Trans Iowa Stories: The GT And Jeremy Show

(L-R) Jeremy Fry, Mike Johnson, Ron Saul, and GT at the DK200 2010

  "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! 

When I think about doing the last several Trans Iowa events I think about a few key individuals who were integral parts of every single one of those last Trans Iowa events. Probably the keystone of those few folks is Jeremy Fry. If you've been following this series, you've seen that name pop up a lot already.

Jeremy Fry's friendship with me has been tied up in cycling events I have been a part of for well over a decade now. He has ridden in Trans Iowa, finished it, been in my GTDRI event several times, and has done other gravel events with me as well. But the chief thing I'll always be grateful for is Jeremy's help in doing the recon for T.I.v9-v13. We honed that experience down to the gnat's eyebrows. 

The process of recon with Jeremy started out crudely at first. I would start by doing a mock set of cue sheets. Now in the beginning of all this that consisted of scribbled out directions and notes in a spiral bound notebook. Eventually, I actually wrote out those as Trans Iowa style cues so Jeremy could modify the descriptors and make changes as necessary so that when I finally formatted the cues it would be spot on, or nearly so. 

We even had the mileages written down and we'd compare what I got off of GPS data on the mapping program with Jeremy's cheesy Garmin cycling computer which would sit on the dashboard of the truck recording the route. Sometimes we had to make changes and sometimes it was so spot-on it was scary. But the whole process became so streamlined that by T.I.v12 it was pretty much a rote exercise. Even where we went for breakfast the morning of a recon was not in question. 

Breakfast first! The Frontier Cafe was the place.

The Frontier Cafe in downtown Grinnell was the place. I guess I don't recall the first time we went there, but once we did, it was a staple of our recon routine until v14 when Jeremy decided to ride the last one. (I'll get into why that was later) 

Once we had that breakfast in us we'd roll out and the fun would begin. And I don't mean that in a sarcastic way either. It was fun. A lot of fun. But first, let me back up a bit and give you the fly-over view of a typical day of recon with Jeremy. 

First I would nail down a date that worked for both of us. Then at some ungodly time in the dark, I would pull up under a street light near Jeremy's apartment, and he'd walk down a half a block or so to meet me. He'd have a blue cooler full of bottled water, Diet Coke, cheese, and summer sausage. Then we'd hit the road to Grinnell and breakfast at the Frontier Cafe. Afterward it was a pretty much non-stop drive doing recon, with brief pauses for 'nature breaks' and a convenience store inspection or two. Barring any rerouting nightmares, we'd bag half, or in some cases, all the route, and head home. 

In between there was banter, laughter, silent pauses, and stories to be told. Sometimes we'd miss a turn and Jeremy would be right there with a sarcastic comment. Sometimes we both would be glazed-eyed and drowsy, but we always had a great time. You have to if your plan is to spend an entire day bumping along gravel roads with another person. Had we not had fun, it would have been a short run for us two doing recon. Thankfully it was the furthest thing from a bad experience as you could get. In fact, I looked forward to doing that every year. Jeremy probably wouldn't admit to it, he'd rather make some smart-ass comment or two, but I'm pretty sure he was into it as well. 

A view near the end of the day of recon for v12.

I often thought that I wanted to make a film about all the facets of Trans Iowa. I know that the recon rides with Jeremy Fry would have made for some pretty interesting viewing. But as it was, that never happened, that film idea just never materialized. So, I'm afraid you'd have to have been there to 'get it'. My writing couldn't possibly convey the interplay between us. But I know it was cutting humor and often times a surprise or two was on tap for us that was interesting as well. 

T.I.v12 recon was a bit different though in that the route came up within about three miles of Waterloo. So Jeremy and I decided to start at that point, not the beginning of the course in Grinnell, as we usually did. That way we could end up back in Waterloo, or, you know.....three miles from town. That put off the Frontier Cafe stop for several hours, but we made it work. We actually got the entire 330 plus miles in on one trip, which was a fantastic accomplishment for us. It just made things so much smoother when recon could be put down and I could move on with other facets of Trans Iowa's production.

