Trans Iowa Stories: Why It Should Never Have Happened Again

 "Trans Iowa Stories" is an every Sunday post which helps tell the stories behind the event. You can check out other posts about this subject by going back to earlier Sunday posts on this blog. Thanks and enjoy!

Sunday, April 29th, 2007. I was sitting staring out the front windshield of "The Dirty Blue Box", my beat to crap, metallic blue, 1990 Honda Civic 4 door hatchback. There were 20 minutes left until 2:00pm, the cut-off time for Trans Iowa v3. No one had crossed the finish line in quite some time. Most everyone that had been hanging out on that idyllic, Sun drenched hillside in front of a cemetery had already left. They went to get lunch, went home, or were hanging at the sports bar waiting for me. I was supposed to be having the awards ceremonies at 2:00pm.

I was staring out over a hill on a gravel road which lead into Decorah, Iowa behind me. I'd been sitting there a long time now. I was thinking that maybe I could pack it in and just get the post race ceremonies over with. But, I had to make sure I had accounted for everyone. Richard "Deke" Gosen, one of Trans Iowa's earliest influences, had drilled that into me over the past two years of Trans Iowa. You must account for all the riders! So, one more time, I went over the check offs and markings various folks had made, including myself, to see if anyone was still hanging. Once, twice, three times I went over that roster. There was one guy not accounted for. Meh! Maybe he actually came in, or called in, and we missed checking him off? Dang it! I really wanted to get this awards ceremony done. I was drained. Exhausted. I'd been up since 3:00am Saturday morning. Over 34 hours of being awake. No cat naps. I wanted to get this over with and go home. But.....I promised I'd wait until 2:00pm. 

15 minutes to go......

I was losing my resolve. I had to go. I reached with my keys to insert them into the ignition, and looked up. What?!!! Was I seeing things? I thought I saw a white, rounded object just over the horizon, swaying, like the movement of a cyclists head. Yes! It was the last finisher of T.I.v3.

I sprung from the car, yelling encouragement. Team Polska, who were still there, unaware of me, heard my yelling and jumped into action. Banging pots with sticks and yelling in Polish, they escorted Mike Denehy to the finish line, just as they had for 22 other finishers, except Ira Ryan. I shook Mike's hand, and jumped into the "Dirty Blue Box", hit the ignition, and headed over to the awards ceremony. Which.......I have no memory of at all. 

My contract was fulfilled after shaking Mike Denehy's hand. I had done what I needed to do and I carried out the mission that Jeff and I had set out to accomplish after T.I.v2. I promised myself I would carry this out until the end, and right at that moment, I think my mind just switched off. Later, after all was said and done, I wasn't thinking about a T.I.v4. I was done with Trans Iowa. There were several reasons why.

First, and I have said this before, this was Jeff's idea, and I always felt I was just there as a helper. Despite the perceptions of many, I understood why Trans Iowa got going. I was intimately a part of that, and without Jeff? Well, there was no way it would have ever happened. I felt it could not be Trans Iowa without him, despite the fact that I had just put on a Trans Iowa without him. But then again, I was too close to things to see it.

Secondly, this event had undone me in many ways. The stress of the cue sheet debacle, the extra responsibilities regarding the communications with riders, the venue, and volunteers. It was far more than I had expected to have to deal with.

Then there was the huge, weighty responsibility I felt for all the riders. I hadn't ever considered this facet, and to be perfectly honest, while the feelings were there, I could not comprehend in 2007 what that was that I was feeling. Then there was my wife and two young children to consider. The day I returned home from T.I.v3, my wife needed to be taken to the emergency room, and I was so out of it she ended up driving herself to the hospital. I was humiliated. I blamed Trans Iowa. This on top of the stress they had to endure the previous week watching me go through the wringer trying to get everything ready to go.

Yes, the event had 24 finishers, and LOTS of good will and feedback which was very encouraging, but deep down inside I was done. How "done" was I? Well, I took out the milk crates from the "Dirty Blue Box"with the stuff I used that year and set them in the garage. I never touched them again for probably five years. I had such hard feelings about that event, it took a long time for me to actually put everything away and deal with the mess afterward. I just wanted to walk away from Trans Iowa.

The event was done. Over. I wasn't going to say anything. Ever. I was just not going to put it on again. Privately, I shared with a few friends that I had very deep set feelings about quitting the event. This was met with some understanding. And then three big things happened which swung me the other way. This wasn't the last Trans Iowa, but it almost was.

Next: The Reasons Why It Happened Again

Trans Iowa Stories: Why It Should Never Have Happened Again

 "Trans Iowa Stories" is an every Sunday post which helps tell the stories behind the event. You can check out other posts about this subject by going back to earlier Sunday posts on this blog. Thanks and enjoy!

Sunday, April 29th, 2007. I was sitting staring out the front windshield of "The Dirty Blue Box", my beat to crap, metallic blue, 1990 Honda Civic 4 door hatchback. There were 20 minutes left until 2:00pm, the cut-off time for Trans Iowa v3. No one had crossed the finish line in quite some time. Most everyone that had been hanging out on that idyllic, Sun drenched hillside in front of a cemetery had already left. They went to get lunch, went home, or were hanging at the sports bar waiting for me. I was supposed to be having the awards ceremonies at 2:00pm.

I was staring out over a hill on a gravel road which lead into Decorah, Iowa behind me. I'd been sitting there a long time now. I was thinking that maybe I could pack it in and just get the post race ceremonies over with. But, I had to make sure I had accounted for everyone. Richard "Deke" Gosen, one of Trans Iowa's earliest influences, had drilled that into me over the past two years of Trans Iowa. You must account for all the riders! So, one more time, I went over the check offs and markings various folks had made, including myself, to see if anyone was still hanging. Once, twice, three times I went over that roster. There was one guy not accounted for. Meh! Maybe he actually came in, or called in, and we missed checking him off? Dang it! I really wanted to get this awards ceremony done. I was drained. Exhausted. I'd been up since 3:00am Saturday morning. Over 34 hours of being awake. No cat naps. I wanted to get this over with and go home. But.....I promised I'd wait until 2:00pm. 

15 minutes to go......

I was losing my resolve. I had to go. I reached with my keys to insert them into the ignition, and looked up. What?!!! Was I seeing things? I thought I saw a white, rounded object just over the horizon, swaying, like the movement of a cyclists head. Yes! It was the last finisher of T.I.v3.

I sprung from the car, yelling encouragement. Team Polska, who were still there, unaware of me, heard my yelling and jumped into action. Banging pots with sticks and yelling in Polish, they escorted Mike Denehy to the finish line, just as they had for 22 other finishers, except Ira Ryan. I shook Mike's hand, and jumped into the "Dirty Blue Box", hit the ignition, and headed over to the awards ceremony. Which.......I have no memory of at all. 

My contract was fulfilled after shaking Mike Denehy's hand. I had done what I needed to do and I carried out the mission that Jeff and I had set out to accomplish after T.I.v2. I promised myself I would carry this out until the end, and right at that moment, I think my mind just switched off. Later, after all was said and done, I wasn't thinking about a T.I.v4. I was done with Trans Iowa. There were several reasons why.

First, and I have said this before, this was Jeff's idea, and I always felt I was just there as a helper. Despite the perceptions of many, I understood why Trans Iowa got going. I was intimately a part of that, and without Jeff? Well, there was no way it would have ever happened. I felt it could not be Trans Iowa without him, despite the fact that I had just put on a Trans Iowa without him. But then again, I was too close to things to see it.

Secondly, this event had undone me in many ways. The stress of the cue sheet debacle, the extra responsibilities regarding the communications with riders, the venue, and volunteers. It was far more than I had expected to have to deal with.

