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| The final version of the Trans Iowa v8 header art. Image by Jeff Kerkove |
Trans Iowa v8: The details were all laid out and tackled to the best of my abilities. I had checked, double checked, and triple checked every small thing that I could possibly think of. There were zero issues going into this one, unlike the previous years of doing Trans Iowa. No last minute surprises with bad cues, no struggles getting the cues produced. No wondering where the pre-race event would be held. Nope.
No drama.
So, why was I so down in the dumps? I had everything I could possibly cover sewn up solidly. Well, as Jeff Kerkove used to say, "The weather is the wildcard". This was going to be an "even year" Trans Iowa, and we Trans Iowa freaks all knew what that meant! A bad weather year. That was the "legend", at any rate, and it had held true for v2,v4,and v6. Even the roster numbers were down from the previous years record of 76 riders. Trans Iowa v8 would only have 67 riders taking the start. The "curse of the even year" had to have some effect on that.
The thing was, it looked as if the weather was also going to hold up its end of the deal. There was cold, wind, and rain forecast for that Friday night before the event, and it looked every bit as though we'd be dealing with really bad weather, at least during Saturday, for Trans Iowa v8. I had worked so hard to get all my ducks in a row, and now all of it would come to naught due to something I could not control. I was depressed.
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| From the course of Trans Iowa v8. During the cue sheet checking drive. |
There were nagging little things too. Jeff Frings was to bring his video of the "300 Miles of Gravel" to show at the Pre-race Meat-Up, but getting clearance from the venue, and from Grinnell's Chamber of Commerce for video machine and screen use, were details that were draining me of energy. Heck, Jeff didn't even know for sure if he could even make it in time to show the thing. Then I had to line up a room, get all my racer's bags, stuff to run the checkpoints, and volunteer's assigned. Plus, stupid little things like worrying about getting a flat tire with my vehicle were haunting me. The following is something I wrote not long before the event in 2012;
"I have to get my truck looked over for the long day into night into day. Which reminds me. I need to find a jack for that dang thing!"
Ironically, to this day I still do not have a complete working jack for my truck!
There was also a lot of work done with Sheryl Parmely to get the park again for the finish line, as we had done for v7. Now this leads me to the curious case of why the barn wasn't used as a finish line for T.I.v8. I had to get clearance to have the finish line again at the park, which would have been something I had to do in the Fall of 2011, so by that time, the barn thing probably was already off the table. Here's what I think happened there, as there are no records I can find to support the facts.
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| Pretty sure this is from the start line of Trans Iowa v8. Image taker unknown. |
Going off memory and what little references I can dredge up on the blog and emails, the main factor appears to have been the thought of moving Trans Iowa from Grinnell. As I have stated before, everything was on the table after v7, at least in terms of changes. Part of that was moving from Grinnell, and the front runner for that move was Winterset, Iowa, ironically the home of the heavily Trans Iowa inspired Iowa Wind and Rock. Anyway, my memory of this is vague, but my guess is that I did not/could not/would not commit to a barn finish due to the uncertainty of my plans. I could bail on a finish line in Grinnell with little repercussions, but to put good friends out, well that wasn't on my list of bridges to burn. Obviously, the event stayed in Grinnell and the "back-up plan" to have the park be the finish line then was important. That's as good an explanation as any, unless someone else in the know can fill in the blanks there.
So, I went down to Grinnell that Friday, April 27th, 2012, drove a big portion of the first leg of T.I.v8, and found no defects to worry about. The volunteers showed up, the Pre-Race Meat-Up went off without a hitch, and even Jeff Frings showed up in time. I remember the film starting, and in the opening audio, you could hear the cowbells clanking and there was a strange horn blowing. "What the heck?", I thought to myself. "I don't remember hearing a horn blowing at the start." Well, as it turned out, that was me! I was blowing a note on a Salsa Cycles Woodchipper Bar out the window of David's Honda Element as we pulled away. Probably the one and only time that's ever been captured on film!
Jeff got a boisterous round of applause for the flick he made when the credits rolled. It was all a rousing success, but my heart was anxious and the weather...... I was worried. Afterward I repaired to the Bikes To You bike shop, where we'd be starting the event in only a short time from then. There I found Craig and Rob who were holding an Oakley trade in event. I heard what sounded like my voice over the speakers in the store. There was Jeff! He was playing the film again for Craig and Rob, who missed it to be at their Oakley event. We chatted, had a couple of beers, and then someone rushed in, dripping wet. "It's pouring out there!", the woman said as she shook off the rain. "Great!", I thought to myself as I prepared to leave and get to my motel room, " Just what I needed".
Later, alone in my motel room, I checked the radar and the future forecast for the next several hours leading up to the start time of 4:00am. It didn't look good.
I went to sleep that night to the sound of thunder.
Next: Feeling Low - Part 2
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