It Still Inspires

 

A rough idea of the TIMP route as marked out by Scott Sumpter.

Something amazing happened last week concerning a cross-state trip via bicycle on a route I devised. This post is about that and my reaction to it. But first, some context.....

The year was 2013, and I was looking at my tenth running of Trans Iowa, the ultra-endurance event that Jeff Kerkove and I first put on in 2005. There had been some chatter on social media about having Trans Iowa be a point-to-point event again sometime in the future. We abandoned the point-to-point format for the third running of the event in 2007. So, there may have been some romantic, idealized thoughts running through people's heads about 'the old Trans Iowa', or it may have been the odd appeal of cross-state events. I mean, anything point to point seems to rouse folk's interests to unbelievable levels. Something about the linear routes does this over loops, and especially laps. The mileage could be identical and yet folks would almost always gravitate to the point-to-point thing. I never really understood the appeal of that. But the appeal was, and still is, undeniable. 

So, instead of setting up a full-on Trans Iowa in a point-to-point format, I set up a companion event to be run over the Summer months of 2014. I got the idea from a Canadian challenge called Operacion Muerto. I took their idea and modified it to my liking. The idea I had was to make it like an academic challenge. I broke up the course into two halves or 'semesters' with the stipulations that the event had to be documented and a report, or 'master's thesis' had to be filed with me upon completion in order to be scored officially as a finisher and to receive your 'diploma' as a Trans Iowa Master. The event was dubbed by me as being the "Trans Iowa Masters Program", or "TIMP", for short. 

Ironically, Kerkove and I discovered dead pigs on the old T.I. 1 route too.

Well, I ran this as a 'one-and-done' as a way to recognize the old Trans Iowa courses and to give those that wanted the point-to-point format something to chew on. I didn't expect much interest, and there was not much interest in that idea at all. As usual, folks say they think an idea is rad, but when push comes to shove? Uh huh.  Only seven people made it, and only a handful of others tried it and failed. I did offer the cues for the same time period as the event ran to anyone to download. But not much came of that either. Yeah, that's what I figured........ And that was the end of that, or so I thought. 

The TIMP was a fun idea at the time and those that tried it seemed to appreciate the route. Several interesting stories came out of the TIMP. The difficulty of doing the event during the heat of Summer, dealing with rain, and the terrain variances from West to East.  One of the oddest occurrences from the running of the TIMP was the discovery of dead pigs on the route by the Jenkins, Patty, and Scotton group. Ironically, Jeff Kerkove and I also came across dead pigs during our initial recon of the first Trans Iowa in the same area. 

Of all of the attempts, only one successful solo, straight through 'time trial' was completed and that was by Greg Gleason. He did this mere days before the official end of the challenge as well, so the TIMP went out on a high note. I compiled the reports, and left the old site to ignominy in the depths of the digital haze. I figured no one would ever bring the subject of this route up again, much less do the thing. 

To my surprise, over six years later I find out that a Trans Iowa v1 rider and two-time finisher of the event, Robert Fry, (who also was a very important volunteer as well), was going to do this TIMP route. He down loaded the cues when I offered them back then, in 2014, and just waited for an opportune time to take advantage of the resource. Obviously, no one is beholden to any certain way of accomplishing the feat anymore, as Robert knew full well. He did the 377 mile route solo, self-supported in three days, just last week. Quite an achievement at any rate, and well done! 

But my amazement was more in the fact that anyone would care to even do that route anymore. Of course, Robert, having tried and failed at the first Trans Iowa, maybe had an axe to grind yet. But even so, that's pretty amazing to me that anyone would even give consideration to doing that TIMP route. Congratulations, Robert Fry! I was surprised and, to be honest, honored to have you do the route after all this time has past. Thank you. 

And before you ask- No. I do not have the cues, nor would I give them away anymore even if I did have them.  

It Still Inspires

 

A rough idea of the TIMP route as marked out by Scott Sumpter.

Something amazing happened last week concerning a cross-state trip via bicycle on a route I devised. This post is about that and my reaction to it. But first, some context.....

The year was 2013, and I was looking at my tenth running of Trans Iowa, the ultra-endurance event that Jeff Kerkove and I first put on in 2005. There had been some chatter on social media about having Trans Iowa be a point-to-point event again sometime in the future. We abandoned the point-to-point format for the third running of the event in 2007. So, there may have been some romantic, idealized thoughts running through people's heads about 'the old Trans Iowa', or it may have been the odd appeal of cross-state events. I mean, anything point to point seems to rouse folk's interests to unbelievable levels. Something about the linear routes does this over loops, and especially laps. The mileage could be identical and yet folks would almost always gravitate to the point-to-point thing. I never really understood the appeal of that. But the appeal was, and still is, undeniable. 

So, instead of setting up a full-on Trans Iowa in a point-to-point format, I set up a companion event to be run over the Summer months of 2014. I got the idea from a Canadian challenge called Operacion Muerto. I took their idea and modified it to my liking. The idea I had was to make it like an academic challenge. I broke up the course into two halves or 'semesters' with the stipulations that the event had to be documented and a report, or 'master's thesis' had to be filed with me upon completion in order to be scored officially as a finisher and to receive your 'diploma' as a Trans Iowa Master. The event was dubbed by me as being the "Trans Iowa Masters Program", or "TIMP", for short. 

Ironically, Kerkove and I discovered dead pigs on the old T.I. 1 route too.

Well, I ran this as a 'one-and-done' as a way to recognize the old Trans Iowa courses and to give those that wanted the point-to-point format something to chew on. I didn't expect much interest, and there was not much interest in that idea at all. As usual, folks say they think an idea is rad, but when push comes to shove? Uh huh.  Only seven people made it, and only a handful of others tried it and failed. I did offer the cues for the same time period as the event ran to anyone to download. But not much came of that either. Yeah, that's what I figured........ And that was the end of that, or so I thought. 

The TIMP was a fun idea at the time and those that tried it seemed to appreciate the route. Several interesting stories came out of the TIMP. The difficulty of doing the event during the heat of Summer, dealing with rain, and the terrain variances from West to East.  One of the oddest occurrences from the running of the TIMP was the discovery of dead pigs on the route by the Jenkins, Patty, and Scotton group. Ironically, Jeff Kerkove and I also came across dead pigs during our initial recon of the first Trans Iowa in the same area. 

