Rear View 2018: Fall And The Remainder Of 2018

Dreams of Fall single tracking were drowned in copious amounts of rain.

After all the gravel events things calmed down quite a bit and nothing big was happening.

Fall came in and looked pretty spectacular for a while. The Fall colors looked like they were going to peak about the right time and they looked to be better than they had been in years. However; heavy rains came in, we got flooding off and on for most of October, and the single tracking dreams were drowned in murky backwaters.

Meanwhile I had to squeeze in whatever riding I could get on gravel roads. That wasn't all bad, by the way, and the fun rides piled up. Health came back. The legs started working again. I was having some fun again on the bike. A special ride for a co-workers wife on gravel was one of the Fall highlights for me.

Later on I was working with local rider, N.Y. Roll on two events. First was the Iowa Gravel Expo/Bike Party, and then the other was a gravel road race event we dubbed "Creatures Of Gravel", or C.O.G. and it was to be a 100 mile route. Then I figured why not make it a State Championship, and then to further make the weirdness, why not require every rider that chooses to participate use a single speed device? Yeah......why not. 

The recon was done after a bit of early season snow in November and the route looked great to us. It was a teeny bit more than a 100 miles, but......hey! Bonus miles for the money, right? Then after that settled down it seemed like the RidingGravel.com site work picked up and all kinds of irons got in the fire, keeping me pretty busy right through the end of the year.

Riding gravel roads with almost zero single track ended finally when in November everything froze solid and we could finally get out in the woods again. Then, of course, the weather warmed up in December and whatta ya know? We end the year riding in mud or back to the gravel roads. Weird!

And that brings us to the end of the Rear View for the year. Thanks for reading!

Rear View 2018: Fall And The Remainder Of 2018

Dreams of Fall single tracking were drowned in copious amounts of rain.

After all the gravel events things calmed down quite a bit and nothing big was happening.

Fall came in and looked pretty spectacular for a while. The Fall colors looked like they were going to peak about the right time and they looked to be better than they had been in years. However; heavy rains came in, we got flooding off and on for most of October, and the single tracking dreams were drowned in murky backwaters.

Meanwhile I had to squeeze in whatever riding I could get on gravel roads. That wasn't all bad, by the way, and the fun rides piled up. Health came back. The legs started working again. I was having some fun again on the bike. A special ride for a co-workers wife on gravel was one of the Fall highlights for me.

Later on I was working with local rider, N.Y. Roll on two events. First was the Iowa Gravel Expo/Bike Party, and then the other was a gravel road race event we dubbed "Creatures Of Gravel", or C.O.G. and it was to be a 100 mile route. Then I figured why not make it a State Championship, and then to further make the weirdness, why not require every rider that chooses to participate use a single speed device? Yeah......why not. 

The recon was done after a bit of early season snow in November and the route looked great to us. It was a teeny bit more than a 100 miles, but......hey! Bonus miles for the money, right? Then after that settled down it seemed like the RidingGravel.com site work picked up and all kinds of irons got in the fire, keeping me pretty busy right through the end of the year.

Riding gravel roads with almost zero single track ended finally when in November everything froze solid and we could finally get out in the woods again. Then, of course, the weather warmed up in December and whatta ya know? We end the year riding in mud or back to the gravel roads. Weird!

And that brings us to the end of the Rear View for the year. Thanks for reading!

Rear View 2018: The Images

Last year I did a retrospective of my favorite images of the year. I liked it......not sure anyone else did! But I wanted to gather my top images, voted on by myself, and share them. No more than 12, no less than 10. Here we go......

Winter of 2018

Spring 2018

Spring 2018 (yes- chronologically after the above image!)

Summer 2018

Summer 2018: Rider- Joe Hackenmiller

Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitational

24hrs of Cumming

Gravel Worlds

Fall 2018

Fall 2018

Fall 2018

My number one favorite photo of 2018 from the last Trans Iowa. 

That's a pictorial overview of my 2018. Hope that you enjoyed that. 

Rear View 2018: The Images

Last year I did a retrospective of my favorite images of the year. I liked it......not sure anyone else did! But I wanted to gather my top images, voted on by myself, and share them. No more than 12, no less than 10. Here we go......

