Virtual Ride For Jacob Report: Pedro del Río Muñoz

A surprise showed up in my inbox this past weekend. It was a very nice message from Pedro del Rio Munoz, a reader from Spain. Pedro may strike a memory for some of you as he has submitted reports for the Virtual Turkey Burn Ride and is a regular in the comments. 

So, here is Pedro's report, as he sent it to me with a lot of nice imagery. It means a lot to me that anyone would take the time and effort to honor my deceased son, Jacob, and especially so from someone overseas. What an honor! Thank you, Pedro! 

And with no further fanfare......

Ride for Jacob 2026

Well, Mr. Guitar Ted has inspired us once again, this time with an incredibly sad but beautiful reason to ride. And I would very much like my support to reach him from here.

For reasons that aren't important and don't really belong in this story, I had barely ridden since January, so this was an excellent reason to get back into a good habit.

I met up with a friend and suggested a route that I really enjoy. Completely flat. Technically very easy. Mostly gravel, with around 7 km of tarmac, for a total of 61 km.

There was only one condition: we would take it easy, and if we found an open bar or café along the way, we would stop for coffee.

Sadly, the coffee part never happened.

We set off at 7:00 a.m. from our meeting point and rode around the outskirts of my hometown, El Puerto de Santa María, as dawn began to break. A few cars and a handful of people on their way home after a night out were pretty much all we encountered, so it was a very peaceful start.

As we left town, we had our first taste of dirt and headed onto the trails, where we faced the first climb of the day. A very short 10% ramp, less than 400 metres long.

 

From there, it was dirt tracks all the way to the next city, Jerez de la Frontera. Riding through Jerez with the sun already up but still low in the sky is quite something. We crossed right through the historic centre and the Santiago neighborhood, with its 15th–16th century church. The silence of an area that is usually busy makes riding through it at that hour rather special.

From there, the route really begins.

Good gravel roads, surrounded by farmland, now dry and waiting for the next planting season.

As the route progresses, so does the sun — and the temperature. At this time of year, temperatures quickly reach 30°C, so we went through quite a lot of water.

We were firmly in touring mode. Zone 1, for those who still insist on calling everything  "training" 

We rode along having a pleasant conversation, mixed with those moments when each of us was simply lost in our own thoughts.

 

In my case, and especially on this ride, many of those thoughts were obviously with Mr. Guitar Ted and his family. I found myself wondering how I would face such a sad and terrible situation.

The support of family, friends and community must surely be fundamental when facing something that, perhaps, can never truly be understood.

And somewhere between conversation and reflection, the kilometres kept passing.

 

Despite my very obvious lack of cycling fitness, I held up surprisingly well — and, importantly, my backside didn't complain about the saddle.

My Ergon is probably one of the most comfortable saddles I've ever owned, and it 's quite easy to adjust. My other saddle, a Brooks Cambium C15, is comfortable too, but much more difficult to dial in and get that feeling just right.

My trusty Jones Spaceframe, running 2.8-inch tyres, is certainly not the world's greatest gravel bike. It's heavy, not particularly aerodynamic, has Plus tyres...

But somehow, for me, it has become a combination I absolutely love.I find it incredibly comfortable for simply riding, riding and riding. I feel integrated into the frame rather than perched on top of it, with my weight supported by the saddle and pedals —something I really like. And its length makes it extremely stable.

All of that helped me finish those 61 kilometres tired, but happy.

I hope that, wherever Jacob may be, my prayers reached him.

Wishing strength to your entire family.

El Puerto de Santa María, Spain

Ride for Jacob 2026 – Sunday 26 th July 2026

Written: 9 August 2026

Pedro

Ride For Jacob Report: Part 2

Your host: Image by Kevin Fox

Well we'd made it to Shell Rock and everyone seemed to be having a good time. There had been several chances for conversation along the way. I was especially happy to hear that Dave was of the mind that gravel folk should help and support other gravel folk. It was very heartening to understand the motivation for he and the other Nebraskans on the ride to show up in support. 

And that was a universally held thought amongst those in attendance. I must say it is very humbling and I was definitely proud of what I saw in the folks who came to ride. 

I'm certain many of you readers are of the same mind. 

