End Of Year Plans For Guitar Ted Productions

 The end of another year is upon us and soon it will be 2026. Regular readers of this blog know I usually do a multi-faceted end -of-year series of posts here. This year will be no exception. However; there will be changes due to a few circumstances which occurred this year. This will make the end-of-year posts unique for 2025. 

First, and most obvious of all, the unexpected and unexplained death of my 22 year old son, Jacob has altered many things for me. This year I am going to do a special look back on our times together on bicycles. 

Secondly, the rise of artificial intelligence programs has severely affected my post views during a few segments of this past year. I usually would do a "Top Ten" list of most read posts for the year, but this will be impossible to do now with so many of my post numbers being so unrealistic as to be comical in terms of what the analytics are telling me. 

Instead, I am going to post my own "Top Ten" most important posts based upon impact to myself, from responses in the comments, or from outside of the blog feedback I received. This will be a different way of gauging what posts were important to you, the readers, but perhaps it will also be less analytical and more personal based. 

I may also gather up all the gravel cycling related posts and put together a list with links. This would serve as a "State of the Gravel Scene" overview from my perspective.  I am not going to post any more of those "SotGS" posts going forward, so this might be a good substitute for that. 

I will continue to do the "Bikes of 2025", the "Rear View", and "Top Images" posts for the year. 

With all the Virtual Turkey Burn Ride reports I had last year, and what I suspect will turn out to be as many, or perhaps even more coming in this year, I am going to kick in the end-of-year posts starting this coming week with a look at some bikes and a Rear View post.  Then Thanksgiving will see another bike post or two, and then the following week will, most likely, be all Virtual Turkey Burn related posts.  

I probably won't get back to end-of-year stuff again until December 8th at the earliest, so this will be a busy stretch here on the blog. Due to the amount of content I want to create, please be advised I will likely double-post on several days until the first of the year. 

Thanks again for reading Guitar Ted Productions! 

A Look Forward To The New Year

 Well, that was a year with many ups and downs! But now it is time to look ahead at 2022. This post will focus on my bicycling goals, writing goals, and specifically how all that relates to the blog here.

Before I move on, I would be quite wrong and remiss to not recognize you- my dear readers! Without many of you this would not be as rewarding of an experience, nor would I have my life enriched by your visits at times or by your kindness in commenting. I hope that 2022 brings you much joy and blessing. 

Okay, as for me, I again do not plan on doing a full boat of events, but some? Yes. There may be some events. Looking at that, here are my thoughts on what I'd like to do in 2022. 

Back in the day, years ago, you had to travel all over the place to get to ride in a gravel event. Iowa- for whatever reason- was not developed much in terms of events. And when events came, they went again, and there was really not a lot of stability. So, now we have Relentless Events, the slew of fun, grassroots events by Ben Petty/Wolf Creek Cycling Company, Redfield Rock & Roll, SWIGG, the Iowa Gravel Series, Snaggy Ridge 105, the Prairie Burn in Grinnell,Turds of Misery, and long standing events like the Buffalo 105, CIRREM, and more that I am forgetting. Iowa- finally- has become a hotbed of grassroots type gravel events. So, why go travel when I can stay close to home? 

 I've made the mistake of listing a schedule of events here before and then years later I note that I did not do many of them. So, instead I may just make a goal and see if events fit my goals, enter those events, if I want to, and go ride. Or- I may just do things like my ToBHC. I have scores to 'settle' with a few courses that I just so happen to have the cues for. Maybe I do that instead? Or- Maybe I go do specific trips for certain rides I come up with and to see people who live in those areas. 

I haven't made up my mind. And I may have my mind made up for me. I am looking for employment now that I am out of a job due to Andy's going out of business. What the future there is, I don't know. That may ultimately determine what, if anything, I get to do on a bike in 2022.

The Shady Grove Store from my Tour of Black Hawk County ride.

 I did two legit centuries and a couple metrics this past year. This is a goal that does not rely on coming up with entry fees, travel money, or time chunks. I can just do century rides and I'd like to do more than I did last year. So- at least three. But perhaps more? I have to get an earlier start than I did this past year! 

In the realm of writing, I have a big decision/project looming with regard to the "Trans Iowa Stories" series which is going to draw to a close here early this coming year. I only have to finish up writhing about T.I.v13, the time between v13 and v14, the final Trans Iowa event, and then the posts I will write up to kind of tie everything up and end that series. 

I don't know how long into 2022 that will take me, but I'd wager right through the Spring would be a reasonable guess. Then comes the monumental task of turning all that material from a weekly series into a cohesive book. As far as I can tell, that's going to take a rewriting of it all. There will have to be a ton of editing. Oddly enough, some of what I've written most recently belongs at the beginning and some of the beginning won't see the book at all.

