Trans Iowa Stories: New Things - Part 2

This view is completely familiar now, but in '09 it was new and exciting.

"Trans Iowa Stories" is an every Sunday post which helps tell the stories behind the event. You can check out other posts about this subject by going back to earlier Sunday posts on this blog. Thanks and enjoy!"

After a Summer of planning a new route in a new area, it was Fall and time to do recon. I had been pushing for an earlier date to get this done since we had been burned a few times by waiting too long and having Winter hit. So, this recon happened in late October, but even the best laid plans can go awry. That will be explained in a bit here.

I still remember being pumped about this route. I cannot speak for David, but I found a renewed energy after we had settled in on Grinnell and this energy was amped up even further by what we saw during the recon. Maybe I got a little too excited, because all the "highs" I was experiencing over this edition of Trans Iowa ended up being translated into many ideas which I ran with. I did these things without really consulting anyone, and in fact, looking back it is a bit embarrassing. This was not at all the direction I wanted Trans Iowa to go into, and I'm pretty certain it was not what David had envisaged either.

Things like the "acronym" crazy ideas I had were pointing more towards bigger production and slicker marketing. All the while we were still limiting the field to 75 riders, so it was a bit incongruous. The basic formula was retained- a short lead out to the first checkpoint, then a second and third checkpoints would fall at intervals across the course of about 80-ish miles. Convenience stores would be near each checkpoint, but we were careful not to choose sites where the checkpoint would interfere with normal business. New was a "no-tell" policy on the whereabouts of Checkpoints 2 and 3. We even kept the volunteers in the dark so as to short-circuit any bribing or "arm-twisting" for information. This became an issue with this event, as we will see.

From the late October recon of T.I.v6

We had a TON of sponsorship for this version of Trans Iowa as well. Coming off a year where sponsorship was basic and nearly non-existent, this was a stunning turn of events. This excited me even more and I was posting sponsorship news like crazy. Oakley, Revelate bags, Banjo Brothers, and more were onboard for this deal. Gravel cycling had caught the imagination of forward looking companies and marketing departments. Salsa Cycles, of course, was also a sponsor of T.I.v6. They were in the throes of putting together the first "gravel specific race bike", and they used events like Trans Iowa to do their "in the field" testing. Revelate Bags actually sent us prizing based upon the T.I.v5 web banner which depicted the calf I saw during T.I.v4 and which Jeff Kerkove used in his design. That featured "blood splattering" on the calf. Eric, the proprietor of Revelate, was so impressed that a gravel event would use such imagery that he told us that he just had to sponsor us!

With myself heading up all the goofy marketing, hoopla, receiving prizing, and doing all the communications, it left David out of the loop. This ended up causing a bit of a ruffle leading up to the start of T.I.v6. It was another one of those things that almost derailed Trans Iowa, but was a thing narrowly averted.

David did much of "his part" of recon by bicycle. Image by David Pals

With recon cut short by another severe Winter which lasted right into March, getting the route verified got pushed back. I was rather anxious about it and was putting pressure on to get everything lined up and completed for this edition of Trans Iowa. We had so many things lined up- a pre-race meeting at the Grinnell Steakhouse, discounted meals and motel rooms, a ride for non-competitors, and the big finale planned for the barn West of Grinnell. I had a lot of well known (in gravel riding circles at the time) competitors showing up. Even Jay Petervary and his wife, Traci, were showing up on a tandem, a first for Trans Iowa. To say that I felt pressure to get this thing sewn up and ready to put on was a great understatement.

I got a LOT of crazy gifts for v6 registration. David got nothing. It was unfair.

To boot, all the craziness of registration, the gifts and all the attention was on me. I, of course, enjoyed it and figured it was small recompense for my risk taking and efforts. But in the process, David, who lived an hour and a half away, got none of the benefits and a lot of the hassles. He was tasked with cue sheet production, and as I know, that is no fun at all and a very tedious task. Added to your daily job stress and family life, well, it can be quite a load to bear.

This all came to a head about two weeks out from the event. I was pressuring David about cues, and he responded in an angry e-mail saying he was quitting Trans Iowa and that he wasn't going to do the cue sheets. It was crisis management time for me, and I had to put away my emotions for the time being to help preserve Trans Iowa.

Sure, David could have communicated his displeasure long before it came to a head. Sure, I could have been a lot more sensitive to the situation he was in regarding Trans Iowa. We both had parts to play in the troubles, but that could all be navigated later. Maybe... At the moment, in 2010 only two weeks out from Trans Iowa, all I cared about was salvaging the event, no matter what. I smoothed things over as best I could, and David calmed himself down and put away his issues for the time being, and cues got done.

But you have no idea how close it came to all unraveling right there.

Next: Thunder And Lightning: Part 1