GTDRI '17 Report: Part 2- History And Trouble

Our third sector of Level B Road was fast and smooth.

As we swung back to the South and West again in Benton County, the roads were chunky but the scenery was good. Better than I had expected, actually. Yes......I had never been on these roads before. We passed an awesome looking C Maintenance road I would have loved to explore, but not only did I not have the time, I would have to get permission. Not likely....

There was some scuttlebutt going on between riders concerning Kevin's fate. He was not feeling it and needed to bail. Apparently New York Roll was saying he would escort Kevin back to Reinbeck, but Kevin would have none of it. Instead, he asked for a route to Traer where we planned to end up for our lunch stop. That was a pretty easy 10-ish miles from where we were. So, a parting point was identified and Kevin was all set to find his own way to meet with us later. It was hoped that he could manage to rest up enough to ride more.

So with that discussion over we turned our attention to the next Level B sector which took us back in to Tama County. The plan was to allow a possibility of a stop in Dysart, but if it wasn't needed, we could skirt the town on the West side and continue on South and West. Since we were killing it on time, I decided to just have us keep going. No one in the group seemed to mind either. In fact, it was about around this time that I started saying that we were going too fast and that "We have all day, ya know...." It didn't seem to matter as we still kept steam rolling down the miles as the day moved on. By now, it was much warmer and the sky was full Sun.

There were several of these cement posts at an old farm site.

Nick and I had spied a couple of interesting cemeteries on the ride already. We had chatted about things we had known about some of these places. Then, not long after parting with Kevin, at the end of another stretch of Level B Road, we came upon what looked like a carefully manicured site with strange columns or posts sitting in a somewhat circular pattern. Then when we reached the corner, the road was marked at its entrance with two more of these.

Well, cameras came out and we were wondering about this strange place. There was a sign with a couple's name, Richard and Barb Winterroth, a Century Farm designation, and the words "Schwinheit Acres". There were no buildings left on the premises, but it was obvious that someone was taking care of the posts that now stood as sentinels to someone's past lives here.

I tried to do a bit of online research on the name, but came up empty handed. At any rate, it was a fascinating find on the route, and again, obviously on a road I had never been on before. This is the sort of thing that makes me keep wanting to explore the gravel roads of Iowa. You just never know what you might come across. Sure, you get miles of nothing that great, but when you find that gem mouldering away in the middle of nowhere, it is gold.

We headed Westward at this point. We were just North of Clutier at this point in the route and we were to be heading over to a Level B Road I had used on another Death Ride, but this time we would be going the opposite direction. Along the way we saw some amazing flowers in the ditch. I also was a bit confused here since I had obviously not written down a cue. I knew I was off, but others had the GPS track, so we figured it out okay. Blame the late night rush to get cues written up after I found out the printers were out of ink!

Some good flower action just North of Clutier, Iowa

This Level B Road kicked up pretty steeply at the end to a turn on to R Avenue.

The Level B North of Clutier wasn't as bad as I thought it might be. We seemed to tame that hill quite nicely. Then it was a fast down hill Northward on R Avenue toward our last miles to Traer where we were to hook back up with Kevin and stop for resupply. It was early still- about 10:00am, and we  would probably pull off 50 miles well before noon. Of course, it was the weather which was to blame here. The unprecedented coolness and low humidity was awesome. But then someone said "Flat tire!", and we had to stop again.

New York Roll was having a tire issue. Fortunately it resolved itself and he was able to continue.

New York Roll was having an issue with a leaky rear tire. He had to stop and pump it up, checked to see that the sealant had sealed it up, and then we were off again. He also was already suffering from a creaky Press Fit 30 bottom bracket, which would squawk any time he got out of the saddle to pedal hard. Actually, that wasn't all. He would also have a loose front Center Lock rotor clanging off and on between tightenings as the ride wore on.

The last B road before lunch was just South of Traer.

 One last Level B Road before Traer and it was a good one. I kind of forgot about all the Level B's I had put into this route, so it was a nice surprise to turn and find a Level B road sign waiting for us. This last road was one of the nice surprises!

We pulled in to Traer before 11:00am, and I had to remind a couple of the guys this was the "lunch" stop! We had been making such good time that it seemed lunch should be up the road yet, but it wasn't. Traer was it. Kevin found us and we all had a nice rest before heading back out for what I thought would be the best Level B roads on the course.

Next Part 3- Unexpected Surprises And Big Hills.

GTDRI '17 Report: Part 2- History And Trouble

Our third sector of Level B Road was fast and smooth.

As we swung back to the South and West again in Benton County, the roads were chunky but the scenery was good. Better than I had expected, actually. Yes......I had never been on these roads before. We passed an awesome looking C Maintenance road I would have loved to explore, but not only did I not have the time, I would have to get permission. Not likely....

There was some scuttlebutt going on between riders concerning Kevin's fate. He was not feeling it and needed to bail. Apparently New York Roll was saying he would escort Kevin back to Reinbeck, but Kevin would have none of it. Instead, he asked for a route to Traer where we planned to end up for our lunch stop. That was a pretty easy 10-ish miles from where we were. So, a parting point was identified and Kevin was all set to find his own way to meet with us later. It was hoped that he could manage to rest up enough to ride more.

So with that discussion over we turned our attention to the next Level B sector which took us back in to Tama County. The plan was to allow a possibility of a stop in Dysart, but if it wasn't needed, we could skirt the town on the West side and continue on South and West. Since we were killing it on time, I decided to just have us keep going. No one in the group seemed to mind either. In fact, it was about around this time that I started saying that we were going too fast and that "We have all day, ya know...." It didn't seem to matter as we still kept steam rolling down the miles as the day moved on. By now, it was much warmer and the sky was full Sun.

There were several of these cement posts at an old farm site.

Nick and I had spied a couple of interesting cemeteries on the ride already. We had chatted about things we had known about some of these places. Then, not long after parting with Kevin, at the end of another stretch of Level B Road, we came upon what looked like a carefully manicured site with strange columns or posts sitting in a somewhat circular pattern. Then when we reached the corner, the road was marked at its entrance with two more of these.

Well, cameras came out and we were wondering about this strange place. There was a sign with a couple's name, Richard and Barb Winterroth, a Century Farm designation, and the words "Schwinheit Acres". There were no buildings left on the premises, but it was obvious that someone was taking care of the posts that now stood as sentinels to someone's past lives here.

