Events

My riding plans are about as shoddy and reliable as this. Image courtesy of Rob Evans.

I know.... I have a checkered record when it comes to making riding plans. so, take the following with a grain of salt and don't be surprised if none of it happens. Although, I'm pretty sure something will happen. It's just that a lot of these things are outside of my control, so I cannot say with a high degree of certainty that any one of the following is a "sure thing" for my ride calendar. 

Secondly, since the announcement of the 2025 class of GCHoF inductees was going to influence my plans this year, I had to wait until Monday to start putting some wheels in motion. I mentioned this first event at the end of last year here. but now I can speak a bit more clearly on what might be happening. 

It is a tentative plan to hold another Victory Ride, much like the event held last year which you can read about HERE. This time the location will be somewhere in the Flint Hills of Kansas.

From the 2024 Victory Ride

The date is to be determined, but right now I am thinking that a trip to the Flint Hills in Spring sounds a heck of a lot more comfortable than one in Summer. So, with the information I have now, this looks like an event that will happen sometime from late April to maybe mid-May. 

Again, I am not organizing this, but when I find out more, I will post it here. Some of this may be determined according to when I can find transportation to said Flint Hills. (Remember - I don't have a vehicle anymore) I may have to rent a car. I don't know at this point. Stay tuned..... 

Since the news of Jason Boucher's Fargo series, I have text-chatted with Jason and he floated an idea for a Fargo Reunion Ride. This has not happened for several years and the last one was pretty notable for several reasons! I wrote about that HERE , HERE, and HERE. 

November, 2016. The last Fargo Adventure Ride.

The last Fargo Adventure Ride was in 2016  in November. I was signed up to ride in the inaugural Spotted Horse gravel race, but I nixed that idea when this popped up as a choice in late October that year. While I never ended up doing a Spotted Horse, and I do have a twinge of regret regarding that fact, I am super happy I made the choice to do the Fargo Adventure Ride instead. 

So, being the nutcase about the Gen I Fargo that I am, and being that every adventure on this bike I have has been a memorable one, I will definitely do everything in my power to attend another Fargo themed ride whenever that might be. 

I cannot stress enough that this is an idea, and that I am not the organizer. IF it happens I am going. But as of now, it is a big IF, and it could conflict with the Victory Ride or any of a hundred things, so ya know..... Just stick that idea under your hat for the time being. It is merely a possibility. 

From the 2023 Guitar Ted Death Ride.

Last year I didn't get a really long ride in at all. And.....it may not happen this year either. But I am going to try, and if I do get something in, it will be this year's Guitar Ted Death Ride for 2025. 

I used to invite people to join me on this, and I'm not saying that will never happen again. I did also say I retired from event production and promotions though, so doing the Invitational part kind of goes against that declaration. 

Look.....I'm just trying to be a man of my word. If I "un-retire" you'll all be the first ones to know here. So, the Guitar Ted Death Ride is a solo gig for now. 

I probably will look for any open window to do this and if things align properly, (a day with no responsibilities, the right weather, fitness looks okay), then it will happen at the time it happens. I was stymied for much of last year so I designated the Victory Ride as my 2024 "Death Ride". Cheap and easy choice, I know, but that was how the year shook out. 

Then there are three more riding events for 2025 I have loosely penciled in to try to get done before Winter 2025/26. In no particular order:

N.Y. Roll/Guitar Ted "Fun Ride":

N.Y. Roll and I have bounced around an idea for a group ride somewhere in Iowa this Summer. Could be a ride to "The Tree In The Road". Could be something around here. It also may not happen. We'll see....

The Virtual Turkey Burn Ride: 

Of all my ideas, this and the Victory Ride have the best chances of actually happening. Hopefully the weather is not as frigid as it was for the 2024 version here! The high amount of world-wide feedback I got for this idea makes it a no-brainer to do again. Plus, I suppose it is about as close to an event production as a retired event promoter can get to without actually promoting an event. 

Or something.......