Winter of 2018

Spring 2018

Spring 2018 (yes- chronologically after the above image!)

Summer 2018

Summer 2018: Rider- Joe Hackenmiller

Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitational

24hrs of Cumming

Gravel Worlds

Fall 2018

Fall 2018

Fall 2018

My number one favorite photo of 2018 from the last Trans Iowa. 

That's a pictorial overview of my 2018. Hope that you enjoyed that. 

Rear View 2018: Pink MCD & GTDRI

The Bubblegum Princess on its maiden voyage.

Mid-Summer brought two notable events in my life. The first was an addition to the stable which replaced my old Twin Six Standard Rando. It was the Black Mountain Cycles "MCD" model which was renamed by my daughter as the "Bubblegum Princess".

FYI: This will serve as a "Bikes Of 2018" post:

This ended up transforming from a "hope that it is as good as the old BMC I have is", to "Wow! This thing is awesome!" in a big hurry after I rode it the first time. The fit, which I had researched from my other bikes and transposed to the BMC, was spot on. I haven't tweaked a thing since the day it was built. That's very odd for me. 

Besides the obvious pink bit, the bike was kitted out in carbon from Irwin Cycling (wheels) and Whiskey Components (Handle bar, seat post). It has a new Shimano CX series crank with 46/36 gearing and an 11 speed cassette with 11-36T spread. The rear derailleur is a Shimano Ultegra. (Yes- it isn't supposed to work. Hint: It's perfect) That gives me one 1 to 1 gear and usually that's plenty low enough. It's what we had on our old loaded touring bikes as a lowest gear, and that always got me where I needed to go.

The tires are WTB Riddler 45's on there now, but I have run 650B X 47's and in a while it will be back to 700c X 42mm wheels and tires using my all-time favorite tires- the WTB Resolutes. Otherwise, no changes in the near future for this rig.

I really, really wanted to ride this bike on my GTDRI ride, but responsibilities to RidingGravel.com testing prevented that choice. This would bite me in the you-know-where for most of the rest of 2018.

That be MG wearing his fresh DKXL jersey. Kyle Platts on the right here. 2018 GTDRI.

The second big deal of Mid-Summer was my annual Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitational, (GTDRI) which happened on a hot day in late July. It was a big turnout- 25 riders total- and it turned out to be quite a hoot. I think that locally it was something that eventually turned on a lot of riders to Tama County gravel riding. That's a good thing.

I was stoked to have all who came, but was really grateful to MG for making the trip from Lincoln, Nebraska. I also was glad to see local rider Jeremy Fry return to this ride after skipping it a couple of years.

But as I stated above, the bike I was testing and reviewing for Riding Gravel had a 1X set up and I had issues with the bike getting into the lowest three cogs, as in it wouldn't shift into them. That left me pushing way too big a gear on climbs, some of which I had to walk due to fatigue later into the ride. I wasn't real happy about that. Had I ridden the new Bubblegum Princess, well, that would have been a non-issue. Even if I had a balky rear derailleur, at least I could have dropped the front ring down to a 36T. The Apex 1 crank had a 42T ring, and that was killing me. My legs weren't the same for months afterward.

Next: Late Summer 2018

Rear View 2018: Pink MCD & GTDRI

The Bubblegum Princess on its maiden voyage.

Mid-Summer brought two notable events in my life. The first was an addition to the stable which replaced my old Twin Six Standard Rando. It was the Black Mountain Cycles "MCD" model which was renamed by my daughter as the "Bubblegum Princess".

FYI: This will serve as a "Bikes Of 2018" post:

This ended up transforming from a "hope that it is as good as the old BMC I have is", to "Wow! This thing is awesome!" in a big hurry after I rode it the first time. The fit, which I had researched from my other bikes and transposed to the BMC, was spot on. I haven't tweaked a thing since the day it was built. That's very odd for me. 