I tried to do a bit of online research on the name, but came up empty handed. At any rate, it was a fascinating find on the route, and again, obviously on a road I had never been on before. This is the sort of thing that makes me keep wanting to explore the gravel roads of Iowa. You just never know what you might come across. Sure, you get miles of nothing that great, but when you find that gem mouldering away in the middle of nowhere, it is gold.

We headed Westward at this point. We were just North of Clutier at this point in the route and we were to be heading over to a Level B Road I had used on another Death Ride, but this time we would be going the opposite direction. Along the way we saw some amazing flowers in the ditch. I also was a bit confused here since I had obviously not written down a cue. I knew I was off, but others had the GPS track, so we figured it out okay. Blame the late night rush to get cues written up after I found out the printers were out of ink!

Some good flower action just North of Clutier, Iowa

This Level B Road kicked up pretty steeply at the end to a turn on to R Avenue.

The Level B North of Clutier wasn't as bad as I thought it might be. We seemed to tame that hill quite nicely. Then it was a fast down hill Northward on R Avenue toward our last miles to Traer where we were to hook back up with Kevin and stop for resupply. It was early still- about 10:00am, and we  would probably pull off 50 miles well before noon. Of course, it was the weather which was to blame here. The unprecedented coolness and low humidity was awesome. But then someone said "Flat tire!", and we had to stop again.

New York Roll was having a tire issue. Fortunately it resolved itself and he was able to continue.

New York Roll was having an issue with a leaky rear tire. He had to stop and pump it up, checked to see that the sealant had sealed it up, and then we were off again. He also was already suffering from a creaky Press Fit 30 bottom bracket, which would squawk any time he got out of the saddle to pedal hard. Actually, that wasn't all. He would also have a loose front Center Lock rotor clanging off and on between tightenings as the ride wore on.

The last B road before lunch was just South of Traer.

 One last Level B Road before Traer and it was a good one. I kind of forgot about all the Level B's I had put into this route, so it was a nice surprise to turn and find a Level B road sign waiting for us. This last road was one of the nice surprises!

We pulled in to Traer before 11:00am, and I had to remind a couple of the guys this was the "lunch" stop! We had been making such good time that it seemed lunch should be up the road yet, but it wasn't. Traer was it. Kevin found us and we all had a nice rest before heading back out for what I thought would be the best Level B roads on the course.

Next Part 3- Unexpected Surprises And Big Hills.

GTDRI '17 Report: Part 1- Getting Rolling

The sky wasn't red, so we'd be okay.......right?

The Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitational for 2017 was to be a homage of sorts to what the Pirate Cycling League in Lincoln Nebraska does with their annual "Tour of Dirt Roads". My goal was to jam in as many Level B Maintenance roads into the route that I could. Once the route was finished, I had approximately 25 miles of 102.7 miles total in Level B Roads. Not too shabby, I'd say.

Of course, the risk in doing that is if the weather gets wet. Then all bets are off and one quarter of your course is unrideable. Therefore; the weather was on my mind, but all for naught. As it turned out, it was perfect. I doubt that any GTDRI in the future will ever have weather this tranquil and nice. Sure, it was chilly to start out with, Martin said his Garmin showed 48° at one point, but once the Sun got up it quickly zoomed into the mid-70's where it stayed the rest of the day. Humidity was unusually low for August. The wind, while making its presence felt at one point as a headwind early in the afternoon, was really a non-factor. Varying cloud cover meant we didn't get cooked. Weird weather for August, but no one was complaining.

The next thing about the GTDRI is that you never know who might show up. Early in the week I had confirmations for four folks. Three of them dropped out. Then I got one more confirmed rider via e-mail and Friday another came in to the shop and committed. So.....there would be at least four of us. But then you have the surprises. Every year people show up unannounced, which is kind of fun, in the case of this ride. I figured we'd see a couple more folks show up.

One of the unforseen GTDRI riders was Dave Roll

I got up at about 4:30am after a week of not really getting enough sleep at all. It didn't help that the night before GTDRI I found out that neither one of the two printers in the Guitar Ted Headquarters had good cartridges. Bah! I had to hurriedly scribble out handwritten cues and laminate them with packing tape before I went to bed. Another late night!

So, I drove down to Reinbeck and saw that New York Roll had decided to show up for the ride. He's a local, so that was cool, Then Rob E. from Lincoln made the drive up alone with his Pugsley. Nick H. from Iowa City was there with a sweet, skinny tired Gunnar Cross Hairs. Martin B. with his'17 Ti Fargo was there along with Robert F. who had ridden over from Cedar Falls. With me that made six. That was a nice sized group and about the average for turnout on these deals.

We were supposed to head out at 6:00am, but we weren't quite ready to go until five minutes after six. Just then, a Toyota Tundra came wheeling up and Rob said, "Well, it looks like Kevin made it after all." I looked in surprise as Kevin F. jumped out and asked if we could wait for him. So, we were seven riders and didn't get started until 6:30am. Kevin had driven starting at 2:30am from Omaha, Nebraska to make it, so it was the least we could do. Once Kevin was ready we rolled out Southward from Reinbeck to get the ride started.

It was pretty chilly to start, but spirits were high.

We held a pretty good line through the first few miles and it soon became apparent that this group was strong enough to go at a pretty good clip. Robert, who had ridden over, was freezing since he had sweated out and stood around too long before we got going again. I figured an elevated pace would aid in his recovery, so I allowed us to push a little harder than I thought we should be for a long day in the saddle.

The first Level B Road section featured three miles of smooth and fast dirt goodness.

We reached the first Level B Road section with no issues and halfway through we decided it was time for a quick nature break, the first stop of many throughout the day. Then it was on to some gravel travel which led us across the entire width of Tama County until we reached the next section of Level B Road.

The morning miles features mostly flatter and maybe some gently rolling, terrain.

The second stretch of Level B Road just before entering Benton County.

Along the way to the second stretch of Level B Road Kevin was suffering from bad back syndrome, tight hamstrings, and from just being unrested from his long drive to get over to Reinbeck. By the time we'd reached Benton County is was apparent that he was going to have to bail out. Just how we were going to get that done was yet to be determined.

