Trans Iowa V7: Race Recap- The Final Act Plays Out

Trans Iowa V7: Race Recap- The Final Act Plays Out

Rural Jasper County: 8:30am: Steve Fuller sees Dennis Grelk cross the highway and sends us a message to the effect that he is looking strong.

 <===Dennis Grelk in the final few meters of the event. Image courtesy of Wally Kilburg.


At this point, David and I had already been informed by John Gorrilla's wife that he had suffered another flat tire, his fifth of the event. He had no tubes, and was forced to take the time to patch the one he had. Obviously, John was not going to catch Dennis. We Tweeted that Dennis was going to win T.I.V7 and the word spread like crazy. At 8:50am Dennis Grelk motored into the final corner of T.I.V7, on a street named Bliss. (Really!)

David and I motored into the finish after Dennis had already left, but we made it back in time for Ek and Krause to come in second and third.

<===Tim Ek raises his arms as he leads in Troy Krause to finish T.I.V7 with his second deuce finish in three years. 
It wasn't long after that and....

.......a very spent looking Charlie Farrow pulled in to claim 4th place.

Onlookers gathered around to hear the tales of the three finishers as they peeled mud stained layers of clothing off and tried to stretch muscles unused to standing after nearly 30 hours of bicycling.

<===Charlie Farrow comes to a stop after 330 miles plus of gravel grinding. 

Although it wasn't at all planned this way, I sort of became a co-interviewer of the finishers as Jeff Fring was filming them  giving their view of the event. Then most of them collapsed to the inviting green turf and shared a few quiet moments as onlookers stared at these road-worn men in silent disbelief mixed with a good amount of awe.

<====John Gorrilla makes the final turn as his wife looks on. 

Then a while went by before John Gorilla pulled up over the little finishing rise and came in for a 5th place finish. While he said he was happy with his performance, and for completing an entire Trans Iowa, (John won a shortened T.I.V4), he was obviously disappointed with how things played out at the end.

It was generally agreed upon by his competitors that John was the strongest rider in the event, but sometimes things don't always go the way that they should. Actually, I was surprised that John didn't get passed by Sean Mailen, who when we had last seen him, was only about 30 yards off the back of the Ek, Krause, Farrow group. But, we still didn't have any sight of ol' Sean. A little while later though.....

.....Here he came in!

<====Sean Mailen rolls into a well deserved 6th place finish at T.I.V7 on Bliss Street.

Sean was pretty stoked to finish Trans Iowa. He said it was "really tough!"(Yup! I'd agree with that!)

I know a lot of folks at Trans Iowa were pretty impressed by Sean, and if he comes back for more long gravel events, he'll be a marked man now.

Sean spent a long time at the front of the event and only faded a bit in the final miles, or else he may have snicked off a few higher places than he did.

Well, after Sean was interviewed, he retired to the grass as well. Then David and I knew it would be a bit before the next group of guys would come rolling in. We didn't think it would be almost two hours more though!

<====L-R: John Williams, Eric Brunt, and Adam Boone finish T.I.V7 together.

When John Williams pulled in, it was pretty cool to see his kids and wife greeting him. Eric Brunt was pretty chuffed to finish, and Adam Boone did it in his first try, as did John. Another thing to note was that Adam Boone won the "Industry Cup", becoming the first in that category to finish a Trans Iowa in the category's second year of inclusion in the event. Adam was representing Gu Energy, which was a sponsor of T.I.V7.

<===Mike Johnson rolls in for a solo 10th place finish.

About a half an hour later, in a surprise to David and I, Mike Johnson rolled in solo.  We had come across Mike riding with three others earlier in the morning and had fully expected they would stay together to finish. Mike said he felt it was time for him to push on when the others were a bit hesitant for some reason and therefore he rolled on in solo.

<====L-R: First time finishers, Jonathan Weissman, Aaron Gammell, and T.I.V5 finisher, Ben Shockey. (Aaron and Ben were the only two single speed finishers this time.)

Single speed finishers, Aaron Gammel and Ben Shockey looked pretty good as they got off their bikes with Jonathan Weissman, who was another first time Trans Iowan that finished in his first attempt. 

It seems that if we get a full Trans Iowa in, we always get first timers that finish. Some folks don't do it after multiple tries, and some take a few years. Doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to that. Just something I've noted over the years.

<==A smiling Corey Godfrey rolls in after quite the adventure!