Looking back at the v12 recon report I have to smile because I had to be so cagey about the route. I didn't want to reveal things about direction, or features that could be identified through Google Earth or what have you. Because people were always trying to figure out what I was up to, I kept details very hidden. In fact, even people that weren't in Trans Iowa made a game of trying to guess where I was taking the route. 

That was another thing about Jeremy I always appreciated. His confidence in matters concerning Trans Iowa was immutable. He could always be trusted with the route information and details that I did not want made public. This characteristic of his became very important to me later on. But at the time of his helping with recon, it was a relief to me to know that I could trust him fully with anything concerning Trans Iowa. 

Next: Some Interesting Things To Make Note Of

Trans Iowa Stories: The GT And Jeremy Show

(L-R) Jeremy Fry, Mike Johnson, Ron Saul, and GT at the DK200 2010

  "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! 

When I think about doing the last several Trans Iowa events I think about a few key individuals who were integral parts of every single one of those last Trans Iowa events. Probably the keystone of those few folks is Jeremy Fry. If you've been following this series, you've seen that name pop up a lot already.

Jeremy Fry's friendship with me has been tied up in cycling events I have been a part of for well over a decade now. He has ridden in Trans Iowa, finished it, been in my GTDRI event several times, and has done other gravel events with me as well. But the chief thing I'll always be grateful for is Jeremy's help in doing the recon for T.I.v9-v13. We honed that experience down to the gnat's eyebrows. 

The process of recon with Jeremy started out crudely at first. I would start by doing a mock set of cue sheets. Now in the beginning of all this that consisted of scribbled out directions and notes in a spiral bound notebook. Eventually, I actually wrote out those as Trans Iowa style cues so Jeremy could modify the descriptors and make changes as necessary so that when I finally formatted the cues it would be spot on, or nearly so. 

We even had the mileages written down and we'd compare what I got off of GPS data on the mapping program with Jeremy's cheesy Garmin cycling computer which would sit on the dashboard of the truck recording the route. Sometimes we had to make changes and sometimes it was so spot-on it was scary. But the whole process became so streamlined that by T.I.v12 it was pretty much a rote exercise. Even where we went for breakfast the morning of a recon was not in question. 

Breakfast first! The Frontier Cafe was the place.

The Frontier Cafe in downtown Grinnell was the place. I guess I don't recall the first time we went there, but once we did, it was a staple of our recon routine until v14 when Jeremy decided to ride the last one. (I'll get into why that was later) 

Once we had that breakfast in us we'd roll out and the fun would begin. And I don't mean that in a sarcastic way either. It was fun. A lot of fun. But first, let me back up a bit and give you the fly-over view of a typical day of recon with Jeremy. 

First I would nail down a date that worked for both of us. Then at some ungodly time in the dark, I would pull up under a street light near Jeremy's apartment, and he'd walk down a half a block or so to meet me. He'd have a blue cooler full of bottled water, Diet Coke, cheese, and summer sausage. Then we'd hit the road to Grinnell and breakfast at the Frontier Cafe. Afterward it was a pretty much non-stop drive doing recon, with brief pauses for 'nature breaks' and a convenience store inspection or two. Barring any rerouting nightmares, we'd bag half, or in some cases, all the route, and head home. 

In between there was banter, laughter, silent pauses, and stories to be told. Sometimes we'd miss a turn and Jeremy would be right there with a sarcastic comment. Sometimes we both would be glazed-eyed and drowsy, but we always had a great time. You have to if your plan is to spend an entire day bumping along gravel roads with another person. Had we not had fun, it would have been a short run for us two doing recon. Thankfully it was the furthest thing from a bad experience as you could get. In fact, I looked forward to doing that every year. Jeremy probably wouldn't admit to it, he'd rather make some smart-ass comment or two, but I'm pretty sure he was into it as well. 

A view near the end of the day of recon for v12.

