Tree In The Road Ride: Route Update

Hey everyone! It's another "Tree In The Road Ride" update. (Last update HERE) This is getting to be a weekly thing here, but I figured the more you know, the better decisions you can make. This time I have a route option presented by none other than Sarah Cooper, a former Trans Iowa veteran, winner of the event, and now one of the race directors for Iowa Wind and Rock. She has ridden tons of miles in this area, so she looked at the route and made a few suggestions. Nothing against the original route, but a "local" viewpoint is always welcome and I figured Sarah would have some cool additions to suggest, and I was not disappointed.

First, she pointed out a couple of points around the Tree In The Road. Just before we would get to the namesake of this ride there is a set of old steps where a church once stood which Sarah felt is noteworthy and a good place for photos ops. She then pointed out the Level B dirt to the West can be avoided if it is rainy by heading straight North from the Tree which would cut off a few miles of the route but steers you around possibly having to do a hike-a-bike if it is wet.

We might be crossing this old iron and plank bridge if it stays dry.

Sarah also has us going a bit further East and catching a wooded area with a water refill opportunity from a well in the Littlefield Recreation Area.

Another suggestion comes when the route reaches Audubon, where "Albert The Bull" is. Sarah mentioned there is a cool stained glass clock. Sarah said it's a bit out of the way but that, " You can’t go all the way to Audubon and not see that."So, we may have to "go see that".

Sarah suggested keeping the bike path for its shaded areas and flatter, mostly downhill, profile. She told me "..the hills are legit.", so when an experienced rider and race director says something like this, you'd better listen. The bike path at the end is along a highway for several miles, and not well maintained, (you can see cracks filled with grass on Google Earth!), but big hills at the beginning and cruising bike path at the end sounds okay. Sarah told me to keep expectations for this path low and we won't be disappointed. 

Sarah's route adds nine extra miles, so that will bring the total up to just a hair over 72 miles. I don't think this is objectionable, but let me know if this would put you off from coming. Otherwise I am leaning toward doing Sarah's modifications to Rob's original route.

On another note, it looks like N.Y. Roll and I are planning to camp the night before this event so we do not have to get up at 'dark-thirty' to drive 3+ hours to get to the start. We also planned on sticking around later, after the ride. We will likely get a motel for a Saturday night stay. So, an after-the-ride hang is definitely in the cards.

I'll have more fine details to share soon. Stay tuned....