Rocks And Dirt

 In celebration of the twentieth year of this blog, I have a few tales to tell. This post is one of them. This series will occur off and on throughout this anniversary year, I hope to illuminate some behind-the-scenes stories and highlights from the blog during this time. Enjoy!

 One of the things I used to write about here was my occasional trips to Texas which happened over the course of the first half of the 20 years of this blog. These were to see my wife's family and to let them spend time with my two kids. The side benefit was that I was able to ride in the Franklin Mountains which are right in the city of El Paso where my folks lived.

The "Tin Cowboy" of Conlen, Texas.

 We used to travel by car down I-35. We used Highway 54 starting in Wichita Kansas and then we'd go all the way across Kansas, diagonally through the Panhandle of Oklahoma, and the Panhandle of Texas, then diagonally, more or less, across New Mexico, and finally to El Paso on the very Western tip of the state of Texas. 

Along the way I kept seeing this tall, goofy looking statue in the Panhandle of Texas standing in a lawn in a tiny "spot-in-the-road" village. I kept trying to get an image of it, but I was either driving, it was at night, or I would miss getting the shot because we were doing 65 -70mph while I was trying to take the shot. After several missed opportunities, I finally got him in 2010. I know that is an odd story, but I think the "Tin Cowboy of Conlen, Texas" is a treasure from times gone by, and I doubt many know about this oddity. Sometimes I wonder if it is even still there....

The trail runs down the center of this image and off to the left.

Now on to things that actually were important to the blog here!

I never was successful in telling you dear readers about the difficulty in riding trails in the Franklin Mountains. It is hard to convey how different this type of riding is. The terrain is unforgiving, the heat is devastatingly hot and dry, and riding ten miles is akin to riding three times that much single track here. Oh, and if you are a flatlander, like myself, the elevation will kick your butt as well.

I did find one image, posted here, that might help portray the difficulty of riding in the Franklin Mountains. There is a trail running right down from the center of the image which sweeps off to the lower left as you look at it there. Notice the size of the rocks? They are mostly all loose, shifty, and if you go even a tiny bit off the tread of the trail you are met with nasty, pokey things called "plant life".

It was always fun, but always brutal and hard. Then near the end of my days riding there I discovered the West side of Franklin Mountain is where the fall out from the smelting plant had occurred and had altered the environment. ("Asarco - Look it up some time. It is a really sad story) It was then I realized why I never saw wildlife, much for plant life, and hardly anyone riding that side. It was all due to the decades of contamination. The one time I rode the East side was a revelation. People, flowers, animals.... Just crazy.

From the recon of Trans Iowa v6 in March, 2010

Those El Paso trips were generally taken during Spring Break. When I arrived back home, it was Trans Iowa time! I had loose ends to tie up, courses to check, and cue sheet production to take care of. It was always a busy, stressful month, month and a half, which led up to the event. 

I chose to show an image for this post which came from March 2010. It may look somewhat unremarkable to you, but this image represents a few things which were important to me for several years.

First, this recon was for our first Trans Iowa out of Grinnell, Iowa, and the city could not have been better to us. Grinnell had a special place in my heart then, and it still does to this day. We pulled out from in front of Bikes To You, the bike shop on Broad Street in downtown Grinnell,  a total of nine times before I put Trans Iowa to bed in 2018.

The second thing this image reminds me of is that it was the first Trans Iowa which I used the "Truck With No Name". The previous year was the swan song for the "Dirty Blue Box", my 1991 Honda Civic hatchback/wagon. That Toyota truck saw some really bad roads, and despite it being a two wheel drive vehicle, it always pulled me through. It was featured here on the blog several times.

I spent hours and hours plying Iowa's gravel roads in that truck. I finally let it go last year when I allowed my son to trade it in on a vehicle for himself. I'll tell ya, I got all the goody out of that truck! The dealer told me several weeks later they had to scrap the truck out because a frame rail on it was so rusted it was about to fall apart, which would have broken the truck in half! 

