Trans Iowa Stories: So, You're Saying There's A Chance?

 "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! 

There are certain mysteries in Life which one may not quite ever understand. Sometimes as individuals we strive for a purpose or a thing- some goal we think we desperately need and want to attain to, and when we get the goal accomplished, maybe it isn't all it is cracked up to be. Or maybe it is something else. I'm not really sure in regard to Trans Iowa what it was that left me with a small flame that was still flickering inside me for this adventure. A bit of desire was there, certainly. I don't know that this was enough to knock me off my seat to do another Trans Iowa though. No.....it took more than just that. 

After Trans Iowa v10 I had mentioned to my wife, Phyllis, that this was the end of the line. She was not convinced, to put it bluntly. But I was going to honor my commitment to my decision as long as there was a chance that she believed that it could be the last one. And for a brief time, I really believed this. But that didn't last long. Eventually, thoughts crept in and feelings welled up and, well, people started bugging me about putting on the next one. Not in a bad way, mind you. No, these were very moving pleas to keep on keepin' on. Like this snippet of an email I received in May after Trans Iowa v10 was over: 

"While there really is nothing terribly profound about riding your bike for 336 miles, the fact that I can tackle something so challenging and be self sufficient in difficult terrain and bad weather without having to travel to mountains, deserts, or someplace exotic and expensive is a gift. Adventure is one of the gifts that I received from Trans Iowa."

 Then I was also feeling the confidence and the rewards coming from success. If you've ever 'won' anything through hard work, lots of preparations, and by taking risks, well perhaps you can understand why I was wanting to feel that feeling again. I mean, I now knew I could do this. I had pulled together a team of people to support me and who made doing Trans Iowa easier. I could trust them 100% to be there for me. Because of that, I was able to preside over three consecutive successful Trans Iowa events. Add to that the responses I was getting, like that I shared above, and well. maybe you can understand why thoughts crept in about what another Trans Iowa might look like, you know, hypothetically speaking. 

Well, one day my wife saw me looking at maps and said something to the effect of, "So, you are putting on another Trans Iowa? I wondered when you'd start up again." And I understood that to mean that she expected I was going to go ahead and do one, so........it seemed that there was a chance. This might be okay to try again.

Not long after that I started planning for another Trans Iowa. I didn't really say anything publicly, but I remember that moment that my wife said that and how I felt like I'd just gotten a great birthday present. I was excited, and I was full of energy for Trans Iowa again. Out came the maps in earnest and I thought about where I wanted to go this time. I had a pretty good idea of the first third of that route and so I started writing up draft cues and shared some ideas with my recon partner, Jeremy Fry. 

I was so set on retiring Trans Iowa, and then it just seemed to go against the very fiber of my being at that time to just walk away from it. I thought that was what I wanted for years, but now that I'd gotten there, I found out that wasn't what I wanted. Not yet.......

Next: Route Finding Woes