A Pictorial Review Idea

During the Tree In The Road Ride a discussion of an idea from Jason Boucher came up which I thought might make for a good event, and maybe more. The idea would be to present a photographic review of Trans Iowa's history. 

Now, before we get too excited here, let's consider a few things. First off, there are several image takers which would have to be consulted and to get permissions from before any sort of show or more could be considered. Just to give you an idea, there are nine major contributors to Trans Iowa's imagery and several minor contributors. That's a LOT of permissions and editing to cull the best shots for any sort of showing.

I have well over 1,000 images alone which I have collected from those nine individuals, including my own, and from other minor contributors. To say that there is a wealth of images is not an understatement. Plus, I know there are thousands  of images no one has seen but the image takers themselves.

Wally Kilburg accounts for a vast amount of iconic T.I. Images. 

One snag is the fact that Wally Kilburg is no longer with us, and getting permissions for using his imagery, or even accessing it, is a big hurdle to overcome as of now.

I know Wally would be 100% all-in on this idea, but we cannot ask him anymore, so without those images, I'd be rather reticent to pursue the idea at all. Wally would have to be represented in anything like this idea.

Then you have a venue, a space to hold an event like this in, and what does this entail? Yeah, not totally insurmountable, but you all know if we picked a site there would be cries of it being unfair to those far away. Plus, any date chosen would be a big snag with several folks as well. Personally, I don't care about those two issues, because there is an inevitability about any of those two things. It will happen no matter what we do, so whatever.... 

It's a nice idea, but it wouldn't be easy to pull off. Maybe we would have to do some kind of a book to make it worthwhile, and this would complicate things further, but I know making money off this would be something some of the contributors would want to see happen to make it worth their time and efforts. Plus, you have to recognize the talent and product realized by these artists. Would this idea work if it could result in a coffee table type book? Maybe.

Look, I have no clear idea for this, and it is just an idea now. If enough folks wanted to see it happen, maybe the effort would be worth the time. I really do not know. It would have to be a collaborative effort, because I just do not see myself pulling this off alone. So, this really is not up to my decision. Plus, the whole thing with getting nine entities/people to enter into a collaborative agreement. That's a big ask.

But....I thought I'd throw it out there. You never know unless you try, even if it is just throwing something out to see what sticks. And maybe nothing will come of this. I'm good either way. 

Crazy Idea: Update

Back in mid-June I showed you dear readers this "sketch" I had for the old Singular Buzzard. If you missed the introduction to my nutty thoughts, you can go back and read them HERE. 

The short story, in case you don't go back to read the first post on this, is that I wanted to rebuild the Buzzard, but not as a trail bike. I am going with a "bikepacking/Pugsley" idea, where the rear and front wheels will be interchangeable.

The first order of business was to rebuild the single speed rear hub I have, which was laced to a 26" Marge Lite rim, as seen in the image above/left here. (depending on which platform you are viewing the blog on)

Then, since I wanted to reuse the On One Chunky Monkey 29" x 2.4" tires, I had to clean out all the old sealant. Let me tell you, there was a lot of 'skin to peel' off! But it came out swell, and the tire looked great, even if it is about a dozen years old! By the way, I will have to do the same with the rear, but I haven't gotten around to it quite yet.

With the tire cleaned up, and the 29" Dually rim rebuilt onto the single speed hub, I had to re-tape the rim, and I decided that for now I would insert a tube. This will press the tape down nice and evenly onto the rim's inner walls, and suffice for the time being to test out the idea. If things pan out, I will set up the bike tubeless, or maybe I'll go TPU. We will see when, and if, I get to this point what I decide.
 

The second mock-up looks more promising. I think I am warming up to this idea!

So there is what I have so far. I like what I am seeing now much better. A few points to note here:

• The seat height is correct, so I am happy with the saddle-to-bar drop I am seeing without adding more spacers. The fact that this fork was made for a first generation titanium Mukluk helps in that the steer tube was extra long.
• Speaking of that Enabler fork, this is the key to the entire idea being worthwhile, in my opinion. The context here is that Salsa, for better or worse, based the first iterations of their fat bike on the Surly Pugsley, which had as one of its central ideas the interchangeable front and rear wheel feature. This was done to allow for a "bail-out" option where a failed derailleur or frozen up free hub could be swapped out as an entire wheel assembly for your front wheel which would have a single speed free wheel mounted, or a fixed cog. (Or if you went with only a rear brake, both fixed and free wheel single speed options!)  This meant that the Enabler fork was designed with a 135mm, rear brake specific, quick release drop out spacing. The same as the rear of the Singular Buzzard. 
• The Velo Orange Utility Bar and Utility Rack will be utilized for water bottle mounts as well as cargo-carrying duties. The original set up on the Buzzard was predicated on a MTB usage which was based upon the assumption a rider would be using a hydration pack. This one-bottle set up was not going to cut it as a bikepacking rig, so the additional capacity for the Utility Bar and Rack to handle water bottles is a boon here. Obviously the Enabler Fork also adds two water bottle mounts. So water carrying needs are all covered here.
• I will make use of a Topeak rear seat bag/dry bag carrier for more cargo capacity when necessary. I will also be looking to add a "gas tank" style top tube bag.
• The drive train will be a 2X 11 speed set up utilizing an XTR shifter and  rear derailleur which I was gifted by N.Y. Roll. (The current STX rear mech will be replaced). 