Besides the obvious pink bit, the bike was kitted out in carbon from Irwin Cycling (wheels) and Whiskey Components (Handle bar, seat post). It has a new Shimano CX series crank with 46/36 gearing and an 11 speed cassette with 11-36T spread. The rear derailleur is a Shimano Ultegra. (Yes- it isn't supposed to work. Hint: It's perfect) That gives me one 1 to 1 gear and usually that's plenty low enough. It's what we had on our old loaded touring bikes as a lowest gear, and that always got me where I needed to go.

The tires are WTB Riddler 45's on there now, but I have run 650B X 47's and in a while it will be back to 700c X 42mm wheels and tires using my all-time favorite tires- the WTB Resolutes. Otherwise, no changes in the near future for this rig.

I really, really wanted to ride this bike on my GTDRI ride, but responsibilities to RidingGravel.com testing prevented that choice. This would bite me in the you-know-where for most of the rest of 2018.

That be MG wearing his fresh DKXL jersey. Kyle Platts on the right here. 2018 GTDRI.

The second big deal of Mid-Summer was my annual Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitational, (GTDRI) which happened on a hot day in late July. It was a big turnout- 25 riders total- and it turned out to be quite a hoot. I think that locally it was something that eventually turned on a lot of riders to Tama County gravel riding. That's a good thing.

I was stoked to have all who came, but was really grateful to MG for making the trip from Lincoln, Nebraska. I also was glad to see local rider Jeremy Fry return to this ride after skipping it a couple of years.

But as I stated above, the bike I was testing and reviewing for Riding Gravel had a 1X set up and I had issues with the bike getting into the lowest three cogs, as in it wouldn't shift into them. That left me pushing way too big a gear on climbs, some of which I had to walk due to fatigue later into the ride. I wasn't real happy about that. Had I ridden the new Bubblegum Princess, well, that would have been a non-issue. Even if I had a balky rear derailleur, at least I could have dropped the front ring down to a 36T. The Apex 1 crank had a 42T ring, and that was killing me. My legs weren't the same for months afterward.

Next: Late Summer 2018

Rear View 2018: The Kansas Trip

L-R -Myself, MG, and Joe Reed, who put MG and I up for the weekend of DK.

The next big deal of 2018 was my trip to the Dirty Kanza 200/DKXL event where I was the support guy for my brother MG. Of course, before that was the support for the Almanzo 100 events which I did with my son and Ben Welnak of RidingGravel.com. That was a good weekend, but the DKXL thing was a big weekend for both MG and myself. I didn't expect I was going to have any real part in much of anything going on down there, but once again- I was wrong. 

Earlier in the year I received a cryptic e-mail from Jim Cummins asking me if I was going to be around the weekend of the DKXL/Dirty Kanza. I never knew why that was asked of me, and it was something I thought was weird, but eventually I forgot about it all. I had even run into Jim during the weekend's events leading up to the races and he never really let on that anything was up involving me.

In the meantime, my brother MG had gotten food poisoning and it appeared then that his attempt at the invitation only event was in jeopardy. The event was set up earlier in 2017, they announced it back then, but the participants were chosen under wraps by the DKXL organizers and only 34 were invited. To get that invitation then was a big, big deal, and MG was super impressed, humbled, and thrilled to be a part of this "prototype" of what is going to be the "official" DKXL this coming year.

Anyway, MG was on the floor writhing in pain the morning of the DKXL and he was slated to be at the start line by 4:00pm. Joe Reed, our host, and I were sure we were going to take MG to the hospital, but somehow MG rallied and even got a bit of food down. Then it was hoped that he would take the start, but, ya know.......We figured it was only going to be a short lived, save his honor type deal. Anyway.... In the meantime Joe, some friends of his, and I went downtown to witness the first DKXL start.

Just moments before I was called out by Jim Cummins, (shown here in the blue shirt)

Wow! There were far more people at this historic beginning than anyone figured on. Some estimates put the crowd at 800 people, and these folks were squeezed in anywhere they could find a spot to stand. Somehow or another, I managed to get a front row spot to send off MG and perhaps get a few good images of this history making start. Jim started his soliloquy, and pretty soon I understood he was veering into Trans Iowa territory with his remarks.

