Put Some Respect On Him

From a recent social media post. 

About a quarter century ago now I started working with a young college aged student of the arts named Jeff Kerkove. He was known then as a quiet person, unassuming, and the kind of person one maybe didn't take note of. He wasn't going out of his way to get to know you and he didn't give off the kind of vibe that he wanted you to bother to get to know him. He was content to do his thing. And his thing was riding bicycles. 

He was good at it, by all accounts. His mother said he would ride for miles on gravel just to get to a good spot for fishing. Something he spent a lot of time doing as he grew up in Algona, Iowa.  

Eventually, a small bicycle shop run out of a garage in Algona caught Jeff's attention. He learned about races on mountain bikes which were occurring in nearby Minnesota, Wisconsin, and a few in in his home state of Iowa. Jeff found a small, like minded group of young men who were infatuated with riding fast off-road. It didn't take long before his talent at racing became apparent to the owner of that local shop. He did all he could to encourage Jeff in pursuing racing bicycles. Like it was going to take much persuading. Jeff took to racing bicycles immediately and was all about racing by the time he left for the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls, Iowa. 

Once Jeff had given longer, 24hr races a try he realized his forte was in the long haul. He vaulted up through the ranks of solo 24hr racers in the Mid-West. He forged a name for himself both within the racing community and online doing this new thing called "blogging".

Just behind Jeff was where we concocted the Trans Iowa in 2004

I came to work at a place called Europa Cycle and Ski in the middle of September of 2002, Jeff was a mechanic at the time there and I was paired with him doing the repairs for the shop. 

Now, I did not try to do anything special, or different when I started working directly across from Jeff. Just throwing out the usual small talk at first, and then we seemed to hit it off. I said something that made him laugh, and as one does, I found this encouraging. I laughed at his retorts. We found a groove. It was pleasant. Fun even. But I wouldn't have called our initial relationship extraordinary by any stretch. But apparently I was wrong about this.  

About two weeks into working there I was in on a day when Jeff wasn't working. Our boss at the time asked if he could talk to me. I was curious as to what it could be about when suddenly my boss says, "What did you do to Jeff?"

I was shocked and confused until my boss explained that when he and the office staff heard Jeff talking  and then laughing, they were amazed that anyone had gotten him unlocked like that. Apparently Jeff had worked with a few other guys in the shop and was stone cold to them. How was it that I got Jeff to open up? This was what my boss wanted to know. I shrugged my shoulders and said I did not know what it was I did. I was just n=being myself.  

Jeff Kerkove circa 2003 (Image by Paul Buchanan)

So, Jeff apparently took to me and he was never hard to get along with for myself. Our relationship grew as time went on, but it wasn't as if we hung out after work or anything. Heck, Jeff didn't have time for those things. He was training. All. The. Time. 

 

I always have said that Jeff Kerkove was the most disciplined person I have ever met. He had goals and he worked every moment toward them. 'Lazer focused' is a term which gets abused a lot in our culture, but to my mind, Jeff epitomizes this phrase. He is the picture in the dictionary next to "single minded". It paid off too. Jeff was wining 24hr events worldwide. He competed in Canada, Germany, Japan, and all across the United States when I was working with him. He had professional sponsorships with the likes of Giant, Cannondale, Cat Eye, and other cycling brands for years.  

And of course, it was Jeff who propelled myself into blogging here, and into a thing I hadn't any business doing, which was promoting and running a cycling event. It is without question that without Jeff Kerkove, I would still be "just a mechanic" from Iowa who no one would have ever heard about. I wouldn't have made a dent in what became the standard mountain bike wheel size of today. I would have never been feted as a founding father of a style of bicycle racing and riding which has taken over the world. 

What about Jeff? Well...... he never changed. He still is out there winning, doing well, and racing when and where he wants to. Jeff doesn't seem to care about the accolades nor does he need to be in the limelight. But here's the thing: Whenever you hear about gravel riding and racing, and if you think about where it came from, please remember Jeff Kerkove's name 

Please remember he had some hand in making the thing start up and without his influence and resources Trans Iowa would have died in the water. One has to wonder if gravel racing would have ever become a thing had it not gotten off the ground in 2004/2005 when it did. And it did, in large part, due to Jeff Kerkove.  

I owe a huge debt of thanks to Jeff myself. Obviously. So I am biased when it comes to putting his name out there for consideration to be recognized. However; I think it is only right to do so. I will continue to put a shine on him, to give him the respect due to him, as long as I am able when it comes to gravel cycling. 

Thanks Jeff!

The Path To Discovering Gravel Grinding: Part 1

My number plate from the 2006 Dirty Kanza 200

 As gravel grinding in the Modern Era continues into its 3rd decade, I thought it might be interesting to those who weren't a part of those pioneering days of gravel events to read my experiences and thoughts about those times. 

Twenty years ago I signed up for an event in Kansas being put on by two men most folks had never heard of before. Joel Dyke and Jim Cummins were two guys brought together by their mutual love of two-wheeled, off-road fun, and challenging rides. 

Jim came from the moto world and was into mountain biking. Joel was more into whatever cycling hi-jinx he could find, and if he couldn't find it, he created it. Between the two they had forged an interest in a silly gravel road based event in Iowa called Trans Iowa.  

Joel and Jim had been in contact concerning Trans Iowa with Jeff Kerkove. Jeff was the "point man" of Trans Iowa those first few years. Mostly because Jeff was a well-known solo 24hr endurance racer who had a very popular blog at the time. While I was more of an assistant in those days, it meant I wasn't a big part of the communications going back and forth between we Trans Iowa organizers and the organizers of the DK200. I was verbally kept abreast of all of this though since I worked in close proximity to Jeff. Both literally and figuratively!

An image I pulled off an online source on the Flint Hills back in 2006

Joel came up and rode in the first two editions of Trans Iowa and took many ideas back to Kansas for he and Jim to mull over as they were going to put on a similar event in Kansas. They settled on the Flint Hills for this ride which, originally wasn't called "Dirty Kanza", but nearer to their inaugural running of the event, it took on that name. 

It was kind of an unspoken thing back in the very early days of gravel that if you put on an event and another event organizer came to ride in your event, you went and rode in their event as well. It was a sign of solidarity amongst the early gravel event promoters. So, when Jim and Joel announced registration was open for the 2006 Dirty Kanza 200, I signed up.  

