Trans Iowa V8: Some Important Announcements

Plowboy: Makin' B Roads Just For You!

Okay folks.....for all of you who have been coming here of late, (and by the looks of my stats, a lot of you are pretty new to this blog), I have a bit of 'splainin' ta do.

You see, there is this event called "Trans Iowa" that I got myself tied up with back in 2004. (You can read the history here, if you care to.) Well, anyway- this is the time of year that I use this space to start making my big announcements for those who care about this silly 300 plus mile gravel grinder. Since a few blocks fell into place yesterday, I am going to take the time to make some important announcements.

Start Town: I had it confirmed as of yesterday that I have the support and blessing of Grinnell, Iowa for being the start/finish town for Trans Iowa V8. This is a good thing, and those that have been there the past two years know all about why that is.

Lodging: I won't get into all the details here, but click this link for the information. What is rad is that the rate is the same as last year, which was the same as the year before! Yup. No price increases. Nice!

Sponsor: Even before I had solid details on where T.I.V8 would be based out of, Gu Energy jumped on board with Trans Iowa again for 2012. (Anyone thinking about becoming a sponsor of T.I.V8 can e-mail me and let me know.)

Dates: Trans Iowa V8 will have its Pre-Race Meat-Up, (location, time TBA), on April 27th, 2012. Attendance at this meeting is a requirement to be in the event. T.I.V8 will start at 4am Saturday, April 28th, and will end at 2:00pm, Sunday, April 29th.

Registration: Dates for registration to get into T.I.V8 will start later this month. Don't do anything yet! I will be running registration in a similar manner to how it went last year, with past Finishers getting the first pick of the 100 open slots on the roster. The remaining spots will then be divided up between Veterans and Rookies. Specific times, requirements, and rules to get registered will be communicated here in detail soon. Stay tuned...... Cost to enter? Free.

Miscellaneous: The course is being researched, cue cards are being formulated, and a Checkpoint #1 location has been determined. I can tell you now that the first checkpoint will be 51.14 miles after the start and there will be no B Roads in the first section. 169 miles of the course are confirmed so far. That's a bit over half of what I want to have for the total mileage. Of the last bits, I am pretty sure of the roads on approximately 100 miles of the back end of the course. More course recon is planned soon. Stay tuned for that.

There will be a remote checkpoint, (no services, in the middle of no where), and there will be a "Secret Checkpoint", (exact purposes of which will be communicated later).

Thanks for reading, and remember: This is a free event, nothing is provided but route directions. You are responsible for Yourself.