Trans Iowa Stories: Missing Persons

(L-R) GT, Ari, and Charlie.

  "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!  

In the lead up to the final Trans Iowa I would have normally been looking forward to seeing some people that I usually only got to see once a year, and that meant a lot to me. People who were big contributors to Trans Iowa, or supporters and riders in the event. It was our little 'family reunion", if you will, and I always was excited about this part of Trans Iowa. 

But v14 was a bit different. 

First of all, as has been mentioned in previous installments leading up to this, Jeremy Fry wasn't going to be helping me, so I was already feeling lost a bit due to that void. And there were even more 'holes', if you will, before the event ever got going that year which affected me in a negative way. People that would be missing. People I really looked forward to seeing every year.

This whole Trans Iowa deal was a huge load of work, no doubt about that, but the people- the relationships- that stemmed out of that event made it worth the while for me. Without many of these people, well, I found out what it was like. Let's just say that it wasn't quite the experience I had come to know without these people I am about to mention. It was sad, and I missed these people dearly. 

Wally Kilburg. Photographer and recon partner for years, wasn't at v14.

Take Wally Kilburg, for instance, who along with his best friend, George Keslin, were mainstays of the event since T.I.v7 when they manned Checkpoint #2 for me. After v8 the pair transitioned into final recon team mates and image takers for the event up until v13. Unfortunate circumstances with Wally's personal life made it so that he and George were not available to be at v14. I dearly missed them too.

Riders who were usually around at Trans Iowa, and good friends of mine, like Ari Andonopoulous and Michael Roe were not at that final Trans Iowa either. Nor was Sarah Cooper, who many do not know, but was a huge supporter of Trans Iowa behind the scenes. She would often send encouraging email messages at 'just' the right times, and I valued her appearance in the field of riders. 

Charlie Farrow didn't make v14 either, and I really missed his Cheshire grin and wit. His friend, Tim Ek, who was a dear friend of Charlie's and was a giant of support in Trans Iowa's middle years was not there. I missed seeing Andrea Cohen, who was a gritty rider and her presence was always welcomed at Trans Iowa, but was sadly missing for the last two. 

I know there were others I missed as well, but I wanted to also add that there were people that showed up. While I missed some of my rocks of steadiness in the event, I did have John and Celeste Mathias, Mike Johnson, Tony McGrane, and of course, Matt Gersib, who had become invaluable to me and the event over the past few Trans Iowas. 

My decision to keep the end of Trans Iowa under wraps had its dark and light sides.

But that said, there was a certain sadness I felt and could not share. I knew it was the last Trans Iowa, and they did not. I knew that their decisions not to come, as justified as those were, meant that they would never have the chance again to do a Trans Iowa, and would that knowledge that T.I.v14 was the end have changed that? Well..... That's one of those things I felt badly about going into the last Trans Iowa.

So, I approached the event with a definite note of sadness that hung over everything I was doing. While I would have preferred that everyone I was missing knew about the impending decision to end Trans Iowa, I had to sacrifice those thoughts of doing that due to the people who would have descended on the event for their selfish reasons of "being there" to witness the end of the run. I also could not have this decision influencing what riders might do just to finish the event despite incurring injuries, or bad decisions which may have negatively affected others. 

And so now here I was. On the cusp of entering into the final times I would do tasks and decisions for Trans Iowa. I was full of emotions. I was afraid I would lose it at some point, and I was afraid of not being diligent enough to allow myself to experience everything about this last Trans Iowa. I was afraid I'd get too busy and distracted that I would miss the moments I wanted to burn into my memory for as long as I have a memory. I was afraid this last Trans Iowa would be the one that would have that dreaded injury to a rider, or worse, a death. 

One last shot at it. Would I get through it without any major issues? 

Next: The Days Leading Up To The Final Trans Iowa