While I could have plied questions and received knowledge from the event organizers, due to the circumstances I was in at the time, I did not do this. Being in a gravel event was a completely new idea back in 2006. Everything you were going to do was pulled from other cycling disciplines and when it came to big decisions, like what bicycle to use, it was an unknown to a degree. Mostly because I, and others coming to the first Dirty Kansas, had no idea what the Flint Hills of Kansas was like. 

I was researching online, looking at pictures, reading stories about the grasslands, and getting to know some of the history of the area including the history of earlier peoples who called the Flint Hills home. Especially the history behind the Kanza people.  I actually learned a lot just because I signed up for an event, so it was a good thing besides the cycling bits. 

I eventually decided on riding my then new On One Inbred as a single speed. It would be my first bicycle race in ten years and it would be 200 miles long! (Look....no one said it was a smart decision!) So, you can see why I was a bit concerned and why I was doing a bunch of research. There were chats online in the Endurance Forum of MTBR.com, there were blog posts from fellow cyclists, and I did actually pick Jeff's mind about nutrition and such, since he was a Pro at it.  

It was an exciting time. There were a lot of unknowns, and decisions made were weightier and harder to make back then. In my next post on this, coming up in a week or two, I'll discuss more about what this event meant in terms of the overall nascent gravel scene  

Friday News And Views

Image courtesy of Keith Bontrager's social media.

"First Bontrager bike with a license plate."

  Since the advent of putting electric motors on bicycles, I have posited this idea would evolve into fully electric powered, two-wheeled vehicles. It would appear that Keith Bontrager, now retired, has been tinkering with just such an idea and has published an article on Medium detailing his efforts.

The article is long and essentially takes you from Bontrager's initial thoughts on electrified bicycles through his evolutions in prototyping and finally to a vision for the future which he feels will pull more people out of cars and on to two-wheeled transportation. 

This quote is pretty much the overall philosophy he has regarding pedelecs versus fully motorized two-wheeled vehicles: "An electrically powered bike without the pedals is likely to appeal to a large portion of the population who are not too wild about pedaling a bike around. If pedaling is not important to those folks, why not just remove them. That will reduce cost and complexity, and add useful cargo space."

Comments: I urge you to read Keith's words and caution you that much of it is technical in nature, but will reveal a reality I think is coming. That being the fully-electrified, no-pedaling vehicles with two wheels which will be what people really want. Cyclists will have a hard time with this, yes, but Keith's vision is what will be successful in the end, not restricting electrified two-wheeled vehicles to having to be pedaled.

Image courtesy of Black Mountain cycles

Black Mountain Cycles Reissues Road Frame/Fork:

Five years ago Mike Varley of Black Mountain Cycles discontinued the Road frame and fork from his steel bicycle line.  However; interest in having more made for the Japanese market has sparked a reissuing of the frame and fork in its original colors

The frame and fork can handle 32mm tires with ease, maybe 35's, and has fender mounts. This is a 'true road bike' so only caliper brakes here. The price is tentatively set at $895.00 USD depending on "what the hell" goes on with tariffs. 

You can learn more from the BMC Road page HERE. 

Comments: I usually do not talk much about pure road bicycles here, but I do have two BMC's for gravel and they both have been excellent bicycles. I have seen one of the original BMC Road bikes up close and they look really nice. I've been told they ride even better than they look. For the asking price, this is a killer deal and would be a better bike than whatever aero nonsense bike you can name would be for most riders.

Hmm.... I have an old Colnago which can run wider tires but for the fork I have on it now. This bike would solve my road bike issues and have tires the size I'd actually want to ride.  Very tempting....

Image courtesy of GRVL

GRVL Hydration Packs:

GRVL, a newer name in the market for gravel riding aficionados, has just introduced a new hydration pack for gravel riding. Featuring recycled materials in its construction, the pack is made to allow for ease of use and to provide the usual hydration pack benefit of having a water/hydration fluid available to the rider without reaching down for a water bottle. Many riders say a hydration pack makes them drink more due to the ease of accessibility to their hydration fluids. 

Other benefits and features include:

•  Hydration Bladder Included – Easily removable for convenientfilling and cleaning.

● Tailored Fit – Adjustable shoulder and waist straps with
elasticated sections provide a snug, comfortable fit that
allows for unrestricted movement and breathability.
● Quick-Release Harness – A simple 1-click, 4-point system for
effortless on-and-off functionality.
● Secure Storage – One large zippered compartment for the
hydration bladder and essentials, plus a hanging loop for easy
drying and storage.
● Reflective Detailing – Enhancing visibility for early morning
and late evening rides.

The GRVL Hydration Pack costs approximately $127.00USD depending on tariff situations at the time of ordering.

Comments: Hydration packs have always made a lot of sense for many riders. This version of the idea looks great, is made responsibly, and should work well. One thing - They only offer this to fit "up to" a 44" chest size. Well.....that leaves me out. Also, the I find their lack of vowels.......annoying.

Shimano 100 Works Book:

An incredible gift from a former co-worker and blog reader came on Tuesday of this past week. It is a 'coffee table' book of Shimano's 100 "best" products celebrating 100 years of Shimano's existence back in 2021.

According to my research, which could be wrong, this book was made available by lottery to those who entered to possibly be chosen to purchase one of 100 copies of the book which were published.

In following with the theme of 100, these books originally went for $100.00 dollars each, if you were chosen to buy one. I have seen a few on ebay with higher asking prices, so if you were to want to get one, it is possible, I guess.

I've no idea how my benefactor was able to get a hold of this, but obviously he did and now I have it in my possession. It is pretty humbling to think someone would want to buy this for me.

So, a public "thank you" was necessary and you know who you are who deserves this acknowledgement. Thank you!

Where We Came From:

In case you missed it, another couple of podcasts dropped this week in the "Where We Came From" series which is a podcast and blog post series describing how gravel cycling came to be, who were it's movers and shakers back in the day, and how things were done back then which led to the dominance of gravel cycling we know now in 2025.

On the occasion of Trans Iowa's 20th anniversary, I interviewed Jeff Kerkove, the co-founder of the event and one of the main influencers of how events were done  back then. In this episode you'll get Jeff's remembrances of how the event came together, his background as a cyclist which was important to getting gravel cycling and culture headed in the direction it ultimately went, and his thoughts on Trans Iowa's influence.

That episode can be listened to on Spotify HERE or you can get it on your favorite podcast provider platform. 