Then there was the huge, weighty responsibility I felt for all the riders. I hadn't ever considered this facet, and to be perfectly honest, while the feelings were there, I could not comprehend in 2007 what that was that I was feeling. Then there was my wife and two young children to consider. The day I returned home from T.I.v3, my wife needed to be taken to the emergency room, and I was so out of it she ended up driving herself to the hospital. I was humiliated. I blamed Trans Iowa. This on top of the stress they had to endure the previous week watching me go through the wringer trying to get everything ready to go.

Yes, the event had 24 finishers, and LOTS of good will and feedback which was very encouraging, but deep down inside I was done. How "done" was I? Well, I took out the milk crates from the "Dirty Blue Box"with the stuff I used that year and set them in the garage. I never touched them again for probably five years. I had such hard feelings about that event, it took a long time for me to actually put everything away and deal with the mess afterward. I just wanted to walk away from Trans Iowa.

The event was done. Over. I wasn't going to say anything. Ever. I was just not going to put it on again. Privately, I shared with a few friends that I had very deep set feelings about quitting the event. This was met with some understanding. And then three big things happened which swung me the other way. This wasn't the last Trans Iowa, but it almost was.

Next: The Reasons Why It Happened Again

Trans Iowa Stories: Hanging Out In Hawkeye

 "Trans Iowa Stories" is an every Sunday post which helps tell the stories behind the event. You can check out other posts about this subject by going back to earlier Sunday posts on this blog. Thanks and enjoy!

Last week I left off with the meeting of Ira in Janesville and seeing off Marcin Nowak on his pursuit of him. I didn't stick around long as I wanted to be sure nothing fishy was going to happen during the evening.

I still hadn't heard a thing from Zach and I was beginning to think he had bailed out on me when he buzzed me on his cell phone. Now, rural Iowa in 2007 wasn't a very well covered state in terms of cell service. Zach's transmission to me was crackling, static ridden, and he cut out a bit. It was difficult to communicate with him. I tried but we decided to connect later and see if the signal would be better.

In the meantime I was leapfrogging the course again, bypassing more flooded roads which I only learned about well after T.I.v3 was over. In later Trans Iowas this event cemented in me that I had to stick to the course in the future. But for the time being, I was none the wiser. Another issue began to raise its head during this Trans Iowa also. That being that small town convenience stores were ceasing the 24hr service and closing at 10pm, 11pm, and in rare cases, midnight. This meant that the next planned service I had on course would be closed before any riders got there. Yeah......they ended up riding something like 88 miles without service. At least the front runners did. In the early days of Trans Iowa I felt that was a problem. However; I came to understand that the riders could manage longer distances between service opportunities, so later on, an 88 mile stretch between stores was nothing.

Later into the event the slower riders didn't have these issues. They actually were welcomed at 6:00am when this particular place on the T.I.v3 route opened up again. I'd guess about half the 24 finishers benefited. I was a bit upset about it back then because my gauge was to have service opportunities at 50 mile intervals or less. So, I felt a bit of a failure was suffered there on my part, but at the time I just had to let things play out. I could change this in the future. 

Only I was not sure there ever would be a future for Trans Iowa.

Anyway, one of the notable things to me about this T.I. was that I did take a camera, but I lost the files, so I have about two images that I took from it. Weird. That never happened again! But this time, Zach actually covered the event well enough in words that images are not needed as far as my part went, and David Story's awesome covering of the event in terms of images was more than enough to satisfy me. Also, a rider in T.I.v3, Cale Wenthur, took a bunch of great images, some of which I have been using to document T.I.v3 here. (Thanks Cale!)

Speaking of Zach, his take on events of that particular evening were epic. He mentioned being lost in Iowa, the gridded out roads presenting a maze which confused him to no end. He finally did call me and got back on track. By this time I was in Hawkeye awaiting leaders to come by and I was parked in front of a Lutheran Church there. Zach finally arrived a little before 2:00am, and we compared notes from the day. Ira lumbered through town then, with little more than a nod to our existence, he rode on. Then the young women in the truck scene happened:

*".....a pickup truck lumbered around the corner at the telltale pace of a DUI dodger and bumbled over the curb and into the middle of the lawn across the street. A woman jumped out and sprinted inside the house. She left the driver's side door open. She left the country music station on. Blaring. The latest Nashville hits now pound through Hawkeye's half dozen comatose streets, a twangy and tinny surrealist performance-art installation in the making. First I expect the cops to come. then I realize there probably aren't any." 

 That was one of the odder things I ever witnessed during a Trans Iowa that wasn't related to the event. By the way, Zach didn't really impart how loud this was. The truck had headers and glass packs, and the stereo was blaring over that. So REALLY LOUD! I remember Zach standing there, slack-jawed, and asking me when the cops would show up. That's when I had to explain to him that there weren't any cops. Maybe a county deputy?.... nah! I told him that the only thing that would happen would be that the local residents would be talking down about it for a few days afterward. Otherwise, standard procedure for these parts!

Not long after this, Marcin came through, his jersey fully unzipped, flapping in the wind. He asked me if there were any convenience stores up the road, and I told him there were none.

" Oh boy, oh boy!", he exclaimed, and he stood up and punched his pedals, disappearing into the blackness. We then waited to see who else would follow up, but by around 3:00am, Zach was cashing out. I stayed up and kept vigil. It was cold, dark, and now eerily silent in Hawkeye. The girl in the truck had long since gone. Nothing was stirring. I had to relieve myself after having downed several Red Bulls. I found a suitable scrub pine behind the church, away from the street, and then I was anxious to get on to the finish line. We had about 40 miles to go, and I figured that Ira would be getting there around 5:00am, so we had to get a move-on.

I tapped on Zach's rental car window until he stirred. "C'mon! We gotta roll!", I said. Zach finally got his act together and we zoomed out of town to the finish. I wanted to be there to make sure I didn't miss it. On the way I rolled a huge racoon under the "Dirty Blue Box" and I was running so hard around the twisty-turny roads that Zach said he could barely hang on to my car. We met up with our two volunteers, Marty and Rob, plus a few others. Zach kind of faded into the background after this point. I was pretty out of it by mid-morning anyway, despite Zach saying that I was bouncing around full of energy. He was busy observing, speaking with others, and then he disappeared. Needed more sleep, I guess, but I don't ever remember saying goodbye to him and I never saw him again.

I've no recollection of doing the awards for T.I.v3. (Image by Cale Wenthur)

Of course, I've written about what happened at the finish a bunch of times. The epic chase of Marcin Nowak coming up ten minutes short. How Team Polska animated the entire finish line experience.  How Ira Ryan was not pleasant to me, and how his entourage was not friendly as well. It's interesting to look back on the apologists who have commented about the incident with Ira in later years, but as it stands, I have never heard from Ira Ryan since that day. And ya know, it doesn't matter. He won. Twice. He was awesome as a cyclist and certainly holds a high place in Trans Iowa history. I will never deny that he did good for the event from afar. If it hadn't been for Ira, Zach would probably never have written the book, and well......I would be poorer for that. So, in the end, despite Ira's malediction at the end of T.I.v3, I still hold that he is a champion of the event. An enigmatic champion- certainly, but a champion none the less.

*Note: Quotation in blue italics is from Zach Dundas' "Renegade Sportsman" chapter on Trans Iowa. I'll be referencing Zach's book in future editions of Trans Iowa Stories. 

Next: The Reasons Why It Shouldn't Ever Have Happened Again 

Trans Iowa Stories: Hanging Out In Hawkeye

 "Trans Iowa Stories" is an every Sunday post which helps tell the stories behind the event. You can check out other posts about this subject by going back to earlier Sunday posts on this blog. Thanks and enjoy!

Last week I left off with the meeting of Ira in Janesville and seeing off Marcin Nowak on his pursuit of him. I didn't stick around long as I wanted to be sure nothing fishy was going to happen during the evening.