I often thought that I wanted to make a film about all the facets of Trans Iowa. I know that the recon rides with Jeremy Fry would have made for some pretty interesting viewing. But as it was, that never happened, that film idea just never materialized. So, I'm afraid you'd have to have been there to 'get it'. My writing couldn't possibly convey the interplay between us. But I know it was cutting humor and often times a surprise or two was on tap for us that was interesting as well. 

T.I.v12 recon was a bit different though in that the route came up within about three miles of Waterloo. So Jeremy and I decided to start at that point, not the beginning of the course in Grinnell, as we usually did. That way we could end up back in Waterloo, or, you know.....three miles from town. That put off the Frontier Cafe stop for several hours, but we made it work. We actually got the entire 330 plus miles in on one trip, which was a fantastic accomplishment for us. It just made things so much smoother when recon could be put down and I could move on with other facets of Trans Iowa's production.

Looking back at the v12 recon report I have to smile because I had to be so cagey about the route. I didn't want to reveal things about direction, or features that could be identified through Google Earth or what have you. Because people were always trying to figure out what I was up to, I kept details very hidden. In fact, even people that weren't in Trans Iowa made a game of trying to guess where I was taking the route. 

That was another thing about Jeremy I always appreciated. His confidence in matters concerning Trans Iowa was immutable. He could always be trusted with the route information and details that I did not want made public. This characteristic of his became very important to me later on. But at the time of his helping with recon, it was a relief to me to know that I could trust him fully with anything concerning Trans Iowa. 

Next: Some Interesting Things To Make Note Of

Recon The Route: Part 2

Recon vehicle

Note: I'll have results from the lubrication poll I posted yesterday up Thursday. 

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about reconning my soon to be new commuter route to work. I went back this past weekend to check on the progress. I should note that there isn't really any good 'official' information available as to exactly what is going on, so these observation rides help fill in the blanks where that official word is lacking. 

I also need to note that this part I am checking on of the route is only the first mile or so of my commute. The main bit will remain the same. What has been going on is that I have had to 'detour' through a part of downtown Waterloo, which is out of my way, and when the new bit gets cleared up, I can return to a more direct way toward work. 

So, I grabbed the Snow Dog, my 2011 Salsa Cycles Mukluk, and headed on over to see what, if any, progress had been made since my last visit earlier this month. The first order of business was to 'sneak in' the back way to the area I wanted to see via the East dike of the Black Hawk Creek and follow it downstream to where it meets University Avenue. From there I observed the new bike pathway over the old bridge over the Black Hawk Creek. Then on toward the intersection of Falls Avenue and the end of the Sergeant Road Trail, via the tunnel underneath University Avenue. 

Once I observed this area I was done with recon, but not my ride, as I went on and hit up some alleys, bigger hills in Waterloo, and the nearby cemetery where I like to run every 'road' they have in there for kicks. But this post isn't about the rest of my ride. It's about what's happening along University Avenue down near my abode. So, on with the pics!

Some of the fancy-pants railing work going up along the new bike path. This used to be a lane on University Avenue.

The new tunnel under University Avenue. My son predicts that this will get all graffitteed up once it is opened.

Some important improvements have been made here since I last viewed this area.

So my biggest takeaway this time is that my fears that there was no drainage plan for the North side of University Avenue was put to rest after this visit. Clearly there is a plan. Those circled grates are drain-off areas for the rain water and snow melt, but whether or not this is connected to a storm sewer or just a transferal to the South side of the trail is not known to me. The fact that something was done is monumental though. We'll see in the future how effective this 'plan' is. 

The arrows describe roughly the bike path as it will come off the North tunnel opening and veer Left as one rides toward the highway above. This will take the bike path back to its original, more or less, path along the dead end of what was Falls Avenue. Then the bike path will turn Right/North and go on its original path under the expressway. Dead center on the upper edge of this image is the e3xpressway and that sloping line that meets it from the right is the horizon line of University Avenue. 

So, as you can see, it is going to be awhile before I can cut through this area. I'll either use the tunnel, go to Falls Avenue, or I may stay on the South side, use the new, wide bike path, go over the Black Hawk, and cross University Avenue at the round-a-bout with Fletcher Avenue and then onward to my normal commute. 