The Redemption Tour:

A two-day bikepacking trip on gravel that will have a lot of personal meaning for myself. That is if I can make this happen. This has been on my radar for three years already, with everything all ready to go, and it still has not happened. I have to make time for this....

So, there you have it. Some super-vague, definitely maybe, probably vaporware events that may or may not happen for me in 2025. Stick around for the excuses, stay tuned for any surprise happenings!

The 2023 Guitar Ted Death Ride: "W-V-W" - Part 2

There are two seasons in Iowa: Winter and Construction Season

 The 2023 version of the Guitar Ted Death Ride was going along great up to the point where I reached Vinton. I had overcome a sore muscle issue and beat the issue with falling asleep on the bike with a combination of a quick cat nap on a trailside bench and eating some breakfast pizza in Vinton. Now I felt great. I was wide awake and ready for the next segment of my route.

This part of the course was, by necessity, on Highway 150 out of Vinton. I had to cross the Cedar River, and this was the only option I had within reason in the area. So I made my way over to the bridge out of town only to find that there was major road construction going on. The Southbound lanes were cut off, and there was alternating one-way traffic via pilot car and a signal at intervals for those waiting to cross the Cedar. 

I watched for a bit to see if there was any possibility that I might be able to tag along in the conga line of cars and semi-tractor trailers. But seeing how the cars coming off the bridge were doing 35+ mph, I thought the better of it, because I would only get in the way. Besides, there are two bridges in this area which covers about a half a mile distance. I wasn't up to time-trialing with cars for that long. What to do?

Well, my only two alternatives were to go back the way that I had come or re-rack and navigate a new route on the fly. (The Wahoo would have been completely useless at this point, by the way) I whipped out my trusty iPhone, hit up the maps app, and within a few minutes I had a route out of town and on gravel. I would head West on 59th Street and I had options to go North off of that which I would determine once I reached 19th Avenue. 

Despite some big rains recently, the last week of super-hot temps have kept the severity of the drought in force.

So, you think Iowa is flat, eh?

Headed West now into unfamiliar territory to me. I'd never had any reason or chances to ride West of Vinton much, although N.Y. Roll has spent some time down this way in the past. That said, I did not have any idea what I'd run into out here and that was a bit exciting. I knew that overall my aim was to get to LaPorte City and from there I had deep knowledge of the country roads such that I could ride from memory. 

A view from what turned out to be the highest portion of my circuit.

Looking West on 59th Street

59th started out flat and then it went straight up on to a sort of ridge with a lot of steep rollers all the way out to my stop at 19th Ave to consider my route again. I consulted the phone and determined that heading two more miles West to 17th Ave would provide a better shot at connecting up with 15th Ave which was the road that would take me into LaPorte City from the South. 

It also would provide brief respites from what was now a pretty strong North wind. It wasn't terible, but it would provide enough resistance that it would be annoying at this point. The air was drier though, thankfully, and the air temperatures were in the upper 70's, which made for a stunner of a day. Much cooler than most of last week! 

An unusual big cut into this hillside to allow 17th Avenue to pass through.

17th Avenue where it crosses Highway 218

Just before I crossed County V-66 on 59th Street I saw an unusual sight. A man on a bicycle! He was wearing a "don't hit me" highlighter yellow vest and was riding a flat bar Cannondale. I waved him down and chatted with him for a few minutes. Turned out he owned a stand of timber back down the road, the way I had come, and he was riding out from his residence in Garrison to do some mowing on his property. That was a cool moment during the ride. 

56th Street looking West. I didn't go that far on 56th.

Up 17th, a bit of a jig-a-jog over to 16th, and then the plan was to run that out to a "T" intersection and another left turn to 15th. When I crested a hill on 56th and saw 16th, I was chuffed.

A Level B Road! Yes! 

Of course, with only an iPhone map I couldn't tell if a road was dirt or gravel, and sometimes whether or not it would be a paved road. So to come up on another dirt road was a gift, in my view, and much needed relief mentally and physically by this point. I was about halfway into a 10 mile slog into a stiff North wind by the time I reached this spot, so a bit of a lift was a good thing. 

