Rear View 2022: Spring

 Hello! it's time again to review the year on Guitar Ted Productions. The "Rear View" has been a staple of the blog since almost the very beginning. This year there will be five Rear View posts looking back on Winter's End, Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter's Beginning. I'll also have a post looking ahead at 2023 near the end of the month. Enjoy the look back and thanks for reading Guitar Ted Productions!

April: The month kicked off with what we all thought was going to be the last Renegade Gents Race, or "Gents Race", as it became to be known as, and this happened during a cold, wet period. The weather was foul to start out with as we had high Northwesterly winds, snow in the ditches yet, and it had rained the night and day before the event. This made the sandy gravel mushy and there were standing pools of water here and there to negotiate. 

I went down to Des Moines the evening before and stayed with Kathy and Steve Fuller at their home. I enjoyed an evening meal out with them and night cap of whisky before hitting the sack. The next day it was cold and brisk in Slater, but back home in Waterloo, it was actually snowing! That turned out to be the last snow of the year for us. 

Once again, one of our Gent's team member fell off due to circumstances of fatigue, and we did not do the entire course. I was fine with that as the nutritional supplement I used made my guts hurt severely. Anyway, we ended on a somber note and I drove part way home in severe pain from that supplement. (LMNT, by the way, not good for me!) And then upon returning home, we find out that wasn't the last Gent's Race after all! 

The Gravel Cycling Hall of Fame: Then right after the Gent's Race I received confirmation on my induction into the Gravel Cycling Hall of Fame. This subject pretty much consumed my first six months of 2022 in some form or another. 

Planning my year out was immediately thrown off-kilter by the news of the organization in January, and my being put on notice that I would "likely be inducted into the first class", which meant that making any plans for the first six months of the year were going to hinge upon a big "if" and I didn't get that settled until April. Then it was making plans to be in Emporia by the end of May, first part of June, whenever the induction ceremonies were to happen. 

And all of that was because I had just been hired at a new job where I worked on Saturday's and I wasn't able to just do whatever I wanted on a weekend anymore. So, this whole GCHoF thing was the keystone to my whole cycling life for 2022. 

As it turned out, the Gent's Race, which was non-negotiable as far as my attendance was concerned, was my first Saturday off, and as it fell, the induction ceremonies were on a Thursday evening, so I did not miss work on Saturday! But the trip, being partially subsidized by the GCHoF, still cost me money and that came out of my budget for the year's travel, and well, that was that for that budget! 

Anyway, obviously being a part of the GCHoF is an immense honor and privilege that I do not take lightly. Obviously it was not only a highlight for 2022, but for my life. That's big! But I also wanted to point out that this event also pretty much informed what I was able to do for the entire year in cycling, so that was also a major big deal. I knew that could be the case in January, and I am still feeling the effects of that this December. 

Another direct result of my inclusion into the hall was the announcement of a "Hall of Fame Ride" to be held in my honor in mid-June. So, there was that as well. 

Super-rare for 2022- I actually rode with someone! N.Y. Roll joined me in April for a grinder.

Back to April... Meanwhile the weather was inclement and unsuited for cycling for a couple of weeks. Then it slowly got better, but Spring was tough, and getting out for rides didn't really happen until May approached. The blog was all about the previously mention GCHoF thing, my ongoing Trans Iowa series, and sundry bits like the Guitar Ted Lube-Off, which was happening as Spring moved forward. 

May: More country rides happened. It was beautiful outdoors, but I see that I reported on many of my rides that it was really windy this time of 2022, and so that made riding difficult. I also did not have a ton of reviewing duties coming out of Winter, so I was able to sneak in some rides on non-test mules like my Pofahl Signature Custom single speed and my Ti Muk 2. On the blog I wrote up a massive flared drop bar review of all the old flared drop bars I have here. I also posted a reveal of my purchase of a Singular Cycles Gryphon frame set. The month closed out with news of Shimano's Limited Edition Silver GRX component group.

I was able to ride bikes I normally don't get out on much in the Spring. This one featured my Orange Crush BMC.

