Trans Iowa Stories: How Do You Do This?

How do you say, "This is it" to a room full of Trans Iowa freaks?

 "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!  

Once I had made the decision to end Trans Iowa I had plenty of time to figure out how I would do it. But having a lot of time to figure it all out didn't really help me much. In fact, I think I suffered from a 'tyranny of choice' syndrome. I went over, and over, and over stuff 'ad nauseam' until it made me go almost crazy.  

That entire process could be a story unto itself, but I don't think many would enjoy reading it. Suffice it to say that there were a few things about this that played into my decision making in the months leading up to that final Trans Iowa event. In the end, the entire process of dealing with 'how to end the thing' was so wearisome that by the time I did get there to Grinnell I was pretty numb to it all. But that will be detailed later on in these tales. 

First of all, I had learned a few lessons about what other folks thought about Trans Iowa and how that motivated some of them to do outlandish things to be a part of the event. I recalled the insanity surrounding the last couple of 'open registrations' before I installed the lottery system. People were driving hundreds of miles just to drop off a post card, mailing me overnight letters which cost more money than the entry fee we used to charge for the first two Trans Iowas. People riding their bikes all night just to get there to make the registration before it filled up. 

The post announcing "The End". I agonized over this for months.

So logic would follow that by announcing that T.I.v14 would be the last Trans Iowa ahead of the event would result in similar behaviors. I could see how folks would rally to come see Trans Iowa at checkpoints and threaten to follow the event, or finagle ways to ride in the event, if possible. I knew people would want to document such a momentous occasion. The thought of dealing with a bunch of would-be videographers with drones and microphones, and what not would be a humongous pain in my side. So, there was no way I could announce this previous to the event. It would have caused mass chaos to a level that I would have been overwhelmed. The troubles I could have created by saying that "Hey! This is going to be the last Trans Iowa ever!", would have been truly epic in nature. 

That much I knew and so initially, to be open and to stamp the idea into people's minds that Trans Iowa was going to truly disappear, I had made a plan to make the announcement at the pre-race meeting. I dreaded doing that, because every time I thought about what I wanted to say I got so emotional that I couldn't even speak. Then there was the written announcement I had planned.

I think I had a draft of my post for "Guitar Ted Productions" back in 2017, later in the year, most likely. I wrote the post in one sitting, which isn't unusual for me, but I went back and tweaked on it many, many times. It initially was about 90% there but I made incremental changes on the post for months leading up to Trans Iowa v14.  I wanted it to be right. I wanted the announcement to convey to the readers that 'this was really done'. There would be no more Trans Iowa events. Ever. 

Often I would sit back and think about the finality of this ordeal. What would the future hold for me without a Trans Iowa in it? Pfft! Who knew? I sure did not know, but that didn't strike any fear in me. I did know that it would be a lot different than it had been for almost 15 years. On one hand, I was excited to find out what lay in store, and of course, on the other hand I knew that many relationships I had would shift, and probably some would come to an end. 

Those two things- the announcement at the pre-race, and the final Trans Iowa announcement post, were the two things I agonized over, probably more so than the event itself, with the possible exception of the new wrinkle thrown in concerning handing out cues at the start line. Those things drove me totally bonkers for most of the end of 2017 and the first few months of 2018. And in the end, I still wasn't sure that this was the way to end something like Trans Iowa. In fact, something gnawed at me the whole time and in the end I went a different route than I had planned. I'll get to telling how I actually ended Trans Iowa later on.

I had never decided to stop putting on an annual event before, and so I had a bit of anxiety and stress over just how to do that correctly. It wasn't as easy as it sounds. You just don't 'slam the door' on 14 years of experiences - not just your's, but many others as well - and not have responsibility for what you are doing to those outside of yourself. Where would these people go for their 'fix' of a type of event such as Trans Iowa? There weren't really any alternatives like it. So, that was a big concern I had as well. But conversely, I didn't think handing the reins over to someone else would work, and that story will come in time as well. 

Next: Changes and Challenges