Trans Iowa Stories: Fruitless Searching- Part 2

Back in the game. Image by Jeremy Fry

  "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 going back to earlier Sunday posts on this blog. Thanks and enjoy!

The last post described how recon for Trans Iowa v11 started out. This post continues on with the story of the ill-fated recon trip.

After securing our choice of village and the exact location of Checkpoint #1, we were still in pretty high spirits. As we left the small hamlet we discovered probably one of the nastiest Level B Roads leading out of a town anywhere, and just a plain ol' mean road in anyone's estimation. It was akin to driving down a plowed field.  There was a lot of debate right then and there between Jeremy and I about whether or not this would be too much of a gut-punch to the riders. They would barely be out of Checkpoint #1 and they all probably would have to stop to scrape mud off bikes and shoes! After a lengthy discussion, we decided to leave it in with a view to review this choice later. 

Then it was due South, for the most part. We had a super-gnarly Level B not long after leaving the proposed Checkpoint #1 location which had a very odd entry. Essentially, the gravel road leading to it and the Level B were heading in the exact same direction, but as the gravel came up to the dirt, the gravel veered left, because, well.....who in their right mind would go down THAT road? So, unless you were paying attention, and you'd probably have to know this turn was there as well, you would be directed right on by the entry to the dirt road and miss this. Now, it was signed, but it was obscured by trees and brush. Another debate broke out in the truck as to whether or not we needed to flag this corner. Things got fairly heated this time with myself in the camp that this was already marked, and we just needed a cue to indicate to look for the slight turn. Jeremy was adamant that we also needed to have the cue and flag it. In the end we agreed to disagree and we moved on. 

Hills and more hills! The first part of T.I.v11 would be rife with them. 

 

Driving recon for Trans Iowa was always an adventure and something I thoroughly enjoyed doing.

Things settled into a rhythm after that with Jeremy reading off cues and myself driving. We ticked off the miles and made our way South, then eastward into areas I'd never been to before in Iowa. This was classic Trans Iowa recon. Classic times in the truck with Jeremy. Some of my favorite Trans Iowa memories are doing recon with him. I know he misses these times too. 

Then as we approached an area I was wanting to use to direct the event into a good city for resupply chances, we found a stellar road. I had initially chosen this because it was off the grid a bit, meaning it didn't follow the rigid graph-paper-like layout of square miles. This road meandered a bit, and that usually meant you were either on a ridge or in a valley following the contours of the land. An older road or ancient path, no doubt, that made it through to remind us all that things were once different in the land we call Iowa.

This road was really promising until something further down the line didn't work out.

Nearing the resupply city, we found this out on a Level B road. No doubt a popular teenage drinking spot.

Jeremy and I were pretty stoked on all we were seeing. Soon we would draw into a town we were expecting to use as a resupply point. I had pre-planned a route through, but it was a bit convoluted and the escape from the town on the Northeastern side was a bit sketchy. We'd take a look and figure that out, I thought at the time. That is until the approach route took a bad turn.

This was about three miles out, and the road was turning more and more rustic. A Level B that petered out to two track and then ended at a gate. Dammit! Out came the maps. We were scrambling to find a reroute now, as what appeared to be a newly rerouted four lane highway now had limited access across it from gravel roads. This was bad! Really bad. Why? Because of the nature of things being off the grid, which we thought was cool, well, that same feature also limited crossing paths and alternate routes. In other words, this route was entirely unusable. We would have to completely re-do about 30 miles worth of route out in the field. 

Another bit of the course we had to discard here. This Level B led to a water crossing which would be too dangerous for late April.

What was going to be a scenic, rolling course to this particular city ended up becoming a dead flat 13 mile stretch to a couple of dead flat Level B roads and entry to the city via a completely different way than we were anticipating. This was costly in terms of time and it caused us to have to make a return trip or two to get the route fully reconned in the end. But we were still running into issues even after that debacle.

Shortly after the first big reroute we had another issue arise. A really exciting, scenic, and difficult Level B road was eventually nixed due to a low water crossing. Jeremy and I stopped at the grassy area just off the roadway at the creek and considered this feature a bit. The verdict, agreed upon unanimously, was that in late April the cooler temperatures and likelihood of higher water was too much of an obstacle and a danger for us to consider routing through. Then we saw the 4X4 truck come crashing through the low water crossing, slow waaaaaay down, take a sideways glance at us, pull up the road about 30 yards, and then stop. "Uh oh!" This looked bad!

I told Jeremy we'd better get going, and get going now! As I went back the way we came down, the truck driver, who had pulled off just enough to let us pass, came in behind me and followed us out. It was as if we were being escorted. I reminded Jeremy that rural Iowans can be friendly, but if they think anything is untoward, they can be as surly as a junkyard dog. We were outsiders, and we posed a possible threat, so this guy was eyeballing us hard and I knew it. 