Anyway, Shell Rock. It was a nice little stop. I went in to use the restroom but that was all I needed. I still had water and some food. Looking back on things I probably should have eaten something but I did not. I am always afraid to eat anything because most of the time whatever I eat does not sit well with me, especially when it is hot and humid. And it was humid.....but not really hot, not yet any way. 

 

Kevin looks a little too proud of those Mountain Dew Doughnuts!

There were a few long, grinder climbs on this route. This was one out of Shell Rock

 Heading out of Shell Rock I was still amazed at how nice it was. It didn't look great, and the images kind of show how gloomy it looked, but we were very happy for the clouds! How long would it last was anyone's guess. 

The one thing I heard most about the difficulties of the day was in reference to the nature of the climbs. It seemed we had a lot of what I call "grinders". Those climbs that go on and on at a not very steep incline, but end up kind of just being irritating and that get under your skin a bit. We had a long one coming out of Shell Rock going South. Eventually we topped out and then it was more rollers again until we got to the West Fork of the Cedar River and that old bridge there. 

Chasing down N.Y.Roll

 

Heading toward the West Fork of the Cedar River

The clouds started thinning out a bit by this time and it was increasingly hotter, but not oppressively hot. We were still making excellent time on the route. I knew we did not have a lot further to go and having had the benefit of the clouds up to this point was fantastic. 

The old steel bridge over the West Fork of the Cedar River was coming up next. I was hoping we'd all be agreeable to a stop. Since this is such a picturesque bridge and setting, I did not think I'd have to twist anyone's arm to stop. I was correct about that, by the way. 

Rob Evans capturing the scene on the bridge. 

Kevin Fox's image of the bridge scene

It was fairly obvious this was going to be a highlight of the ride. Everyone was engaged in conversations and checking out the view from the bridge deck. Fortunately there is not a ton of traffic on weekends, at least this has been my experience when visiting this bridge. 

There was a couple of cars which came around. The first one was an ordinary pass-by. But the second one? That was a different story altogether! The gray SUV was approaching the bridge at around 20mph, weaving slightly, and everyone backed up against the bridge railing hoping for the best. One rider was heard as the car came up on the bridge decking saying "Just keep it straight, please!". Was this going to be another drunk driver encounter like I had in 2014?

The car pulled up to about the mid-point of our huddled line, and then it stopped..... 

This was a rather odd, surprising encounter!

 The driver was an elderly gent who opened his window and started waving his arm about as he wondered aloud what in the world we were doing. He claimed he thought we were young trouble-makers at first who he said he routinely chased off the bridge, or some such story. 

N.Y. Roll, ever one not to be the shy one, engaged the man who wasn't picking up on the sarcasm N.Y. Roll was laying down. Tony turned to me and said, "That guy can't hear. The jokes aren't as funny if you can't hear them the first time". 

Indeed! N.Y. Roll was not fazed though, and eventually the man had to know who we were and where we had come from. N.Y. Roll started listing off the locales and the man was not absorbing this. Then he asked why we were out there, and someone suggested I tell him. At this point I stepped forward to offer my explanation, but the guy was distracted and then the next thing ya know he is leaving. He stuck his hand out the window to shake mine, not realizing I was not moving in his direction, and he suddenly let go as his shoulder hit the B post of his car. I don't think he hurt himself though.  Well.....maybe he couldn't feel any pain. I'm not really sure. 

Another long grinder on the way to New Hartford

The view looking over New Hartford and the Beaver Creek Valley

No harm, no foul with the encounter with the man in the SUV. I told Tony on the way out from there that if the man told this story to friends they may not believe him, based upon his display of crazy when he spoke with us. Tony said something to the effect that this man should never have alcohol if he wasn't drunk at the time. 

A long uphill grinder awaited us with a few rollers thrown in for good measure until we crested a ridge. This overlooks the Beaver Creek Valley and New Hartford, our next stop on this route. We had to make a bit of a detour to get to the Casey's on the West side of New Hartford, but at least New Hartford is a sleepy village with not much happening around noon on a Saturday. 

Dan Buettner showing the scene at the Casey's in New Hartford. 

Doug checking his phone while Steve checks out a bike.

