's All Terrain Bicycle" or OGATB. In the Instagram post he spoke about the different wheels he has tried on the bike including a set of WTB 750D X 40mm tires. 

It wasn't clear when Whit tried the wheels and tires but we learn from his post that the bike was built in 2021, so at least it was sometime in the last couple of years. 

Whit said in the post that he did not much care for the wheels and tires, as they weren't tubeless, "and they were very heavy...". He went on to say that he much preferred 29"er wheels in the bike and that this would become a model he would offer sometime in 2024. So, stay tuned for that.

Comments: So, it is plain to see that at least a few folks are playing around with this wheel and tire size out there. I have to imagine others are checking it out but aren't talking. I wouldn't expect much movement in regard to the 750D size as the climate for introducing a new, controversial wheel size now is poor. However; it seems that the idea is - at least for now - being considered. 

New Podcast Episode #37:

Thursday we dropped another podcast episode and we were responding to some listener feedback. 

I already posted about the feedback we got earlier this week in my "A Conversation About Group Rides: A Follow-Up" . But if you'd like to listen to what N.Y. Roll and I have to say further on the subject you can check it out at THIS LINK or wherever you get your podcasts from. 

The next podcast will cover another subject on the gravel scene that was prompted by Dave Pryor, he of the unPAved of the Susquehanna River Valley event. 

He texted me the following query: "Did Racing ruin Gravel, or did Gravel save Racing?"

To be fair, Dave's position is that Gravel DID save racing (in North America), but I thought it might be more interesting to pose the thought Dave had as a question. Reason being is because it was a popular thought that Gravel would be "ruined" by "Racing" back in the earlier parts of the twenty-teens. 

So....what say you? Did Racing "ruin" gravel or did Gravel "save" Racing? Let me know in the comments.

That's a wrap on this week's ramblings here. Stay tuned for John Ingham's long-form article tomorrow and have a great weekend! Thanks for reading Guitar Ted Productions!