On The Bunny Trail

 In celebration of the twentieth year of this blog, I have a few tales to tell. This post is one of them. This series will occur off and on throughout this anniversary year, I hope to illuminate some behind-the-scenes stories and highlights from the blog during this time. Enjoy! 

 We are in the final stretch of celebrating the 20th year of blogging here at Guitar Ted Productions. In about a month the day will arrive which will mark when this blog started. Expect there to be a bit more 20th Year posts as the day approaches.

A Level B road in Tama County during Trans Iowa v7, Image by Steve Fuller

When David Pals and I started thinking about running a seventh Trans Iowa the date of the event was sort of a given. By this time I had determined I would set Trans Iowa's date whenever the last full weekend of April was. This had been the default anyway, with the exception of Trans Iowa v5, which I pushed back to being the first weekend in May due to my involvement covering the Sea Otter Festival in mid-April. Having a week of separation between those events was not ideal for putting on Trans Iowa

But by 2011, when Trans Iowa v7 was run, I was no longer doing a trip out to Sea Otter, so we were solidly back to the last weekend of April for Trans Iowa. It wasn't until registration for T.I.v7 was about to open that I was made aware by a potential entrant that the weekend we had chosen was Easter weekend.

I had a small bit of anxiety over this. I understand the importance of this event to many, including myself, and was afraid we'd get a lot of push-back over the date if we stuck to it. I was in favor of changing the date, but David allayed my fears and sent me some information about how Paris-Roubaix had been held during an Easter weekend once upon a time in heavily Catholic (at that time) France and there was no real issues with this happening.

So, I capitulated and put my fears behind me and we forged on ahead with it. Trans Iowa v7 was one for the record books. We had eighteen finishers that year out of 76 with 40 of those riders being "rookie" first-timers. We had our very first female finisher of a Tans Iowa in Janna Vavra. It would turn out to be the last Trans Iowa I put on with David Pals as co-director.

John Gorilla finishes T.I. v7 on a prototype Warbird with his wife Adele looking on. Note the bunny ears.

 We had a crazy, epic flip-flop during the last hours of this event where leader John Gorilla, riding a prototype titanium Salsa Cycles Warbird, had five flats and relinquished his lead to eventual surprise winner Dennis Grelk. John ended up coming in fifth place.

We had one of the legendary stories of the early gravel days happen at this event. Earlier in the event, on Saturday morning, Corey "Cornbread" Godfrey blew his derailleur off his bike and damaged his frame to the point which he was looking like a sure DNF. However; he hitched a ride back to the start in Grinnell, had the local bike shop fix his bike up as a single speed, returned to the course, and caught up with some buddies. He ended up riding the entire rest of the event. Although he had to be DQ'ed for outside assistance, his determination to ride and complete the course was without peer, and stands as one of the outstanding accomplishments of Cornbread's Hall of Fame career in gravel.

It turned out to be quite the Easter Sunday that year, and is one I won't soon forget, especially since this was the event which was documented by Jeff Frings and won an Emmy award for regional best documentary. That documentary is called "300 Miles Of Gravel", in case you are interested in seeing it.

Trans Iowa Stories: Epic Race, Epic Documentary

The temporary header for the Trans Iowa v8 site. Story on that coming....

"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 event was, for the first half of its lifespan, a pretty 'underground, 'under the radar' affair. I mean, people knew about it, but only the ones who were tuned in for something different, off the wall, and crazy. It wasn't nationally known, and folks in my home town of Waterloo, Iowa, even if they were cyclists, did not know anything about Trans Iowa. That all changed with Trans Iowa v7.

We had stories come out about Trans Iowa in some indy-mags like "Iowa Momentum" and "XXC" magazine after v8. There was the feature article in "Dirt Rag" after v7, along with a cover story in the cycling industry trade magazine, "Bicycle Retailer and Industry News" in December of 2011. Then there was Zach Dundas' book, "The Renegade Sportsman", which had a big chapter devoted to Trans Iowa v3 in it which came out in 2010. Those all blew the lid off the idea that Trans Iowa was 'under the radar' and exposed the idea of gravel racing and riding to a much wider audience. But the one media effort that came out of Trans Iowa v7 that had the most impact, and the longest lasting impact, without a doubt, is the film documentary "300 Miles of Gravel" by Jeff Frings.