Well, I guess we really need to point out something extraordinary here. Given the circumstances, (a blown rear derailleur and tweaked frame), most of us would pack it in, and I know no one would even think twice about that decision. However; that isn't how Cornbread rolls. He went back to Grinnell, got fixed up to single speed, and hit the road in search of Trans Iowa riders to have an adventure with. 

After over 310 miles, I'd say that smile on his face tells the story. A good job of taking a bad situation and turning into something awesome.

Time was running short. Who else would cross the line at T.I.V7?

<====Charles Parsons, Jeremy Fry, and Joe Mann get in with 45 minutes to spare.

Wow! Three more guys pull it off. Charles Parsons, Jeremy Fry, and first time finisher, Joe Mann make it into the final turn. We talk with each of them briefly, but the thing on our minds was, "Would Janna Vavre become our first Women's Open finisher?" Time was running out. The cut off for the event was 2pm, and as the minutes ticked away, we were starting to wonder if it would happen. Then at about 1:43 pm we saw some riders. The final two finishers of Trans Iowa V7, and sure enough, one of them was Janna.

<===Janna Vavre is congratulated by Troy Krause upon her finish at T.I.V7. Scott Bigelow, in the background, also finished in his first attempt. 

It meant a lot for us to finally have a woman finish Trans Iowa. I am not sure exactly why we wanted to see that happen so badly. I guess there are several reasons, but no matter. Congratulations to Janna. She can always say she was the first, and no one can take that away from her.

I asked her what she thought about Trans Iowa, and she replied that she didn't care to ever see a B Road again!

Yeah, well maybe a wet B Road, I could agree with that one!

Janna and Scott were the last two possible riders that could have finished, as all the others had pulled the plug already. It was 2:00pm, and Trans Iowa V7 was over. David and I left the finish line area to go fetch my truck, since he needed to get back home. I filed a final audio report, and I pointed "The Truck With No Name" northward to go home and see my family. T.I.V7 as an event was over, but I wasn't done with T.I.V7. Not by a long shot.

I'll close out my rambling about T.I.V7 tomorrow with a final post containing my afterthoughts on the event.

Trans Iowa V7: Race Recap- The Final Act Plays Out

Trans Iowa V7: Race Recap- The Final Act Plays Out

Rural Jasper County: 8:30am: Steve Fuller sees Dennis Grelk cross the highway and sends us a message to the effect that he is looking strong.

 <===Dennis Grelk in the final few meters of the event. Image courtesy of Wally Kilburg.


At this point, David and I had already been informed by John Gorrilla's wife that he had suffered another flat tire, his fifth of the event. He had no tubes, and was forced to take the time to patch the one he had. Obviously, John was not going to catch Dennis. We Tweeted that Dennis was going to win T.I.V7 and the word spread like crazy. At 8:50am Dennis Grelk motored into the final corner of T.I.V7, on a street named Bliss. (Really!)

David and I motored into the finish after Dennis had already left, but we made it back in time for Ek and Krause to come in second and third.

<===Tim Ek raises his arms as he leads in Troy Krause to finish T.I.V7 with his second deuce finish in three years. 
It wasn't long after that and....

.......a very spent looking Charlie Farrow pulled in to claim 4th place.

Onlookers gathered around to hear the tales of the three finishers as they peeled mud stained layers of clothing off and tried to stretch muscles unused to standing after nearly 30 hours of bicycling.

<===Charlie Farrow comes to a stop after 330 miles plus of gravel grinding. 

Although it wasn't at all planned this way, I sort of became a co-interviewer of the finishers as Jeff Fring was filming them  giving their view of the event. Then most of them collapsed to the inviting green turf and shared a few quiet moments as onlookers stared at these road-worn men in silent disbelief mixed with a good amount of awe.

<====John Gorrilla makes the final turn as his wife looks on. 

Then a while went by before John Gorilla pulled up over the little finishing rise and came in for a 5th place finish. While he said he was happy with his performance, and for completing an entire Trans Iowa, (John won a shortened T.I.V4), he was obviously disappointed with how things played out at the end.

It was generally agreed upon by his competitors that John was the strongest rider in the event, but sometimes things don't always go the way that they should. Actually, I was surprised that John didn't get passed by Sean Mailen, who when we had last seen him, was only about 30 yards off the back of the Ek, Krause, Farrow group. But, we still didn't have any sight of ol' Sean. A little while later though.....

.....Here he came in!