And then there are the images! Gah! 

An image of Trans Iowa v9 by Wally Kilburg

 Once the Trans Iowa series is completed I plan on doing a Sunday series on the "Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitational" event which I put on from 2006-2019. I will explore the roots of that ride's ideas and I will detail each year's event. I will show how the GTDRI was widely misunderstood, how it evolved, how that it wasn't always my idea every year, and also how the GTDRI routes often were recons for parts of future Trans Iowa routes. 

Otherwise I don't foresee a lot of changes on the blog front here. I keep thinking I'll cut back on the amount of posts I do every year, but somehow, even despite not having Trans Iowa going on anymore, I keep writing in the 265+ posts a year range. Last year I wrote the most posts I have ever written in a single year at 389. So, yeah..... I cannot sustain that every year, I don't think, so we will see.

An image from the 2018 GTDRI that ran on RidingGravel.com for a story.

 There still will be a "FN&V" every week, at least that's the plan. But yeah.... Ride reports, industry news, cycling related hoo-hah, and some personal things here and there. That's what I think will happen here for 2022.

But if there was one lesson learned in the last year it is this- Nothing is guaranteed in Life. I may or may not be sitting here pounding away at these keys in a year's time. I've been very, very fortunate to have had zero breaks in posting for 16 years now. SIXTEEN YEARS! That's insane! I mean, through sicknesses, deaths, calamities, and more, this blog has not failed to be posted- nearly daily- for all those years. Can we expect that streak to continue? Who would blame me if something happened which would break that string of consistency? Could happen- hope that it doesn't!

I was pretty famous (infamous?) all those years during Trans Iowa for warning folks that at some point Trans Iowa would end. Similarly I also know that at some point THIS blog will end. When? Don't know..... But as the years wear on I see that possibility more clearly now than ever. Someday, I'll make my final post here. I just hope that it is on my own terms, but- you never know. 

Okay, so that was pretty dark! But I'm trying to be a realist here. Especially in these somewhat still uncertain times as we move along with COVID and all of that. Plus, as I have said, a lot of bad stuff has happened and I imagine that has somewhat colored my outlook for 2022. Again- this isn't my favorite time of the year, although I know many profess a love of the holidays, I always breath a sigh of relief when they are over. And that is my 'ray of light' now- all the holiday season is behind us after tomorrow.....

And on that note, I wish you all a very Happy New Year full of taking in every moment and savoring it intentionally. I wish you all a year of doing things with a fullness of gratitude for being able to do them. I wish you all a year of Peace and Happiness as much as you can effect those things. Most of all, I thank you for reading the blog and I wish you all the very best. 

Peace and Love,

Guitar Ted

A Look Forward To The New Year

 Well, that was a year with many ups and downs! But now it is time to look ahead at 2022. This post will focus on my bicycling goals, writing goals, and specifically how all that relates to the blog here.

Before I move on, I would be quite wrong and remiss to not recognize you- my dear readers! Without many of you this would not be as rewarding of an experience, nor would I have my life enriched by your visits at times or by your kindness in commenting. I hope that 2022 brings you much joy and blessing. 

Okay, as for me, I again do not plan on doing a full boat of events, but some? Yes. There may be some events. Looking at that, here are my thoughts on what I'd like to do in 2022. 

Back in the day, years ago, you had to travel all over the place to get to ride in a gravel event. Iowa- for whatever reason- was not developed much in terms of events. And when events came, they went again, and there was really not a lot of stability. So, now we have Relentless Events, the slew of fun, grassroots events by Ben Petty/Wolf Creek Cycling Company, Redfield Rock & Roll, SWIGG, the Iowa Gravel Series, Snaggy Ridge 105, the Prairie Burn in Grinnell,Turds of Misery, and long standing events like the Buffalo 105, CIRREM, and more that I am forgetting. Iowa- finally- has become a hotbed of grassroots type gravel events. So, why go travel when I can stay close to home? 

 I've made the mistake of listing a schedule of events here before and then years later I note that I did not do many of them. So, instead I may just make a goal and see if events fit my goals, enter those events, if I want to, and go ride. Or- I may just do things like my ToBHC. I have scores to 'settle' with a few courses that I just so happen to have the cues for. Maybe I do that instead? Or- Maybe I go do specific trips for certain rides I come up with and to see people who live in those areas. 

I haven't made up my mind. And I may have my mind made up for me. I am looking for employment now that I am out of a job due to Andy's going out of business. What the future there is, I don't know. That may ultimately determine what, if anything, I get to do on a bike in 2022.

The Shady Grove Store from my Tour of Black Hawk County ride.

 I did two legit centuries and a couple metrics this past year. This is a goal that does not rely on coming up with entry fees, travel money, or time chunks. I can just do century rides and I'd like to do more than I did last year. So- at least three. But perhaps more? I have to get an earlier start than I did this past year! 