For now I'll continue on the "long route". It's okay. I get to ride my bicycle more!

Recon The Route: Part 2

Recon vehicle

Note: I'll have results from the lubrication poll I posted yesterday up Thursday. 

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about reconning my soon to be new commuter route to work. I went back this past weekend to check on the progress. I should note that there isn't really any good 'official' information available as to exactly what is going on, so these observation rides help fill in the blanks where that official word is lacking. 

I also need to note that this part I am checking on of the route is only the first mile or so of my commute. The main bit will remain the same. What has been going on is that I have had to 'detour' through a part of downtown Waterloo, which is out of my way, and when the new bit gets cleared up, I can return to a more direct way toward work. 

So, I grabbed the Snow Dog, my 2011 Salsa Cycles Mukluk, and headed on over to see what, if any, progress had been made since my last visit earlier this month. The first order of business was to 'sneak in' the back way to the area I wanted to see via the East dike of the Black Hawk Creek and follow it downstream to where it meets University Avenue. From there I observed the new bike pathway over the old bridge over the Black Hawk Creek. Then on toward the intersection of Falls Avenue and the end of the Sergeant Road Trail, via the tunnel underneath University Avenue. 

Once I observed this area I was done with recon, but not my ride, as I went on and hit up some alleys, bigger hills in Waterloo, and the nearby cemetery where I like to run every 'road' they have in there for kicks. But this post isn't about the rest of my ride. It's about what's happening along University Avenue down near my abode. So, on with the pics!

Some of the fancy-pants railing work going up along the new bike path. This used to be a lane on University Avenue.

The new tunnel under University Avenue. My son predicts that this will get all graffitteed up once it is opened.

Some important improvements have been made here since I last viewed this area.

So my biggest takeaway this time is that my fears that there was no drainage plan for the North side of University Avenue was put to rest after this visit. Clearly there is a plan. Those circled grates are drain-off areas for the rain water and snow melt, but whether or not this is connected to a storm sewer or just a transferal to the South side of the trail is not known to me. The fact that something was done is monumental though. We'll see in the future how effective this 'plan' is. 

The arrows describe roughly the bike path as it will come off the North tunnel opening and veer Left as one rides toward the highway above. This will take the bike path back to its original, more or less, path along the dead end of what was Falls Avenue. Then the bike path will turn Right/North and go on its original path under the expressway. Dead center on the upper edge of this image is the e3xpressway and that sloping line that meets it from the right is the horizon line of University Avenue. 

So, as you can see, it is going to be awhile before I can cut through this area. I'll either use the tunnel, go to Falls Avenue, or I may stay on the South side, use the new, wide bike path, go over the Black Hawk, and cross University Avenue at the round-a-bout with Fletcher Avenue and then onward to my normal commute. 

For now I'll continue on the "long route". It's okay. I get to ride my bicycle more!

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

Trans Iowa Stories:"I'll Kill Ya!"

The third, and final, Trans Iowa v8 header art concept that was used on the site. Courtesy of Jeff Kerkove.

 "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 events of the next Trans Iowa in the line of this story were all etched into my memory as if it were the first time I'd done it. In a way, it was the first time. I hadn't done all of the work to put on the event in five years. Now, I was on my own. Back in 2014 as I recapped Trans Iowa's history for this blog, I wrote the following, which should serve as a good recap of where I left off in the telling of the events surrounding version seven of Trans Iowa:

 "It was over. Trans Iowa V7 was done, but I had a "Dirt Rag" story to write, sponsors to thank, and some emotionally charged situations going on that seemed to put the endurance factor of Trans Iowa v7 on much longer than I imagined. There was the tension between David and I, my buddy MG was ticked off, and I had just about reached my limits in terms of being able to take any more. There was only one thing that fueled my desire to do another Trans Iowa- that was my complete and utter determination to put on a flawless Trans Iowa. Before the event was even done, I had silently vowed to myself that I would take Trans Iowa on and dominate the logistical and promotional parts of the event and show how it really could be done. I knew it could be way better."