June: Well, the whole trip to Emporia to get inducted into the Gravel Cycling Hall of Fame was the focus of this time period. That was a solo drive to the city where I have spent many a day riding the Flint Hills over the years. I did not take a bicycle with me on this particular trip, and it was solely focused on the ceremonies. I gotta say, solo driving is still not a lot of fun. 

(L-R) Myself, Instagram cycling influencer Marley Blonski, and fellow inductee Kristi Mohn at the after-party.

The highlight of my time in Emporia was an unplanned adventure with professional photographer, Erik Mathy which happened the day after I was inducted into the GCHoF. I had a blast as we photographed the area South of Emporia on a bright, Sunny late Spring day. But then it was getting back home so I could go to work on Saturday! 

The next big deal of 2022 occurred on June 19th when N.Y. Roll hosted a "Hall of Fame Ride" for me. Several old friends showed up and I met someone new as well. It was a great surprise to see a couple folks and ride with them again. I really was happy with the day and honored to have had this ride put on for this occasion. 

I was honored by these gentlemen;s attendance to the ride N.Y. Roll put on for my induction to the GCHoF.

I was also surprised in June to get a call from THE Gary Fisher. He was wanting to pick my brain about gravel cycling, its origins, where it is going, etc. He was headed to Eurobike and he wanted to be up to date on the gravel cycling trend. I was honored to be a resource for him in that way. 

On the blog I was wrapping up the Lube-Off, the Trans Iowa series, and the final review on that dreaded Hammerhead Karoo 2 cycling GPS computer. That was - by far - the most frustrating thing I've ever reviewed or used in decades for cycling. Maybe ever in my lifetime. Bad doesn't describe my take on that thing. On the good side I introduced my newest guitar, a Stardust model from Sully Guitars Conspiracy Series.

And with that, I moved into July, August, and September. That'll be the next stop on the Rear View for 2022. Stay tuned for that next Saturday.

Rear View 2022: Spring

 Hello! it's time again to review the year on Guitar Ted Productions. The "Rear View" has been a staple of the blog since almost the very beginning. This year there will be five Rear View posts looking back on Winter's End, Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter's Beginning. I'll also have a post looking ahead at 2023 near the end of the month. Enjoy the look back and thanks for reading Guitar Ted Productions!

April: The month kicked off with what we all thought was going to be the last Renegade Gents Race, or "Gents Race", as it became to be known as, and this happened during a cold, wet period. The weather was foul to start out with as we had high Northwesterly winds, snow in the ditches yet, and it had rained the night and day before the event. This made the sandy gravel mushy and there were standing pools of water here and there to negotiate. 

I went down to Des Moines the evening before and stayed with Kathy and Steve Fuller at their home. I enjoyed an evening meal out with them and night cap of whisky before hitting the sack. The next day it was cold and brisk in Slater, but back home in Waterloo, it was actually snowing! That turned out to be the last snow of the year for us. 

Once again, one of our Gent's team member fell off due to circumstances of fatigue, and we did not do the entire course. I was fine with that as the nutritional supplement I used made my guts hurt severely. Anyway, we ended on a somber note and I drove part way home in severe pain from that supplement. (LMNT, by the way, not good for me!) And then upon returning home, we find out that wasn't the last Gent's Race after all! 

The Gravel Cycling Hall of Fame: Then right after the Gent's Race I received confirmation on my induction into the Gravel Cycling Hall of Fame. This subject pretty much consumed my first six months of 2022 in some form or another. 

Planning my year out was immediately thrown off-kilter by the news of the organization in January, and my being put on notice that I would "likely be inducted into the first class", which meant that making any plans for the first six months of the year were going to hinge upon a big "if" and I didn't get that settled until April. Then it was making plans to be in Emporia by the end of May, first part of June, whenever the induction ceremonies were to happen. 

And all of that was because I had just been hired at a new job where I worked on Saturday's and I wasn't able to just do whatever I wanted on a weekend anymore. So, this whole GCHoF thing was the keystone to my whole cycling life for 2022. 

