Monday, April 28, 2014

Trans Iowa V10: Prologue

Wind & Hills
 Prologue:

Trans Iowa V10 is in the books. I still haven't grasped that quite yet. I am still on an adrenaline and emotional high from it even after being awake for 42 hours as I write this.

There will be so much to say about this one: The Wind, The Hills, The Lightning!!

For now I want to just get out my thanks and some pertinent details. First up, let's give you the results of this year's event.

Results Of T.I.V10
  1. Overall & Men's Open Winner: Greg Gleason @ 26hr 22min
  2. Second Overall & Second Men's Open : Paul LaCava @ 27hr 48min
  3. Third Overall & Third Men's Open- Chris Schotz @ 27hr 50min
  4. Tie Overall & Fourth Men's Open Derek Wieder, First Fixed/Single Speed Troy Krause @ 27hr 56min
  5. Fifth Overall & Fifth Men's Open: Brad Lamson @ 31hr 08min
  6. Tie- Sixth Overall and Sixth Men's Open: Aaron Hanley and Alex Robert @ 31hr 50min
  7. Seventh Overall and Seventh Open Men's John Mathias @ 32hr
  8. Eighth Overall and Eighth Men's Open Josh Brown @ 32hr 19min
  9. Ninth Overall and Ninth Men's Open: Steve Fuller @ 32hr 20min
  10. Tenth Overall and Tenth Men's Open Patrick Lackey @ 32hr 21min
  11. Eleventh Overall and Eleventh Men's Open Mike Johnson @ 32hr 23min
  12. Twelfth Overall and Twelfth Men's Open Jerry Bilek at 33hr 09min
  13. Tie: Thirteenth Overall- Tie First Women's Open: Agytha Gryglak, Sarah Cooper Men's Open: Jake Cruse, Robert Fry- Second Fixed/Single Speed: Jay Barre*
*Note: Jay Barre is only the third person to complete a Trans Iowa on a fixed gear bicycle. Ken Yokanovich did it in TIV3 and Ben Shockey did it in TIV5

The event was 336 miles, even with the re-route, and in my considered opinion was the most difficult mix of course and conditions ever in Trans Iowa's history. Yes......V2 was horrendous and V6 was terrible, but neither of those years went the full distance and this one did. With the exception of snow, (and there are some riders who thought they saw some!), this event had it all in one helping. A big, enormous smorgasbord of pain and suffering mixed with fun and adventure.

Thank You: First and foremost I must thank every member of the Slender Fungus Cycling Association because without  their enormous amount of help and assistance T.I.V10 would have been far, far more difficult for myself. Thank You! I also want to extend my thanks to all the wonderful checkpoint volunteers who again worked flawlessly and went above and beyond the call of duty for me and Trans Iowa again. Rob Versteegh and the crew at the Barn- Thank you so much for the awesome after party and hospitality. Thanks to the awesome Grinnell Steakhouse folks who once again were on top of things for us and were wonderful hosts. Thank you to the Grinnell Chamber of Commerce/Rachael Kinnick and the Grinnell Police Department for their awesome assistance. Finally, Thank You to my awesome wife and children who see how I put so much effort into Trans Iowa and (mostly) don't mind. (I will thank the event sponsors separately)

Tomorrow I will start in with the Pre Race meeting day and I will continue telling the tale of T.I.V10 throughout the week. Stay tuned.....

3 comments:

Ari said...

My mind is so blown apart. It will take me a few days to come back. I am so thankful. I am so amazed. Thank you G.T. Thank you.
your friend,
Ari

MG said...

I can verify there was snow "falling" at one point, which is to say it was being driven by a 40-50mph wind. It was insane...

Great memories.

Exhausted_Auk said...

Mark, 1 small (and entirely forgivable) correction to your results - 4th place was a joint placing, so all the places behind that should be 1 higher, i.e. 5th place should read 6th, and so on.