There will be a lot of details to take care of before I get this thing up and running, so I am far from the finish line with this project. However; I am encouraged by the outcome so far. If you have any comments or suggestions, I would welcome them.

Stay tuned.... 

WTB Solano Saddle Review: Final Verdict

 Note: WTB sent two Solano saddles to Guitar Ted Productions at no cost for test and review. WTB has not paid for, nor bribed Guitar Ted for these reviews. All opinions and images, unless noted, belong to Guitar Ted/Guitar Ted Productions.

The time has arrived to render a final verdict on the WTB Solano saddles I was sent to review. The opening review with all the technical data and first impressions was posted HERE and the first follow-up after this can be seen HERE. 

In this final post in this reveiw I will give my final thoughts on the Solano and also I will pass along what I have heard from N.Y. Roll who is using the Solano SL, which was sent to me in a wider size than I typically use.

A Bit Of A Surprise:

On my final 3.5 hr ride I did before this final review I stopped about seven miles in to rest and have a "nature break" when I realized I was numb in the groin area. I had not ever experienced this with the Solano, and it alarmed me. Just to be clear, there had been no change in the seat position at all.

What may be even more surprising is that for the remainder of the ride I was fine. No numbness at all once I had walked it off at my first stop. I can only point to the bibs I was wearing as a possibility for the initial numbness as I had not used those Summer-weight GORE bibs with this saddle until that last ride. 

This experience was baffling, so I am not quite sure what to make of it other than perhaps it was an anomaly. Yet I thought it was worth mentioning. I can say the first miles were all done grinding into a stiff 20mph wind, and completely seated with no relief from standing. Again, it wasn't as though I hadn't ridden this saddle that way before, so it was a mystery to me as to what happened there.

N.Y. Roll, on the other hand, had nothing but praise for the Solano SL he is using. I would probably not ever get it back unless I pried it from his hands.. So, I think it is safe to say the wider Solano SL fits him quite well.

Final Verdict: The Solano SL seems to (mostly) be a fine gravel saddle on my rides. I never had any kind of irritations or hot-spot issues at all. There was the odd situation detailed above. Other than this, I do like the saddle quite a bit.

It is better than the WTB Gravelier, at least in how it fits my anatomy. The Gravelier was always a saddle which I never quite felt 100% great on. It was a saddle I waffled on as far as being one I would stick with or take off. So far, it has stayed on the bike. The Solano will likely stay on also, unless I have more issues with numbness, which I do not anticipate.  

Weekly Top Five

 Welcome to the weekly Top Five" showing links to five of the week's most read articles on the blog.
Sometimes those will be current posts, but sometimes not. I will also post commentary with perspective on some of the older posts, and try to give some context as to why I wrote what I wrote then, which may not reflect what I'd say in 2025. With all of the above said, here is this week's list.

Riders L-R: Guitar Ted, Matt Will, Matt Gersib Image by Jason Boucher

 The Tree In The Road Ride Report: Technical Snafus & Heat - Tuesday July 1st, 2025 - The meat of the report from the Tree In The Road Ride saw a lot of interest. I was a bit surprised by this, to be honest. 

Gear Review From The TITRR & Final Thoughts - Wednesday, July 2nd, 2025 -  I almost didn't write this post because I thought there would be little interest in what I used and what I thought about those things and the ride. I guessed wrong. I am happy I posted it now!

Tips On Dealing With The Mighty Red Winged Blackbird: Thursday July 9th, 2020 - I was thinking about this post on my July 4th ride this year. I was remarking to myself how the Red Winged Blackbirds are not so aggressive this year. Have I jinxed myself? 

The Open Source Naming Project: Tuesday September 24th, 2013 - Here's a sometimes top-fiver which pops up now and again. It is about what we should have called "gravel bikes" instead of "gravel bikes".  

Some Thoughts On 2025 Eurobike Trends: Thursday July 3rd, 2025 -  My opinions about things which will affect cyclists going forward which were shown at Eurobike recently. 

That's it for this week. Thanks for reading Guitar Ted Productions! 