Next in the series we were able to corral a local gravel grinding pioneer, Mike Johnson, and get his take on how the early gravel scene worked and what he used to conquer events like Trans Iowa, the DK200, and other events leading up to his successful Tour Divide attempt. 

Mike shared what it was like before there were gravel specific tires, bicycles, and accessories. How nutrition needed to be figured out for ultra-distance events. Things like lighting, mud clearing, and clothing were all unknowns facing these early gravel pioneers and Mike was giving us great examples of these challenges they all faced as gravel grinders.

If you want to give this episode a listen you can check it out on Spotify HERE. 

Both these podcasts also help mark the 20th anniversary of the first Trans Iowa. I could have chosen many others to do this with, but this came together in a hurry and it worked out well for all involved. I suspect others from this era of Trans Iowa and gravel events in general will get their shot at telling their stories as long as we can record them. Stay tuned for more...

That is a wrap on this week! Get out there and ride some bicycles!

I'm Not Sure Why This Took Off

This is a rendering of the first customized header for the blog celebrating 20 years of blogging.

I was recording a podcast recently with The Spinistry's Kevin Lee and after I thanked him for his support of the podcast he stated that he was happy to do so because, as he said of me "...for all of your contributions to gravel cycling....". 

That still blows me away when people speak of me in such a way. Inside the head of Guitar Ted, he still feels as though he is a "regular guy" and is still being amazed that people listen to/read what he has to say. And to be honest, I never thought anyone would care to hear from "Guitar Ted" anyway, but how wrong was I about that?! 

Very wrong!

Taking a look back at the end of 2006, when this blog had barely been around for a year and a half, I can see that things went nuts for me right off the bat. Jeff Kerkove, who pushed me into blogging in the first place, must have been smiling from ear to ear knowing he was right about me. I would never have guessed that anything of the sort would have been happening to me at the end of 2006 if you had asked me about this in May of 2005.

One of the last gravel group ride announcements Jeff Kerkove made.

Ironically it marked the beginning of Jeff's time out of the spotlight. He had been a pretty well known solo 24hr racer. He was sponsored by Giant bicycles, Cannondale, Cat Eye, and Hammer Nutrition at various times in the early 2000's. You don't get two free bikes, lights, and nutrition unless you are making a dent in the bottom line. Either in marketing awareness or actual sales. 

So saying that Jeff was a "big deal" in cycling back then isn't hyperbole. It is a fact. However; Jeff was dabbling for a way to get into the mountains of Colorado, Ergon offered an opportunity to do that with a job, and Jeff took the opportunity and ran with it. 

By the end of 2007 Jeff was pretty much ensconced in all things Ergon and was all but gone from the 24hr racing scene. His timing was impeccable. That was about right when that scene went into a steep decline in popularity. And Jeff did not quit racing. No! Not at all. He just went in a different direction. 

One other thing bears mentioning here is that I credit Jeff with organizing the first gravel group rides that I was ever aware of. One of his clever announcements from his old blog can be seen above. I was fortunate enough to be on that particular ride with he and several other locals here. 

Now, as for me, I went the other way. By the end of 2006 I was onboard with the 29"er site, "Twentynine Inches" as a contributor. I was being promised a salary for my writing, and a possible way out of having to work at a bike shop. In fact, had the original owner of that site not missed his marks, it is quite possible that this blog would have ended in the late 2000's, that I would never had been involved in gravel cycling as deeply as I ended up being, and my expertise and influence would have been limited to the 29" wheel and subsequent innovations coming from that. 

I'm happy that did not happen, by the way! 

What did happen was that a long, drawn out promise, well promises, really, were made to me and then 'poof!' Nothing. I was left with the loose ends and I felt I needed to make amends, because I felt responsible. And right or wrong I ended up turning the ship around with some much needed help from friends and finally was able to cut ties with that site at the end of 2013. It's hard for me to say that "I wish that had never happened" because a lot of great stuff happened and I met so many awesome folks. Maybe things could have gone a little differently, but maybe things happened just how they were supposed to happen. 

I believe it was the latter that is the truth.

Stay tuned for more stories about this blog and what things that it has done in my life, (and maybe yours too) along the way.

Zero To Sixty

 In celebration of the twentieth year of this blog, I have a few tales to tell. This post is one of them. This series will occur off and on throughout this anniversary year, I hope to illuminate some behind-the-scenes stories and highlights from the blog during this time. Enjoy!

The original header for this blog

 Zero To Sixty:

As I ponder where I've been in life over the past twenty years I have to point to this blog as being a big influence on the rudder of my ship. Where I went over these last two decades was heavily influenced by who read the blog and what that helped me to accomplish in life. 

Becoming a part of this group started 20 years ago.

The biggest change in my life, overall, stemming from this blog writing, was two-fold and both things started at the same time. One was obviously gravel related and the other was 29"er wheels for mountain biking. 

In 2024, both of these concepts for cycling are regarded as "normal". Nothing could have been further from the truth twenty years ago. 

Take twentynine inch wheels for mountain biking. They were weird, regarded as a lot less capable than the then entrenched 26 inch wheels, and at best, these wheels were a fad. 

However; a grassroots on-line community believed in the wheels, this spurring on custom bicycle builders, and that garnered enough sales attention to perk up the ears of some marketing folks. Then in 2005 The Rig changed everything. 

Gary Fisher - the man and the bicycle company, had introduced 29"ers as a bike shop available bike in their brand line up as early as 2001. However; it wasn't going well, to say the least, and Trek, the parent company of Gary Fisher Bicycles, was getting impatient. Talk was bubbling up that Trek was going to axe the 29"er line and move on. But then the hybrid "Dual Sport" bikes gave 29"ers some life support with brisk sales. Following that Gary Fisher made a masterstroke decision to unleash a single speed 29"er with a "legitimate fork" in the Rock Shox Reba. They sold like hotcakes and this spurred on the 29"er revolution. (Along with many other folks. I generalize here, of course!)

But going into this blog while that was all going on, and ballyhooing 29"ers like I was, didn't make sense from a "popularity" standpoint. Most folks thought I was a nutcase, ill-informed, and they even labeled me as a "religious zealot" for the big wheels. But I persisted onward and, of course, we all know where 26 inch wheels are now. That said, who'd have thunk it in 2005? Even I am amazed at where we are at today with 29"ers. 

