Four Wheels, Gravel, Dirt, and Craziness

 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! 

Today and tomorrow will feature things from Trans Iowa and how those things were featured on the blog. Then next week I'll delve into my reportage of the events here, and then we'll be done with Trans Iowa related subjects in this series, so if your are getting a little 'T.I. fatigue', I get it, but there is no denying the fact of Trans Iowa being a 'big deal' here on this blog.

Trans Iowa v2 recon was done partly with a 1996 Toyota Camry

Over the years of doing Trans Iowa I must have driven or ridden in a car for around 15,000 miles, or probably more. Most of that being on gravel roads and some Level B dirt. To do all of the recon and day-of event driving we had to use cars and trucks. This post will detail some of the vehicles which made an appearance on the blog.

A few were only referred to and never really shown fully here, like Jeff  Kerkove's Mazda 3, which did two complete passes of the first Trans Iowa course. That vehicle also was used for Trans Iowa v2 course recon. I did a bit of recon in a 1996 Toyota Camry for this version of Trans Iowa as well. Let me say here that compact cars do not make a good gravel recon vehicle! We had this confirmed later as David Pals and I used his Volkswagon Beetle on a sub-zero recon for Trans Iowa v4.

Trans Iowa v3 saw the debut of my 1991 Honda Civic hatchback wagon which I referred to as "The Dirty Blue Box". This vehicle was used for recon and the event for v3, some recon duties for v4, recon and the event for v5, and was then retired due to a failed distributor and struts which needed replacement. Those repairs being more expensive than the car was worth.

The Dirty Blue Box after getting stuck in a muddy Level B road during v4 recon.

I remember after v5 and having driven the entire weekend in that Honda. I was sooo beaten up due to the non-existent suspension and the poor ride quality of that car on gravel. Otherwise it was a nimble vehicle and amazingly adept off-pavement. I was able to push it out solo when I got stuck in a muddy Level B road once due to the lightweight nature of its construction.

I then used a 1999 Lexus as a recon and event day vehicle, one year overlapping with the Honda's service. During v4 it was the vehicle we stuck finishers in to warm them up. David Pals also used a couple of his vehicles for Trans Iowa, with the aforementioned Beetle and another Volkswagon SUV for v6.

After the Honda failed I purchased the "Truck With No Name" which had the longest run with Trans Iowa. From doing v6 recon all the way to recons for the last Trans Iowas, the "TWNN" was there. This truck was purchased with gravel travel in mind.

Although this truck was two-wheel drive, it got me through some dirt roads which I was amazed we were able to get through. Probably the most memorable moment for me in the TWNN was the half-mile drift on a muddy Level B road during T.I.v8 when I somehow managed to keep out of the ditches and thread the needle between passing cars while crossing a county blacktop.

While the TWNN served through the rest of Trans Iowa's run, we used several other vehicles through the last seven Trans Iowas which deserve mentioning, along with their owners. Most notably, Wally Kilburg and George Keslin, who used George's Ford F-150 4X4 several years in a row for recons and photography duties during several Trans Iowas.

George Keslin's F-150 immediately after fording a muddy Level B Road I thought we'd get stuck in!

Tony McGrane assessing his situation during T.I.v12

Tony McGrane always had a Ford F-150 4X4 at the ready to assist with event day at Trans Iowa also. His getting stuck in T.I.v12, and his subsequent spectacular unstucking of himself will always stand out as a chief memory for me at Trans Iowa. Tony probably used at least a couple different trucks during his volunteering days for Trans Iowa as he routinely upgraded vehicles. One note a lot of folks may not know, but Tony did the final recon to check cues for Trans Iowa v14 solo in his Ford. I'll always be grateful for that!

Matt Gersib's Subaru Forester was invaluable during the last few Trans Iowa events.

 The last vehicle and owner I will mention here is Matt Gersib's Subaru Forrester. If there ever was a chase vehicle suited for Trans Iowa, it was this one. Economical, nimble, but totally off-road capable, as evidenced when Matt drove Tama County's 270th Street Level B road. Yes! He drove through that section!

If you know this road, you will understand what a feat this was. It is something that scared the crap out of me when Matt decided to traverse this difficult, and most of the time, impassable road. But he made it and it remains as one of the best Trans Iowa ,moments I ever shared with anyone.

Of course, there are so many other vehicles and memories I could share, but these were the chief ones. I know I probably forgot someone or some cars or trucks, so if you have any chief memories which align with this post, let me know in the comments. 

Minus Ten Review 2009-45

Doing the recon in the "new to me" rig at the time.

Ten years ago on the blog I kind of "soft-launched" the news that I had a different vehicle. The old "Dirty Blue Box", 1990 Honda Civic 4 door hatchback wagon died during the Summer of 2009. I finally replaced it with a 2003 Toyota Tundra. This became the "recon vehicle" for the remainder of the Trans Iowa events and to this day it is my vehicle.

I've been fortunate to have had this truck, and I have had some pretty crazy times in that truck, some of which will be covered in my "Trans Iowa Stories" series. Stay tuned for that in the future.