"Okay, here he goes!", I thought, and sure enough, my name came up. But then he asked if I was there, and I waved my hand. "Okay. Now let's get on with the show....", I thought, hoping that was all there was to it. But no..... Jim called me to his side! I was floored. I never thought I'd get any recognition for Trans Iowa, or for being an influence on the DKXL. I figured nothing would, or should be said, but he mentioned TI, and myself, and that would have been enough. But with this action of Jim's, by his making time to have me spotlighted, well I was supremely humbled. I'm sure folks thought, "Who the heck is this guy?", because, well, let's face it- Trans Iowa is a tiny spec on the scene. And it was over and out by this point as well.

Anyway, what an honor! I was, and still am, floored by Jim's remarks and by his effort to make time to publicly call me out at that moment. He certainly didn't have to do anything of the sort. So, Thank You Jim! 

He made it! MG gets a finish line hug from Jim Cummins after he completed the DKXL

 Then later on MG just kept amazing me at every turn. He eventually pulled out a finish on a day where many of his fellow competitors failed. It was amazing, and I was so happy for him. That really topped off the weekend and we both had something big happen to us where we never expected it to.

My only regret is that I was able to record a killer podcast episode with MG in two parts that, for whatever reason, never saw the light of day. Oh well! I wish that would have worked out, but as it was, we had a stellar weekend. Oh, and by the way, thank you one more time to our host, Joe Reed. You are awesome, man!

Anyway, that was a huge weekend and a big trip for me. Had Trans Iowa not ended this year that trip would be at the top of the heap for cool stuff that happened here on the blog and in my life in 2018. But I am not finished yet! Oh no! There are at least a few more big events to talk about in the looking back on 2018. Stay tuned......

 

Rear View 2018: The Kansas Trip

L-R -Myself, MG, and Joe Reed, who put MG and I up for the weekend of DK.

The next big deal of 2018 was my trip to the Dirty Kanza 200/DKXL event where I was the support guy for my brother MG. Of course, before that was the support for the Almanzo 100 events which I did with my son and Ben Welnak of RidingGravel.com. That was a good weekend, but the DKXL thing was a big weekend for both MG and myself. I didn't expect I was going to have any real part in much of anything going on down there, but once again- I was wrong. 

Earlier in the year I received a cryptic e-mail from Jim Cummins asking me if I was going to be around the weekend of the DKXL/Dirty Kanza. I never knew why that was asked of me, and it was something I thought was weird, but eventually I forgot about it all. I had even run into Jim during the weekend's events leading up to the races and he never really let on that anything was up involving me.

In the meantime, my brother MG had gotten food poisoning and it appeared then that his attempt at the invitation only event was in jeopardy. The event was set up earlier in 2017, they announced it back then, but the participants were chosen under wraps by the DKXL organizers and only 34 were invited. To get that invitation then was a big, big deal, and MG was super impressed, humbled, and thrilled to be a part of this "prototype" of what is going to be the "official" DKXL this coming year.

Anyway, MG was on the floor writhing in pain the morning of the DKXL and he was slated to be at the start line by 4:00pm. Joe Reed, our host, and I were sure we were going to take MG to the hospital, but somehow MG rallied and even got a bit of food down. Then it was hoped that he would take the start, but, ya know.......We figured it was only going to be a short lived, save his honor type deal. Anyway.... In the meantime Joe, some friends of his, and I went downtown to witness the first DKXL start.

Just moments before I was called out by Jim Cummins, (shown here in the blue shirt)

Wow! There were far more people at this historic beginning than anyone figured on. Some estimates put the crowd at 800 people, and these folks were squeezed in anywhere they could find a spot to stand. Somehow or another, I managed to get a front row spot to send off MG and perhaps get a few good images of this history making start. Jim started his soliloquy, and pretty soon I understood he was veering into Trans Iowa territory with his remarks.