The actual dirt part wouldn't start for about a quarter mile, just past a farmer's outbuildings.

Summertime dirt roads: I could ride this stuff all day long. 

16th Avenue turned back into gravel and that dirt section was lost in the rearview mirror and forgotten. Now it was back to grinding out hills and loose gravel into that North wind. And I had a lot of miles under my belt by this point into the ride. 

Of course, without a computer, and having gone off-script, I no longer had any idea what my mileage was so far, but I assumed I was well past the 50 mile mark by this point, making whatever I could get done on this day well past my longest ride of the year by far. I had all day to do this ride, and the thought of cashing it in, while briefly coming across my mind at times, was never a real option for me. 

I knew LaPorte City was not far away, and I knew that there was a Casey's there. Another slice-o-pie awaited me, and a bit of time to rest as well. Then it would be roads I knew and a short jump up to Waterloo, and then home. 

Reinbeck Road in Blackhawk County

Amazingly, these wildflowers survived the heatwave. I took this over my shoulder blind,as I had already passed them by.

So, I reached LaPorte City a little before noon and sat down with that slice of pizza and drank the water I had already on the bike, plus I ate a banana I purchased back in Vinton. I was tired, but steeled for the remaining bit of the ride. I contemplated ways to finish it off. One thing I had in mind was to take in the dirt roads Northeast of Washburn. Or, alternatively I could just head straight up Foulk Road, cross the Cedar on the CVNT, and head back to home via bike paths. 

The wind had ratcheted up a few notches by this point, which was not what I wanted to see. That and the likely fact that Southern Black Hawk County gravel roads would be deep, loose, and have no clear lanes was making any additional loops questionable to me. Had I known what I would end up with in terms of miles for the day, I may have added a loop, but looking back, I think I called it correctly. 

It looks as though the drought will have severe consequences for Iowa farmers.

Struggling against a heavy North wind here on Cotter Road.

Clouds started rolling in as the afternoon got started. I had been out on the bike now for over eight hours and I was still plugging along, albeit slower due to that wind and road conditions. Black Hawk County maintenance never disappoints! 

I took a couple of brief breaks during the stretch going North and gathered my strength to continue onward. It was rough, and I am okay with this as I ended up going over twice the distance of any previous ride to this going back now over a year to when I did my "Hall of Fame" ride with N.Y. Roll and the guys, which ended up being shorter than this ride would end up being. 

Crossing the Cedar River at Evansdale. The river is ridiculously low now due to the drought.

The final bit home: The neglected bike path from Evansdale to Waterloo.

I gathered up my strength and made a final push home after stopping in Evansdale to drink and eat one last time. I rode the bike path for a majority of the way in and then took city streets home from downtown Waterloo. I ended up rolling up to the door of my house at 2;10pm, a full ten hours after I had left the house almost to the second. 

Later on I tracked my route into Ride With GPS and it turns out I got 86 miles in. Fourteen shy of the original plan, but I am not upset by that in the least. It isn't a "full century" ride, but it's a heck of a lot better than last year and I have had my "day on the bike" that I wanted. 

Oh! And you may be wondering why I titled this "W-V-W". That is what I ended up calling this route. It stands for "Waterloo-Vinton-Waterloo".  It is not what I had intended to do, but it is a worthy route to consider if you want to do a long ride around here.

Tomorrow I am going to do a mash-up of a "Barns For Jason" post, a gear review, and give my final thoughts on this year's Guitar Ted Death Ride.

The 2023 Guitar Ted Death Ride: "W-V-W" - Part 2

There are two seasons in Iowa: Winter and Construction Season

 The 2023 version of the Guitar Ted Death Ride was going along great up to the point where I reached Vinton. I had overcome a sore muscle issue and beat the issue with falling asleep on the bike with a combination of a quick cat nap on a trailside bench and eating some breakfast pizza in Vinton. Now I felt great. I was wide awake and ready for the next segment of my route.

