Guitar Ted's Ride For Jacob: Gear Review

Now the tale has been told about the first GTRFJ, so it is time for the promised gear review. This will include a bit of commentary on crank length, wheels, and some technical opinions. Then after this I will give a few closing thoughts about this ride. Now on to the review. 

I used my Gen I Fargo, as mentioned previously. This bike is set up in a fairly unique way. I am using a 9 speed cassette with a Deore XT 9 speed triple crank set. 46/36/28 is the tooth count for the crank. The arm length is also odd at 180mm. The shifting is done via an ancient pair of Gevenalle levers. If you are not familiar with Gevenalle, check the link for details on them. 

The brakes are also odd, being the TRP HyRd hydraulic calipers with mechanical actuation. The wheels are actually box-stock Trek Sawyer wheels featuring the venerable Duster rims laced to Shimano disc brake hubs. These are shod with Surly Extraterrestrial tires at 29" X 2.5". The seat post is a Salsa Ti Regulator which is topped with a Brooks Cambium C17 saddle. The handle bar is the Redshift Sports Kitchen Sink bar with lower Cruise Control Grips. The Kitchen Sink handlebar bag is also present, as was a ShockStop stem. My top tube bag is a prototype J-Paks top tube bag which MG gifted me years ago now. I also used a Wahoo Elemnt ROAM as a GPS data collector more than anything else. 

The Gen I Fargo after the GTRFJ

Comments: Well, I know this bike like the back of my hand, so when I say anything about how it rode or how it handled, it is with some deeper perspective. Having said this, I was not really in tune with what to expect from the crank set. Here is my take on the subject after having spun the cranks around for the better part of seven hours.

One hundred and eighty millimeters doesn't seem like a whole lot of difference from 175, but there couldn't be a more noticeable difference in my opinion. Crank revolutions were down in terms of strokes per minute, but leverage was noticeably better. The result was that my legs were less worked over, but my speed was severely impacted. It was really not very comfortable to spin a high cadence, but medium to lower cadences were fine, and using the gears to keep myself in a "RPM sweet-spot", was paramount to getting around. I also found that "kicking" the pedal at the nearest point to six o'clock during a grinding climb was a better technique than trying to spin pure circles as I would on a shorter crank set.  

The wheels and tires were heavy, but they worked, and the tires were extremely comfortable. I ran the front at about 17psi and the rear at about 19psi. There was no squirming in corners, no bouncing, and the damping of vibrations was actually really good.  

I'd rather run lighter wheels and tires, but this is what I have now. This bike deserves some nicer wheels though. As far as the crank set goes, I think I am going back to 175mm, and I have an SLX triple 9 speed crank waiting to go on this bike soon. 

Wearables: I wore a PCL kit from Voler, which is good stuff and it worked quite well. I had on a Twin Six base layer, Mint Socks, and Shimano RX6 shoes. (Now called RX600)

I had an orange bandana on which had been given to me by a former church band mate who is now dead. (A tribute to Larry) I also wore my newer Trek Circuit helmet.  

I kept track of some data on my Apple Watch as well. The iPhone was also invaluable as a navigation tool. Besides these things, I had a pair of Hand-Up gloves in my jersey pocket in case things got too sweaty and the handle bar became too hard to grip.

Everything worked with my kit, so there is really nothing else to add but that I was satisfied with it all.

Final Comments: Now on to my thoughts about this ride. I am going to - most likely - keep doing this ride in honor of Jacob every year I am able. It will be called GT's Ride For Jacob. I will gladly accept anyone who wants to come and ride with me, but I am not binding my putting on this ride based on participation by others. If someone wants to ride, so be it. If not? I'll go anyway.

My feeling is I just want to have a good day on the bike, pass through a few towns, go at it easy, and see some sights. I may move it around some, I may do exactly the same route, (with the roads I missed though!) next year. I don't know. So, if you were wondering if this might be something you could come along and ride, yes - it might be this as well.

Overall I feel good about my ride this year, and since this has a different meaning for me now, it seems new and I am motivated to do this some more. Maybe on a different bike next time though. Stay tuned on this front.....

Thanks for reading my GTRFJ recaps and review. 
 

Guitar Ted's Ride For Jacob: Part 3

I had to ford this bit of flooded road coming out of Shell Rock.