(L-R) Mike Curiak, Dave Kerkove, GT with his back to the camera, T.I.V1

The other thing I became noted for, "Gravel", also started off back in 2005 with my involvement with Trans Iowa. 

Gravel racing? What?!! No one had ever heard about such a thing back in 2005. Well, some folks think that they had heard about it. Some had actually done events on gravel. 

There was the Flint Hills Death Ride, the Colesburg 40, Iron Cross, and other "monster-cross" events. There was a gravel series on MTB's in the late 1980's and early 1990's up in the Decorah area. These were mostly associated with mountain biking, and in the case of monster-cross, with cyclo-cross racing, because there was no other context for this. 

Somehow Trans Iowa, even though Jeff Kerkove, my co-founder of Trans Iowa, tried to frame this as a mountain bike event, wasn't seen in that light. Maybe it was the battle online previous to the first Trans Iowa regarding folks wanting to use any bicycle they wished. (Originally we were going to limit this to MTB's), maybe it was all that gravel. Three hundred-plus miles of it. Maybe it was the point-to-point nature of the first Trans Iowa. 

Whatever "it" was, the difference between what came before Trans Iowa and Trans Iowa, and what came afterward, was the perception of the event. Amongst those who knew about Trans Iowa and other  gravel events which came afterward, it was more about "something else" and not MTB. This became even more entrenched in 2006 at the second Trans Iowa. The whole "MTB" thing wasn't a thing anymore, unlike what had occurred previously, which were events primarily perceived of as MTB events by their contemporaries, but held on gravel or unpaved roads. As an example, there was a time when it was "an MTB event held on gravel", but after Trans Iowa it was "people using MTB's at Gravel events".

There is a reason events like the Flint Hills Death Ride, Iron Cross, and the Colesburg Back Forty are considered "gravel events" today, and that is because perceptions changed, and that all started with Trans Iowa. That first Trans Iowa event influenced a lot of other events that called themselves 'gravel' events, and that in turn started another revolution in cycling. Here we are today, with "Gravel" racing being at, arguably, the pinnacle of bicycle racing in North America now. Again - who'd have thunk it in 2005? 

So, this blog has taken me from a nobody bicycle mechanic in a Mid-Western town, to a Hall of Fame and recognition I never thought I would get, nor did I seek out, when I started the blog. It all went to a speed in 2005 that I found shocking.  

Trans Iowa v1 start. I'm leading out the racers in the van. A start to a journey I am still on today.

Of course, Trans Iowa happened a half a month ahead of the start of this blog, but I was already guest-posting on Jeff's blog by the end of 2004. So, I count that bit as well when it comes to my journey so far. I guess if you really wanted to be picky about things, I already have completed most of my 20th year of blogging at this point. But I draw the line at the beginning of this blog for timing.

The speed at which all this happened I attribute to the online blogging community in 2005 and to various online sites for 29"ers, but primarily mtbr.com, which for all intents and purposes was the clearing house for online cycling chatting back in the day. Had I started this blog even a year or two later than I did, I think I wouldn't be where I am at today at all. So, it was the timing, and the speed at which this happened on the blog that really mattered to where I am today. 

That's it for this look back. I'll have more in the coming weeks and months to check back on regarding the 20th Anniversary of this blog. Thanks for reading!

This Wasn't My Idea....

In celebration of the twentieth year of this blog, I have a few tales to tell. This post is one of them. This series will occur off and on throughout this anniversary year, I hope to illuminate some behind-the-scenes stories and highlights from the blog during this time. Enjoy!

The Influencer:

The entire existence of this blog really hinges upon one individual, and that person is not me! I was, as they might say now, pushed into this gig by an "Influencer" from the internet. 

Influencers. Those personalities that companies will flock to because their social media content is followed by a large number of people that are "influenced" by their content. The "social media" in this instance was a blog. There wasn't really anything else you might call "social media" back in 2005. 

There were "chat rooms". Remember those? There were niche sites where comment threads were commonplace. "Forums", as they are referred to, were really where the discourse happened back then across the internet. The person that influenced me was also a big draw on a specific forum on mtbr.com's Endurance Forum. His name? Jeff Kerkove.

Jeff Kerkove, circa 2004, clowing up for the camera at work.

I knew Jeff better than most at the time because I had the privilege to work beside him from late 2002 to early 2007. For most of that time we were both shop mechanics at a local bike shop called Europa Cycle and Ski. He worked on one side of a Park repair stand, I on the other. It was inevitable that we would get to know one another at that time.

Our lives could not have been more different. I was a good dozen years his senior in age. I had a family and with two young children, I was very busy with that part of my life. Jeff was fresh out of college, single, and very very driven. His main focus was on training for, and participating in 24hr solo mtb races. 

He had a blog which detailed his training regimen, nutrition, and tactics in regard to racing. This blog ended up becoming quite popular and Jeff was fielding questions about his training and racing on a near daily basis back then. It didn't take long for sponsors to come around, and Jeff was excellent at landing more backers to help him in his quest for 24hr racing dominance. 

Meanwhile, here I was having near daily banter with Jeff while we toiled over hybrid bikes and creaky bottom brackets. I seemed to hit it off with Jeff right away, despite our differences. In fact, after the first few weeks of working with Jeff, I was approached by our boss on a day when Jeff wasn't there. He wanted to know what it was I was doing in regard to Jeff. How was it that I was able to "make him laugh" and have conversation with him, because my boss told me that no one had been able to crack him yet. 

Jeff had worked at the bike shop through college, and no one had really gotten to know him, or have animated banter with him like I was able to do. Why that was is anyone's guess. Only Jeff could really illuminate that for us all. But the fact remained that - for whatever reasons - I was the one Jeff seemed to open up to at work. 

Jeff at the GCHoF Group Ride in Emporia, Kansas 2023.

Jeff seemed to think I had a good amount of knowledge regarding cycling and he thought I was 'funny and interesting" enough that others should have the opportunity to get to know me as well. It was around late 2004 when Jeff started insisting that I should start a blog like he had. 

I scoffed at the idea. Me? Who cares about what I have to say? Jeff was, well......a racer. People respected his accomplishments and saw value in his knowledge of training, race tactics, and athlete sponsorship. People wanted to know what Jeff had to say. His blog was a requisite morning stop for many cyclists. Me? No one had ever heard of me. Why would anyone read a blog I wrote?