This part of the course was, by necessity, on Highway 150 out of Vinton. I had to cross the Cedar River, and this was the only option I had within reason in the area. So I made my way over to the bridge out of town only to find that there was major road construction going on. The Southbound lanes were cut off, and there was alternating one-way traffic via pilot car and a signal at intervals for those waiting to cross the Cedar. 

I watched for a bit to see if there was any possibility that I might be able to tag along in the conga line of cars and semi-tractor trailers. But seeing how the cars coming off the bridge were doing 35+ mph, I thought the better of it, because I would only get in the way. Besides, there are two bridges in this area which covers about a half a mile distance. I wasn't up to time-trialing with cars for that long. What to do?

Well, my only two alternatives were to go back the way that I had come or re-rack and navigate a new route on the fly. (The Wahoo would have been completely useless at this point, by the way) I whipped out my trusty iPhone, hit up the maps app, and within a few minutes I had a route out of town and on gravel. I would head West on 59th Street and I had options to go North off of that which I would determine once I reached 19th Avenue. 

Despite some big rains recently, the last week of super-hot temps have kept the severity of the drought in force.

So, you think Iowa is flat, eh?

Headed West now into unfamiliar territory to me. I'd never had any reason or chances to ride West of Vinton much, although N.Y. Roll has spent some time down this way in the past. That said, I did not have any idea what I'd run into out here and that was a bit exciting. I knew that overall my aim was to get to LaPorte City and from there I had deep knowledge of the country roads such that I could ride from memory. 

A view from what turned out to be the highest portion of my circuit.

Looking West on 59th Street

59th started out flat and then it went straight up on to a sort of ridge with a lot of steep rollers all the way out to my stop at 19th Ave to consider my route again. I consulted the phone and determined that heading two more miles West to 17th Ave would provide a better shot at connecting up with 15th Ave which was the road that would take me into LaPorte City from the South. 

It also would provide brief respites from what was now a pretty strong North wind. It wasn't terible, but it would provide enough resistance that it would be annoying at this point. The air was drier though, thankfully, and the air temperatures were in the upper 70's, which made for a stunner of a day. Much cooler than most of last week! 

An unusual big cut into this hillside to allow 17th Avenue to pass through.

17th Avenue where it crosses Highway 218

Just before I crossed County V-66 on 59th Street I saw an unusual sight. A man on a bicycle! He was wearing a "don't hit me" highlighter yellow vest and was riding a flat bar Cannondale. I waved him down and chatted with him for a few minutes. Turned out he owned a stand of timber back down the road, the way I had come, and he was riding out from his residence in Garrison to do some mowing on his property. That was a cool moment during the ride. 

56th Street looking West. I didn't go that far on 56th.

Up 17th, a bit of a jig-a-jog over to 16th, and then the plan was to run that out to a "T" intersection and another left turn to 15th. When I crested a hill on 56th and saw 16th, I was chuffed.

A Level B Road! Yes! 

Of course, with only an iPhone map I couldn't tell if a road was dirt or gravel, and sometimes whether or not it would be a paved road. So to come up on another dirt road was a gift, in my view, and much needed relief mentally and physically by this point. I was about halfway into a 10 mile slog into a stiff North wind by the time I reached this spot, so a bit of a lift was a good thing. 

The actual dirt part wouldn't start for about a quarter mile, just past a farmer's outbuildings.

Summertime dirt roads: I could ride this stuff all day long. 

16th Avenue turned back into gravel and that dirt section was lost in the rearview mirror and forgotten. Now it was back to grinding out hills and loose gravel into that North wind. And I had a lot of miles under my belt by this point into the ride. 

Of course, without a computer, and having gone off-script, I no longer had any idea what my mileage was so far, but I assumed I was well past the 50 mile mark by this point, making whatever I could get done on this day well past my longest ride of the year by far. I had all day to do this ride, and the thought of cashing it in, while briefly coming across my mind at times, was never a real option for me. 

I knew LaPorte City was not far away, and I knew that there was a Casey's there. Another slice-o-pie awaited me, and a bit of time to rest as well. Then it would be roads I knew and a short jump up to Waterloo, and then home. 

