Trans Iowa V11: A Look At The Rules Part 16

Last year I did a historical overview of each Trans Iowa up to T.I.V9. This year I am going to revisit something that I feel many folks have overlooked for a long time; The "Race Rules".

Last year, (December 28th!), I posted about the "no GPS" thing and Trans Iowa which you can see HERE. 

Now let's take a look at Rule #18, which was the rule Rookies had to scribe down on their entyry post cards this year: 

 18: Have at least a pit crew of 1 to help you if you have problems. The people and sponsors associated with this race will not come get you or be responsible for you! You get ran over by a tractor, that is your problem. You get attacked by a rabid raccoon, that also is your problem. You get recruited to scoop pig poop, yep you guessed it, that is your problem.

Okay, obviously this rule is all about the self-sufficiency part of Trans Iowa. Basically it is saying you have to have a plan because Trans Iowa won't save you if you get in over your head. So........ya know, ya better have a back up plan. I think that part is pretty plain and simple. The thing that I like about the way it is written is that it totally shows where Jeff Kerkove was at when he wrote this rule up in late 2004. 

I mean, "pit crew", right? That's straight out of 24 hour XC/endurance racing. The whole mind set of Mr. Kerkove at the time was all over the 24 hour solo racing thing. Having a "back up" or a "support person", as we would say now, was the furthest thing from his mind because 10 years ago you called it your "pit crew". It is funny how that whole scene has faded away since those days. 

Then there is the quintessential Kerkove humor in the final lines. Trust me- there is no way I would have come up with a line like "get recruited to scoop pig poop". No way. That was the mind of Jeff at its finest circa '04. And with that, we move on.....

Next Week: Phoning it in....