<====Sean Mailen rolls into a well deserved 6th place finish at T.I.V7 on Bliss Street.

Sean was pretty stoked to finish Trans Iowa. He said it was "really tough!"(Yup! I'd agree with that!)

I know a lot of folks at Trans Iowa were pretty impressed by Sean, and if he comes back for more long gravel events, he'll be a marked man now.

Sean spent a long time at the front of the event and only faded a bit in the final miles, or else he may have snicked off a few higher places than he did.

Well, after Sean was interviewed, he retired to the grass as well. Then David and I knew it would be a bit before the next group of guys would come rolling in. We didn't think it would be almost two hours more though!

<====L-R: John Williams, Eric Brunt, and Adam Boone finish T.I.V7 together.

When John Williams pulled in, it was pretty cool to see his kids and wife greeting him. Eric Brunt was pretty chuffed to finish, and Adam Boone did it in his first try, as did John. Another thing to note was that Adam Boone won the "Industry Cup", becoming the first in that category to finish a Trans Iowa in the category's second year of inclusion in the event. Adam was representing Gu Energy, which was a sponsor of T.I.V7.

<===Mike Johnson rolls in for a solo 10th place finish.

About a half an hour later, in a surprise to David and I, Mike Johnson rolled in solo.  We had come across Mike riding with three others earlier in the morning and had fully expected they would stay together to finish. Mike said he felt it was time for him to push on when the others were a bit hesitant for some reason and therefore he rolled on in solo.

<====L-R: First time finishers, Jonathan Weissman, Aaron Gammell, and T.I.V5 finisher, Ben Shockey. (Aaron and Ben were the only two single speed finishers this time.)

Single speed finishers, Aaron Gammel and Ben Shockey looked pretty good as they got off their bikes with Jonathan Weissman, who was another first time Trans Iowan that finished in his first attempt. 

It seems that if we get a full Trans Iowa in, we always get first timers that finish. Some folks don't do it after multiple tries, and some take a few years. Doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to that. Just something I've noted over the years.

<==A smiling Corey Godfrey rolls in after quite the adventure!

Well, I guess we really need to point out something extraordinary here. Given the circumstances, (a blown rear derailleur and tweaked frame), most of us would pack it in, and I know no one would even think twice about that decision. However; that isn't how Cornbread rolls. He went back to Grinnell, got fixed up to single speed, and hit the road in search of Trans Iowa riders to have an adventure with. 

After over 310 miles, I'd say that smile on his face tells the story. A good job of taking a bad situation and turning into something awesome.

Time was running short. Who else would cross the line at T.I.V7?

<====Charles Parsons, Jeremy Fry, and Joe Mann get in with 45 minutes to spare.

Wow! Three more guys pull it off. Charles Parsons, Jeremy Fry, and first time finisher, Joe Mann make it into the final turn. We talk with each of them briefly, but the thing on our minds was, "Would Janna Vavre become our first Women's Open finisher?" Time was running out. The cut off for the event was 2pm, and as the minutes ticked away, we were starting to wonder if it would happen. Then at about 1:43 pm we saw some riders. The final two finishers of Trans Iowa V7, and sure enough, one of them was Janna.

<===Janna Vavre is congratulated by Troy Krause upon her finish at T.I.V7. Scott Bigelow, in the background, also finished in his first attempt. 

It meant a lot for us to finally have a woman finish Trans Iowa. I am not sure exactly why we wanted to see that happen so badly. I guess there are several reasons, but no matter. Congratulations to Janna. She can always say she was the first, and no one can take that away from her.

I asked her what she thought about Trans Iowa, and she replied that she didn't care to ever see a B Road again!

Yeah, well maybe a wet B Road, I could agree with that one!

Janna and Scott were the last two possible riders that could have finished, as all the others had pulled the plug already. It was 2:00pm, and Trans Iowa V7 was over. David and I left the finish line area to go fetch my truck, since he needed to get back home. I filed a final audio report, and I pointed "The Truck With No Name" northward to go home and see my family. T.I.V7 as an event was over, but I wasn't done with T.I.V7. Not by a long shot.

I'll close out my rambling about T.I.V7 tomorrow with a final post containing my afterthoughts on the event.