Next: Part 2- History And Trouble

GTDRI '17 Report: Part 1- Getting Rolling

The sky wasn't red, so we'd be okay.......right?

The Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitational for 2017 was to be a homage of sorts to what the Pirate Cycling League in Lincoln Nebraska does with their annual "Tour of Dirt Roads". My goal was to jam in as many Level B Maintenance roads into the route that I could. Once the route was finished, I had approximately 25 miles of 102.7 miles total in Level B Roads. Not too shabby, I'd say.

Of course, the risk in doing that is if the weather gets wet. Then all bets are off and one quarter of your course is unrideable. Therefore; the weather was on my mind, but all for naught. As it turned out, it was perfect. I doubt that any GTDRI in the future will ever have weather this tranquil and nice. Sure, it was chilly to start out with, Martin said his Garmin showed 48° at one point, but once the Sun got up it quickly zoomed into the mid-70's where it stayed the rest of the day. Humidity was unusually low for August. The wind, while making its presence felt at one point as a headwind early in the afternoon, was really a non-factor. Varying cloud cover meant we didn't get cooked. Weird weather for August, but no one was complaining.

The next thing about the GTDRI is that you never know who might show up. Early in the week I had confirmations for four folks. Three of them dropped out. Then I got one more confirmed rider via e-mail and Friday another came in to the shop and committed. So.....there would be at least four of us. But then you have the surprises. Every year people show up unannounced, which is kind of fun, in the case of this ride. I figured we'd see a couple more folks show up.

One of the unforseen GTDRI riders was Dave Roll

I got up at about 4:30am after a week of not really getting enough sleep at all. It didn't help that the night before GTDRI I found out that neither one of the two printers in the Guitar Ted Headquarters had good cartridges. Bah! I had to hurriedly scribble out handwritten cues and laminate them with packing tape before I went to bed. Another late night!

So, I drove down to Reinbeck and saw that New York Roll had decided to show up for the ride. He's a local, so that was cool, Then Rob E. from Lincoln made the drive up alone with his Pugsley. Nick H. from Iowa City was there with a sweet, skinny tired Gunnar Cross Hairs. Martin B. with his'17 Ti Fargo was there along with Robert F. who had ridden over from Cedar Falls. With me that made six. That was a nice sized group and about the average for turnout on these deals.

We were supposed to head out at 6:00am, but we weren't quite ready to go until five minutes after six. Just then, a Toyota Tundra came wheeling up and Rob said, "Well, it looks like Kevin made it after all." I looked in surprise as Kevin F. jumped out and asked if we could wait for him. So, we were seven riders and didn't get started until 6:30am. Kevin had driven starting at 2:30am from Omaha, Nebraska to make it, so it was the least we could do. Once Kevin was ready we rolled out Southward from Reinbeck to get the ride started.

It was pretty chilly to start, but spirits were high.

We held a pretty good line through the first few miles and it soon became apparent that this group was strong enough to go at a pretty good clip. Robert, who had ridden over, was freezing since he had sweated out and stood around too long before we got going again. I figured an elevated pace would aid in his recovery, so I allowed us to push a little harder than I thought we should be for a long day in the saddle.

The first Level B Road section featured three miles of smooth and fast dirt goodness.

We reached the first Level B Road section with no issues and halfway through we decided it was time for a quick nature break, the first stop of many throughout the day. Then it was on to some gravel travel which led us across the entire width of Tama County until we reached the next section of Level B Road.

The morning miles features mostly flatter and maybe some gently rolling, terrain.

The second stretch of Level B Road just before entering Benton County.

Along the way to the second stretch of Level B Road Kevin was suffering from bad back syndrome, tight hamstrings, and from just being unrested from his long drive to get over to Reinbeck. By the time we'd reached Benton County is was apparent that he was going to have to bail out. Just how we were going to get that done was yet to be determined.

Next: Part 2- History And Trouble

Minus Ten Review- 31

Ten years ago this week I got the Badger out of its box.

Ten years ago here on the blog I was yakking about the potential pluses and minuses of the "new" 650B platform for mountain biking.

Essentially, what the advocates of this 650B size were saying was that the size would embody the "best of 26" and 29" wheels. Obviously, that is not possible. What it was in the end was a way for the industry to market a "new" thing and obsolete 26" mtb wheels, thus making sure folks would be looking at a "new" bike rather than continuing to upgrade an old one. It took about 4-5 more years to get there, by the way. Had the industry decided as a group not to do this, it is my belief that 650B mtb would be akin to fixed gear bikes today. It would have been a "thing" for a while, but it wouldn't have lasted.

Then I mentioned my condolences for the tragedy which occurred ten years ago when the I-35W bridge in Minneapolis collapsed.

The Badger frame and fork landed at the shop, so I had that to look forward to building up. Unfortunately, at that time, money was tight. I had already splurged on the Pofahl frame and fork as well. It would take ten years for me to get this bike built finally in the way that I had envisioned. Not affected in no small way by perceptions shortly after I received the frame about Badger as a company. That made me a bit reluctant to even ride the thing. But that is all behind me now.....

Walking a muddy B Road in a thunderstorm during the GTDRI #2

I just finished up the 12th GTDRI yesterday. Oddly enough, ten years ago the second one happened. This particular version was the master mind of David Pals, who was my co-director in Trans Iowa at the time.

It turned out to be a pretty epic afair. We got caught out in a thunderstorm, had to take refuge in a shelter house at a County Preserve, were caked in mud, and we finished up with a big headwind and heat and humidity that was stifling. Afterward we had a bit of a pizza party in David's kitchen in Marengo. It was a lot of fun, that's for sure.

It was a ride that included Paul Meyerman. He was the guy who worked tirelessly at making sure the Boy Scout Camp trails at Camp Ingawanis were always clear and open. You could find him up there on any given Summer day, covered in vegetation wielding his weed whacker, or chain sawing up dead falls, or manicuring a new section of trail. It was Paul who put in what is known as "The Bottoms" at Ingawanis Woodland.

I made a suggestion after Paul's death that the folks that were in charge of the naming of trails change "The Bottoms" to "Paul's Trail", but although I was told it was a good idea, nothing ever came of it. I find it a shame and tragic that any memory of a man's passionate work on those trails has been swept away, especially in light of the fact that another section of trail is named for its maker, who is another deserving individual.

Anyway.......maybe its just me.

