Happy New Year

 Happy New Year!

It's a new day and a New Year. I hope you all have a wonderful, blessed, healthy, and safe New Year.  

I'll be taking the day off here but I will return tomorrow. It may be the first FN&V for the year, or it could be my outlook for gravel event prices and where the value is in terms of events for 2026. It could be my story of the Fixed Gravel Bus. It could be fluff as tomorrow is my 27th wedding anniversary. You'll just have to come back tomorrow and find out!

Until then, have a great day and thank you for checking out the blog today!  

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year

Okay, you made it into another realm of time known as "2025". You have another chance to ride. Let's go! You know what? You shouldn't wait until New Year's Day to think this is your next chance at doing this-or-that in cycling (or in anything, really) You should have this new feeling every day you wake up. Buuuuuuutttt, that's a whole other story. 

I'll just say that I hope all your dreams, goals, and desires come true in 2025.

Now, let's catch up, shall we? I've been posting so much on things past that what is recent and present has, largely, been ignored here. So, I thought I'd get that taken care of here today. 

The first thing to know about me and any December of the past two decades is that I try to pre-schedule and have written up posts for the entire month of December by the end of the first week or ten days of the month. That way I get some time off to relax from blogging/writing and I get a bit of rest to recharge. 

I'm not sure how this happened, but 2024 was my highest output for blog posts in a single calendar year. I beat the old record by three posts, and the new record is 392. I would guess that the Virtual Turkey Burn Ride Reports are to blame for this new record, so again - Thank You to those who sent in a report last year. 

So, I haven't been doing a lot of planned rides either. December is pretty much a rest month from all of those activities. It makes sense for me since my wife's and my daughter's birthdays are two days apart from each other mid-month and the next week is Christmas followed by my wedding anniversary, which is tomorrow. (26 years! Woo!)

I have tinkered with a few things in the shop. One which I have previously spoken of here in that Roval rear wheel. I had a bit of a hurdle when I came around to replacing nipples on those Aerolite spokes, which like to twist up like a ribbon when you tighten the nipples up. I needed room to get my bladed spoke holder as close to the exposed part of the nipple as possible and yet be able to turn the nipple with a tool to tighten it. 

The modded Shimano spoke wrench

I needed a spoke wrench that looked like a spanner wrench, not a traditional spoke wrench. There are some online, but I made one out of an older Shimano aluminum spoke wrench by filing its bladed spoke holder out to 3.3mm. I managed to get the job done, so that worked out well.

With all the downtime from writing I was noting that a few posts I made in early December were totally going off the hook. Why that was is still a mystery to me. Maybe it has something to do with bots and "AI", or maybe someone linked to a forum and that drew a ton of hits. Anyway, there wasn't really anything especially remarkable about any of the posts that were garnering the big numbers of views versus the ones surrounding them. I'll be keeping an eye out for anomalys like those in 2025.

We had an ice storm around mid-month in December which put the kibosh on any riding for a few days. It also stopped me from working one day as well, which, to be honest, isn't ever ideal since I work so few days a week as it is! 

Then two days before Christmas I got some intestinal bug or something which caused a lot of pain and discomfort. Finally it "passed", (sorry....) and I was on the mend by the 27th. However; the illness and the inclement weather we've had kept me off my bikes and I was going a bit stir crazy there for a bit. 

These types of situations are always cause for concern because I have the time to think. Think about doing this or that with some bicycle I own. Many might remember my Shogun 1000 post here a while back and my saying I missed riding fixed gear. Well, it has been a disease of late as I find myself looking at Surly and Paul disc brake fixed gear hubs to convert a certain bike I have sitting around here. 

Might happen, might not happen, or it may be happening now. Stay tuned .... 

I finally received that handle bar from Good Grief Cycles on the 27th and again - with all the time to think, I decided against putting the bar on my Blackbuck and I am put it on my old Karate Monkey which I want to put back into the rotation of gravel bikes here which I plan to I use in 2025. My idea was to set the bike up as a "throwback" gravel machine. I just need an old Persian rug to make a "top tube snake" out of and then I'd be spot-on. (If you know, you know) 

Okay, that's about it for notable cycling related stuff here. Tomorrow I kick off things again with a "State of the Gravel Scene" post and a surprise announcement. Make sure you check it out!

