End Of The Year Questions: The Feedback Report

Friday I asked for feedback on a few ideas I had concerning "The Future" of the blog and a few ideas I had. Today I wanted to address that feedback in a post. I could have answered in the comments, but as you all know, I don't like doing that when the answers are more general, or about the blog, because then not many people will see those answers.

Okay, so with that let me dive into some thoughts I have after reading all of your comments. And before I get to that.......

Thank You!

I read every comment here and I appreciate all of you taking the time to make those comments. The readers here are why I have kept going for all these years now. It is very encouraging to hear from each of you when you take time and effort to comment.

• Miscellaneous Topics; I got a few comments I wanted to address here that were singular in nature and comments, quite frankly, I wasn't expecting. I wish I had the experiences, resources, and contacts to cover some of these important concepts that some of you brought up. The thing is, I don't want to cover anything as a topic unless I feel I can do it justice. Secondly, I also want to keep a focus on this blog. Getting broader in theme isn't conducive to my keeping that focus. However; when I get people involved, particularly with my other site, RidingGravel.com, I can use their expertise and contributions there. So, it isn't out of the realm of possibilities that some of these subjects that were proposed would be covered. They would probably not be covered by myself, and probably not here on this blog. A good example is John Ingham, who has contributed some fine work on the aging cyclist, health, and nutrition. (Plug his name in the search field on Riding Gravel and you'll find his articles.) I will keep those subjects in mind and if the opportunity arises to get a contribution to RidingGravel.com that covers those ideas, I will link those articles back here. 
• T-Shirts: I received some positive comments and at least one negative one concerning the t-shirt idea. I did not see any mandate to go ahead with that idea though. I may do something, but I may not since the idea wasn't enthusiastically received, in my view. But that said, don't be surprised someday if you see something here for sale. I've got some resources to do some art projects and t-shirts could be a part of that, but not necessarily t-shirts either. Stay tuned.......
• Trans Iowa Series: It was pretty clear that readers want to see this happen. I also want to do it. So, you can expect that to happen. Here's my thoughts. A rough sketch idea of what you can expect to see coming.......

First off, I don't think many of you quite understand that the "Touring Series" and this forthcoming Trans Iowa based series are inextricably linked. So, when the "Touring Series" ends, there will be a transitional post, maybe two or three, that bring you from August, 1995 to November, 2004 when Trans Iowa was born.

Expect these posts on Sundays. It was clear that this day seems to work for most of you.

The theme and tone of this series was indicated by your requests that I leave out the "technical" stuff which many of you said was not of interest to you at all. The "back story" was of interest. One of you said, quite rightly, that I have already covered a LOT of ground on Trans Iowa. (Just search "Ten Years Of Tales" on this blog, and you'll see what I mean.) So, not only did you want to read this series, you pretty much had a good idea of what you wanted too.

The "technical stuff" comments were curious to me. First of all, I am not sure what that means to you readers, exactly, and second of all, I don't think this would be interesting for me to dive into either. I don't want to pick on anyone here in particular, but I think one of you pretty much nailed what I feel this should be when you said to tell it," .......... how you would tell it if you were 95 years old and your great grandson came to visit and asked ole Gramps what it was like." 

Essentially, how I am writing "The Touring Series" is what you can expect here. I envision stuff that draws from stories I brought up in the "Ten Years of Tales" posts, of which there are 46 posts! Those will be embellished with my thoughts and feelings on those stories with additional information never before shared.

The only question I have yet to decide is how I want to approach the telling. Chronologically would make sense, but in some ways the themes within this story span years, and that would make for a somewhat disjointed tale. I'm thinking along the lines of characters like Ira Ryan, or how the media became a part of Trans Iowa, and other tales.

It might be more fun to attack this as tales about certain aspects of Trans Iowa, and really, if I was a 95 year old guy, that's how you'd get this story. It would be memories about recon, riders, Level B Roads, etc. You know, like "I remember these guys called Team Polska that came to a few Trans Iowas....."

So, I have to figure that part out yet. But here again- please comment if you have any suggestions. 

And thank you so much for reading here! 

End Of The Year Questions: The Feedback Report

Friday I asked for feedback on a few ideas I had concerning "The Future" of the blog and a few ideas I had. Today I wanted to address that feedback in a post. I could have answered in the comments, but as you all know, I don't like doing that when the answers are more general, or about the blog, because then not many people will see those answers.

Okay, so with that let me dive into some thoughts I have after reading all of your comments. And before I get to that.......

Thank You!

I read every comment here and I appreciate all of you taking the time to make those comments. The readers here are why I have kept going for all these years now. It is very encouraging to hear from each of you when you take time and effort to comment.

• Miscellaneous Topics; I got a few comments I wanted to address here that were singular in nature and comments, quite frankly, I wasn't expecting. I wish I had the experiences, resources, and contacts to cover some of these important concepts that some of you brought up. The thing is, I don't want to cover anything as a topic unless I feel I can do it justice. Secondly, I also want to keep a focus on this blog. Getting broader in theme isn't conducive to my keeping that focus. However; when I get people involved, particularly with my other site, RidingGravel.com, I can use their expertise and contributions there. So, it isn't out of the realm of possibilities that some of these subjects that were proposed would be covered. They would probably not be covered by myself, and probably not here on this blog. A good example is John Ingham, who has contributed some fine work on the aging cyclist, health, and nutrition. (Plug his name in the search field on Riding Gravel and you'll find his articles.) I will keep those subjects in mind and if the opportunity arises to get a contribution to RidingGravel.com that covers those ideas, I will link those articles back here. 
• T-Shirts: I received some positive comments and at least one negative one concerning the t-shirt idea. I did not see any mandate to go ahead with that idea though. I may do something, but I may not since the idea wasn't enthusiastically received, in my view. But that said, don't be surprised someday if you see something here for sale. I've got some resources to do some art projects and t-shirts could be a part of that, but not necessarily t-shirts either. Stay tuned.......
• Trans Iowa Series: It was pretty clear that readers want to see this happen. I also want to do it. So, you can expect that to happen. Here's my thoughts. A rough sketch idea of what you can expect to see coming.......

First off, I don't think many of you quite understand that the "Touring Series" and this forthcoming Trans Iowa based series are inextricably linked. So, when the "Touring Series" ends, there will be a transitional post, maybe two or three, that bring you from August, 1995 to November, 2004 when Trans Iowa was born.

Expect these posts on Sundays. It was clear that this day seems to work for most of you.

The theme and tone of this series was indicated by your requests that I leave out the "technical" stuff which many of you said was not of interest to you at all. The "back story" was of interest. One of you said, quite rightly, that I have already covered a LOT of ground on Trans Iowa. (Just search "Ten Years Of Tales" on this blog, and you'll see what I mean.) So, not only did you want to read this series, you pretty much had a good idea of what you wanted too.