I was relieved when we finally got out of the Level B and the truck veered off and we were allowed to continue without the shadow of the unknown following me hard on my bumper. Oh, and we had another reroute! Uggh! It was seeming to us at the time that this route was ill-fated from the get-go. Yet we forged ahead. Things did straighten up a bit after that too, so we were encouraged to continue on, but that stretch was challenging and shook my confidence in route finding, for sure.

Next: We take a side route to look at registration. The processes, the gifts, the post cards, a prank that led to a serious debate about doping athletes and Trans Iowa, and all this together which led to a crazy registration process for T.I.v11. The end of which led to a fundamental change in how Trans Iowa was run.

Trans Iowa Stories: Fruitless Searching- Part 2

Back in the game. Image by Jeremy Fry

  "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 going back to earlier Sunday posts on this blog. Thanks and enjoy!

The last post described how recon for Trans Iowa v11 started out. This post continues on with the story of the ill-fated recon trip.

After securing our choice of village and the exact location of Checkpoint #1, we were still in pretty high spirits. As we left the small hamlet we discovered probably one of the nastiest Level B Roads leading out of a town anywhere, and just a plain ol' mean road in anyone's estimation. It was akin to driving down a plowed field.  There was a lot of debate right then and there between Jeremy and I about whether or not this would be too much of a gut-punch to the riders. They would barely be out of Checkpoint #1 and they all probably would have to stop to scrape mud off bikes and shoes! After a lengthy discussion, we decided to leave it in with a view to review this choice later. 

Then it was due South, for the most part. We had a super-gnarly Level B not long after leaving the proposed Checkpoint #1 location which had a very odd entry. Essentially, the gravel road leading to it and the Level B were heading in the exact same direction, but as the gravel came up to the dirt, the gravel veered left, because, well.....who in their right mind would go down THAT road? So, unless you were paying attention, and you'd probably have to know this turn was there as well, you would be directed right on by the entry to the dirt road and miss this. Now, it was signed, but it was obscured by trees and brush. Another debate broke out in the truck as to whether or not we needed to flag this corner. Things got fairly heated this time with myself in the camp that this was already marked, and we just needed a cue to indicate to look for the slight turn. Jeremy was adamant that we also needed to have the cue and flag it. In the end we agreed to disagree and we moved on. 

Hills and more hills! The first part of T.I.v11 would be rife with them. 

 

Driving recon for Trans Iowa was always an adventure and something I thoroughly enjoyed doing.

Things settled into a rhythm after that with Jeremy reading off cues and myself driving. We ticked off the miles and made our way South, then eastward into areas I'd never been to before in Iowa. This was classic Trans Iowa recon. Classic times in the truck with Jeremy. Some of my favorite Trans Iowa memories are doing recon with him. I know he misses these times too. 

Then as we approached an area I was wanting to use to direct the event into a good city for resupply chances, we found a stellar road. I had initially chosen this because it was off the grid a bit, meaning it didn't follow the rigid graph-paper-like layout of square miles. This road meandered a bit, and that usually meant you were either on a ridge or in a valley following the contours of the land. An older road or ancient path, no doubt, that made it through to remind us all that things were once different in the land we call Iowa.

This road was really promising until something further down the line didn't work out.

Nearing the resupply city, we found this out on a Level B road. No doubt a popular teenage drinking spot.

Jeremy and I were pretty stoked on all we were seeing. Soon we would draw into a town we were expecting to use as a resupply point. I had pre-planned a route through, but it was a bit convoluted and the escape from the town on the Northeastern side was a bit sketchy. We'd take a look and figure that out, I thought at the time. That is until the approach route took a bad turn.

This was about three miles out, and the road was turning more and more rustic. A Level B that petered out to two track and then ended at a gate. Dammit! Out came the maps. We were scrambling to find a reroute now, as what appeared to be a newly rerouted four lane highway now had limited access across it from gravel roads. This was bad! Really bad. Why? Because of the nature of things being off the grid, which we thought was cool, well, that same feature also limited crossing paths and alternate routes. In other words, this route was entirely unusable. We would have to completely re-do about 30 miles worth of route out in the field. 

Another bit of the course we had to discard here. This Level B led to a water crossing which would be too dangerous for late April.

What was going to be a scenic, rolling course to this particular city ended up becoming a dead flat 13 mile stretch to a couple of dead flat Level B roads and entry to the city via a completely different way than we were anticipating. This was costly in terms of time and it caused us to have to make a return trip or two to get the route fully reconned in the end. But we were still running into issues even after that debacle.