Minus Ten Review - 2009-40

On a "head clearing ride" ten years ago.

Ten years ago here on the blog I wrote about the usual stuff: Trans Iowa, 29"ers, and a bit about Mid-West gravel events coming in the near future. But there was one thing that weighed really heavily on my mind that entire week. The fall-out due to this news I received was tough to deal with as well.

I never really let on what it was that was going on here. But now I can say that back then we had news that my father-in-law had a stroke. He was going to require open heart surgery. It was a time when we thought we might be losing him.

As you can imagine, news of that sort can shake you to your core. My wife's father was a classy, old-school Army veteran of the Korean and Vietnam conflicts. He could be very gentle and kind, but he had a countenance of a stern sergeant when he was angry. He was wise, and he had great stories about having been an over-the-road truck driver, the career after the Army, that he engaged in until his retirement just a year or so before this health scare.

He made it through this, but in 2017, on Easter morning, he died. He was an amazing father-in-law to me. I guess I must have been looked upon as a good son-in-law, because I recall how Frank, that was his name, would suddenly pipe up and tell me remembrances of the war while we were alone, quietly watching T.V. in his home in El Paso, Texas. According to my wife, he never told anyone else these stories.......

Well, back in 2009, this news of Frank's health scare caused a sudden trip for my wife, and a cancellation of my attendance to the Big Wheeled Ballyhoo, which was supposed to happen the following week. I felt awful for backing out, but my brother, MG, well he took over the reins and said not to worry. Anyway..... That helped, for sure, but I still felt badly. So, two major bummers a decade ago.

Next week I'll have more to say about the ill-fated Big Wheeled Ballyhoo.

Minus Ten Review - 2009-40

On a "head clearing ride" ten years ago.

Ten years ago here on the blog I wrote about the usual stuff: Trans Iowa, 29"ers, and a bit about Mid-West gravel events coming in the near future. But there was one thing that weighed really heavily on my mind that entire week. The fall-out due to this news I received was tough to deal with as well.

I never really let on what it was that was going on here. But now I can say that back then we had news that my father-in-law had a stroke. He was going to require open heart surgery. It was a time when we thought we might be losing him.

As you can imagine, news of that sort can shake you to your core. My wife's father was a classy, old-school Army veteran of the Korean and Vietnam conflicts. He could be very gentle and kind, but he had a countenance of a stern sergeant when he was angry. He was wise, and he had great stories about having been an over-the-road truck driver, the career after the Army, that he engaged in until his retirement just a year or so before this health scare.

He made it through this, but in 2017, on Easter morning, he died. He was an amazing father-in-law to me. I guess I must have been looked upon as a good son-in-law, because I recall how Frank, that was his name, would suddenly pipe up and tell me remembrances of the war while we were alone, quietly watching T.V. in his home in El Paso, Texas. According to my wife, he never told anyone else these stories.......

Well, back in 2009, this news of Frank's health scare caused a sudden trip for my wife, and a cancellation of my attendance to the Big Wheeled Ballyhoo, which was supposed to happen the following week. I felt awful for backing out, but my brother, MG, well he took over the reins and said not to worry. Anyway..... That helped, for sure, but I still felt badly. So, two major bummers a decade ago.

Next week I'll have more to say about the ill-fated Big Wheeled Ballyhoo.

Minus Ten Review - 12

No dirt here folks. A trail in Franklin State Park near El Paso, Texas

Ten years ago this week I was in El Paso, Texas to visit my relatives and ride in the desert. This would have been the second time I had ridden down there.

It's hard to impart just how difficult it is to ride through these trails. Everything is a rock that you are riding on. They vary in size and shape, being loose, hard, bedrock, or deep gravel depending upon where you are. Since it typically is so rough, loose, and rocky, the going is very slow. I once rode about 15 miles, I think it was, and it took over 3 hours. I was just crawling, but then again, on that trip I had a hard tail.

The trip ten years ago was to test two rigs I had for Twenty Nine Inches. One was a rare Siren Song soft tail single speed. It was over-geared for the terrain but a nice bike. The Hi-Fi was a better match there but unfortunately I have no good recollection of that ride anymore. Not that particular one, anyway.