Of all of the attempts, only one successful solo, straight through 'time trial' was completed and that was by Greg Gleason. He did this mere days before the official end of the challenge as well, so the TIMP went out on a high note. I compiled the reports, and left the old site to ignominy in the depths of the digital haze. I figured no one would ever bring the subject of this route up again, much less do the thing. 

To my surprise, over six years later I find out that a Trans Iowa v1 rider and two-time finisher of the event, Robert Fry, (who also was a very important volunteer as well), was going to do this TIMP route. He down loaded the cues when I offered them back then, in 2014, and just waited for an opportune time to take advantage of the resource. Obviously, no one is beholden to any certain way of accomplishing the feat anymore, as Robert knew full well. He did the 377 mile route solo, self-supported in three days, just last week. Quite an achievement at any rate, and well done! 

But my amazement was more in the fact that anyone would care to even do that route anymore. Of course, Robert, having tried and failed at the first Trans Iowa, maybe had an axe to grind yet. But even so, that's pretty amazing to me that anyone would even give consideration to doing that TIMP route. Congratulations, Robert Fry! I was surprised and, to be honest, honored to have you do the route after all this time has past. Thank you. 

And before you ask- No. I do not have the cues, nor would I give them away anymore even if I did have them.  

A Word On Old Routes

The T.I.M.P. route map. It's vague, and it's the best yer gonna get now.

Lately I've noticed a renewed interest in a certain route I offered for a short period of time in 2014. It was the "Trans Iowa Master's Program" route. There has been requests about it, requests for cues, information, etc. Beyond what you might gather at the T.I.M.P. site, there is nothing I am ever going to put out concerning that route ever again. Why? Well, I have a couple of reasons......

First off, and this goes for all past Trans Iowa routes, and many GTDRI routes, I don't like just handing over a route I busted my butt to ferret out for nothing. I also am not at all interested in selling my route information. If you were fortunate enough to have finished a Trans Iowa, and you managed to keep your cue sheets, you earned the right to that route in my opinion. Anyone else? Not so much. Otherwise I feel that "if I can do it, you can too" and I'll point you in the right direction to get the resource materials to get you started. You can learn all about how to do routes as well as I did. Having routes "just handed to you" doesn't seem right to me. Especially long, difficult ones.That's just how I feel about that, and I always have.

Then there is the reason I have concerning risk to me. I don't feel I should hand out a route like the T.I.M.P. and certainly not when it may come back to bite me in various forms in the future. I can think of several reasons there alone why it isn't wise to put out a route for just anyone to ride. So, that vague red line on that map of Iowa is all you are going to get from me concerning the T.I.M.P. route.

 Yeah, so I thought I would just put that out there to squelch any future requests for routes like the T.I.M.P. and old Trans Iowa routes. I will not be sharing those ever. I think that is pretty easy to understand.This is also why I haven't been too eager to pursue my idea for my "post-Trans Iowa" projects. For one thing, it is a time and energy consuming endeavor. The other thing is, I could be held responsible for "certain things", and I don't need that kind of hassle.

A Word On Old Routes

The T.I.M.P. route map. It's vague, and it's the best yer gonna get now.

Lately I've noticed a renewed interest in a certain route I offered for a short period of time in 2014. It was the "Trans Iowa Master's Program" route. There has been requests about it, requests for cues, information, etc. Beyond what you might gather at the T.I.M.P. site, there is nothing I am ever going to put out concerning that route ever again. Why? Well, I have a couple of reasons......

First off, and this goes for all past Trans Iowa routes, and many GTDRI routes, I don't like just handing over a route I busted my butt to ferret out for nothing. I also am not at all interested in selling my route information. If you were fortunate enough to have finished a Trans Iowa, and you managed to keep your cue sheets, you earned the right to that route in my opinion. Anyone else? Not so much. Otherwise I feel that "if I can do it, you can too" and I'll point you in the right direction to get the resource materials to get you started. You can learn all about how to do routes as well as I did. Having routes "just handed to you" doesn't seem right to me. Especially long, difficult ones.That's just how I feel about that, and I always have.

Then there is the reason I have concerning risk to me. I don't feel I should hand out a route like the T.I.M.P. and certainly not when it may come back to bite me in various forms in the future. I can think of several reasons there alone why it isn't wise to put out a route for just anyone to ride. So, that vague red line on that map of Iowa is all you are going to get from me concerning the T.I.M.P. route.

 Yeah, so I thought I would just put that out there to squelch any future requests for routes like the T.I.M.P. and old Trans Iowa routes. I will not be sharing those ever. I think that is pretty easy to understand.This is also why I haven't been too eager to pursue my idea for my "post-Trans Iowa" projects. For one thing, it is a time and energy consuming endeavor. The other thing is, I could be held responsible for "certain things", and I don't need that kind of hassle.

Alternative Ride Plan: GRAVEL-BRAI

The Trans Iowa Masters Program route = the PERFECT antidote to RAGBRAI madness.

That "big ride across Iowa" that happens every last full week of July just announced its 2017 overnight towns. As I considered the more Northerly plot of these points on the map, it occurred to me that I had already devised a near perfect gravel alternative to the late July madness that takes place on pavement. And that happened over ten years ago.

I put the route out as the tenth year of Trans Iowa was passing as the "TIMP" ride. I won't get into all the back ground on that. If you want to know more, click the Trans Iowa Masters Program link in the right column.  All that needs to be said about it here is that the route is 380 miles of gravel that actually traverses the entire state of Iowa, unlike that famous, other ride this year.

So, as I said, the overnight towns are Orange City, Spencer, Algona, Clear Lake, Charles City, Cresco, Waukon, and Lansing. Out of those the TIMP route passes through four of them and comes close enough to two others that you could easily make alternative plans to ride gravel instead of getting caught in the traffic jam of bicycles on the "official" 2017 route.

Ride the serene, beautiful gravel roads of Iowa, taking in the pastoral beauty and peace that is in abundance out there. Get away from the crowds and find an Iowa that is fast disappearing and one that is quickly emerging. Do it all without being pestered by thousands of other cyclists. Then crash the party in town in the evening.

Just thought I'd throw that out there..........

Alternative Ride Plan: GRAVEL-BRAI

The Trans Iowa Masters Program route = the PERFECT antidote to RAGBRAI madness.

That "big ride across Iowa" that happens every last full week of July just announced its 2017 overnight towns. As I considered the more Northerly plot of these points on the map, it occurred to me that I had already devised a near perfect gravel alternative to the late July madness that takes place on pavement. And that happened over ten years ago.