Trans Iowa V7: Race Recap- Day Into Night Into Day

Trans Iowa V7: Race Recap- Day Into Night Into Day:

<====John Gorrilla and Sean Mailen coming into Checkpoint #1: Image by Wally Kilburg


Checkpoint #2: 6:40pm : We had gotten word from some folks that the leaders were stopped in Norway, Iowa at a convenience store getting food and water. We weren't far from there and we knew it wouldn't be long before we had our first glimpse of Trans Iowa riders since Checkpoint #1, 10 hours earlier. We patiently waited as Jeff Fring set up his camera in the ditch where he would have a low angle viewpoint of the rider's arrival. Soon enough, here came two riders abreast over the small rise in the road. To my surprise, it wasn't exactly the pair I thought it might be.

<===Tim Ek leads Charlie Farrow into Checkpoint #1

Sure, John Gorrilla was there, but his companion, Sean Mailen, was somewhat of a surprise to us. we hadn't seen, nor heard his name all morning. Of  course, it was a matter of "flying under the radar", not that he couldn't be there, or that he didn't have the ability. Certainly, we knew he was a strong rider from last year's attempt at T.I.V6. It was also entirely possible he could have had a mechanical, like Corey, "Cornbread" Godfrey did, or that he had an injury flare up, like Lance Andre. Great riders entirely capable of winning a Trans Iowa that had misfortune visit that day.

So seeing Sean's smiling face at Checkpoint #2 was a pleasant surprise, nothing more, nothing less. John joked with us saying, "Well, I'd like to see what you think a lot of B Roads are!", in reference to my comments before Trans Iowa that there were only a "few B Roads" between Checkpoint #1 and #2. Well, there turned out to be more than "a few", but that due to an auto-routing error that put us off our intended course by printing off different cues. Technology. Not all that reliable yet!

<===Charlie Farrow (left), and Tim Ek, (right), were all business at the checkpoint.

It wasn't long before Gorrilla and Mailen were off again, and then on their heels pulls up Ek and Farrow. Unlike the smiling, relaxed pair in before them, Ek and Farrow were graven, serious, and said little while they grabbed cues and prepared to give chase to the leaders up the road.

That was the cue for David and I to head out to check on the course. We discovered another bridge out, and re-routed that corner a mile north. Then onward to see "S Avenue", which we knew might be a bit sketchy. We took a look at the steeply sloping downhill B Road, and deemed it okay for travel, then moved on. Night was falling, and soon our second stint of darkness would be upon us.

There wasn't much to say about the next hour or so. David and I chatted in the car as we navigated by the cues. Everything was falling into place until we reached Belle Plaine.

Southern Benton County is very confusing to navigate. The roads which should make sense in a grid system are twisted out of their East-West, North-South ways by hills, rivers, and ravines. Roads meet at obtuse angles and compass points can be hard to keep straight. David and I have been snookered several times riding our bicycles in this area. Even Joe Meiser, the winner of T.I.V5, was confused in this area, as it was the place where he made his infamous 4am phone call for directions to me.

<===Denis Grelk at Checkpoint #2, image by Wally Kilburg

So, we get to a sign that says 11th something-or-another, and we were to turn left. Now, mind you, we weren't checking mileage at all. Why? Because the signs have more influence than the mileages do, or so it seems, so we were trying to keep it as "real" as we could, in terms of navigation. So, we get into Belle Plaine, and nothing makes any sense at all!

We ended up finding the street we were to come in on, and back tracked it out of town to the corner where we should have turned left. Well! Whaddya know! It says 11th something-or-another as well! One was an "avenue", one was a "street trail". Wow. How goofy is that? David and I marked the corner where we went wrong to show you should go straight through, then headed into town to grab a bite to eat.

<===John Williams, Eric Brunt, and Jeremy Fry come into Checkpoint #2 after night fall. Image by Wally Kilburg

It was nice since David suggested we go in and have a "sit down dinner". It was a great way to re-charge our batteries for the remainder of the night. Once we had eaten, we hit the streets of Belle Plaine, and we didn't get far before we hit another snag in the signing of the streets.

Once again, wonky signage made our brains go awry. We had a devil of a time finding the correct street out, and when we did, it was found to have three different signs/names in the span of about six blocks. Ridiculous! So, we staked out some markers in hopes that the riders would see our suggestions on how to follow the cues out of town.

<===Jeremy Fry heads out into the dank blackness. Image by Wally Kilburg.