As it turned out, the Gent's Race, which was non-negotiable as far as my attendance was concerned, was my first Saturday off, and as it fell, the induction ceremonies were on a Thursday evening, so I did not miss work on Saturday! But the trip, being partially subsidized by the GCHoF, still cost me money and that came out of my budget for the year's travel, and well, that was that for that budget! 

Anyway, obviously being a part of the GCHoF is an immense honor and privilege that I do not take lightly. Obviously it was not only a highlight for 2022, but for my life. That's big! But I also wanted to point out that this event also pretty much informed what I was able to do for the entire year in cycling, so that was also a major big deal. I knew that could be the case in January, and I am still feeling the effects of that this December. 

Another direct result of my inclusion into the hall was the announcement of a "Hall of Fame Ride" to be held in my honor in mid-June. So, there was that as well. 

Super-rare for 2022- I actually rode with someone! N.Y. Roll joined me in April for a grinder.

Back to April... Meanwhile the weather was inclement and unsuited for cycling for a couple of weeks. Then it slowly got better, but Spring was tough, and getting out for rides didn't really happen until May approached. The blog was all about the previously mention GCHoF thing, my ongoing Trans Iowa series, and sundry bits like the Guitar Ted Lube-Off, which was happening as Spring moved forward. 

May: More country rides happened. It was beautiful outdoors, but I see that I reported on many of my rides that it was really windy this time of 2022, and so that made riding difficult. I also did not have a ton of reviewing duties coming out of Winter, so I was able to sneak in some rides on non-test mules like my Pofahl Signature Custom single speed and my Ti Muk 2. On the blog I wrote up a massive flared drop bar review of all the old flared drop bars I have here. I also posted a reveal of my purchase of a Singular Cycles Gryphon frame set. The month closed out with news of Shimano's Limited Edition Silver GRX component group.

I was able to ride bikes I normally don't get out on much in the Spring. This one featured my Orange Crush BMC.

June: Well, the whole trip to Emporia to get inducted into the Gravel Cycling Hall of Fame was the focus of this time period. That was a solo drive to the city where I have spent many a day riding the Flint Hills over the years. I did not take a bicycle with me on this particular trip, and it was solely focused on the ceremonies. I gotta say, solo driving is still not a lot of fun. 

(L-R) Myself, Instagram cycling influencer Marley Blonski, and fellow inductee Kristi Mohn at the after-party.

The highlight of my time in Emporia was an unplanned adventure with professional photographer, Erik Mathy which happened the day after I was inducted into the GCHoF. I had a blast as we photographed the area South of Emporia on a bright, Sunny late Spring day. But then it was getting back home so I could go to work on Saturday! 

The next big deal of 2022 occurred on June 19th when N.Y. Roll hosted a "Hall of Fame Ride" for me. Several old friends showed up and I met someone new as well. It was a great surprise to see a couple folks and ride with them again. I really was happy with the day and honored to have had this ride put on for this occasion. 

I was honored by these gentlemen;s attendance to the ride N.Y. Roll put on for my induction to the GCHoF.

I was also surprised in June to get a call from THE Gary Fisher. He was wanting to pick my brain about gravel cycling, its origins, where it is going, etc. He was headed to Eurobike and he wanted to be up to date on the gravel cycling trend. I was honored to be a resource for him in that way. 

On the blog I was wrapping up the Lube-Off, the Trans Iowa series, and the final review on that dreaded Hammerhead Karoo 2 cycling GPS computer. That was - by far - the most frustrating thing I've ever reviewed or used in decades for cycling. Maybe ever in my lifetime. Bad doesn't describe my take on that thing. On the good side I introduced my newest guitar, a Stardust model from Sully Guitars Conspiracy Series.

And with that, I moved into July, August, and September. That'll be the next stop on the Rear View for 2022. Stay tuned for that next Saturday.

Country Views: Hall of Fame Ride

Escape Route: HWY 150 to E- 16.

N.Y. Roll decided to put on a special ride in honor of my induction into the Gravel Cycling Hall of Fame recently. He called it, obviously, "The Hall of Fame Ride", and between he and I, we put the word out via our blogs. 