The idea of someone documenting Trans Iowa in images was, of course, not a new one. Starting with Trans Iowa v2 we had many offers and requests to have several different folks come and photograph Trans Iowa. I recall when this first started happening that it was mostly annoying little requests which came off, to me at least, as excuses for people to be out on course to spectate, which I was firmly against. The idea of some yahoo running around in a car with a point and shoot camera masquerading as a "photographer" was not on my list of things to even consider having. I promptly shut down most of these offers.

Now I am glad that the Pirate Cycling League guys talked me into letting David Story document Trans Iowa v3. He did such a great job at capturing imagery, that in my opinion, he set off the imaginations of many creatives to come and do similar things for future Trans Iowas. During Trans Iowa v4 we had two individuals shooting the event. After not really having anybody doing imagery for two years, we had Steve Fuller step into the imagery taking mode for Trans Iowa v7. Steve was tasked with image taking for the upcoming "Dirt Rag" story, so he armed himself with a lot of rental lenses and camera gear. I knew of this going in, so when I got an email on December 3rd, 2010 from a stranger with the email address "info@jefffringsphotography.com", I was on the defensive right away. His last line really had me wondering though.

"I'd like to come down and do a documentary on the event because I think an epic race would make an epic documentary."

This didn't sound like a request to photograph Trans Iowa. What was this guy on about? All I could imagine at the time was some creepy weirdo running around my course in a Ford Pinto with a Super-8 movie camera. Uggh! I didn't need any distractions or more issues. I was trying to right the ship and put on the best Trans Iowa ever. Having to help some guy with what could very well be a half-baked idea resulting in a sub-par product was not something I wanted to entertain doing.

However; Jeff Frings sent me a response that pretty much sold me on his concept for the project. Then I, somehow or another, I must have archived the email thread. Finally, Jeff, awaiting a response from me, got a hold of me again in March of 2011. He must have really wanted to do this project, because I feel like most folks, after three plus months of being ignored, would have shrugged and moved on with other things. So, in a way, the documentary almost didn't happen!

Interestingly, Jeff told me that the interviews he had planned on doing were only going to be 10-15 minutes. He did mention wanting to get myself and David interviewed, amongst other riders, and obviously you all know what happened there. My interview went far longer. I think what happened was that Jeff kind of knew when he started asking me questions that he had something special being captured, so he kept the camera rolling for twice the length of time he had originally intended. By the time we reached the end of that interview he had captured that very emotional, last response, which you see at the end of the documentary.

I, however, did not see the framework, nor the possibilities that Jeff was obviously seeing from that point on. In fact, I still was really skeptical about this whole thing being any good at all. The dramatic and emotionally draining circumstances surrounding the end of Trans Iowa v7 pretty much put my mind off Jeff Frings' project as well. That is until I saw the very short trailer sample he sent me during the Summer of 2011.

Whoa! This might actually be something good! 

The scene just prior to the debut of "300 Miles of Gravel" at the T.I.v8 pre-race.

Of course, Jeff held his cards close to his chest until the documentary was unveiled at the Pre-Race Meat-Up for Trans Iowa v8. I hadn't seen anything other than two trailers released ahead of the project, but my expectations were raised a lot higher than I figured they would have been to begin with. And in the end, I was not disappointed. The project was a smashing success, in my opinion.

The documentary went on to win a Regional Emmy and was rebroadcast in two different forms on Iowa Public Television for several years afterward. The impacts of each of those things are still being felt today. The story of Trans Iowa had been told in a moving visual form for the first, and as it turns out, only time. This spread the story of gravel riding and racing, the story of courage and determination, and the story of grassroots sports, to a very wide audience.

It's a testament to Trans Iowa, the people who made the event tic, and gravel racing. It is kind of embarrassing for me, since I take up a big part of the film, but I think even Jeff saw that the event was a representation of a part of myself. How Trans Iowa came from the heart, and every part of it was affected by that. No escaping that part, I guess, so it shouldn't be something I am reticent to embrace, but it feels weird.

I cannot let this post end without thanking Jeff Frings, his wife, and the few other individuals responsible for the production of this film. They pursued a vision and executed it with the highest craft and class imaginable. It was all far more than I could have ever hoped or asked for. And for that I am forever in their debt. Thank you!

Next: Feeling Low

Trans Iowa Stories: Epic Race, Epic Documentary

The temporary header for the Trans Iowa v8 site. Story on that coming....