The beginning of the Ride For Jacob was a bit of settling in, navigational errors, and hustling into Shell Rock on a busy Highway. I had little time to get into a groove and have any sort of contemplative thoughts. But the second half of the ride made up for this in spades.

By the time I reached Shell Rock, the wind had picked up significantly, which was expected. There were even gusts and I would guess these were in the 25mph - 30 mph range by the time I was headed back South. But before I got to the part where I had a tailwind, I had a near-navigational error coming out of Shell Rock. 

First, I noted I had a right turn listed on the cues when I knew in my mind this probably was wrong. Once I got out on the Southwest side of Shell Rock, I could see it was wrong. However; a gravel road I was crossing was not signed. All things pointing to a required stop, grabbing the iPhone, and consulting maps again.  

Massive grain bins just Southwest of Shell Rock, Iowa. 

Barns For Jason #1 I saw at least three I did not take images of as well!

In the days of yore, I would have had a paper map of the county with me. I also may have had the aforementioned hand drawn map. I would, and still do, occasionally draw my own maps. But in this case, the trusty iPhone, (as long as the interwebs are weaving their sorcery over the airwaves), would have to do.

I was vindicated in my suspicions, and so off I went into some of the most rural of country we have around here. Butler County doesn't have much for larger cities, with Allison and Shell Rock being the largest towns by far, and they are not very big. There is a lot of open country with a few tiny villages dotting the landscape in Butler County, so traffic is very low, and there is not much going on out there but farming.

Lots of this out here in Butler County

The rare "Minimum Maintenance Road" in Iowa. Not a Level B These are gravel, but are not maintained in Winter.

I was back on "The Grid" now, so it was easy to figure out by the names and numbers of the roads on the signs at each corner how many miles I had to the next turn. For Instance, if I was on Upland, and turned on 270th going East, and my next turn was on Willow, this meant I had to go two miles on 270th. (U, V, W) The numbers work the same, so if I turned on Willow, and was on 270th, and my next turn was on 290th, I had to go two miles as well. Easy-peasey. 

 

The views were, at times, great. I found myself settling into that rhythm which gets me into the place of contemplative thought. This is what I wanted out of this ride. The chance to wrestle with my feelings. To ask the questions. To feel. 

Barns For Jason #2

I wish I could say I figured something out, but I cannot. I still have questions. I still do not understand why my son is gone. And I have decided I have to be okay with the not knowing. I have decided to be thankful for the times I was gifted with him through those 22 years he was with us. 

The old steel gabled bridge over the West Fork of the Cedar River

Beaver Valley. New Hartford is just off to the right here. 

As I was deep in thought the phone rang. It was my wife, checking in on me. It was about 20 minutes to noon at this point. She asked how I was doing, where I was at. I said I didn't know where I was at the moment. This was true. I was so deep into my feelings I had no idea just where I was. Immediately after her call I spied the old bridge across the West Fork of the Cedar River and it was then I knew exactly where I was at. Now I could have ditched my written cues as I pretty much know how to get back home from the bridge. But I followed them onward anyway.

Diagonal Road out of New Hartford

Westbrook Road looking East.

Now I was starting to feel a lot of pain. My hands, my shoulders, and some parts of my back were getting pretty bad. I stopped to stretch at a bridge about 17 miles from the house. It was at this point which I realized I may get in a metric century. 62 miles seemed pretty reasonable now, and this excited me. Stretching turned out to be the right move, and after switching around bottles, I was off again to finish off this ride. 

But not before I had some very emotional moments. I cried to the point I almost had to stop when a song from church came across my mind. Then I was laughing out loud at one point as I remembered a bit Jacob used to do with his voice. He was scolding me in this weird voice to buck-up as I was feeling pain again along the way. A good memory which put a huge smile on my face. I think this was the first time this had happened since his death. 

Farmers are getting their harvesting equipment readied for the harvest coming soon.

 As I entered Cedar Falls I had to keep telling myself, "Just keep pedaling. Keep moving forward." The pain was pretty intense in my shoulders and hands, but my legs were fine and I wasn't breathing hard, so it wasn't the work, but just my old man joints and whatnot rearing their heads. 

I overcame it though, and I got home with 64.7 miles on the odometer. I reached my doorstep a few minutes past 2:00pm which meant I was out for seven hours. All the longest I've done on a bicycle in a very long time. I was spent. 