I put the route out as the tenth year of Trans Iowa was passing as the "TIMP" ride. I won't get into all the back ground on that. If you want to know more, click the Trans Iowa Masters Program link in the right column.  All that needs to be said about it here is that the route is 380 miles of gravel that actually traverses the entire state of Iowa, unlike that famous, other ride this year.

So, as I said, the overnight towns are Orange City, Spencer, Algona, Clear Lake, Charles City, Cresco, Waukon, and Lansing. Out of those the TIMP route passes through four of them and comes close enough to two others that you could easily make alternative plans to ride gravel instead of getting caught in the traffic jam of bicycles on the "official" 2017 route.

Ride the serene, beautiful gravel roads of Iowa, taking in the pastoral beauty and peace that is in abundance out there. Get away from the crowds and find an Iowa that is fast disappearing and one that is quickly emerging. Do it all without being pestered by thousands of other cyclists. Then crash the party in town in the evening.

Just thought I'd throw that out there..........

So, This Popped Up Again

Greg Gleason is attempting an ITT of the TIMP this weekend.

The thing was dead. I ran it for one Summer, a mere three months, and then it was over. I figured I'd never have to say anything about it again. However; in one post on Facebook, the whole Trans Iowa Masters Program thing has come alive.

It was the only ITT finisher, Greg Gleason, who did the deed. He decided to resurrect the idea and try a run at the course during the Fall. Of course, it is his right to do that, I have zero say in the matter. I only bring this to the blog today to explain to the folks that are unaware of what the TIMP was and why it mattered.

So, a quickie explanation here- The Trans Iowa event, when it started, was conceived of as a cross state route. We, (Jeff Kerkove and myself), wanted to route bicyclists across Iowa all on gravel roads. Then things got....well, modified. Certain elements to the original plot were introduced which eventually led us to stop the first two routes I planned in Decorah. Note- Trans Iowa v2 never made it past Algona Iowa, so much of that route was untapped till this TIMP deal.

As the tenth Trans Iowa approached, several riders broached the subject of doing a one-off, cross state Trans Iowa as a way to celebrate the decade of T.I. events. I decided that would be waaayyyy too much of a headache for me and the volunteers to pull off, so I decided to approach the idea in a unique and different way. I devised the "TIMP", or "Trans Iowa Masters Program". As the name suggests, it was set up as a mock degree from "Trans Iowa" which required studying, (the rider had to plan a strategy, study the cues, and prepare their gear and nutrition needs), a class test was taken, (the actual ride itself), and a "masters thesis" was required, (ride report with pictures). Once the three parts were completed successfully, I would issue a certificate and post the story and images on the TIMP site.

Greg Gleason at the finish of his successful ITT attempt in Lansing Iowa in 2014.

So, with that background, the announcement yesterday of Greg's attempt on another try at the original route was something I knew was coming as Greg forewarned me of this. However; I did not expect that there would be comments to the effect of "Hey! I want to do this. What is it all about?"

Yeah, that was something I never expected. Well, there were a few folks saying this and probably several others who had wheels turning in their heads about how they might do such a deed. First of all, let me be perfectly clear- I have zero to do with this "route" anymore. I took the original cues down and only those with the foresight to grab them off the sight when it was live have them. Anyone doing this now or in the future is completely on their own and doing something I have no affiliation with anymore. The TIMP deal was one and done. So, that ship has sailed. The route may or may not be doable or even safe. I have no clue now.

That said, if you have a mind to follow along with Greg as he rides across Iowa on (mostly) gravel roads, check out his SPOT tracker link which will be live this weekend HERE. Greg;s personal page can be found HERE. The original route which Greg has laid out on his link is HERE. Go check that out if you are interested in this.

As for me, I know nothing about the route beyond what I learned two years ago. I have no intentions of ever promoting it again, or reviving this idea again. Don't ask me about the route cues, or the route. Bug someone that has actually ridden it if you have to know more. Thank you!

Greg- Good luck, my friend! Have a great time out there. I know you will.

So, This Popped Up Again

Greg Gleason is attempting an ITT of the TIMP this weekend.

The thing was dead. I ran it for one Summer, a mere three months, and then it was over. I figured I'd never have to say anything about it again. However; in one post on Facebook, the whole Trans Iowa Masters Program thing has come alive.

It was the only ITT finisher, Greg Gleason, who did the deed. He decided to resurrect the idea and try a run at the course during the Fall. Of course, it is his right to do that, I have zero say in the matter. I only bring this to the blog today to explain to the folks that are unaware of what the TIMP was and why it mattered.

So, a quickie explanation here- The Trans Iowa event, when it started, was conceived of as a cross state route. We, (Jeff Kerkove and myself), wanted to route bicyclists across Iowa all on gravel roads. Then things got....well, modified. Certain elements to the original plot were introduced which eventually led us to stop the first two routes I planned in Decorah. Note- Trans Iowa v2 never made it past Algona Iowa, so much of that route was untapped till this TIMP deal.

As the tenth Trans Iowa approached, several riders broached the subject of doing a one-off, cross state Trans Iowa as a way to celebrate the decade of T.I. events. I decided that would be waaayyyy too much of a headache for me and the volunteers to pull off, so I decided to approach the idea in a unique and different way. I devised the "TIMP", or "Trans Iowa Masters Program". As the name suggests, it was set up as a mock degree from "Trans Iowa" which required studying, (the rider had to plan a strategy, study the cues, and prepare their gear and nutrition needs), a class test was taken, (the actual ride itself), and a "masters thesis" was required, (ride report with pictures). Once the three parts were completed successfully, I would issue a certificate and post the story and images on the TIMP site.

Greg Gleason at the finish of his successful ITT attempt in Lansing Iowa in 2014.

So, with that background, the announcement yesterday of Greg's attempt on another try at the original route was something I knew was coming as Greg forewarned me of this. However; I did not expect that there would be comments to the effect of "Hey! I want to do this. What is it all about?"

Yeah, that was something I never expected. Well, there were a few folks saying this and probably several others who had wheels turning in their heads about how they might do such a deed. First of all, let me be perfectly clear- I have zero to do with this "route" anymore. I took the original cues down and only those with the foresight to grab them off the sight when it was live have them. Anyone doing this now or in the future is completely on their own and doing something I have no affiliation with anymore. The TIMP deal was one and done. So, that ship has sailed. The route may or may not be doable or even safe. I have no clue now.

That said, if you have a mind to follow along with Greg as he rides across Iowa on (mostly) gravel roads, check out his SPOT tracker link which will be live this weekend HERE. Greg;s personal page can be found HERE. The original route which Greg has laid out on his link is HERE. Go check that out if you are interested in this.