Happy New Year! Now Let's Get Caught Up

Happy New Year! I hope that you all had a great 2023. So, with all that nonsense that I posted last month having to do with the past year, what was I doing in the meantime? This post will get you all caught up here.

There isn't a whole lot to say, because I had two over-arching things pretty much dominate the last half of December here. One was my wife's and my daughter's birthdays, and the other was getting sick. 

Yeah......fun times! 

The whole family got it too. Some kind of cold/flu thing. It was awful. I pretty much stayed in the house over Christmas because of it. So, no bicycle tales to speak of that I can share.

Well.....I did do something with bicycles. I commuted back and forth to work, but I also did install those Axle Packs I got in on the Noble GX5. The Introduction to those Axle Packs from Old Man Mountain was posted here last Wednesday. (See that post HERE)

The Axle Pack went on without too much bother and I have a ride planned once I feel good enough to do that. Maybe pretty soon... Anyway, I am hoping there will be soup involved. You'll see..... 

The Old Man Mountain Axle Packs mounted and loaded up.

So, there was that going on as well. But mostly it was a lot of home cooked chicken soup and water. Rest, and boredom, with a side of NFL football. I really was not surprised that I got sick when we had some of the best riding weather in December, ya know, par for the course and all. But hopefully we can stay out of the really frigid air for a bit so I can get in a few rides soon. 

 

I did get a last ride in for 2023 on New Year's Eve in the Green Belt.

Starting on Christmas Day I began to feel on the upswing. That said, it took a full week to be back to any semblance of myself and I rested a lot all week in between Christmas and New Year's day. I chanced a ride on the 30th at night for about 20 minutes and felt no worse for the wear. This emboldened me to try a longer ride on New Year's Eve, which I did. It was about two hours on the fat bike in the Green Belt. 

That sure felt good to do. Now it is time to start pedaling in 2024.

GTDRI Stories: For The Love Of Gravel Riding

The course as I saw it at the DK200 2010.

 "The GTDRI Stories" is a series telling the history, untold tales, and showing the sights from the run of Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitationals. This series will run on Sundays. Thanks for reading!

I mentioned in an earlier post in this series that I was trying to get away from the MTB stuff and dig further into the gravel scene. As I researched this time period, I found that I had dove headlong into all sorts of gravel events, and I did exactly ZERO mountain biking events. And my event calendar was stuffed with events. 

How I managed to get to so many gravel events.....in 2010, mind you....is pretty crazy when I think about how busy I was and how small the gravel scene was back then. But there were events all throughout the year on gravel as I was busy from Spring until Fall and if you count CIRREM, which was going on by then, you could ride gravel events 10 out of 12 months in the Mid-West easily. 

I thought I'd just show a sampling of the gravel travel I did in 2010 as a way to further cement that I was all in on gravel and why that is the reason that the GTDRI continued along with Trans Iowa. It was really all the MTB stuff and responsibilities associated with that which was hindering me from becoming all-gravel all the time back then. 

Somewhere in Southeastern Minnesota on the Fargo Adventure Ride during June of 2010.

I was busy with the shop and with 29"er stuff, but I was really branching off into the gravel end of things with my attendance to another Fargo Adventure Ride in June and starting in late June, my night rides with then Trans Iowa co-director, David Pals on gravel in Tama and Benton Counties. 

Trans Iowa v7 recon by bicycle in Benton County during the Summer of 2010

August saw my participation in the first Gravel Worlds around Lincoln, Nebraska.

I first rode Petrie Road's Level B section in 2010.

I not only did a lot of gravel events, but I explored the local gravel in the area. Heretofore I had mostly been doing one or two roads only and then only "out and backs", never getting off those main roads to explore. I finally heard about a dirt road section from a fellow local rider and I had to check it out. It turned out to be Petrie Road's Level B Maintenance section. A favorite stretch of road for me these days. 

There also was another Level B section of dirt listed way up in the Northeastern part of Black Hawk County that I had seen on a map. However; when I went to search for that, it had reverted back to the local landowners, so that trip was a bit of a bust at that time. 

The Rawland Fall Tour: Look how many people were on this ride! This is 2010!

