A Meet-Up

Image courtesy of Kuat Rack

 That Kuat Piston Pro rack I bought wasn't going to fly from Chicago to Waterloo, Iowa by itself, so a meet-up was planned between Ari and I so I could get it from him. I mean, the whole buying a rack thing was pretty much based on seeing Ari. 

Not really, but kinda......

Anyway, I bought it from the shop Ari works at and that was in a suburb of Chicago, so I had arranged with Ari to meet him on Saturday in St. Donatus, Iowa to pick it up. Mrs. Guitar Ted came along, and as a surprise, so did Ari's wife. After Ari and his wife gave us a nice pair of flowering pots and after we moved the rack into the back of my 4Runner, we took a little walk at Ari's suggestion. 

Ari wanted to show me the Catholic Chapel and cemetery there up on top of a short, steep hill not far from the cars. So we hiked up on a beautiful late April afternoon to check it out. Things like this are not heard of or seen much in Iowa. You wouldn't think Iowa could be this pretty, or have this rich history, since it is "corn country", fly-over territory, and is "boring". But if this is you, you don't know nuthin' about Iowa. So, I thought I'd share some images of the St. Donatus Catholic Church which is on the list of National Historic Places.

 

After enjoying the beauty of the church's interior space we walked out back to take in a view of the cemetery. Ari said further on up the hill there is another small chapel, but we didn't hike all the way up to see it. 

 

There was another church across the valley up on the next hill from the one we were at. 

The St. Donatus area is VERY hilly and gorgeous right now with all the green things on full display. We walked back down the hill and entered Kalme's Restaurant in St. Donatus. It has been around for 150 years or more there. I described it as a restaurant which is everything Cracker Barrel wishes it could be. 

Anyway the meal was fantastic and the company was even better. But eventually it was time to go back home. Ari is a dear friend and seeing him on the traditional weekend of Trans Iowa was a treat. We spoke of plans for him to come visit in Waterloo sometime so I could take him out on our local gravel.  

So, that was the trip to go get the rack. Now it will be unboxing time soon and I'll get around to my impressions of this thing soon enough. Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for more on the rack.  

Friday News And Views

Image courtesy of Sklar Bikes

New Bike PPacking Rack From Sklar Bikes:

Sklar Bikes introduced this rack about a week or so ago. Inthe midst of all the Sea Otter madness, it seemed that the news was lost in the haze of 32'ers and all, so I am featuring it here on this FN&V. 

This rack, rated to carry up to 30lbs, weighs in at 1.4lbs including hardware. It is designed as a minimalist rack for light touring or bike packing with mini-panniers. You can also use it to strap on water bottles or just use it for utilitarian errand running around town. 

At $140.00USD it seems like a nicer rack which looks good and should fit a wide range of bikes. 

See Sklar's webpage for this rack HERE.

Comments: One nit about this rack is that the description does not say what it is made out of. Anyway.... I like this rack from the perspective of its design intentions. Minimalist pannier type touring and bike packing uses do not require super-heavy duty racks. Not if you are conscientious and intentional with your loading. And this rack carries up to 30lbs, which, let's be honest, is about the most I'd want to load up with anyway. Especially if you consider what you might be carrying in bags and on racks elsewhere on your bicycle. This might be a little pricey for some folks, and yes -cheaper racks exist, but if you care about how your stuff looks and like this style it is hard to beat it. 

Image courtesy of Q36.5

Q36.5 Offers New Range Of Wind/Rain Gear:

Q36.5 brand is now offering a range of wind and rain jackets and designed to allow cyclists to choose garments specific to their use cases and not have to compromise by a "one size fits all" solution to wind/rain gear.  

The range includes various jackets and vest, with the lightweight "Air" models being the most packable. Q36.5 claims the Air vest will roll up to the size of a gel packet. 

Most of the range called out in the press release doesn't seem to be up on the site yet, but the Air jackets and vests do appear there on their site. You can check those out on the website HERE.  

Comments: I don't know of any other category in cycling which has more wordy press releases and marketing than the apparel side. I mean, look at this jacket. It is rather unremarkable, yes? Yet the site goes on and on about it as if it were some super-tech device. Maybe its just me, but I've reviewed clothing for cyclists for over a decade and this seems to be par for the course across all apparel brands. I find it rather odd.  

Typically most of these apparel press releases are ignored by me, but this one has a feature I think many cyclists would see as being useful in the ultra-packable nature of the Air jacket and vest. I could see this as a great "break-glass-in-case-of-emergency" bail-out when the weather turns on you during a ride. I would imagine the rain wear (which didn't seem up yet on the site) would be similar. 

