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| John Gorilla at the impromptu finish line of T.I.v4 with a can of beer he found on the street. |
Now that I have told many stories up through Trans Iowa v6, I thought it might be a good time to take a breather to look at a few of the important characters from the time around T.I.v5-v6. I'll be getting to what I think of as the pivotal time period in Trans Iowa history with Trans Iowa v7 memories. Before we get there though, I need to set the table with my stories about these people. I will make a few comments about these folks, but please keep in mind- they are in no particular order.
John Gorilla. Yes- that is his given name. I'll never forget receiving his T.I.v4 post card and thinking, "this has got to be some kind of a goofy name, ya know? Like "Guitar Ted"!. Only it wasn't. At any rate...... That's the least of his impact upon Trans Iowa. John, while he contested the event, was a force to be reckoned with. A very strong rider, and very good at Trans Iowa. I mean, let's face it- Trans Iowa was odd and it had some strange things unlike other gravel events. John took to it like a fish takes to water. Plus, he was gracious, had excellent feedback from each event he was in, and overall is a really good human. I liked John. I was a bit dismayed by how T.I.v8 and v11 went for him, and he never contested the event in the latter years. Too bad. He never rode in the same T.I. as Greg Gleason, (with the exception of the ill-fated v11), but I bet that would have been an intense battle had they both shown up together. I'll always wonder about that...... My favorite memory of John will always be his T.I.v4 finish where he and his wife, Adele, walked up the street, found a can of unopened beer rolling in the gutter, dusted it off, cracked it open, and drank it while wrapped up in a blanket. That was fun!
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| (L-R) Joe Meiser, Charles Parsons, and John Gorilla after T.I.v6 in The Barn |
Charles was tough, tenacious, but he knew how to have fun despite tough conditions. He ended up being one of those riders I always knew would "rally the troops" out on the gravel. Charles actually ended up relishing this role, and he was one of several guys that I knew would be a kind of "On Course Shepherd" for the Rookies in the field each year. Charles also ended up talking his wife into being a volunteer, and so that helped me out even further. I'm not sure Patrice saw the allure of Trans Iowa like Charles did, but she was always a really great asset to the event.
Funny story about Charles as told to me by fellow Trans Iowan, Mike Johnson. Apparently, during Trans Iowa one year, Mike wasn't feeling very "positive" and he was dangling off the back of a group during the difficult overnight hours. Charles drifted back and basically told Mike that unless he was going to straighten up and be positive he wasn't welcome in the group, (No Negative Vibes!) but if he was going to try, Charles would do whatever it took to help him get to the finish. I think that made a huge impression on Mike. Charles is like that, and that story illustrates why I was so fortunate to have him ride Trans Iowa.
Of course, Joe Meiser was a big deal to Trans Iowa back in those days as well. Joe didn't immediately impress, but as time went on he got better and better at Trans Iowa until he won T.I.v5. Between he and Sean Mailen, both engineers at Salsa Cycles/QBP, they tested out several ideas for gravel bikes at Trans Iowa which helped shape what we know as gravel bikes to this day. But more than this, Joe was a steadying force. His demeanor and easy going nature brought a calm over the event, in my estimation. T.I.v6 being a prime example of that. Of course, he could go on a tear and basically ride you off the wheel anytime he liked, but you'd never know that to talk to him. Joe's last T.I. was v6, and he's another one I'd have liked to have seen have a go in the latter years of the event. But it was never to be.....
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| George Keslin, (L) and Wally Kilburg became friends of mine and vital assets to Trans Iowa. |
Wally was the instigator. He emailed me during preparations for Trans Iowa v6 and asked if he could help. Now, you should know that I was very reticent to take on unknown volunteers. I had to put a lot of trust in volunteers, and Wally, well, I just had no clue who this guy from Illinois was. He suggested that he could try and ride a moto to help, maybe be a course sweeper. I was very skeptical. How good was this guy on a motorcycle? For all I knew this was some yahoo that had no clue what Iowa rural roads could be like. So, there was some back-and-forth on e-mails. Eventually we settled in on having Wally do a moto course sweep, but as T.I.v6 got closer, we agreed that the weather was looking too poorly for anyone to be out on a motorcycle. Good thing! Wally wouldn't have had a very good time of it.
So, it wasn't until T.I.v7 when Wally brought up the idea of he and his fast friend, George Keslin, being volunteers at our remote checkpoint for T.I.v7, that he actually came to the event. By this time, I figured out that both he and George were accomplished motorcyclists and that Wally had a photography hobby at that time. Of course, the rest is history. But I need to say that Wally and George were vital to the success of Trans Iowa for several years. The photography was phenomenal, and the recon efforts were so helpful, and legendary fun. The time I spent with those two gentlemen will always be some of the very best times I ever had doing Trans Iowa. Thanks isn't enough......
Next: A Pivotal Version
10 comments:
Dumb question: Did they actually ride motorcylces out to the events there after the first one?
@teamdarb - Wally and George/ No, they came out in Wally's Honda Element. At least Wally did. George may have come in his own car- I cannot remember now. I know that both Wally and George did the Checkpoint #2 for T.I.v7 and Wally had this awesome set up using his Element, and there was another car as well, but I cannot remember if that was George's or not. There is a picture of the check point coming up on one of the future Trans Iowa Stories posts so you will get to see it.
Great read. Thank you for posting this. Ari
So, how did you and your family and Waterloo in general fair Saturday nite with the straight line winds and or tornado that went through there. Hope every thing is A OK with you and yours.
@Guitar Ted Ah, I think I recall a photo of the Honda in a post a ways back in time. Now I am trying to recall who or rather what venue had a pair riding a motorcycle with sidecar. I recall being possibly up in the Dakotas volunteering. If I was better at storing photos it would be a cool setup to share. I am pretty sure the pair I am thinking of also run support in Vermont and New Hampshire.
@baric - That was comical, as far as the weather. It was a sudden squall line coming through, heavy, heavy rain, not so much on the wind here locally. there was a hook signature on radar just Southeast of the city, and my son called me and told me about a tornado warning. No sirens were sounded, and no indication on weather alert. (??) The storm quickly passed and the Sun was breaking out when all hell breaks loose on the phones saying we had a tornado warning. They said the warning was for the next half an hour, and it was rather pleasant outside with drenching Sun the entire time.
Just a case of too little too late on the warnings, I guess. my son said he saw it earlier scrolling across a cable TV channel. Who knows?!!
The crazy 40-50mph gusts came much later in the evening. All night from about 1:00am to mid-day Sunday. No real damage that I saw from it though.
Thanks for the kind words GT! I know we had an absolute blast assisting with TI! The first year, we both came out in Wally's Element. The subsequent years we came out in my white F150 that was appropriately nicknamed "Moby".
@George - Thanks for clearing that up. I couldn't imagine you two NOT coming together in one vehicle! But there is always that chance.
Charles took me aside in TI9 and we had a very similar conversation. Love that guy. Everyone you've highlighted in this post is a quality person in my book, both on and off the bike.
@S. Fuller - Thank you! You do understand that you'll be getting your turn coming up someday in these stories, right? Couldn't have done it without you. Thank you!
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