The gravel scene was really taking off in 2010. One sign was that Gravel Worlds had seen a big increase in attendance, and so had the Dirty Kanza. A veritable group ride idea, dubbed the Rawland Fall Tour, drew a ton of riders, just to tool around the Southeastern Minnesota gravel on a nice Fall day. 

It wasn't just myself that had been bitten by the gravel bug. A LOT of people were catching on, and this was well before anything was marketed as "gravel specific". This was a fun and exciting time to be involved in gravel riding and I am proud to have dipped my toes into it when I did. 

It all kept my spark high to keep on doing the Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitational, and Trans Iowa, of course. 

Next: The Three Amigos of The Fifth GTDRI - oh! and HAPPY NEW YEAR!

GTDRI Stories: For The Love Of Gravel Riding

The course as I saw it at the DK200 2010.

 "The GTDRI Stories" is a series telling the history, untold tales, and showing the sights from the run of Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitationals. This series will run on Sundays. Thanks for reading!

I mentioned in an earlier post in this series that I was trying to get away from the MTB stuff and dig further into the gravel scene. As I researched this time period, I found that I had dove headlong into all sorts of gravel events, and I did exactly ZERO mountain biking events. And my event calendar was stuffed with events. 

How I managed to get to so many gravel events.....in 2010, mind you....is pretty crazy when I think about how busy I was and how small the gravel scene was back then. But there were events all throughout the year on gravel as I was busy from Spring until Fall and if you count CIRREM, which was going on by then, you could ride gravel events 10 out of 12 months in the Mid-West easily. 

I thought I'd just show a sampling of the gravel travel I did in 2010 as a way to further cement that I was all in on gravel and why that is the reason that the GTDRI continued along with Trans Iowa. It was really all the MTB stuff and responsibilities associated with that which was hindering me from becoming all-gravel all the time back then. 

Somewhere in Southeastern Minnesota on the Fargo Adventure Ride during June of 2010.

I was busy with the shop and with 29"er stuff, but I was really branching off into the gravel end of things with my attendance to another Fargo Adventure Ride in June and starting in late June, my night rides with then Trans Iowa co-director, David Pals on gravel in Tama and Benton Counties. 

Trans Iowa v7 recon by bicycle in Benton County during the Summer of 2010

August saw my participation in the first Gravel Worlds around Lincoln, Nebraska.

I first rode Petrie Road's Level B section in 2010.

I not only did a lot of gravel events, but I explored the local gravel in the area. Heretofore I had mostly been doing one or two roads only and then only "out and backs", never getting off those main roads to explore. I finally heard about a dirt road section from a fellow local rider and I had to check it out. It turned out to be Petrie Road's Level B Maintenance section. A favorite stretch of road for me these days. 

There also was another Level B section of dirt listed way up in the Northeastern part of Black Hawk County that I had seen on a map. However; when I went to search for that, it had reverted back to the local landowners, so that trip was a bit of a bust at that time. 

The Rawland Fall Tour: Look how many people were on this ride! This is 2010!

The gravel scene was really taking off in 2010. One sign was that Gravel Worlds had seen a big increase in attendance, and so had the Dirty Kanza. A veritable group ride idea, dubbed the Rawland Fall Tour, drew a ton of riders, just to tool around the Southeastern Minnesota gravel on a nice Fall day. 

It wasn't just myself that had been bitten by the gravel bug. A LOT of people were catching on, and this was well before anything was marketed as "gravel specific". This was a fun and exciting time to be involved in gravel riding and I am proud to have dipped my toes into it when I did. 

It all kept my spark high to keep on doing the Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitational, and Trans Iowa, of course. 

Next: The Three Amigos of The Fifth GTDRI - oh! and HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Happy New Year!

 

Happy New Year!

 

Happy New Year! C.O.G. 100 Update

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Okay, now with that out of the way, make sure your head is clear because the following information regarding the upcoming C.O.G. 100 Single Speed Gravel State Championship is very important.

Tomorrow is registration day! Registration happens at 8:00am CST and will be facilitated by BikeReg.com at THIS LINK!

Now- Before y'all get excited that Guitar Ted is putting on a gravel event again- HEAR THIS! We set this up around my idea of doing a SINGLE SPEED ONLY EVENT. So, I mean single speed only! Don't sign up, take up one of the 75 spots, only to be DQ'ed at the start line because you thought zip tying your levers to only operate in one gear was good enough. IT WON"T WORK. Don't even think about it. 