I still hadn't heard a thing from Zach and I was beginning to think he had bailed out on me when he buzzed me on his cell phone. Now, rural Iowa in 2007 wasn't a very well covered state in terms of cell service. Zach's transmission to me was crackling, static ridden, and he cut out a bit. It was difficult to communicate with him. I tried but we decided to connect later and see if the signal would be better.

In the meantime I was leapfrogging the course again, bypassing more flooded roads which I only learned about well after T.I.v3 was over. In later Trans Iowas this event cemented in me that I had to stick to the course in the future. But for the time being, I was none the wiser. Another issue began to raise its head during this Trans Iowa also. That being that small town convenience stores were ceasing the 24hr service and closing at 10pm, 11pm, and in rare cases, midnight. This meant that the next planned service I had on course would be closed before any riders got there. Yeah......they ended up riding something like 88 miles without service. At least the front runners did. In the early days of Trans Iowa I felt that was a problem. However; I came to understand that the riders could manage longer distances between service opportunities, so later on, an 88 mile stretch between stores was nothing.

Later into the event the slower riders didn't have these issues. They actually were welcomed at 6:00am when this particular place on the T.I.v3 route opened up again. I'd guess about half the 24 finishers benefited. I was a bit upset about it back then because my gauge was to have service opportunities at 50 mile intervals or less. So, I felt a bit of a failure was suffered there on my part, but at the time I just had to let things play out. I could change this in the future. 

Only I was not sure there ever would be a future for Trans Iowa.

Anyway, one of the notable things to me about this T.I. was that I did take a camera, but I lost the files, so I have about two images that I took from it. Weird. That never happened again! But this time, Zach actually covered the event well enough in words that images are not needed as far as my part went, and David Story's awesome covering of the event in terms of images was more than enough to satisfy me. Also, a rider in T.I.v3, Cale Wenthur, took a bunch of great images, some of which I have been using to document T.I.v3 here. (Thanks Cale!)

Speaking of Zach, his take on events of that particular evening were epic. He mentioned being lost in Iowa, the gridded out roads presenting a maze which confused him to no end. He finally did call me and got back on track. By this time I was in Hawkeye awaiting leaders to come by and I was parked in front of a Lutheran Church there. Zach finally arrived a little before 2:00am, and we compared notes from the day. Ira lumbered through town then, with little more than a nod to our existence, he rode on. Then the young women in the truck scene happened:

*".....a pickup truck lumbered around the corner at the telltale pace of a DUI dodger and bumbled over the curb and into the middle of the lawn across the street. A woman jumped out and sprinted inside the house. She left the driver's side door open. She left the country music station on. Blaring. The latest Nashville hits now pound through Hawkeye's half dozen comatose streets, a twangy and tinny surrealist performance-art installation in the making. First I expect the cops to come. then I realize there probably aren't any." 

 That was one of the odder things I ever witnessed during a Trans Iowa that wasn't related to the event. By the way, Zach didn't really impart how loud this was. The truck had headers and glass packs, and the stereo was blaring over that. So REALLY LOUD! I remember Zach standing there, slack-jawed, and asking me when the cops would show up. That's when I had to explain to him that there weren't any cops. Maybe a county deputy?.... nah! I told him that the only thing that would happen would be that the local residents would be talking down about it for a few days afterward. Otherwise, standard procedure for these parts!

Not long after this, Marcin came through, his jersey fully unzipped, flapping in the wind. He asked me if there were any convenience stores up the road, and I told him there were none.

" Oh boy, oh boy!", he exclaimed, and he stood up and punched his pedals, disappearing into the blackness. We then waited to see who else would follow up, but by around 3:00am, Zach was cashing out. I stayed up and kept vigil. It was cold, dark, and now eerily silent in Hawkeye. The girl in the truck had long since gone. Nothing was stirring. I had to relieve myself after having downed several Red Bulls. I found a suitable scrub pine behind the church, away from the street, and then I was anxious to get on to the finish line. We had about 40 miles to go, and I figured that Ira would be getting there around 5:00am, so we had to get a move-on.

I tapped on Zach's rental car window until he stirred. "C'mon! We gotta roll!", I said. Zach finally got his act together and we zoomed out of town to the finish. I wanted to be there to make sure I didn't miss it. On the way I rolled a huge racoon under the "Dirty Blue Box" and I was running so hard around the twisty-turny roads that Zach said he could barely hang on to my car. We met up with our two volunteers, Marty and Rob, plus a few others. Zach kind of faded into the background after this point. I was pretty out of it by mid-morning anyway, despite Zach saying that I was bouncing around full of energy. He was busy observing, speaking with others, and then he disappeared. Needed more sleep, I guess, but I don't ever remember saying goodbye to him and I never saw him again.

I've no recollection of doing the awards for T.I.v3. (Image by Cale Wenthur)

Of course, I've written about what happened at the finish a bunch of times. The epic chase of Marcin Nowak coming up ten minutes short. How Team Polska animated the entire finish line experience.  How Ira Ryan was not pleasant to me, and how his entourage was not friendly as well. It's interesting to look back on the apologists who have commented about the incident with Ira in later years, but as it stands, I have never heard from Ira Ryan since that day. And ya know, it doesn't matter. He won. Twice. He was awesome as a cyclist and certainly holds a high place in Trans Iowa history. I will never deny that he did good for the event from afar. If it hadn't been for Ira, Zach would probably never have written the book, and well......I would be poorer for that. So, in the end, despite Ira's malediction at the end of T.I.v3, I still hold that he is a champion of the event. An enigmatic champion- certainly, but a champion none the less.

*Note: Quotation in blue italics is from Zach Dundas' "Renegade Sportsman" chapter on Trans Iowa. I'll be referencing Zach's book in future editions of Trans Iowa Stories. 

Next: The Reasons Why It Shouldn't Ever Have Happened Again 

Trans Iowa Stories: More Tales of v3

T.I.v3 volunteers carefully consider Ken Yokanovich's Rivendell fixed gear rig at the checkpoint.

 "Trans Iowa Stories" is an every Sunday post which helps tell the stories behind the event. You can check out other posts about this subject by going back to earlier Sunday posts on this blog. Thanks and enjoy!

The night T.I.v3 started was a dark, fairly decent one, and the 3:00am wake -up call came in the motel and I sprang into action. I recall wondering where Zach Dundas stayed the night, then I saw his red Pontiac rental car parked on the road where we were to muster the starters and realized he likely spent the night there sleeping in the thing. So started my solo running of Trans Iowa.

As you fine readers may recall, I had already spent a LOT of time running this event myself. Most of the first one after the pre-race, and a lot of time during the truncated v2, I was on my own. However; what was different this time was that I had to shoulder the responsibility of this event alone. There was no "back-up", no one else to lean on for support or advice. I was "The Guy" now. If there were any issues, the excrement was going to roll uphill and stop right at the top, with me.

While that was known quite keenly by myself at that moment, I was also pretty ticked off yet about all the no-shows and was ready to just kick the can over and get on with this deal. Looking back, I think this attitude served me well for the duration of v3. See, as I stated a couple of posts back, I was pretty sure I didn't want to do this without Jeff, and having all those no-shows pretty much sealed the deal. All I had to do was to make sure I held up my end of the responsibilities of putting on the event and that I did that in the best way I knew how.

I already wrote a bunch about this event. (You can read a fine recapping of some of the event here) So, I'll just hit on some of the highlights I neglected in the previous post and tell you a bit here and there which Zach Dundas wrote about so well in "The Renegade Sportsman" book. Zach described the Trans Iowa experience he had and Trans Iowa thusly: "In deepest, darkest Iowa, I tracked the inspiring and insane Trans-Iowa endurance race, a 300+-mile amateur exorcism of cycling’s Lance Armstrong-ish demons."