Shortly after the first big reroute we had another issue arise. A really exciting, scenic, and difficult Level B road was eventually nixed due to a low water crossing. Jeremy and I stopped at the grassy area just off the roadway at the creek and considered this feature a bit. The verdict, agreed upon unanimously, was that in late April the cooler temperatures and likelihood of higher water was too much of an obstacle and a danger for us to consider routing through. Then we saw the 4X4 truck come crashing through the low water crossing, slow waaaaaay down, take a sideways glance at us, pull up the road about 30 yards, and then stop. "Uh oh!" This looked bad!

I told Jeremy we'd better get going, and get going now! As I went back the way we came down, the truck driver, who had pulled off just enough to let us pass, came in behind me and followed us out. It was as if we were being escorted. I reminded Jeremy that rural Iowans can be friendly, but if they think anything is untoward, they can be as surly as a junkyard dog. We were outsiders, and we posed a possible threat, so this guy was eyeballing us hard and I knew it. 

I was relieved when we finally got out of the Level B and the truck veered off and we were allowed to continue without the shadow of the unknown following me hard on my bumper. Oh, and we had another reroute! Uggh! It was seeming to us at the time that this route was ill-fated from the get-go. Yet we forged ahead. Things did straighten up a bit after that too, so we were encouraged to continue on, but that stretch was challenging and shook my confidence in route finding, for sure.

Next: We take a side route to look at registration. The processes, the gifts, the post cards, a prank that led to a serious debate about doping athletes and Trans Iowa, and all this together which led to a crazy registration process for T.I.v11. The end of which led to a fundamental change in how Trans Iowa was run.

Trans Iowa Stories: Fruitless Searching- Part 1

The T.I.v11 site header. I designed this one as well.

 "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 going back to earlier Sunday posts on this blog. Thanks and enjoy!

With a renewed vigor and excitement for another Trans Iowa I dove in head first and started route designing for the all-new course. I wanted to take Trans Iowa into a completely new area this time and the obvious direction to go was East. We'd been over into the Marengo/Williamsburg/Washington Iowa area once for T.I.v5, but it had been a long enough time that going that direction again would seem pretty new. There are, however; several barriers to getting East from Grinnell. 

A cursory look at an Iowa map will show you several reasons why this route direction from Grinnell is hard to do. Rivers, major highways, and major population centers make doing a remote, gravel only route very difficult. To make one worthy of a Trans Iowa? Next to impossible. Perhaps my 'standards' were set too high? Perhaps, but I also had been in this area on gravel before- both on my own rides and in events- so I feel as though I had a handle on what the area had to offer. 

While there was much intriguing terrain, it was broken up into areas inaccessible without use of major highways, county blacktops, or it was cut off by what I liked to call 'mismatched road crossings'. This is when you have a paved road cutting across your route, and the main direction of gravel roads, being at a 90° angle to this paved road, have an offset crossing of the paved road, forcing a short distance on said paved road to 'connect' the gravel route. This most often occurred at major highway crossings, which was not an option for me. Obviously, limited access highways such as I-380 and I-80 presented their own obstacles to passage on gravel. 

This forced me to look Southeastward more, and as I did, I found a way to make things work. Keeping in mind that I had to utilize convenience stores as resupply points at intervals that made sense, this wasn't easy. Southern Iowa is not as well populated, nor does it have larger towns, as the rest of the State seems to have. This eliminated even more choices. But, even so, I was excited to find some promising routes on paper, at least. All we had to do was verify them and off we would go. Simple, right?

Well, a recurring theme with me is "maps are not 100% reliable". GPS data for rural Iowa is a complete joke, so we won't even get into that, and the only way that you can verify a route exists on gravel is to actually go drive/ride it yourself. So, Jeremy Fry, now my right-hand man for Trans Iowa recon and cue sheet productions, rode along with me one fine Fall day in 2014 and we headed off to Southeast Iowa with a route in hand. It didn't take long to find out the maps were incorrect.....again. This ended up becoming the theme for this particular recon trip. 

We decided to leave that right where we found it!

We had identified a likely spot for the first checkpoint. Once again, utilizing the David Pals idea of making the first set of cues a short run to a checkpoint, and then giving riders a new set to head off on a second, much longer leg of the course. In this way, we were thinking we would be preventing riders from 'game-planning' the first big chunk of Trans Iowa, since previous to v5 we were running the first set of cues up to 180-ish miles into the event. So, here we had a small village with what looked to be a great gravel road entry to it from the South. It was on a trajectory which came off 'The Grid' and veered Northeastward into the town, probably following an ancient rail way line or trail from another era. Who knows? But at any rate, we took the slight left-hander and headed off on a rather rustic looking two-track road. We were excited. 