I am limiting this event to folks who have clearly dedicated themselves to a single speed device. Therefore; you may only have ONE chain ring and ONE cog on the bike you bring. If your rig has a flip-flop hub, (if you don't know what that is, you probably are not a single speeder anyway), I will allow the bike as long as BOTH COGS ARE THE SAME TOOTH COUNT. Or, obviously, you could leave the other side of the hub bare, with no cog. That'd probably be best. Okay? 

A couple of notes on registration. We've publicized that the event fee is going to be $35.00. You might have noticed that the BikeReg.com site says $30.00. Well, there are fees charged by BikeReg, and whatnot that will bring your total at check-out to $35.00, We thought it would make sense to publicize your TOTAL cost, instead of the minimum fee. 

Next thing is that I feel this event will fill up quickly. I know someone out there is going to have their feelings hurt when they don't get in. Look- We've been on social media pimping the registration time in the days ahead of this. We have said to you- "It's going to fill up!", so if you missed out, we did our level best to warn you ahead of time. Please do not ask me, or N.Y. Roll to let you in. It is what it is......

Finally- N.Y. Roll and I have decided on a path of transparency regarding money. You will get a full accounting of where the money that you spent went to in the coming days which will be on the C.O.G.100 site. Stay tuned for this.  

Happy New Year! C.O.G. 100 Update

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Okay, now with that out of the way, make sure your head is clear because the following information regarding the upcoming C.O.G. 100 Single Speed Gravel State Championship is very important.

Tomorrow is registration day! Registration happens at 8:00am CST and will be facilitated by BikeReg.com at THIS LINK!

Now- Before y'all get excited that Guitar Ted is putting on a gravel event again- HEAR THIS! We set this up around my idea of doing a SINGLE SPEED ONLY EVENT. So, I mean single speed only! Don't sign up, take up one of the 75 spots, only to be DQ'ed at the start line because you thought zip tying your levers to only operate in one gear was good enough. IT WON"T WORK. Don't even think about it. 

I am limiting this event to folks who have clearly dedicated themselves to a single speed device. Therefore; you may only have ONE chain ring and ONE cog on the bike you bring. If your rig has a flip-flop hub, (if you don't know what that is, you probably are not a single speeder anyway), I will allow the bike as long as BOTH COGS ARE THE SAME TOOTH COUNT. Or, obviously, you could leave the other side of the hub bare, with no cog. That'd probably be best. Okay? 

A couple of notes on registration. We've publicized that the event fee is going to be $35.00. You might have noticed that the BikeReg.com site says $30.00. Well, there are fees charged by BikeReg, and whatnot that will bring your total at check-out to $35.00, We thought it would make sense to publicize your TOTAL cost, instead of the minimum fee. 

Next thing is that I feel this event will fill up quickly. I know someone out there is going to have their feelings hurt when they don't get in. Look- We've been on social media pimping the registration time in the days ahead of this. We have said to you- "It's going to fill up!", so if you missed out, we did our level best to warn you ahead of time. Please do not ask me, or N.Y. Roll to let you in. It is what it is......

Finally- N.Y. Roll and I have decided on a path of transparency regarding money. You will get a full accounting of where the money that you spent went to in the coming days which will be on the C.O.G.100 site. Stay tuned for this.  

Looking Ahead At 2019

Thanks for sticking with me through all the "Rear View" posts and looks back at the bikes I used. Now it is time to take a look ahead, as I do every year here.

Many years I have made vague comments about changes and what not that were forthcoming. Many times they did not pan out, many times they did. Same holds for the year of 2019. I'm sure there will be changes and many things I think will change won't. Here is what I do know now.....

• The Iowa Gravel Expo/Bike Party will happen Saturday, February 9th.
• The C.O.G. 100 Iowa Gravel Single Speed Championship will happen March 30th.
• The Renegade Gents Race-  If they hold it.  UPDATE: Announced for April 6th. GOING!
• The inaugural Prairie Burn 100 will be June 8th. I am registered to ride it.
• The Solstice 100 is an event in Nebraska on June 22nd. I am registered to ride in it.
• The 2019 GTDRI will be on July 27th
• 24hrs of Cumming. Sam and I have unfinished business. Weekend of August 2nd-4th.
• The Gravel Worlds event will be August 17th, and I am registered. 

