Renegade Gent's Race Review

The version that was supposed to have happened today.

Today I would have been doing something for the tenth time, but this new situation we have fallen into has upset this, and a LOT more apple carts. So, take this whole post with a grain of salt. This is a trifle compared to what many are suffering through these days.

The point of this post is to celebrate the nine times I did get to do this event. Hey, and the streak had to end at some point. I just never dreamed that it would be due to these circumstances. Anyway, I will be missing Steve, the Captain of our team all these years, and fellow teammates "D'Corn", Bob, and of course, Sam. I will be missing those mostly dead flat Story County roads and the wind. I'll be missing a whole bunch of friends.

Following will be one image from each of the nine previous rides in the Renegade Gent's Race. Mostly we were the same team with the exception of two years where Sam missed one time and D'Corn missed another year. The course may have changed a few times too, and we swapped starting points after v4, when we went from starting at Kyle's Bikes in Ankeny to starting in Slater, Iowa at Joe's Nite Hawk. With that said, let's dive straight in.

Renegade Gent's Race v1- That's me on the right and the others lined up on the left. We didn't know one another just yet.

The first one. Yeah, that's such a unique version for so many reasons. I think there were only like 13 teams, maybe less. We had issues, like we did every year. Sam's crank arm kept falling off. D'Corn flatted and so did Steve. We rolled back into Ankeny on a LOT of pavement, through a roundabout, and had a sprint finish with another team. Fun times! I rode my Black Mountain Cycles Monster Cross set up with GEAX 1.8" 29"er tires and the Luxy Bars.

Version 2.0. It rained on us HARD at the starting line.

2.0 - Rain. Wet and cold. We persevered through it all though. This version had a different, not so paved ending and no crazy roundabout. Still started at Kyle's in Ankeny though which meant we had about a three mile ride to the start and back from the finish. I rode my slightly modded Black Mountain Cycles rig again. This time with a carbon fork. That experiment didn't last long!

V3.0 A bit nicer day, but a tough one. L-R: Steve, Sam, Bob, D'Corn.

V 3.0 saw a nicer day, but Bob, who runs the Cumming Tap, had a very late night and little sleep. We ended up taking turns pushing him, but he made the finish. It was "team bonding" and I think this version pretty much solidified us as a unit going forward. We all would want to keep the team going after this one. This may have been the version that I rode my new-to-me orange Vaya on.

V4 - Sam at Unicorn Avenue. Nuff said......

New venue, new starting line, raging beardos.

Version 5.0 saw the event make its move from Kyle's Bikes in Ankeny to the Nite Hawk in Slater Iowa. I'm back on the Black Mountain Cycles rig after a year on my, then new to me, Tamland. This was perhaps the height of "beard" for this team. I think this also was the version where Sam had an issue and did not finish.

V 6.0 - The "wind" year. This is where we called it, at the halfway point at Snus Farms Winery.

v 6.0 The "wind" year. It was awful. I was super proud of our efforts that day. I always will remember us leaning up against that garage door, wind howling above our heads, and suddenly one of us said they wanted to bail and there was this huge sigh of relief from the other four of us. It was humorous. I rode my Tamland and there was a point where some piece of barbed wire, or something similar, went into my rear wheel and wrapped itself up in my seat stays before ejecting out back into the gale. It scarred my paint something fierce. A mark on that bike which will forever remind me of this day.

(L-R) Organizer of the Gent's Race, Rob Versteegh, Steve, and "K'Corn". Real name: Kathy Fuller, who filled in for D'Corn that year. 

V 7.0 - D'Corn couldn't make it, so Captain Steve's wife, Kathy, or as she came to be known that day, "K'Corn", donned a fake beard and rode stoker on the Fuller's tandem. Sam had a catastrophic flat 3 miles from the finish, or we'd have finished the event. We were totally bummed. But all was forgotten afterward as we hit the Nite Hawk and had a good after ride party.

V 8.0 Checkpoint. My downfall. Sam, Bob, and Capt. Steve in the background.

v 8.0 - Bad deal when I didn't eat properly, got bonked, drank WAAAY too much at the checkpoint, and had to be propped up on the edge of a ditch by Sam as the group tried to explain to a County deputy that "everything was okay".

Looking back I think this all was a result of my secret plan to end Trans Iowa later that month. I was strained emotionally and physically. I was uncharacteristically out of control with my drinking. (Well, for me now- not my 20year old self, but you get the idea.) 

Sheesh! I wouldn't mind doing THAT version of the Gent's Race over again. But the others on the team will never forget that version. Unfortunately, I don't remember much about it.

V 9.0- Would this be the last hurrah for the Careless Whispers? Right now, I don't know.

9.0 - Another year we had a sub as Sam couldn't make it. It was nice out, and everything was going okay until my hip started bothering me. I had done a big fixed gear gravel ride a few weeks prior that I think had my connective tissues strained. (Think back pressure pedaling) Anyway, we ended up cutting the course short and calling it a day. Just a portent of a "non-finishing year" for me.

And that's the history of the Careless Whispers. Our team is the only team to run every year of the Gent's Race. But as I say, the end of that streak looks to have happened today.