So, what I do know is that I liked riding there. While, as I say, it was tough going, it was very different than anything I've done before then or since. I enjoy it every time I get the chance to ride down there. Unfortunately, it has been several years since I've been able to. The last time I was there my father in law was in hospital, so we spent the main portion of the stay with him there, and then I got sick at the end and.......well, I'd rather forget that!

Here's a couple more shots of the trails down there for reference......

That's the Hi-Fi in the image there. 

I remember thinking this looked like a brick building had been razed here and someone made a path through the middle.

Minus Ten Review - 12

No dirt here folks. A trail in Franklin State Park near El Paso, Texas

Ten years ago this week I was in El Paso, Texas to visit my relatives and ride in the desert. This would have been the second time I had ridden down there.

It's hard to impart just how difficult it is to ride through these trails. Everything is a rock that you are riding on. They vary in size and shape, being loose, hard, bedrock, or deep gravel depending upon where you are. Since it typically is so rough, loose, and rocky, the going is very slow. I once rode about 15 miles, I think it was, and it took over 3 hours. I was just crawling, but then again, on that trip I had a hard tail.

The trip ten years ago was to test two rigs I had for Twenty Nine Inches. One was a rare Siren Song soft tail single speed. It was over-geared for the terrain but a nice bike. The Hi-Fi was a better match there but unfortunately I have no good recollection of that ride anymore. Not that particular one, anyway.

So, what I do know is that I liked riding there. While, as I say, it was tough going, it was very different than anything I've done before then or since. I enjoy it every time I get the chance to ride down there. Unfortunately, it has been several years since I've been able to. The last time I was there my father in law was in hospital, so we spent the main portion of the stay with him there, and then I got sick at the end and.......well, I'd rather forget that!

Here's a couple more shots of the trails down there for reference......

That's the Hi-Fi in the image there. 

I remember thinking this looked like a brick building had been razed here and someone made a path through the middle.

Minus Ten Review- 12

If it wasn't a rock, it had a spike sticking out of it that could rip yer flesh open.

Ten years ago on the blog here I was relating my experiences riding in the Franklin Mountain State Park in El Paso, Texas for the first time. It was, understandably, an eye opening experience for me.

By this time in my life I had ridden a mountain bike in Colorado, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, and all over Iowa. But I had never seen rock, rock, and more rock like I saw in El Paso. It was unbelievable. I was overwhelmed by the experience of riding in the desert.

The bike I used was the Dos Niner, and despite the fact that it maybe had 3/4's of an inch of rear travel, I was super glad it had some travel! I remember slamming into a wash so hard I thought the bike should have broken in two pieces. Amazingly, the Dos held up and so did I. I also found out I was way out of shape, but I think I cleaned more than I should have just on pure adrenaline and the excitement of riding in a new place.

I certainly came away with a new appreciation for El Paso and mountain biking in general. It made some things I used to think were tough into child's play. In fact, it kind of spoiled me that way. There aren't too many places I have ridden since then that even come close to how hard it is to ride those trails.

Going steeply up on loose, huge sized gravelly rock, snaking your way through a minefield of thorns. Typical El Paso trail.

While all that was exciting and fun, I had to turn my attention forward to Sea Otter and beyond that, to Trans Iowa v3. Jeff was mostly out of the picture, but at this time ten years ago I still didn't know for certain how little or how much he was going to be involved. Then there were some bizarre requests to photograph the event from oddball folks I never had heard about, all of which I eventually turned down. There also was another, strange, unbelievable request from a guy from Portland, Oregon which I had to field as well.

See, this was a huge transition for me, and I was going through it ten years ago, and I was not at all comfortable with this. Originally I was just Jeff's helper, a "gopher", the route maker, and I facilitated Jeff's desires in how to run things. But here I was with Jeff absent most of the time and me having to field all the requests and questions that Jeff would have normally handled himself. Now I was becoming the "director" of Trans Iowa, only I wasn't really seeing it that way. You could say that I was in denial.