Possibilities: These are things I've been talking about possibly doing. They may or may not materialize into reality.

• Mississippi Gravel Cup Bentonia, MS in late February.
• Almanzo 100 in Northfield MN -Mid-May
• Dirty Kanza 200 All Things Gravel Expo Emporia KS- Early June
• unPAved of the Susquehanna River Valley in mid-Pennsylvania. October. 

NOTE- Most of these possibilities involve lots of travel. Whether or not I can pull any of them off is going to hinge heavily on what I have for funds to travel, and right now, that is zero and not climbing anytime soon. The events I have committed to are mostly in Iowa, so travel is minimized and Gravel Worlds is something I should be able to pull off, and is something I won't miss.

What is ahead up the road? Let's go see!

As for the blog, "The Touring Series" should peter out along about the end of January, maybe the first week of February. That will then lead into "The Interim Years", a series of posts leading the reader from the time period between the tours and the beginnings of Trans Iowa. Then the series of Trans Iowa stories will begin. These will all post on Sundays, for the time being.

The regular posts you've come to expect here will also continue. "Friday News And Views" and the Saturday "Minus Ten Review" posts will be weekly entries you can look forward to seeing all year. That is, unless something unexpected happens.

You never know.....

The rest of the week I'll be posting the usual fare, as you've told me you want to continue to see. That feedback I got earlier this month was very much appreciated and showed me that you readers don't really want anything to change around here. There will be the same opinions, newsy bits, reviews, and tales of my adventures to look forward to.

2018 was a BIG year on the blog. It ranks 2nd all-time for post count at 383 for the year. The most I ever posted was 388 in 2011. I don't quite know how that happened, but I do not expect that 2019 will rival this year. It takes a lot of time and effort to post that much, so I probably should back it down a notch or two next year! Just for kicks, here are some more numbers to chew on. Overall, I have done nearly 5,000 blog posts which have gotten just shy of 5 million views since 2005. Nothing spectacular, but I think I am one of only a handful of bicycle themed bloggers that have lasted this long. So, there is that......

As always, thank you for your reading here and for any comments you've made over the course of 2018. I look forward to hearing from you in 2019 and hope that you will keep coming back to read here.

Happy New Year!

Looking Ahead At 2019

Thanks for sticking with me through all the "Rear View" posts and looks back at the bikes I used. Now it is time to take a look ahead, as I do every year here.

Many years I have made vague comments about changes and what not that were forthcoming. Many times they did not pan out, many times they did. Same holds for the year of 2019. I'm sure there will be changes and many things I think will change won't. Here is what I do know now.....

• The Iowa Gravel Expo/Bike Party will happen Saturday, February 9th.
• The C.O.G. 100 Iowa Gravel Single Speed Championship will happen March 30th.
• The Renegade Gents Race-  If they hold it.  UPDATE: Announced for April 6th. GOING!
• The inaugural Prairie Burn 100 will be June 8th. I am registered to ride it.
• The Solstice 100 is an event in Nebraska on June 22nd. I am registered to ride in it.
• The 2019 GTDRI will be on July 27th
• 24hrs of Cumming. Sam and I have unfinished business. Weekend of August 2nd-4th.
• The Gravel Worlds event will be August 17th, and I am registered. 

Possibilities: These are things I've been talking about possibly doing. They may or may not materialize into reality.

• Mississippi Gravel Cup Bentonia, MS in late February.
• Almanzo 100 in Northfield MN -Mid-May
• Dirty Kanza 200 All Things Gravel Expo Emporia KS- Early June
• unPAved of the Susquehanna River Valley in mid-Pennsylvania. October. 

NOTE- Most of these possibilities involve lots of travel. Whether or not I can pull any of them off is going to hinge heavily on what I have for funds to travel, and right now, that is zero and not climbing anytime soon. The events I have committed to are mostly in Iowa, so travel is minimized and Gravel Worlds is something I should be able to pull off, and is something I won't miss.

What is ahead up the road? Let's go see!

As for the blog, "The Touring Series" should peter out along about the end of January, maybe the first week of February. That will then lead into "The Interim Years", a series of posts leading the reader from the time period between the tours and the beginnings of Trans Iowa. Then the series of Trans Iowa stories will begin. These will all post on Sundays, for the time being.