It was also true that I had said after Trans Iowa v3 that I'd never do the event again alone. However; I never dreamed I'd end up in the situation I did at the time of v7. That pretty much lit a fire within me and I can say honestly I haven't been that motivated to do anything since. 

Lots of things needed attention, most of those having to do with recon of the route and cue sheets. One of the things I changed was that whatever the route was to be, that route would have a draft of cues for it well ahead of the event. In fact, they would be independently verified. The original plan was to have whomever was to verify the cues do it alone by my draft of the cues. That way any issues found would be natural, so to speak. I wouldn't be there to influence the outcome, and people would know the route was legit. However; my two volunteers that stepped up to do this, Wally and George, insisted I come along, since any issues could be sussed out easily if I was there, and it would save time and money. I acquiesced and in March of 2012, I joined them in Grinnell for the first "Checking Crew" ride. Here's what I wrote at the time leading up to the recon:

 "This year, besides having all the cues drafted far in advance, the cues will actually be double checked by a third party. This will happen this weekend when I will play tag along with the Checking Crew. My role will be to see if any clarifications are necessary and to take notes of any criticisms. By doing this extra step, it is my hope that the cues will reflect with accuracy where and when to turn out there."

I didn't really know Wally well yet, but I liked him as we got to know each other over the months going into T.I.v7 and afterward. George I knew even less. I had only met him once, at T.I.v7, and that briefly. I hadn't communicated with him outside of that. What I learned later, but didn't know that day in March of 2012, was that Wally and George had been life-long friends. They knew each other so well one could finish the other's sentences. Brothers from other mothers, for sure, and they have a rich, long history of events that they have shared over the years. But again- I hadn't learned that yet. 

So, as we tooled along in George's Ford 4X4, Bouncing down the gravel roads, we got to talking. Now, if you don't know me, I like to talk. I can spin a yarn, and I enjoy hearing them too. Well, at one point I was telling a story about something or another that I had done when George, who had been pretty quiet up to this point, piped up and said, "You know what I would have done if you'd done that to me?"

I responded and asked what that might be. 

George then snapped around, with a wild look, his eyes bulging and his face was tense, and he growled, "I'd a fu#@in killed ya!"

Pregnant pause.......for effect.....

A rider by the fire at Wally and George's Checkpoint Bravo during T.I.v8

Then Wally busted out laughing! The look on my face must have been priceless. I had no idea if George was serious or no, but his tone, and his overall countenance was very convincing! See, George had grown up in Chicago. He had that certain 'moxy', that inner city swagger thing. And Wally knew exactly where he was going with that the minute George opened up his trap. Man! Was that a funny thing right there.   

And for the rest of the day, that phrase, or variations thereof,  was repeated at various times in connection with various things, and my sides hurt from laughing so much. That recon was so much fun, and Wally and George were such great guys, not to mention such a good sounding board for my course ideas and cues, that they instantly became an indispensable resource to Trans Iowa. Not to mention, really good friends too. That was an unforgettable day. It wasn't the last one either.

The course checking was a great idea, and having the cues reviewed by two individuals with no horse in the race, (sorry for the pun), made for some raw, unfiltered critique that I was able to put to good use. Then, as if that weren't enough, I had Jeremy Fry and Steve Fuller use the revamped cues after the first vetting as they scouted the course for imagery opportunities. So, not only was T.I.v8 vetted out once, but twice by independent teams. I was out to make sure these cues were so spot-on that they could not be faulted.

Trans Iowa v8 saw Wally and George running the Checkpoint Bravo (#2) and they, once again, proved to have one of the coolest checkpoints ever seen in Trans Iowa's history. John Gorilla famously said later that there should have been a time limit on how long you could have stayed at that checkpoint! Keep in mind, this was literally about as far out in the sticks in Iowa as you could get. So, the little oasis of fun, fire, and liquor was a standout after miles and miles of nothing.  Recently, George related a little story about the Checkpoint Bravo experience:

Riders leaving Checkpoint Bravo, by Wally Kilburg

"Wally and I were at the beginning of the race and drove around checking on riders in the morning and hitting Ckeckpoint 1. (Dubbed Checkpoint Alpha that year) When we decided to head out to Ckeckpoint 2 (Bravo) we hit a store and bought some supplies and a couple of DuraFlame logs to help take the night’s chill away. We made our way out there and began setting up. The EZUP was the first thing followed by our chairs, coolers, generator/lights, music, and getting the fire pit ready. In the middle of all this we were approached by a couple of locals who lived a hundred yards or so up the road. My first thought was “I hope we don’t have any trouble!” But it turns out they just were curious about what we were doing. I don’t think they had ever seen, or had anybody setting up “camp", on their corner before.