I took a good, long nap after a shower and some food. That was a very good day on the bicycle, and I know my son would have been proud and amazed by it. He often asked me of recent why I wasn't doing 40-ish mile rides all the time anymore. I had to explain to him I had a job which required me to work Saturday mornings now, and that it was on Saturday mornings which I had been doing those long rides. So, I knew Jacob was proud of my riding abilities. This ride was for him. 

Stay tuned for a gear review and final thoughts tomorrow. 

Guitar Ted's Ride For Jacob: Part 2

Escape Route: Bike path to Westfield Avenue

With all the preparation work done and a decent night's sleep, I awoke at 6:00 am to feed the cat and get ready for the big ride. I had laid out most of my gear for the ride the evening before, so things would go smoothly, because sometimes I get paralyzed by choices. This eliminated being delayed by some decision on a jersey, or whatever.

I ate my traditional peanut butter and dried fruit sandwich before leaving. I had a maple syrup packet with the bike, along with a meat stick, and a small jar of mixed nuts for nutrition on the road. I was thinking I might stop somewhere to pick something up, so I packed light on the food.

I had two electrolyte supplements along on this ride. One, a bottle of stuff Jacob had purchased for himself, and my remaining Elete additive. I had six water bottles, and again, I could stop for refreshing of these, but I was hoping not to have to do this.

Geared up and out of the door at 7:00am, I was set to head through Waterloo to the North on Burton Avenue. I was hoping to beat the heavier winds forecast to hit around the noon hour. If I could attain to Janesville by around 11:00am or so, I figured I would have a leg up on the wind, and after Shell Rock it would become a tail wind. That was the plan, at any rate!

The Sunlight made a cool shadow pattern on the bike path on San Souci Bridge.

I don't think I've been out this early on Burton Avenue North before. 

Once I reached Burton Avenue I started getting into the rollers that are out there. I noted I wasn't getting up them very fast, but the gearing seemed right, and the long crankset kind of dictated a certain cadence, which was working really well. The breeze was a constant at what I would say was about 10mph at this point, so nothing I couldn't handle.

 

St. Paul's Church steeple glinting in the morning Sunlight. 

The temperature was almost chilly. Since the ridiculous heatwave and high humidities we've experienced,were so brutal, this Fall-like blast was welcomed, if not a bit of a shock. Any cooler and I would have felt under-dressed on this ride, but only because I am acclimated to the extreme heat and humidity we've had up to this point.

The odd bit of traffic out there. I probably had maybe three cars pass me out in the country all day. 

 

There are some tall rollers out near Janesville where you can get some pretty decent views. 

At the East Janesville Church I turned Left onto Marquise Road, which is the border road for Black Hawk County and Bremer County. I saw two roadies heading North up Wagner Road, a paved road, when I was crossing it. I saw another gravel cyclist heading East on Marquise as I was going West. We both waved but I kept pedaling. I headed West on Marqusie until I reached Garden Avenue and then I was forced to turn Right and go up to the County blacktop. This is the only way into Janesville from the East now that HWY 27/218 has truncated all the East/West gravel roads between Cedar Falls and Janesville.

Barns For Jason #1

Barns For Jason #2

Getting into Janesville, I decided to see if the bathroom was open at the park alongside the Cedar River just before crossing on the pedestrian/cycling bridge there. I saw a blue porta-potty in the parking lot and made a beeline to it. This was good, and when I had finished up I was off again heading due West across the bridge and then onward to a right turn on Dakota Avenue.

The Cedar River was flooding on Saturday morning.

Heading North up Dakota Avenue

Okay, I was heading up Dakota Avenue and the plan was to go North further than I ever had before on this road to catch some diagonal gravel roads which shadowed the Shell Rock River on the northeast side. The road I was looking for was 260th, which I was to make a left on. I normally never ride this going North,, as I usually come into Janesville from the West on most of my gravel travels. 

Wait a minute! This looks familiar!

Been here before. Time to see what went wrong!

Well, I saw a sign for what I thought said 260th, but with my OAES (Old Ass Eye Syndrome), and the bright Sunlight, it was really hard to see the "5", which meant I turned on 265th, not 260th. Note: Had I bothered to either have figured out mileages between turns or had drawn up a map, maybe this wouldn't have happened.