The regular posts you've come to expect here will also continue. "Friday News And Views" and the Saturday "Minus Ten Review" posts will be weekly entries you can look forward to seeing all year. That is, unless something unexpected happens.

You never know.....

The rest of the week I'll be posting the usual fare, as you've told me you want to continue to see. That feedback I got earlier this month was very much appreciated and showed me that you readers don't really want anything to change around here. There will be the same opinions, newsy bits, reviews, and tales of my adventures to look forward to.

2018 was a BIG year on the blog. It ranks 2nd all-time for post count at 383 for the year. The most I ever posted was 388 in 2011. I don't quite know how that happened, but I do not expect that 2019 will rival this year. It takes a lot of time and effort to post that much, so I probably should back it down a notch or two next year! Just for kicks, here are some more numbers to chew on. Overall, I have done nearly 5,000 blog posts which have gotten just shy of 5 million views since 2005. Nothing spectacular, but I think I am one of only a handful of bicycle themed bloggers that have lasted this long. So, there is that......

As always, thank you for your reading here and for any comments you've made over the course of 2018. I look forward to hearing from you in 2019 and hope that you will keep coming back to read here.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

Looking forward to an awesome 2018!

Happy New Year!

Wishing You All The Best For 2018!

Stay Tuned For A Special series on The State Of Gravel Cycling coming this week. 

Happy New Year!

Looking forward to an awesome 2018!

Happy New Year!

Wishing You All The Best For 2018!

Stay Tuned For A Special series on The State Of Gravel Cycling coming this week. 

Friday News And Views

It Wasn't Always On Friday:

This post, "Friday News And Views", has become one of the most popular posts on my site. Week after week the numbers for Friday are way bigger than any other day on average. It's interesting to me that these posts tend to get a lot of attention.

Since this is the last "FN&V" post for the year, I thought it might be fun to note that this regular weekly post didn't always land on a Friday. I used to publish bits as soon as I got them, so the "News And Views" posts have hit on just about every day of the week at some time or another. Since placing the newsy bits and my pithy commentary on those bits on Fridays, I have only done a few, non-Friday newsy bits. Usually it has to be a pretty big deal for me not to hold off till Friday anymore.

I don't plan on changing anything with regard to this blog in the near term, so if you are one of those folks that only comes here on Fridays, don't worry about this going away anytime soon. I'll be continuing on right into 2018.

I met Craig at Odin's Revenge in 2013. That's him up ahead grinding out his single gear.

Kind Words:

Trans Iowa has had the unique situation of having had not to call out for volunteers. I may have asked once or twice, so sue me if I have forgotten, but typically, no- I never have to ask for help and I generally end up turning people away.

I know that is very unusual for any event. I get it. I am super-blessed and I don't take it lightly. So, when I get a shout out from someone even before they have volunteered, well, that's some unprecedented territory right there! But that's just what happened when Craig Groseth figured out he could get the time off from work and family to come out and be a volunteer for Trans Iowa. He even was so stoked he wrote about it here.

I am blown away by Craig's kind words on his blog. I know he isn't the only one that feels like being a Trans Iowa volunteer is special, because others have said as much, but the way Craig has put it is very eloquent. So, a public "thank you" goes out to Craig here and I certainly hope his experience in Iowa doing Trans Iowa volunteering lives up to his lofty expectations! I have some work to do to make sure I have my end as good as it can get. That's for sure!

A mysterious package arrived the other day with this bag inside of it.

Lezyne XL Caddy Rear Seat Pack:

So the day after Christmas I got a package with this bag inside of it from Lezyne. Apparently the seat pack deal is all the rage these days. These kind of things happen like they do because of popularity and the ease of getting bags made. "Bikepacking" is all the rage now so companies that are not known for bags are jumping in "just so they have a foothold in the market". Kind of like when every rock band made a disco record in the 70's because.........well, disco! So, this isn't anything new.

Anyway, the Lezyne XL Seat Caddy is something relatively new in form, but not in name. Lezyne had a similarly named product that was nothing like this in the past. It seems pretty well built with thick fabrics, P.U. coated underneath for weather protection, and it also has some structural side panels to give it some form. The back end is a roll top type closure with a nice rubbery strip of material that has lots of horizontally placed slits for the attachment of a rear light at about any angle you want.