As for me, I know nothing about the route beyond what I learned two years ago. I have no intentions of ever promoting it again, or reviving this idea again. Don't ask me about the route cues, or the route. Bug someone that has actually ridden it if you have to know more. Thank you!

Greg- Good luck, my friend! Have a great time out there. I know you will.

Minus Ten Review- 13

From Trans Iowa v2 recon ten years ago.

Ten years ago on the blog here I was mentioning that Daylight Savings Time was set to kick in on the first weekend in April. Remember that? We used to have to wait until April before the time "sprang forward" and we got a dramatic shift in the day.

I still think the concept is goofy.

Anyway, another big deal on the blog on this week ten years ago was my third "Ted-terview" of an endurance athlete. This time it was Paddy Humenny of Canada who got the focus. I met Paddy through Trans Iowa, (amongst many others since then), and he also was a finisher of the first Dirty Kanza which was set to happen later after our interview.

Finally, I was out and about toward the first part of April doing some checking on the Trans Iowa v2 course. Some things don't change in a decade! However; that year was a first for me, and I was doing much of the course work on my own at that time. I do remember that Jeff and I drove out there once and looked at things, then I am pretty sure I did that once on my own, (which may have been this trip in April '06), and I know I was out one other time alone. Keeping in mind that it was a four to five hour drive just to get to the beginning of the route, and you can maybe see why when we found out about the DK200's loop format, we were immediate fans! Oh! And all of those hours of windshield time and work went for naught in '06 as the route was never traveled due to weather. Only about 50-75 miles were traversed by most and a 110 by a couple of guys. That was unprecedented until the '10 event which was similarly wet, and the shortest was last years' event. Only Greg Gleason made it 128 miles, everyone else was out by Mile 53. Compare what Gleason did last year to T.I.v2, and he would not have gotten to Algona, which was the only checkpoint that year, with that amount of mileage with the rest of the state left to cross. In other words, that Level B in the image above? He wouldn't have seen that either!

This road, by the way, was eventually seen by Greg Gleason! Yes, because he rode it, along with a few others, on the Trans Iowa Master's Course route in 2014.

Minus Ten Review- 13

From Trans Iowa v2 recon ten years ago.

Ten years ago on the blog here I was mentioning that Daylight Savings Time was set to kick in on the first weekend in April. Remember that? We used to have to wait until April before the time "sprang forward" and we got a dramatic shift in the day.

I still think the concept is goofy.

Anyway, another big deal on the blog on this week ten years ago was my third "Ted-terview" of an endurance athlete. This time it was Paddy Humenny of Canada who got the focus. I met Paddy through Trans Iowa, (amongst many others since then), and he also was a finisher of the first Dirty Kanza which was set to happen later after our interview.

Finally, I was out and about toward the first part of April doing some checking on the Trans Iowa v2 course. Some things don't change in a decade! However; that year was a first for me, and I was doing much of the course work on my own at that time. I do remember that Jeff and I drove out there once and looked at things, then I am pretty sure I did that once on my own, (which may have been this trip in April '06), and I know I was out one other time alone. Keeping in mind that it was a four to five hour drive just to get to the beginning of the route, and you can maybe see why when we found out about the DK200's loop format, we were immediate fans! Oh! And all of those hours of windshield time and work went for naught in '06 as the route was never traveled due to weather. Only about 50-75 miles were traversed by most and a 110 by a couple of guys. That was unprecedented until the '10 event which was similarly wet, and the shortest was last years' event. Only Greg Gleason made it 128 miles, everyone else was out by Mile 53. Compare what Gleason did last year to T.I.v2, and he would not have gotten to Algona, which was the only checkpoint that year, with that amount of mileage with the rest of the state left to cross. In other words, that Level B in the image above? He wouldn't have seen that either!

This road, by the way, was eventually seen by Greg Gleason! Yes, because he rode it, along with a few others, on the Trans Iowa Master's Course route in 2014.

Trans Iowa Masters Program Report

Greg Gleason- the only ITT finisher of TIMP

The Trans Iowa Masters Program is over. August 31st was the cut-off and amazingly enough, a last minute individual effort was recorded with less than five hours to go in the program.

But before I get to that, I want to rewind the clock a bit and give everyone an overview of the reasons for the TIMP in the first place and hopefully illustrate why it is a one time deal from my standpoint.

I have had occasional requests and comments that led me to believe there were some folks that would be interested in a cross-state version of Trans Iowa again. Let me state emphatically and forever......that ain't gonna happen ever again. 

The logistics on my end and expectations from participants would be too difficult to accomplish without some major changes in my life and in the formatting of the event. Having 50 people start out a ride across the state was one thing. Having potentially 120? That's on a level I cannot comprehend at this point. The infrastructure and manpower necessary to pull that off? Much more difficult than a "big assed loop". Not gonna go there!

So, I figured I would never be able to offer anything approaching the ideals that most riders would want to tackle. However; something happened in Canada that modified my views and caused the Trans Iowa Masters Program to take shape late last year. That was Operacion Muerto. 

TIMP Route- First Semester map courtesy of Scott Sumpter

I had a brain storm, (or fart, depending on your viewpoint!), and laid out a challenge based largely on the Operacion Muerto, but with an "academic" twist. Each participant would follow cues that would be divided into "Semesters" and Quarters" with a "Masters Thesis" due after the completed ride at which time I would issue a "Diploma" to individuals who finished the Program.

It was also done in an effort to help celebrate the early Trans Iowa efforts by Jeff Kerkove and myself. A "ten years of T.I." celebration and a way to allow for the old cross state T.I. routes to be ridden by those who cared to. In fact, a bit of T.I.V3 and V4 were also parts of the route, along with a totally new section which started just West of Highway 76 and ended in Lansing, Iowa, the original target finish town for Trans Iowa V1.

Oh.....I did add another new bit. Some of the route in Howard County was new. I routed the TIMP right by my family's original 1800's homestead. Just because. Not that anyone would have cared about that but myself, but there it is for "full disclosure". So, I had the route and everything laid out, a time period from May 31st till August 31st for ride attempts, and some rules and regulations in place for the deal. The beauty of it all from my point of view was that besides record keeping, publishing, and mailing out certificates, I didn't have a big investment into this like I do with a typical Trans Iowa event.