The "technical stuff" comments were curious to me. First of all, I am not sure what that means to you readers, exactly, and second of all, I don't think this would be interesting for me to dive into either. I don't want to pick on anyone here in particular, but I think one of you pretty much nailed what I feel this should be when you said to tell it," .......... how you would tell it if you were 95 years old and your great grandson came to visit and asked ole Gramps what it was like." 

Essentially, how I am writing "The Touring Series" is what you can expect here. I envision stuff that draws from stories I brought up in the "Ten Years of Tales" posts, of which there are 46 posts! Those will be embellished with my thoughts and feelings on those stories with additional information never before shared.

The only question I have yet to decide is how I want to approach the telling. Chronologically would make sense, but in some ways the themes within this story span years, and that would make for a somewhat disjointed tale. I'm thinking along the lines of characters like Ira Ryan, or how the media became a part of Trans Iowa, and other tales.

It might be more fun to attack this as tales about certain aspects of Trans Iowa, and really, if I was a 95 year old guy, that's how you'd get this story. It would be memories about recon, riders, Level B Roads, etc. You know, like "I remember these guys called Team Polska that came to a few Trans Iowas....."

So, I have to figure that part out yet. But here again- please comment if you have any suggestions. 

And thank you so much for reading here! 

Minus Ten Review- 13

We saw some beautiful roads during T.I.v8 recon

Ten years ago on the blog I was recovering from the big trip to the desert and looking at another Trans Iowa recon. That would have been for Trans Iowa v4, and it was another stressful run up to the big event. I learned a few things in 2008, and one of them was to NOT pack in four big events in life within five weeks time.

It didn't help that Trans Iowa recon was a wash when we tried doing it in December the year before. I learned that it was best to get the initial recon done in Fall when the weather and roads were at their best, generally speaking. Waiting until less than a month remained before Trans Iowa was.........not good. 

The other thing I recall was that this course was absolutely gorgeous. Too bad the Winter was so rough on the roads that year, because T.I.v4 was truncated and we didn't get to see what I considered to be the best parts of that course. There was one particular view that sticks with me to this very day. I'll have to get back up that way in Summer and plot out a route that encompasses that descent and some other areas around there that would be good to see by bicycle.

The amount of snow left piled along many stretches of the route was amazing for so late into the year. This was "almost April" and we passed by several 10 to 20 foot high drifts of snow along the road. We wondered aloud whether snow patches might still exist when we ran Trans Iowa. Of course, we didn't really believe that we would, but then again, we hadn't expected so many drifts of snow either. This melting of snow which occurred later was part of the undoing of T.I.v4, by the way.

This also marked the first time I had a cohort involved in recon since Jeff Kerkove and I did the T.I.v1 recon together. That was nice and David Pals was a great asset to me during his tenure as a Trans Iowa co-director. Without his help I am pretty sure Trans Iowa would have stopped a long time ago.

Minus Ten Review- 13

We saw some beautiful roads during T.I.v8 recon

Ten years ago on the blog I was recovering from the big trip to the desert and looking at another Trans Iowa recon. That would have been for Trans Iowa v4, and it was another stressful run up to the big event. I learned a few things in 2008, and one of them was to NOT pack in four big events in life within five weeks time.

It didn't help that Trans Iowa recon was a wash when we tried doing it in December the year before. I learned that it was best to get the initial recon done in Fall when the weather and roads were at their best, generally speaking. Waiting until less than a month remained before Trans Iowa was.........not good. 

The other thing I recall was that this course was absolutely gorgeous. Too bad the Winter was so rough on the roads that year, because T.I.v4 was truncated and we didn't get to see what I considered to be the best parts of that course. There was one particular view that sticks with me to this very day. I'll have to get back up that way in Summer and plot out a route that encompasses that descent and some other areas around there that would be good to see by bicycle.

The amount of snow left piled along many stretches of the route was amazing for so late into the year. This was "almost April" and we passed by several 10 to 20 foot high drifts of snow along the road. We wondered aloud whether snow patches might still exist when we ran Trans Iowa. Of course, we didn't really believe that we would, but then again, we hadn't expected so many drifts of snow either. This melting of snow which occurred later was part of the undoing of T.I.v4, by the way.

This also marked the first time I had a cohort involved in recon since Jeff Kerkove and I did the T.I.v1 recon together. That was nice and David Pals was a great asset to me during his tenure as a Trans Iowa co-director. Without his help I am pretty sure Trans Iowa would have stopped a long time ago.

Trans Iowa: Ten Years Of Tales #46

In mid-November, the idea of Trans Iowa was hatched. The year was 2004. In the ten years since then there have been many stories and memories. These posts will tell of the most prominent ones to my mind. Maybe I'll even spill the beans on some things you never knew....

This will be the final installment of this series. Thanks for all the kind compliments about it and for reading them.

Trans Iowa gets an award from the Grinnell Chamber of Commerce: Craig Cooper on my left here

 With V9, we had a lot of hoopla. Three sets of roaming photographers, an award from the Grinnell Chamber of Commerce, and the Trans Iowa radio set up. We had a record 91 starters, a record Womens open field, and folks riding in the event from the U.K. The Barn thing was all set to go, and to top things off, the weather could not have been much better. Even the wind was (mostly) a non-factor in the event.

A foggy morning to start T.I.V9: Image by A Andonopoulous

The nearly full moon was riding high in the sky at the start and there was a thick blanket of fog in the vales and valleys of Jasper County which made for a scene that produced a slew of outstanding images of riders and the countryside. It was almost impossible to get a bad shot that morning!

I remember stopping high up on a hill on E. 84th Street N and just sitting there for several minutes soaking it all in. I hadn't had the luxury of being in that sort of position before, and I took full advantage of it. It was totally a result of my lessons learned over the years of doing Trans Iowa that allowed for that.

In fact, I stopped twice more. Once to chat with fellow Trans Iowa fans and photographers Wally and George, and to chat with my friend Jason Boucher, who also was there on official photography business. Then again for a good look at the Sun rising over a Jasper County hill. Trans Iowa at this point was a dreamy day out in the Truck With No Name for me, but that would change past my visit at Checkpoint #1.

The Moon and Windmill: Image by M Lemberger

We had a leader's group came in and they took the wrong direction out of the village of Ira because they did not check their cue sheets. So I went blazing outta there in the truck to head them off at a place where the bike path crossed the course West of Ira. Fortunately they realized what had happened and turned back before I saw them. I figured things would go back to being calm then, but I was wrong.