I'll give it a whirl on my bikes and I should have a word or two to say more about this seat pack later on in Winter.

Happy New Year! If you are bugging out for the weekend to go someplace to see in the New Year, I just wanted to say "Happy New Year" to you and thank you for your continued stopping by to check out the "Guitar Ted Productions" blog during 2017. I really appreciate all of you and hope that you all will continue to check in next year.

Friday News And Views

It Wasn't Always On Friday:

This post, "Friday News And Views", has become one of the most popular posts on my site. Week after week the numbers for Friday are way bigger than any other day on average. It's interesting to me that these posts tend to get a lot of attention.

Since this is the last "FN&V" post for the year, I thought it might be fun to note that this regular weekly post didn't always land on a Friday. I used to publish bits as soon as I got them, so the "News And Views" posts have hit on just about every day of the week at some time or another. Since placing the newsy bits and my pithy commentary on those bits on Fridays, I have only done a few, non-Friday newsy bits. Usually it has to be a pretty big deal for me not to hold off till Friday anymore.

I don't plan on changing anything with regard to this blog in the near term, so if you are one of those folks that only comes here on Fridays, don't worry about this going away anytime soon. I'll be continuing on right into 2018.

I met Craig at Odin's Revenge in 2013. That's him up ahead grinding out his single gear.

Kind Words:

Trans Iowa has had the unique situation of having had not to call out for volunteers. I may have asked once or twice, so sue me if I have forgotten, but typically, no- I never have to ask for help and I generally end up turning people away.

I know that is very unusual for any event. I get it. I am super-blessed and I don't take it lightly. So, when I get a shout out from someone even before they have volunteered, well, that's some unprecedented territory right there! But that's just what happened when Craig Groseth figured out he could get the time off from work and family to come out and be a volunteer for Trans Iowa. He even was so stoked he wrote about it here.

I am blown away by Craig's kind words on his blog. I know he isn't the only one that feels like being a Trans Iowa volunteer is special, because others have said as much, but the way Craig has put it is very eloquent. So, a public "thank you" goes out to Craig here and I certainly hope his experience in Iowa doing Trans Iowa volunteering lives up to his lofty expectations! I have some work to do to make sure I have my end as good as it can get. That's for sure!

A mysterious package arrived the other day with this bag inside of it.

Lezyne XL Caddy Rear Seat Pack:

So the day after Christmas I got a package with this bag inside of it from Lezyne. Apparently the seat pack deal is all the rage these days. These kind of things happen like they do because of popularity and the ease of getting bags made. "Bikepacking" is all the rage now so companies that are not known for bags are jumping in "just so they have a foothold in the market". Kind of like when every rock band made a disco record in the 70's because.........well, disco! So, this isn't anything new.

Anyway, the Lezyne XL Seat Caddy is something relatively new in form, but not in name. Lezyne had a similarly named product that was nothing like this in the past. It seems pretty well built with thick fabrics, P.U. coated underneath for weather protection, and it also has some structural side panels to give it some form. The back end is a roll top type closure with a nice rubbery strip of material that has lots of horizontally placed slits for the attachment of a rear light at about any angle you want.

I'll give it a whirl on my bikes and I should have a word or two to say more about this seat pack later on in Winter.

Happy New Year! If you are bugging out for the weekend to go someplace to see in the New Year, I just wanted to say "Happy New Year" to you and thank you for your continued stopping by to check out the "Guitar Ted Productions" blog during 2017. I really appreciate all of you and hope that you all will continue to check in next year.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

Wishing all of you readers all the best for a great 2017.

What great things are you going to do this year? I've got a few ideas and I have been making plans, Stay tuned for more here. 

If you have any suggestions for this blog or for things you'd like to know more about, always feel free to comment in the comments section and I will give it my consideration.  Once again, thank you for reading and I look forward to writing more in the coming year. 

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

Wishing all of you readers all the best for a great 2017.

What great things are you going to do this year? I've got a few ideas and I have been making plans, Stay tuned for more here. 

If you have any suggestions for this blog or for things you'd like to know more about, always feel free to comment in the comments section and I will give it my consideration.  Once again, thank you for reading and I look forward to writing more in the coming year. 