Anyway, this guy from Portland was an author and he kept e-mailing me and calling me with all these questions. He was getting an "advance" from a publishing company to write a book about underground, under the radar sporting events. He had heard about Trans Iowa from Ira Ryan, who was starting out as a custom frame builder in Portland at that time. Ira won the first Trans Iowa.

So, this whole thing was surreal, and I didn't believe it, really. I didn't believe Jeff wouldn't be a part of Trans Iowa.  I didn't believe this guy who said he was an author was for real. But the guy says he is coming, so I wrote about this ten years ago and had the following to say about what it all could mean for Trans Iowa:

"In the end, Jeff and I run the thing and put it on. It's up to us whether or not it is what it is.......for now. I suppose if it gets away from us for whatever reason, we can always shut it down. Are we part of a revolution? Ahh.....well, maybe. I think history, or maybe this upcoming book, will be the judge of that. All I know is, we want to ride our bikes for crazy long distances self supported, and we think you do to. As long as we have that basic understanding, then we have things like Trans Iowa. If that's a "revolution", then so be it."

Minus Ten Review- 12

If it wasn't a rock, it had a spike sticking out of it that could rip yer flesh open.

Ten years ago on the blog here I was relating my experiences riding in the Franklin Mountain State Park in El Paso, Texas for the first time. It was, understandably, an eye opening experience for me.

By this time in my life I had ridden a mountain bike in Colorado, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, and all over Iowa. But I had never seen rock, rock, and more rock like I saw in El Paso. It was unbelievable. I was overwhelmed by the experience of riding in the desert.

The bike I used was the Dos Niner, and despite the fact that it maybe had 3/4's of an inch of rear travel, I was super glad it had some travel! I remember slamming into a wash so hard I thought the bike should have broken in two pieces. Amazingly, the Dos held up and so did I. I also found out I was way out of shape, but I think I cleaned more than I should have just on pure adrenaline and the excitement of riding in a new place.

I certainly came away with a new appreciation for El Paso and mountain biking in general. It made some things I used to think were tough into child's play. In fact, it kind of spoiled me that way. There aren't too many places I have ridden since then that even come close to how hard it is to ride those trails.

Going steeply up on loose, huge sized gravelly rock, snaking your way through a minefield of thorns. Typical El Paso trail.

While all that was exciting and fun, I had to turn my attention forward to Sea Otter and beyond that, to Trans Iowa v3. Jeff was mostly out of the picture, but at this time ten years ago I still didn't know for certain how little or how much he was going to be involved. Then there were some bizarre requests to photograph the event from oddball folks I never had heard about, all of which I eventually turned down. There also was another, strange, unbelievable request from a guy from Portland, Oregon which I had to field as well.

See, this was a huge transition for me, and I was going through it ten years ago, and I was not at all comfortable with this. Originally I was just Jeff's helper, a "gopher", the route maker, and I facilitated Jeff's desires in how to run things. But here I was with Jeff absent most of the time and me having to field all the requests and questions that Jeff would have normally handled himself. Now I was becoming the "director" of Trans Iowa, only I wasn't really seeing it that way. You could say that I was in denial.

Anyway, this guy from Portland was an author and he kept e-mailing me and calling me with all these questions. He was getting an "advance" from a publishing company to write a book about underground, under the radar sporting events. He had heard about Trans Iowa from Ira Ryan, who was starting out as a custom frame builder in Portland at that time. Ira won the first Trans Iowa.

So, this whole thing was surreal, and I didn't believe it, really. I didn't believe Jeff wouldn't be a part of Trans Iowa.  I didn't believe this guy who said he was an author was for real. But the guy says he is coming, so I wrote about this ten years ago and had the following to say about what it all could mean for Trans Iowa:

"In the end, Jeff and I run the thing and put it on. It's up to us whether or not it is what it is.......for now. I suppose if it gets away from us for whatever reason, we can always shut it down. Are we part of a revolution? Ahh.....well, maybe. I think history, or maybe this upcoming book, will be the judge of that. All I know is, we want to ride our bikes for crazy long distances self supported, and we think you do to. As long as we have that basic understanding, then we have things like Trans Iowa. If that's a "revolution", then so be it."