"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 event was, for the first half of its lifespan, a pretty 'underground, 'under the radar' affair. I mean, people knew about it, but only the ones who were tuned in for something different, off the wall, and crazy. It wasn't nationally known, and folks in my home town of Waterloo, Iowa, even if they were cyclists, did not know anything about Trans Iowa. That all changed with Trans Iowa v7.

We had stories come out about Trans Iowa in some indy-mags like "Iowa Momentum" and "XXC" magazine after v8. There was the feature article in "Dirt Rag" after v7, along with a cover story in the cycling industry trade magazine, "Bicycle Retailer and Industry News" in December of 2011. Then there was Zach Dundas' book, "The Renegade Sportsman", which had a big chapter devoted to Trans Iowa v3 in it which came out in 2010. Those all blew the lid off the idea that Trans Iowa was 'under the radar' and exposed the idea of gravel racing and riding to a much wider audience. But the one media effort that came out of Trans Iowa v7 that had the most impact, and the longest lasting impact, without a doubt, is the film documentary "300 Miles of Gravel" by Jeff Frings.

The idea of someone documenting Trans Iowa in images was, of course, not a new one. Starting with Trans Iowa v2 we had many offers and requests to have several different folks come and photograph Trans Iowa. I recall when this first started happening that it was mostly annoying little requests which came off, to me at least, as excuses for people to be out on course to spectate, which I was firmly against. The idea of some yahoo running around in a car with a point and shoot camera masquerading as a "photographer" was not on my list of things to even consider having. I promptly shut down most of these offers.

Now I am glad that the Pirate Cycling League guys talked me into letting David Story document Trans Iowa v3. He did such a great job at capturing imagery, that in my opinion, he set off the imaginations of many creatives to come and do similar things for future Trans Iowas. During Trans Iowa v4 we had two individuals shooting the event. After not really having anybody doing imagery for two years, we had Steve Fuller step into the imagery taking mode for Trans Iowa v7. Steve was tasked with image taking for the upcoming "Dirt Rag" story, so he armed himself with a lot of rental lenses and camera gear. I knew of this going in, so when I got an email on December 3rd, 2010 from a stranger with the email address "info@jefffringsphotography.com", I was on the defensive right away. His last line really had me wondering though.

"I'd like to come down and do a documentary on the event because I think an epic race would make an epic documentary."

This didn't sound like a request to photograph Trans Iowa. What was this guy on about? All I could imagine at the time was some creepy weirdo running around my course in a Ford Pinto with a Super-8 movie camera. Uggh! I didn't need any distractions or more issues. I was trying to right the ship and put on the best Trans Iowa ever. Having to help some guy with what could very well be a half-baked idea resulting in a sub-par product was not something I wanted to entertain doing.

However; Jeff Frings sent me a response that pretty much sold me on his concept for the project. Then I, somehow or another, I must have archived the email thread. Finally, Jeff, awaiting a response from me, got a hold of me again in March of 2011. He must have really wanted to do this project, because I feel like most folks, after three plus months of being ignored, would have shrugged and moved on with other things. So, in a way, the documentary almost didn't happen!

Interestingly, Jeff told me that the interviews he had planned on doing were only going to be 10-15 minutes. He did mention wanting to get myself and David interviewed, amongst other riders, and obviously you all know what happened there. My interview went far longer. I think what happened was that Jeff kind of knew when he started asking me questions that he had something special being captured, so he kept the camera rolling for twice the length of time he had originally intended. By the time we reached the end of that interview he had captured that very emotional, last response, which you see at the end of the documentary.

I, however, did not see the framework, nor the possibilities that Jeff was obviously seeing from that point on. In fact, I still was really skeptical about this whole thing being any good at all. The dramatic and emotionally draining circumstances surrounding the end of Trans Iowa v7 pretty much put my mind off Jeff Frings' project as well. That is until I saw the very short trailer sample he sent me during the Summer of 2011.

Whoa! This might actually be something good! 

The scene just prior to the debut of "300 Miles of Gravel" at the T.I.v8 pre-race.

Of course, Jeff held his cards close to his chest until the documentary was unveiled at the Pre-Race Meat-Up for Trans Iowa v8. I hadn't seen anything other than two trailers released ahead of the project, but my expectations were raised a lot higher than I figured they would have been to begin with. And in the end, I was not disappointed. The project was a smashing success, in my opinion.