Well, as one does, you try to guess how many will show up. Of course, we had no reservations, no fees for this, so getting a handle on who might come was total speculation. So, between N.Y. Roll and I we had a bit of discussion going on as to the number of riders who might show. 

On the one hand, I thought not too many would come. We planned the ride for this particular Sunday, because I cannot do big rides on Saturday's due to work. I also have guitar playing duties often at my church, so it had to be a Sunday I had off from that, and the 19th of June is where we landed. Yes, on Father's Day. 

So, we talked about the ride on our blogs only. No social media shout-outs with the one exception of a mention I did on Instagram. I'm thinking, yeah....not many are going to come to this. N.Y. Roll seemed to think it would be a lot of people. He said 'more than 30'! I thought he was nuts, so I took the under and the bet was on. 

We had five come, plus N.Y. Roll and I which made seven. I won. Ha! 

Hall of Fame Ride riders: (l-R) N.Y. Roll, Ben Morris, Chris McQueen, Josh Lederman, Martin Bunge, Charlie Reed. I took the image.

N.Y. Roll and I led out the riders to 'first gravel' after several miles of pavement to get out of town.

I was pretty humbled and amazed that riders came from Madison Wisconsin, Western, Iowa, the Des Moines area, and Southeast Iowa. Old friends, new, and N.Y. Roll, of course, made this a special day for me. (Special Note: Charlie said he was there to ride in honor of Kyle Platts, who died a few years back, because "He would have been here to ride with you for sure." We sure miss ya Kyle!)

N.Y. Roll and Charlie pass by a herd of cattle.

 

There was a notable amount of traffic for a Sunday.

I found that there were some odd things happening for a Sunday. One was that the Vinton Public Swimming Pool was full. Special event, perhaps? But to have all those people there at 9:00am on a Sunday morning? That was odd. Then once we got out into the country we were passed by trucks, cars, and a side-by-side. What the....?  Didn't these people have six other days to do their work? Ha! 

We even had to move aside for traffic on this Level B Maintenance road! Charlie looking back here. Martin with his back to the camera.

We did get to ride the rest of this dirt road unhindered by any other vehicles though.

I was feeling pretty good out of the gate, actually. And unfortunately, I set a pretty hard pace, but getting this group off the pavement and onto gravel was my worry. However; I didn't adjust the pace after we did get on gravel and N.Y. Roll typically goes pretty hard all the time without some supervision. This and the complete lack of mileage I have had this year would come back to haunt me later. 

Martin enjoying a bluebird day out on his Warbird.

Chris McQueen and I enjoyed this view from a ridge line.

This year - frankly - has been really disappointing for me in terms of cycling so far. A cold, wet, and very windy Spring kept me at bay, and then my schedule is jumbled up most days by having to taxi my children around. This has cut way into my riding time and I just don't have longer rides under my belt, which ended up making this day a bit less than it could have been. 

Oh! And that wind is still pretty bad this year. This has to be one of the windier years in Iowa's history. It's been pretty fierce, and Sunday was no different. It was sure a pretty day, but we had to do battle with the winds too, and it cost me 'a lot of matches' as well. 

Chris Splits Martin, (R) and N.Y. Roll as we finish up the ridge road coming into Center Point, Iowa.

Coming into Center Point, things got level and fast.

We ended up having a fast run into Center Point, and I was feeling pretty good. We made the stop at a Casey's convenience store, a big one, near I-380. I never know what to eat on these rides. I had been nibbling on Dot's pretzel sticks all during the morning ride, but I likely needed more. A bit of cheese and salami looked good, so I got that, a chocolate milk, and some fancy form of Gatorade. 

I got dropped pretty bad coming into the gravel after Center Point.

This oddball driver shadowed Josh and I for a couple miles before pulling into a farmstead.

Now, was it what I ate, or what I did not eat? I don't know. Was it going out way too hard? Probably. Was it lack of longer rides this year? Totally. But one thing was for sure, my legs quit on my after Center Point. 

It didn't help that we had another three to four mile stretch of pavement to get to gravel with a decent amount of traffic. Gah! I really don't like paved roads and here again I was burning matches to get off of it ASAP. 