Minus Ten Review- 11

Since there were no pics ten years ago this week, you get to see my old Dos Niner again!

Ten years ago this week I was on Spring Break vacation with my family in El Paso Texas. I didn't have the access or skills to post on the road at that time, so I didn't post but twice that week and there were no images.

Can you imagine me missing three days in a row with no posts these days? Ha! That would be a weird thing such that if it were to happen some of you would likely start wondering what was wrong with me.

Well, at any rate, this was the week I first rode in El Paso Texas on the Franklin Mountain State Park's trails. It was quite the eye opener, for one thing. I had never ridden trails that were 100% rocks. Zero dirt- all rocks. They varied in size and consistency from gravel to boulders and everything in between. They were loose, shifty, and clinked in a weird way, except for when you were on bedrock. Obviously that wasn't loose. In the cracks, crevices, and in the finer rock grew all manner of prickly Chihuahuan desert flora. I even got spiked by some plant adjacent to the trail which went right through my Sidi mountain bike shoes.

I loved the desert riding even though it was super tough. I miss it too. I hope to get back there and ride again soon.

Minus Ten Review- 11

Since there were no pics ten years ago this week, you get to see my old Dos Niner again!

Ten years ago this week I was on Spring Break vacation with my family in El Paso Texas. I didn't have the access or skills to post on the road at that time, so I didn't post but twice that week and there were no images.

Can you imagine me missing three days in a row with no posts these days? Ha! That would be a weird thing such that if it were to happen some of you would likely start wondering what was wrong with me.

Well, at any rate, this was the week I first rode in El Paso Texas on the Franklin Mountain State Park's trails. It was quite the eye opener, for one thing. I had never ridden trails that were 100% rocks. Zero dirt- all rocks. They varied in size and consistency from gravel to boulders and everything in between. They were loose, shifty, and clinked in a weird way, except for when you were on bedrock. Obviously that wasn't loose. In the cracks, crevices, and in the finer rock grew all manner of prickly Chihuahuan desert flora. I even got spiked by some plant adjacent to the trail which went right through my Sidi mountain bike shoes.

I loved the desert riding even though it was super tough. I miss it too. I hope to get back there and ride again soon.

Minus Ten Review- 10

This is what snow in Winter looks like. Same week ten years ago.

Ten years ago on the blog here I was riding 29"ers in the snow and it was working fine and it was fun! Packed down snow in 30°F temperatures with Sun shining brightly. Had I had a fat bike it would have been totally awesome.

Fun fact: No one was riding bikes out of doors in 2007. I had the outside to myself back then. It is great to see that, at least in this one way, fat bikes have changed attitudes about Winter cycling.

The other thing here I note is that I am running a triple crank set. No one does that in 2017. Well, in the general sense, and that's not because triple crank sets are "bad". Misunderstood? Maybe. Not applicable to "modern geometry"? Probably. Not offered due to one component giant's stranglehold on patents which lock the workable tech away from being used by anyone else? Totally.

That tire set, the GEAX Saguaro, actually had a pretty stellar tread pattern for snow. It would be interesting to see something similar in a current fat bike sized tire. Trouble is that 4 inches of tread blocks across a fat tire would weigh a lot! So, this will likely never happen.

This would be one of the last rides I would do on the Haro Mary. It was about that time I realized it was just too small, and I had other bikes coming and going in the rotation which worked a lot better. I'll say it again- I should have gotten the size Large! Dang it! Live and learn.......

Still one of Salsa Cycles best ever paint schemes in my opinion.

Then there was the Thule T2 I bought to haul the fairly new to me Salsa Cycles Dos Niner down to El Paso with. This would be my first rodeo riding down there. I was super stoked to try those 29"er wheels out on a real mountain.