The other thing I was chatting about, and probably one of the most surprising things that ever happened to me, was when I got a surprise gift from George Wissel from Vermont. He ran a bike shop at the time and somehow he had gotten the last few purple anodized 1 1/8th head sets from Chris King. I remember saying something about that on the blog here. Well, good ol' George packed one up, put in some cool t-shirts and stickers, and sent the box off to me at unawares. Boy! Was that ever a cool gift.

That head set went straight on the Salsa Cycles El Mariachi I spoke of last week which was Gun Koted a kind of purple-egg plant type of color. Then I took it out in 2012 when I got the original Ti Muk and it has been in that bike since until I sold the head set and bike earlier this year.

Of course, since 2009 Chris King made purple ano stuff again. So, the head set wasn't all that odd by 2011. But the thought George had to send this present to me was not ever forgotten. Way too kind!

Minus Ten Review 2009-45

Doing the recon in the "new to me" rig at the time.

Ten years ago on the blog I kind of "soft-launched" the news that I had a different vehicle. The old "Dirty Blue Box", 1990 Honda Civic 4 door hatchback wagon died during the Summer of 2009. I finally replaced it with a 2003 Toyota Tundra. This became the "recon vehicle" for the remainder of the Trans Iowa events and to this day it is my vehicle.

I've been fortunate to have had this truck, and I have had some pretty crazy times in that truck, some of which will be covered in my "Trans Iowa Stories" series. Stay tuned for that in the future.

The other thing I was chatting about, and probably one of the most surprising things that ever happened to me, was when I got a surprise gift from George Wissel from Vermont. He ran a bike shop at the time and somehow he had gotten the last few purple anodized 1 1/8th head sets from Chris King. I remember saying something about that on the blog here. Well, good ol' George packed one up, put in some cool t-shirts and stickers, and sent the box off to me at unawares. Boy! Was that ever a cool gift.

That head set went straight on the Salsa Cycles El Mariachi I spoke of last week which was Gun Koted a kind of purple-egg plant type of color. Then I took it out in 2012 when I got the original Ti Muk and it has been in that bike since until I sold the head set and bike earlier this year.

Of course, since 2009 Chris King made purple ano stuff again. So, the head set wasn't all that odd by 2011. But the thought George had to send this present to me was not ever forgotten. Way too kind!

Minus Ten Review 2009-27

Scene from the 2009 Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitational course. The lilies were on fore ten years ago.

Ten years ago on the blog this week I was yapping about the course for the upcoming GTDRI. I just noted that this was the year the lilies were crazy in many spots along the course. I also remember how that wasn't the case for the following three tries at this course. Interestingly, ten years removed from this event, the lilies are going nuts again.

It's also worth noting that this recon trip was the first that I had done with the "Truck With No Name". That vehicle replaced the "Dirty Blue Box", the 1990- (or was it a '91?)- Honda Civic Hatchback wagon. So, it's been ten years now that I've had that truck. Pretty sure it is the longest I've kept a vehicle around.

Also of note- I took an informal survey of readers of this blog on whether or not I should move the date of Trans Iowa. The results were mixed, but I got the sense overall that riders just wanted David Pals, (co-director at that time) and myself to be happy, (and keep putting on the event, no doubt). So, as it turned out I moved the date back to the last weekend of April and that is where it stayed till the end. One of the reasons for that was that I had met Grannygear and he lived in SoCal. He was willing to go to Sea Otter every year, and so I did not have to go for coverage for "Twenty Nine Inches". That freed me up to fully concentrate on Trans Iowa in April. Which......it was good and it was bad.

Having every April afterward for nine years be consumed with thoughts and actions for a Trans Iowa got to be pretty wearing. Basically, after the Renegade Gents Race, which happened at the beginning of April,  I was busy with TI stuff everyday until a week or so into May. Getting my April back was a nice thing this year, but I digress.........

Finally, I made note of a magazine article that was trying to poo-poo the idea that 29"ers were going to take over the MTB scene. (Of course, they have now.) To my mind in 2009, it wasn't an if, it was when. 27.5" bikes sort of delayed the ultimate take over of MTB by 29"ers, but for all intents and purposes, 29"ers rule now. And 26"ers?

Like I said ten years ago, they were toast.

Minus Ten Review 2009-27

Scene from the 2009 Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitational course. The lilies were on fore ten years ago.

Ten years ago on the blog this week I was yapping about the course for the upcoming GTDRI. I just noted that this was the year the lilies were crazy in many spots along the course. I also remember how that wasn't the case for the following three tries at this course. Interestingly, ten years removed from this event, the lilies are going nuts again.

It's also worth noting that this recon trip was the first that I had done with the "Truck With No Name". That vehicle replaced the "Dirty Blue Box", the 1990- (or was it a '91?)- Honda Civic Hatchback wagon. So, it's been ten years now that I've had that truck. Pretty sure it is the longest I've kept a vehicle around.

