Trans Iowa Stories: Changing Gears On The Finish

The last load out for a Trans Iowa

 "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 clicking on the "Trans Iowa Stories" link under the blog header. Thanks and enjoy!  

So, as the day for the Pre-Race Meat-Up approached all was coming together rather smoothly. The weather was even cooperating and it was forecast to be warm and Sunny all weekend. But all I had on my mind was how I was going to say what I was going to say about Trans Iowa's ending. I had a speech all figured out, then I'd waffle and revise my thoughts, and then I would go back and forth that way. This went on for days. However; something happened right before T.I.v14 that gave me resolve to change course a bit. 

Sarah Cooper, who was to be riding a tandem with Steve Fuller, ended up having to drop out. She had sent me an email with the news ahead of the event, but in her message to me she related that there was something else going on with the Trans Iowa community. She mentioned a "..... rampant rumor that this will be the last Trans Iowa"

Ah! Well, I just shrugged it off as being talk I hear every year in my reply to her. But I was thinking that maybe the word was out. Maybe that inadvertent publishing of that final announcement on my blog had reached others who were whispering the news around. Then again, maybe someone that knew had leaked it out. It could have been that. I can see where that would happen. But I didn't know then how the rumor got started and to this day, no one has come clean with me if they had seen that post or if they got word somehow. So, that bit remains a mystery, and really, at this point, it doesn't matter anymore.

My view from the last T.I. Pre-Race Meat-Up ever.

So, I had a bit of a decision. Should I tell them the night before, or should I wait until the morning? My thoughts were that if I were to release the cat out of the bag- at least officially - the night before, what would stop a last minute rush of onlookers and hangars-on from showing up? We weren't that far from Des Moines, and we were right off Interstate 80, so it would not be out of the question to see hundreds of people show up for the last Trans Iowa ever. 

But I wanted the riders to know that this was it. We were over and out and Trans Iowa wasn't coming back. So, after some deliberation with myself, I decided to put it off until we were just about to blow the horn at 4:00am for the event start. Then the word could spread, and since no one but myself, MG, and a very few others knew where we were going, the spectaorship of the last Trans Iowa would be very difficult. 

I let Matt know that I was going to do things this way, and I may have told Jeremy as well. But as I got into the day of the Pre-Race, I was out and about in downtown Grinnell. I ran into a fellow who tagged me and asked me about another guy wanting to document Trans Iowa. He was here, and "...he'll do a really good job!...", blah, blah.... I didn't really hear the rest. I basically blew this off and told the fellow that he should have asked me prior to this and he needed permission. Well, later on, in front of Bikes To You, where we were to start, here the guy was. Someone pointed him out. He began his pitch, but if I recall correctly, I cut him off and flatly stated that he was in no way welcome to film the event. And I turned and walked away. 

This pretty much made up my mind that I wasn't going to say anything about it being the last Trans Iowa. It was a deal that, if I had said anything, it was sure to cause me grief. I just knew it, and that guy confirmed it. Plus, I reasoned, what if someone is on their last bit of gas out there? Do they, as a rider in the last Trans Iowa ever, decide that they had to keep going, at the risk of damage to life and limb, because they would never get another chance at it? My thoughts were that - Yes- people were willing to go too far. That was all I needed to just keep it all to myself. Besides, my blog post, scheduled to go up at 2:00pm on Sunday, when Trans Iowa v14 was scheduled to end, would certainly be enough to get the word out.

Moments before the start of the last Trans Iowa.

So, when Matt expected me to make an announcement, I did not. I jumped in the Subaru and we hit the road. Not far out of town he expressed his surprise and disappointment in my decision. But after I explained to him that my concern for what riders might do to push themselves too far if they knew it was the last time we'd have a Trans Iowa - that this might cause problems, he understood. 

And that was how I ended up not saying anything at all in the end. Was it the right way to do this? I think it was. I heard from riders after T.I.v14 that did not finish that told me that their decision making would have looked different had they known that they would never be able to line up at a Trans Iowa again. So, I felt justified by this information after the event. 

I'm not saying it was ideal, or the perfect way to do Trans Iowa's ending, but it seemed to work, and that was what was important. The event generally went off like any other Trans Iowa, (with the usual surprise issues, that is) and that was what I had wanted to have happen all along. I wasn't in for a big 'goodbye' or whatever. I just wanted it to stop after v14 with no fanfare, no sappy goodbyes, none of that. So, maybe I'm selfish, but I felt that was the best way to do this. 

And of course, there were some 'moments' and 'goodbyes'. It was just amongst my 'inner circle, if you will, and I will get to that when I tell the stories behind v14.

Next: Missing Persons