That is until we were about 3/4's of a mile in and found that an old bridge had been removed so long ago that trees about two to three stories high had been growing up through the old barriers put up to block off the roadway. It was plain to see that this road had been truncated for years. maybe decades. Yet the very latest State DOT maps showed this road as going through. See what I mean about maps now? 

Jeremy and I decided that if nothing else, this was a prime chance to relieve ourselves of our morning coffee intake which we had picked up at an excellent breakfast joint in Grinnell earlier. As we did 'our business', we noted a lap top computer sitting on the guard rail, as if someone had just been there, only it had obviously been shot through with bullets from a hand gun. 

Weird! 

We didn't want to know any more about that! So we hastened our way out of that area and as we put that weird sight behind us, we forged ahead on the proposed route South and East. 

Next: Fruitless Searching- Part 2

Trans Iowa Stories: Fruitless Searching- Part 1

The T.I.v11 site header. I designed this one as well.

 "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 going back to earlier Sunday posts on this blog. Thanks and enjoy!

With a renewed vigor and excitement for another Trans Iowa I dove in head first and started route designing for the all-new course. I wanted to take Trans Iowa into a completely new area this time and the obvious direction to go was East. We'd been over into the Marengo/Williamsburg/Washington Iowa area once for T.I.v5, but it had been a long enough time that going that direction again would seem pretty new. There are, however; several barriers to getting East from Grinnell. 

A cursory look at an Iowa map will show you several reasons why this route direction from Grinnell is hard to do. Rivers, major highways, and major population centers make doing a remote, gravel only route very difficult. To make one worthy of a Trans Iowa? Next to impossible. Perhaps my 'standards' were set too high? Perhaps, but I also had been in this area on gravel before- both on my own rides and in events- so I feel as though I had a handle on what the area had to offer. 

While there was much intriguing terrain, it was broken up into areas inaccessible without use of major highways, county blacktops, or it was cut off by what I liked to call 'mismatched road crossings'. This is when you have a paved road cutting across your route, and the main direction of gravel roads, being at a 90° angle to this paved road, have an offset crossing of the paved road, forcing a short distance on said paved road to 'connect' the gravel route. This most often occurred at major highway crossings, which was not an option for me. Obviously, limited access highways such as I-380 and I-80 presented their own obstacles to passage on gravel. 

This forced me to look Southeastward more, and as I did, I found a way to make things work. Keeping in mind that I had to utilize convenience stores as resupply points at intervals that made sense, this wasn't easy. Southern Iowa is not as well populated, nor does it have larger towns, as the rest of the State seems to have. This eliminated even more choices. But, even so, I was excited to find some promising routes on paper, at least. All we had to do was verify them and off we would go. Simple, right?

Well, a recurring theme with me is "maps are not 100% reliable". GPS data for rural Iowa is a complete joke, so we won't even get into that, and the only way that you can verify a route exists on gravel is to actually go drive/ride it yourself. So, Jeremy Fry, now my right-hand man for Trans Iowa recon and cue sheet productions, rode along with me one fine Fall day in 2014 and we headed off to Southeast Iowa with a route in hand. It didn't take long to find out the maps were incorrect.....again. This ended up becoming the theme for this particular recon trip. 

We decided to leave that right where we found it!

We had identified a likely spot for the first checkpoint. Once again, utilizing the David Pals idea of making the first set of cues a short run to a checkpoint, and then giving riders a new set to head off on a second, much longer leg of the course. In this way, we were thinking we would be preventing riders from 'game-planning' the first big chunk of Trans Iowa, since previous to v5 we were running the first set of cues up to 180-ish miles into the event. So, here we had a small village with what looked to be a great gravel road entry to it from the South. It was on a trajectory which came off 'The Grid' and veered Northeastward into the town, probably following an ancient rail way line or trail from another era. Who knows? But at any rate, we took the slight left-hander and headed off on a rather rustic looking two-track road. We were excited. 

That is until we were about 3/4's of a mile in and found that an old bridge had been removed so long ago that trees about two to three stories high had been growing up through the old barriers put up to block off the roadway. It was plain to see that this road had been truncated for years. maybe decades. Yet the very latest State DOT maps showed this road as going through. See what I mean about maps now? 

Jeremy and I decided that if nothing else, this was a prime chance to relieve ourselves of our morning coffee intake which we had picked up at an excellent breakfast joint in Grinnell earlier. As we did 'our business', we noted a lap top computer sitting on the guard rail, as if someone had just been there, only it had obviously been shot through with bullets from a hand gun. 

Weird! 

We didn't want to know any more about that! So we hastened our way out of that area and as we put that weird sight behind us, we forged ahead on the proposed route South and East. 

Next: Fruitless Searching- Part 2