"Okay, here he goes!", I thought, and sure enough, my name came up. But then he asked if I was there, and I waved my hand. "Okay. Now let's get on with the show....", I thought, hoping that was all there was to it. But no..... Jim called me to his side! I was floored. I never thought I'd get any recognition for Trans Iowa, or for being an influence on the DKXL. I figured nothing would, or should be said, but he mentioned TI, and myself, and that would have been enough. But with this action of Jim's, by his making time to have me spotlighted, well I was supremely humbled. I'm sure folks thought, "Who the heck is this guy?", because, well, let's face it- Trans Iowa is a tiny spec on the scene. And it was over and out by this point as well.

Anyway, what an honor! I was, and still am, floored by Jim's remarks and by his effort to make time to publicly call me out at that moment. He certainly didn't have to do anything of the sort. So, Thank You Jim! 

He made it! MG gets a finish line hug from Jim Cummins after he completed the DKXL

 Then later on MG just kept amazing me at every turn. He eventually pulled out a finish on a day where many of his fellow competitors failed. It was amazing, and I was so happy for him. That really topped off the weekend and we both had something big happen to us where we never expected it to.

My only regret is that I was able to record a killer podcast episode with MG in two parts that, for whatever reason, never saw the light of day. Oh well! I wish that would have worked out, but as it was, we had a stellar weekend. Oh, and by the way, thank you one more time to our host, Joe Reed. You are awesome, man!

Anyway, that was a huge weekend and a big trip for me. Had Trans Iowa not ended this year that trip would be at the top of the heap for cool stuff that happened here on the blog and in my life in 2018. But I am not finished yet! Oh no! There are at least a few more big events to talk about in the looking back on 2018. Stay tuned......

 

Rear View 2018: Trans Iowa

Well, that was the last time that will ever happen......

Continuing on with my look back over this year, I would say that it wouldn't be overstating the issue if I said that the last Trans Iowa was the number one story for me for the year. In fact, it was the biggest deal in my life spanning back to 2017, when I was pretty sure I was going to make T.I.v14 the last Trans Iowa ever.

Of course, I couldn't talk about that then, and I had only confided the fact to three trusted people. There is a whole story that goes with that, but I will wait on the telling of it for the upcoming Trans Iowa series of tales coming starting in 2019.

I fretted and fretted over just how to break the news to the riders, but in the end, I posted it via this very blog to run at the moment the last Trans Iowa was officially over, which was Sunday, April 29th at 2:00pm. The news quickly spread and in terms of this blog, I think it is the "official" comment leader, which probably isn't a big surprise to anyone.

Everyone asks me now, "So, how does it feel to have that behind you now?" Honestly, I haven't got a good answer. Sometimes I feel a bit "on the outside" when it comes to the big events of the day, but that's about all. Otherwise, I just don't really have any good answers now.

All I know is that the last Trans Iowa, which ended only less than 8 months ago, seems like it ended in the last century. It just seems like it was a lifetime ago. And maybe that's me feeling a part of my life over and done with now. For better or worse, that's kind of how I am and how I've approached things all my life. Once something is over, it's over. And I don't handle everything that way, but yeah..... Trans Iowa is over. I'm moving on, and I have been moving on. That said, it was a big, big deal until it was over!

Rear View 2018: Trans Iowa

Well, that was the last time that will ever happen......

Continuing on with my look back over this year, I would say that it wouldn't be overstating the issue if I said that the last Trans Iowa was the number one story for me for the year. In fact, it was the biggest deal in my life spanning back to 2017, when I was pretty sure I was going to make T.I.v14 the last Trans Iowa ever.

Of course, I couldn't talk about that then, and I had only confided the fact to three trusted people. There is a whole story that goes with that, but I will wait on the telling of it for the upcoming Trans Iowa series of tales coming starting in 2019.

I fretted and fretted over just how to break the news to the riders, but in the end, I posted it via this very blog to run at the moment the last Trans Iowa was officially over, which was Sunday, April 29th at 2:00pm. The news quickly spread and in terms of this blog, I think it is the "official" comment leader, which probably isn't a big surprise to anyone.

Everyone asks me now, "So, how does it feel to have that behind you now?" Honestly, I haven't got a good answer. Sometimes I feel a bit "on the outside" when it comes to the big events of the day, but that's about all. Otherwise, I just don't really have any good answers now.