Country Views: July 4th, 2025

Escape Route: Waterloo's vast alley network

I've been doing "July 4th" rides for as many years as this blog has been around, I think. So, of course, I was out again this year.

It was a 'firecracker' day, for sure, with temperatures in the upper 80's. This was cooler than last week's Tree In The Road Ride, however, the humidity was worse, so it felt almost exactly the same.

Now, it was July 4th, so I wore my ancient Stars and Stripes jersey and a new-to-me cycling hat which was in a red, white, and blue theme. You know, it is weird how some folks in the cycling community are against whatever they are against, and this may mean they won't celebrate something like the 4th of July. You know, the alternative scenario for us here isn't known. Can't be. But I'd wager it wouldn't be as good. Probably worse. And this is our country. Not perfect, by any means, but with so many people trying to get here, it must not be all that bad either.

Something to think about, anyway, and that is all I have to say here about this. 

The route was the anticlockwise Tour of Southern Black Hawk County. Seeing as how the winds were out of the Southwest, this made sense to me to go South first, then East. So that is what I did.

First quick rest stop about seven miles in.

There used to be two cool old barns here. Now it is just another nondescript corner.

The wind was pretty stiff at around 20mph. There was almost no clouds. The Sun was heating things up, but I seemed to be doing okay. I was concerned because ever since the Tree In The Road Ride my legs have been in some form of pain. One day my hamstrings were sore. The next day it would be my glutes. Then another day my knees were sore. Weird! Of course, I was riding a little every day and many days on a fixed gear.

There used to be a home here. All that is left is the swing set and flowers someone planted years ago. 

I stopped again at the intersection of Aker and Quarry Road to stretch. I was riding my Honeman Flyer single speed. This bike is weird, and I shouldn't like it as much as I do, but I love getting out on it. There is a certain smoothness to this bike which is just great, and the stability of the bike is good. This means it doesn't get pinged around on chunky, loose gravel and it mostly allows me to ride whatever line I want regardless of the state of the gravel. 

I know I said Friday I was going to ride my red, white, and blue Tamland, but the siren song of the single speed won me over.  

The corn is about as high as usual. I didn't think it would get there, but it did!

Black Hawk County views may not be as good as Cass and Audubon County views, but I'll take it. 

Once I started East up Quarry Road, I noticed a set of bicycle tracks meandering along on the same side of the road as I was on. The tires looked bigger. Maybe 650B's or fat 700's. Whatever size they were, they were fairly fresh. Probably they were laid down earlier on the 4th, or maybe on the evening of the 3rd, but no older than this. I kept wondering who these tracks were laid down by. My bet was Tom, but it could have been anyone. 

I did not see the bird here in this image until I got home and was processing the images I took. 

 

A surprising number of people walk gravel. Maybe I should start a site called "Walking Gravel"!

Eventually the rider I was tracking must have turned aside as the tracks ceased to exist on Quarry Road. Oh well! It was fun while it lasted. Just about this time I ran across a set of tracks left by a walker. I actually saw a few folks out walking on this ride. This is not totally uncommon either. I think there are more folks walking gravel than we might think. 

This place is always neat as a pin.

Now this is an impressive "grass farmer". Look at the size of this mown field!

Farmers love to either have a wild, unkempt appearance to their lands or they seem to manicure the living daylights out of their homestead. I never could understand why some mow such huge tracts of tillable land. Why not grow something and make a bit more money off of it? Perhaps allow it to be pasture for some farm animals. But to mow these huge tracts of land is doing what? Taking up a lot of resources, I would say.

 

Foulk Road is really pretty flat. You have to pedal every inch of it.

Heading back toward Waterloo, I was still having some assistance via the quartering tailwind, so it was not as bad as it could be with this route. Foulk Road is one of those roads you get no relief from. Pedal, pedal, pedal. It is flat and coasting is rare. But the tailwind helped and at least the road wasn't super-chunky as it has been in recent years. 

A random American flag was spotted just down from the intersection with Foulk Road and East Schrock Road.

A 'detour' for some Level B road action.

Once I got back to more urban areas, I went on a bit of a lollipop route to take in the dirt of McKeller and Weiden Roads. The irrigated field on McKellar has some monster-sized corn this year! I was thinking it may have been the tallest I'd seen all day. Then I went and road down Weiden Road's Level B section, which takes you to Washburn. From there I went down the blacktop East to catch Golinvaux Road. This then looped me back toward Evansdale.

 

Weiden Road looking South.

Golinvaux Road looking North.

