Odin's Revenge 2014: The Madness Part 4

Troy Krause (L) and Dale Pinkleman on the road back to Gothenburg

Approximately 12:44pm, Saturday June 28th:

I get the final "flight instructions" from  Chad at CP#1 to get me back to Gothenburg. Taking leave of everyone, I soft pedal down the road and you know, you start to think you "still have something" and maybe I did the wrong thing, but with the knowledge that I had 20 miles to get back home, I wasn't going to push it. Besides, I wasn't going to be able to cover 40 plus miles in less than 4 hours on the hilly, probably still muddy in spots, course. Not at the depleted level I was at. So, I gingerly pedaled off into the distance, leaving behind the event and headed back to the KOA campground to see what was going on there.

I was doing just fine, and the gravel was good. Suddenly, I heard voices. Like talk radio or something from a receiver that was far away, so I couldn't make out what was said. Was I passing by a farmer with his radio on high? Nooooo....... Maybe there were farmers in the field? Noooooo...... This was as remote a place as anywhere around here. What the heck.........

I turned around and saw two riders back behind me, so I soft pedaled even more than I had been and saw that it was Troy Krause, a Trans Iowa finisher and vet, who had been saying he might be pulling out and riding back when I saw him at the checkpoint. With him was his riding mate, Dale Pinkleman. Dale had destroyed his LeMond's derailleur and had tried single speeding it, but it wasn't working, so he was bailing out as well. Both were in Monkey Wrench kits.

A view of the Tri-County Canal

I rode with Troy mostly, as Dale's bike was giving him fits and he actually broke his chain three times on the way back! Troy was fun to ride with, but when we hit the pavement, I couldn't hold his wheel. After running into Chad, and finding out it was six miles further back than he had said at CP #1, we hit the pavement back, but I ended up getting the sleepies. I actually stopped for at least a half an hour trying to get a nap in under a tree, but these pesky orange and black birds kept piping away and I never did catch any "z's" there. So I tried moving on, but I was soon yawning again and falling asleep. I stopped, ate, drank, and tried again, but a third time I had to pull over again. More eating, drinking , then I finally came to and finished out the last six miles into the campground where a Nebraska craft brewed beer awaited me and good conversations kept me busy for several more hours.

That was that. My Odin's Revenge experience was over. I wouldn't have traded it for anything but perhaps more of the course, however, I wasn't able to go fast enough in those conditions. It wasn't meant to be for me this year.

Here are a few random thoughts and comments on Odin's in no particular order, with the exception of the first comment, which must come first!

Thumbs down on the Runza!

• Thank you to the DSG Crew and all the Odin's volunteers and sponsors. Your tireless and selfless efforts to put on such an event are much appreciated!
• Remember Jeff? The single speed cross bike that we saw early on, which had been geared to start with, was a great story. Jeff could have thrown in the towel when he discovered his gear wouldn't allow him to ride up any of the hills. He could have gotten discouraged after he t-boned a skunk. But no! He persevered till the end and bagged a second place overall, first place Men's finish. (Did ya catch that?)
• First place overall winner was Sarah Cooper. This may be the first gravel/backroad endurance event won by a woman. I am pretty sure it is. 
• Only six finishers were recorded out of the 33 that took the start. The last, Craig Groseth, didn't come back to Gothenburg till about 3am in the morning!!
• That was the hardest I've worked for 47 miles. Pretty sure about that!
• Vanilla Porter is a great recovery drink. 
• I have a lot of fitness work to accomplish!
• I haven't looked at my Fargo yet. I am afraid of what I will find!



A stop in Des Miones for Tacopocalypse!

• The Bonk King declared the Runza sandwich to be bad on three counts. I won't get into the gastronomical details! 
• Thanks so much to Mike and Amy for carting the Bonk King and I all the way out and back. We enjoyed your company, and we appreciated your driving and time spent with us. Thanks!!!!
• Tacopocalypse: Sam Auen has one of the most unique, great tasting food offerings on the planet and it's found right in Downtown Des Moines in the East Village. 

That's a wrap on my Odin's Revenge posts and I hope to get back out that way again next year for another stab at the long course and more good times with the DSG crew and my gravel riding friends. Thanks to all who made the commitment to show up and attend. You all were a big reason Odin's Revenge is the kind of event that it is!