Looking Ahead

Now that this year is done I am going to take stock and look at what may be happening here on the blog going into 2017. It is always a dangerous thing to do that, since from the beginning of this blog I have hinted at and predicted its end several times. Guess what? I am not saying or hinting at that again this time. But, it could all end, ya know.

Me and this cement elephant have no idea why I have a glove hanging from my mouth.

Weirder things have happened. I do agree though that I have no idea what will happen this coming year. Heck, there are a lot of things I don't know. Really. I do know that there will be endings. There will be beginnings. That much is a given, but what those might be, I have no idea.

I can only say that I have been on somewhat of a mission these past six years or so to start to let go of things. I am a firm believer that good changes won't come as long as you have a tight grip on what you have now. I have not been all that successful at letting some things go, (Trans Iowa), while I have been able to let go of some other stuff, (The Cyclistsite, Twenty Nine Inches), and that has been a very liberating thing. Letting go of some things like that and more has given me the opportunity to get on board with RidingGravel.com and that has suited me to a "T" so far.

But what of this blog? I've been at it for over a decade. Is it getting old? Has its time been here and gone? Well, if the feedback I've gotten in 2016 is any indication, then the clear answer is "no", it is not past due to go away. Not yet anyway.

So, expect a near daily dosage of blog activity just like I have been doing until further notice. Again- anything can happen, so I am not going to promise you that in 2018 I'll still be pounding the keyboard, but that is the plan as I can see it. Of course, I thank you, the readers, for giving me part of the reason to keep going. I thank you for stopping by, checking out the gab here, and I really appreciate any and all feedback. Keep it coming!

Happy New Year! I wish you all health, happiness, and love this coming year for you and yours. Thanks for reading!

Looking Ahead

Now that this year is done I am going to take stock and look at what may be happening here on the blog going into 2017. It is always a dangerous thing to do that, since from the beginning of this blog I have hinted at and predicted its end several times. Guess what? I am not saying or hinting at that again this time. But, it could all end, ya know.

Me and this cement elephant have no idea why I have a glove hanging from my mouth.

Weirder things have happened. I do agree though that I have no idea what will happen this coming year. Heck, there are a lot of things I don't know. Really. I do know that there will be endings. There will be beginnings. That much is a given, but what those might be, I have no idea.

I can only say that I have been on somewhat of a mission these past six years or so to start to let go of things. I am a firm believer that good changes won't come as long as you have a tight grip on what you have now. I have not been all that successful at letting some things go, (Trans Iowa), while I have been able to let go of some other stuff, (The Cyclistsite, Twenty Nine Inches), and that has been a very liberating thing. Letting go of some things like that and more has given me the opportunity to get on board with RidingGravel.com and that has suited me to a "T" so far.

But what of this blog? I've been at it for over a decade. Is it getting old? Has its time been here and gone? Well, if the feedback I've gotten in 2016 is any indication, then the clear answer is "no", it is not past due to go away. Not yet anyway.

So, expect a near daily dosage of blog activity just like I have been doing until further notice. Again- anything can happen, so I am not going to promise you that in 2018 I'll still be pounding the keyboard, but that is the plan as I can see it. Of course, I thank you, the readers, for giving me part of the reason to keep going. I thank you for stopping by, checking out the gab here, and I really appreciate any and all feedback. Keep it coming!

Happy New Year! I wish you all health, happiness, and love this coming year for you and yours. Thanks for reading!

See you out on the gravel somewhere......

Happy New Year!
From Guitar Ted Productions

Here's hoping that 2016 is Peaceful, Healthy, Enjoyable, and Exciting.

Stay tuned for more opinions, reviews, and daily gobble-d-gook from the addled mind of Guitar Ted. Plans for the year include, but are not limited to, gravel road riding, competing in a few events here and there, and general hobnobbing and mischievous deeds. 

Once again, I thank you all for stopping by at this little nook in the "inner-googles" and taking the time to read and/or comment. I appreciate that you do this very much. I will strive to continue to make this a place where you want to come everyday, as many of you have told me that you do, and I pledge to be faithful in posting here, unless Adventure or Chance takes me away. 

Raising a toast to the New Year.......

Onward through the fog!