Image courtesy of Kuat Racks

Picking Up The Rack This Weekend:

Thanks to all who commented on the recent "Rack Me" posts here on the site. I valued each and every comment. I ended up buying a Kuat Piston Pro, and this weekend I am meeting my good friend Ari in St. Donatus, Iowa to pick it up. 

There were many reasons as to why I went with a Kuat, and if you missed the post listing those reasons out, you can go back and read it HERE. 

I will be excited to get this and use it for going to different places to ride. I've been stuck in the local loops for a few years now and it is time to branch out a bit. I've already got a few places in mind to hit up. 

I'll also be excited to visit with Ari again after not seeing him for close to two years now. And visiting St. Donatus will be interesting as well. Look for a report on all of this coming up next week. 

Never fear N.Y. Roll is here!

New Podcast Dropped:

The latest Guitar Ted Podcast episode is HERE.  This episode contains N.Y. Roll's advice on how to be a good event participant. I think it is a good list of things to consider. Too many times we hear about an event in a negative light on social media. It is nice to be reminded to say "Thank you" to event directors, volunteers, and staff when attending events. It is also prudent to air concerns directly with event directors instead of being a coward and running off to social media. Event directors, despite popular opinions, really do care about participants and their event. 

We also gabbed about the 32"er stuff from Sea Otter. I already covered my take on the bigger big wheels HERE, in case you missed it.  

We also covered one other thing, but you'll have to go listen to the episode to find out what this was all about. (Hey! I gotta drive the numbers somehow!) 

We should have another episode posting up soon. So, thanks if you are subscribed to our podcast, or if you have checked it out at some point. We appreciate you folks a lot! 

Image courtesy of Airborne social media

High-Tech Titanium Gravel frame By Airborne Now Available:

Hydroforming and 3D printing are utilized in the manufacturing of Airborne Bicycle Co.\s new Endeavor gravel bike. This frame has other unique features as well. 

Airborne claims this has a 13 position adjustable head set to alter head angle. The titanium material is also double butted for strength and weight reduction. The double-dropped chain stay alignment allows for 700 x 54mm tires. UDH compatible as well. of course. 

The asking price is $3,232.50. You can see and learn more at Airborne's site HERE. 
 

Thank you for checking out Guitar Ted Productions. Now get out there and ride your bicycles! 

There Is Something In The Air

Pre-start of T.I.v6 Image by A. Andonopoulos

Every year about this time I get these feelings. It is in the timing of when the Sun rises and sets. The greening up of plants and tress. The moist, Earth smells. It all triggers those things I felt when I was putting on Trans Iowa for those fourteen years I did the event. 

I often dream of those mornings when we'd gather on some darkened street. Cars pulling in with bikes on racks, or riders pulling up in twos and threes, torches blazing into the inky dark of a Saturday morning in Hawarden, Decorah, Williamsburg, or Grinnell, Iowa. 

The sounds of anxious, muffled conversations. The clack and grind of cleats on wet pavement. The fog and mist in the air. The tension building up until I tried to herd all the riders into place for my annual "Fatherly Advice" speech. Then the tense moments just before the clock hit 4:00am and the toot of the horn. 

Just before the start of T.I.v5. Image by Corey "Cornbread" Godfrey

The riders are off! The T.I.v10 start image by Craig Cooper

This was, for me, the line of demarcation. The start of any Trans Iowa meant I, or "we" if I had a companion, would be alone for a few hours until we hit the first checkpoint. Early on, in the first few Trans Iowas, I was alone for hours on end, doing final course check in front of the riders. 

Those times are an entirely different story. The start though, that was a very special time for me. The atmosphere was transcendent. From quiet, sleepy repose to an electricity that filled the air - sometimes quite literally - The start period was something which I found energizing. Maybe I was feeding off all the rider's nervous auras. I don't know. I just remember those times with fondness. 

A rare shot of myself leading out a Trans Iowa. This time it is T.I.v9 Image taker unknown

 

MG driving here on the start of T.I.v14. My last time doing this

Yes, there is something about this time of the year which probably will stick with me the rest of my life. Trans Iowa was a labor of love, and yes - I do miss it at times. I am glad it ended when it did and how it did. But that doesn't mean that there aren't things which I miss. I cherish all the memories and times had. 

Sometimes I think I'll get up on Saturday morning on the traditional day of a Trans Iowa start and walk outside at 4:00am and see if I can still see, hear, and smell all those things which I remember so well from those days. Then I think, "Nah! You'll just be disappointed the feelings are not real, or as good as they were once", and I do not get up. It's kind of like the second bite of a doughnut.  The first bite is always fantastic, and you want to replicate that taste again with a second bite, but it never is as good, and every time you try again, it gets worse. So, it is best to stop. Let that first bite be what it was. You'll never replicate those sensory inputs ever again. 