But blogs were a 'thing' yet in 2004 and 2005. A lot of cyclists had a blog then because there wasn't really anywhere else one could express themselves and their activities. Now? Well now you've got two dozen ways to do that. But back then? Blogging was it. Jeff thought I should join in the fun. He kept insisting I start a blog. He even allowed me to write posts on his blog starting in 2004. Then we cooked up Trans Iowa and that forced me to communicate via Jeff's blog as that was how we presented ideas in longer form than the Trans Iowa blog allowed for due to its format. 

Then post-Trans Iowa Jeff really started twisting my arm to do this blog. He even helped me format the first version of this blog. He taught me how to do a few things, and then, well.... You know the rest of the story. The point is, without Jeff Kerkove being in my life at that time I would never have doine what I have done in regard to cycling. 

Thanks Jeff!

Rear View 2023: Summer

 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 2024 near the end of the month. Enjoy the look back and thanks for reading Guitar Ted Productions!  

Note; Throughout December there will be a lot of double-post days. Scroll back to make sure you haven't missed anything!

Right off the bat it was time to go to Emporia, Kansas to do the whole Gravel Cycling Hall of Fame induction, and specifically, a "Hall of Fame  Ride" where some of us were going to ride out to meet another group that was riding in from Lawrence, Kansas. I took the pink BMC MCD bike, but more importantly, I took Mrs. Guitar Ted along with me. 

I almost never have mixed my "gravel life" with the rest of my life, but I thought that this would be a good time for Mrs. Guitar Ted to see why people have made such a fuss about me and have put me in a hall of fame. So, we traveled down there with the intentions that she could do some exploring and whatever on her own while I did this ride deal. then we'd go to the induction, the after-party, and then on home. the next day. 

But once again, plans never turn out the way that you think they will. There was a big storm on one of the nights out for the Lawerence cycling group, so they bailed on the plans to stay at a remote campground and came straight to Emporia. That meant we did not have to meet anyone to go on this ride. The itinerary changed to that of being more of a group ride with a short course South of the town. This may or may not have caused a certain chance meeting between old friends.

I never would have guessed that after a decade or more I'd meet Jeff Kerkove on Commercial Street in Emporia Kansas!

I ran into my co-conspirator in Trans Iowa, my old co-worker at the bike shop, and long-lost friend, Jeff Kerkove on the street in Emporia as he had decided to show up for the Hall of Fame Ride. He was in town for the upcoming demo and race happening that week and weekend. Of course, I am speaking of Unbound. 

And what is more, I actually got to ride with Jeff again, which hadn't happened in probably fifteen years or more. So, we actually had a nice chat, and it was great to reconnect with him after all this time, and especially over a gravel event. An event which we influenced the beginning of. Kind of surreal when I think about that.....

I also was a guest on the "Gravel Family Podcast"

Anyway, the evening was fun and I think Mrs. Guitar Ted had fun meeting all the gravel crazies. The next day we were thinking about breakfast and a trip home, but then I was offered the chance to be interviewed by the hosts of the "Gravel Family Podcast", so that happened. 

This was right on Commercial Street and it was beginning to become a scene due to all the hoopla surrounding Unbound. I wasn't sad to leave, I'll be honest, because that event has grown to become a beast. Just too big - too much. Not my bag. 

Anyway, we came back from there to a spat of rain, but then it was pretty much a month of wild fire smoke. Somehow I got a few rides in, when the air cleared out on rare occasions, but I know I missed a ton of riding opportunities due to the smoke.

Once July kicked into gear we had a round of rainy days again, and I was a bit put out because we had missed so much of the riding time we normally get due to the smoke, and now rain. But I shouldn't have been cross about it because it was the last good rains we got for the rest of the year. This drought has been brutal here and we still aren't out of it yet as I write this. 

Checking the air quality monitor was an everyday thing here for about a month or so.

 July went then to a very dry, dusty scene and riding commenced again as I had the opportunities. reviewing stuff was in high gear again, and I had a few plans for some bigger rides. Only one of which ever happened. One was thwarted when Mrs. Guitar Ted had a flat tire I needed to fix, but that was probably good, since it was about 100° that day anyway. The other one I had planned did happen. That was in August when I got back to doing the 2020 GTDR ride route again. 

Gathering bikes for the Cedar Valley Bicycle Collective on a hot, smoky day.

The effects of the drought were severe. This was taken in late August near LaPorte City Iowa.

That attempt at the Guitar Ted Death Ride was a success but a modified one due to construction which sent me off-course and on to roads I was unfamiliar with. That actually made the ride more fun, to be honest. So, with 80+ miles there, that ride turned out to be the longest of 2023. 

I was hopeful that now that we had no wildfire smoke and the rains had ceased that I would get that last big ride in during September, but we will see how that panned out in the next Rear View.

Next: Fall

Friday News And Views

Image courtesy of 45NRTH

 45NRTH Announces New Latkat Winter Tire:

Last week 45NRTH released news of a new 700 X 40mm non-studded road tire for wet Winter conditions. Dubbed "Latkat", the tire features a rubber compound that 45NRTH is calling "Gripkraft" which is said to enhance grip on wet pavement. 

The tread is also heavily siped for better gripping on slick surfaces. The tire features bead-to-bead puncture protection and is also tubeless ready. 

The Latkat costs $70.00 USD and is available online or at 45NRTH dealers. See more about this tire HERE. 

Comments: This reminds me a lot of "Blizzak" car tires. (IYKYK) I'd think that these might also work okay as a gravel Winter tire, but I also know that ice on gravel is weird and I would rather run studs because of that. Your mileage may vary.

As a commuter tire in the city? I get it. However; there are really decent gravel tires that do a pretty good job at this already, so the LatKat would have to show significant snow and ice performance bennies before I'd spend the bucks on a set. Seventy a pop isn't all that bad though, so if you haven't got a tire for Winter, and studs seem like overkill, this could be a great solution.

The Guitar Ted Podcast Episode #32:

We're back again with another episode, this time featuring several interesting subjects. N.Y. Roll and I ramble on from the Gravel Cycling Hall of Fame noms, which are open now through December 1st, by the way, to industry troubles and we even talk cameras at one point. 

The title is from a quote by N.Y. Roll where he says at one point during the episode, "Are we seeing the end of the Age of Gravel?", which I thought was an interesting question. 

While we don't answer that in the episode, I think that we are at a point right now where that is a fair question to ask. Gravel™ has "peaked", in my opinion, especially in the rider's viewpoint, and media has already reached a point where "gravel" is everything and besides Pro roadie stuff, which has always been the cycling media's darling, those are primarily the two subjects that dominate their coverage on their sites. 