I ended up back home after 3.5 hours and I wasn't too bad as far as being whooped goes. I did double up on dosage with electrolytes this time, and I was sweating a LOT. It was soooo humid Friday! I was wishing I would have brought gloves or that I had worn Sun-sleeves as my sweat was making my grip compromised. I also wished I had brought something to eat as I was bonking by the time I reached the house. A bite or two of chicken kabob and some chocolate milk later and I was all fixed up.

It was a great way to celebrate my freedom to ride and my thankfulness for this country.  

Happy 4th of July!

Man high by the 4th of July!

 Happy 4th of July! 

 There will be no FN&V today as it is the 4th of July in the USA. Look for a return of that venerable series coming next week.

Hopefully today I am out riding to celebrate the fact I can ride and ride free. I hope wherever you are that you can get out and spin some pedals as well.

Look for a detailed ride report to come on Monday. most likely. I have a modest plan for a ride and hope to accomplish it on my red, white, and blue Raleigh Tamland Two, of course.

Thank you for checking in here at Guitar Ted Productions! 

Some Thoughts On 2025 Eurobike Trends

Image courtesy of PandaPodium

 Eurobike just happened in Franfurt, Germany. I watched the news and went through a few videos to see what the vibe was from the show floor. As always, there is a lot of stuff you and I will never see outside the walls of Eurobike. However, there were a few things which caught my eyes and one thing I've heard from a credible source which may have impacts on our cycling futures.

Stringy Spokes: 

First is fiber-based spokes for wheels. Now Berd has been at this the longest, unless you want to talk about Spinergy, which would be a credible argument. But yeah, those two companies are the first to really put fibrous spokes on the map.

Now the Chinese companies are bringing in competition for this market, which was seen at the latest Taipei Cycle Show. Goosyn, as an example, has a fibrous spoke product which seems to be very derivative of Berd's design. There were others on offer there as well.

But the Eurobike show has me thinking this fiber spoke trend is about to take off. I say this because one You Tube video I saw showed Sapim fiber spokes. Sapim is a big player in bicycle spokes, so if they have a fiber spoke product hitting the market, you can bet we are going to see it spec'ed as stock on some brand's bicycles soon enough. So, this is a trend now and I think you are going to see a lot more of the fiber spoked wheels in the future. 

Will The Real Wagon Wheels For Bikes Please Stand Up! 

Image courtesy of Dirty Sixer

Gary Fisher was spouting off on social media during Eurobike on the 32" wheels for MTB and gravel. He claims he has a design for a MTB which would fit 32" wheels that would work for a 5'5" human. 

Now......that's something I'd have to see, but despite my doubts, there are no doubts regarding 32" wheels and the industry's buzz behind the scenes concerning this monster wheel.

I have spoken with a person who has ridden these bigger big wheels and the reaction was somewhat positive. Let's say "guarded optimism" was the feeling I got from this person's take on the 32's. This probably will supplant the WTB 750D idea which seems dead in the water now. 

As I stated earlier this year when news of a Maxxis Aspen 32" tire came out: If Maxxis is making this, then it will become available to the public on a name-brand bike you know. Stay tuned on this one.....

T-47 Rules: 

Image courtesy of Chris King

 T-47 bottom brackets have been around a while already, but I noted many newer bicycles being shown at Eurobike are being designed to utilize this standard.

The larger bore diameter over most other bottom brackets not only provides a better environment for bearings, (unless you are using DUB), and it also allows larger bearings to be used. It also makes for a stiffer junction for chain stays, down tube, and seat tube. 

PF-30's were based on this idea, except there were no threads, because, well, it was easier/cheaper for manufacturers to make frames without precise machined and threaded bottom bracket shells. But the creaking which resulted from this made PF-30 a byword amongst mechanics and some riders for years.  

I've got no beef with T-47's as long as the shells are threaded and machined, or have a threaded shell molded into the frame, in the case of carbon fiber. Press-fit or Thread-together styles just are not necessary. I mean, it is the entire point for having T-47's anyway. Now if SRAM would just make DUB a little smaller so we can have real-world sized bearings, that would be great. 

Integrated Everything? 

Image courtesy of Winspace

Integration is a trend in cycling with the most obvious things having to do with aerodynamics. Bars, stems, and cables are all affected by this integration of components and aero concerns.

Well, we've seen one instance of a flat bar, fully-integrated set up shown before, but I've heard this will be pushed to new limits by a major brand sooner than later with a fully integrated drop bar set up.

All components: Stem, bar, and levers- will be integrated into a single, I assume carbon fiber, component which will have its main focus being on aero. I wouldn't at all be surprised if a GPS head unit is part of this integration as well. (There was a company at Eurobike showing their own computer embedded into an integrated flat bar component, so it is a thing) 

I know......I can hear the hue and cry from bike-fitters and mechanics already. 

