The Future Of "Underground Racing"

Popularity brings scrutiny for "underground" type events it seems and I am watching this with some interest. It is interesting on many levels, not least of which is the governments seeming hypocrisy when it comes to managing trail use. I'll not get into that here other than to say that it's utterly rediculous and can not be the underlying motive for the actions of some of these government agencies. Nobody is that stupid. Brainwashed, ignorant....maybe!

What I want to focus on here is how this all relates to events in civilized parts of the nation that host such events. I'll be honest and say that I have been completely and utterly amazed at the way Trans Iowa has been treated by law enforcement agencies and government officials. That is, they have largely ignored us. There was one incident with a police officer in Hawarden last year that was nothing but a curiosity visit with me. It turned out that the officer lent a watchful eye over us and was rather amused by our little bicycle parade. Other than this, the official entities governing the roads and lands of Iowa have been largely invisible.

That's not to say that it will always be this way. Events like those taking place in the remoter parts of the West might just have a bearing on how events such as Trans Iowa are handled in the Mid West. We do not have "impact" issues like the riders are dealing with out there, but we have other "impact" issues that could be thrown at us. However unlikely that may seem, Jeff and I have actually thought about it, going so far as to send out press releases to the authorities in pass through towns for the first Trans Iowa.

Then there seems to be a limit on group sizes that I find alarming and arbitrary. This is another way to exercise control that governments have used for centuries and is specifically spoken of in our Bill of Rights. While it may seem rediculous to even think that the government would be concerned with a small group of enduro nut jobs on bicycles, that is excactly what is happening out West now.

I'm not quite sure what to make of it all yet, but I smell the distinct odor of male bovine excrement on the winds of the west and it raises my eyebrows just a bit with concern.

I'll be watching this one.