All I know is that the last Trans Iowa, which ended only less than 8 months ago, seems like it ended in the last century. It just seems like it was a lifetime ago. And maybe that's me feeling a part of my life over and done with now. For better or worse, that's kind of how I am and how I've approached things all my life. Once something is over, it's over. And I don't handle everything that way, but yeah..... Trans Iowa is over. I'm moving on, and I have been moving on. That said, it was a big, big deal until it was over!

Rear View '18: The Winter That Came And Went

The end of the 2017-2018 Winter was odd. We had thaws which were pretty much complete ones, then it would get cold and snowy, then it would thaw, then it would get cold and snowy..... Rinse and Repeat.

We'd get tracks beat in on the trails, everything would be great for a day, maybe two, then poof! Craptastic conditions would return and fat biking suffered because of it. That didn't mean that I didn't have fun on my fat bikes. I did. Most of the time it wasn't on packed in trails is all. I had to get creative and find my own adventures.

Much of the time these rides were commutes to work and back. I had to get in whatever snow riding I could when I could get it. Otherwise it would be melting, a mess, and fat biking wasn't really any fun at all.

I'll get more into how the bikes did in my "Bikes of 2018" series, but I happen to have two main fat bikes I use most often. The Ti Muk and the Blackborow. Both got time last Winter, but I seem to have used the Blackborow most during January and February.

I sure wished we would have gotten some extended time on trails but it wasn't to be. Eventually the warm spells got nice enough I drug out the gravel bike and the fat bikes got shunted to the back of the line. Yet the sporadic snows continued off and on right up until two weeks before the last Trans Iowa happened.

Quite possibly one of my favorite images I got all year. The "Snow Light" pic.

Speaking of Trans Iowa, of course I was in the planning stages for what I knew would be the very last Trans Iowa. There were a few details about the event that I was hammering through back at the time of these fat bike rides. One was that I really didn't like last  second drops. It was painfully obvious that right before T.I.v13 the forecast for the weekend was a bit off-putting to several riders. Like about 20 of them. That got under my skin after several years of having 2-4 no shows and drops stopping well before the event. A few extra cue sheet sets and hand decorated numbers were no big deal, but 20? 

I didn't want that to happen again. The other thing was the cue sheet hand up at the start line. I was a bit stressed out about how that would go. But in the end it was a brilliant decision. I will always say that is perhaps my biggest regret about Trans Iowa- that I didn't figure that out years ago.

Stay tuned for more "Rear View '18" posts throughout December.

Rear View '18: The Winter That Came And Went

The end of the 2017-2018 Winter was odd. We had thaws which were pretty much complete ones, then it would get cold and snowy, then it would thaw, then it would get cold and snowy..... Rinse and Repeat.

We'd get tracks beat in on the trails, everything would be great for a day, maybe two, then poof! Craptastic conditions would return and fat biking suffered because of it. That didn't mean that I didn't have fun on my fat bikes. I did. Most of the time it wasn't on packed in trails is all. I had to get creative and find my own adventures.

Much of the time these rides were commutes to work and back. I had to get in whatever snow riding I could when I could get it. Otherwise it would be melting, a mess, and fat biking wasn't really any fun at all.

I'll get more into how the bikes did in my "Bikes of 2018" series, but I happen to have two main fat bikes I use most often. The Ti Muk and the Blackborow. Both got time last Winter, but I seem to have used the Blackborow most during January and February.

I sure wished we would have gotten some extended time on trails but it wasn't to be. Eventually the warm spells got nice enough I drug out the gravel bike and the fat bikes got shunted to the back of the line. Yet the sporadic snows continued off and on right up until two weeks before the last Trans Iowa happened.

Quite possibly one of my favorite images I got all year. The "Snow Light" pic.

Speaking of Trans Iowa, of course I was in the planning stages for what I knew would be the very last Trans Iowa. There were a few details about the event that I was hammering through back at the time of these fat bike rides. One was that I really didn't like last  second drops. It was painfully obvious that right before T.I.v13 the forecast for the weekend was a bit off-putting to several riders. Like about 20 of them. That got under my skin after several years of having 2-4 no shows and drops stopping well before the event. A few extra cue sheet sets and hand decorated numbers were no big deal, but 20? 