Also of note- I took an informal survey of readers of this blog on whether or not I should move the date of Trans Iowa. The results were mixed, but I got the sense overall that riders just wanted David Pals, (co-director at that time) and myself to be happy, (and keep putting on the event, no doubt). So, as it turned out I moved the date back to the last weekend of April and that is where it stayed till the end. One of the reasons for that was that I had met Grannygear and he lived in SoCal. He was willing to go to Sea Otter every year, and so I did not have to go for coverage for "Twenty Nine Inches". That freed me up to fully concentrate on Trans Iowa in April. Which......it was good and it was bad.

Having every April afterward for nine years be consumed with thoughts and actions for a Trans Iowa got to be pretty wearing. Basically, after the Renegade Gents Race, which happened at the beginning of April,  I was busy with TI stuff everyday until a week or so into May. Getting my April back was a nice thing this year, but I digress.........

Finally, I made note of a magazine article that was trying to poo-poo the idea that 29"ers were going to take over the MTB scene. (Of course, they have now.) To my mind in 2009, it wasn't an if, it was when. 27.5" bikes sort of delayed the ultimate take over of MTB by 29"ers, but for all intents and purposes, 29"ers rule now. And 26"ers?

Like I said ten years ago, they were toast.

Minus Ten Review 2009-12

A look out the back at a road grader from within the "Dirty Blue Box"

Ten years ago on the blog I was recounting a late recon for parts of the Trans Iowa v5 course. This was the first course we were able to run outside of the Northern tier of Iowa counties as we were starting the event in Williamsburg, Iowa that Spring.

The proposed route had a checkpoint in LeGrand, Iowa with the route to leave Northward and a bit Eastward with a hopeful crossing of the Iowa River somewhere.

The year before, in the Fall, David Pals, then co-director of Trans Iowa, and I had no luck forging through this area. I ended up having to stare at maps all Winter trying to figure the puzzle out, and then it hit me. It was a bit convoluted, and it included about two miles of pavement, but it was a solution. I had to wait until the roads straightened out in March that year to get out and get the deed done.

My little 1990 Honda Civic Wagon was on its last legs. I had pretty much used that old thing up running gravel and Level B Maintenance Roads, which it was not made for, as you know. The poor shocks were done for, and whatever rubber bits that held the hatchback in place were beaten down to the point that the hatch rattled something fierce when I went down a gravel road. In fact, it was deafening. Oh, and dust infiltrated the cabin rather easily. Yeah.....I didn't call it the "Dirty Blue Box" for nuthin'!

Road "furniture", Trans Iowa style.

That old car served me well though. It had been around for T.I.v3 and v4, and after this one it finally croaked when the distributor crapped out and a brand new one cost more than the car was worth. Anyway......

So, running recon and then doing cues was stressful for sure. We barely got things done in time for the event, but we did. This was before I ever did final recon checks or anything like that. We flew by the seat of our pants back then and it showed! There were things "not quite right" with cues and mileage, but for the most part it was passable back then. I'll mention a story about this come late April or May in the "Minus Ten Review", so look for that. It's a famous story that maybe you've never heard before. Definitely one of my chief T.I. memories.

But for the most part, recon was good and T.I.v5 was set to go. It was another stressful time though. I gotta say I don't miss that part of my life. This Spring has been a welcomed change!

Minus Ten Review 2009-12

A look out the back at a road grader from within the "Dirty Blue Box"

Ten years ago on the blog I was recounting a late recon for parts of the Trans Iowa v5 course. This was the first course we were able to run outside of the Northern tier of Iowa counties as we were starting the event in Williamsburg, Iowa that Spring.

The proposed route had a checkpoint in LeGrand, Iowa with the route to leave Northward and a bit Eastward with a hopeful crossing of the Iowa River somewhere.

The year before, in the Fall, David Pals, then co-director of Trans Iowa, and I had no luck forging through this area. I ended up having to stare at maps all Winter trying to figure the puzzle out, and then it hit me. It was a bit convoluted, and it included about two miles of pavement, but it was a solution. I had to wait until the roads straightened out in March that year to get out and get the deed done.

My little 1990 Honda Civic Wagon was on its last legs. I had pretty much used that old thing up running gravel and Level B Maintenance Roads, which it was not made for, as you know. The poor shocks were done for, and whatever rubber bits that held the hatchback in place were beaten down to the point that the hatch rattled something fierce when I went down a gravel road. In fact, it was deafening. Oh, and dust infiltrated the cabin rather easily. Yeah.....I didn't call it the "Dirty Blue Box" for nuthin'!

Road "furniture", Trans Iowa style.

That old car served me well though. It had been around for T.I.v3 and v4, and after this one it finally croaked when the distributor crapped out and a brand new one cost more than the car was worth. Anyway......

So, running recon and then doing cues was stressful for sure. We barely got things done in time for the event, but we did. This was before I ever did final recon checks or anything like that. We flew by the seat of our pants back then and it showed! There were things "not quite right" with cues and mileage, but for the most part it was passable back then. I'll mention a story about this come late April or May in the "Minus Ten Review", so look for that. It's a famous story that maybe you've never heard before. Definitely one of my chief T.I. memories.

But for the most part, recon was good and T.I.v5 was set to go. It was another stressful time though. I gotta say I don't miss that part of my life. This Spring has been a welcomed change!