Trans Iowa Stories: Lessons Learned - Part 3

GT explaining the 120th Street cue incident at CP#2 during T.I.v14. (Image bt C. Groseth)

  "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!  

Upon arriving at the checkpoint we found the volunteers in good spirits, but perhaps a bit confused as to what exactly was going on. N.Y. Roll, the lead volunteer along with Craig Groseth from South Dakota were on hand along with a few others waiting on more riders to show up. I was basically on a mission at this point to get the riders in question stopped and disqualified before they had gotten too far into the last leg of the event in case they wanted to come back to the checkpoint and be picked up. Tony and Mike were about to leave to go on ahead and look for them. Meanwhile, I tried to explain it all and gather whatever intel I could get to make sure I had the details correct. 

This wasn't what I wanted. None of it. The riders making that mistake. That was so unfortunate. I was so wanting to see what Gleason, Zitz, and Tomasello could do to maybe pull Wilson back and make it an exciting finish. I was sorry that Stefano's first, and little did he know at the time, only chance, at Trans Iowa was going to end in a DQ. I was sad that I had to be the bearer of that message to the riders. 

Chasing down the trio of riders we had to DQ. Tony and Mike are just ahead of us here.

I regretted not being able to hang at checkpoint #2. I had volunteers there I wanted to thank and perhaps none more than Craig Groseth who drove all the way from the Black Hills of South Dakota just to be a part of the event as volunteer. There was a fire being built, food, beers, and good times awaiting us, but we had to move on. 

The thing was difficult, this rule enforcement, and I wasn't very up for doing what needed to be done. As we barreled down the roller-coaster like hills, kicking up dust, I was playing out the possible scenarios. Would the three riders protest? Would they call me out for a bad route? Would there be a confrontation? Surely there would be extreme disappointment and this wasn't going to be pleasant in any way. 

But if there was a lesson here, it was that if you run an event, and you have rules, you have to back those rules up when called upon. I was the director and co-author of the rules for Trans Iowa. It was on my shoulders to bear the burden of giving the rules meaning. Yes- I wasn't looking forward to doing what I had to do, but if I let it go? What a farce that would have been! 

A Level B Road just out from what was Checkpoint #2 for Trans Iowa v14

As it turned out, Tony and Mike were the first to come up on the three riders on a stretch of road just Southeast of Montezuma, Iowa. The three had made quite some headway into that last sector of the event! Tony related to me later on that he called them to a stop, telling them that they had short cut the course.At first, they denied it, but Tony told me that they eventually slowed to a stop, and with heads down and shoulders drooped they admitted that they knew what had happened. 

That kind of took the edge off what I had to deal with when we rolled up a few minutes later on. The trio accepted the news quietly and the air was tense with a downcast feeling. But eventually Zitz popped his head up, pointed out that he had the cues, and could he just ride out the route anyway, despite being DQ'ed? And I allowed that, of course. I mean, why not? He seemed to be pleased with that and began to get ready to roll out. The other two didn't say much, and I don't recall that Greg Gleason even looked at me at all.

Tony McGrane assisting one of the three DQ'ed riders as the other two ride off. One of my all time favorite Trans Iowa images.

As the riders got ready to leave, I pulled out my camera to document the scene. The image above is what I got. It's weird, but this is one of my favorite images from Trans Iowa's run of 14 years. I don't know why it would be, seeing as how it documents a very sad moment in this event, but I am drawn to this image and I guess it is just one of those moments that really made an impression on me. 

Of course, I was relieved when it was over. In many ways this was the climax of Trans Iowa for me. Now we were moving on toward the final overnight of Trans Iowa's history. I knew what lay ahead for me. This wasn't my first rodeo. It always was the toughest part, physically and mentally, of any Trans Iowa. Those cold, lonely overnight hours. 

Next: Too Cold For Beer