Some Reflections and Predictions

I'm ready to go do this Trans Iowa V2 thing with Mr. 24 today. We will be pulling out of the shop at around 9 ish o'clock, due to having to wait on some last minute deliveries. Not a big deal, as we are going to have plenty of time to get there. Racer meet and greet starts at 6:00 pm. , and it takes 5 hours to get there from here. I was wanting to check on some course conditions on the way out, so that's why we are leaving so early.

And speaking of course conditions! I was remembering last year. At the awards ceremonies, a couple of the finishers and other participants were saying that the conditions were tough, but it could have been worse. "It could have been raining." (!) is what was most often told to me by them. Well, guess what? This year it's going to be windy and rainy! Great. Obviously, this is going to change things immensely.

The very latest forcasts call for a very slow moving system in the central U.S. to tap into moisture from the Gulf of Mexico and dump a steady, soaking rain on the northern portions of Iowa for the next three to four days! Winds at this time are forcast to be out of the south east at about 10 to 15mph and increrase throughout the race time period to up to 35mph! Yikes!

Going back to my predictions on how many will take the start and then finish, I am about to revise those thoughts. I'm thinking one or two more folks are going to bail out before the start due to this forcast. So, I'm thinking somewhere in the upper 50's for numbers at the start. Let's say 58. I was thinking lower 60's, like 62- 63 folks. We'll see.

As far as finishers, I'm thinking more along the lines of last year. Many have told me that they expect upwards of one third of the field to finish. I never thought that the numbers would be that high. I always thought about 12- 15 would finish. Now, I'm thinking 12 or less, if it rains and blows like they say it will!

For those looking for updates, I will be calling them in and my wife will post them on mtbr.com's "Endurance Racing" forum under the Trans Iowa discusssion thread. Look for updates to start later tonight. As for the audio blogging, I haven't been able to get that to post yet on the Trans Iowa site, but I'll keep trying it. If it works, there will be an icon to click that will take you to a screen that will play the audio clip. Hopefully I get it working! Otherwise, a full report or two, or three! will be up coming starting Sunday night after I return.

That's all folks until Sunday night!

Have a graet week end!