Yeah, it was pretty funny, me being a rustic, 40 plus year old bicycle mechanic and Zach, an erudite college graduate cum punk rocker from Montana. I recall standing alongside the road North of Decorah, shivering under a star filled sky awaiting the leaders, and watching riders smack through a huge pothole at the bottom of a speedy downhill at the Sattre Store. Both times showing Zach why I felt the event mattered and both times answering a lot of his questions. Then we separated for much of the remainder of that morning.

Judging from this cue sheet, this road is in Allamakee County and the image was shot during T.I.v3

Interestingly, this was the Trans Iowa when I started inserting in odd and historical bits along the way for the riders to experience. During T.I.v3, I realized that the riders would likely be going through Postville, Iowa during Saturday morning. No big deal, except that at that time, Postville, Iowa had one of the largest ascetic Jewish communities in the nation, and I knew that they all would be out in full regalia on their Sabbath walk. Many riders reported seeing this afterward, much to my satisfaction.

This was also my full introduction to "Team Polska", a three man group consisting of Marcin Nowak, Macjei Nowak, and Douglas Pietz. The first two being brothers and natives of Poland. They showed up in matching kit, rode as a team, and were giving chase to the lead duo of Brian Hannon and Ira Ryan. Marcin had attempted the ill-fated T.I.v2, and during this version, he came prepared to lay down what would become a very memorable performance. His brother and Doug were support, and gave everything to the effort. It was amazing, beautiful, and unreal to see this as a bystander. Zach Dundas got his money's worth there for a story!

Ryan and Hannon were also just machines. They were killing it, and at one point I was afraid that they would arrive at the Checkpoint in Brandon, Iowa, before my volunteers were going to be ready for them. I spent most of the morning shadowing the duo and crunching numbers like crazy. Fortunately, after 100 miles of scorching fast gravel riding, (they averaged above 18mph including stops), they slowed the pace a hair, enough so that I figured they would get there after the Checkpoint opened. I think it was somewhere around Stanley, Iowa where I realized that would be the case. Shortly afterward, I ran across Zach, near Independence, and we made plans to rendezvous in Brandon at the Checkpoint.

Ah! Checkpoint volunteers! That was an amazing relief to me. And one of them handed me a cold beer. Gosh! This was like, almost fun! That feeling would linger for a while. But later on into the event, I lost that feeling, and the reason why was due to one individual, who has been an enigma of Trans Iowa ever since.

Next: Part 2 of "More Tales of v3".

Trans Iowa Stories: More Tales of v3

T.I.v3 volunteers carefully consider Ken Yokanovich's Rivendell fixed gear rig at the checkpoint.

 "Trans Iowa Stories" is an every Sunday post which helps tell the stories behind the event. You can check out other posts about this subject by going back to earlier Sunday posts on this blog. Thanks and enjoy!

The night T.I.v3 started was a dark, fairly decent one, and the 3:00am wake -up call came in the motel and I sprang into action. I recall wondering where Zach Dundas stayed the night, then I saw his red Pontiac rental car parked on the road where we were to muster the starters and realized he likely spent the night there sleeping in the thing. So started my solo running of Trans Iowa.

As you fine readers may recall, I had already spent a LOT of time running this event myself. Most of the first one after the pre-race, and a lot of time during the truncated v2, I was on my own. However; what was different this time was that I had to shoulder the responsibility of this event alone. There was no "back-up", no one else to lean on for support or advice. I was "The Guy" now. If there were any issues, the excrement was going to roll uphill and stop right at the top, with me.

While that was known quite keenly by myself at that moment, I was also pretty ticked off yet about all the no-shows and was ready to just kick the can over and get on with this deal. Looking back, I think this attitude served me well for the duration of v3. See, as I stated a couple of posts back, I was pretty sure I didn't want to do this without Jeff, and having all those no-shows pretty much sealed the deal. All I had to do was to make sure I held up my end of the responsibilities of putting on the event and that I did that in the best way I knew how.

I already wrote a bunch about this event. (You can read a fine recapping of some of the event here) So, I'll just hit on some of the highlights I neglected in the previous post and tell you a bit here and there which Zach Dundas wrote about so well in "The Renegade Sportsman" book. Zach described the Trans Iowa experience he had and Trans Iowa thusly: "In deepest, darkest Iowa, I tracked the inspiring and insane Trans-Iowa endurance race, a 300+-mile amateur exorcism of cycling’s Lance Armstrong-ish demons."

Yeah, it was pretty funny, me being a rustic, 40 plus year old bicycle mechanic and Zach, an erudite college graduate cum punk rocker from Montana. I recall standing alongside the road North of Decorah, shivering under a star filled sky awaiting the leaders, and watching riders smack through a huge pothole at the bottom of a speedy downhill at the Sattre Store. Both times showing Zach why I felt the event mattered and both times answering a lot of his questions. Then we separated for much of the remainder of that morning.

Judging from this cue sheet, this road is in Allamakee County and the image was shot during T.I.v3

Interestingly, this was the Trans Iowa when I started inserting in odd and historical bits along the way for the riders to experience. During T.I.v3, I realized that the riders would likely be going through Postville, Iowa during Saturday morning. No big deal, except that at that time, Postville, Iowa had one of the largest ascetic Jewish communities in the nation, and I knew that they all would be out in full regalia on their Sabbath walk. Many riders reported seeing this afterward, much to my satisfaction.

This was also my full introduction to "Team Polska", a three man group consisting of Marcin Nowak, Macjei Nowak, and Douglas Pietz. The first two being brothers and natives of Poland. They showed up in matching kit, rode as a team, and were giving chase to the lead duo of Brian Hannon and Ira Ryan. Marcin had attempted the ill-fated T.I.v2, and during this version, he came prepared to lay down what would become a very memorable performance. His brother and Doug were support, and gave everything to the effort. It was amazing, beautiful, and unreal to see this as a bystander. Zach Dundas got his money's worth there for a story!

Ryan and Hannon were also just machines. They were killing it, and at one point I was afraid that they would arrive at the Checkpoint in Brandon, Iowa, before my volunteers were going to be ready for them. I spent most of the morning shadowing the duo and crunching numbers like crazy. Fortunately, after 100 miles of scorching fast gravel riding, (they averaged above 18mph including stops), they slowed the pace a hair, enough so that I figured they would get there after the Checkpoint opened. I think it was somewhere around Stanley, Iowa where I realized that would be the case. Shortly afterward, I ran across Zach, near Independence, and we made plans to rendezvous in Brandon at the Checkpoint.

Ah! Checkpoint volunteers! That was an amazing relief to me. And one of them handed me a cold beer. Gosh! This was like, almost fun! That feeling would linger for a while. But later on into the event, I lost that feeling, and the reason why was due to one individual, who has been an enigma of Trans Iowa ever since.

Next: Part 2 of "More Tales of v3".

Trans Iowa Stories: It Was The Third - But It Was The First

An old iron bridge over the Volga River which I reconned for the Trans Iowa v3 route

"Trans Iowa Stories" is an every Sunday post which helps tell the stories behind the event. You can check out other posts about this subject by going back to earlier Sunday posts on this blog. Thanks and enjoy!

 The Trans Iowa v3 story, from my viewpoint, transitioned Trans Iowa as the event it would be until the end. In that sense, T.I.v3 was the first, or maybe a prototype, of what was to come for the next eleven years for the event, and for me.

Since Jeff was obviously leaving- eventually- I was going to be doing everything on my own by 2007. Well, not quite everything. There was one thing I thought I was going to be getting help with, and that was the cue sheet checking and printing. Now, originally, my understanding was that Jeff and I would run the course to double check the cues before the event. I kept hoping that would happen, but as the event drew nearer, it was increasingly clear that Jeff wasn't going to be able to do that. Then I thought he might actually double check the cues against a map, but he didn't, and he simply printed them, left them to me at the shop, and that was his last direct effort in putting on a Trans Iowa. I did ask him in subsequent years to do the graphics for the header on the site. So, in that way Jeff was a part of Trans Iowa up through T.I.v9, after which I took over the designing of the headers.