People are sick of it all and that's usually the beginning of the end for many disciplines of cycling. The thing is, what's next? I don't see it being a resurgence of road racing, although the websites and YouTube media wonks are sure pushing that narrative hard. Especially in terms of the Women's Pro events. The thing is, road cycling, as a participatory sport, is a death wish in the USA. The "Lance Effect" isn't going to happen again, and especially with the advent of electrified, assisted bicycles. 

So, until a viable, grassroots based type of cycling emerges, we're probably going to be stuck with this "gravel thing" a while longer.

Triple D 2024 Registration Open:

Triple D, the Winter endurance race, is going to occur on January 13th, 2024. This event runs out of Dubuque, Iowa and traverses parts of the Driftless Area and utilizes the heritage Trail as parts of its 70 mile course. 

Riders can choose a half distance of 35 miles or an untimed, fun ride of 17 miles as well. Runners are also a part of Triple D and can choose several distances also. 

Event headquarters for the bike part of the event will be at 7 Hills Event Center just off HWY 151 in downtown Dubuque. Registration is $75.00 for the full distance and you can sign up HERE. 

Comments: I have participated in this event on three occasions and I can recommend it highly. Conditions can be brutal or difficult in several ways, so don't take this one lightly. In my three years of doing the event we had sub-zero temperature starts, copious amounts of snow, and on one occasion ice was a big factor, sending me skittering off the Heritage Trail into the ditch head-first! 

This is a long-running event in Iowa and the cycling part was taking place before fat bikes were commercially available. That said, a fat bike is recommended although I have seen people tackle this on mountain bikes and one year a guy showed up on a cross bike! 

Pinched from Instagram

Jeff Kerkove Finishes Another Ultra:

So, if you are not familiar, Jeff Kerkove and I worked for a few years side by side as mechanics at a bike shop where we concocted the idea for this gravel event called "Trans Iowa". Then gravel became a thing. That was back almost 20 years ago now. 

So, while I stuck around and forged ahead with the gravel race and riding stuff, Jeff moved to Colorado, got a job at Ergon USA, and continued his mountain biking while doing well and winning long distance events. 

He still works for Ergon, who are based in Germany. While on a business trip to the home office Jeff noted that there was an event in Morocco where he had already ridden in an ultra earlier in the year. It is called Bikingman Origine Ultra X Morocco. The course was a mixture of pavement and gravel.

Jeff had to ride 638 miles and he did it in 61 hours and change coming in 4th overall and 3rd place Mens. So, congratulations to Jeff! What an amazing ride in an amazing country. 

Jeff kind of "live-blogged" his journey on Instagram and he was saying that he thought a lot of the riders were "under-biked" having more road biking gearing, not much storage, and "slammed stems". he finished off the description by saying "...you know the type.", which made me chuckle. Roadies! Jeff has always had the tiniest bit of disdain for the overall stereotype of a roadie. You know....him being a dirty mountain biker and all. Ha! 

This really reminded of 2004-2005 when Jeff was killing it at solo 24hr races and riding the roadie group ride here on his MTB on the shoulder and keeping pace with the group. It was great training, obviously, and a thumbing of the nose to the local road riders at the same time. Good times!

That's it for this week. Have a great weekend and ride those bikes if you can.

Does The Color Of Your Shoes Matter?

The Udogg Distanza in Ash Grey

 I've been meaning to write about this for over a month now, (and maybe I have but I've forgotten), but here you go. Thoughts on color for footwear. 

See, when I was riding with Jeff Kerkove at the beginning of June, I was making fun of him for wearing white shoes for a gravel race. "White shoes?!, I said with a wry grin, "That's not going to look very good after a muddy race!"

Jeff replied that he'd rather have ugly looking shoes than wear black that typically causes his feet to get hot in Summer-time humidity and Sun. 

"Oh!....... I see...."

I was being a smarty-pants and well, Jeff was just being smart. 

Typical. Anyway, this got me to thinking, was I wearing the wrong color shoes? And so I started looking around at gravel shoes and well, most of them are black. Yeah.....There are some other colors here and there, but for the most part, black is the shoe color for gravel. I have two pair of shoes that are not black and they are both Shimano special edition colors. I have one pair of MTB shoes that are not black, they are actually a bright blue, but they are heavier than I'd like. So, I don't have anything that is light colored or white. Would that actually make any difference? 

I may not ever know because I don't do road shoes for gravel and well, white gravel shoes are weird. maybe "rare" is a better word choice. Either way, white gravel shoes, while they might make a difference, is something I probably will not get a chance to discover the truth about. 

Maybe what I need is "gravel colored" gravel shoes. Ha!

Does The Color Of Your Shoes Matter?

The Udogg Distanza in Ash Grey

 I've been meaning to write about this for over a month now, (and maybe I have but I've forgotten), but here you go. Thoughts on color for footwear. 

See, when I was riding with Jeff Kerkove at the beginning of June, I was making fun of him for wearing white shoes for a gravel race. "White shoes?!, I said with a wry grin, "That's not going to look very good after a muddy race!"

Jeff replied that he'd rather have ugly looking shoes than wear black that typically causes his feet to get hot in Summer-time humidity and Sun. 

"Oh!....... I see...."

I was being a smarty-pants and well, Jeff was just being smart. 

Typical. Anyway, this got me to thinking, was I wearing the wrong color shoes? And so I started looking around at gravel shoes and well, most of them are black. Yeah.....There are some other colors here and there, but for the most part, black is the shoe color for gravel. I have two pair of shoes that are not black and they are both Shimano special edition colors. I have one pair of MTB shoes that are not black, they are actually a bright blue, but they are heavier than I'd like. So, I don't have anything that is light colored or white. Would that actually make any difference? 

I may not ever know because I don't do road shoes for gravel and well, white gravel shoes are weird. maybe "rare" is a better word choice. Either way, white gravel shoes, while they might make a difference, is something I probably will not get a chance to discover the truth about. 

Maybe what I need is "gravel colored" gravel shoes. Ha!

Randomonium

 NOTE: Okay folks, if you haven't been around long enough here to know what a "Randomonium" post is, then here is the deal. I ramble, rant, and randomly moan about all things cycling in one, incohesive, bizarre post. "Randomonium", okay?