After that, the cues made sense and we were good to go. The turns were still requiring all the mind power a sleep deprived mind could muster though, and we would stop sometimes and have to work through things that were simple when our minds were fresh. It doesn't at all surprise me that riders get confused, disoriented, and second guess everything at every turn. We went through it all as well. It is part of the challenge of the event.  Certainly we could tweak things out better, and I was already making plans as we drove the course to do just that.

At any rate, we drove on. I have to say that northern Mahaska County has the weirdest signs on the roads I've seen. Instead of being on the corners, they were about 20-50 yards down the south bound road, and on a pole about two stories high! I think it was because we were driving on the East/West county border, but still......that was bizarre!

<===Morning on Sunday the 24th. 

So, we ended up giving up finding the route at about 4:00am and went and slept in Grinnell for a couple of hours. Then we were back at it, driving the course backward after a getting word that riders were getting lost. This was a concern, so we drove backward down the course to find everyone we knew was still  going.

The first rider we saw was again a surprise. We were sure we'd see John Gorrilla up front, but here was Dennis Grelk! Did we miss the leaders when we stopped for gas in Montezuma? Maybe we did. We kept rolling as we wondered what was up. Then another lone rider. It was Gorrilla! Huh.....maybe Dennis was winning Trans Iowa! We got excited even more as we cam across Ek, Farrow, Krause, and trailing behind, Sean Mailen. Yes, Dennis Grelk was winning Trans Iowa V7!

<===Co-Director, David Pals, has a word or two with Eric Brunt, (left), and John Williams, (background)

Meanwhile, we had to keep looking for riders. It wasn't long before we came across three's and four's of riders heading west under a bright, sunlit sky. These were for the most part all going to be finishers, since they were well within striking distance of getting to Grinnell before 2pm. Some were even taking rests, so we stopped to chat and see how they were. As it turned out, mostly good was the report we heard.  Nothing too unusual and the riders we spoke with all seemed to be in great spirits. We still hadn't caught up with everyone, so we pressed on.

<===The last B Road on course, and we actually drove through it!

Still coming across a few riders, David and I were anxiously looking for the last women out on course. We heard the night before, after Checkpoint #2 closed, that two of the three women riding the event from Checkpoint #1 were quitting. That left Janna Vavre, who was from the Lincoln, Nebraska area. We knew that several Lincoln folks had gone through Checkpoint #2 with her, so we were hoping experienced T.I. riders were there riding her in. In fact, we had word from the riders we were running across that they had seen her, or had been in the group with her in the night.

<===Corey "Cornbread" Godfrey was still out on his rig to see the rest of the route after the early mechanical put him out of the race.

Well, eventually we did see Janna and another Cycle Works clad rider, (Scott Bigelow), coming down the road just east of North English. Cool! Then we found our remaining two riders in North English. Mission accomplished. Everyone we knew that was still riding, present and accounted for, and still on the route.

We hadn't heard anything about a finisher by this point, and we were a bit puzzled by this, since Dennis and John weren't all that far from the finish when we saw them. We put out a text to Steve Fuller, to see if our photographer had any better info for us. We waited, and we turned the Element back towards Grinnell............

Trans Iowa V7: Race Recap- Day Into Night Into Day

Trans Iowa V7: Race Recap- Day Into Night Into Day:

<====John Gorrilla and Sean Mailen coming into Checkpoint #1: Image by Wally Kilburg


Checkpoint #2: 6:40pm : We had gotten word from some folks that the leaders were stopped in Norway, Iowa at a convenience store getting food and water. We weren't far from there and we knew it wouldn't be long before we had our first glimpse of Trans Iowa riders since Checkpoint #1, 10 hours earlier. We patiently waited as Jeff Fring set up his camera in the ditch where he would have a low angle viewpoint of the rider's arrival. Soon enough, here came two riders abreast over the small rise in the road. To my surprise, it wasn't exactly the pair I thought it might be.

<===Tim Ek leads Charlie Farrow into Checkpoint #1

Sure, John Gorrilla was there, but his companion, Sean Mailen, was somewhat of a surprise to us. we hadn't seen, nor heard his name all morning. Of  course, it was a matter of "flying under the radar", not that he couldn't be there, or that he didn't have the ability. Certainly, we knew he was a strong rider from last year's attempt at T.I.V6. It was also entirely possible he could have had a mechanical, like Corey, "Cornbread" Godfrey did, or that he had an injury flare up, like Lance Andre. Great riders entirely capable of winning a Trans Iowa that had misfortune visit that day.

