Trans Iowa Stories: The Wind, The Hills, The Lightning!! Part 4

Just hiding out here for a bit. Image taker unknown.

  "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!

With this tale of Trans Iowa v10 now wrapping up, I will focus a little more on the very early morning hours and the end of this event. I have covered the crazy night time bits from my perspective a lot, and recently in this series, I gave an accounting of things regarding how dreadful that time sitting at the corner of 190th and J Avenue in Tama County was. There were things going on I didn't know about though. Things that later on I would find somewhat shocking and awe inspiring. 

So just a brief telling here of the tales as they were relayed to me. These stories belong to those guys and gals who were in the thick of things that night. I doubt any of us will ever forget that night, but especially those who became dwellers of abandoned farm houses and barns. Sheltering from crazy lightning and sideways rain, these inventive and probably desperate riders did what they had to do. Of course, after I heard about this I was horrified. Trespassing on private property and 'breaking and entering' isn't on my menu of things I would have allowed anyone to do under my watch. But seeing as how the riders did the deed and asked for forgiveness later, (even if that is actually necessary in such dire consequences), I left it be as it was. No harm- no foul. I wonder sometimes what I would have done had I known the situation was to be that way ahead of time, but that is not going to change anything. And I very much doubt a single one of the riders involved would have had it any other way, looking back. 

In fact, I heard later from Steve Fuller, when he spied me in my truck at the corner of 190th and J Avenue, that he was angry thinking I was pulling the riders off the course and truncating the event.  I'm sure he maybe thought better of that later, or maybe not.....

This brings up the situation of Trans Iowa itself, the crux of the event, if you will. It was a balance between what risks I, and the riders, were willing to take against what cautions I should enforce upon those riders. It was a fine-tuned balance on the knife's edge sometimes, and this night was a great example of that risk taking versus being conservative with regard to risks. I was not risk averse. Let's face it- I put on Trans Iowa with no safety net for me at all. So, it stood to reason that risk was a pretty big factor in regard to how the event was done. Sure, it could have all gone 'pear-shaped', as some say, and I would have taken the hit and been forever labeled as a 'bad race director'. Fortunately, that never happened. The bad part, that is. I still was labeled as a bad race director in some parts. Anyway......

This situation with the severe thunderstorms maybe went on for an hour or maybe somewhat less. The squall line moved through pretty quickly, and most of the riders affected were caught out in Northern Tama County Northeast of Gladbrook, Iowa. An area with many derelict buildings including farm houses, barns, and outbuildings. It was in these crude structures that riders took cover and made this bit of Trans Iowa one of the most unusual and memorable bits of the event's 14 year history. 

A friendly pooch takes refuge with Trans Iowa v10 riders in an old barn. Image by Paul LaCava.

I heard shreds of the stories afterward. Rain was bad, lightning came up out of the ground, and that was enough to send Steve Fuller and those with him into a nearby barn for refuge. I heard Charlie Farrow and another rider with him headed into a farm yard and were in an outbuilding with some livestock. Sarah Cooper, having had to make friends with a surly farm dog out on the road, was another that took refuge in a barn with eight other guys. 

I found out what was actually going on during the event when some riders started texting me, like this from Corey, "Cornbread" Godfrey:

 "1:34 am: "Hey Mark! The nine of us are hiding out in a barn for now to wait out the worst of this storm. We plan on rolling again. We have Mike Johnson, Fuller, Joe Stephens, Josh, Sarah, Ben, Patrick, and Andy.""

These were situations that on the one hand no race director ever wants, but riders cherish as being just 'part of the adventure'. It's part of what they signed up for, really. Something memorable, something risky, a situation that pushes them outside of their comfort zone. But something they come through and will be able to tell the tales of afterward. I mean, how many people do you know that had to hide in a barn during a gravel road event?  

At any rate, the stories were incredible, and the few images that were shared with me were at once shocking and charming all at the same time. Only in Iowa. Only at Trans Iowa.....

Dawn of the Sunday of Trans Iowa v10 - Image by Paul LaCava.

 

Well, eventually that passed, all the riders got back at it, and most of those that were in that severe thunderstorm made the finish line later Sunday. Some of the chase group behind eventual winner Greg Gleason actually got caught in another thundershower and had to stop for a bit, hiding underneath the eaves of a farm house porch. But no one suffered any injuries from the dealings with the wind, rain, and lightning, and for that I am forever grateful. 

Ironically this event had two of the eventual race directors for Iowa Wind And Rock participating in it- Steve Fuller and Sarah Cooper. It wouldn't be much of a stretch to imagine that their participation in this particular Trans Iowa set off their desire to make their event happen after I concluded with Trans Iowa events after 14 years. While I don't know for sure that is the case, it wouldn't surprise me to find out that T.I.v10 was a big part of their inspiration to do so.

As the events of this particular Trans Iowa wound down, I found myself standing at the end of the long double track to The Barn. That rustic finish line which was really the perfect ending for this particular Trans Iowa. It would be the last time I would get to use this venue for the event, but I didn't know the reason why would be anything other than what I had intended- That this be the last Trans Iowa. Forever....

Next: Some Observations From A Failed Ending