Anyway, the cues. Well, I had a "last chance" to check the cues the weekend before Trans Iowa. I didn't get very far. Several miles outside of Decorah, in the rambling hills of Northeast Iowa, I became panicked. I pretty much lost it, because the cues were completely off and unusable. Due to an early mistake which compounded itself further into the cues, the mileages were unreliable and several turns were incorrect. I was going to have to scrap this cue set and start completely from scratch with six days to go before Trans Iowa v3.

I had last minute details to attend to besides this. Prizing, number plates, volunteers, organizing the finish line, detailing events for the pre-race event, post race events, and communicating with racers. Top it all off with Zach Dundas' requests, my family's demands on my time, and working at the bike shop, and well...... How I ever got through that week I haven't a clue.

T.I.v3 complete cue set. (Image courtesy of Cale Wenthur)

First, I rushed home with the correct information in hand and a plan. I rewrote the cues immediately after getting home, and then every evening I stayed up late printing the cues for three straight days. I used a home printer that could do maybe 30 sheets at a crack, and ink cartridges were dying at an alarming rate. I had to go out and buy them two times. Paper was another thing I had to purchase. Then they all had to be cut and bagged by hand with scissors and using sandwich baggies.

I would be up until 1-2am doing this, then getting the cues organized took a bunch of time. Finally, on Thursday, I had that all redone and my family, including my six year old daughter and three year old son, stuffed race bags, and placed everything in boxes and tubs for transport the following day.

It was a big relief to have those cues finished, obviously, but I was also worried to death something later into the course might still be off since I had no chances to recon that against the cue sheets. The other thing was that this cue sheet crisis caused me to worry less about the "other stuff". I just didn't have the time to worry about anything else. But the energy expended to get the extra work done on top of being the only mechanic at the shop during a busy Spring made my wife unhappy. She could see what this event was doing to me, and she didn't particularly like it. Keep in mind that the previous two Trans Iowas were half as much worry and work for me. Now it was all on my shoulders.

Also, interestingly enough, we never made any "big announcements" that Jeff wouldn't be there, or that he was no longer helping to put on the event. We never even thought about doing that. It just evolved and next thing ya know, it's a "Guitar Ted" deal. Jeff? Well, it was as if he had slipped out the back door. Even Zach Dundas, in his excellent write up on Trans Iowa in the book, "The Renegade Sportsman", never brought Jeff's involvement in the event into the story. It was portrayed as if I was the only guy behind it. And at the time of the eve of T.I.v3, that was true.

And I didn't even have time to think about that. I just dove straight in, because what else could I have done? I felt like I had just dodged a huge bullet in getting the cue sheet debacle taken care of, and with no time to catch my breath, I was headed to Decorah to do things I had never done before on my own.

Next: The surreal set up and anger at being stiffed.

Trans Iowa Stories: It Was The Third - But It Was The First

An old iron bridge over the Volga River which I reconned for the Trans Iowa v3 route

"Trans Iowa Stories" is an every Sunday post which helps tell the stories behind the event. You can check out other posts about this subject by going back to earlier Sunday posts on this blog. Thanks and enjoy!

 The Trans Iowa v3 story, from my viewpoint, transitioned Trans Iowa as the event it would be until the end. In that sense, T.I.v3 was the first, or maybe a prototype, of what was to come for the next eleven years for the event, and for me.

Since Jeff was obviously leaving- eventually- I was going to be doing everything on my own by 2007. Well, not quite everything. There was one thing I thought I was going to be getting help with, and that was the cue sheet checking and printing. Now, originally, my understanding was that Jeff and I would run the course to double check the cues before the event. I kept hoping that would happen, but as the event drew nearer, it was increasingly clear that Jeff wasn't going to be able to do that. Then I thought he might actually double check the cues against a map, but he didn't, and he simply printed them, left them to me at the shop, and that was his last direct effort in putting on a Trans Iowa. I did ask him in subsequent years to do the graphics for the header on the site. So, in that way Jeff was a part of Trans Iowa up through T.I.v9, after which I took over the designing of the headers.

Anyway, the cues. Well, I had a "last chance" to check the cues the weekend before Trans Iowa. I didn't get very far. Several miles outside of Decorah, in the rambling hills of Northeast Iowa, I became panicked. I pretty much lost it, because the cues were completely off and unusable. Due to an early mistake which compounded itself further into the cues, the mileages were unreliable and several turns were incorrect. I was going to have to scrap this cue set and start completely from scratch with six days to go before Trans Iowa v3.

I had last minute details to attend to besides this. Prizing, number plates, volunteers, organizing the finish line, detailing events for the pre-race event, post race events, and communicating with racers. Top it all off with Zach Dundas' requests, my family's demands on my time, and working at the bike shop, and well...... How I ever got through that week I haven't a clue.

T.I.v3 complete cue set. (Image courtesy of Cale Wenthur)

First, I rushed home with the correct information in hand and a plan. I rewrote the cues immediately after getting home, and then every evening I stayed up late printing the cues for three straight days. I used a home printer that could do maybe 30 sheets at a crack, and ink cartridges were dying at an alarming rate. I had to go out and buy them two times. Paper was another thing I had to purchase. Then they all had to be cut and bagged by hand with scissors and using sandwich baggies.

I would be up until 1-2am doing this, then getting the cues organized took a bunch of time. Finally, on Thursday, I had that all redone and my family, including my six year old daughter and three year old son, stuffed race bags, and placed everything in boxes and tubs for transport the following day.

It was a big relief to have those cues finished, obviously, but I was also worried to death something later into the course might still be off since I had no chances to recon that against the cue sheets. The other thing was that this cue sheet crisis caused me to worry less about the "other stuff". I just didn't have the time to worry about anything else. But the energy expended to get the extra work done on top of being the only mechanic at the shop during a busy Spring made my wife unhappy. She could see what this event was doing to me, and she didn't particularly like it. Keep in mind that the previous two Trans Iowas were half as much worry and work for me. Now it was all on my shoulders.

Also, interestingly enough, we never made any "big announcements" that Jeff wouldn't be there, or that he was no longer helping to put on the event. We never even thought about doing that. It just evolved and next thing ya know, it's a "Guitar Ted" deal. Jeff? Well, it was as if he had slipped out the back door. Even Zach Dundas, in his excellent write up on Trans Iowa in the book, "The Renegade Sportsman", never brought Jeff's involvement in the event into the story. It was portrayed as if I was the only guy behind it. And at the time of the eve of T.I.v3, that was true.

And I didn't even have time to think about that. I just dove straight in, because what else could I have done? I felt like I had just dodged a huge bullet in getting the cue sheet debacle taken care of, and with no time to catch my breath, I was headed to Decorah to do things I had never done before on my own.

Next: The surreal set up and anger at being stiffed.

Trans Iowa Stories: The Transition Phase

 "Trans Iowa Stories" is an every Sunday post which helps tell the stories behind the event. You can check out other posts about this subject by going back to earlier Sunday posts on this blog. Thanks and enjoy!

Thinking back on what Trans Iowa v3 was about for me has been a discovery process in many ways. To my way of thinking, the event was split into two distinct parts. The first part was where I was still in collaboration with Jeff. There was the friendly banter, the ideas being shared, and a sense of excitement and camaraderie which I found immensely satisfying. Then there was a second part to T.I.v3.

This was the part where I felt like I had been abandoned, left with the responsibilities of finishing an event which I had thought that I would be getting a lot of support from on Jeff's end. Jeff, of course, had a dream of escaping Iowa, going to the mountains, and becoming the mountain biker he had been wanting to be since his childhood. He was young, he had his immediate family here, and besides Trans Iowa, he had nothing holding him back.