But no harm, no foul! Once I reached the West Point cemetery, I stopped and realized I could rejoin the route after a few more miles and all would be back on track once again. So, with this little snag figured out, I was off once again heading North.

Crossing the Shell Rock River......again! This was good.

 

 

Highway 3 West. Not good! You can discern the water tower for Shell Rock in the distance here. 

I was heading North on Atlas, which got me back on track. Now I was looking for a Left hand turn on Grove. I was feeling it should be coming soon, and just then I saw a sign in the distance. With a hopeful push on the pedals, I tried to see if this was my turn, or not.

When I approached the sign, it said something to the effect of Scenic Road....blah, blah, blah.... " Obviously not it. I pedaled onward. I came across a 238th Street. Nope! Kept pedaling North. Then I saw a "T", or at least I knew Atlas was ending. It was a forced Left and up a steep hill to the next right turn, and this was marked as Aspen Avenue. Gah! Where was Grove? 

I ended up at Hwy 3, and it was then I realized I was waaaaay off course!I should have turned on 238th, which then turned into Grove, but I miswrote my own cue, so I did not do this. 

Dang it! I missed both cool roads I was so looking forward to riding on. I guess I'll have to make a trip back again to check those out someday. But at the time, this was not on my mind. I was trying to figure out how to get to Shell Rock without backtracking, or taking HWY 3. In the end, I just gave in and rode the gravel shoulder the two miles into Shell Rock and figured I'd just have to take my lumps. 

There was still a long way to go. Tomorrow I will get into the final half of the GTRFJ. 

Guitar Ted's Ride For Jacob: Part 1

Many of you long-time blog readers know I have done a long Summer ride which started out being called the "Death Ride", which then became the "Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitational", and once I went back to doing the ride solo again, it simply became the "GTDR"

I wanted to continue my tradition of "one long day in the saddle" this year, and I have been waiting for the right opportunity to arise for months. Then my son died earlier this month, and this changed a lot of things, obviously. One of those things was how I viewed this effort I wanted to put in on the bike. 

It no longer seemed appropriate to use the death ride thing anymore. Again, fairly obvious why this would be. So, when a gay pride event shut down our ability to be open at the Cedar Valley Bicycle Collective last Saturday, I was motivated to use the opportunity to do this long ride on gravel. The weather, furthermore, was forecast to be as about as perfect as one could hope for in August. Everything was coming together for this big ride. 

I decided to use my Salsa Cycles Fargo Gen I bike for this ride. I did this for a few reasons. One, I love this bike, and it has been with me for quite some time now. Secondly, I wanted to go 100% self-contained, and this bike has a ton of water bottle mounts. Plus it has the Redshift Sports Kitchen Sink handle bar with the corresponding bag which fits it. This allowed for a nice handle bar for riding and storage for food. The top tube bag was then used for repair bits only. This allowed for a set up which did not need a saddle bag or top tube frame bag.

While the bike has heavy wheels and tires, my brief test rides showed me I was going to have a momentum-machine, and coupled with the long, 180mm XT triple crank set, I was going to be okay. (I'll have more to say about this after the ride report.) 

So, the bike was set, the day was set, and all I needed to do was get a few good days of rest and get going as early as I could on Saturday morning. One note - I did ask N.Y. Roll to come along, but he had a previous engagement, so I did this ride solo. 

The route was set about three days ahead of the ride when the forecast solidified. There were to be pretty decent Northwest winds on Saturday August 23rd, and so I went North with the route with an eye to try out some roads I had not been on before. My plan took me to Janesville, Iowa, then to Shell Rock, Iowa, before heading mostly South toward New Hartford, Iowa, and then back East toward Cedar Falls and home again. I did not bother to count the mileage before the ride, leaving no expectations for this, and no mental pressure to 'achieve a goal'. 

I hand wrote cues with only road names, no mileages, as I was using Iowa DOT maps as a guide. Note: I only wrote cues from Janesville to New Hartford as I know the surrounding roads here well enough. Interestingly, this plan caused a couple of issues, which you will read about later. 

To keep this from being a novel-length post, I am breaking up my report into at least three parts. Today is Part 1, tomorrow's post will give you the first half of the ride, and Wednesday's post will bring it to the return back home. Thursday will be a gear review. 

I hope you all enjoy checking out the recap. Thanks again for reading Guitar Ted Productions!