Minus Ten Review- 31

Ten years ago this week I got the Badger out of its box.

Ten years ago here on the blog I was yakking about the potential pluses and minuses of the "new" 650B platform for mountain biking.

Essentially, what the advocates of this 650B size were saying was that the size would embody the "best of 26" and 29" wheels. Obviously, that is not possible. What it was in the end was a way for the industry to market a "new" thing and obsolete 26" mtb wheels, thus making sure folks would be looking at a "new" bike rather than continuing to upgrade an old one. It took about 4-5 more years to get there, by the way. Had the industry decided as a group not to do this, it is my belief that 650B mtb would be akin to fixed gear bikes today. It would have been a "thing" for a while, but it wouldn't have lasted.

Then I mentioned my condolences for the tragedy which occurred ten years ago when the I-35W bridge in Minneapolis collapsed.

The Badger frame and fork landed at the shop, so I had that to look forward to building up. Unfortunately, at that time, money was tight. I had already splurged on the Pofahl frame and fork as well. It would take ten years for me to get this bike built finally in the way that I had envisioned. Not affected in no small way by perceptions shortly after I received the frame about Badger as a company. That made me a bit reluctant to even ride the thing. But that is all behind me now.....

Walking a muddy B Road in a thunderstorm during the GTDRI #2

I just finished up the 12th GTDRI yesterday. Oddly enough, ten years ago the second one happened. This particular version was the master mind of David Pals, who was my co-director in Trans Iowa at the time.

It turned out to be a pretty epic afair. We got caught out in a thunderstorm, had to take refuge in a shelter house at a County Preserve, were caked in mud, and we finished up with a big headwind and heat and humidity that was stifling. Afterward we had a bit of a pizza party in David's kitchen in Marengo. It was a lot of fun, that's for sure.

It was a ride that included Paul Meyerman. He was the guy who worked tirelessly at making sure the Boy Scout Camp trails at Camp Ingawanis were always clear and open. You could find him up there on any given Summer day, covered in vegetation wielding his weed whacker, or chain sawing up dead falls, or manicuring a new section of trail. It was Paul who put in what is known as "The Bottoms" at Ingawanis Woodland.

I made a suggestion after Paul's death that the folks that were in charge of the naming of trails change "The Bottoms" to "Paul's Trail", but although I was told it was a good idea, nothing ever came of it. I find it a shame and tragic that any memory of a man's passionate work on those trails has been swept away, especially in light of the fact that another section of trail is named for its maker, who is another deserving individual.

Anyway.......maybe its just me.

Friday News And Views

Salsa's Beargrease goes to 27.5"ers on the current style frame.

Saddledrive 17:

The annual Saddledrive show is going on now. It is the show where QBP shows select dealers the newest rigs that will be, maybe, on dealers showroom floors this Fall and in to 2018.

Only you don't get to see any of it until September 8th. Thus saith the Q.

Apparently QBP wants to control the message more so than in the past, where dealers were pumping out images on social media and talking up stuff that wasn't quite cooked up enough for the Q to have out there quite yet. In fact, dealers were sworn to secrecy by the Q with an embargo agreement. All the 2018 line was shown in a special room sequestered away from prying eyes. This isn't entirely new for QBP, by the way. They did something similar when they announced privately to dealers the DW Split Pivot bikes.

So, all you are going to get now is a peek at Mukluk colors for 2018 and the Beargrease with 27.5" fat bike wheels. Same frame, by the way, just different wheels. Surly has the ECR in 27.5+ wheels in size medium on down and 29+ in size medium on up. The Straggler gets a new, blue sparkly colorway. That's about it for now.

So,stay tuned until September 8th when the wraps are lifted off and Salsa (and I assume Surly as well) is free to disseminate the new 2018 stuff.

Cyclo cross is hard, so e-bike it!

 First They Said You Can't- Then They Say You Should:

Remember all that ballyhoo about the Belgian cyclo crosser that had an electric motor in her seat tube and got banned from CX for it? The UCI got real serious about all of this and they even went so far as to develop testing machines that officials could employ at future events to detect any "e-doping" that may be occurring. To date, I have not heard that anyone has been busted.

So, e-biking in UCI cyclo cross events is a no-no, yes?

Well, maybe not! 

Apparently there is going to be a cyclo cross event at the next UCI sanctioned Cross Vegas, dubbed a "fun event", where e-biking will not only be allowed, but encouraged. Check the following quote out from the press release for this event: "The event is open to men and women riding any style of e-bike. It is a "bring your own bike" event; however, 15 lucky entrants will ride a Focus e-whip for the race."

So, any e-bike? Like, even modified, no speed limited e-bikes?

Wow!

I know cyclo cross is hard, so ya know......let 'em use motors, I guess. I'm just waiting for the basketball hoops to be lowered so even I can dunk. "When everyone is special......no one will be."

Sheesh! Giving us a break, I see.

GTDRI Is Tomorrow:

At 6:00am tomorrow, the Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitational will head out from Reinbeck, Iowa to ride 102+ miles and 25 miles of that dirt. The ride will have four people on it, as far as I know, plus myself.

The weather is weird for this event this year. Usually it is in the 70's at the onset of riding and gets into the 90's with high humidity by the afternoon. This, combined with some of the stupid-difficult courses I have come up with, have conspired to make the ride a real "death ride", or as close to real death as you'd want to get.

This isn't a totally unprecedented situation though. I do recall the first attempt at the Egin-Elkader-Garber-Strawberry Point area course where the temperatures were mild with low humidity. That was nearly ten years ago. The second GTDRI was cut short by a thunderstorm, which we were caught out in. That one wasn't too bad either.

But typically it was almost always hot, humid, and really hard to ride. This year it seems we have caught another break as the heat and humidity have been tempered by a cold front with cooler, drier air, that blew through here yesterday. Hey, I ain't complainin', I just think it is odd.

So, I think many of you might be surprised to find out what rig I am taking on this adventure. You'll have to wait until Monday to find out what it was. I am pretty stoked to give this a whirl, that's for sure.

That's all I have. Look for a recap of the GTDRI to start on Monday. Have a great weekend and keep the rubber side down, y'all!

 

Friday News And Views

Salsa's Beargrease goes to 27.5"ers on the current style frame.