So, he found out Ergon was looking to hire a few folks in the U.S. to set up their operations here and expand into the North American market. Jeff was highly recruited. He got flown to Ergon's headquarters in Germany in late '06. He met several of their top officials. More and more it was becoming obvious that Jeff would be the one heading up Ergon's offices in Colorado. So, of course Jeff had to leave everything behind if he was to pursue this dream. I know it was hard for him to just leave his friends, family, and Trans Iowa. But one thing kind of sealed the deal in 2006.

It was Summer, we were busy at the bike shop, and our boss/owner was "on the schedule" to be helping out. We had a ton of repairs to do. Someone walked into the shop, and there was not any sign from the office that our boss was going to budge. This was typical behavior, by the way, and it persisted to the last day that shop was open. Anyway, Jeff finally walked around the corner of the shop, glanced at our boss just sitting there not doing anything, and said, "That's it!", in an angered voice and went out to help the customer.

And that was "it". It was the straw that broke the proverbial camel's back. Jeff told me later that was the very moment he cemented into his mind that he would be leaving Iowa. And to be honest, it was the best decision he ever made at the time. He's gone on to realize the life he always dreamed of back then, and the fruits of his labors have been many and great. I was, and still am, very happy for him.

So, I was never bitter about his leaving me all this stuff to see through to its conclusion. I wasn't necessarily happy about it,(especially in regard to my boss, whom I blamed partially for this), and I felt really overwhelmed by it all. Two years prior I was simply a mechanic, with zero experience in putting on an event. Now, besides all of Trans Iowa's duties, I was also being recruited into doing reviews online. Jeff actually strongly encouraged this. He was keen on seeing me "get out of there" as much as he was keen on leaving. So, again- I had nothing but respect and happiness for Jeff's situation at the time. He deserved everything he has gotten.

But this was really getting to be a stressful deal, this whole organizational gig, and I didn't like the "stretching" it was causing. Sleepless nights, worry, trying to put out fires while more kept popping up. I had firmly decided that Trans Iowa v3 should be the last one. I'd follow through with what Jeff had started, but I wasn't about to continue onward without him. I felt the spirit of his endurance racing ideals, the influences of his friends and acquaintances who helped us out, they were all due to his presence. The influence of Jeff was what Trans Iowa was and what it needed. Me? Who was I to keep the wheel turning?

Next: Stories of v3

Trans Iowa Stories: The Transition Phase

 "Trans Iowa Stories" is an every Sunday post which helps tell the stories behind the event. You can check out other posts about this subject by going back to earlier Sunday posts on this blog. Thanks and enjoy!

Thinking back on what Trans Iowa v3 was about for me has been a discovery process in many ways. To my way of thinking, the event was split into two distinct parts. The first part was where I was still in collaboration with Jeff. There was the friendly banter, the ideas being shared, and a sense of excitement and camaraderie which I found immensely satisfying. Then there was a second part to T.I.v3.

This was the part where I felt like I had been abandoned, left with the responsibilities of finishing an event which I had thought that I would be getting a lot of support from on Jeff's end. Jeff, of course, had a dream of escaping Iowa, going to the mountains, and becoming the mountain biker he had been wanting to be since his childhood. He was young, he had his immediate family here, and besides Trans Iowa, he had nothing holding him back.

So, he found out Ergon was looking to hire a few folks in the U.S. to set up their operations here and expand into the North American market. Jeff was highly recruited. He got flown to Ergon's headquarters in Germany in late '06. He met several of their top officials. More and more it was becoming obvious that Jeff would be the one heading up Ergon's offices in Colorado. So, of course Jeff had to leave everything behind if he was to pursue this dream. I know it was hard for him to just leave his friends, family, and Trans Iowa. But one thing kind of sealed the deal in 2006.

It was Summer, we were busy at the bike shop, and our boss/owner was "on the schedule" to be helping out. We had a ton of repairs to do. Someone walked into the shop, and there was not any sign from the office that our boss was going to budge. This was typical behavior, by the way, and it persisted to the last day that shop was open. Anyway, Jeff finally walked around the corner of the shop, glanced at our boss just sitting there not doing anything, and said, "That's it!", in an angered voice and went out to help the customer.

And that was "it". It was the straw that broke the proverbial camel's back. Jeff told me later that was the very moment he cemented into his mind that he would be leaving Iowa. And to be honest, it was the best decision he ever made at the time. He's gone on to realize the life he always dreamed of back then, and the fruits of his labors have been many and great. I was, and still am, very happy for him.

So, I was never bitter about his leaving me all this stuff to see through to its conclusion. I wasn't necessarily happy about it,(especially in regard to my boss, whom I blamed partially for this), and I felt really overwhelmed by it all. Two years prior I was simply a mechanic, with zero experience in putting on an event. Now, besides all of Trans Iowa's duties, I was also being recruited into doing reviews online. Jeff actually strongly encouraged this. He was keen on seeing me "get out of there" as much as he was keen on leaving. So, again- I had nothing but respect and happiness for Jeff's situation at the time. He deserved everything he has gotten.

But this was really getting to be a stressful deal, this whole organizational gig, and I didn't like the "stretching" it was causing. Sleepless nights, worry, trying to put out fires while more kept popping up. I had firmly decided that Trans Iowa v3 should be the last one. I'd follow through with what Jeff had started, but I wasn't about to continue onward without him. I felt the spirit of his endurance racing ideals, the influences of his friends and acquaintances who helped us out, they were all due to his presence. The influence of Jeff was what Trans Iowa was and what it needed. Me? Who was I to keep the wheel turning?

Next: Stories of v3

Trans Iowa Stories: Setting A Course For The Future

Coming in April? Or was it? Things could have turned out very different in 2007.

"Trans Iowa Stories" is an every Sunday post which helps tell the stories behind the event. You can check out other posts about this subject by going back to earlier Sunday posts on this blog. Thanks and enjoy!

There was one major difference, from a rider's perspective, that was sure to be in the next Trans Iowa in 2007. That was that the course would not be across the state. My revelation concerning how we did things came at the inaugural Dirty Kanza in 2006. The loop course was, in a sense, a way to make things easier for everybody. The whole idea of having to go across the state to recon, to start the event, have a separate finish line 300 plus miles away, and then worry about how the riders would get back from the finish was not something we wanted to deal with. A loop course eliminated all of that. For the riders, it made logistics easier. Getting off the course in the event of a DNF would also be easier for the support people. Volunteers could be a part of the event, and organizing them could be easier.

So, all of that was pretty much settled, but the rest? Not a chance! In fact, one of the little known stories about Trans Iowa is the story about how Jeff and I seriously searched out a tri-state course to make the event cross into Minnesota and Wisconsin. This idea arose because we knew the Driftless Region had a LOT of big hills and beautiful valleys. Of course, if we did this, the name "Trans Iowa" wouldn't work. Jeff and I threw out a few working names for the event, but until we had a course, nothing official would be decided.

During my research, I realized that I would need some maps, so I went out and bought brand new copies of Delorme Atlas books covering Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. I excitedly took them home and dove straight into it. Using these and cross-referencing the info with state road maps I had revealed something rather quickly. Southwestern Wisconsin is mostly paved, in terms of roads, and getting riders across the Mississippi would involve several miles of well traveled highways.

Not gonna happen.

The biggest reason why was, and would ever be, that from the get-go pavement was to be shunned for Trans Iowa. Keeping in mind that one of the reasons we were doing this was because our boss at the shop was a roadie and had done a road version of a cross-state bicycle ride in a day. Also- there was that lingering desire to do a full on dirt/single track ultra-endurance event in our minds yet at this time. Adding bits of single track was very much an option yet for us in planning for v3. Pavement riding was not on our radar, and Jeff and I weren't about to change that for Trans Iowa.

So, the whole "tri-state" idea was ditched in favor of sticking around in Northeast Iowa. We thought about coming down to our home area of Waterloo/Cedar Falls, but once again, the pavement necessary to get riders into the city was unappealing. So, in the end, the loop course went around the area we lived in, coming within around 10 miles of Waterloo/Cedar Falls in a couple of places.