Jeff Kerkove Speaks:

Over the years since November 2004 when the idea of Trans Iowa was hatched, Jeff Kerkove has not had a lot to say about the event, its influence, or my participation in Trans Iowa for 14 years. Not that he had to say anything at all, but I always thought it was curious that he did not lay some claim to coming up with the idea that helped to spark a movement in cycling that has changed just about everything. 

After our ride together last week, Jeff broke his silence regarding Trans Iowa, his part of gravel events, and my part in the gravel scene, in a Facebook post. I'll reserve comment until after his quote:

"I am a firm believer that Mark Stevenson and myself are the catapult of the modern day gravel movement. It was all because of Trans-Iowa, which was a good bad idea hatched while wrenching on bikes one afternoon at Europa Cycle and Ski in Cedar Falls, Iowa. Without Trans-Iowa there likely never would have been Unbound Gravel as well as the first mass produced gravel bike(s) from Salsa Cycles. While I only had my hand in Trans-Iowa for around 4 years prior to taking my job with Ergon Bike, Mark kept its momentum rolling forward for over a decade - earning that much deserved Gravel Cycling Hall of Fame spot. Most of you reading this now know what “gravel” in the bike universe has become.

Today, for the first time in like 16 years, Mark and I got to pedal some gravel together in Emporia, KS at the Gravel Hall of Fame shake-out ride. All the warm-fuzzies were felt seeing what that good bad idea has become over the last 20ish years. No one ever would have imagined 5000+ people from all over the world would be coming to Kansas in June to ride gravel farm roads "

I cannot say that I disagree with him here. It is kind of weird to have finally read his opinion of things, but I am grateful that he feels that way because I've always felt Jeff had a hand in this deal. I don't like taking any credit for things as they have shaken out, but besides Jeff, I had two other people literally pointing a finger at me and telling me I was responsible for what was happening in Emporia and beyond last week. Like emphatically shaking their index finger at me and underscoring the "fact" that I was responsible, and one of those people was a bar owner in Emporia! 

Color me humbled. And THANK YOU Jeff! 

Bike Shops In Turmoil:

Following the retail situation for bicycle shops reveals a tale of two extremes. on the one hand, service work seems to be coming in at a higher rate than pre-pandemic days. I have heard and read about mechanic shortages, overwhelming repair schedules, and good labor sales overall. However; the overstocked conditions which are plaguing the sector of retail bicycle sales is still a big problem. 

Trek and Specialized are still trying to dump off inventory and I would not be surprised if that is not the case with most brands. Distributors are also seen doing sales yet which would indicate to me that stock levels are crazy high at places which are servicing the retail bicycle trade. 

As a side effect this situation is going to delay new product introductions, which was evident at Unbound, where a lot of people were expecting to learn about new products for gravel, but the only notable thing that occurred was a "leak" of the new 12spd Shimano GRX, which wasn't really an introduction either. 

A You Tuber I watch who is located in Florida stated that there are a lot of shops in trouble, some even to the point of going out of business due to lackluster sales and too much inventory in stock. Interesting days to be sure.

Skies full of Canadian wildfire smoke as seen in Iowa.

Unwanted Canadian Import:

There have been more than a handful of days this year that I have chosen not to ride due to wildfire smoke. Smoke that is emanating out of Canada has polluted our air. You wouldn't think that smoke from something burning over a thousand miles away would cause me to not ride, but....

This stuff burns my eyes and stinks in my nostrils. It cannot be a good thing to be breathing. heck, as I type this I can smell the smoke inside my home. 

Look Canada, I like some of your imports. Canadian bacon, hockey, maybe even Brian Adams, but this smoke thing has got to be stopped. This is ridiculous. The first no-wind day in weeks and the skies are full of your acrid smoke. Bah! It drives me crazy...

My schedule is hard enough to deal with and now this? take your smoke back, Canada! I don't like it. But seriously, this is a major issue this year, and we typically do not have to deal with wildfire smoke. Hopefully this ends soon for all concerned.

Randomonium

 NOTE: Okay folks, if you haven't been around long enough here to know what a "Randomonium" post is, then here is the deal. I ramble, rant, and randomly moan about all things cycling in one, incohesive, bizarre post. "Randomonium", okay?

Jeff Kerkove Speaks:

Over the years since November 2004 when the idea of Trans Iowa was hatched, Jeff Kerkove has not had a lot to say about the event, its influence, or my participation in Trans Iowa for 14 years. Not that he had to say anything at all, but I always thought it was curious that he did not lay some claim to coming up with the idea that helped to spark a movement in cycling that has changed just about everything. 

After our ride together last week, Jeff broke his silence regarding Trans Iowa, his part of gravel events, and my part in the gravel scene, in a Facebook post. I'll reserve comment until after his quote:

"I am a firm believer that Mark Stevenson and myself are the catapult of the modern day gravel movement. It was all because of Trans-Iowa, which was a good bad idea hatched while wrenching on bikes one afternoon at Europa Cycle and Ski in Cedar Falls, Iowa. Without Trans-Iowa there likely never would have been Unbound Gravel as well as the first mass produced gravel bike(s) from Salsa Cycles. While I only had my hand in Trans-Iowa for around 4 years prior to taking my job with Ergon Bike, Mark kept its momentum rolling forward for over a decade - earning that much deserved Gravel Cycling Hall of Fame spot. Most of you reading this now know what “gravel” in the bike universe has become.

Today, for the first time in like 16 years, Mark and I got to pedal some gravel together in Emporia, KS at the Gravel Hall of Fame shake-out ride. All the warm-fuzzies were felt seeing what that good bad idea has become over the last 20ish years. No one ever would have imagined 5000+ people from all over the world would be coming to Kansas in June to ride gravel farm roads "

I cannot say that I disagree with him here. It is kind of weird to have finally read his opinion of things, but I am grateful that he feels that way because I've always felt Jeff had a hand in this deal. I don't like taking any credit for things as they have shaken out, but besides Jeff, I had two other people literally pointing a finger at me and telling me I was responsible for what was happening in Emporia and beyond last week. Like emphatically shaking their index finger at me and underscoring the "fact" that I was responsible, and one of those people was a bar owner in Emporia! 

Color me humbled. And THANK YOU Jeff! 

Bike Shops In Turmoil:

Following the retail situation for bicycle shops reveals a tale of two extremes. on the one hand, service work seems to be coming in at a higher rate than pre-pandemic days. I have heard and read about mechanic shortages, overwhelming repair schedules, and good labor sales overall. However; the overstocked conditions which are plaguing the sector of retail bicycle sales is still a big problem. 