Image courtesy of Cervelo

Gravel Bikes At The Show:

A pre-show press release from Eurobike stated that this year would be heavy with gravel bikes. From every outlet I saw, this seemed to hold up. Gravel bikes are being offered by almost every bicycle brand now. Not only is this seemingly true, but the category isn't being taken lightly. The bikes I was able to see online are deeply technical, high end, and meant for a purpose - Either for Pro level racing, or adventure. In either case, aerodynamics are a big theme with the gravel bikes seen at Eurobike.

All the latest aero road bike trends are now found on gravel bikes as well. Deep profile carbon aero rims, aero handle bars, and frames optimized for slicing through the air were seen in Frankfurt. This trend will infiltrate all levels of gravel bikes going forward. 

Aero touches all aspects of modern gravel bike frames and forks now with completely hidden cables, hidden seat binders, and forks which blend in at the crown seamlessly into the down tube shapes. I also noted aero water bottle solutions are again being pushed for the top-tier gravel racing bikes.

The adventure gravel segment can easily be spotted by the appearance of the "triple-boss" mounts on forks. Credit to Salsa Cycles for their early use of this idea as now it is ubiquitous on any gravel bike meant for ultra-distance, bikepacking, or adventure. Of course, other accessory mounts abound on these bicycles as well. Both types of gravel bikes are also sporting in-tube down tube storage if they are made with carbon frames. It seems any bicycle without this feature is missing a trick.

Also noted: BIG tires are a theme with most showing 700 X 45mm tires and up. I recall when I was running 700 X 43mm Gravel Kings and people telling me I was running tires which were too wide! Now it seems 45mm is the new "gravel skinny". I say, "Welcome to the party!"

That is what I noted from Eurobike. What did you see or read about which caught your attention? let me know in the comments. 

Gear Review From The TITRR & Final Thoughts

With the outcome of my ride so heavily influenced by weather and my fitness level, it may not make a lot of sense to delve into the gear, on the surface of it. However; I wanted to look at what I used and give my opinion on how it worked, and what could I have done better or worse.

I'll also give a few final thoughts on the matter of the Tree In The Road Ride. Then I'll move along to other things.

Okay, so let's dig in. My first thoughts were about the bike. I used the Singular Gryphon Mk3. This was, by far, it's biggest ride I've done on it so far. "Big" as in the level of importance and the difficulty level of the ride, which was pretty "big",in my opinion. 

I chose the Gryphon because MG wanted to see it, on the one hand, but I had my reasons for why I thought this bike would be a great choice. First of all, I knew it would be a comfortable bike, and not just because of the poofy, 29 X 2.8" Teravail tires. I had put the rare Luxy Bar on it, which is the friendliest bar for my upper body there is, I put Redshift Sports Cruise Control grips on the bar, furthering its potential for comfort.

The cherry on top of all this was the Redshift Sports ShockStop stem. With the front end addressed, I went with some tried and mostly true seating components. First up, I used a titanium Salsa Cycles Regulator seat post. These are strong enough, but not so stiff, and this combination is perfect on gravel. Some carbon posts are nice, yes, but when you want something that likely will not break, titanium is a good choice. Suspension seat posts are okay, but almost every one I try has too much give, and honestly, it drives me nuts after a while, so they come off and the titanium post goes back on.

The saddle was the Brooks Cambium, and usually those are "okay" with me. I was going to tilt the nose down slightly before the ride, but you know you should never mess with your saddle right before a big ride, right? So I didn't. With these bits I was pretty convinced I'd be alright. 

And in practice I could not have been happier. Everything worked really well. In the future I would try that saddle tilt, and maybe a new, zero-offset titanium seat post. The reach on this bike is juussst a bit much yet. 

The gearing was spot-on. I never wanted a deeper gear, and the front derailleur worked great. I did drop the chain once, so I could maybe add a chain watcher or look at my derailleur stop and adjust this bit again.

Despite my running a 3 X 9 speed set up, which would be considered antique by today's standards, I can say I would not go back to a 1X on this bike, since this is what the Singular is designed to have. Call me crazy, but the wonky chain line in lower gears on 1X set ups is something I do not like the feel of while riding.

If I could, I think I'd get a shorter crank arm length than the 175mm arms on the Gryphon currently. My thinking is that 170mm cranks would work a bit better.

The wheels were fine, and the big tires were stable and grippy, but I cannot help but feel these were overkill and that the weight of this assembly was unnecessarily heavy for such a climb-heavy course. I probably will think long and hard about getting a separate, lighter wheel set with lighter, narrower tires mounted on it for a ride like we did Saturday. Or......just choose another bike I have. 

The Black Mountain Cycles MCD would have probably been my alternative here. I have an XTR 11-40T 11 speed cassette I could have used with it's Spinergy wheel set which would have made the climbs fine and the bike would have been lighter. The wheel set has 700 X 50 WTB Resolutes on it as well, so grip should have bee good also.