Reinbeck Road in Blackhawk County

Amazingly, these wildflowers survived the heatwave. I took this over my shoulder blind,as I had already passed them by.

So, I reached LaPorte City a little before noon and sat down with that slice of pizza and drank the water I had already on the bike, plus I ate a banana I purchased back in Vinton. I was tired, but steeled for the remaining bit of the ride. I contemplated ways to finish it off. One thing I had in mind was to take in the dirt roads Northeast of Washburn. Or, alternatively I could just head straight up Foulk Road, cross the Cedar on the CVNT, and head back to home via bike paths. 

The wind had ratcheted up a few notches by this point, which was not what I wanted to see. That and the likely fact that Southern Black Hawk County gravel roads would be deep, loose, and have no clear lanes was making any additional loops questionable to me. Had I known what I would end up with in terms of miles for the day, I may have added a loop, but looking back, I think I called it correctly. 

It looks as though the drought will have severe consequences for Iowa farmers.

Struggling against a heavy North wind here on Cotter Road.

Clouds started rolling in as the afternoon got started. I had been out on the bike now for over eight hours and I was still plugging along, albeit slower due to that wind and road conditions. Black Hawk County maintenance never disappoints! 

I took a couple of brief breaks during the stretch going North and gathered my strength to continue onward. It was rough, and I am okay with this as I ended up going over twice the distance of any previous ride to this going back now over a year to when I did my "Hall of Fame" ride with N.Y. Roll and the guys, which ended up being shorter than this ride would end up being. 

Crossing the Cedar River at Evansdale. The river is ridiculously low now due to the drought.

The final bit home: The neglected bike path from Evansdale to Waterloo.

I gathered up my strength and made a final push home after stopping in Evansdale to drink and eat one last time. I rode the bike path for a majority of the way in and then took city streets home from downtown Waterloo. I ended up rolling up to the door of my house at 2;10pm, a full ten hours after I had left the house almost to the second. 

Later on I tracked my route into Ride With GPS and it turns out I got 86 miles in. Fourteen shy of the original plan, but I am not upset by that in the least. It isn't a "full century" ride, but it's a heck of a lot better than last year and I have had my "day on the bike" that I wanted. 

Oh! And you may be wondering why I titled this "W-V-W". That is what I ended up calling this route. It stands for "Waterloo-Vinton-Waterloo".  It is not what I had intended to do, but it is a worthy route to consider if you want to do a long ride around here.

Tomorrow I am going to do a mash-up of a "Barns For Jason" post, a gear review, and give my final thoughts on this year's Guitar Ted Death Ride.

The 2023 Guitar Ted Death Ride: "W-V-W" - Part 1

 Escape Route: West 2nd @ slightly after 4:00am.

 I mentioned earlier last week that I had a day off work and that I had planned a "big ride" for that day. Well, it was going to be my version of the Guitar Ted Death Ride for 2023. I used to invite people to come along with me on this, but since the pandemic and since I "retired" from event promoting I don't do that anymore. I just go solo on this deal now. 

My route was planned to be the same that I failed at in 2020. A route that went South to just East of Dysart, through Garrison, on to Vinton, then just West of Independence and then to Jesup and back to Waterloo. The route, as planned, was right at 100 miles from my house and back again. You can read the 2020 report on the failed attempt HERE. 

This was a "redemption" ride, to finally get that one done. This report will let you know how it all went. I did change up a couple of things this time outside of the route but that did affect the ride. One- I started far earlier and two- I planned better for nutrition. The first attempt failed mostly because I was so amped up about not getting COVID that I forgot to buy food to eat at Vinton. Of course, I bonked. 

This time I took more "on the road food" and I was adamant that I would buy food at Vinton. I also did plan on not eating before I left. I always seem to ride better on an empty stomach, at least for a while, to start out. I planned on stopping about 12 miles in to eat on the road at the corner of Quarry Road and Aker Road. 

Funny, but there isn't a lot to see in the country at night!

The sky was juuuust starting to blush in the East as I took this on Quarry Road.