Barns For Jason

Ever wonder what might happen if you never did any yard work again?

Anyway, I paid the price and my legs, after doing all that road scrambling out of Center Point, were toast. I dropped off the back and pretty soon it was just myself and Josh, who had told me this was his first big gravel ride in something like five years, toiling away under the now hot Sun in a mighty 25-ish mile an hour wind. 

I'm following Josh here. A 13% grade climb awaits us ahead.

After a bit of rest I suddenly had something for it again.

Josh and I toiled to the top of a 13% grade, and I needed a rest. I got off and sat on the side of the road for a bit. At this point, N.Y. Roll, who had waited for us along with the rest of the guys, decided to use the shortened route to get me back to Vinton sooner. 

Oddly enough, as soon as we got back on the bikes again I felt a lot better and I was keeping up better as well. This didn't last a long time, but N.Y Roll had us stopping more often from this point onward. That helped me out tremendously. 

Barns For Jason

So, we all rolled in together, some said their goodbyes, and Martin and Ben stuck around long enough to go to Tootsie's in Vinton for some ice cream and food. 

Ben Morris contemplates his Tootsie's Burger and just how to go about eating it at after the Hall of Fame Ride.

So, we rode almost 44 miles and I think we all had a good time. My day was full. What with these folks kind words, their efforts to get there, and for their excellent company, I was totally blessed. There were words of thanks and stories of old rides shared throughout the day. Memories of things I had helped accomplish and had a hand in were celebrated. 

It seems so surreal to be "that guy" that "did that stuff", but I am reminded yet again that many lives were touched and affected by all this cycling on gravel and the way we did things. Anyway, Thank You to all who have participated in a gravel event anywhere at any time. You are moving the needle and cycling has become better because of you folks who keep grinding gravel. 

Oh! And I hope you Dad's out there had a great Father's Day.

Country Views: Hall of Fame Ride

Escape Route: HWY 150 to E- 16.

N.Y. Roll decided to put on a special ride in honor of my induction into the Gravel Cycling Hall of Fame recently. He called it, obviously, "The Hall of Fame Ride", and between he and I, we put the word out via our blogs. 

Well, as one does, you try to guess how many will show up. Of course, we had no reservations, no fees for this, so getting a handle on who might come was total speculation. So, between N.Y. Roll and I we had a bit of discussion going on as to the number of riders who might show. 

On the one hand, I thought not too many would come. We planned the ride for this particular Sunday, because I cannot do big rides on Saturday's due to work. I also have guitar playing duties often at my church, so it had to be a Sunday I had off from that, and the 19th of June is where we landed. Yes, on Father's Day. 

So, we talked about the ride on our blogs only. No social media shout-outs with the one exception of a mention I did on Instagram. I'm thinking, yeah....not many are going to come to this. N.Y. Roll seemed to think it would be a lot of people. He said 'more than 30'! I thought he was nuts, so I took the under and the bet was on. 

We had five come, plus N.Y. Roll and I which made seven. I won. Ha! 

Hall of Fame Ride riders: (l-R) N.Y. Roll, Ben Morris, Chris McQueen, Josh Lederman, Martin Bunge, Charlie Reed. I took the image.

N.Y. Roll and I led out the riders to 'first gravel' after several miles of pavement to get out of town.

I was pretty humbled and amazed that riders came from Madison Wisconsin, Western, Iowa, the Des Moines area, and Southeast Iowa. Old friends, new, and N.Y. Roll, of course, made this a special day for me. (Special Note: Charlie said he was there to ride in honor of Kyle Platts, who died a few years back, because "He would have been here to ride with you for sure." We sure miss ya Kyle!)

N.Y. Roll and Charlie pass by a herd of cattle.

 

There was a notable amount of traffic for a Sunday.

I found that there were some odd things happening for a Sunday. One was that the Vinton Public Swimming Pool was full. Special event, perhaps? But to have all those people there at 9:00am on a Sunday morning? That was odd. Then once we got out into the country we were passed by trucks, cars, and a side-by-side. What the....?  Didn't these people have six other days to do their work? Ha! 