This stop was where I bought an electrolyte drink and some more water. Again, I probably should have eaten something more than one Epic pemmican bar, but I did actually make it all the way through. I did have a strange deal with my right rotator cuff which ached tremendously the last third of the ride to the point where the last few miles home I almost could not hold the bars anymore with my right hand. 

I surmised it probably has something to do with my weight training and by not having a ShockStop stem on this bike. (Hint to Redshift: Please make a silver ShockStop stem!) Anyway, the stop in New Hartford was great. Now we had a short 14 miles to go on the official route to get back to the start. 

Headed East to Cedar Falls Image by Dan Buettner

I was bringing up the rear. Image by Dan Buettner

Another strange thing was when we spied a rider alongside the road at the end of some rows of corn. He was sitting in the grass when I saw him with his helmet off. He said he was okay, but I thought he looked pretty cooked. We rolled on by, but I was at the end of the group and had gotten separated by about 50 yards when we reached an intersection of gravel roads. A car was approaching from my left and seemed to be slowing to a stop. I motioned them to continue on through the intersection, but at this moment the car turned toward me, rolled up to me and then stopped. 

The window came down and the driver asked me if I had seen another rider "back there", indicating the way I had just come from. I affirmed him that I had seen this rider and I let him know where he was at approximately. He thanked me and I rode onward. It was nice to know this fellow had someone looking after him. 

This put me way off the back, but not long after the group had stopped at the edge of Cedar Falls and waited for me. The Sun had come out by this time and it was downright hot. It had to come out eventually, but I was so happy it waited until it did. 

Once we entered Cedar Falls we had a bit of bike path and a parking lane which guided us almost all the way to State Street. Then we had to dodge some construction and whatnot to get to Second State Brewing Co. There we repaired inside where it was cool and refreshed ourselves with some of Second State's fine recipes. 

After some great conversations and beers we each said our goodbyes. It was bittersweet, but what a fantastic day! N.Y. Roll accompanied me back home and about a mile and a half from the house he announced we had made it to a metric century. So, what a great accomplishment on the day as this was my longest ride since BRAN. 

I got in the house and found two slices of a quesadilla and a kombucha which I destroyed before taking a shower. What a day on the bike with great people! 

Image credit: Rob Evans

Image credit: Rob Evans

Final Thoughts:

Again, my gratitude overflows for everyone who was there and for all who showed support for The Ride For Jacob. I was told by several riders they really enjoyed the route, the way we rode, and for the people who showed up to ride. It was a success in all those ways for sure. 

But the point of it all was to honor my son, and obviously those who showed up wanted to do this and to support me, Phyllis, and Izabel. I feel that support more than you will know. Thank you. Jacob was certainly honored, and he would have been amazed we rode the distance we rode and all the attention brought to bear by this ride concept. Again - thank you. 

I was asked if the Ride For Jacob was a one-time thing or an annual ride. I think we're going to do this again. I was also told that "...any Guitar Ted ride you do we will show up for it." That's a pretty amazing statement and very humbling. So, yeah.... Look for this to happen again next year. 

We were talking after the ride about how this sort of ride is what draws us to gravel I said that what the media and a lot of folks think is the "meat" of the gravel scene is the "bucket list" events/races. The rides like the one we had just finished are seen as "side dishes". It should be the other way around. The fun, casual, get-togethers on bicycles on gravel should be the "meat" and the races and big events should be the side dishes in the media and in popular thought. But hey.....we know what side the bread is buttered on.  

Tomorrow I will post all the bikes from the ride and then we'll have a special post from a Virtual Ride For Jacob. Thanks for reading this ride report! 

 

Ride For Jacob Report: Part 1

First things first: The Ride For Jacob was a big success. Not in terms of numbers, but in light of why we were riding. It was an expression of love and support for me and my family. All in honor of Jacob Stevenson, who would have marveled at the attention given this ride. 

I thank everyone out there who were not at the ride for your thoughts and doing your own rides, which I know were being done in honor of Jacob. I thank all twelve riders who showed up Saturday to ride with me. I was, and still am, very grateful for all of you. 

Thanks also to Rob Evans, Kevin Fox, and Dan Buettner for sharing images with me which I am using in these reports.  