The weather was good- too good- and I figured on more attrition at Checkpoint #1 then there was. My checkpoint folks were running out of cue sheet sets to Checkpoint #2! Fortunately a few clearer heads than mine were able to sort the matter out by finding a copy machine to borrow in the tiny village. Crisis averted, but a lesson learned yet again.

Then things really did quiet down. for the most part, the rest of the event was kind of boring from my perspective as far as any "adventure" went. No silly B Road antics in the truck, no big problems at all with the event. I did have a "whiskey spill" that required some hasty clean up and drying out of the waivers, but other than that little aside, Trans Iowa V9 went off without a hitch. We had a record 35 finishers and a first time single speed women finisher and a first time for a women with two finishes in Janna Vavre.

The finish line scene for T.I.V9 was one of the most memorable and impactful for me. I suppose having twice the average finishers was one reason why. Another was that it seemed that a lot of the finishers were really emotionally charged and showed it at the finish. Steve Fuller stands out in that regard.

Well, with no co-director, it was kind of an anti-climatic deal when I piled into the truck after everyone was gone and made my way home. Trans Iowa v9 was an awesome event by all accounts. I could have walked away a happy man that day and never put on another Trans Iowa again, but....

The restored barn where T.I.v9 finished: Image by W Kilburg

Epilogue: With that I conclude the look back at ten years of tales concerning this gravel road event. Obviously there were a lot of twists and turns coming up to this time and the impending running of T.I.v10. Even more obvious is the fact that this series was just my take on things. There are other opinions, views, stories, and thoughts on Trans Iowa out there and they may vary a bit in their telling of the story.

That said, this is my experience as I remember living through it. Trans Iowa has gone from an event I was just a helper in to becoming a big part of my life that I have a lot of passion for. Trans Iowa has gone from an idea that was mostly Jeff Kerkove's in the beginning to an event that I have made into whatever ya want to call it! I hesitate to quantify what that is for anyone else!

Of course, the big question on a lot of folks minds is "how long are you going to keep doing this?" I have hinted around a lot that pretty soon there would be no more Trans Iowa events put on by me the way that they have been. I will say that I set a goal for myself back around T.I.v5 that I wanted to get to 10 and see where I stood after that. This April, that goal will have been met......

I am, on the one hand, all finished with this event. It has been a huge tax on my family life and we won't even get into the financials and what not that went along with putting on this event through the years. I want to spend time with my son and daughter before they grow up and leave the house. On the other hand, I want this event to go out on a good note, I want to keep seeing the folks that have come, and how they are changed by this event. I want to keep providing the chance for that, if I can.

It's a hard decision to make and whatever way it goes won't be easy for me. But for now, there is at least one more Trans Iowa to go........

Trans Iowa: Ten Years Of Tales #46

In mid-November, the idea of Trans Iowa was hatched. The year was 2004. In the ten years since then there have been many stories and memories. These posts will tell of the most prominent ones to my mind. Maybe I'll even spill the beans on some things you never knew....

This will be the final installment of this series. Thanks for all the kind compliments about it and for reading them.

Trans Iowa gets an award from the Grinnell Chamber of Commerce: Craig Cooper on my left here

 With V9, we had a lot of hoopla. Three sets of roaming photographers, an award from the Grinnell Chamber of Commerce, and the Trans Iowa radio set up. We had a record 91 starters, a record Womens open field, and folks riding in the event from the U.K. The Barn thing was all set to go, and to top things off, the weather could not have been much better. Even the wind was (mostly) a non-factor in the event.

A foggy morning to start T.I.V9: Image by A Andonopoulous

The nearly full moon was riding high in the sky at the start and there was a thick blanket of fog in the vales and valleys of Jasper County which made for a scene that produced a slew of outstanding images of riders and the countryside. It was almost impossible to get a bad shot that morning!

I remember stopping high up on a hill on E. 84th Street N and just sitting there for several minutes soaking it all in. I hadn't had the luxury of being in that sort of position before, and I took full advantage of it. It was totally a result of my lessons learned over the years of doing Trans Iowa that allowed for that.

In fact, I stopped twice more. Once to chat with fellow Trans Iowa fans and photographers Wally and George, and to chat with my friend Jason Boucher, who also was there on official photography business. Then again for a good look at the Sun rising over a Jasper County hill. Trans Iowa at this point was a dreamy day out in the Truck With No Name for me, but that would change past my visit at Checkpoint #1.

The Moon and Windmill: Image by M Lemberger

We had a leader's group came in and they took the wrong direction out of the village of Ira because they did not check their cue sheets. So I went blazing outta there in the truck to head them off at a place where the bike path crossed the course West of Ira. Fortunately they realized what had happened and turned back before I saw them. I figured things would go back to being calm then, but I was wrong.

The weather was good- too good- and I figured on more attrition at Checkpoint #1 then there was. My checkpoint folks were running out of cue sheet sets to Checkpoint #2! Fortunately a few clearer heads than mine were able to sort the matter out by finding a copy machine to borrow in the tiny village. Crisis averted, but a lesson learned yet again.

Then things really did quiet down. for the most part, the rest of the event was kind of boring from my perspective as far as any "adventure" went. No silly B Road antics in the truck, no big problems at all with the event. I did have a "whiskey spill" that required some hasty clean up and drying out of the waivers, but other than that little aside, Trans Iowa V9 went off without a hitch. We had a record 35 finishers and a first time single speed women finisher and a first time for a women with two finishes in Janna Vavre.

The finish line scene for T.I.V9 was one of the most memorable and impactful for me. I suppose having twice the average finishers was one reason why. Another was that it seemed that a lot of the finishers were really emotionally charged and showed it at the finish. Steve Fuller stands out in that regard.

Well, with no co-director, it was kind of an anti-climatic deal when I piled into the truck after everyone was gone and made my way home. Trans Iowa v9 was an awesome event by all accounts. I could have walked away a happy man that day and never put on another Trans Iowa again, but....

The restored barn where T.I.v9 finished: Image by W Kilburg

Epilogue: With that I conclude the look back at ten years of tales concerning this gravel road event. Obviously there were a lot of twists and turns coming up to this time and the impending running of T.I.v10. Even more obvious is the fact that this series was just my take on things. There are other opinions, views, stories, and thoughts on Trans Iowa out there and they may vary a bit in their telling of the story.

That said, this is my experience as I remember living through it. Trans Iowa has gone from an event I was just a helper in to becoming a big part of my life that I have a lot of passion for. Trans Iowa has gone from an idea that was mostly Jeff Kerkove's in the beginning to an event that I have made into whatever ya want to call it! I hesitate to quantify what that is for anyone else!

Of course, the big question on a lot of folks minds is "how long are you going to keep doing this?" I have hinted around a lot that pretty soon there would be no more Trans Iowa events put on by me the way that they have been. I will say that I set a goal for myself back around T.I.v5 that I wanted to get to 10 and see where I stood after that. This April, that goal will have been met......