Saddledrive 17:

The annual Saddledrive show is going on now. It is the show where QBP shows select dealers the newest rigs that will be, maybe, on dealers showroom floors this Fall and in to 2018.

Only you don't get to see any of it until September 8th. Thus saith the Q.

Apparently QBP wants to control the message more so than in the past, where dealers were pumping out images on social media and talking up stuff that wasn't quite cooked up enough for the Q to have out there quite yet. In fact, dealers were sworn to secrecy by the Q with an embargo agreement. All the 2018 line was shown in a special room sequestered away from prying eyes. This isn't entirely new for QBP, by the way. They did something similar when they announced privately to dealers the DW Split Pivot bikes.

So, all you are going to get now is a peek at Mukluk colors for 2018 and the Beargrease with 27.5" fat bike wheels. Same frame, by the way, just different wheels. Surly has the ECR in 27.5+ wheels in size medium on down and 29+ in size medium on up. The Straggler gets a new, blue sparkly colorway. That's about it for now.

So,stay tuned until September 8th when the wraps are lifted off and Salsa (and I assume Surly as well) is free to disseminate the new 2018 stuff.

Cyclo cross is hard, so e-bike it!

 First They Said You Can't- Then They Say You Should:

Remember all that ballyhoo about the Belgian cyclo crosser that had an electric motor in her seat tube and got banned from CX for it? The UCI got real serious about all of this and they even went so far as to develop testing machines that officials could employ at future events to detect any "e-doping" that may be occurring. To date, I have not heard that anyone has been busted.

So, e-biking in UCI cyclo cross events is a no-no, yes?

Well, maybe not! 

Apparently there is going to be a cyclo cross event at the next UCI sanctioned Cross Vegas, dubbed a "fun event", where e-biking will not only be allowed, but encouraged. Check the following quote out from the press release for this event: "The event is open to men and women riding any style of e-bike. It is a "bring your own bike" event; however, 15 lucky entrants will ride a Focus e-whip for the race."

So, any e-bike? Like, even modified, no speed limited e-bikes?

Wow!

I know cyclo cross is hard, so ya know......let 'em use motors, I guess. I'm just waiting for the basketball hoops to be lowered so even I can dunk. "When everyone is special......no one will be."

Sheesh! Giving us a break, I see.

GTDRI Is Tomorrow:

At 6:00am tomorrow, the Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitational will head out from Reinbeck, Iowa to ride 102+ miles and 25 miles of that dirt. The ride will have four people on it, as far as I know, plus myself.

The weather is weird for this event this year. Usually it is in the 70's at the onset of riding and gets into the 90's with high humidity by the afternoon. This, combined with some of the stupid-difficult courses I have come up with, have conspired to make the ride a real "death ride", or as close to real death as you'd want to get.

This isn't a totally unprecedented situation though. I do recall the first attempt at the Egin-Elkader-Garber-Strawberry Point area course where the temperatures were mild with low humidity. That was nearly ten years ago. The second GTDRI was cut short by a thunderstorm, which we were caught out in. That one wasn't too bad either.

But typically it was almost always hot, humid, and really hard to ride. This year it seems we have caught another break as the heat and humidity have been tempered by a cold front with cooler, drier air, that blew through here yesterday. Hey, I ain't complainin', I just think it is odd.

So, I think many of you might be surprised to find out what rig I am taking on this adventure. You'll have to wait until Monday to find out what it was. I am pretty stoked to give this a whirl, that's for sure.

That's all I have. Look for a recap of the GTDRI to start on Monday. Have a great weekend and keep the rubber side down, y'all!

 

Knowing When To Say When

Even remote gravel events can be dangerous......I know!

Maybe you've been too busy to hear about the tragedies suffered in the ultra-endurance cycling scene this year, but there have been a few deaths in some of the higher profile, longer distance road based ultras this season. Probably the most notorious death of recent times was that of Mike Hall. The recent events concerning these deaths have brought the microscope of criticism and cries for solutions. The "something must be done" drums are being beaten loudly.

What this means for the future of ultra-cycling events is not clearly known yet, but the responses have been typical. Here is a Cyclingtips.com post which should give you a pretty good idea of what I mean here.

First of all, I think we have to call out some obvious points that are not being discussed, (at least not that I have seen), and the first and foremost of these is that someone's death does not always mean we "have to do something" to prevent more deaths. I think this is more a philosophical viewpoint than maybe we are really seeing here. Think about people dying. It happens every day in many ways. We are not "doing something" about many of these deaths. Are these lives worth less than the lives lost by higher profile ultra-cyclists? I ask this more as a point to ponder for us all. Because it seems to me that it is easy to get indignant and raise our passions when we are saddened by the loss of someone we feel is an iconic figure for......whatever, but we don't raise an eyebrow for certain (you fill in the blanks) folks when they die. So, there is that facet of all of this which is really more than a cycling issue. I'll leave that for others to discuss.....

Second of all, we seem to have an issue with death. You will have to search your own souls concerning this, but when the spectre of death is brought up, many try to deflect thinking about it. You've all seen it on the waivers we sign- "This activity may cause serious injury or DEATH"- but few consider this a possible reality for them. You should though.......Death is a thing. It is real. One day, you will experience it......

Mark Johnson was dancing with hypothermia for hours at T.I.v13. Image by Jon Duke

 I've contemplated dying on several occasions during gravel events. I've heat stroked, bonked, passed out, seen visions, and fallen asleep raging down hill on my bicycle in these events. I don't finish a lot of these events due to my pushing the limits so far. I also have a front seat to witness such things as other riders wrestle with their "demons" during Trans Iowas. Saying we all have "danced with death" might cause most folks to roll their eyes, but I believe we're on the knife's edge more than many might suspect. The trick, the gift of higher guidance, wisdom, or......dumb luck to know when to say when is the difference here, I believe.

That more than anything is what makes these events what they are, to my mind. You- the rider- get to decide when enough is enough, and having some other entity try to govern that is......well, it may seem like a better idea, but it guts the challenge of the thing and the meaningfulness of doing these kinds of rides, in my opinion. So, what is the answer then?