I also could have shoe-horned in one of my carbon wheel sets for an even lighter alternative. Then another way I could have gone was with my Fargo Gen I.

The trouble there would be that it is still almost as heavy as the Gryphon and I have 180mm cranks on it as an experiment! I do have a fairly light wheel set for it, but I just don't have time to swap everything around on that bike just for one ride.

Finally, I could have brought my lightest bike, the Noble GX5, but being a 1X, the gearing is limited unless I convert to a mullet set-up using a lot lower geared cassette. Again, a lot of faffing around for one ride. So, the Gryphon, while not being the lightest choice, had the gearing and the comfort bits covered. 

In terms of my kit I was completely satisfied. I wore an old Showers Pass wool "shirt"/jersey thing which they no longer offer, sadly. Mine is about due for the bin soon and I cannot find anything like it with real rear jersey pockets and a loose fitting cut to it. Underneath was a base layer from Endura. I wore some lightweight, Summer season GORE bibs, and those were perfect. The Mint socks and Shimano shoes were great, along with my bandana and new Trek Circuit helmet.

The Wahoo Elemnt ROAM was a curse and a blessing. Maybe it is me. Maybe not, because others were experiencing GPS issues also. But when Life throws a curve ball into your route out of the gate, (a freight train, in this instance), and the GPS goes berserk, and it gets worse from there? Yeah..... I'm still not impressed with turn-by-turn functionality.

However; I did like the Climb notification and how the climb was broken down on the screen for me. This is a help, and knowing what to expect helped me meter out effort in a way I was not able to do without a GPS unit with this feature. So, on a ride like this, where climbing was a seemingly constant thing, I appreciated the Wahoo.

If I could criticize the Climb feature at all it would be when I was on a climb it did not recognize for whatever reason. There were more than a few where I felt I could have used the feature and it was not automatically popping up on screen for me.

Another annoyance was the way the Wahoo was always on the turn-by-turn map screen and would not show me time of day, mileage total, or elevation. I probably could have switched over to a different page for this, but I was not willing to mess with the unit thinking I'd best leave well enough alone. I still like having the Wahoo over anything else I've yet tried, but this thing is far from perfect. 

Final Thoughts on the Tree In The Road Ride:

I had been looking forward to this ride for months and thanks to N.Y. Roll, it was something that came true for me. Without his assistance and care, I would not have ever had a chance at getting out of town for any kind of a ride. So, thanks to N.Y. Roll, this was a success.

My son's health issues and my wife having car trouble over 200 miles from home on Friday nearly derailed this ride for me. I am glad neither thing did, and both things seem to be either resolved, or on their way to being so. But that was close! 

We had a bad draw on weather. The only thing which could have been worse would have been severe storms and rain. But you cannot choose your weather, so it was what we had to work with.

Then also I could have been in better shape, but as it turned out, I think a few of the others, at least, were happy the route was cut short. So, while I have some disappointment in my self, and in not completing the planned route, I am somewhat consoled by  how others were seemingly satisfied.

I was so glad I finally had the chance to ride in this portion of Iowa. As Jason Boucher said several times during the ride, he was always looking at the terrain around Atlantic on his way to other destinations and longing to follow those white gravel ribbons over the rolling hills he was seeing from his vehicle. Now he has done this, and so have I.

I cannot recommend Atlantic, Iowa and the surrounding area to ride and visit strongly enough. As Steve Fuller told me, "Atlantic is just big enough to have decent services". But it still has the distinct small-town Iowa flavor. Plus those hills and the views are as good as anything I've experienced in Iowa or in many other Mid-Western states, for that matter.  

Image by N.Y. Roll

I regret the Frys had experienced the accident coming home. I wish this would not have happened.  I have always been worried about everyone else's travels and experiences connected to my rides, so this hurt me. But my main concern is for Robert and Cary's well being and restoration. Similarly I was bummed for Dan Buettner who missed out joining our group by a handful of minutes. 

I was filled to the brim with happiness and joy from being able to see my friends and to ride with them. So, thank you to all who made the trip out and back. You all made me very happy. 

Now it is time to move on.

I have a ride planed for the 4th of July, as I am wont to do every 4th. Besides this, I may get out on something big and adventurous later in the year, but more than likely I will be plying the gravel roads of Black Hawk, and maybe a couple of other counties, for the remainder of 2025.  There are still things to get done on the bike....

The Tree In The Road Ride Report: Technical Snafu's & Heat

Image by N.Y. Roll

 The route for the Tree In The Road Ride was originally laid out by Rob Evans who is from Nebraska. He would have been on this ride but for a prior commitment to doing the Coast to Coast ride in Michigan. Rob snagged a nice 3rd place single speed category finish in the 200 mile event. Congrats Rob!

