Friday News And Views

Much needed mental de-stress session.

Tough Summer:

July. This is always a tough time of the year at bicycle shops in Iowa. RAGBRAI is up on deck and everyone that claims the title of "cyclist" for the one or two months of the year so they can participate in this rolling carnival thinks that they are the most important cyclist ever. Or one would think so by the way they express exasperation with having to wait behind the other 25 folks who also think they have the most important bike to fix in the work flow.

That by itself is no big deal, but this year is different. I have a few things I am aware of and living through that have weighed heavily upon me. A friend going through some very difficult times. That's been one. And my stability at the workplace has been in flux for various reasons. It's been hard to navigate these days.

So, I wanted to first say thank you to CVAST. Their clearing of the trails has allowed me to find an escape from reality and a way to cleanse my mind of the crap going on. I gotta tell you all- going on bicycle rides is so good for your mental stability. I highly encourage even just cruising around the block. It helps. It makes things easier to work through. I know that it does for me.

Anyway, I don't want to sound the alarm or make anyone feel I am about to lose my mind. I should be okay, but when I go though tough times it makes me feel like there are a lot of you out there that are going though even tougher times than I. While I cannot offer you much, I can prescribe a bicycle ride. It wouldn't hurt, and it just might do for you what it does for me.

Dirt home from work is a huge blessing to me. I needed to get that little bit of single track in and just de-stress a bit. The Ti Muk 2 is a wonderful thing, and again- I want to say "thanks" to everyone that made this a reality for me. Every time I ride it I am reminded of your goodness and generosity.

Just A few Tidbits About The GTDRI:

Recon didn't happen Wednesday as a few "life" things needed taking care of and so I had to postpone looking at the route until Sunday at the earliest.  Conditions in Iowa have been top notch for dirt road cruising of late, so I am expecting to find most of the Level B Roads I have on the route to be passable by truck.

That said, I would like to ride some of it. I am having a difficult time figuring out how to make that work, since the route doesn't really lend itself to short-cutting unless it is the first 20% or so. But I'll figure out something.

My friend Tony came in and suggested that I change the route to accommodate water supply before 70-ish miles. However; there is really no where to go since Eastern Poweshiek County is pretty remote. I mean, there are villages, but barely anything that has any access to water, and I'd have to seriously modify the route. So I had a different idea.

I may stock a cooler and stash it on one of the Level B Roads with iced down water jugs. Of course, I have no idea how many folks will show up. Last year was a record attendance and we had 25 or so riders. I am already hearing rumblings from several places which makes me feel like we will see a LOT of folks coming over to Grinnell to ride.

So, if you are coming, and if you have someone coming who is not riding, maybe we could have that person ferry over water and have that tailored to the amount that shows up. We all could pitch in for the costs, or whatever seems best. I can make the route a little bit different to make that happen at around 50-55 miles into the route at a point which will be on a blacktop road. Basically pretty easy to find. Anyway, either that or I will cache some water and hopefully it will be enough.

Stay tuned for further updates.....

The first ever t-shirt for any Trans Iowa was for v5.

Trans Iowa Stories Feedback;

Regular readers here know about my Sunday posts dealing with the untold stories about Trans Iowa. I haven't heard much feedback on these posts until recently.

What I have heard has been very positive and encouraging. I thank you all that have made your views known. I am motivated to continue based upon the few comments I have gotten.

So, I've been striving to tell the untold bits of background to the event, and now that I've felt that I have covered that, it's getting to be time to start in on the events themselves. As I have stated before, I think it is all about the people and what interactions I have had with those folks along the way.

I'll be completely honest and say that a lot of this early stuff is challenging to recall. I mean, it's been 15 years ago, and some details have been lost to the mists of time. I'll do my best to bring back some detail, but maybe the first posts on from here will be a bit vague. Especially v1 and v2 which seem like dreams to me now. My strongest memories start with v3. Maybe you all think I overstate this, but that one..... Uggh! So much going on with just that version alone. I could write a book there. In fact, someone almost did write a whole book about it. Zach Dundas wrote a big chapter in his "Renegade Sportsman" book about that particular Trans Iowa. If you can spare four bucks, the chapter on Trans Iowa is well worth it. Zach pretty much nails it from the standpoint of what the event was like and what it meant circa 2007. My review of the book can be found HERE.

Anyway, I have some solid memories about that event and from there on, it should be a good read.

That's a wrap for this week. I hope that you all have a peaceful, relaxing weekend with a side of cycling. Keep the rubber side down!