We had a very friendly chat with them explaining what was going on. They were amazed that a bicycle race would be coming through this area with it being in the middle of nowhere. But they did think it was pretty cool and hoped we and the riders would have a good time. They were extremely nice and friendly and even offered to share their dinner with us and told us to stop by and warm up if we got cold. We thanked them for the offers and understanding that we meant no harm while invading their little corner of Iowa. I’m not 100% sure but I think one of them stopped over when we had a flurry of riders come through."

George went on to share with me the following about the riders getting too comfortable there at Checkpoint Bravo: 

"As a side note, you may remember that we had to chase several riders out of the checkpoint so they would continue the race. Some got very comfortable taking over our chairs and warming up by the fire as we handed out Cue sheets and offered encouragement. A few of the riders never left. I think it was close to 1AM by the time they were all picked up. LOL! Even MG who ran Ckeckpoint 3, (The secret Checkpoint "Charlie" that year, along with Jeremy Fry) if I recall correctly, hung around until the last possible moment. Good times!"

The other thing that came out of this version of Trans Iowa was Wally's imagery, and his desire to step into being a photographer for his main vocation. I cannot say whether Trans Iowa helped push him over the edge to do that with his life, but I am sure it was an influence. However that played out, I do know that because of Wally and George, Trans Iowa's imagery for posterity was enriched greatly. It all started with that ride to verify cues for v8.  

Next: Here I Am Again On My Own 

Trans Iowa Stories:"I'll Kill Ya!"

The third, and final, Trans Iowa v8 header art concept that was used on the site. Courtesy of Jeff Kerkove.

 "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 events of the next Trans Iowa in the line of this story were all etched into my memory as if it were the first time I'd done it. In a way, it was the first time. I hadn't done all of the work to put on the event in five years. Now, I was on my own. Back in 2014 as I recapped Trans Iowa's history for this blog, I wrote the following, which should serve as a good recap of where I left off in the telling of the events surrounding version seven of Trans Iowa:

 "It was over. Trans Iowa V7 was done, but I had a "Dirt Rag" story to write, sponsors to thank, and some emotionally charged situations going on that seemed to put the endurance factor of Trans Iowa v7 on much longer than I imagined. There was the tension between David and I, my buddy MG was ticked off, and I had just about reached my limits in terms of being able to take any more. There was only one thing that fueled my desire to do another Trans Iowa- that was my complete and utter determination to put on a flawless Trans Iowa. Before the event was even done, I had silently vowed to myself that I would take Trans Iowa on and dominate the logistical and promotional parts of the event and show how it really could be done. I knew it could be way better."

It was also true that I had said after Trans Iowa v3 that I'd never do the event again alone. However; I never dreamed I'd end up in the situation I did at the time of v7. That pretty much lit a fire within me and I can say honestly I haven't been that motivated to do anything since. 

Lots of things needed attention, most of those having to do with recon of the route and cue sheets. One of the things I changed was that whatever the route was to be, that route would have a draft of cues for it well ahead of the event. In fact, they would be independently verified. The original plan was to have whomever was to verify the cues do it alone by my draft of the cues. That way any issues found would be natural, so to speak. I wouldn't be there to influence the outcome, and people would know the route was legit. However; my two volunteers that stepped up to do this, Wally and George, insisted I come along, since any issues could be sussed out easily if I was there, and it would save time and money. I acquiesced and in March of 2012, I joined them in Grinnell for the first "Checking Crew" ride. Here's what I wrote at the time leading up to the recon:

 "This year, besides having all the cues drafted far in advance, the cues will actually be double checked by a third party. This will happen this weekend when I will play tag along with the Checking Crew. My role will be to see if any clarifications are necessary and to take notes of any criticisms. By doing this extra step, it is my hope that the cues will reflect with accuracy where and when to turn out there."