So, now let's get into the day and the stories which became what made the Ride for Jacob such a success. The ride was attended, as mentioned, by twelve folks. We had Dave, Justin, and Tony from Waterloo. There was Rob, Dave, Doug, and Jackie from Nebraska. We also had Kevin Fox from Nebraska. There were two from the Twin Cities area, Jason and Tom. We had two from Des Moines including Dan and Steve. With myself included we had 13 riders total. 

Escape Route: Right through those shrubs!

My day started out really early when Minka, our cat, barfed up a hairball and woke up Mrs. Guitar Ted. She was not pleased and the ruckus caused me to be pretty much wide awake from that point onward. 

I ended up getting out of bed at 5:00am and having some breakfast. Two eggs and some cheese on top. Then I got dressed and ready to hit the road over to Big Woods Lake.  I was riding my Singular Peregrine Mk4. I almost took the Fargo Gen ! because I had a message from Jason Boucher that he was coming down. Jason was the one who let me have that Fargo I have now, so I kinda feel obligated to ride it when he's going to be around, but the Singular ended up being the call. 

I stepped outside at 7:20am to ride over to Big Woods Lake and the North parking lot. I figured on it taking close to an hour to get there at an easy pace, so that would be about right for the 8:00am start. The weather was odd. Very humid, but on the cooler side, with very little wind. It seemed almost foggy. My camera lens was prone to being covered in moisture it was so humid. You can kind of see that in my "Escape Route" image here. 

I don't know if it was excitement about the ride or what, but I ended up arriving at Big Woods Lake by 7:00am! I thought I'd sit in the shelter house there but the mosquitos were too bothersome, so I sat on a wooden post alongside the parking lot edge instead, and I waited for the first arrival. 

About a half an hour later the first rider showed up. It was obvious who it was by the very distinctive bicycle on the roof rack. A red Soul Craft with red anodized appointments. It could be no one else but Dan Buettner from Des Moines! 

Image credit: Kevin Fox - who is not shown here.

 Soon others rolled in and by about 7:50am everyone that was going to show up had done so. I assembled the riders and gave them my usual "fatherly advice" speech, and ended it by cutting myself short and saying"...Well, you guys all know what to do!" We had the group photo and then we rolled out a few minutes past 8:00am.

Heading up Symons Road

The jack ass and two horses were very interested in our passage

Heading out toward Mount Vernon Road, where the gravel would start, I was surprised to find Symons Road was just chip sealed. Fresh chips are almost like riding on gravel. To boot, Symons Road was a gravel road at one time, and I had ridden it back then. So this was a pleasant surprise, to me, and almost a throwback to the old days. 

Instead of doing the route like last year where I went North up Burton Avenue, we went up Leversee Road instead. I hadn't ridden up Leversee in many years. It's a nice road to ride. It was capped off with a jack ass and some horses which were running with us a bit. Then we zigged and zagged over to our first stop in Janesville at the very busy Kwik Star convenience store. 

Heading toward Janesville. Note the fuzzy image due to all the humidity

Gathering outside the Kwik Star in Janesville. Image by Kevin Fox

The stop at Janesville was nice. I did not go inside, but a few of the others did. A while goes by and then we started out for Shell Rock by heading West out of town over the Cedar River. The road is pretty flat here and there was fresh gravel which was quite dusty as well. My tires were white with the dust. I assume the moist air was partially to blame for the dust sticking to the tires. 

Jason (L) and myself leading the group out of Janesville. Image by Kevin Fox

 

Heading up to new-to-me roads.

Last year this section past Janesville is where I totally messed up in terms of navigation. I missed a turn which would have taken me on some new road along the Shell Rock River. Then I missed a turn-off to Shell Rock. This landed me on Highway 3 and then a not very pleasant run into town on that highway's shoulder. 

Now I have to take a minute to go over my latest GPS failure. You know me, dear readers! I have no good luck with GPS navigation! So, back at the start, I had my GPS on to measure the mileage out to the Big Woods Lake parking lot. It was a little over 8 miles. I then selected the Ride For Jacob route in the ride history and tried to load it. Only it would not load. So.... After N.Y. Roll told me he thought I did not have the Iowa maps loaded (!!), I just opted to start a new ride and record that. All was well. 

Until....