I also did not take any sort of a computer. I had the route all ready to upload into the Wahoo, and it said it went in, but I could not recall it on the device once I did have it, and what is more, I couldn't find a few other rides that should have been on the device, one or two that were there before. This was discovered mid-week when I did a dry run of my set up. So, I hand wrote my cues, mounted a cue sheet holder, and boom! No worries. (As for Wahoo, and any other GPS, I think I am done with them. More on that in another post)

The other big thing I did was to get up really early and take off. My original plan was to get up at 3:00am. I set an alarm on my phone, but while the app said it was alerting me to wake up, it wasn't. Good thing I woke up on my own at 3:30am. I made it out and was riding by about 4:10am.

Riding at night brings a different sensory vibe. You hear things more keenly, and I noted how there were fewer crickets than usual this year. Probably due to the drought we're in. This drought condition would be a big factor in several ways on this ride. 

"First Breakfast" at the corner was good, and I was moving along at a steady, and a bit slower, pace. Their were no clear "lines" in the gravel, and the Light and Motion light I was using was not a good match for gravel riding as it tended to wash out details and contrasts. I had to keep a firm grasp on the bars to keep the ship pointed in the right direction. 

Headed South, it was getting close to Sunrise.

In the middle of that "S" curve is where Black Hawk County ends and Benton County starts.

The weather was warm, it was still in the low 70's when I got going, and it was very humid. So humid that the moisture condensed on my Rudy Project glasses and my camera lens which then attracted the dust from the roads. This fouled my glasses to the point that they were useless and screwed up a few camera shots until I swiped the lens off. 

There was little wind, which was nice, but what wind there would be was forecast to be out of the North and pretty significant. I was not looking forward to a head wind! 

A super-rare James Greer McQuilken Round Barn on the corner of 52nd St and 11th Ave in Benton County.

A lone silo stands sentinel as the Sunrise is in progress.

It was so humid that I was soaked with a combination of sweat and humidity. I wasn't looking forward to the Sun making things even more uncomfortable. However; as the Sun began to rise it got cooler. The air must have trended drier as well during this time since I started feeling almost too chilly at times, especially in my feet. 

There She is!

There is a very intriguing C Road I wish I could ride down there!

As the Sun came up I saw the roads better and I was able to turn off the light. There were decent lines, but a lot of loose, chunky gravel too. I was starting to battle some issues already before I was 30 miles in. My right trapezius was aching like a son-of-a-gun and I was afraid it might cause me to cut the ride short, but a self-massage while riding seemed to alleviate that to a degree that I forgot about it. 

A fun dirt road and then.....

....A second breakfast at the place I entered the Old Creamery Trail.

I planned a stop at the Old Creamery Tail where I intersected it and that trail is a pea gravel trail which I was to ride all the way East over to Vinton. Here I ate more, took some ibuprofen for the sore muscle, and some electrolyte tabs. Then I was off again on what may have been the most difficult part of the ride for me. 

The Sun made things difficult, but that wasn't the worst of it.

Again, the trail was hard to navigate due to the angle of the Sun when I rode it all the way to Vinton.

While I was able to work the shoulder thing out, I got the "sleepies". I was having a super-hard time staying alert. I ran across a couple joggers that kind of snapped me to for a short while, but I ended up slapping myself, trying to stay awake. Eventually I just had to stop when I found a trailside bench halfway to Vinton out of Garrison. Here I took a brief "cat nap'.

That helped, and I was able to roll into Vinton a little after 8:00am in the morning. I went straight away to Casey's Convenience Store to resupply, and to eat, because I figured that my on-the-road food wasn't cutting it for whatever reason. A slice of breakfast pizza did the trick.

A Monster and a slice-o-pie fixed me right up!

I was pleased at this point and I was about to head out on what I figured would be the hardest part of the route. There would be a headwind and some tough navigation. Plus the Sun would be up and at full steam. Would it get hot and humid? I did not know, but the weather was supposed to be fine. 

Next: "W-V-W" Part 2