We even had to move aside for traffic on this Level B Maintenance road! Charlie looking back here. Martin with his back to the camera.

We did get to ride the rest of this dirt road unhindered by any other vehicles though.

I was feeling pretty good out of the gate, actually. And unfortunately, I set a pretty hard pace, but getting this group off the pavement and onto gravel was my worry. However; I didn't adjust the pace after we did get on gravel and N.Y. Roll typically goes pretty hard all the time without some supervision. This and the complete lack of mileage I have had this year would come back to haunt me later. 

Martin enjoying a bluebird day out on his Warbird.

Chris McQueen and I enjoyed this view from a ridge line.

This year - frankly - has been really disappointing for me in terms of cycling so far. A cold, wet, and very windy Spring kept me at bay, and then my schedule is jumbled up most days by having to taxi my children around. This has cut way into my riding time and I just don't have longer rides under my belt, which ended up making this day a bit less than it could have been. 

Oh! And that wind is still pretty bad this year. This has to be one of the windier years in Iowa's history. It's been pretty fierce, and Sunday was no different. It was sure a pretty day, but we had to do battle with the winds too, and it cost me 'a lot of matches' as well. 

Chris Splits Martin, (R) and N.Y. Roll as we finish up the ridge road coming into Center Point, Iowa.

Coming into Center Point, things got level and fast.

We ended up having a fast run into Center Point, and I was feeling pretty good. We made the stop at a Casey's convenience store, a big one, near I-380. I never know what to eat on these rides. I had been nibbling on Dot's pretzel sticks all during the morning ride, but I likely needed more. A bit of cheese and salami looked good, so I got that, a chocolate milk, and some fancy form of Gatorade. 

I got dropped pretty bad coming into the gravel after Center Point.

This oddball driver shadowed Josh and I for a couple miles before pulling into a farmstead.

Now, was it what I ate, or what I did not eat? I don't know. Was it going out way too hard? Probably. Was it lack of longer rides this year? Totally. But one thing was for sure, my legs quit on my after Center Point. 

It didn't help that we had another three to four mile stretch of pavement to get to gravel with a decent amount of traffic. Gah! I really don't like paved roads and here again I was burning matches to get off of it ASAP. 

Barns For Jason

Ever wonder what might happen if you never did any yard work again?

Anyway, I paid the price and my legs, after doing all that road scrambling out of Center Point, were toast. I dropped off the back and pretty soon it was just myself and Josh, who had told me this was his first big gravel ride in something like five years, toiling away under the now hot Sun in a mighty 25-ish mile an hour wind. 

I'm following Josh here. A 13% grade climb awaits us ahead.

After a bit of rest I suddenly had something for it again.

Josh and I toiled to the top of a 13% grade, and I needed a rest. I got off and sat on the side of the road for a bit. At this point, N.Y. Roll, who had waited for us along with the rest of the guys, decided to use the shortened route to get me back to Vinton sooner. 

Oddly enough, as soon as we got back on the bikes again I felt a lot better and I was keeping up better as well. This didn't last a long time, but N.Y Roll had us stopping more often from this point onward. That helped me out tremendously. 

Barns For Jason

So, we all rolled in together, some said their goodbyes, and Martin and Ben stuck around long enough to go to Tootsie's in Vinton for some ice cream and food. 

Ben Morris contemplates his Tootsie's Burger and just how to go about eating it at after the Hall of Fame Ride.

So, we rode almost 44 miles and I think we all had a good time. My day was full. What with these folks kind words, their efforts to get there, and for their excellent company, I was totally blessed. There were words of thanks and stories of old rides shared throughout the day. Memories of things I had helped accomplish and had a hand in were celebrated. 

It seems so surreal to be "that guy" that "did that stuff", but I am reminded yet again that many lives were touched and affected by all this cycling on gravel and the way we did things. Anyway, Thank You to all who have participated in a gravel event anywhere at any time. You are moving the needle and cycling has become better because of you folks who keep grinding gravel. 

Oh! And I hope you Dad's out there had a great Father's Day.