Trans Iowa V11: A Special Note On Who Is In & Who Is Out

Not on the roster? You don't get any of these then.

Let's see now.......I've been at this for a decade now, yet it never fails- someone comes out of the woodwork and blows my mind with some question or another. If there is one take away I get from having been involved with this event, it is this- Don't ever assume you've seen or heard it all before. 

The latest in the litany of "face palm" inducing notes comes from a certain person that e-mailed me wanting to know if they could get on a waiting list, and if that wasn't possible, and I quote- 

" Assuming I cannot get into the race, would it be okay to ride the course with the racers? Like I said, I really could use the training" 

Short Answer: No.

Long Answer: See, this just doesn't work on a few levels for Trans Iowa. First of all, if some people have to follow a protocol to get one of the very limited number of entries into the event, then so does anyone that wants to get into Trans Iowa. I don't care if you are the World Champion of Whatever, a "super cool-bro" frame builder, an industry wonk, or some gal putting in miles to do a big event later in the year. I don't care about any of that. What matters is being as fair as I can with the protocols I have implemented over the years. You missed getting in on the roster when Registration was run in November? Too bad. Try again next time, if there is a next time.

Then there is this- If I were to let this individual in and let them "ride the course with the racers", why shouldn't I just let anyone that wants to do that? Other than the obvious, one should consider the chaos and issues that might arise from having folks with no idea of what is going on with Trans Iowa just ride along with the ones that do know what is going on. For one thing, you wouldn't have cue sheets to follow. Take into consideration that anyone who aids or abets a non-registered rider to "just ride along" will become a DQ. So, you want to risk others standing in the event to "just ride along with the racers"? That would be rather selfish if that would be the case.

Then there is the very real possibility that you would get stranded alone and without a cue sheet to follow the route. In Iowa's myriad grid of gravel, I would wish you the best of luck navigating your way out of that maze. More likely you would be pounding on a local farmer's door asking for assistance, or be like the cheeky gal in T.I.V5 and find yourself 70 miles off course, or worse than that, in big trouble physically or mechanically with no assistance.

So- no. Please do not bother to come to Grinnell if your name is not on This Roster this coming April.