The documentary went on to win a Regional Emmy and was rebroadcast in two different forms on Iowa Public Television for several years afterward. The impacts of each of those things are still being felt today. The story of Trans Iowa had been told in a moving visual form for the first, and as it turns out, only time. This spread the story of gravel riding and racing, the story of courage and determination, and the story of grassroots sports, to a very wide audience.

It's a testament to Trans Iowa, the people who made the event tic, and gravel racing. It is kind of embarrassing for me, since I take up a big part of the film, but I think even Jeff saw that the event was a representation of a part of myself. How Trans Iowa came from the heart, and every part of it was affected by that. No escaping that part, I guess, so it shouldn't be something I am reticent to embrace, but it feels weird.

I cannot let this post end without thanking Jeff Frings, his wife, and the few other individuals responsible for the production of this film. They pursued a vision and executed it with the highest craft and class imaginable. It was all far more than I could have ever hoped or asked for. And for that I am forever in their debt. Thank you!

Next: Feeling Low

Trans Iowa Stories: A Fire In The Belly

T.I.v7- Passing some finishers as we searched for two lost riders Easter morning 2011.

 "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!

Trans Iowa v7 wasn't even over yet and I had already committed to running a Trans Iowa again. "This couldn't be the way Trans Iowa would be run again", I was thinking.

I was, as I wrote in my last edition of these stories, very angry. I typically do not get really angry, I'm just not wired that way, but if I reach a point of frustration where 'that line gets crossed', well, then I am all about making some changes and that forcefully. Now, I had no intentions of violence toward David, although the source of my feelings was my perception at the time that he had let me down for no good reason. My anger wasn't aimed at anyone in particular. No- this was on me, and the next Trans Iowa was going to be the one that defined me. 

I somehow had realized at this point, innately I think, that Trans Iowa was Guitar Ted and Guitar Ted was Trans Iowa. The two were intertwined and regardless of who was helping me, and regardless of how I might try to deflect attention toward anyone helping, the public was already fixated on me being Trans Iowa. It just was how it came to be. Of course, I knew better, and I still hold to the narrative that I am a bit part player in the whole thing, but I am in the minority. However; at that time, bouncing around in David's Honda Element near the end of T.I.v7, all I knew was that people were looking to me to see what would happen next. And I was bound and determined to make that next experience the best one possible.

Corey "Cornbread" Godfrey on his way in after an incredible ride overcoming adversity in T.I.v7. Shot taken through a muddy wind shield!

The fire was lit. But first I had to get over what had just happened. There was the issue with David which eventually was resolved mid-Summer of 2011. Then there was the friendship with MG, which was on its way to being mended by late Summer as well. So, then I was able to turn my attention to Trans Iowa once again. There was no more distraction from putting on a mountain bike festival, or website work stress. The two sites I was running had been stabilized and the gravel site was running smoothly. Now it was time to make some plans.

We didn't have number plates for T.I.v7. We had "prayer flags"

I had a few people stepping up to help, but this version of Trans Iowa largely was resting on my shoulders. Route recon was, for the first time since Trans Iowa v3, all my baby. So, I was of the mind that I had to get cranking on that sooner than later. Maps were purchased, online resources were tapped, and I spent many nights digging into the possibilities.

One of those seriously considered possibilities was moving the event from Grinnell. I asked a few trusted folks about the possibility of moving Trans Iowa to somewhere West or South of Des Moines. Winterset, Iowa was a consideration, and the thought was we'd circumnavigate Des Moines, like Gravel Worlds does with Lincoln, Nebraska. However; after I considered the difficulties in setting up relationships, finding suitable venues, and making sure none of that cost me money, I quickly realized how well I had it in Grinnell. The event stayed put as a result.

I was on my own with those and other decisions this time, and the feeling of not having David Pals support and wisdom was felt sharply.  But that is not to say that I had no support. No- I had a lot of people and organizations looking to help in any way that they could. Grinnell was going to host again. That was a given, and Rob Versteegh, of Oakley, was onboard to provide access to "The Barn" and prizing for the winners. (Although the barn part fell through in the end) The volunteer list would once again include Wally and George, who had such a cool checkpoint set up that was so popular with the riders that I would have been a fool not to accept them again for T.I.v8. Plus, I had become fond of them rather quickly.

The group of cyclists from the Chicago area who called themselves the "Slender Fungus" were onboard as well to help in any way that they could. That and they promised to bring several riders to the next Trans Iowa. Support from other Trans Iowa stalwarts, such as Corey "Cornbread" Godfrey and Tim Ek were valuable motivations for me. I had more incentives than ever to move ahead with my plans.