So seeing Sean's smiling face at Checkpoint #2 was a pleasant surprise, nothing more, nothing less. John joked with us saying, "Well, I'd like to see what you think a lot of B Roads are!", in reference to my comments before Trans Iowa that there were only a "few B Roads" between Checkpoint #1 and #2. Well, there turned out to be more than "a few", but that due to an auto-routing error that put us off our intended course by printing off different cues. Technology. Not all that reliable yet!

<===Charlie Farrow (left), and Tim Ek, (right), were all business at the checkpoint.

It wasn't long before Gorrilla and Mailen were off again, and then on their heels pulls up Ek and Farrow. Unlike the smiling, relaxed pair in before them, Ek and Farrow were graven, serious, and said little while they grabbed cues and prepared to give chase to the leaders up the road.

That was the cue for David and I to head out to check on the course. We discovered another bridge out, and re-routed that corner a mile north. Then onward to see "S Avenue", which we knew might be a bit sketchy. We took a look at the steeply sloping downhill B Road, and deemed it okay for travel, then moved on. Night was falling, and soon our second stint of darkness would be upon us.

There wasn't much to say about the next hour or so. David and I chatted in the car as we navigated by the cues. Everything was falling into place until we reached Belle Plaine.

Southern Benton County is very confusing to navigate. The roads which should make sense in a grid system are twisted out of their East-West, North-South ways by hills, rivers, and ravines. Roads meet at obtuse angles and compass points can be hard to keep straight. David and I have been snookered several times riding our bicycles in this area. Even Joe Meiser, the winner of T.I.V5, was confused in this area, as it was the place where he made his infamous 4am phone call for directions to me.

<===Denis Grelk at Checkpoint #2, image by Wally Kilburg

So, we get to a sign that says 11th something-or-another, and we were to turn left. Now, mind you, we weren't checking mileage at all. Why? Because the signs have more influence than the mileages do, or so it seems, so we were trying to keep it as "real" as we could, in terms of navigation. So, we get into Belle Plaine, and nothing makes any sense at all!

We ended up finding the street we were to come in on, and back tracked it out of town to the corner where we should have turned left. Well! Whaddya know! It says 11th something-or-another as well! One was an "avenue", one was a "street trail". Wow. How goofy is that? David and I marked the corner where we went wrong to show you should go straight through, then headed into town to grab a bite to eat.

<===John Williams, Eric Brunt, and Jeremy Fry come into Checkpoint #2 after night fall. Image by Wally Kilburg

It was nice since David suggested we go in and have a "sit down dinner". It was a great way to re-charge our batteries for the remainder of the night. Once we had eaten, we hit the streets of Belle Plaine, and we didn't get far before we hit another snag in the signing of the streets.

Once again, wonky signage made our brains go awry. We had a devil of a time finding the correct street out, and when we did, it was found to have three different signs/names in the span of about six blocks. Ridiculous! So, we staked out some markers in hopes that the riders would see our suggestions on how to follow the cues out of town.

<===Jeremy Fry heads out into the dank blackness. Image by Wally Kilburg.

After that, the cues made sense and we were good to go. The turns were still requiring all the mind power a sleep deprived mind could muster though, and we would stop sometimes and have to work through things that were simple when our minds were fresh. It doesn't at all surprise me that riders get confused, disoriented, and second guess everything at every turn. We went through it all as well. It is part of the challenge of the event.  Certainly we could tweak things out better, and I was already making plans as we drove the course to do just that.

At any rate, we drove on. I have to say that northern Mahaska County has the weirdest signs on the roads I've seen. Instead of being on the corners, they were about 20-50 yards down the south bound road, and on a pole about two stories high! I think it was because we were driving on the East/West county border, but still......that was bizarre!

<===Morning on Sunday the 24th. 

So, we ended up giving up finding the route at about 4:00am and went and slept in Grinnell for a couple of hours. Then we were back at it, driving the course backward after a getting word that riders were getting lost. This was a concern, so we drove backward down the course to find everyone we knew was still  going.

The first rider we saw was again a surprise. We were sure we'd see John Gorrilla up front, but here was Dennis Grelk! Did we miss the leaders when we stopped for gas in Montezuma? Maybe we did. We kept rolling as we wondered what was up. Then another lone rider. It was Gorrilla! Huh.....maybe Dennis was winning Trans Iowa! We got excited even more as we cam across Ek, Farrow, Krause, and trailing behind, Sean Mailen. Yes, Dennis Grelk was winning Trans Iowa V7!