I am, on the one hand, all finished with this event. It has been a huge tax on my family life and we won't even get into the financials and what not that went along with putting on this event through the years. I want to spend time with my son and daughter before they grow up and leave the house. On the other hand, I want this event to go out on a good note, I want to keep seeing the folks that have come, and how they are changed by this event. I want to keep providing the chance for that, if I can.

It's a hard decision to make and whatever way it goes won't be easy for me. But for now, there is at least one more Trans Iowa to go........

Trans Iowa: Ten Years Of Tales #45

In mid-November, the idea of Trans Iowa was hatched. The year was 2004. In the ten years since then there have been many stories and memories. These posts will tell of the most prominent ones to my mind. Maybe I'll even spill the beans on some things you never knew....

 With the end of Trans Iowa V8, I could have walked away and been satisfied knowing that I had done the best job of putting on a Trans Iowa I could have done. Afterward, there wasn't any glaring issues to my mind concerning that. Of course, this precludes any feelings and thoughts I may have had, (and still do), about the friends, riders, and the event itself, which were and still are compelling and strong. I still had lots of support after the event for doing another. Grinnell wanted me back again, Wally and George were up for it again, and Jeremy Fry, a Trans Iowa finisher and volunteer, was up for being a major helper in regards to doing recon and cue sheet checking.

I also had tweaked out the event to the point that a system was in place that was easily repeatable and reliable. Logistical details, formatting, rules, and execution of all of those were things already figured out over the years. No more efforts in thought needed to be put forth, no more extra efforts in materials or physical effort were wasted. So, with that all in mind, doing a version 9 was a lot easier to decide to do than, say a version 4 was, when there were a lot of things that needed to change.

To tip the cycling cap to the two time Trans Iowa winner: CP#1 location.

There were a few minor things to tweak out none the less. I decided to do away with the pesky, frustration of the Waiting List by increasing the field size to 120 folks from 100. Figuring on the "T.I.V3" effect, where we let in 128 and got 64 to show up, I was thinking that the overall final number of riders would still be about the same as ever- that being in the high 50's to high 60's in number.

I also knew that if we did get a higher number of riders that the performances of the volunteers over the past few Trans Iowas was sufficient to handle the flow of riders, especially through checkpoint #1. Volunteers were submitting their services for T.I.v9 as soon as I announced it on August 18th, 2012.

Secondly, the recon was streamlined a lot. Essentially, with the efficiency of having Jeremy involved and with the notations and maps to guide in the physical recon being done ahead of time, as I learned was valuable the previous year, we knocked out the recon in two drives. One in October and one in early December. This was instrumental in allowing for us to recheck actual cue cards ahead of time, and then to do the last physical recon in the Spring of 2013 with Wally and George. They used the actual cue sheets to drive by, which then they judged to be clear, or not, by the way I had them written.

The second recon was marked by fog, a portent of things to come.

The barn proposed as the finish line for V6 was now again going to be used as the finish line for V9. Plans were set in place and the ending of the route tweaked out to reflect this. I was really hoping that the weather would hold up so the riders would actually be able to get there!

A change with Grinnell came along as I discovered that Sheryl Parmely, the person I regard as instrumental in cementing my allegiance to Grinnell and having Trans Iowa based there, had left the Chamber and had been replaced by Rachael Kinnick, so there was a bit of uncertainty there with how things would go with the city.

Trans Iowa Radio was also going to be a bit different for V9. "Mountain Bike Radio" founder, Ben Welnak, offered up his services to make it possible for not only me to call in reports, but for any of the riders to call in and have Ben post the reports, ala Tour Divide, so folks could get access at home to what was going on from several points of view.

But beyond these minor things, I experienced no big road blocks or bumps in the road going into Trans Iowa V9. The obvious uncertainty of what the weather would do was the only real question mark coming into this one.

Next: The running of a record setting Trans Iowa....

Trans Iowa: Ten Years Of Tales #45

In mid-November, the idea of Trans Iowa was hatched. The year was 2004. In the ten years since then there have been many stories and memories. These posts will tell of the most prominent ones to my mind. Maybe I'll even spill the beans on some things you never knew....

 With the end of Trans Iowa V8, I could have walked away and been satisfied knowing that I had done the best job of putting on a Trans Iowa I could have done. Afterward, there wasn't any glaring issues to my mind concerning that. Of course, this precludes any feelings and thoughts I may have had, (and still do), about the friends, riders, and the event itself, which were and still are compelling and strong. I still had lots of support after the event for doing another. Grinnell wanted me back again, Wally and George were up for it again, and Jeremy Fry, a Trans Iowa finisher and volunteer, was up for being a major helper in regards to doing recon and cue sheet checking.

I also had tweaked out the event to the point that a system was in place that was easily repeatable and reliable. Logistical details, formatting, rules, and execution of all of those were things already figured out over the years. No more efforts in thought needed to be put forth, no more extra efforts in materials or physical effort were wasted. So, with that all in mind, doing a version 9 was a lot easier to decide to do than, say a version 4 was, when there were a lot of things that needed to change.

To tip the cycling cap to the two time Trans Iowa winner: CP#1 location.

There were a few minor things to tweak out none the less. I decided to do away with the pesky, frustration of the Waiting List by increasing the field size to 120 folks from 100. Figuring on the "T.I.V3" effect, where we let in 128 and got 64 to show up, I was thinking that the overall final number of riders would still be about the same as ever- that being in the high 50's to high 60's in number.

I also knew that if we did get a higher number of riders that the performances of the volunteers over the past few Trans Iowas was sufficient to handle the flow of riders, especially through checkpoint #1. Volunteers were submitting their services for T.I.v9 as soon as I announced it on August 18th, 2012.

Secondly, the recon was streamlined a lot. Essentially, with the efficiency of having Jeremy involved and with the notations and maps to guide in the physical recon being done ahead of time, as I learned was valuable the previous year, we knocked out the recon in two drives. One in October and one in early December. This was instrumental in allowing for us to recheck actual cue cards ahead of time, and then to do the last physical recon in the Spring of 2013 with Wally and George. They used the actual cue sheets to drive by, which then they judged to be clear, or not, by the way I had them written.

The second recon was marked by fog, a portent of things to come.

The barn proposed as the finish line for V6 was now again going to be used as the finish line for V9. Plans were set in place and the ending of the route tweaked out to reflect this. I was really hoping that the weather would hold up so the riders would actually be able to get there!

A change with Grinnell came along as I discovered that Sheryl Parmely, the person I regard as instrumental in cementing my allegiance to Grinnell and having Trans Iowa based there, had left the Chamber and had been replaced by Rachael Kinnick, so there was a bit of uncertainty there with how things would go with the city.