Those plans included adding a covered bridge crossing to the route, going South, since we hadn't been that way before, and to have the most perfect cue sheets in Trans Iowa history. None of those things were easy, by the way, and one of those things didn't happen. The route finding was arduous. Not just in terms of research, but in the physical activity of route finding as well. One such story about the recon shows this in both ways.

One of the major hurdles to making any big loop course in Iowa is rivers. They impose a certain way of making routes that dictates what happens for an entire course. This is due to limited options to cross these rivers in many cases. The South Skunk River was a constant reminder of this, which for T.I.v8 happened to be the easier of my obstacles to overcome. The Des Moines River, however; was a beast to get around.

Tim Ek (R) and Charlie Farrow at CP#2 during T.I.v7. Tim was a major help to me back in this era of T.I.

I had searched online using Google Earth for hours trying to find a suitable bridge to get over the mighty Des Moines, and while there are several bridges, you can imagine almost all of them carry major highways. Not suitable or practical for a gravel road event! But I did come across one old steel gable bridge near Pella, Iowa that looked promising. The Iowa DOT maps showed that it was a gravel road, and Google earth images were inconclusive. I couldn't ask anybody, because the route had to be kept top-secret. So, the only way to find out was to make a four hour round trip down just to see. That doesn't include time doing any recon, by the way. That's just travel to and from. So, just to verify one bridge would take, in reality, most of a day. This was the sort of commitment I had to make to get the course developed, and my drive to do it right got me through all objections.

So, you can imagine the gut punch I felt when I found out that a farmer on the South side of that bridge had plowed the road asunder and taken it over as part of his farm field. I stood there at the Southern end of that bridge staring at a mere quarter mile of field to where the road picked up again. A quarter of a mile! No alternative was left to me other than to scrap that part of the planned course and go back home and start looking again. Now, I did get a few tidbits of information and I did figure out some things, so it wasn't a total loss, but getting over the Des Moines River was a huge problem.

Fortunately another find via Google Earth did actually pan out. I found evidence of another bridge over the Des Moines River leading from a gravel road which DOT maps showed coming out of a small town called Agency, Iowa. The town was once a Native American trading post and the site of Chief Wapello's grave. Perfect! I loved sending Trans Iowa through historical areas, even though the riders might never know they were historical areas. Another 2+ hour trip to get down there proved exciting due to the bridge not only proving out, but in that it had been recently replaced. So, there was little fear that it would be closed come time for T.I.v8.

Red arrows show return route of T.I.v8 on a paved county road bridge.

Recon was completed when we had a freak 50+ degree Sunny day the first week of 2012. I managed to get the cues started early, and the route looked great. No covered bridge though! I had one on the radar, but the return route wasn't lining up to take it in without adding a lot of mileage which would have put us over the self-imposed limitation of 340. The other bummer was that I ended up having to route the course over a paved county road bridge for the Des Moines River which was going to put in about two plus miles of pavement. But that was on the return route, and probably in the dead of night with the lowest traffic count possible. Besides, there was no other choice I could make without scrapping everything leading up to that point.

So, I poured over the cues diligently all the rest of the Winter. I mocked up a set, and through communication with Wally Kilburg, I was able to talk he and George Keslin into coming out to help verify my route. It was another layer of 'insurance' which I had conceived of post-T.I.v7 which would independently verify my cues. Originally I wasn't even going to go along, but Wally convinced me that my presence would not affect the outcome. In fact, he motioned that if a call had to be made to clarify a cue, mark a point for reference, or reroute, that my being along would be crucial to my goals. So, I relented and went along.

Wally and George would navigate by my draft cue sheets, and we could also look for a suitable Checkpoint #2 location. So, it was set up for mid-March and we would go on that first, unforgettable recon mission. I'll tell more about that later.

The point here is that I had to make a huge sacrifice in time, mileage, and effort to get T.I.v8 cues "spot on". I did those two previous mentioned recon trips to vet the bridges existences out, another previous recon effort of the Northern parts of the course, and that big drive in January which was well over 300 miles. The constant pouring over route maps, websites, and thinking about that course took a lot of energy. Then the drawing up of the cues, going over them three times or more to find mistakes, and make sure directions were clear. Look- the point I'm trying to drive home is this: I had a drive to make T.I.v8 perfect. I was energized like never before to pull this off. No false expectations, just 'nose-to-the-grindstone' work. All due to what happened in T.I.v7.