Well, I had sent Rob's original GPS file over to Sarah Cooper who was somewhat knowledgeable on the area. She made a few revisions and sent the route back to me and this was the route I shared with the attending riders. I actually did not download the route myself until Friday, so I had the same route as everyone else.

Supposedly...

 Well, this will crop up later, but we had to get out of town first. There was some confusion as to where to turn as some were getting prompted at one point to go left while I and some others were getting prompted to go right into an ag businesses drive. We ended up heading North, (the direction we should have been going) and hit our first surprise of the day.....

Sorry! I forgot to check the train schedule!

Some riders opted for shade while others respected the train by standing back further. 

Uggh! A train. We heard movement and the spooling up of the diesel motor. This made us think the train would be moving soon. What we did not realize was there were two tracks side-by-side, and the train we heard moving was on the opposite side of the stationary train were were looking at.

Time to find a way around!

Around the train and heading North out of town.....finally!

 By this time the Wahoo is beeping and squawking away at an alarming pace. Apparently the little droid was upset, but I had no time to read its epithets or take any commands from it as I was following wheels hard now. Later on the little devil-machine would get revenge. 

Once the train was cleared we found ourselves on the State highway heading north, hoping to intersect our course which should have crossed the highway a mile or so down this road. It did, and we turned East and immediately onto a slowly climbing bit of aggregate which gave way to the first gravel of the day.

 

Barns For Jason #1

These hills were not anything like I've been on for a long time. We do not have climbs like this around my local area. The grades were not terrible, but the climbs were typically a lot longer and steeper than they are here. The gravel itself wasn't terrible. Maybe a bit sandier than what we have around here, but as MG said later, it allowed the bigger chunks to be pushed down and where car tracks were it was fairly solid.

Needless to say, I wasn't prepared for hills like these, and especially not on a day when the temperature adjusted for humidity was over 100°F. My Wahoo recorded a max temperature of 105°F, which could be debatable, but it did feel like that at times. 

While the climbing was relentless, the views were spectacular

Look closely and you can trace the road rolling up over the hills into the horizon line. 

We stopped a few times along our 18-ish mile trek to reach the Tree In The Road, I was sweating bullets and was in and out of my granny gear often. I was questioning my ability to tackle this course on such a day. Especially as under-prepared as I was for the hills and heat.

Along the way to the Tree, we came up on a nice patch of shade at the top of a hill adjacent to a farm. The cooler air was wonderful there. Then two trucks approached with the first driver rolling down his window to ask us what we were up to. The second truck came to a stop behind it. After some friendly chit-chat, the first truck moved down the road and turned into a driveway about 25 yards away from us. The second truck revved its motor and did a subtle "angry acceleration" away from the scene, on down the road. Apparently the second truck's driver was annoyed! We  found this humorous as the first driver came back to us, stated he was willing to offer us water, but his well was broken. So, he could have moved out of the way, but clearly, there was something more going on there than we knew!

We crested a hill and there it was!

Heading down to take in the shade of the Tree In The Road. Image courtesy of Matt Wills

Finally we reached the Tree. I thought it was taking forever to get there, and I probably felt this way due to our frequent stops to cool down. I was blaming myself, and I felt bad for how I was riding. On the last few miles to the Tree, I developed some pain in my left hip flexor, and when I dismounted the bike at the Tree, I nearly went into full cramp mode. I knew the whole 70 mile route was not a good idea for me to try and tackle at this point.

The graffiti on this tree is unfortunate. I guess we cannot have nice things in this world. 

As I relaxed in the shade of the Tree I made the suggestion that I should likely be leaving the route as planned when the group reached Exira, several more miles up the course. There the return route came very close to the outgoing route, and it was a paved bike path, very level, and shaded in spots. I reckoned it would be best for me to take this back to Atlantic and cut the ride short for myself.

To my complete surprise Cary Fry and Kat both immediately said they wanted to join me in this option. They both mentioned the heat and climbing as being quite enough. Then attention turned to whether we would cut out the Level B section, or go onward and include it.

After a bit of discussion, four chose the "adventure route" while I and the Frys along with Kat went straight North. The plan was to meet sometime after the original route intersected the cut-off I was taking. This sounded all well and good, that is until technology went haywire again.

This corner was where things got crossed up due to GPS issues. 

A bit of Chicory along this stretch to cheer me up this long grinder of a climb. 