The route actually started at the border with South Dakota- Image by A Zeiner

Riders started whenever they wanted to from just outside of Hawarden Iowa on the border with South Dakota which is the Big Sioux River. They needed to GPS the route so I could verify it, and in fact, several used SPOT trackers so I just followed along to verify the route from home. They tracked across the old T.I.V1 and V2 routes to Central Iowa, and then into Northeast Iowa where some of the newer bits and V3 & V4 routes were employed. After finishing, a report was required with images for an official finish and a place on the TIMP Report blog, (seen here).

Conclusions: From my point of view the TIMP was a success. It was not a huge success in terms of numbers of attempts, but those that chose this path seemed to thoroughly enjoy it, even if they did not finish. Surprisingly, a large number of the attempts were by riders that had never attempted Trans Iowa before. In that sense, I feel good about providing the TIMP challenge since it affected people outside the traditional Trans Iowa sphere.

It was a success in that it showed that a traditional Trans Iowa is not immune from weather related issues if it is moved from its traditional Springtime date, as many have desired it to be, thinking they might avoid "terrible weather conditions". Obviously, by the results of several of the ITT attempts, weather in the Summer can be just as bad or worse for the possibilities of a finish.

So- You want to ride Trans Iowa in the Summer? Image courtesy of A. Brunner

It was also a success based upon the route, which was declared a challenging and scenic route by many of the riders. Interestingly- I have vivid memories of some of the route, even though many of the roads shown by the riders in their reports I have not seen for almost ten years. Then there are the roads which were new to the route, which I have never laid eyes on and were totally fresh and new to me. I'll have to get up there and ride that last 40 miles or so sometime!

The route was not without some faults- There was a rogue wire across a road near the end, albeit well marked, I was informed. There was a bridge approach out, but navigable by foot. Finally, there was a low water crossing that caused concerns, but wasn't a deal killer. There were a couple of instances of road work, but again, these did not block the route either.

The participants were great too. I was especially happy to see T.I.V10 winner, Greg Gleason, finish his TIMP Individual Time Trial with less than five hours to go in the three month TIMP window. He was the only ITT finisher, and it was good to have at least one!

So, why wouldn't I want to do this again? Easy- Three months of worrying, that's why. I may seem like, and come off to many, as one who is an "evil promoter willing and happy to send riders off to suffer", but trust me- I worry about folks when they ride a Trans Iowa, and the TIMP was no different. I care, as surprising as that may seem, and doing that for three months, even just a little bit, is energy I could redirect into some other efforts in the future. So, I hope you downloaded the TIMP course when you could, because it is gone, and I don't publish or share Trans Iowa routes, or related routes. As in ever. The TIMP was a major exception to my personal rule in that regard, and that exception lasted three months. So, don't ask me to put that, or any other T.I. related route, out there. I will not do it.

Finally, thanks to all those who attempted the TIMP. Thanks to Jeff Kerkove, my "Trans Iowa Family", and of course, my wife and kids for putting up with my non-sense over the years.

Trans Iowa Masters Program Report

Greg Gleason- the only ITT finisher of TIMP

The Trans Iowa Masters Program is over. August 31st was the cut-off and amazingly enough, a last minute individual effort was recorded with less than five hours to go in the program.

But before I get to that, I want to rewind the clock a bit and give everyone an overview of the reasons for the TIMP in the first place and hopefully illustrate why it is a one time deal from my standpoint.

I have had occasional requests and comments that led me to believe there were some folks that would be interested in a cross-state version of Trans Iowa again. Let me state emphatically and forever......that ain't gonna happen ever again. 

The logistics on my end and expectations from participants would be too difficult to accomplish without some major changes in my life and in the formatting of the event. Having 50 people start out a ride across the state was one thing. Having potentially 120? That's on a level I cannot comprehend at this point. The infrastructure and manpower necessary to pull that off? Much more difficult than a "big assed loop". Not gonna go there!

So, I figured I would never be able to offer anything approaching the ideals that most riders would want to tackle. However; something happened in Canada that modified my views and caused the Trans Iowa Masters Program to take shape late last year. That was Operacion Muerto. 

TIMP Route- First Semester map courtesy of Scott Sumpter

I had a brain storm, (or fart, depending on your viewpoint!), and laid out a challenge based largely on the Operacion Muerto, but with an "academic" twist. Each participant would follow cues that would be divided into "Semesters" and Quarters" with a "Masters Thesis" due after the completed ride at which time I would issue a "Diploma" to individuals who finished the Program.

It was also done in an effort to help celebrate the early Trans Iowa efforts by Jeff Kerkove and myself. A "ten years of T.I." celebration and a way to allow for the old cross state T.I. routes to be ridden by those who cared to. In fact, a bit of T.I.V3 and V4 were also parts of the route, along with a totally new section which started just West of Highway 76 and ended in Lansing, Iowa, the original target finish town for Trans Iowa V1.

Oh.....I did add another new bit. Some of the route in Howard County was new. I routed the TIMP right by my family's original 1800's homestead. Just because. Not that anyone would have cared about that but myself, but there it is for "full disclosure". So, I had the route and everything laid out, a time period from May 31st till August 31st for ride attempts, and some rules and regulations in place for the deal. The beauty of it all from my point of view was that besides record keeping, publishing, and mailing out certificates, I didn't have a big investment into this like I do with a typical Trans Iowa event.

The route actually started at the border with South Dakota- Image by A Zeiner

Riders started whenever they wanted to from just outside of Hawarden Iowa on the border with South Dakota which is the Big Sioux River. They needed to GPS the route so I could verify it, and in fact, several used SPOT trackers so I just followed along to verify the route from home. They tracked across the old T.I.V1 and V2 routes to Central Iowa, and then into Northeast Iowa where some of the newer bits and V3 & V4 routes were employed. After finishing, a report was required with images for an official finish and a place on the TIMP Report blog, (seen here).

Conclusions: From my point of view the TIMP was a success. It was not a huge success in terms of numbers of attempts, but those that chose this path seemed to thoroughly enjoy it, even if they did not finish. Surprisingly, a large number of the attempts were by riders that had never attempted Trans Iowa before. In that sense, I feel good about providing the TIMP challenge since it affected people outside the traditional Trans Iowa sphere.

It was a success in that it showed that a traditional Trans Iowa is not immune from weather related issues if it is moved from its traditional Springtime date, as many have desired it to be, thinking they might avoid "terrible weather conditions". Obviously, by the results of several of the ITT attempts, weather in the Summer can be just as bad or worse for the possibilities of a finish.