In the realm of writing, I have a big decision/project looming with regard to the "Trans Iowa Stories" series which is going to draw to a close here early this coming year. I only have to finish up writhing about T.I.v13, the time between v13 and v14, the final Trans Iowa event, and then the posts I will write up to kind of tie everything up and end that series. 

I don't know how long into 2022 that will take me, but I'd wager right through the Spring would be a reasonable guess. Then comes the monumental task of turning all that material from a weekly series into a cohesive book. As far as I can tell, that's going to take a rewriting of it all. There will have to be a ton of editing. Oddly enough, some of what I've written most recently belongs at the beginning and some of the beginning won't see the book at all.

And then there are the images! Gah! 

An image of Trans Iowa v9 by Wally Kilburg

 Once the Trans Iowa series is completed I plan on doing a Sunday series on the "Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitational" event which I put on from 2006-2019. I will explore the roots of that ride's ideas and I will detail each year's event. I will show how the GTDRI was widely misunderstood, how it evolved, how that it wasn't always my idea every year, and also how the GTDRI routes often were recons for parts of future Trans Iowa routes. 

Otherwise I don't foresee a lot of changes on the blog front here. I keep thinking I'll cut back on the amount of posts I do every year, but somehow, even despite not having Trans Iowa going on anymore, I keep writing in the 265+ posts a year range. Last year I wrote the most posts I have ever written in a single year at 389. So, yeah..... I cannot sustain that every year, I don't think, so we will see.

An image from the 2018 GTDRI that ran on RidingGravel.com for a story.

 There still will be a "FN&V" every week, at least that's the plan. But yeah.... Ride reports, industry news, cycling related hoo-hah, and some personal things here and there. That's what I think will happen here for 2022.

But if there was one lesson learned in the last year it is this- Nothing is guaranteed in Life. I may or may not be sitting here pounding away at these keys in a year's time. I've been very, very fortunate to have had zero breaks in posting for 16 years now. SIXTEEN YEARS! That's insane! I mean, through sicknesses, deaths, calamities, and more, this blog has not failed to be posted- nearly daily- for all those years. Can we expect that streak to continue? Who would blame me if something happened which would break that string of consistency? Could happen- hope that it doesn't!

I was pretty famous (infamous?) all those years during Trans Iowa for warning folks that at some point Trans Iowa would end. Similarly I also know that at some point THIS blog will end. When? Don't know..... But as the years wear on I see that possibility more clearly now than ever. Someday, I'll make my final post here. I just hope that it is on my own terms, but- you never know. 

Okay, so that was pretty dark! But I'm trying to be a realist here. Especially in these somewhat still uncertain times as we move along with COVID and all of that. Plus, as I have said, a lot of bad stuff has happened and I imagine that has somewhat colored my outlook for 2022. Again- this isn't my favorite time of the year, although I know many profess a love of the holidays, I always breath a sigh of relief when they are over. And that is my 'ray of light' now- all the holiday season is behind us after tomorrow.....

And on that note, I wish you all a very Happy New Year full of taking in every moment and savoring it intentionally. I wish you all a year of doing things with a fullness of gratitude for being able to do them. I wish you all a year of Peace and Happiness as much as you can effect those things. Most of all, I thank you for reading the blog and I wish you all the very best. 

Peace and Love,

Guitar Ted

Turning The Page

It's December, and it is that part of December that just flys by quickly for me. Two birthdays in the family next week, Christmas celebrations, family getting together, and then it is New Years day with a wedding anniversary right on the heels of that day. So for me, the "regular season", if you will, is already over. And now I have something new on my plate to consider going into the new year. Where will that road take me? What is over that big hill? I don't know yet, but I'm still pedaling towards it.

Looking back, it was a year of change anyway. More time on the web side, less time on the shop side, but still busy-busy. I am very thankful though. I got to be outside a lot this year. I got in a lot of great rides. Decorah, Cedar Bend, The Camp, and Hickory Hills. A few trips to Minneapolis. New friends, connecting with old friends. The change was a good one both personally and professionally.

Now it looks as though things could change again for 2009. I can't say what that entails yet, because a trigger hasn't been pulled yet. If the change comes though, you can expect to see it out there. This would be huge.

With that I leave you with this final black and white image I took on one of the last nice days of riding in 2009. I was with my good friend Captain Bob, riding at The Camp, and enjoying all of that. It is a memory, and to me, memories are sort of a "black and white" world. The past is unchangeable. Black and white. The future is in color, but I just don't know what colors those will be yet.

Stay tuned!

