Trans Iowa Masters Program: We Have Our First Finishers!

L-R: Scott Sumpter & Andy Zeiner at the finish in Lansing Iowa

Congratulations go out to Scott Sumpter and Andy Zeiner who were the first two riders to ever complete the Trans Iowa Masters Program course on Sunday morning at approximately 12:40 am in Lansing, Iowa.

Andy and Scott started their trek on gravel roads across the entire state of Iowa at 6:00am Friday June 6th on a bridge over the Big Sioux River which marks Iowa's border with South Dakota on the West. They followed a predetermined route covering many sections of the Trans Iowa V1 and V2 routes until they reached Cresco, Iowa where the route then diverted to a section of Trans Iowa V4 going into Decorah. Then leaving Decorah on the Trans Iowa V3 course, the riders were smack dab in the middle of some really big hills. This part of the course then diverted off at approximately Highway 76 to a new section of course designed to bring riders to the Mississippi River at Lansing, Iowa, the Eastern border of Iowa with Wisconsin.

Preliminary results gathered by Scott indicate that the course may be actually longer than the 377 miles that were determined on a mapping program by about 8 miles. The course seems to have in excess of 16,000 feet of elevation gain with 9,500 of that in the second half. It will be interesting to get comparisons from other TIMP riders.

Now Andy and Scott have to file written reports with images and then they will be the first two "graduates" of the TIMP! Look for their reports on a dedicated site soon! Congratulations fellas!