Interestingly, several years later, Chris Skogen actually did this tri-state idea in the course he named the "Alexander" which became part of the Almanzo events. That tri-state idea was abandoned for 2019 as the Almanzo events were based out of Northfield, Minnesota instead of in Southeastern Minnesota, where the original Alexander course emanated from Spring Valley. This idea of Mr Skogen's being similar to ours was all just coincidence though, as I highly doubt that Chris Skogen had any idea we were considering doing that idea back in 2006.

Next: More Developments for V3.

Trans Iowa Stories: Setting A Course For The Future

Coming in April? Or was it? Things could have turned out very different in 2007.

"Trans Iowa Stories" is an every Sunday post which helps tell the stories behind the event. You can check out other posts about this subject by going back to earlier Sunday posts on this blog. Thanks and enjoy!

There was one major difference, from a rider's perspective, that was sure to be in the next Trans Iowa in 2007. That was that the course would not be across the state. My revelation concerning how we did things came at the inaugural Dirty Kanza in 2006. The loop course was, in a sense, a way to make things easier for everybody. The whole idea of having to go across the state to recon, to start the event, have a separate finish line 300 plus miles away, and then worry about how the riders would get back from the finish was not something we wanted to deal with. A loop course eliminated all of that. For the riders, it made logistics easier. Getting off the course in the event of a DNF would also be easier for the support people. Volunteers could be a part of the event, and organizing them could be easier.

So, all of that was pretty much settled, but the rest? Not a chance! In fact, one of the little known stories about Trans Iowa is the story about how Jeff and I seriously searched out a tri-state course to make the event cross into Minnesota and Wisconsin. This idea arose because we knew the Driftless Region had a LOT of big hills and beautiful valleys. Of course, if we did this, the name "Trans Iowa" wouldn't work. Jeff and I threw out a few working names for the event, but until we had a course, nothing official would be decided.

During my research, I realized that I would need some maps, so I went out and bought brand new copies of Delorme Atlas books covering Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. I excitedly took them home and dove straight into it. Using these and cross-referencing the info with state road maps I had revealed something rather quickly. Southwestern Wisconsin is mostly paved, in terms of roads, and getting riders across the Mississippi would involve several miles of well traveled highways.

Not gonna happen.

The biggest reason why was, and would ever be, that from the get-go pavement was to be shunned for Trans Iowa. Keeping in mind that one of the reasons we were doing this was because our boss at the shop was a roadie and had done a road version of a cross-state bicycle ride in a day. Also- there was that lingering desire to do a full on dirt/single track ultra-endurance event in our minds yet at this time. Adding bits of single track was very much an option yet for us in planning for v3. Pavement riding was not on our radar, and Jeff and I weren't about to change that for Trans Iowa.

So, the whole "tri-state" idea was ditched in favor of sticking around in Northeast Iowa. We thought about coming down to our home area of Waterloo/Cedar Falls, but once again, the pavement necessary to get riders into the city was unappealing. So, in the end, the loop course went around the area we lived in, coming within around 10 miles of Waterloo/Cedar Falls in a couple of places.

Interestingly, several years later, Chris Skogen actually did this tri-state idea in the course he named the "Alexander" which became part of the Almanzo events. That tri-state idea was abandoned for 2019 as the Almanzo events were based out of Northfield, Minnesota instead of in Southeastern Minnesota, where the original Alexander course emanated from Spring Valley. This idea of Mr Skogen's being similar to ours was all just coincidence though, as I highly doubt that Chris Skogen had any idea we were considering doing that idea back in 2006.

Next: More Developments for V3.

History Rediscovered

(L-R) Ryan, myself, and Troy from the end of the "Race Against Death Tour"

This weekend I was digging around for some images I thought I might have tucked away some where. Okay......I need to explain. These weren't digital images, they are images on Kodak paper. You know........photographs? So, they were in a desk I haven't looked in for a while, so I didn't know exactly where they would be found.

Digging around I found a few other things. Maps I used to set up some early Guitar Ted Death Rides, some cues I drew up for solo gravel rides, and some early Trans Iowa cue sheet sets.

Those T.I. cues were from V2 and V3. I had forgotten how big those things were! They were a full 5.5" X 6" in size! That's crazy when the last set I produced were 4" X 5". The set for V2 is kind of a strange one because the second half was never seen by anyone but Jeff Kerkove and myself. I looked those old cues over and you know what? I can see much of it in my mind to this day, thirteen years later. Weird, huh?

I know a few folks would love to see what the second half of T.I.v2 was going to be like, but......nah! I've kept that off the radar this long, why stop now? Besides, there is a big chunk of T.I.v2 that was used for the Trans Iowa Masters Program. So, it isn't like I haven't let some of the cat outta the bag.

Ginormous cue sheets!

Well, eventually I came across the few images I have from my tour that I did in 1995. If you haven't noticed, I am recounting that tour in blog form every Sunday here. It's called the "Touring Series". Check it out.

The big thing that keeps striking me about looking back is that the entire way that we did things back then would nearly be impossible to recreate today. No cell phones is probably the single biggest thing that factors into this. I think about how many things are connected to that little device and how not having those things changes everything about a ride today.

No images, no social media, no connection to the world wide web, no information about weather, nothing! Try taking your next ride and leaving your phone at home and your GPS computer at home. See if you don't get anxious about that. Well, we never even had that choice back then.

So, just trying to do a big, long, self-supported tour with zero connection to anything would be deemed, well.......maybe it would be called "stupid" by your relatives and friends. They probably would be pretty offended if you tried that stunt today. Back then, no one thought twice about letting you do that. Yeah.....they thought you were crazy, but they weren't going to tell you not to do it because they couldn't keep track of you. That situation was everyday normalcy back then! 

Then there is the whole distracted driver thing now. That wasn't even an issue back then, and I suppose you could partially blame cell phones for that as well. Cell phones are the devil! Ha! But seriously, we never ever had any fear of being pasted by an inattentive driver back then. Someone trying to scare you or just downright being mean? Yeah......we got that, but rarely did that situation ever arise. Things were totally different out on the open roads back in the 90's.

So, I was reminiscing over the weekend as I looked at those old cues and especially at those old images. You can look forward to seeing a few of those in the coming weeks on the "Touring Series" which, again, posts every Sunday for the next several weeks. I am excited to post those images. The story of the one above will be told at the end of the tale. I won't give away what that is just yet. It does show the three main characters in the story though. Ryan, Troy, and myself. I am easy to spot since I was the biggest guy by far! Ha!

History Rediscovered

(L-R) Ryan, myself, and Troy from the end of the "Race Against Death Tour"

This weekend I was digging around for some images I thought I might have tucked away some where. Okay......I need to explain. These weren't digital images, they are images on Kodak paper. You know........photographs? So, they were in a desk I haven't looked in for a while, so I didn't know exactly where they would be found.

Digging around I found a few other things. Maps I used to set up some early Guitar Ted Death Rides, some cues I drew up for solo gravel rides, and some early Trans Iowa cue sheet sets.

Those T.I. cues were from V2 and V3. I had forgotten how big those things were! They were a full 5.5" X 6" in size! That's crazy when the last set I produced were 4" X 5". The set for V2 is kind of a strange one because the second half was never seen by anyone but Jeff Kerkove and myself. I looked those old cues over and you know what? I can see much of it in my mind to this day, thirteen years later. Weird, huh?

I know a few folks would love to see what the second half of T.I.v2 was going to be like, but......nah! I've kept that off the radar this long, why stop now? Besides, there is a big chunk of T.I.v2 that was used for the Trans Iowa Masters Program. So, it isn't like I haven't let some of the cat outta the bag.

Ginormous cue sheets!

Well, eventually I came across the few images I have from my tour that I did in 1995. If you haven't noticed, I am recounting that tour in blog form every Sunday here. It's called the "Touring Series". Check it out.