So- You want to ride Trans Iowa in the Summer? Image courtesy of A. Brunner

It was also a success based upon the route, which was declared a challenging and scenic route by many of the riders. Interestingly- I have vivid memories of some of the route, even though many of the roads shown by the riders in their reports I have not seen for almost ten years. Then there are the roads which were new to the route, which I have never laid eyes on and were totally fresh and new to me. I'll have to get up there and ride that last 40 miles or so sometime!

The route was not without some faults- There was a rogue wire across a road near the end, albeit well marked, I was informed. There was a bridge approach out, but navigable by foot. Finally, there was a low water crossing that caused concerns, but wasn't a deal killer. There were a couple of instances of road work, but again, these did not block the route either.

The participants were great too. I was especially happy to see T.I.V10 winner, Greg Gleason, finish his TIMP Individual Time Trial with less than five hours to go in the three month TIMP window. He was the only ITT finisher, and it was good to have at least one!

So, why wouldn't I want to do this again? Easy- Three months of worrying, that's why. I may seem like, and come off to many, as one who is an "evil promoter willing and happy to send riders off to suffer", but trust me- I worry about folks when they ride a Trans Iowa, and the TIMP was no different. I care, as surprising as that may seem, and doing that for three months, even just a little bit, is energy I could redirect into some other efforts in the future. So, I hope you downloaded the TIMP course when you could, because it is gone, and I don't publish or share Trans Iowa routes, or related routes. As in ever. The TIMP was a major exception to my personal rule in that regard, and that exception lasted three months. So, don't ask me to put that, or any other T.I. related route, out there. I will not do it.

Finally, thanks to all those who attempted the TIMP. Thanks to Jeff Kerkove, my "Trans Iowa Family", and of course, my wife and kids for putting up with my non-sense over the years.

Friday News And Views

So....When Does Registration Happen? 

Okay folks......remember when I said I didn't want to get a bunch of you pinging me about registration?  Have you bothered to actually read the Trans Iowa site's "Details & Registration" page?

Many of you have, but guess what? Some of you have not. Some say that getting in to Trans Iowa is as hard as the event itself.......really? Try reading and following directions folks. It isn't all that hard. Maybe I expect too much........

Sorry about the mini-rant. Now on to a bit of TIMP news, and the very last attempt which will be starting this Saturday at 9:00am. For all the SPOT tracking fun you can stand, go HERE. Greg Gleason, the T.I.V10 champ, is gunning for a sub-24 finish of the 380 mile course. Can he do it? Will the weather allow for it? Keep clicking the link to see!

Yep! I got a B+.

Plus Sized Madness:

 The B+ thing I've been talking about? I will be testing it out to see if there really is anything to it here soon. I have some ideas that I think would be great for such a concept, but the B+ thing needs to "measure up" to expectations first.

The components to make the experiment happen showed up this week. I'll be using some of my own hubs, Chris Kings, and lacing them up to these Velocity Blunt 35's and there will also be another wheel set in the makings to try these out on as well.

The idea of B+ is that you could have a voluminous tire, (2.8"er), that would fit into a 29"er frame to allow for a "mid-fat" experience without having to buy anything but wheels and tires. My take on it is that this might be a great idea for a fully rigid chassis that might work well comfort-wise as a bikepacking platform, or as a rigid single speed bike with give. We'll see soon enough.....

The "madness" is all this wheel size nonsense. It's confusing and isn't really well understood. I was chatting with my boss yesterday and we thought it would make more sense if rim size and tire sizes were kept totally separated. For instance, if this were the case, all mention of "29"er", 27.5, B+, 650B, 29+, or "fat bike" would all go away. Here's how we see it.....

You take the ISO rim size- for instance, 584. This describes the diameter, then you add rim width, say inner rim width, since that's all that really matters with disc wheels and tubeless set ups. That gets you everything you need to know for dimensions on a rim. You'd have a 584/25mm, let's say. Then take the tire and use the ISO diameter again- (584 in our example)- so you simply matchy-match those tire numbers with rim numbers. Then you add in the overall width of the casing, (which most of the time is an approximation anyway), and then you know if said tire is a match for said rim. So 584 X 52mm, let's say. Manufacturers could simply say a bike is set up with 584's, or 622's. It'd be pretty obvious if it were a mountain bike or road bike, I think. And make everything be measured in millimeters!

I know......it's a pipe dream.

Rather Tamland-like

Another Gravel Bike:

Many long time readers know about the Tamland by Raleigh from my posts here about that bike. (If you don't, this post explains it all) The ideas behind the Tamland were also put to work on a U.K. Raleigh offering, and will appear in aluminum for 2015 as the Raleigh "Willard" model. Raleigh is owned by Accell Group, and they have several brands. So it wasn't that big of a surprise when I came across another rig that seemingly is in the Tamland's genetic pool, if you will.

It is in the Torker line for 2015 and the model is the "EM 50", which sounds like a farm implement model designation or something. Anyway....it is looking like a good budget entry into a bike that was designed for gravel riding and exploratory back road shenanigans. MSRP is $1250.00 and it is equipped with a Sora gruppo and disc brakes.

Another Gravel Tire:

The Panaracer "Gravel King 32" (courtesy of Panaracer's Facebook feed)

 Last year Panaracer introduced the pretentiously named "Gravel King" tires and rolled out a 23mm, 25mm, and 28mm size range.......for gravel? Really?!!

I am sure that almost all the guys and gals that ride gravel that I have met at Trans Iowa or elsewhere would not even consider a 28mm tire and certainly not a 23mm tire as being king of anything but pinch flats, but there ya go. A company jumping on a perceived trend and missing the bulk of the market altogether.

Well, now it seems that the "Gravel King" has crept on to the radar screen for gravel riders since Panaracer has announced a 32mm wide version of this tire which is minimum width, as far as I am concerned, for any reliable gravel going tire. It's got kind of an odd tread pattern, but who knows......it might just work. I've ridden Panaracer Pasela tires on gravel and Bruce Gordon Rock & Road tires, (made by Panaracer) before and they are decent enough tires, so I would expect similar results at minimum for wear and ride feel. I just wish Panaracer would have paid attention to the 32mm to 42mm range, which is where the king should have its realm, ya know?

Okay folks, it is the last weekend of Summer! Labor Day weekend here and most of us have a three day hootenanny to look forward to. Get yer bike on and keep the rubber side down!

Friday News And Views

So....When Does Registration Happen? 

Okay folks......remember when I said I didn't want to get a bunch of you pinging me about registration?  Have you bothered to actually read the Trans Iowa site's "Details & Registration" page?

