Minus Ten Review- 31

There were two pics ten years ago on the blog. Both of this De Rosa w/Mavic gruppo

Ten years ago here there was some varied chit chat. I had news about having to make odd sleeping arrangements at home due to an extreme heat wave that forced my family to have to sleep together in two rooms where we had tiny A/C units. I also was chit chatting about the fall out from the 24Hrs of Nine Mile, which ended oddly due to a severe storm situation, and left many scratching their heads concerning the finish.

I had other concerns ten years ago besides the normal news on 29"er stuff. There was a new tire coming from Specialized back then for 29"ers, but no bike to fit it. Tubeless tires and wheels from Bontrager were tantalizingly close to reality, and a friend was about to launch an ill fated attempt at a semi-custom 29"er brand.

But like I said, I had more pressing concerns. It was about at this time that Jeff had decided that he was done at the shop. This also was about the time Carlos left in a somewhat tense situation. Things were changing at the shop and it would affect me for several years down the road. In many ways, I consider those to be the best years that I have worked at the shop until very recently. That was a very fun period.

Then there was how we were going to approach Trans Iowa. I haven't said this enough, but Jeff Kerkove was instrumental in the encouragement department here. Without his enthusiastic support of me and his belief in my capabilities to run the event, I would have quit the thing. I didn't know it at the time, but Jeff basically made the event my deal. He had ulterior motives, for sure, but he also cared about the event and its future, and looking back I am honored to think that he felt that he was putting it in capable hands.

Then there was the whole deal about changing the name, since we weren't traversing the state anymore. We bounced around several names, but nothing stuck, and we came up with nothing better than "Trans Iowa". So, there ya go. Yer stuck with that name for the event until there is no more event.