Just outside of Janesville the Wahoo went "WAHOOO!" and flew off the mount! I stopped and Tony fetched it for me. Looking a little worse for the wear, I stared down to see it was on some new page. I tried getting back to start a new ride but it would not do my bidding. So, frustrated, I decided to shut it off, stash it in my jersey pocket, and enjoy the ride. As long as I was with friends who had the route, well everything would take care of itself.  (Note: I checked the Wahoo out afterward and it said I had done a 20+ mile indoor workout. Nice...)

Okay, back to the story....

The roads I missed last year were super-cool! Image by Dan Buettner

 

I'll be hitting up these roads again soon!

The bit of road on the East side of the Shell Rock river was outstanding. I am so sad I missed that turn last year now! The road I took last year was so boring compared to what we rode Saturday! Some riders could be heard saying they thought the route was really a good one and were remarking on this stretch of road in particular. 

The turn off to Shell Rock was pretty decent as well. This was much better than going alongside the highway! Once we arrived in town we went off route a little bit to find our next Kwik Star convenience store and a bit of rest. We were making great time. It was not even noon yet! 

Not bad for shooting no-look over my shoulder!

 

The final bit before getting into Shell Rock, Iowa.

So, the ride was going very well and everyone was having a good time. Even my GPS nightmare couldn't affect me on this day. The weather was a huge blessing as we were comfortable and cool-ish all the way into Shell Rock. Had the Sun been out? I don't think we'd have had every rider finish the day. Or we may have cut the route short. Hard to say, but I'm glad we didn't have to do that! 

I'll leave you with one last shot for today.... 

Any guesses as to what this is? 

 Tomorrow the report continues with the Shell Rock stop and onward to Cedar Falls. Thanks for reading! 

Gravel Grinder News: Spring Valley Wilder 100 Event Announced.

Image courtesy of the Spring Valley EDA

 The Spring Valley Wilder 100 & Wilder 60 Events For 2026:

History: The long history of gravel events out of Spring Valley, Minnesota continues with the announcement recently of the Spring Valley Wilder 100 and Wilder 60 events. 

Based out of Spring Valley, Minnesota for many years, Gravel Cycling Hall of Famer, Chris Skogen, moved his iconic Almanzo 100 event to the Southeastern Minnesota village from Rochester, Minnesota, where the event originated. Skogen ran the event for several years as a free to enter gravel challenge. Eventually longer distances were also added with 165 miles and 400 miles being on the table. Skogen left the event for a time and the Spring Valley tourism board ran the event for a few years. Then Skogen came back just before he decided to  move the event to Northfield, Minnesota. Through a series of odd social media posts and negotiations behind the scenes, Skogen then handed off the event to a group which then changed the name to the Heywood Ride. 

Subsequently, Spring Valley found itself without an event. However, a new director took the task over and put on an event which was known as the Spring Valley 100. This event used the "original" Spring Valley based Almanzo 100 course.

After a time, this event was ran again by Spring Valley Economic Development Association.  Now the event has a new director who is working the event under the Spring Valley EDA. 

Called The Spring Valley Wilder 100 and Wilder 60, the event will take place this year on May 16th from downtown Spring Valley, Minnesota. .Entry for either distance is set at $35.00 and you can register now HERE. 

Barns For Jason: The C.O.G. 40 Edition

Barns For Jason #1

Many years ago my friend Jason Boucher challenged me to a photo contest. The rules were simple. The image had to be of a barn in a rural setting which you saw on a bicycle ride. No barns could be used twice. 

Who would post the most barns? Well, location has a lot to do with who gets images, and it soon became apparent Iowa was going to outpace Minnesota in this competition. Therefore, Jason capitulated to me early on, but I continued to post up barns even though there no longer was any competition involved. 

I love barns anyway. So for myself, it is a way to continue to look for barns and to post them here. Barns also are a relic of days gone by, with most of these structures having no purpose on many farms now. While "working barns" still exist, most are moldering away and disappearing due to lack of purpose. My intentions, therefore, are to preserve these barns in images here, in a way making them timeless and recorded for those who may care in the future. 

So, with all of this in mind, here is a "photo-dump" of all the barns I saw on the C.O.G. 100 which I was able to get a good image of to show here. I hope you enjoy these. 

Barns For Jason #2

Barns For Jason #3

Barns For Jason #4

Barns For Jason #5

Barns For Jason #6

Barns For Jason #7

Barns For Jason #8