As we approached a "T" intersection, we noted the route on our GPS told us to go Left, and turn Right in a few hundred feet again to continue Northward. In fact, we should have turned Right, and continued for another mile before turning Left and going North. The four followers went down the Level B road, but were rebuffed at a blockade of the road made up of a wall of railroad ties and a "Dead End" sign. They turned around, went back to the Tree, and followed us up North behind us. However, at the "T" they were prompted to turn Right, which was the correct direction.

Barns For Jason #2

This Shetland pony was wondering what we were doing out on this road. So were our other four companions!

After we made the wrong turn, we turned North at the next opportunity, went a mile, or so, and then were being prompted to turn Right. Here we decided to stop and wait for the chasers. We sat for at least 20 minutes and then.... MG finally called and asked what road we were on. We tried to describe what road we were on, but it was confusing to MG, and no wonder, our information did not match what he was being fed. MG said they were going to try and catch us, as at this point we all believed their group was behind the one I was in.

Look! Another grinder of a climb! Great!

Barns For Jason #3

Finally, after we had been riding for another several miles, MG called and asked how far we were from Exira. I stated I thought it looked like we were about six or so miles out. MG then stated their group was only three miles away from Exira and that our track must have been wrong. I couldn't make sense of this as our GPS units, all four of them, were telling us we were on track. MG said their group was tuckered out having tried to catch us, so they were going to chill out for a bit. Meanwhile we plugged along'

Suddenly I noted a turn coming up on my Wahoo's screen. The GPS was saying I would be taking a slight angled turn to the Left. I couldn't make out where the intersection was as I scanned the grassy ditch for signs of a road. Then I saw it. A gated C Level road all grown over with tall grasses. Surely this was the evidence I needed to tell me the GPS had led us astray. Then about a quarter of a mile later the track fizzled out and the Wahoo went into rerouting mode to take us exactly where MG and the others were patiently awaiting our arrival.

The descent into Exira was exhilarating, fast, and long!

 Once we had rejoined the two groups, we were off on a speedy descent into the town of Exira. I ended up off the back and when I came into town I was dragging. I was smoked. My legs were tired, I was super-heated and working hard was not an option. I spun the cranks and toodled along the best I could. Following the track I was hoping I would find the group, then I heard a whistle. 

It was N.Y. Roll looking for me. I had just passed the intersection where I should have been prompted to turn Right, but this did not happen. That is, until I turned around, and hey! The information popped up on the screen to turn Left, as I was now going back the other direction. Fickle technology, I'll tell ya! Not to be trusted.

I knew I should have made myself cue sheets!  

 

The bike path was shaded for the majority of the length we were on it. 

A last beautiful vista before the end.

At Exira's Caseys, N.Y. Roll bought me a Sponge Bob Squarepants bomb-pop ice cream treat and some Pedialyte. This hit the spot! The group made no effort to split and continue on the original route. Everyone saddled up and headed toward the cut-off instead. We then took off on the bicycle path heading South. We split into two groups again anyway, with myself following the wheels of MG, MW, and Jason. We  made a few stops to rest and then we hit the gravel again for the final push back into Atlantic.

 

By this time I was in a world of suffering such as I have not experienced in a long time. I was tired, hot, and everything hurt in my limbs. Strangely enough, my hands, feet, and rear end were just fine. My mind was clear. I wasn't having any headaches or weird stuff happening at all. The extremes between these two things - the hurting and the normality - were very strange to me. 

 

I rolled back into town alone. I remembered the Downtowner, the lush trees, and the shade behind the cafe with the outdoor seating. I made up my mind just to get there and find a seat, sit down, and try to chill out. Finally I arrived, grabbed a chair, and not much later I texted N.Y. Roll to let him know where I was at. He arrived not long afterward, as did the Frys and Kat. 

 

Since the Downtowner was closed, we went back to the Rancho Grande and we all had something to eat. The stories were great and just hanging out with these fine people was fantastic. But as everything must do, this all came to an end.

 

We said our goodbyes. My heart is full and although I feel responsible for some of the things with the route and my riding, it was all good. I think everyone enjoyed how it came out in the end. N.Y. Roll then drove me back home, and when I arrived I had another meal with my family. What a day! I am very blessed!

 

Notes: I found out on Monday that the Frys were involved in an accident on I-80 on their return trip home. Apparently slowed traffic and an inattentive driver caused them to be rear-ended. Both Cary and Robert are okay, but their car and bicycles were damaged. Hoping for a quick resolution and full-restoration to this incident for the Fry's. I'm sorry this happened. 

 

I also heard Monday from Dan Buettner who arrived after we had left for the ride from Atlantic. I am sorry we did not meet up and I regret he was not a part of this group. We heard a report of a single rider behind us from a local. Some of us had spotted him as well behind us, but we thought he was a local out for a ride. I am so sorry we did not connect!  

 

I hope you enjoyed the report. Thank you for reading Guitar Ted Productions!