Did it work? Was T.I.v8 perfect? Yes, and no, and "it depends on who you ask". I guess the main thing that came out of Trans Iowa v7 was that this drive, this fire in my belly, well it made the rest of the Trans Iowa organizing and production after this a lot simpler, more precise, and it led to a lot less problems. And that was a good thing after an emotionally draining time going through things that should not have happened which undid friendships and hurt me personally.

I never went through anything quite like that again because of Trans Iowa. But that isn't to say that there weren't issues and excitement that I could have done without. That happened right up through to the end.

Next: We take a break from the story about the next Trans Iowa in the story, v8, and take a look at some of the artwork that defined the event in The Look Of Trans Iowa.

Trans Iowa Stories: A Fire In The Belly

T.I.v7- Passing some finishers as we searched for two lost riders Easter morning 2011.

 "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!

Trans Iowa v7 wasn't even over yet and I had already committed to running a Trans Iowa again. "This couldn't be the way Trans Iowa would be run again", I was thinking.

I was, as I wrote in my last edition of these stories, very angry. I typically do not get really angry, I'm just not wired that way, but if I reach a point of frustration where 'that line gets crossed', well, then I am all about making some changes and that forcefully. Now, I had no intentions of violence toward David, although the source of my feelings was my perception at the time that he had let me down for no good reason. My anger wasn't aimed at anyone in particular. No- this was on me, and the next Trans Iowa was going to be the one that defined me. 

I somehow had realized at this point, innately I think, that Trans Iowa was Guitar Ted and Guitar Ted was Trans Iowa. The two were intertwined and regardless of who was helping me, and regardless of how I might try to deflect attention toward anyone helping, the public was already fixated on me being Trans Iowa. It just was how it came to be. Of course, I knew better, and I still hold to the narrative that I am a bit part player in the whole thing, but I am in the minority. However; at that time, bouncing around in David's Honda Element near the end of T.I.v7, all I knew was that people were looking to me to see what would happen next. And I was bound and determined to make that next experience the best one possible.

Corey "Cornbread" Godfrey on his way in after an incredible ride overcoming adversity in T.I.v7. Shot taken through a muddy wind shield!

The fire was lit. But first I had to get over what had just happened. There was the issue with David which eventually was resolved mid-Summer of 2011. Then there was the friendship with MG, which was on its way to being mended by late Summer as well. So, then I was able to turn my attention to Trans Iowa once again. There was no more distraction from putting on a mountain bike festival, or website work stress. The two sites I was running had been stabilized and the gravel site was running smoothly. Now it was time to make some plans.

We didn't have number plates for T.I.v7. We had "prayer flags"

I had a few people stepping up to help, but this version of Trans Iowa largely was resting on my shoulders. Route recon was, for the first time since Trans Iowa v3, all my baby. So, I was of the mind that I had to get cranking on that sooner than later. Maps were purchased, online resources were tapped, and I spent many nights digging into the possibilities.

One of those seriously considered possibilities was moving the event from Grinnell. I asked a few trusted folks about the possibility of moving Trans Iowa to somewhere West or South of Des Moines. Winterset, Iowa was a consideration, and the thought was we'd circumnavigate Des Moines, like Gravel Worlds does with Lincoln, Nebraska. However; after I considered the difficulties in setting up relationships, finding suitable venues, and making sure none of that cost me money, I quickly realized how well I had it in Grinnell. The event stayed put as a result.

I was on my own with those and other decisions this time, and the feeling of not having David Pals support and wisdom was felt sharply.  But that is not to say that I had no support. No- I had a lot of people and organizations looking to help in any way that they could. Grinnell was going to host again. That was a given, and Rob Versteegh, of Oakley, was onboard to provide access to "The Barn" and prizing for the winners. (Although the barn part fell through in the end) The volunteer list would once again include Wally and George, who had such a cool checkpoint set up that was so popular with the riders that I would have been a fool not to accept them again for T.I.v8. Plus, I had become fond of them rather quickly.

The group of cyclists from the Chicago area who called themselves the "Slender Fungus" were onboard as well to help in any way that they could. That and they promised to bring several riders to the next Trans Iowa. Support from other Trans Iowa stalwarts, such as Corey "Cornbread" Godfrey and Tim Ek were valuable motivations for me. I had more incentives than ever to move ahead with my plans.