The big thing that keeps striking me about looking back is that the entire way that we did things back then would nearly be impossible to recreate today. No cell phones is probably the single biggest thing that factors into this. I think about how many things are connected to that little device and how not having those things changes everything about a ride today.

No images, no social media, no connection to the world wide web, no information about weather, nothing! Try taking your next ride and leaving your phone at home and your GPS computer at home. See if you don't get anxious about that. Well, we never even had that choice back then.

So, just trying to do a big, long, self-supported tour with zero connection to anything would be deemed, well.......maybe it would be called "stupid" by your relatives and friends. They probably would be pretty offended if you tried that stunt today. Back then, no one thought twice about letting you do that. Yeah.....they thought you were crazy, but they weren't going to tell you not to do it because they couldn't keep track of you. That situation was everyday normalcy back then! 

Then there is the whole distracted driver thing now. That wasn't even an issue back then, and I suppose you could partially blame cell phones for that as well. Cell phones are the devil! Ha! But seriously, we never ever had any fear of being pasted by an inattentive driver back then. Someone trying to scare you or just downright being mean? Yeah......we got that, but rarely did that situation ever arise. Things were totally different out on the open roads back in the 90's.

So, I was reminiscing over the weekend as I looked at those old cues and especially at those old images. You can look forward to seeing a few of those in the coming weeks on the "Touring Series" which, again, posts every Sunday for the next several weeks. I am excited to post those images. The story of the one above will be told at the end of the tale. I won't give away what that is just yet. It does show the three main characters in the story though. Ryan, Troy, and myself. I am easy to spot since I was the biggest guy by far! Ha!

Minus Ten Review- 48

Remember those goofy triangular knobs?

Ten years ago this week I was scrambling just like I am this week to get in some last minute testing for review purposes. Some things never change.

Anyway, 29"er tires were the topic of the week, for the most part. We had Schwalbe Racing Ralph 2.4's come in and I was hinting that Continental would finally have some real 29"er tires as they were set to introduce the 2.4" Mountain King. It was an odd tire with triangular knobs and at first, it was really undersized. Funny thing was that if you dared to set them up tubeless, (and I did), they stretched out to be just a hair over 2.4" wide. Weird! They were knid of squirmy in corners and off cambers, and Conti didn't stick with this design very long before they pulled it and introduced an updated design with more traditional squarish knobs.

The Racing Ralph, on the other hand, was awesome. It was big, voluminous, and the knobs worked decently well. We really liked it on our single speed bikes here. Too bad they weren't tubeless. They were great on packed snow though. I'll have more on that in a future "Minus Ten Review".

The "Rear View 2007" kicked into gear, (as it will for 2017 soon), and I was reminiscing about the major bicycle related events of the year. Sea Otter backed up by Trans Iowa v3 was.......stupid. I did that one other time and then I pushed Trans Iowa out to the first week of May once, a never again done time for Trans Iowa, all because doing Sea Otter the weekend before Trans Iowa was so draining. After 2009, I never went back to the Otter mostly due to being involved in Trans Iowa.

Minus Ten Review- 48

Remember those goofy triangular knobs?

Ten years ago this week I was scrambling just like I am this week to get in some last minute testing for review purposes. Some things never change.

Anyway, 29"er tires were the topic of the week, for the most part. We had Schwalbe Racing Ralph 2.4's come in and I was hinting that Continental would finally have some real 29"er tires as they were set to introduce the 2.4" Mountain King. It was an odd tire with triangular knobs and at first, it was really undersized. Funny thing was that if you dared to set them up tubeless, (and I did), they stretched out to be just a hair over 2.4" wide. Weird! They were knid of squirmy in corners and off cambers, and Conti didn't stick with this design very long before they pulled it and introduced an updated design with more traditional squarish knobs.

The Racing Ralph, on the other hand, was awesome. It was big, voluminous, and the knobs worked decently well. We really liked it on our single speed bikes here. Too bad they weren't tubeless. They were great on packed snow though. I'll have more on that in a future "Minus Ten Review".

The "Rear View 2007" kicked into gear, (as it will for 2017 soon), and I was reminiscing about the major bicycle related events of the year. Sea Otter backed up by Trans Iowa v3 was.......stupid. I did that one other time and then I pushed Trans Iowa out to the first week of May once, a never again done time for Trans Iowa, all because doing Sea Otter the weekend before Trans Iowa was so draining. After 2009, I never went back to the Otter mostly due to being involved in Trans Iowa.

Minus Ten Review- 17, 18, 19

I still am running this head set in something. Gotta check what bike.........

Ten years ago on the blog, (three weeks ago!), I was doing, what else? Trans Iowa! 

It was v3 and the first one we ever did in a loop format. It was a weird, wild adventure. I feel like I lived three lifetimes that weekend, and I don't wish to ever repeat that experience.

Not that it was bad or anything. Well, some of it totally sucked, but overall it was filled with fun stuff. Even though it about killed me to put that version of Trans Iowa on. I've talked about that ad nauseum. Nuff said there.

I guess the really random, weird thing about Trans Iowa v3 to my mind was being shadowed the entire weekend by an author. I mean, I cannot say that I know anyone else that has had that experience. The author was Zach Dundas, and for me, it was really fun to see the event through his spectacles, but even more fun was his take on it in his book, "The Renegade Sportsman". Having "your story" left in the hands of a stranger to be interpreted and printed for the ages on actual paper is a bit of a daunting thought. But, I was pretty happy about the result and what Zach stated about myself and Trans Iowa was all pretty spot on.

I had five volunteers! That is less than I have for Checkpoint #1 nowadays. But still, having any volunteers at all was a huge revelation to what was possible for Trans Iowa going forward. Which it almost did not. Go forward, happen again, and carry on, that is. I was dead set against doing it ever again. But that's another story.

In other news, I had products to test, work to do at the shop, and more 29"er tidbits to share. One of the more interesting things I noted was how the 29"er forum on MTBR.com had changed. Now I look back and I think what I was noticing was how our culture was changing in microcosm. We became a throng of keyboard jockeys that thought we knew everything without doing any research, and we got meaner. And all that before smart phones made us dumb.

Minus Ten Review- 17, 18, 19

I still am running this head set in something. Gotta check what bike.........

Ten years ago on the blog, (three weeks ago!), I was doing, what else? Trans Iowa! 

It was v3 and the first one we ever did in a loop format. It was a weird, wild adventure. I feel like I lived three lifetimes that weekend, and I don't wish to ever repeat that experience.

Not that it was bad or anything. Well, some of it totally sucked, but overall it was filled with fun stuff. Even though it about killed me to put that version of Trans Iowa on. I've talked about that ad nauseum. Nuff said there.

I guess the really random, weird thing about Trans Iowa v3 to my mind was being shadowed the entire weekend by an author. I mean, I cannot say that I know anyone else that has had that experience. The author was Zach Dundas, and for me, it was really fun to see the event through his spectacles, but even more fun was his take on it in his book, "The Renegade Sportsman". Having "your story" left in the hands of a stranger to be interpreted and printed for the ages on actual paper is a bit of a daunting thought. But, I was pretty happy about the result and what Zach stated about myself and Trans Iowa was all pretty spot on.

I had five volunteers! That is less than I have for Checkpoint #1 nowadays. But still, having any volunteers at all was a huge revelation to what was possible for Trans Iowa going forward. Which it almost did not. Go forward, happen again, and carry on, that is. I was dead set against doing it ever again. But that's another story.

In other news, I had products to test, work to do at the shop, and more 29"er tidbits to share. One of the more interesting things I noted was how the 29"er forum on MTBR.com had changed. Now I look back and I think what I was noticing was how our culture was changing in microcosm. We became a throng of keyboard jockeys that thought we knew everything without doing any research, and we got meaner. And all that before smart phones made us dumb.