Many of you have, but guess what? Some of you have not. Some say that getting in to Trans Iowa is as hard as the event itself.......really? Try reading and following directions folks. It isn't all that hard. Maybe I expect too much........

Sorry about the mini-rant. Now on to a bit of TIMP news, and the very last attempt which will be starting this Saturday at 9:00am. For all the SPOT tracking fun you can stand, go HERE. Greg Gleason, the T.I.V10 champ, is gunning for a sub-24 finish of the 380 mile course. Can he do it? Will the weather allow for it? Keep clicking the link to see!

Yep! I got a B+.

Plus Sized Madness:

 The B+ thing I've been talking about? I will be testing it out to see if there really is anything to it here soon. I have some ideas that I think would be great for such a concept, but the B+ thing needs to "measure up" to expectations first.

The components to make the experiment happen showed up this week. I'll be using some of my own hubs, Chris Kings, and lacing them up to these Velocity Blunt 35's and there will also be another wheel set in the makings to try these out on as well.

The idea of B+ is that you could have a voluminous tire, (2.8"er), that would fit into a 29"er frame to allow for a "mid-fat" experience without having to buy anything but wheels and tires. My take on it is that this might be a great idea for a fully rigid chassis that might work well comfort-wise as a bikepacking platform, or as a rigid single speed bike with give. We'll see soon enough.....

The "madness" is all this wheel size nonsense. It's confusing and isn't really well understood. I was chatting with my boss yesterday and we thought it would make more sense if rim size and tire sizes were kept totally separated. For instance, if this were the case, all mention of "29"er", 27.5, B+, 650B, 29+, or "fat bike" would all go away. Here's how we see it.....

You take the ISO rim size- for instance, 584. This describes the diameter, then you add rim width, say inner rim width, since that's all that really matters with disc wheels and tubeless set ups. That gets you everything you need to know for dimensions on a rim. You'd have a 584/25mm, let's say. Then take the tire and use the ISO diameter again- (584 in our example)- so you simply matchy-match those tire numbers with rim numbers. Then you add in the overall width of the casing, (which most of the time is an approximation anyway), and then you know if said tire is a match for said rim. So 584 X 52mm, let's say. Manufacturers could simply say a bike is set up with 584's, or 622's. It'd be pretty obvious if it were a mountain bike or road bike, I think. And make everything be measured in millimeters!

I know......it's a pipe dream.

Rather Tamland-like

Another Gravel Bike:

Many long time readers know about the Tamland by Raleigh from my posts here about that bike. (If you don't, this post explains it all) The ideas behind the Tamland were also put to work on a U.K. Raleigh offering, and will appear in aluminum for 2015 as the Raleigh "Willard" model. Raleigh is owned by Accell Group, and they have several brands. So it wasn't that big of a surprise when I came across another rig that seemingly is in the Tamland's genetic pool, if you will.

It is in the Torker line for 2015 and the model is the "EM 50", which sounds like a farm implement model designation or something. Anyway....it is looking like a good budget entry into a bike that was designed for gravel riding and exploratory back road shenanigans. MSRP is $1250.00 and it is equipped with a Sora gruppo and disc brakes.

Another Gravel Tire:

The Panaracer "Gravel King 32" (courtesy of Panaracer's Facebook feed)

 Last year Panaracer introduced the pretentiously named "Gravel King" tires and rolled out a 23mm, 25mm, and 28mm size range.......for gravel? Really?!!

I am sure that almost all the guys and gals that ride gravel that I have met at Trans Iowa or elsewhere would not even consider a 28mm tire and certainly not a 23mm tire as being king of anything but pinch flats, but there ya go. A company jumping on a perceived trend and missing the bulk of the market altogether.

Well, now it seems that the "Gravel King" has crept on to the radar screen for gravel riders since Panaracer has announced a 32mm wide version of this tire which is minimum width, as far as I am concerned, for any reliable gravel going tire. It's got kind of an odd tread pattern, but who knows......it might just work. I've ridden Panaracer Pasela tires on gravel and Bruce Gordon Rock & Road tires, (made by Panaracer) before and they are decent enough tires, so I would expect similar results at minimum for wear and ride feel. I just wish Panaracer would have paid attention to the 32mm to 42mm range, which is where the king should have its realm, ya know?

Okay folks, it is the last weekend of Summer! Labor Day weekend here and most of us have a three day hootenanny to look forward to. Get yer bike on and keep the rubber side down!

Loose Ends

TIMP Update:

This past weekend there was an attempt on the TIMP course for an ITT, (Individual Time Trial), finish which turned out to be thwarted by rains and hot, humid air. That makes for three attempts with none being successful, as far as the ITT style attempt goes. Overall there has been 12 attempts at the course. The three aforementioned ITT attempts, and 9 "Group Style" TIMP attempts, where folks could try the cross state route in the company of others. Of those 9 attempts, only six were ultimately successful.

With less than one week remaining in August, I only am aware of one possible ITT attempt that might happen. We'll see, but suffice it to say, this route is a tough nut to chew. A few things jump out at me right now........

A muddy B Road on the TIMP course, (Image by Al Brunner)

First of all, the old saying that Jeff Kerkove coined about Trans Iowa still rings true: "The weather is the wild card....." Which brings me to the following....

More than once, folks have asked me, "Why not run Trans Iowa later in the year so the weather isn't such a factor?" I've always held that every season has its own peculiarities when it comes to weather and that by moving the date of Trans Iowa all you do is introduce some new possibilities for weather that could shut down any rider. Witness two of the three failed ITT attempts and at least one of the failed Group attempts as examples of this. Want another example? The B Level roads at this Spring's Trans Iowa were all rideable, all eleven of them. Not so on TIMP this year. Summertime didn't help that at all.

And then you have heat, humidity, and contrary winds, not to mention heavy rains, which played a part in every TIMP attempt this Summer. Let's not even get into the mental and physical fatigue issues.

So, I hope this answers that old, tired question about Trans Iowa's date. Whenever Trans Iowa might be scheduled, "the weather is the wild card." That much I know for certain. You may get a "hall pass" and the weather might be great, but more likely than not, the weather will play a big, and perhaps deciding role, in any Trans Iowa-like event. At least in Iowa! 

If you were supposed to get a finisher's certificate for a TIMP attempt that was successful, I have them in the mail now. I waited on sending out the four I was sitting on to see if I had to do two others, but both those attempts failed. So, I apologize for the delay, but I was wanting to knock all of that out at one time.