Turning The Page

It's December, and it is that part of December that just flys by quickly for me. Two birthdays in the family next week, Christmas celebrations, family getting together, and then it is New Years day with a wedding anniversary right on the heels of that day. So for me, the "regular season", if you will, is already over. And now I have something new on my plate to consider going into the new year. Where will that road take me? What is over that big hill? I don't know yet, but I'm still pedaling towards it.

Looking back, it was a year of change anyway. More time on the web side, less time on the shop side, but still busy-busy. I am very thankful though. I got to be outside a lot this year. I got in a lot of great rides. Decorah, Cedar Bend, The Camp, and Hickory Hills. A few trips to Minneapolis. New friends, connecting with old friends. The change was a good one both personally and professionally.

Now it looks as though things could change again for 2009. I can't say what that entails yet, because a trigger hasn't been pulled yet. If the change comes though, you can expect to see it out there. This would be huge.

With that I leave you with this final black and white image I took on one of the last nice days of riding in 2009. I was with my good friend Captain Bob, riding at The Camp, and enjoying all of that. It is a memory, and to me, memories are sort of a "black and white" world. The past is unchangeable. Black and white. The future is in color, but I just don't know what colors those will be yet.

Stay tuned!

Season's End

I was surfing the net checking out some blogs when I noticed that a lot of the new pictures I was looking at had snow in them. Snow? Yup! It's that time of year again and I am going to struggle.

The biggest thing is the lack of daylight. Yeah........I suppose I have that whatchamacallit syndrome. The one that says you get depressed if there isn't enough sunlight or something. I don't know, but coupled with the cold air it makes for an added challenge to overcome just to get myself out the door. You know......I think I'm part bear or something, because sleeping through the winter sounds like an excellent idea about right now.

Then there is the lack of cycling activities this time of year. That might affect some a lot more than me, but it makes for dull conversations at the bike shop. I suppose this factor of the "off season" doesn't affect me much since I don't ride a lot with other folks anyway. But it's there and that affects some of you, I'm sure.

I know that winter has it's delights. I mean, the first ride in snow always has it's novelty. Cross country skiing is really fun, but that has been a two week long season at best around here for the last seven years. Last time I checked winter was just a weee bit longer than that! Seems like our winters now allow for some extended late season riding until the temps get rediculously low and the wind chill spells death to outdoor seekers. Oh! And don't forget the occaisonal ice storm or two.

Hopefully the end of this season dovetails right into the start of the next one, but somehow I doubt it. Hibernation anyone?

Rider Down! This just in to me thanks to my buddy d.p. via the Folks From Lincoln: Emily Broderson, a fine rider and a tough gal, took a nasty spill at the Homey Fall Fest up in Minny-apple-puss last weekend. She's hurt, but she's going to be okay. Check out the Folks From Lincoln site and scroll down to get all the latest on Em and the Fest. (WARNING: There is a pretty disturbing pic of the results of Em's crash, so if yer queasy, beware!) Send Emily some encouragement @ emilybrodersen@hotmail.com. Thanks for checking this out!

Season's End

I was surfing the net checking out some blogs when I noticed that a lot of the new pictures I was looking at had snow in them. Snow? Yup! It's that time of year again and I am going to struggle.

The biggest thing is the lack of daylight. Yeah........I suppose I have that whatchamacallit syndrome. The one that says you get depressed if there isn't enough sunlight or something. I don't know, but coupled with the cold air it makes for an added challenge to overcome just to get myself out the door. You know......I think I'm part bear or something, because sleeping through the winter sounds like an excellent idea about right now.

Then there is the lack of cycling activities this time of year. That might affect some a lot more than me, but it makes for dull conversations at the bike shop. I suppose this factor of the "off season" doesn't affect me much since I don't ride a lot with other folks anyway. But it's there and that affects some of you, I'm sure.

I know that winter has it's delights. I mean, the first ride in snow always has it's novelty. Cross country skiing is really fun, but that has been a two week long season at best around here for the last seven years. Last time I checked winter was just a weee bit longer than that! Seems like our winters now allow for some extended late season riding until the temps get rediculously low and the wind chill spells death to outdoor seekers. Oh! And don't forget the occaisonal ice storm or two.

Hopefully the end of this season dovetails right into the start of the next one, but somehow I doubt it. Hibernation anyone?

Rider Down! This just in to me thanks to my buddy d.p. via the Folks From Lincoln: Emily Broderson, a fine rider and a tough gal, took a nasty spill at the Homey Fall Fest up in Minny-apple-puss last weekend. She's hurt, but she's going to be okay. Check out the Folks From Lincoln site and scroll down to get all the latest on Em and the Fest. (WARNING: There is a pretty disturbing pic of the results of Em's crash, so if yer queasy, beware!) Send Emily some encouragement @ emilybrodersen@hotmail.com. Thanks for checking this out!