Trans Iowa Radio was also going to be a bit different for V9. "Mountain Bike Radio" founder, Ben Welnak, offered up his services to make it possible for not only me to call in reports, but for any of the riders to call in and have Ben post the reports, ala Tour Divide, so folks could get access at home to what was going on from several points of view.

But beyond these minor things, I experienced no big road blocks or bumps in the road going into Trans Iowa V9. The obvious uncertainty of what the weather would do was the only real question mark coming into this one.

Next: The running of a record setting Trans Iowa....

Trans Iowa: Ten Years Of Tales #44

In mid-November, the idea of Trans Iowa was hatched. The year was 2004. In the ten years since then there have been many stories and memories. These posts will tell of the most prominent ones to my mind. Maybe I'll even spill the beans on some things you never knew....

The "second" official header for V8 that Jeff Kerkove designed

 With all my efforts focused upon putting on the best Trans Iowa I could, a few things bear mentioning that were unusual for this event. First amongst those is the film, "300 Miles of Gravel", which would be shown for the very first time during the Pre-Race Meet-Up.  67 riders and support folks were the first to witness the unveiling of  Jeff Frings' hard work over the past year. It was a bit embarrassing for me, having had a big part in the show, but it was well received by all in attendance.

Secondly, the remote nature of the course was such that convenience store opportunities were scarce, and nearly non-existent for the last 140 miles. Because of this, and the fact that I had Gu Energy and Cliff Bar downloading tons of product on the event, I took a page from the Pirate Cycling League's Gravel Worlds and used their idea of a "Secret Checkpoint". What I did was I picked out a spot in a small village with about 120 miles to go and allowed volunteers Jeremy Fry and Matt Gersib to provide whatever goods they wanted to, along with the Cliff Bar and Gu Energy stuff.

Getting settled in to watch "300 Miles of Gravel": Image by W. Kilburg

Then there was the remote 2nd checkpoint, which was really way out in the sticks this time. I think the nearest village was 10 miles away! (Not on the route either, by the way.) I really liked this particular checkpoint and fortunately the weather cooperated to allow for it to be a great part of Trans Iowa V8.

The Trans Iowa vehicle would finally be "The Truck With No Name", since I had no co-director anymore. It would be just myself slugging it out for 35 plus hours.

Media: We had Steve Fuller pulling photography duties again for V8. He along with Checkpoint #2 volunteer, Wally Kilburg, took a lot of great photographs before and during the event. Trans Iowa V8 has a ton of photographic documentation, possibly more photographs were taken for V8 than the previous seven Trans Iowa events combined, at least on a "professional, for the event" level. We also had Dave Mabel with "Iowa Momentum Magazine" as an "in race reporter".

We had a wet, ominous start: Image by Wally Kilburg

The weather was crazy. It had been bone dry leading up to T.I.V8, but the night before we started, thunderstorms let loose and stayed around till right up to the start. It was super windy from the east as well.

I awoke in my motel room at 2:30am. So, a too early start for sure! I was nervous about the weather, and nervous about how it would all go down, excepting that I knew that everything I could have possibly accounted for had been covered. Not like any Trans Iowa before V8.

My main memories from the beginning were the lights, as always, of the long train of riders. I recall stopping for a moment on a hill to watch their glow coming up behind me and then like a small, brilliant bluish sunrise, the lights spilled over the lip of a hill behind me. That was cool to see. Then it was the wind, darkness, and me feeling very alone as I struck out to the first B Maintenance road 29 miles into the event.

Things went well, actually. Typical Trans Iowa stuff from the start through to Checkpoint #1, just without any drama whatsoever. No rerouting, no miscues, nothing like that at all. It was almost.......boring! Checkpoint #1 was well manned and executed by the volunteers led by Brent Irish. Kudos to that group. They were top notch volunteers.

A steep, gravel covered hill: Image by Steve Fuller

Again, things were going great, and better than I thought. I was pretty down in the dumps about the weather, but when Brent Irish called in with the Checkpoint #1 figures, I was dumbfounded.

Brent: "It looks like we had 55 go through the checkpoint."

Me: "How many?!! Are you sure?"

Brent, (sounding a bit  annoyed), "55- By my count we had 55."

I explained I was not questioning his abilities, but I was surprised to the point of flabbergasted. It was a big turnaround for me in my countenance and I was excited once again. Further up the road, Wally and George put on a heck of a checkpoint experience, with a great atmosphere, camaraderie, and even a fire to warm a cold body beside! I still remember John Gorilla telling me that there should have been a time limitation on how long you could stay at Wally and George's checkpoint!

Checkpoint Bravo and the campfire.

Going to hang out with MG and J-Fry at the "Secret Checkpoint" was another highlight point in the event from my standpoint. Good times there. Then moving up the road, there was the trouble with finding a good place to pull over to urinate.

Yeah, when you are in the country, there usually are several places to discretely relieve oneself. However; I could not seem to find a place out of sight, or find a desolate, car free enough area to get out to do my business. I recall pulling into Pella and finding a bicycle trail that the riders were to take into town. There was a public trail head there with a parking lot. Surely there would be a public restroom facility, a porta-jon, or a pit toilet? Nope!  Nuthin! I didn't want to stray to far from the trail for fear of missing the lead riders, but I eventually found a line of trees and brush to hide behind and this was a life saver!

Then there was the late night driving in Jasper County on their freshly graveled, loose roads. I pulled over to take a call from MG and the truck just about slid into the ditch! Of course, I had already, earlier Saturday, done a full mile of squirrely B Maintenance road dirt trackin'! Some folks that knew about my near misses were concerned afterward and asked me to consider having a ride along partner. But why would I put someone else at risk? Heck, I still am going to be pushing up against the edge while driving regardless of who is in the truck!

They call me the Stat Man! Yee-yeah-a I'm the Stat Maaaaan! (Image by S.Fuller)

 There really was only one tense, not very pleasant time during all of Trans Iowa V8 for me personally, and that was when we realized that Charlie Farrow was AWOL in the night. At some point between Checkpoint 2 and the Secret Checkpoint. Remember- he had gone off course already once before CP#2, and my mind was reeling with the possibilities for a not so great outcome to this development. MG said he'd backtrack the course to see if he'd left any traces of his passage, but in the dark on unfamiliar roads, I wasn't feeling too good about MG's chances. The deal was that everyone had passed through but Charlie and that he should have passed through in the time that had elapsed, thus the concerns. As mentioned above though, MG called me and said he'd found him and that Charlie was ready to call it a day, so that crisis was averted and everything was fine from that point onward.