<===Co-Director, David Pals, has a word or two with Eric Brunt, (left), and John Williams, (background)

Meanwhile, we had to keep looking for riders. It wasn't long before we came across three's and four's of riders heading west under a bright, sunlit sky. These were for the most part all going to be finishers, since they were well within striking distance of getting to Grinnell before 2pm. Some were even taking rests, so we stopped to chat and see how they were. As it turned out, mostly good was the report we heard.  Nothing too unusual and the riders we spoke with all seemed to be in great spirits. We still hadn't caught up with everyone, so we pressed on.

<===The last B Road on course, and we actually drove through it!

Still coming across a few riders, David and I were anxiously looking for the last women out on course. We heard the night before, after Checkpoint #2 closed, that two of the three women riding the event from Checkpoint #1 were quitting. That left Janna Vavre, who was from the Lincoln, Nebraska area. We knew that several Lincoln folks had gone through Checkpoint #2 with her, so we were hoping experienced T.I. riders were there riding her in. In fact, we had word from the riders we were running across that they had seen her, or had been in the group with her in the night.

<===Corey "Cornbread" Godfrey was still out on his rig to see the rest of the route after the early mechanical put him out of the race.

Well, eventually we did see Janna and another Cycle Works clad rider, (Scott Bigelow), coming down the road just east of North English. Cool! Then we found our remaining two riders in North English. Mission accomplished. Everyone we knew that was still riding, present and accounted for, and still on the route.

We hadn't heard anything about a finisher by this point, and we were a bit puzzled by this, since Dennis and John weren't all that far from the finish when we saw them. We put out a text to Steve Fuller, to see if our photographer had any better info for us. We waited, and we turned the Element back towards Grinnell............

Trans Iowa V7: Race Recap- Hangin' Around

Trans Iowa V7: Race Recap- Hangin' Around

Convenience Store, Garwin, Iowa: 11:30am:  We had been checking out the crazy B Road on 270th in Tama County, then we left there to go onward, but we needed a stop for some munchies.

<===What powers Trans Iowa!

I found Garwin, Iowa's convenience store a few years back when out riding recon for the Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitational. I stopped in to see if it might make a suitable stop for that event. Well, the lady at the counter, who was middle aged, was wearing a washer-worn, faded Guns N Roses t-shirt. I remember thinking it was sort of odd. Then, two weeks later on the GTDRI, we stopped, and we found the same lady with the same t-shirt on. Wow! That was fantastic!

Only a couple of weeks prior to T.I.V7 I got to check back in, and the character working the counter, a big fella with a trucker cap, ripped sleeve t-shirt, and hairy arms all tatted up, made the stop amusing again. So it was with great expectation that I walked in this place last Saturday. I was a bit let down by the low character factor, but David walked out with a pack of candy cigarettes! No way! I hadn't seen those in well over 30 years.

The afternoon wore on. We were getting some information on some of the action out there. It seemed that the lead four were John Gorrilla, Tim Ek, Charlie Farrow, and an unknown fella. Hmm.....who could that be. It was fun to speculate on the possible identity of the person and on the race strategy. We knew a couple of lone chasers were behind these fellows, and one was Dennis Grelk.

<====A flowering tree that caught my attention Saturday.

We also knew that at least three of the five women that had started were still trying to make it back to Grinnell. We were silently rooting for them. Trans Iowa just hasn't seemed to work for the women, and we wanted that to change. Beyond this, we were just cruising along, checking out roads.

<===Some of the B Roads were starting to shape up, but not enough for cyclists.

The day was getting cloudy, chilly, and the wind wasn't going away. The hills were punctuated by straights of rolling countryside here and there. We crossed Highway 96, and just west of Traer, we had a section I dubbed the "Wolf Creek Walls".  Traer went by, then a B Road, then on to Dysart. Here was another of the features of this year's course that I was particularly fond of. It was the "Old Creamery Trail", a converted rail bed that was a pretty rustic, cobbled together bike path which David and I had a few wonderful night rides on.  This went on for 8 miles through Garrison. There it went right on to a grassy strip lined with landscaping bushes. It looked and felt as though you might be trespassing on private land, but we weren't. That isn't how we roll at Trans Iowa.

<===Checkpoint #2 volunteers, Wally and George had probably the coolest little checkpoint stop ever in a Trans Iowa.