The Thule T2 is probably the forerunner of all the racks you see now similar to it. There are a lot of them that are better now, but this design has aged well. I am on my second one now. This one in the image rusted out living on the back of our vehicles.

The Dos, well, I'll get around to talking about that more in a future "Minus Ten Review" post. For now I will say that it was a favorite in the stable in 2007 up to this point. Back then Salsa was using Scandium enhanced aluminum alloy. It was supposed to be lighter, and it was pretty light, but there were some other issues with it that cropped up down the trail.

Anyway, the image of the Dos on the back of our then vehicle signaled the beginning of Spring Break. That is still happening ten years down the road, and if you are one that is going somewhere, or is somewhere now for the week, have a good one!

Minus Ten Review- 10

This is what snow in Winter looks like. Same week ten years ago.

Ten years ago on the blog here I was riding 29"ers in the snow and it was working fine and it was fun! Packed down snow in 30°F temperatures with Sun shining brightly. Had I had a fat bike it would have been totally awesome.

Fun fact: No one was riding bikes out of doors in 2007. I had the outside to myself back then. It is great to see that, at least in this one way, fat bikes have changed attitudes about Winter cycling.

The other thing here I note is that I am running a triple crank set. No one does that in 2017. Well, in the general sense, and that's not because triple crank sets are "bad". Misunderstood? Maybe. Not applicable to "modern geometry"? Probably. Not offered due to one component giant's stranglehold on patents which lock the workable tech away from being used by anyone else? Totally.

That tire set, the GEAX Saguaro, actually had a pretty stellar tread pattern for snow. It would be interesting to see something similar in a current fat bike sized tire. Trouble is that 4 inches of tread blocks across a fat tire would weigh a lot! So, this will likely never happen.

This would be one of the last rides I would do on the Haro Mary. It was about that time I realized it was just too small, and I had other bikes coming and going in the rotation which worked a lot better. I'll say it again- I should have gotten the size Large! Dang it! Live and learn.......

Still one of Salsa Cycles best ever paint schemes in my opinion.

Then there was the Thule T2 I bought to haul the fairly new to me Salsa Cycles Dos Niner down to El Paso with. This would be my first rodeo riding down there. I was super stoked to try those 29"er wheels out on a real mountain.

The Thule T2 is probably the forerunner of all the racks you see now similar to it. There are a lot of them that are better now, but this design has aged well. I am on my second one now. This one in the image rusted out living on the back of our vehicles.

The Dos, well, I'll get around to talking about that more in a future "Minus Ten Review" post. For now I will say that it was a favorite in the stable in 2007 up to this point. Back then Salsa was using Scandium enhanced aluminum alloy. It was supposed to be lighter, and it was pretty light, but there were some other issues with it that cropped up down the trail.

Anyway, the image of the Dos on the back of our then vehicle signaled the beginning of Spring Break. That is still happening ten years down the road, and if you are one that is going somewhere, or is somewhere now for the week, have a good one!

Rear View 2015- Part 1

Although I didn't know it at the time, this was to be my main event rig for 2015

 Well, as I forewarned, and as I have done about every year end now, here is my series on a look back over at 2015 before it is gone.  

The time of year for reflection has come once again. Here's to a big 2015. Looking back, I found several highlights and low ebbs. Here's a look at a few for today.....

Sickness: The year started out with several bouts of sickness for the entire Guitar Ted family. That put me off my bikes more than I was on them to get 2015 rolling. January wasn't very snowy to start out with, but it was cold and dreary. I could have been riding, but the seriousness of my illnesses prevented almost anything from getting done. I was a bit anxious due to the fact that I had been extended the opportunity to ride in the Dirty Kanza 200 event on its 10th anniversary.

Miraculously I was okay to attend Frostbike in February once again. There was no Mike's Bikes visit or even a stop in Northfield, which I missed, but I did get to do something pretty crazy anyway. Due to a weird set of circumstances, I made a 12.5 mile walk through the heart of Minneapolis, Minnesota in the snow and temperatures in the teens. This took me from about 2:30am till about 6:30am and caused me to miss the first day of the expo at Quality Bicycle Products. The next day I received no less than a few strange looks and a few stern reminders that I have friends willing to bail me out next time.

