The GTDRI Stories: The Death Of The Ride

The header for the page marking the ride that never came to be.

 "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 end of 2019 brought a lot of focus on trying to be very frugal and patient with my money. I was out of a job for the first time in 26 years. So, I had forgotten what that was like and experiencing that again was a bit terrifying. I will say "thank you" here again for the gracious gift from a blog reader here that helped tremendously to keep me on my feet throughout that time. Your generosity is not forgotten. (You know who you are!) So, that was an overiding concern during this time which pushed any thoughts of a Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitational to the back-burner. 

Then there was the planning for the Iowa Gravel Expo Series, a series of events that N.Y. Roll and I had been doing for a couple of years. This was envisioned to be a way to introduce locals to the opportunities to ride in Iowa based gravel events. Previously we had done these at a local restaurant but this series was to happen in the brew room at a local brewery. Lots of time and effort went into this, so again, it pushed thoughts of the GTDRI back.

But by the time the holidays rolled around I had more time to think about the GTDRI. My experiences doing the "dirt roads" focused ride in Poweshiek County had left a bit of a bad taste in my mouth due to having to arrange support stops. I wanted the ride to go back to relying on convenience store stops for resupply, which would be easier to build a ride around.

Eventually I did ride some of the proposed 2020 GTDRI while doing the 2022 Hall of Fame Ride.

Late in 2019 N.Y. Roll introduced me to the gravel roads Southeast of Waterloo, Iowa, and I was intrigued by what might be down that way. We rode a couple of rides in that general direction with one taking us to LaPorte City. It was enough for me to investigate a ride going along the Cedar River on either side to explore that countryside. 

I also would be able to start the ride from Waterloo, which was my preference back then and now due to the ease of pre-ride sleeping/eating at my own house. So, over the holiday season of 2019, I drew up a course, looked at options, and on January 6th, 2020 I introduced the idea on my blog. 

It was to be a 114 mile course and it was to pass through several small towns and villages. Resupply options were abundant, especially compared to the year before. I was really pretty excited about the possibilities. I had a GPS file readied and I was eager to start recon after the C.O.G. 100 in March. But, as we all know now......that never happened. 

Testing the Salsa Cycles Stormchaser, Spring 2020

The first few months of the pandemic were very strange for all of us, I am sure, but it was also a bit of a blessing as well. Things were quieter, slower, calmer. I had some really introspective rides during a Spring which, for all intents and purposes surrounding cycling, was perfect. 

It was during one of those longer rides, when I was out testing a Salsa Cycles Stormchaser, that I came around to feeling different. Different over-all. I was curious as to why that was, and as I contemplated this, I realized something that was different than any other Spring in recent memory had happened. I had no plans. 

Everything was being cancelled, or had been, and events were going "virtual", being postponed until 2021, or in rare cases, being held "no-contact". Of course, we had postponed the C.O.G.100, I had written off doing the GTDRI, because there was no reason not to at that time.  I wasn't going anywhere to ride in an event either. I could ride, for no other reason than just to ride, and without event planning hanging over my head. There suddenly was a peace inside of me that I hadn't felt in a long, long time.

That's when I decided enough was enough. I had given back more than most anyone I knew to cycling. I didn't have to do any more. It was time to let it go and enjoy just pedaling a bicycle again. So, that was the day I decided to never have the "invitational" again, or to put on any sort of cycling event again. After 15 plus years of doing that, I retired from event promotions and planning. 

But I was certainly still going to keep riding a bicycle. 

Next: The last installment of the GTDRI Stories.