With less than a week to go, I figured I was in the clear for any possible certificate mailings, that is until I heard about another possibility Saturday. It isn't scheduled, or even in process yet, but that may change very soon. Stay tuned.......

Finally, a warning: If you ever thought you might want to attempt the route, go to the Trans Iowa Masters route pages HERE and HERE and copy them NOW! After August 31st, the info is being pulled and will never be made public by me again. The TIMP is a one time deal and will never be repeated. (So yes- those links will be broken after August 31st!!) Obviously, I will not sanction, approve of, or recommend that the route ever be done in any shape or form officially since I cannot guarantee the route's safety or existence after the 31st. If you copy it and try it, you are responsible for your own actions. Nuff said...........

 Trans Iowa Clinic: 

The Trans Iowa Clinic was a big success last year, judging by the reactions and feedback I received from it. I was down in Des Moines Saturday and I have confirmed that the same venue we used last year is available again for another clinic. Some of the same folks that were involved last year will also be involved again this time, but we hope to bring in a few more in an "official" capacity. (And we have already confirmed a couple of you that asked to be a part of another T.I.Clinic)

All that said, we have a lot of things on the table for discussion on this year's version of the clinic. These include, but are not limited to, the following....

• An earlier date, even before Registration for T.I.V11 happens. Possibly late September/early October? The registration may be announced at the clinic, and perhaps even an actual registration of Finishers and Vets may take place on the premises. (Don't get too excited, I am just throwing out ideas..)
• The clinic may include an actual ride on gravel, as long as the date does not interfere with any cyclo cross event in the area, which admittedly, might be hard not to do.
• Last year there was interest in a video of the roundtable portion of the Clinic. If there seems to be any interest in this again, we can possibly work on that this year. Should we show "300 Miles Of Gravel" again?
• Last year we had an "expo" of actual equipment used in Trans Iowa. If this seemed profitable, we can recreate this again. Perhaps bring in a local shop to help? Ideas??
• Last year we had requests to do another T.I.Clinic in another location. If we were to do that, where else other than Des Moines should we consider this?

Okay, that's all I have now. If you are at all into Trans Iowa, or gravel events, let me hear from you in the comments or e-mail me your thoughts.

Loose Ends

TIMP Update:

This past weekend there was an attempt on the TIMP course for an ITT, (Individual Time Trial), finish which turned out to be thwarted by rains and hot, humid air. That makes for three attempts with none being successful, as far as the ITT style attempt goes. Overall there has been 12 attempts at the course. The three aforementioned ITT attempts, and 9 "Group Style" TIMP attempts, where folks could try the cross state route in the company of others. Of those 9 attempts, only six were ultimately successful.

With less than one week remaining in August, I only am aware of one possible ITT attempt that might happen. We'll see, but suffice it to say, this route is a tough nut to chew. A few things jump out at me right now........

A muddy B Road on the TIMP course, (Image by Al Brunner)

First of all, the old saying that Jeff Kerkove coined about Trans Iowa still rings true: "The weather is the wild card....." Which brings me to the following....

More than once, folks have asked me, "Why not run Trans Iowa later in the year so the weather isn't such a factor?" I've always held that every season has its own peculiarities when it comes to weather and that by moving the date of Trans Iowa all you do is introduce some new possibilities for weather that could shut down any rider. Witness two of the three failed ITT attempts and at least one of the failed Group attempts as examples of this. Want another example? The B Level roads at this Spring's Trans Iowa were all rideable, all eleven of them. Not so on TIMP this year. Summertime didn't help that at all.

And then you have heat, humidity, and contrary winds, not to mention heavy rains, which played a part in every TIMP attempt this Summer. Let's not even get into the mental and physical fatigue issues.

So, I hope this answers that old, tired question about Trans Iowa's date. Whenever Trans Iowa might be scheduled, "the weather is the wild card." That much I know for certain. You may get a "hall pass" and the weather might be great, but more likely than not, the weather will play a big, and perhaps deciding role, in any Trans Iowa-like event. At least in Iowa! 

If you were supposed to get a finisher's certificate for a TIMP attempt that was successful, I have them in the mail now. I waited on sending out the four I was sitting on to see if I had to do two others, but both those attempts failed. So, I apologize for the delay, but I was wanting to knock all of that out at one time.

With less than a week to go, I figured I was in the clear for any possible certificate mailings, that is until I heard about another possibility Saturday. It isn't scheduled, or even in process yet, but that may change very soon. Stay tuned.......

Finally, a warning: If you ever thought you might want to attempt the route, go to the Trans Iowa Masters route pages HERE and HERE and copy them NOW! After August 31st, the info is being pulled and will never be made public by me again. The TIMP is a one time deal and will never be repeated. (So yes- those links will be broken after August 31st!!) Obviously, I will not sanction, approve of, or recommend that the route ever be done in any shape or form officially since I cannot guarantee the route's safety or existence after the 31st. If you copy it and try it, you are responsible for your own actions. Nuff said...........

 Trans Iowa Clinic: 

The Trans Iowa Clinic was a big success last year, judging by the reactions and feedback I received from it. I was down in Des Moines Saturday and I have confirmed that the same venue we used last year is available again for another clinic. Some of the same folks that were involved last year will also be involved again this time, but we hope to bring in a few more in an "official" capacity. (And we have already confirmed a couple of you that asked to be a part of another T.I.Clinic)

All that said, we have a lot of things on the table for discussion on this year's version of the clinic. These include, but are not limited to, the following....

• An earlier date, even before Registration for T.I.V11 happens. Possibly late September/early October? The registration may be announced at the clinic, and perhaps even an actual registration of Finishers and Vets may take place on the premises. (Don't get too excited, I am just throwing out ideas..)
• The clinic may include an actual ride on gravel, as long as the date does not interfere with any cyclo cross event in the area, which admittedly, might be hard not to do.
• Last year there was interest in a video of the roundtable portion of the Clinic. If there seems to be any interest in this again, we can possibly work on that this year. Should we show "300 Miles Of Gravel" again?
• Last year we had an "expo" of actual equipment used in Trans Iowa. If this seemed profitable, we can recreate this again. Perhaps bring in a local shop to help? Ideas??
• Last year we had requests to do another T.I.Clinic in another location. If we were to do that, where else other than Des Moines should we consider this?

Okay, that's all I have now. If you are at all into Trans Iowa, or gravel events, let me hear from you in the comments or e-mail me your thoughts.