An old header from this very blog was brought back in my 10 years of blogging review.

A Decade In Review: 

I also started out with a look back over my ten years of blogging here with some of my past headers and stories of my travels and writing associated with this crazy site. All the way from being a guest blogger on Jeff Kerkove's blog in 2004 till May of 2005 when I turned the lights on here, and then all the craziness that ensued due to the writing here which led me down the path of The Bicycle Hub, The Cyclistsite, Twenty Nine Inches and Gravel Grinder News was detailed.

As I have said many, many times here- thank you very much for reading here and for your past support. Hopefully I will continue to add something positive to your day as you continue to stop by to see what's up here.

The "Tin Cowboy" of Conlen Texas. Just because I like this image!

Website Changes:

As mentioned, I have been doing other web related writing all along, and in 2015 that load got cut down to a large degree, on my terms, and it has worked out rather well. I left Twenty Nine Inches behind and merged Gravel Grinder news in with Ben Welnak's RidingGravel.com. Much less work load and better opportunities to spend time with my family and working on much needed household things was the result. This all took place right out of the gate in January of 2005.

Misc: 

 The Trans Iowa site cannot be forgotten. I was busy doing updates there as the 11th running of that event drew nearer. There was a recon which was done mid-April and cue sheets to print right afterward. T-shirts were designed for the volunteers and a special design came from an image of an old, archaic bicycle tool manufactured right here in Iowa. Otherwise it was a lead up like about any other Trans Iowa of late.

Finally, for this entry anyway, I'll mention that we got back down to El Paso, Texas after missing it for a year to see the in-laws and ride bikes. Unfortunately, I got some bad food poisoning which took out a couple of days, the very ones I had open to ride on, so I drug my fat bike down there and back for nothing. Next time.......

And speaking of "next time", there will be a new post coming which will be a "Rear View" of all the events I did throughout the year. Stay tuned.....

Rear View 2015- Part 1

Although I didn't know it at the time, this was to be my main event rig for 2015

 Well, as I forewarned, and as I have done about every year end now, here is my series on a look back over at 2015 before it is gone.  

The time of year for reflection has come once again. Here's to a big 2015. Looking back, I found several highlights and low ebbs. Here's a look at a few for today.....

Sickness: The year started out with several bouts of sickness for the entire Guitar Ted family. That put me off my bikes more than I was on them to get 2015 rolling. January wasn't very snowy to start out with, but it was cold and dreary. I could have been riding, but the seriousness of my illnesses prevented almost anything from getting done. I was a bit anxious due to the fact that I had been extended the opportunity to ride in the Dirty Kanza 200 event on its 10th anniversary.

Miraculously I was okay to attend Frostbike in February once again. There was no Mike's Bikes visit or even a stop in Northfield, which I missed, but I did get to do something pretty crazy anyway. Due to a weird set of circumstances, I made a 12.5 mile walk through the heart of Minneapolis, Minnesota in the snow and temperatures in the teens. This took me from about 2:30am till about 6:30am and caused me to miss the first day of the expo at Quality Bicycle Products. The next day I received no less than a few strange looks and a few stern reminders that I have friends willing to bail me out next time.

An old header from this very blog was brought back in my 10 years of blogging review.

A Decade In Review: 

I also started out with a look back over my ten years of blogging here with some of my past headers and stories of my travels and writing associated with this crazy site. All the way from being a guest blogger on Jeff Kerkove's blog in 2004 till May of 2005 when I turned the lights on here, and then all the craziness that ensued due to the writing here which led me down the path of The Bicycle Hub, The Cyclistsite, Twenty Nine Inches and Gravel Grinder News was detailed.

As I have said many, many times here- thank you very much for reading here and for your past support. Hopefully I will continue to add something positive to your day as you continue to stop by to see what's up here.