Well, I think prudence is something that has to be considered upfront by race directors. I'll use the Route 66 Challenge as an example. I- and this is purely my opinion- didn't think it was very prudent to stick to the Route 66 course through busy metropolitan areas like St. Louis, or to keep the riders on heavily trafficked roads. I would say that sort of deal is raising your odds for seeing someone get hit by a car and get injured or have someone die due to a car crash. That doesn't seem like a prudent thing to have someone do. I also will say that the riders could have also been more prudent in taking on that sort of route. There is honor in making wise choices, and in the case where a route is deemed unsafe due to heavy traffic, I think riders have a right and a duty to decline to ride such courses. I think these sorts of courses and riders accepting the situations which are clearly unsafe is where prudence and wisdom sometimes gets thrown out the window. For what? Well, that's another long blog post........

Clearly, there are certain challenges that are okay. It is a sticky wicket, but when you look at what folks are getting upset about here- riders dying due to bicycle/car crashes- removing that possibility as much as possible would seem to be the choice to go with. I think what I am saying here is somewhat obvious. Paved ultra-cycling courses that are not closed in any way, or that don't have follow vehicles are probably not great choices. Then again- there are no guarantees.

You can die anywhere by any means. Those who decide to gamble with their lives may have to pay the ultimate price. It's not an easy question to answer, but when do you say when? At what point do you "pull the plug". Should race directors and course/route designers be staying away from risky, high traffic roads? Do we go as far as having significant family members sign away rights to sue in case a loved one dies in an event? I don't know. These are just some of the questions, I am sure there are many more....

All I know is that it is time to say "when" for this blog post to end!

Knowing When To Say When

Even remote gravel events can be dangerous......I know!

Maybe you've been too busy to hear about the tragedies suffered in the ultra-endurance cycling scene this year, but there have been a few deaths in some of the higher profile, longer distance road based ultras this season. Probably the most notorious death of recent times was that of Mike Hall. The recent events concerning these deaths have brought the microscope of criticism and cries for solutions. The "something must be done" drums are being beaten loudly.

What this means for the future of ultra-cycling events is not clearly known yet, but the responses have been typical. Here is a Cyclingtips.com post which should give you a pretty good idea of what I mean here.

First of all, I think we have to call out some obvious points that are not being discussed, (at least not that I have seen), and the first and foremost of these is that someone's death does not always mean we "have to do something" to prevent more deaths. I think this is more a philosophical viewpoint than maybe we are really seeing here. Think about people dying. It happens every day in many ways. We are not "doing something" about many of these deaths. Are these lives worth less than the lives lost by higher profile ultra-cyclists? I ask this more as a point to ponder for us all. Because it seems to me that it is easy to get indignant and raise our passions when we are saddened by the loss of someone we feel is an iconic figure for......whatever, but we don't raise an eyebrow for certain (you fill in the blanks) folks when they die. So, there is that facet of all of this which is really more than a cycling issue. I'll leave that for others to discuss.....

Second of all, we seem to have an issue with death. You will have to search your own souls concerning this, but when the spectre of death is brought up, many try to deflect thinking about it. You've all seen it on the waivers we sign- "This activity may cause serious injury or DEATH"- but few consider this a possible reality for them. You should though.......Death is a thing. It is real. One day, you will experience it......

Mark Johnson was dancing with hypothermia for hours at T.I.v13. Image by Jon Duke

 I've contemplated dying on several occasions during gravel events. I've heat stroked, bonked, passed out, seen visions, and fallen asleep raging down hill on my bicycle in these events. I don't finish a lot of these events due to my pushing the limits so far. I also have a front seat to witness such things as other riders wrestle with their "demons" during Trans Iowas. Saying we all have "danced with death" might cause most folks to roll their eyes, but I believe we're on the knife's edge more than many might suspect. The trick, the gift of higher guidance, wisdom, or......dumb luck to know when to say when is the difference here, I believe.

That more than anything is what makes these events what they are, to my mind. You- the rider- get to decide when enough is enough, and having some other entity try to govern that is......well, it may seem like a better idea, but it guts the challenge of the thing and the meaningfulness of doing these kinds of rides, in my opinion. So, what is the answer then?

Well, I think prudence is something that has to be considered upfront by race directors. I'll use the Route 66 Challenge as an example. I- and this is purely my opinion- didn't think it was very prudent to stick to the Route 66 course through busy metropolitan areas like St. Louis, or to keep the riders on heavily trafficked roads. I would say that sort of deal is raising your odds for seeing someone get hit by a car and get injured or have someone die due to a car crash. That doesn't seem like a prudent thing to have someone do. I also will say that the riders could have also been more prudent in taking on that sort of route. There is honor in making wise choices, and in the case where a route is deemed unsafe due to heavy traffic, I think riders have a right and a duty to decline to ride such courses. I think these sorts of courses and riders accepting the situations which are clearly unsafe is where prudence and wisdom sometimes gets thrown out the window. For what? Well, that's another long blog post........

Clearly, there are certain challenges that are okay. It is a sticky wicket, but when you look at what folks are getting upset about here- riders dying due to bicycle/car crashes- removing that possibility as much as possible would seem to be the choice to go with. I think what I am saying here is somewhat obvious. Paved ultra-cycling courses that are not closed in any way, or that don't have follow vehicles are probably not great choices. Then again- there are no guarantees.

You can die anywhere by any means. Those who decide to gamble with their lives may have to pay the ultimate price. It's not an easy question to answer, but when do you say when? At what point do you "pull the plug". Should race directors and course/route designers be staying away from risky, high traffic roads? Do we go as far as having significant family members sign away rights to sue in case a loved one dies in an event? I don't know. These are just some of the questions, I am sure there are many more....

All I know is that it is time to say "when" for this blog post to end!

Tubeless: Get With It

I retweeted this yesterday......

The whole tubeless mountain bike tire thing got started around 1998 by a dude named Stan. You know his company, "Stan's NoTubes". The thing was, back "in the day", you had no choice but to convert a regular mountain bike tire, aka: Tubed Tire Technology, to a tubeless state using some new trickery developed by Stan and picked up by XC mountain bike racers at the time. Of course, it was a risky business, setting up non-tubeless stuff tubeless. You could blow tires off rims, have sealant seeping through sidewalls, tape failures, and maybe the worst, a failure at speed, which generally meant you were crashing.......hard. Yet the search went on to make things work better.

Remember, this was almost twenty years ago. Yes, there have been improvements to how you can use Tube Tire Technology in a tubeless state, but in 2017, one has to ask....."Why?" There really is no good reason anymore to do the "conversion dance" with tires and/or rims that were never meant to be tubeless. This now goes for fat bikes, gravel bikes, and increasingly, road bikes.