Trek and Specialized are still trying to dump off inventory and I would not be surprised if that is not the case with most brands. Distributors are also seen doing sales yet which would indicate to me that stock levels are crazy high at places which are servicing the retail bicycle trade. 

As a side effect this situation is going to delay new product introductions, which was evident at Unbound, where a lot of people were expecting to learn about new products for gravel, but the only notable thing that occurred was a "leak" of the new 12spd Shimano GRX, which wasn't really an introduction either. 

A You Tuber I watch who is located in Florida stated that there are a lot of shops in trouble, some even to the point of going out of business due to lackluster sales and too much inventory in stock. Interesting days to be sure.

Skies full of Canadian wildfire smoke as seen in Iowa.

Unwanted Canadian Import:

There have been more than a handful of days this year that I have chosen not to ride due to wildfire smoke. Smoke that is emanating out of Canada has polluted our air. You wouldn't think that smoke from something burning over a thousand miles away would cause me to not ride, but....

This stuff burns my eyes and stinks in my nostrils. It cannot be a good thing to be breathing. heck, as I type this I can smell the smoke inside my home. 

Look Canada, I like some of your imports. Canadian bacon, hockey, maybe even Brian Adams, but this smoke thing has got to be stopped. This is ridiculous. The first no-wind day in weeks and the skies are full of your acrid smoke. Bah! It drives me crazy...

My schedule is hard enough to deal with and now this? take your smoke back, Canada! I don't like it. But seriously, this is a major issue this year, and we typically do not have to deal with wildfire smoke. Hopefully this ends soon for all concerned.

Country Views: Gravel Cycling Hall of Fame Ride

Escape Route: 18th Ave NW, Emporia, Kansas

The Gravel Cycling Hall of Fame Ride was one of the things I most looked forward to about our trip. It is the reason we left to get to Emporia, (Mrs. Guitar Ted and I) on Tuesday. I won't bore you with the trip down details. It was a mundane 6.5 hr drive. I tell ya this much - I'm getting to the point where I don't like sitting in a car for that long. 

But I did it for this, and I am really happy about that. I saw a lot of folks I haven't seen in a long time. Some for a really long time. 

So, anyway, the ride! It was a ride that was kind of a strange one in that we were to meet a ride in progress and escort those riders back to Emporia. That ride we were to meet, loosely known as the "Gravitude Ride", started in Lawrence Kansas at Sunflower Bikes, led by their owner, Hall of Famer, (or "GCHoF'er - pronounced "geechoff'er" ) Dan Hughes. 

The ride was to start out for me in front of Merchant Cycles, (formerly Gravel City Adventures), at 11:00am. I figured that if I left my motel room, which was at the far Northwestern part of Emporia, at 10:00am or slightly afterward, I would have plenty of time to get there. I took the pink BMC for this one, and wore a Summertime kit which was appropriate for the high 80's-low 90's that was forecast for the ride. 

I arrived in front of the bike shop and saw someone I have not seen in probably more than a decade.

A clue as to who I saw.....

My Trans Iowa co-founder! Jeff Kerkove!

So, Jeff was in town for the big gravel expo and the event. He was pretty sure he was doing the 200, but.... If it rains..... (And it appears that will be the case.) Maybe not, but we will see. Anyway, that was the least of our concerns at the time. I had a nice long chat before the start of the event, and I actually spent some time chatting on the road with him as well. What a great surprise! I could have left and gone home with that being enough, but there was more!

Gravel Worlds promoter and GCHoF Board member, Jason Strobehn was the ride leader.

Riding out on Commercial Street.

My brother from another mother, MG was there too! I haven't seen him in so long! This was already an awesome ride and we hadn't even left town yet! Well, that time came, finally, and after Gravel Worlds and "geechof" board member Jason Strobehn called us to order, we rolled out of town on Commercial Street.

I got early twenty-teens DK200 vibes as the 50-ish riders rolled out down the street. I remember the first year the DK did this and while it would have been darker, with less cars around, I felt like I was rolling back in time a bit there. Especially with Corey, "Cornbread" Godfrey rolling along beside me, just like in 2010! I couldn't believe it. Yeah, I was having a good time already.

MAJOR props to this duo who did the entire ride.

What a wonderful sight to behold.

I had no idea where we were headed, but it was relayed to us at the start that the planned meet-up with the other riders was now not happening. They had planned to overnight at a campground near a lake Northwest of Emporia, but that evening it rained so hard that their encampment was flooded out and they all bailed out of the place and roomed up in Emporia instead. So they joined us for the ride and the distance was cut short accordingly. The route? Not even some of the ride leaders knew where we were going! 

I think that's awesome in these days of pre-planned, curated, GPS filed routes. We just had to trust to whomever had the "plan" and our job was just to stay upright and have fun.

I took this blind, over the shoulder shot, and look at who was sucking my wheel!

That's MG in the PCL jersey to the right there.

We stopped at Rocky Ford Bridge, or "Bird Bridge" as it is known by some. It is on one of the old DK200 "Route Challenge" routes and is a "beginner level" route. I didn't know this until we stopped at the bridge for a photo op with new GCHoF'ers, Allison Tetrick and Yuri Hauswald. There was some chatter about "murder ordained" and then I vaguely recalled the route being named something like that from years past. But that wasn't a big deal. It was just fun to stop and celebrate the new GCHoF members and then we were off again. 

2023 GCHoF inductees Yuri Hauswald (L) and Allison Tetrick (R)

The Flint Hills are all about cattle and feeding them the rich prairie grasses.

Leaving the bridge provided the only real climbing in this route and it wasn't too much of a burden to keep up even though we don't have that steep of a climb near where I live in Waterloo in the country. I'd have to go to Tama County for that. I gotta get down that way soon...

Of course there was a minimum maintenance road on the route!

The ride ended by coming back into Emporia on the road it left for the ride on. In all, it was a 13 mile loop, plus whatever I rode to get down there. When I was finished I chatted with a few folks, including the "Bike Monkey", who I know from Twitter, and Mike "Kid" Reimer from Salsa Cycles. 

Then I got ahold of Mrs. Guitar Ted, and we went and got some lunch. We chilled out for a bit and then we got dressed up for a night out at the GCHoF inductions ceremonies and after party. 

Stay tuned for that report next......