I didn't really know Wally well yet, but I liked him as we got to know each other over the months going into T.I.v7 and afterward. George I knew even less. I had only met him once, at T.I.v7, and that briefly. I hadn't communicated with him outside of that. What I learned later, but didn't know that day in March of 2012, was that Wally and George had been life-long friends. They knew each other so well one could finish the other's sentences. Brothers from other mothers, for sure, and they have a rich, long history of events that they have shared over the years. But again- I hadn't learned that yet. 

So, as we tooled along in George's Ford 4X4, Bouncing down the gravel roads, we got to talking. Now, if you don't know me, I like to talk. I can spin a yarn, and I enjoy hearing them too. Well, at one point I was telling a story about something or another that I had done when George, who had been pretty quiet up to this point, piped up and said, "You know what I would have done if you'd done that to me?"

I responded and asked what that might be. 

George then snapped around, with a wild look, his eyes bulging and his face was tense, and he growled, "I'd a fu#@in killed ya!"

Pregnant pause.......for effect.....

A rider by the fire at Wally and George's Checkpoint Bravo during T.I.v8

Then Wally busted out laughing! The look on my face must have been priceless. I had no idea if George was serious or no, but his tone, and his overall countenance was very convincing! See, George had grown up in Chicago. He had that certain 'moxy', that inner city swagger thing. And Wally knew exactly where he was going with that the minute George opened up his trap. Man! Was that a funny thing right there.   

And for the rest of the day, that phrase, or variations thereof,  was repeated at various times in connection with various things, and my sides hurt from laughing so much. That recon was so much fun, and Wally and George were such great guys, not to mention such a good sounding board for my course ideas and cues, that they instantly became an indispensable resource to Trans Iowa. Not to mention, really good friends too. That was an unforgettable day. It wasn't the last one either.

The course checking was a great idea, and having the cues reviewed by two individuals with no horse in the race, (sorry for the pun), made for some raw, unfiltered critique that I was able to put to good use. Then, as if that weren't enough, I had Jeremy Fry and Steve Fuller use the revamped cues after the first vetting as they scouted the course for imagery opportunities. So, not only was T.I.v8 vetted out once, but twice by independent teams. I was out to make sure these cues were so spot-on that they could not be faulted.

Trans Iowa v8 saw Wally and George running the Checkpoint Bravo (#2) and they, once again, proved to have one of the coolest checkpoints ever seen in Trans Iowa's history. John Gorilla famously said later that there should have been a time limit on how long you could have stayed at that checkpoint! Keep in mind, this was literally about as far out in the sticks in Iowa as you could get. So, the little oasis of fun, fire, and liquor was a standout after miles and miles of nothing.  Recently, George related a little story about the Checkpoint Bravo experience:

Riders leaving Checkpoint Bravo, by Wally Kilburg

"Wally and I were at the beginning of the race and drove around checking on riders in the morning and hitting Ckeckpoint 1. (Dubbed Checkpoint Alpha that year) When we decided to head out to Ckeckpoint 2 (Bravo) we hit a store and bought some supplies and a couple of DuraFlame logs to help take the night’s chill away. We made our way out there and began setting up. The EZUP was the first thing followed by our chairs, coolers, generator/lights, music, and getting the fire pit ready. In the middle of all this we were approached by a couple of locals who lived a hundred yards or so up the road. My first thought was “I hope we don’t have any trouble!” But it turns out they just were curious about what we were doing. I don’t think they had ever seen, or had anybody setting up “camp", on their corner before.

We had a very friendly chat with them explaining what was going on. They were amazed that a bicycle race would be coming through this area with it being in the middle of nowhere. But they did think it was pretty cool and hoped we and the riders would have a good time. They were extremely nice and friendly and even offered to share their dinner with us and told us to stop by and warm up if we got cold. We thanked them for the offers and understanding that we meant no harm while invading their little corner of Iowa. I’m not 100% sure but I think one of them stopped over when we had a flurry of riders come through."