There are way too many great choices to go tubeless now. I'm not suggesting that you should go tubeless, (Although, you should. Really.) But I am saying that you shouldn't ever consider running Tube Tire Technology with anything other than tubes. That's what Matt McCulley of Mountain Bike Radio was Tweeting about yesterday that caught my eye. But there is also something else I've noted as well.

If you are going to bother doing a tubeless set up, at least get it right.

So, I've seen some "not very well done" things while observing what some folks do to set up tires and rims tubeless. My pet peeve is crappy valve stems. How many ways can companies mess this up? You'd think not many. I mean.....it's a valve stem! You had one job, to create a decent, operable tubeless valve stem......

Yep! Some have horrible base designs, some have slippery shafts that pumps cannot seal against, and some corrode faster than you can blink an eye. I haven't even mentioned valve cores......

Then there is tubeless tape. Oh my! There are some real klunkers out there masquerading as tape. I won't name names here, but I bet some of you are shaking your heads and know a brand that has awful tape. I will praise two brands here: Stan's Yellow Tape and by extension, brands that license that tape, like WTB, and Velocity's Blue Tape. I've had stellar success with both and see no reasons to use anything else.

Finally, there are some real bad tape installation jobs. Tape isn't easy to get right all the time, and I give grace where it is obvious someone tried, but only one run of tape? You are asking for failures there. Tubeless tape doesn't weigh much, and two full runs of tape is so much more durable, safe, and effective that I see absolutely no reason not to do it that way. Plus, the higher pressures gravel riders use will force many tapes to sink into spoke holes in rims and split out if you only use a single layer of tape.

Tubeless tire technology has risen to a level, for the most part, that you don't have to put up with mismatched technology, poor products, or especially mixing in anything not meant to be tubeless. Choices abound in tires. Heck, even a few short years ago there were only one or two tubeless gravel tire options. Now there are so many you cannot name them all.

And finally, tubeless isn't for everyone or for every situation. I still use tubes in lots of my bikes because tubeless maintenance is a chore. I get it. Trust me, I do. But for my "high performance", more demanding riding, I'm using tubeless tire systems and technology that is light years better than it was ten years ago. There just isn't any good reason not to use that stuff.

Tubeless: Get With It

I retweeted this yesterday......

The whole tubeless mountain bike tire thing got started around 1998 by a dude named Stan. You know his company, "Stan's NoTubes". The thing was, back "in the day", you had no choice but to convert a regular mountain bike tire, aka: Tubed Tire Technology, to a tubeless state using some new trickery developed by Stan and picked up by XC mountain bike racers at the time. Of course, it was a risky business, setting up non-tubeless stuff tubeless. You could blow tires off rims, have sealant seeping through sidewalls, tape failures, and maybe the worst, a failure at speed, which generally meant you were crashing.......hard. Yet the search went on to make things work better.

Remember, this was almost twenty years ago. Yes, there have been improvements to how you can use Tube Tire Technology in a tubeless state, but in 2017, one has to ask....."Why?" There really is no good reason anymore to do the "conversion dance" with tires and/or rims that were never meant to be tubeless. This now goes for fat bikes, gravel bikes, and increasingly, road bikes.

There are way too many great choices to go tubeless now. I'm not suggesting that you should go tubeless, (Although, you should. Really.) But I am saying that you shouldn't ever consider running Tube Tire Technology with anything other than tubes. That's what Matt McCulley of Mountain Bike Radio was Tweeting about yesterday that caught my eye. But there is also something else I've noted as well.

If you are going to bother doing a tubeless set up, at least get it right.

So, I've seen some "not very well done" things while observing what some folks do to set up tires and rims tubeless. My pet peeve is crappy valve stems. How many ways can companies mess this up? You'd think not many. I mean.....it's a valve stem! You had one job, to create a decent, operable tubeless valve stem......

Yep! Some have horrible base designs, some have slippery shafts that pumps cannot seal against, and some corrode faster than you can blink an eye. I haven't even mentioned valve cores......

Then there is tubeless tape. Oh my! There are some real klunkers out there masquerading as tape. I won't name names here, but I bet some of you are shaking your heads and know a brand that has awful tape. I will praise two brands here: Stan's Yellow Tape and by extension, brands that license that tape, like WTB, and Velocity's Blue Tape. I've had stellar success with both and see no reasons to use anything else.

Finally, there are some real bad tape installation jobs. Tape isn't easy to get right all the time, and I give grace where it is obvious someone tried, but only one run of tape? You are asking for failures there. Tubeless tape doesn't weigh much, and two full runs of tape is so much more durable, safe, and effective that I see absolutely no reason not to do it that way. Plus, the higher pressures gravel riders use will force many tapes to sink into spoke holes in rims and split out if you only use a single layer of tape.

Tubeless tire technology has risen to a level, for the most part, that you don't have to put up with mismatched technology, poor products, or especially mixing in anything not meant to be tubeless. Choices abound in tires. Heck, even a few short years ago there were only one or two tubeless gravel tire options. Now there are so many you cannot name them all.

And finally, tubeless isn't for everyone or for every situation. I still use tubes in lots of my bikes because tubeless maintenance is a chore. I get it. Trust me, I do. But for my "high performance", more demanding riding, I'm using tubeless tire systems and technology that is light years better than it was ten years ago. There just isn't any good reason not to use that stuff.

Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitational 2017: Update

Are you kidding me! This sounds almost too easy.....

GTDRI UPDATE:

Okay, the time is nigh for the annual Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitational. I've explained what this is, like a million times, so if you don't get it, well, it is too late for this year. Those that are on board with the idea, here is the latest scuttlebutt.....

The weather looks to be.....great! I hate to say it, because I don't want to jinx the deal, but this might end up being the best GTDRI weather we've had in years. Usually it is hot, muggy, not windy at all, and hot. Oh yeah......and let's not forget how muggy it can get! I cannot say that enough!

I mean, sheesh! It's part and parcel of the whole thing- really hot, uncomfortable weather. The kind of stuff where you go outside and instantly start sweating because the temperature and humidity levels are nearly the same number. And......usually there is little to no wind. It is a recipe for baked cyclist. I know I've been roached a few years on my own ride. Last year I had to cut it short after 109 miles, and I barely finished the year before. I seem to remember 2010 was a year that I got smacked down by the Sun as well.

