In celebration of the twentieth year of this blog, I have a few tales to tell. This post is one of them. This series will occur off and on throughout this anniversary year, I hope to illuminate some behind-the-scenes stories and highlights from the blog during this time. Enjoy!
Yesterday I told you about how Robins make me nostalgic for Trans Iowa, but Robins were not the only birds which moved me in such a way. There was another bird associated strongly with Trans Iowa, in my opinion, and it may surprise you to learn it is not a hawk, or the eagle, but the owl.
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| The full moon as seen during Trans Iowa v9 |
Ironically there is not a long history of owl soundings or sightings connected with Trans Iowa for myself. No, it was on towards the end of this event's run which is where the owl influence comes in. Two specific times, actually.
One was at the end of Trans Iowa v13 as I sat in my truck in the parking lot of the finish line space in the park. There is a small lake or pond there, and around about 4:00am a right proper hootenanny started. Owls all around the lake went bananas with constant, loud hooting for at least a half an hour straight. It was amusing, to say the least!
But the last Trans Iowa was when this bird cemented its place in my memories as something special. It was around 1:00am, MG and I were parked just West of HWY 146 near Montezuma, Iowa, and MG was fast asleep in his Subaru. This was on an East-West gravel road. I was standing outside in the cold, waiting for DNF calls and trying not to wake Matt up. There was a tall stand of evergreen trees just to the Southeast of me. The moon was up, and suddenly the lusty hoot of a barred owl went up, breaking the stillness of the night air. A few seconds later, an answering call came across the prairies.
Time stood still and I was at once filled with wonder and awe at the situation I was in at the time. Many feelings were felt which I have not the words to aptly communicate to you, the reader.
It is a moment fixed in my mind so securely now I can see the image of the backlit pine tress in my mind. Now whenever I hear a barred owl's call I think about this moment in time again.
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| A T.I.v14 rider navigates down a gravel road in his "bubble of light". Image by Jon Duke |
The moment on the road during T.I.v14 makes me think about night riding as well. This night riding thing, both for Trans Iowas and for other events and fun, has sure come a long, long way since this blog started. I look at the image above and marvel at how bright the light is on the bike and I know how well one can see to ride these days with current lighting systems available in 2025. It is insane to consider riding at night with what we used to use at the speeds we were riding at back then.
I think about the Moonlight Metric event I rode in back in 2011 or 12 where I had this homemade light that put out like 150 Lumens at maximum power. Ha! I'd consider something like that light as a toy now! I wrote a post a few years ago now about the evolution of lighting for gravel bikes. You can check that post out HERE.
Now I use a light far brighter than the light I used for the Moonlight Metric which would last most of the night, and costs less than 100 dollars. Rechargeable battery tech inside which would have made my head spin in 2011. Yeah..... There is just no comparison.
We live in some pretty awesome times, when you stop and think about it. Yes, there is a lot of bad stuff, but don't forget about the good stuff as well.
2 comments:
I remember you telling me about those owls after I woke up. I wish I’d have experienced that with you!
@MG - I know, but DUDE! You were so, so tired at that point. There was no way I could have asked you to wake up for that moment. Thanks again for all the help you gave me in putting on those Trans Iowas. It would not have been the same without you. Love ya, Brother!
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