George went on to share with me the following about the riders getting too comfortable there at Checkpoint Bravo: 

"As a side note, you may remember that we had to chase several riders out of the checkpoint so they would continue the race. Some got very comfortable taking over our chairs and warming up by the fire as we handed out Cue sheets and offered encouragement. A few of the riders never left. I think it was close to 1AM by the time they were all picked up. LOL! Even MG who ran Ckeckpoint 3, (The secret Checkpoint "Charlie" that year, along with Jeremy Fry) if I recall correctly, hung around until the last possible moment. Good times!"

The other thing that came out of this version of Trans Iowa was Wally's imagery, and his desire to step into being a photographer for his main vocation. I cannot say whether Trans Iowa helped push him over the edge to do that with his life, but I am sure it was an influence. However that played out, I do know that because of Wally and George, Trans Iowa's imagery for posterity was enriched greatly. It all started with that ride to verify cues for v8.  

Next: Here I Am Again On My Own 

C.O.G. 100 (Not Final) Recon Report

Lots of glum looking skies and dun colored landscapes during recon.

I was going to do a final recon of the C.O.G.100 course over the weekend, but the weather was too nice, and Monday it was supposed to rain. So, I figured, "Why waste a perfectly good riding day on recon when it is supposed to be ugly Monday?" In some ways, I wish I had been all wrong about this. I was right, unfortunately, and boy! Did it ever get ugly!

Rain started in before the Sun got up Monday and it stayed raining all day long. The clouds were low and with the brown vegetation everywhere, it was really quite the depressing scene out in the country.

I headed out around 8:00am and went South toward Grinnell, but I never went to the city proper, choosing instead to contact the course outside of town and then head on toward the "lollipop" section which will bring riders into the convenience store opportunity and back out again. The way I have it figured the course will overlap at one point for about a mile and a half, but it shouldn't be difficult to figure out for riders. By the way, you won't be able to short-cut the course because we will have observers at a point on the lollipop watching you. If you don't go by, you will be DQ'ed. Pretty simple. That way we will know everyone did the prescribed course.

So, anyway, I got around the lollipop part okay, but it was messy! The frost is starting to get drawn up out of the ground now and the rain was starting to make a mire out of the roads but not quite bad enough to impede my progress. It was still sketchy out there though. With about three inches of unfrozen clay on top of a harder surface of frozen, or semi-frozen road, there were times I felt out of control in the truck going 25mph.

Here you can see how the truck was pushing the gravel down into the melted road surface, but I wasn't sinking in.

The county hasn't been idle, by the way. There was a lot of evidence of fresh gravel on the roads, probably laid down over a week ago, by my estimation. Some few patches were fresher than that. With the frost coming up, it will give the roads time to recover from Winter before the end of March and I am betting on lots of fresh gravel by the time the event rolls around.

Due to a bridge reconstruction, this long climb will not be part of the C.O.G.100 after all. 

Of course, by now you've all realized that things did not go totally as planned. We had news of a bridge repair which necessitated a reroute, and that was done weeks ago here without any sight of the course down there. Well, upon laying eyes on it, what was listed as unpaved has been paved. Again ANOTHER reason that event directors and ride promoters ALWAYS should go look at the courses they come up with to verify them. So, I diddled around looking for a quick way around it but I ran into even more pavement. Why do we keep paving things here in Iowa? We can't take care of what we've got paved already. Anyway......

So, instead of wasting a bunch of time trying to figure out a route in worsening road conditions with no map, I decided to come back to G-Ted HQ and redraw the back third of the event. We will have to recon that soon, and then.......maybe......we can wrap this nonsense up and print up some cue sheets!

This steep up will be on course, so prepare your legs and choose an appropriate cog. 

I'll be getting to work here and finalizing things soon. Stay tuned! It's getting to crunch time and opportunities to wrap this up are dwindling. You'll see more on this sooner than later.