Just south of Norway, Iowa, where the Iowa Baseball Hall Of Fame is, we chose a gravel and B Road intersection to serve as the spot for Checkpoint #2. The volunteers, Wally, George, and Joshua were all there. Wally and George had a primo Element with a tarp, generator, i-Pod stereo system, movies, and a freakin' generator to run it all with!

There goes my idea of having it be primitive! Ha! It was awesome though, and Wally, George, and Joshua were joined by Jim Thill, who had not made it to Checkpoint #1 in time. We all had a great time telling stories, laughing, and freezing our butts off in the country for a few hours on Saturday afternoon.

Later on, some of the Checkpoint #1 folks stopped by, and we had Jeff Fring, the videographer,  show up as well. It was getting to be a bit of a problem with regards to cars! It wouldn't be long though until we were off again. Night time wasn't far away, and we wanted to stay ahead of the leaders once they got in.

But the hangin' around was great while it lasted.......

Trans Iowa V7: Race Recap- Hangin' Around

Trans Iowa V7: Race Recap- Hangin' Around

Convenience Store, Garwin, Iowa: 11:30am:  We had been checking out the crazy B Road on 270th in Tama County, then we left there to go onward, but we needed a stop for some munchies.

<===What powers Trans Iowa!

I found Garwin, Iowa's convenience store a few years back when out riding recon for the Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitational. I stopped in to see if it might make a suitable stop for that event. Well, the lady at the counter, who was middle aged, was wearing a washer-worn, faded Guns N Roses t-shirt. I remember thinking it was sort of odd. Then, two weeks later on the GTDRI, we stopped, and we found the same lady with the same t-shirt on. Wow! That was fantastic!

Only a couple of weeks prior to T.I.V7 I got to check back in, and the character working the counter, a big fella with a trucker cap, ripped sleeve t-shirt, and hairy arms all tatted up, made the stop amusing again. So it was with great expectation that I walked in this place last Saturday. I was a bit let down by the low character factor, but David walked out with a pack of candy cigarettes! No way! I hadn't seen those in well over 30 years.

The afternoon wore on. We were getting some information on some of the action out there. It seemed that the lead four were John Gorrilla, Tim Ek, Charlie Farrow, and an unknown fella. Hmm.....who could that be. It was fun to speculate on the possible identity of the person and on the race strategy. We knew a couple of lone chasers were behind these fellows, and one was Dennis Grelk.

<====A flowering tree that caught my attention Saturday.

We also knew that at least three of the five women that had started were still trying to make it back to Grinnell. We were silently rooting for them. Trans Iowa just hasn't seemed to work for the women, and we wanted that to change. Beyond this, we were just cruising along, checking out roads.

<===Some of the B Roads were starting to shape up, but not enough for cyclists.

The day was getting cloudy, chilly, and the wind wasn't going away. The hills were punctuated by straights of rolling countryside here and there. We crossed Highway 96, and just west of Traer, we had a section I dubbed the "Wolf Creek Walls".  Traer went by, then a B Road, then on to Dysart. Here was another of the features of this year's course that I was particularly fond of. It was the "Old Creamery Trail", a converted rail bed that was a pretty rustic, cobbled together bike path which David and I had a few wonderful night rides on.  This went on for 8 miles through Garrison. There it went right on to a grassy strip lined with landscaping bushes. It looked and felt as though you might be trespassing on private land, but we weren't. That isn't how we roll at Trans Iowa.

<===Checkpoint #2 volunteers, Wally and George had probably the coolest little checkpoint stop ever in a Trans Iowa.

Just south of Norway, Iowa, where the Iowa Baseball Hall Of Fame is, we chose a gravel and B Road intersection to serve as the spot for Checkpoint #2. The volunteers, Wally, George, and Joshua were all there. Wally and George had a primo Element with a tarp, generator, i-Pod stereo system, movies, and a freakin' generator to run it all with!

There goes my idea of having it be primitive! Ha! It was awesome though, and Wally, George, and Joshua were joined by Jim Thill, who had not made it to Checkpoint #1 in time. We all had a great time telling stories, laughing, and freezing our butts off in the country for a few hours on Saturday afternoon.

Later on, some of the Checkpoint #1 folks stopped by, and we had Jeff Fring, the videographer,  show up as well. It was getting to be a bit of a problem with regards to cars! It wouldn't be long though until we were off again. Night time wasn't far away, and we wanted to stay ahead of the leaders once they got in.

But the hangin' around was great while it lasted.......