Trans Iowa V8 claimed a few folk's rigs: Image by S. Fuller

I ended up getting into Grinnell in the middle of the night, about 2:30-ish, and I felt a great sense of accomplishment. No snafus, no unplanned rerouting, the cues were spot on, and if anyone got lost, (and there were a few that did), they all knew it was their own mistakes that caused their issues. Now all there was to do was to wait and see who could finish the route. I'd done my job, and I felt it was the very best I could do. I sat on the tailgate of my truck, despite the cold, bone chilling East wind, and drank my last beer to celebrate.

This was a big deal for me. It was "my finish line" for a challenge I set before myself bounding down a gravel road in David's Element a year beforehand. I didn't need anyone to "celebrate" with. It was a "quiet victory" and it was a very satisfying moment for me. I won't soon forget that night.

So, with that done, I thought maybe I could catch a few "z's" before the finishers showed up after dawn. That never happened. I ended up being awake for the duration, which turned out to be a nice, pleasant time with friends. The finish, as the year before, was at the end of a road near the high school. It was supposed to have been in Lion's Park, right next door, the year before for V7, but Craig Cooper of Bikes To You kind of changed that for me and I continued to do the same for V8. It worked out real well, actually.

So, the last thing was the drive home. I was beat. I had been up for a full 36 hours and driving home on the highway was getting really sketchy. I pulled off on a gravel to relieve myself and as I did, I found that I perked right up. I ended up driving about 60 miles on gravel back home. Why not? 60 miles more was a drop in the bucket to what I had already piled on for gravel mileage for the weekend!

Next Up: Getting geared up for V9 at the same level as V8.......

Trans Iowa: Ten Years Of Tales #44

In mid-November, the idea of Trans Iowa was hatched. The year was 2004. In the ten years since then there have been many stories and memories. These posts will tell of the most prominent ones to my mind. Maybe I'll even spill the beans on some things you never knew....

The "second" official header for V8 that Jeff Kerkove designed

 With all my efforts focused upon putting on the best Trans Iowa I could, a few things bear mentioning that were unusual for this event. First amongst those is the film, "300 Miles of Gravel", which would be shown for the very first time during the Pre-Race Meet-Up.  67 riders and support folks were the first to witness the unveiling of  Jeff Frings' hard work over the past year. It was a bit embarrassing for me, having had a big part in the show, but it was well received by all in attendance.

Secondly, the remote nature of the course was such that convenience store opportunities were scarce, and nearly non-existent for the last 140 miles. Because of this, and the fact that I had Gu Energy and Cliff Bar downloading tons of product on the event, I took a page from the Pirate Cycling League's Gravel Worlds and used their idea of a "Secret Checkpoint". What I did was I picked out a spot in a small village with about 120 miles to go and allowed volunteers Jeremy Fry and Matt Gersib to provide whatever goods they wanted to, along with the Cliff Bar and Gu Energy stuff.

Getting settled in to watch "300 Miles of Gravel": Image by W. Kilburg

Then there was the remote 2nd checkpoint, which was really way out in the sticks this time. I think the nearest village was 10 miles away! (Not on the route either, by the way.) I really liked this particular checkpoint and fortunately the weather cooperated to allow for it to be a great part of Trans Iowa V8.

The Trans Iowa vehicle would finally be "The Truck With No Name", since I had no co-director anymore. It would be just myself slugging it out for 35 plus hours.

Media: We had Steve Fuller pulling photography duties again for V8. He along with Checkpoint #2 volunteer, Wally Kilburg, took a lot of great photographs before and during the event. Trans Iowa V8 has a ton of photographic documentation, possibly more photographs were taken for V8 than the previous seven Trans Iowa events combined, at least on a "professional, for the event" level. We also had Dave Mabel with "Iowa Momentum Magazine" as an "in race reporter".

We had a wet, ominous start: Image by Wally Kilburg

The weather was crazy. It had been bone dry leading up to T.I.V8, but the night before we started, thunderstorms let loose and stayed around till right up to the start. It was super windy from the east as well.

I awoke in my motel room at 2:30am. So, a too early start for sure! I was nervous about the weather, and nervous about how it would all go down, excepting that I knew that everything I could have possibly accounted for had been covered. Not like any Trans Iowa before V8.

My main memories from the beginning were the lights, as always, of the long train of riders. I recall stopping for a moment on a hill to watch their glow coming up behind me and then like a small, brilliant bluish sunrise, the lights spilled over the lip of a hill behind me. That was cool to see. Then it was the wind, darkness, and me feeling very alone as I struck out to the first B Maintenance road 29 miles into the event.

Things went well, actually. Typical Trans Iowa stuff from the start through to Checkpoint #1, just without any drama whatsoever. No rerouting, no miscues, nothing like that at all. It was almost.......boring! Checkpoint #1 was well manned and executed by the volunteers led by Brent Irish. Kudos to that group. They were top notch volunteers.

A steep, gravel covered hill: Image by Steve Fuller

Again, things were going great, and better than I thought. I was pretty down in the dumps about the weather, but when Brent Irish called in with the Checkpoint #1 figures, I was dumbfounded.

Brent: "It looks like we had 55 go through the checkpoint."

Me: "How many?!! Are you sure?"

Brent, (sounding a bit  annoyed), "55- By my count we had 55."

I explained I was not questioning his abilities, but I was surprised to the point of flabbergasted. It was a big turnaround for me in my countenance and I was excited once again. Further up the road, Wally and George put on a heck of a checkpoint experience, with a great atmosphere, camaraderie, and even a fire to warm a cold body beside! I still remember John Gorilla telling me that there should have been a time limitation on how long you could stay at Wally and George's checkpoint!

Checkpoint Bravo and the campfire.

Going to hang out with MG and J-Fry at the "Secret Checkpoint" was another highlight point in the event from my standpoint. Good times there. Then moving up the road, there was the trouble with finding a good place to pull over to urinate.

Yeah, when you are in the country, there usually are several places to discretely relieve oneself. However; I could not seem to find a place out of sight, or find a desolate, car free enough area to get out to do my business. I recall pulling into Pella and finding a bicycle trail that the riders were to take into town. There was a public trail head there with a parking lot. Surely there would be a public restroom facility, a porta-jon, or a pit toilet? Nope!  Nuthin! I didn't want to stray to far from the trail for fear of missing the lead riders, but I eventually found a line of trees and brush to hide behind and this was a life saver!

Then there was the late night driving in Jasper County on their freshly graveled, loose roads. I pulled over to take a call from MG and the truck just about slid into the ditch! Of course, I had already, earlier Saturday, done a full mile of squirrely B Maintenance road dirt trackin'! Some folks that knew about my near misses were concerned afterward and asked me to consider having a ride along partner. But why would I put someone else at risk? Heck, I still am going to be pushing up against the edge while driving regardless of who is in the truck!