I didn't want that to happen again. The other thing was the cue sheet hand up at the start line. I was a bit stressed out about how that would go. But in the end it was a brilliant decision. I will always say that is perhaps my biggest regret about Trans Iowa- that I didn't figure that out years ago.

Stay tuned for more "Rear View '18" posts throughout December.

Rear View '18- Iowa Gravel Expo/Bike Party

From the inaugural Iowa Expo/Bike Party. Image by Izabel Stevenson

Welcome to the Guitar Ted Productions Rear View for 2018. This time I'm doing things a bit differently with this series. I am pulling images that were illustrative of important moments in 2018 and writing a bit of a story about those. Hope that you enjoy the looking back.

Iowa Gravel Expo/Bike Party:

Back in January I had some snow to ride on but the big event for the month was the inaugural Iowa Gravel expo/Bike Party, an event partly cooked up by N.Y. Roll and sponsored by Riding Gravel and the shop where I work.

I was thinking that it would be something geared toward the beginner gravel cyclist and that's how we promoted it. I figured we would be really lucky to get 35 people to attend in the upper room of Doughy Joey's Peetza Joynt in Cedar Falls, Iowa. N.Y. Roll had a feeling all along that it would pull more folks than that. We kind of had a friendly banter about this all the way up to and during the event itself. I kept saying we wouldn't have very many people, and he kept saying we would.

Just before we were to begin, N.Y. Roll and I made a friendly wager that was an "over-under" bet. I took less than 50 people, he took the over. As people streamed in, he leaned over and said, "That's 50 right there!", and I just smiled. In the end, I think we had something over 80 odd folks attend, and the event was deemed a big success. I was blown away most by how far people had come to attend. One gentleman, Gene, was driving through on his way from Michigan back to Northwest Iowa and stopped to attend. We had folks from Cedar Rapids and Des Moines attending, and of course, a bunch of locals.

Talking to gravel grinders about gravel grindin'. Image by Izabel Stevenson

Well, we're doing it again this coming year, only it will be February 9th, same place, but in two sessions to accommodate more folks. Tickets (free) will be available so we can even up attendance at both sessions. This year the focus will be on Iowa Gravel based events.

Rear View '18- Iowa Gravel Expo/Bike Party

From the inaugural Iowa Expo/Bike Party. Image by Izabel Stevenson

Welcome to the Guitar Ted Productions Rear View for 2018. This time I'm doing things a bit differently with this series. I am pulling images that were illustrative of important moments in 2018 and writing a bit of a story about those. Hope that you enjoy the looking back.

Iowa Gravel Expo/Bike Party:

Back in January I had some snow to ride on but the big event for the month was the inaugural Iowa Gravel expo/Bike Party, an event partly cooked up by N.Y. Roll and sponsored by Riding Gravel and the shop where I work.

I was thinking that it would be something geared toward the beginner gravel cyclist and that's how we promoted it. I figured we would be really lucky to get 35 people to attend in the upper room of Doughy Joey's Peetza Joynt in Cedar Falls, Iowa. N.Y. Roll had a feeling all along that it would pull more folks than that. We kind of had a friendly banter about this all the way up to and during the event itself. I kept saying we wouldn't have very many people, and he kept saying we would.

Just before we were to begin, N.Y. Roll and I made a friendly wager that was an "over-under" bet. I took less than 50 people, he took the over. As people streamed in, he leaned over and said, "That's 50 right there!", and I just smiled. In the end, I think we had something over 80 odd folks attend, and the event was deemed a big success. I was blown away most by how far people had come to attend. One gentleman, Gene, was driving through on his way from Michigan back to Northwest Iowa and stopped to attend. We had folks from Cedar Rapids and Des Moines attending, and of course, a bunch of locals.

Talking to gravel grinders about gravel grindin'. Image by Izabel Stevenson

Well, we're doing it again this coming year, only it will be February 9th, same place, but in two sessions to accommodate more folks. Tickets (free) will be available so we can even up attendance at both sessions. This year the focus will be on Iowa Gravel based events.