More about Trans Iowa will probably be shared later in the weekend.  

When The Answer Is "Yes"

Portrait of Ken Yokanovich by Ari Andonopoulos

 I was often about to say "To hell with it all!", when I was an event director of the gravel race known as Trans Iowa. Many times it was quite a frustrating labor of map reading, route finding, logistics planning, and dealing with people who were stretching my patience to the breaking point. I often wondered aloud why I was even putting myself through what it took to do the event in the manner which I believed it had to be done. 

To be perfectly fair, this was all mostly of my own doing. The frustrations, the road blocks, and the hurdles were mostly of my own making. I did not have to do it the way I did it. 

I chose to do it the way that I did it.  

Why? This is a question which would take a longer form to answer fully. I won't get into the weeds here on this but suffice it to say I did it the way I did it for the best possible experience for the participant I could devise. My goal? To ensure each rider would experience a soul-searching, mind bending, physically and mentally challenging experience. I also wanted to afford opportunities for human interactions which might lead to life-long impacts. 

The cost to myself and my family was not insignificant. Was it all worth the14 years I put myself and my family, volunteers, and friends through to see this event happen? 

Ken Yokanovich (L) and Ari Andonopoulos

In 2007 author Zach Dundas shadowed me during the Trans Iowa v3 event to gather material for a book he was going to write covering the underground sports scene in the USA in the mid-2000's. The book, "The Renegade Sportsman", (You can find used copies on Amazon), contains a full chapter on Trans Iowa and is well worth tracking down if you are a Trans Iowa fan or are curious about the event. It is, in my opinion, the most concise, entertaining, and thorough description of the event and its ethos I have come across. 

In the chapter on Trans Iowa Zach has this little bit concerning Ken Yokanovich, a veteran of three Trans Iowa events. Zach, along with other T.I. riders, were checking out some of the bicycles to be used in the event. Here is the bit from "The Renegade Sportsman", Chapter Three, "Ira vs Iowa":

"I particularly admired Minneapolis rider Ken Yokanovich's orange-Creamsicle-colered Quickbeam, outfitted with roomy, old-fashioned olive drab pannier bags and a custom cylindrical handlebar clip that held a tube of Blistex. Yokanovich would ride fixed gear. Other Trans Iowans tended to greet that decision with studied nods of approval, as if spurning one hundred years of bicycle evolution was indeed the most honorable course of action."

Ken finished that year, the first to do it on a fixed gear bike. One of only three who ever finished a Trans Iowa in the event's 14 years on a fixed gear bicycle. So, it is understandable why I might remember Ken with fondness, and why he is held in high regard by Trans Iowa veterans who know. 

But you never know if the feeling is mutual. Maybe this is not a big deal to people like Ken. Maybe he's moved on. This was nearly 20 years ago, so yeah..... I could see it. But people are sometimes amazing and surprising. Such was the case with Ken, who recently was motivated by a meet-up with fellow Trans Iowan, Ari Andonopoulos, to reach out to me via email last week. 

Ken wrote and told me the following: "Thank you for sharing your thoughts, bringing us together, and challenging us to be something we never knew we could be."

When I get messages like this, I sit back and I smile. Were all the days and years of toil and worry worth it? 

The answer is "Yes".

Chicago Bike Swap: Photo Report

Today I wanted to share with you a photo report filed by Ari Andonopoulos. He attended the recent Chicago bicycle swap meet which saw great attendance. I've got several images from Ari here and a bit of a report from him as well. I will also add comments at the end of the images. 

Bike swap meets are an interesting niche in our cycling world which is as much about reconnecting with fellow cyclists as it is about getting a good deal on something. Part "rummage sale" and part reunion, these gatherings are a great distraction from the gray, cold Winters here in the Northern hemisphere. 

With that, here is a line or two from Ari and his images. 

 From Ari:

Here are some photos from the bike swap. It was 8 dollars to get in. Some vintage stuff was high,(priced) but a lot of insane deals. I was thinking that bike swaps are a good way to break up winter and see old friends and make new ones. I loved seeing old friends there.

It appeared the swap was well attended

That's a wrap on this report. Thanks again to Ari Andonopoulos for sharing these images with us! Bike swaps are a great illustration of "one man's junk is another man's treasure" and I think you can get a good feeling for this from Ari's imagery. 

Got any good bike swap finds or stories? Please share them in the comments! And thanks again for reading Guitar Ted Productions! 