They call me the Stat Man! Yee-yeah-a I'm the Stat Maaaaan! (Image by S.Fuller)

 There really was only one tense, not very pleasant time during all of Trans Iowa V8 for me personally, and that was when we realized that Charlie Farrow was AWOL in the night. At some point between Checkpoint 2 and the Secret Checkpoint. Remember- he had gone off course already once before CP#2, and my mind was reeling with the possibilities for a not so great outcome to this development. MG said he'd backtrack the course to see if he'd left any traces of his passage, but in the dark on unfamiliar roads, I wasn't feeling too good about MG's chances. The deal was that everyone had passed through but Charlie and that he should have passed through in the time that had elapsed, thus the concerns. As mentioned above though, MG called me and said he'd found him and that Charlie was ready to call it a day, so that crisis was averted and everything was fine from that point onward.

Trans Iowa V8 claimed a few folk's rigs: Image by S. Fuller

I ended up getting into Grinnell in the middle of the night, about 2:30-ish, and I felt a great sense of accomplishment. No snafus, no unplanned rerouting, the cues were spot on, and if anyone got lost, (and there were a few that did), they all knew it was their own mistakes that caused their issues. Now all there was to do was to wait and see who could finish the route. I'd done my job, and I felt it was the very best I could do. I sat on the tailgate of my truck, despite the cold, bone chilling East wind, and drank my last beer to celebrate.

This was a big deal for me. It was "my finish line" for a challenge I set before myself bounding down a gravel road in David's Element a year beforehand. I didn't need anyone to "celebrate" with. It was a "quiet victory" and it was a very satisfying moment for me. I won't soon forget that night.

So, with that done, I thought maybe I could catch a few "z's" before the finishers showed up after dawn. That never happened. I ended up being awake for the duration, which turned out to be a nice, pleasant time with friends. The finish, as the year before, was at the end of a road near the high school. It was supposed to have been in Lion's Park, right next door, the year before for V7, but Craig Cooper of Bikes To You kind of changed that for me and I continued to do the same for V8. It worked out real well, actually.

So, the last thing was the drive home. I was beat. I had been up for a full 36 hours and driving home on the highway was getting really sketchy. I pulled off on a gravel to relieve myself and as I did, I found that I perked right up. I ended up driving about 60 miles on gravel back home. Why not? 60 miles more was a drop in the bucket to what I had already piled on for gravel mileage for the weekend!

Next Up: Getting geared up for V9 at the same level as V8.......

Trans Iowa: Ten Years Of Tales #43

In mid-November, the idea of Trans Iowa was hatched. The year was 2004. In the ten years since then there have been many stories and memories. These posts will tell of the most prominent ones to my mind. Maybe I'll even spill the beans on some things you never knew....

Recon for V8 started in the fall of 2011

 The Summer of 2011 was spent mostly doing other stuff, and I left Trans Iowa thoughts by the wayside. Unfortunately, I missed doing the Dirty Kanza 200 that year, an event I had been trying to get ready for, but I did go to Texas and ride in the El Paso area where I busted up my knee pretty badly!

Well, my determination to elevate Trans Iowa from the perspective of logistics and execution was still there, and by late July I was already mapping out a course and by the second week of August I was ready to announce the event. By this time I was pretty excited to get the ball rolling. I actually had some discussions with some trusted Trans Iowa friends about moving the course start and end from Grinnell. Things like going further Westward in Iowa were punted around, and even a course that might encircle Des Moines was considered strongly.

In the end, I decided that from a gravel road perspective doing Trans Iowa out of Des Moines would not work since the counties of that area had paved darn near every road leaving little to choose from. I ended up landing back on Grinnell, but it wasn't for want of trying something different! So with that decided upon, I had asked Jeff Kerkove to design another header, which he did. It was up for about two weeks when I received an e-mailed letter from some lawyers to "cease and desist". Whoops! I ended up having Jeff cook up another header pronto!

The trade show season interrupted recon starting until October, but I got out there and did a huge chunk of it on my own. Going along much of the proposed "Des Moines" based route I had worked on from the Summer, I was driving in territory far from Waterloo, and in an area I'd never been in before. It was a lot of fun from that standpoint for me.

The second run of recon found me driving alone again in late November. I sussed out the run in to Checkpoint #1 and got lost which added a really cool section towards the end of the event. Registration happened shortly after this and all spots were filled up with about 15-20 folks over the limit which were placed on The Waiting List. I still had a big ol' chunk of the course to recon, and I didn't know when I'd get to it. Winter held off for the most part and the days rolled by. December passed, and we were in January with this big chunk of the course not finished up yet. I was getting pretty anxious.

Finally, on January 7th, 2012, I did an over 300 mile day and finished off a major goal. That was to get the recon bagged to the point I could format cue sheets. It was a super long day, but Trans Iowa was on the right track. I had detailed notes on turns, intersections, and possible trouble spots. Nothing had ever been done like this for a Trans Iowa before. Once the cue sheets were formatted they were sent off to be proofread and in late March the course was driven by my "Checkmates", Wally and George. We found a road closed! I had to reroute, but in the end, we had a lot of fun and almost got Wally's rig stuck in a B Road just Northwest of Grinnell.

Oakley came on board with prizing, we had Grinnell's awesome support again, and all was lined up for another spectacular running of Trans Iowa. Would the weather hold out? That was the only question mark going in for me. The cue sheets were spot on and done, the roads double checked. I was confident there would be no mistakes from my end on T.I.v8.

Next: The event takes off....

Trans Iowa: Ten Years Of Tales #43

In mid-November, the idea of Trans Iowa was hatched. The year was 2004. In the ten years since then there have been many stories and memories. These posts will tell of the most prominent ones to my mind. Maybe I'll even spill the beans on some things you never knew....

Recon for V8 started in the fall of 2011

 The Summer of 2011 was spent mostly doing other stuff, and I left Trans Iowa thoughts by the wayside. Unfortunately, I missed doing the Dirty Kanza 200 that year, an event I had been trying to get ready for, but I did go to Texas and ride in the El Paso area where I busted up my knee pretty badly!

Well, my determination to elevate Trans Iowa from the perspective of logistics and execution was still there, and by late July I was already mapping out a course and by the second week of August I was ready to announce the event. By this time I was pretty excited to get the ball rolling. I actually had some discussions with some trusted Trans Iowa friends about moving the course start and end from Grinnell. Things like going further Westward in Iowa were punted around, and even a course that might encircle Des Moines was considered strongly.

