Rear View 2025: Spring

 Hello! it's time again to review the year on Guitar Ted Productions. The "Rear View" has been a staple of the blog since almost the very beginning. This year will feature  five Rear View posts looking back on   End of Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall, and  Beginning of Winter. I'll also have a post looking ahead at 2026. Enjoy the look back and thanks for reading Guitar Ted Productions!

The Spring months of April, May, and June saw my reviewing duties kick into high gear. I had Continental Terra Adventure tires, Stan's bike care accessories, Rene Herse TPU tubes, Tifosi glasses, and more going on. It kept me on my toes.

There was also a big ride announcement. Since I was car-less and unable to go out of town, N.Y. Roll asked if I'd like to do something for a ride on gravel at some point somewhere in Iowa. We were thinking along the lines of the ride in 2024 we did with Warren Weibe called the Victory Ride. 

We had kicked around a few ideas and landed on doing a ride to the famous Tree In The Road near Atlantic, Iowa. We se a date of June 28th and excitedly made plans. Steve Fuller and Sarah Cooper, along with initial guidance by Rob Evans, led us to a nice looped course out of Atlantic which was around 70-ish miles.

Clik Valve gauge: The Clik Valve review was super popular.

I did get in some country riding in March, May, and June, which was great, but I was still struggling with my schedule at the Cedar Valley Bicycle Collective with regard to how it meshed with family life. 

Saturdays were a disaster now for getting anything done on a bike. Sundays as well. This left Thursday and Friday open, but often times I had meetings for various volunteer groups and we had two cats to take care of as well. (Cat care fell mostly to me.)

So every time I got out into the country was a precious time to me. I was, and am still, very thankful I was and am able to ride. 

Work at the Collective kicks into a higher gear in Spring and I was involved in a couple of bike checks at local farmer's markets. There were clinics to run, and the aforementioned volunteering I do was also a demand. N.Y. Roll and I also kept pumping out podcasts at the rate of about three episodes per month. 

Early Spring ride in the country

 

Getting the Gryphon tested for the Tree In The Road Ride.

Tragedy struck for the first time in 2025 when our cat, Felix, was found dead in the hallway the morning of June 6th. He was "my cat", or more appropriately, "I was his person", so it hit me pretty hard. Not to mention my son, who was the one who found him when he got up to go to work that morning. He was so upset about it he couldn't work and came home from his job early that day. 

One of the hardest things I ever have done was to take Felix\s body out into the woods via my Surly Big Dummy and lay him to rest underneath a tree in the Green Belt. I thought it was the worst thing I'd ever experienced, for some reason, but it was only a dress rehearsal for what would happen about two months later. 

 So, the Tree In The Road Ride was a big highlight for me after the death of Felix the Cat. Getting away with N.Y. Roll was fun, and seeing old friends was awesome. The ride? Well, it was very hot and it wasn't what we had planned, but it was great. A very good time, and I am so appreciative and grateful for all who participated in the ride. It really meant a lot to me, and it still does. 

That led me into Summer, which I will cover next with a review of the months of July and August next. Stay tuned....  

 NOTE: Another VTBR Report will be posted tomorrow.