Trans Iowa: Ten Years Of Tales #31

In mid-November, the idea of Trans Iowa was hatched. The year was 2004. In the ten years since then there have been many stories and memories. These posts will tell of the most prominent ones to my mind. Maybe I'll even spill the beans on some things you never knew....

A T.I.v5 B Road: Image by Cornbread

 Well, Trans Iowa v5 was definitely one of the "peaks" of my Trans Iowa experiences so far. Not so much the social, pre-event stuff, but the event was just spectacular. This maybe is why I really am distraught that I cannot remember certain parts of T.I.v5. What is in a fog would only make this experience richer for me. But, it is what it is.....

The aftermath was bittersweet then, as I recall. I remember vividly coming home via Highway 21, falling asleep at the wheel, and then pulling into Dysart, Iowa for a convenience store stop. I picked up a couple cans of energy drink and then I backed the Honda up to get out of the lot. When I looked forward, I could see a long trail of gravel dust that had fallen from the rear drum brake. I smiled and chuckled just then. I don't know why I thought that was so amusing, but it stands out to me as a very clear memory to this day.

I'm sure that dust blew away eventually, and it is like that with this particular Trans Iowa. It was a "one hit wonder". We did that Trans Iowa there in Williamsburg and never came back. Not that where T.I.v5 started mattered at all, because it didn't. The town didn't want us, and we found out we didn't need them. I just think T.I.v5 is where Trans Iowa as a whole kind of turned a corner as an event. T.I.v5 could have happened anywhere in Iowa that year, but the feel, the look, and the "underground","under the radar factor" of Trans Iowa never has been quite as pure as it was that year ever since.

It also was at this time I was doing a lot of thinking about Trans Iowa. The effort it took to put it on, the toll on all aspects of my personal life, and I thought a lot about how much more I was willing to do . Something Charlie Farrow wrote in his Trans Iowa v5 race report following T.I.v5 resonated with me then, as it still does to this day:

"........ it would be unfair to simply assume that they, (GT and D.P.), will indefinitely be willing or even capable of providing us with this truly novel cycling experience year after year.

This event was not only impactful for me, but as I have come to find out, it really changed a lot of folks directions and made indelible imprints on lives that I know about, and probably many I do not know about as well. For this reason, I am particularly proud of T.I.v5. Every T.I. has been special for many reasons, but this one really stands out for me. 

Next: Another change of venue.....