The "Tin Cowboy" of Conlen Texas. Just because I like this image!

Website Changes:

As mentioned, I have been doing other web related writing all along, and in 2015 that load got cut down to a large degree, on my terms, and it has worked out rather well. I left Twenty Nine Inches behind and merged Gravel Grinder news in with Ben Welnak's RidingGravel.com. Much less work load and better opportunities to spend time with my family and working on much needed household things was the result. This all took place right out of the gate in January of 2005.

Misc: 

 The Trans Iowa site cannot be forgotten. I was busy doing updates there as the 11th running of that event drew nearer. There was a recon which was done mid-April and cue sheets to print right afterward. T-shirts were designed for the volunteers and a special design came from an image of an old, archaic bicycle tool manufactured right here in Iowa. Otherwise it was a lead up like about any other Trans Iowa of late.

Finally, for this entry anyway, I'll mention that we got back down to El Paso, Texas after missing it for a year to see the in-laws and ride bikes. Unfortunately, I got some bad food poisoning which took out a couple of days, the very ones I had open to ride on, so I drug my fat bike down there and back for nothing. Next time.......

And speaking of "next time", there will be a new post coming which will be a "Rear View" of all the events I did throughout the year. Stay tuned.....

Spring Break: El Paso Photo Dump 2

Here's a bunch of images from our trip home, which takes two days, from a few days ago. Enjoy!

Our motel was fronted by I-10. Those mountains you see are in Mexico.

Mountains Northeast of El Paso wreathed in Sunlight and Clouds

Passing Alamogordo, New Mexico on the bypass.

A freight train south of Carrizozo, New Mexico

The clouds began to gather and we ran into some light rain over the pass near Corona, New Mexico.

Scene off I-40

Kansas never has disappointed us in terms of spectacular Sunsets and HUGE skies.

The last bits of the day as seen from Greensburg, Kansas, which rebuilt after a tornado literally wiped it off the map in '07

After getting a bit of sleep in El Dorado, Kansas, we hit the road early toward the Flint Hills.

Sunrise over the Flint Hills, which had been recently burned to promote new growth grass.

Through Kansas, Kansas City, NW Missouri, and passing Des Moines, Iowa by 1:00pm. We were making great time!

While the Southwest had seen rain and was relatively green, Iowa is just waking up from its Winter slumber.

We made it back home on Saturday by 3:00pm, tired, worn out, and glad to be back in our own home. It was a good time seeing family, but now it will be back to the same-ol schedule, piles of tune-ups, and getting some ride tim in for the upcoming Gent's Race and prepping for Trans Iowa V11 and my attempt at the Dirty Kanza 200.

Spring Break: El Paso Photo Dump 2

Here's a bunch of images from our trip home, which takes two days, from a few days ago. Enjoy!

Our motel was fronted by I-10. Those mountains you see are in Mexico.

Mountains Northeast of El Paso wreathed in Sunlight and Clouds

Passing Alamogordo, New Mexico on the bypass.

A freight train south of Carrizozo, New Mexico

The clouds began to gather and we ran into some light rain over the pass near Corona, New Mexico.

Scene off I-40

Kansas never has disappointed us in terms of spectacular Sunsets and HUGE skies.

The last bits of the day as seen from Greensburg, Kansas, which rebuilt after a tornado literally wiped it off the map in '07

After getting a bit of sleep in El Dorado, Kansas, we hit the road early toward the Flint Hills.

Sunrise over the Flint Hills, which had been recently burned to promote new growth grass.

Through Kansas, Kansas City, NW Missouri, and passing Des Moines, Iowa by 1:00pm. We were making great time!

While the Southwest had seen rain and was relatively green, Iowa is just waking up from its Winter slumber.

We made it back home on Saturday by 3:00pm, tired, worn out, and glad to be back in our own home. It was a good time seeing family, but now it will be back to the same-ol schedule, piles of tune-ups, and getting some ride tim in for the upcoming Gent's Race and prepping for Trans Iowa V11 and my attempt at the Dirty Kanza 200.