In the end, I decided that from a gravel road perspective doing Trans Iowa out of Des Moines would not work since the counties of that area had paved darn near every road leaving little to choose from. I ended up landing back on Grinnell, but it wasn't for want of trying something different! So with that decided upon, I had asked Jeff Kerkove to design another header, which he did. It was up for about two weeks when I received an e-mailed letter from some lawyers to "cease and desist". Whoops! I ended up having Jeff cook up another header pronto!

The trade show season interrupted recon starting until October, but I got out there and did a huge chunk of it on my own. Going along much of the proposed "Des Moines" based route I had worked on from the Summer, I was driving in territory far from Waterloo, and in an area I'd never been in before. It was a lot of fun from that standpoint for me.

The second run of recon found me driving alone again in late November. I sussed out the run in to Checkpoint #1 and got lost which added a really cool section towards the end of the event. Registration happened shortly after this and all spots were filled up with about 15-20 folks over the limit which were placed on The Waiting List. I still had a big ol' chunk of the course to recon, and I didn't know when I'd get to it. Winter held off for the most part and the days rolled by. December passed, and we were in January with this big chunk of the course not finished up yet. I was getting pretty anxious.

Finally, on January 7th, 2012, I did an over 300 mile day and finished off a major goal. That was to get the recon bagged to the point I could format cue sheets. It was a super long day, but Trans Iowa was on the right track. I had detailed notes on turns, intersections, and possible trouble spots. Nothing had ever been done like this for a Trans Iowa before. Once the cue sheets were formatted they were sent off to be proofread and in late March the course was driven by my "Checkmates", Wally and George. We found a road closed! I had to reroute, but in the end, we had a lot of fun and almost got Wally's rig stuck in a B Road just Northwest of Grinnell.

Oakley came on board with prizing, we had Grinnell's awesome support again, and all was lined up for another spectacular running of Trans Iowa. Would the weather hold out? That was the only question mark going in for me. The cue sheets were spot on and done, the roads double checked. I was confident there would be no mistakes from my end on T.I.v8.

Next: The event takes off....

Trans Iowa: Ten Years Of Tales #42

In mid-November, the idea of Trans Iowa was hatched. The year was 2004. In the ten years since then there have been many stories and memories. These posts will tell of the most prominent ones to my mind. Maybe I'll even spill the beans on some things you never knew....

Easter Sunday and riders coming in to finish T.I.v7

 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. But there were things that would need to be taken care of. Difficult situations lurked in the future.

In the short term, I had a tremendous outpouring of support from the riders in the event for the most part. That really helped a lot. Secondly, and I cannot remember exactly how it went down, but some of the struggles that David had been having were coming to light and I had a better feel for why things went awry on his end before the event.

Shaking an exhausted Charlie Farrow's hand.

Here are some things I wrote concerning my feelings after T.I.V7 on the blog back then;

".....you know, most folks just have no idea how it almost all came unraveled. I won't go into that here. Just know that this Trans Iowa was as stressful as T.I.V3 was, and from my perspective, the event is considered one of the most difficult things I have gone through in a long time.
To have it go as well as it did is great, but I am not celebrating. I'm just glad it is over...........I am tired and emotionally drained"


Later in the Summer I received an e-mail from David that said "....I quit". It really didn't say why, but I found out a lot more about his situation that Summer. He had been working 15 plus hour days for weeks on end in the winter, (which explained why I had not heard from him), and he was majorly stressed out due to cutbacks in his department. Trans Iowa was probably not real high on his list of concerns. Then he lost his job, or quit, or something, but in the end he got a job with a geology/mining concern and moved himself and eventually his whole family to the island of Fiji!


I just wish that back then he could have shared his struggles and let me take the load, but he didn't, and then it didn't matter anymore after that June e-mail. I was on my own, and I was already making new plans to get a Trans Iowa V8 going. In the meantime, MG and I made amends, and he actually made plans to volunteer for a checkpoint for V8. I had a couple of friends throw in their hats to help out if needed. So with my determination, and some encouragement from others, a new version of the event was planned.


There would be a complete recon before Winter. There would be a review of a final draft of the cue sheets by someone else other than myself, and I would get someone to actually drive by my cues a month or so out from the event to make sure the cues made sense. Finally, I would drive the first 100 miles the day before the event to ensure there would be no last minute snafus again. It was a tall order, but I was going to do it this way or I was going to cancel doing the event. Time would tell how it would all work out.


Next: The recon and planning takes shape for a V8.

Trans Iowa: Ten Years Of Tales #42

In mid-November, the idea of Trans Iowa was hatched. The year was 2004. In the ten years since then there have been many stories and memories. These posts will tell of the most prominent ones to my mind. Maybe I'll even spill the beans on some things you never knew....

Easter Sunday and riders coming in to finish T.I.v7

 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. But there were things that would need to be taken care of. Difficult situations lurked in the future.

In the short term, I had a tremendous outpouring of support from the riders in the event for the most part. That really helped a lot. Secondly, and I cannot remember exactly how it went down, but some of the struggles that David had been having were coming to light and I had a better feel for why things went awry on his end before the event.

Shaking an exhausted Charlie Farrow's hand.

Here are some things I wrote concerning my feelings after T.I.V7 on the blog back then;

".....you know, most folks just have no idea how it almost all came unraveled. I won't go into that here. Just know that this Trans Iowa was as stressful as T.I.V3 was, and from my perspective, the event is considered one of the most difficult things I have gone through in a long time.
To have it go as well as it did is great, but I am not celebrating. I'm just glad it is over...........I am tired and emotionally drained"


Later in the Summer I received an e-mail from David that said "....I quit". It really didn't say why, but I found out a lot more about his situation that Summer. He had been working 15 plus hour days for weeks on end in the winter, (which explained why I had not heard from him), and he was majorly stressed out due to cutbacks in his department. Trans Iowa was probably not real high on his list of concerns. Then he lost his job, or quit, or something, but in the end he got a job with a geology/mining concern and moved himself and eventually his whole family to the island of Fiji!


I just wish that back then he could have shared his struggles and let me take the load, but he didn't, and then it didn't matter anymore after that June e-mail. I was on my own, and I was already making new plans to get a Trans Iowa V8 going. In the meantime, MG and I made amends, and he actually made plans to volunteer for a checkpoint for V8. I had a couple of friends throw in their hats to help out if needed. So with my determination, and some encouragement from others, a new version of the event was planned.


There would be a complete recon before Winter. There would be a review of a final draft of the cue sheets by someone else other than myself, and I would get someone to actually drive by my cues a month or so out from the event to make sure the cues made sense. Finally, I would drive the first 100 miles the day before the event to ensure there would be no last minute snafus again. It was a tall order, but I was going to do it this way or I was going to cancel doing the event. Time would tell how it would all work out.


Next: The recon and planning takes shape for a V8.