CABDA 2026 Show Chicago: Report

 Last year I was able to post a report from my friend, Ari Andonopoulos, on the CABDA Show. CABDA is an acronym for Chicago Area Bicycle Dealers Association. Vendors from the industry come to show a variety of bicycles, components, and tools which may be of interest to the Chicago area bicycle retail trade, and beyond. 

This year Ari was in attendance again and he graciously sent over several images and a nice report. Folowing will be a plethora of images and a few words. Thanks for checking this out, and a big "thank you" to Ari for taking the time to share this with us!

All images credited to Ari Andonopoulos.  

Chicago, Illinois: Report filed by Ari Andonopoulos - I made the drive to the Schaumburg Convention center for the 2026 CABDA show. I also ran into a couple of people I know in the lobby, got signed in, badged, and looked for the coat check. No such luck! 

 

I did some quick rounds to get a sense of what was there. I immediately noticed the hustle and bustle surrounding all the e-bike booths. Aventon was the busiest, so was Velotric. Young and old were taking bikes onto the indoor test track with smiles on their faces.

 

 I was impressed with the Shimano booth. It was perhaps the largest display in the hall. I want to say they probably had everything on display with a large amount of staff helping visitors. They had assembled mini seminars, explaining bleeding brakes, setting up DI2 and MTB stuff. 

 The new Q-Auto system was also on display. I spent a lot of time there. 

Missing were some carbon bike companies that were there last year, like Factor, Cervelo and others. Park tool had their display and were showcasing some new work stands and manual tools. 

 

Absent were also Velocity , which I wanted to check out some 32" rim they were working on. Also absent was Provision Cycling, importer for Campagnolo and Assos .

Billy Flamingo is a new company specializing in winter tires mainly for fat bikes. Studded tires in 27.5x4 inches seem to be the norm up in Alaska, where the company is from. Other notable mentions were Jamis, Abus, Kryptonite, Giant, Pedros , Risse Racing, Koolstop, and Kenda. 

Vee Rubber is working on 20"x4" tires for e-bikes ,which we use a lot at the shop where I work. I talked to a lot of the vendors and everyone seemed optimistic for a good 2026 bike season. I spent more time this year than last and had better conversations with the vendors. Glad I made the trek out there. 

 

Thanks Ari! It looks as though it was a big and well attended show. Interesting to see the focus on electrified bikes that, for better or worse, seem to be in the crosshairs of governments across the USA now. 

This will wrap up the report section of the CABDA 2026 report. In the next post there will be a photo dump with no words, other than some captions. 

 

Thank you for reading Guitar Ted Productions, and another shout-out toAri Andonopoulos for providing us with this report.   

CABDA 2026 Show Chicago: Photo Dump

Thanks to Ari Andonopoulos for all the imagery in today's post! There won't be any commentary, but this will give you an idea of what caught Ari's eye at the dealer show held in Chicago earlier this week. I may include a few captions here and there. 

Feel free to ask questions in the comments. Ari and I will do our best to get you answers. In the meantime, enjoy the image show and thanks for reading Guitar Ted Productions! 

Also, look for the report from Ari and more images in the following post for today, (which may appear ahead of this post if you are checking out the blog on your PC.) 

Alloy Giant bike without drive train or brakes.

Bike Rags Apparel is an Iowa based company

A rare and expensive Colnago gravel bike.

Billy Flamingo is a fat bike tire and accessory company from Alaska. This is the 27.5 "Quill Pig"

Billy Flamingo only offers 27.5" fat bike tires currently. 

The company also offers studs in different anodized colors along with a studding tool.

Kenda isn't at the top of most folks gravel tire desires. Kenda hopes to change that with the Crusher.

Here's the Crusher in a black wall version. 

A close up of the Kenda Alluvium Pro gravel tire.

Kenda makes several "e-Fat tires" for various electric bike applications,

Kinekt was there at CABDA showing their vibration absorbing stems and seat posts.

Pedros makes several tools which are mechanic favorites.

A good looking Sage Titanium Storm King with a suspension fork.

The only 32"er at CABDA was this SE Bikes "Colossal Ripper". Aptly named!

Stans on tap? I'll pass....

You may know Thomson for components like stems and seat posts. But did you know they have bicycles too?

This MTB hardtail is decked out in Thomson components. 

This track bike is pretty awesome looking. 

Well, that will be it for this photo dump from the 2026 CABDA show in Chicago. Thanks once again to Ari Andonopoulos for his time and energy in providing this content for Guitar Ted Productions. 

Look for the report from Ari and more images here as well.