Anyway, just look at this screen grab for the forecast for Saturday. That's insanely great. Even if there is a 40% chance of a shower. Pffft! And there will be a breeze? That's uncommonly good right there.

So, HERE IS THE ROUTE <===click that! To recap- My plan is to leave Reinbeck at 6:00am. Now, if you are headed out and may be late, you'd better e-mail me @g.ted.productions@gmail.com  I'll be checking that right up until we are supposed to leave, and if you let me know, we could wait a few minutes. OR- You could join us down route. Anyway, just let me know.

The route plan is to have available convenience store stops every 25-ish miles. That said, the first one is set up so that we would have to tack on two extra miles to get that in. My plan is to pass it by and not stop for an extended time until about Mile 50-ish in Traer. So, plan on going 50 miles to start out with without resupply. 

One of the dirt roads we will be on.

 After we stop for what I hope will be lunch in Traer, we will go about 25 or so miles and reach Garwin. There is a seedy little convenience store there where we can get watered up and you might find a bite of something really bad for you!

Then it's on to Reinbeck. The Broad Street Brewing Company just expanded their seating, so we should have plenty of room to spread out and enjoy a brew. There are eating options there in town as well with a Casey's convenience store which usually has some killer pizza. You can choose to hang out, or get on down the road if you have to go.

Parking: Reinbeck is a fairly sleepy town. But, I would ask that we try to park along Main Street to the East of Broad Street or anywhere you aren't right in front of a business. I'll leave that up to your discretion, but I don't want to have us all parking right in front of the brewery and hogging the parking there all day while we're gone.

Planning On Coming?: You can let me know via email, (see above for address), or message me if you are on Facebook or if you have my phone number. I know of three fat bikers that plan on coming up for this one. So.....there should be at least four of us! There won't be any cue sheets! This is a no drop ride, with zero support! IF YOU HAVE TO BAIL OUT- YOU ARE ON YOUR OWN! It would be wise to get a map of Tama County and have a plan in mind if you need to have to stop short of the planned 102+ miles. I will be navigating by GPS and cues and I may have a vague map which I might be able to part with. But that's it. You need to come prepared!

This is not the toughest GTDRI course but there will be steep hills to climb in spots and many dirt roads, which if it rains or showers, will be super difficult. Bring a shiv/mud scraper tool! (If you don't, it will surely rain and I will blame you for it!) Plan on a slower pace. No drop means we will stop for stragglers often and regroup at times. Everyone that rides is expected to help maintain the group! This will be tough, but it is supposed to be fun. Well, as fun as humanly possible.

Any questions? Comments? Hit me up via email or comment section here.

Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitational 2017: Update

Are you kidding me! This sounds almost too easy.....

GTDRI UPDATE:

Okay, the time is nigh for the annual Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitational. I've explained what this is, like a million times, so if you don't get it, well, it is too late for this year. Those that are on board with the idea, here is the latest scuttlebutt.....

The weather looks to be.....great! I hate to say it, because I don't want to jinx the deal, but this might end up being the best GTDRI weather we've had in years. Usually it is hot, muggy, not windy at all, and hot. Oh yeah......and let's not forget how muggy it can get! I cannot say that enough!

I mean, sheesh! It's part and parcel of the whole thing- really hot, uncomfortable weather. The kind of stuff where you go outside and instantly start sweating because the temperature and humidity levels are nearly the same number. And......usually there is little to no wind. It is a recipe for baked cyclist. I know I've been roached a few years on my own ride. Last year I had to cut it short after 109 miles, and I barely finished the year before. I seem to remember 2010 was a year that I got smacked down by the Sun as well.

Anyway, just look at this screen grab for the forecast for Saturday. That's insanely great. Even if there is a 40% chance of a shower. Pffft! And there will be a breeze? That's uncommonly good right there.

So, HERE IS THE ROUTE <===click that! To recap- My plan is to leave Reinbeck at 6:00am. Now, if you are headed out and may be late, you'd better e-mail me @g.ted.productions@gmail.com  I'll be checking that right up until we are supposed to leave, and if you let me know, we could wait a few minutes. OR- You could join us down route. Anyway, just let me know.

The route plan is to have available convenience store stops every 25-ish miles. That said, the first one is set up so that we would have to tack on two extra miles to get that in. My plan is to pass it by and not stop for an extended time until about Mile 50-ish in Traer. So, plan on going 50 miles to start out with without resupply. 

One of the dirt roads we will be on.

 After we stop for what I hope will be lunch in Traer, we will go about 25 or so miles and reach Garwin. There is a seedy little convenience store there where we can get watered up and you might find a bite of something really bad for you!

Then it's on to Reinbeck. The Broad Street Brewing Company just expanded their seating, so we should have plenty of room to spread out and enjoy a brew. There are eating options there in town as well with a Casey's convenience store which usually has some killer pizza. You can choose to hang out, or get on down the road if you have to go.

Parking: Reinbeck is a fairly sleepy town. But, I would ask that we try to park along Main Street to the East of Broad Street or anywhere you aren't right in front of a business. I'll leave that up to your discretion, but I don't want to have us all parking right in front of the brewery and hogging the parking there all day while we're gone.

Planning On Coming?: You can let me know via email, (see above for address), or message me if you are on Facebook or if you have my phone number. I know of three fat bikers that plan on coming up for this one. So.....there should be at least four of us! There won't be any cue sheets! This is a no drop ride, with zero support! IF YOU HAVE TO BAIL OUT- YOU ARE ON YOUR OWN! It would be wise to get a map of Tama County and have a plan in mind if you need to have to stop short of the planned 102+ miles. I will be navigating by GPS and cues and I may have a vague map which I might be able to part with. But that's it. You need to come prepared!

This is not the toughest GTDRI course but there will be steep hills to climb in spots and many dirt roads, which if it rains or showers, will be super difficult. Bring a shiv/mud scraper tool! (If you don't, it will surely rain and I will blame you for it!) Plan on a slower pace. No drop means we will stop for stragglers often and regroup at times. Everyone that rides is expected to help maintain the group! This will be tough, but it is supposed to be fun. Well, as fun as humanly possible.

Any questions? Comments? Hit me up via email or comment section here.