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| B-Road on the T.I.V8 course (Image by S. Fuller) |
That's right, it looks to be wet, cold, and windy right in time for the event. What is more, now they are saying Friday will bring a full day of precipitation which will no doubt make Saturday's experience on the road out of Grinnell very T.I.V6-like.
That was the first year we ran the event out of Grinnell and as the riders flew down the road, they were blinded by muck being thrown up by everyone's tires. Glasses were of no avail, and several riders reported being blinded off and on as they rode. A few even crashed because they could no longer see anything in the pack of riders.
My only consolation is that thunderstorms are not forecast to be an issue, but then again, it is only Wednesday. They could be wrong about that! Then there is the cold. Yes- it will be in the 30's both Friday and Saturday nights, with a stiff northeastern wind forecast, and that along with wet folks will make for some big time misery. So it goes. Trans Iowa will bring the pain this year, lay it on thickly, and anyone that makes a slight error in judgement in clothing or nutritional choices will pay dearly.
So with that in mind, I decided I would write you T.I.V8 riders a little "lament" that you can paste onto your race reports, if you want to.
Don't say I ain't lookin' out fer ya'all!
Once I was happy, full of hope.
Thinking only the best thoughts for my future endeavors.
Then Fear crept in and Darkness along behind.
Meanwhile, clouds and wind gather on the horizon.
Lightning flashes.
Rolls of thunder come down the grassy hills.
Suddenly my wheels come to a grinding halt.
All visions of Happier Thoughts are covered in a clag of dark Iowa soil.
The Lament of A Trans Iowa Bicyclist....
5 comments:
I really like the poem.
I'll be watching from the southern tip of Africa. Good luck all.
Not to jab at a dead horse here but why not move it back to May? Better weather and more training time.
@Webbies: First off, we set the date to coincide with the Decorah Time Trials, (see Trans Iowa History for reasons why) Then Dirty Kanza set there date to not be too close to ours. Finally, moving T.I. to another time of year does not guarantee better weather, more training time, or higher roster numbers. (Although those are popularly held notions.)
Sometimes, you just have to respect an event for how daunting it really is due to all the factors... Including weather. That's part of what makes being able to be called a finisher of TransIowa so special... To me at least (considering I've attempted it four times, yet finished only once).
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