Those plans included adding a covered bridge crossing to the route, going South, since we hadn't been that way before, and to have the most perfect cue sheets in Trans Iowa history. None of those things were easy, by the way, and one of those things didn't happen. The route finding was arduous. Not just in terms of research, but in the physical activity of route finding as well. One such story about the recon shows this in both ways.

One of the major hurdles to making any big loop course in Iowa is rivers. They impose a certain way of making routes that dictates what happens for an entire course. This is due to limited options to cross these rivers in many cases. The South Skunk River was a constant reminder of this, which for T.I.v8 happened to be the easier of my obstacles to overcome. The Des Moines River, however; was a beast to get around.

Tim Ek (R) and Charlie Farrow at CP#2 during T.I.v7. Tim was a major help to me back in this era of T.I.

I had searched online using Google Earth for hours trying to find a suitable bridge to get over the mighty Des Moines, and while there are several bridges, you can imagine almost all of them carry major highways. Not suitable or practical for a gravel road event! But I did come across one old steel gable bridge near Pella, Iowa that looked promising. The Iowa DOT maps showed that it was a gravel road, and Google earth images were inconclusive. I couldn't ask anybody, because the route had to be kept top-secret. So, the only way to find out was to make a four hour round trip down just to see. That doesn't include time doing any recon, by the way. That's just travel to and from. So, just to verify one bridge would take, in reality, most of a day. This was the sort of commitment I had to make to get the course developed, and my drive to do it right got me through all objections.

So, you can imagine the gut punch I felt when I found out that a farmer on the South side of that bridge had plowed the road asunder and taken it over as part of his farm field. I stood there at the Southern end of that bridge staring at a mere quarter mile of field to where the road picked up again. A quarter of a mile! No alternative was left to me other than to scrap that part of the planned course and go back home and start looking again. Now, I did get a few tidbits of information and I did figure out some things, so it wasn't a total loss, but getting over the Des Moines River was a huge problem.

Fortunately another find via Google Earth did actually pan out. I found evidence of another bridge over the Des Moines River leading from a gravel road which DOT maps showed coming out of a small town called Agency, Iowa. The town was once a Native American trading post and the site of Chief Wapello's grave. Perfect! I loved sending Trans Iowa through historical areas, even though the riders might never know they were historical areas. Another 2+ hour trip to get down there proved exciting due to the bridge not only proving out, but in that it had been recently replaced. So, there was little fear that it would be closed come time for T.I.v8.

Red arrows show return route of T.I.v8 on a paved county road bridge.

Recon was completed when we had a freak 50+ degree Sunny day the first week of 2012. I managed to get the cues started early, and the route looked great. No covered bridge though! I had one on the radar, but the return route wasn't lining up to take it in without adding a lot of mileage which would have put us over the self-imposed limitation of 340. The other bummer was that I ended up having to route the course over a paved county road bridge for the Des Moines River which was going to put in about two plus miles of pavement. But that was on the return route, and probably in the dead of night with the lowest traffic count possible. Besides, there was no other choice I could make without scrapping everything leading up to that point.

So, I poured over the cues diligently all the rest of the Winter. I mocked up a set, and through communication with Wally Kilburg, I was able to talk he and George Keslin into coming out to help verify my route. It was another layer of 'insurance' which I had conceived of post-T.I.v7 which would independently verify my cues. Originally I wasn't even going to go along, but Wally convinced me that my presence would not affect the outcome. In fact, he motioned that if a call had to be made to clarify a cue, mark a point for reference, or reroute, that my being along would be crucial to my goals. So, I relented and went along.

Wally and George would navigate by my draft cue sheets, and we could also look for a suitable Checkpoint #2 location. So, it was set up for mid-March and we would go on that first, unforgettable recon mission. I'll tell more about that later.

The point here is that I had to make a huge sacrifice in time, mileage, and effort to get T.I.v8 cues "spot on". I did those two previous mentioned recon trips to vet the bridges existences out, another previous recon effort of the Northern parts of the course, and that big drive in January which was well over 300 miles. The constant pouring over route maps, websites, and thinking about that course took a lot of energy. Then the drawing up of the cues, going over them three times or more to find mistakes, and make sure directions were clear. Look- the point I'm trying to drive home is this: I had a drive to make T.I.v8 perfect. I was energized like never before to pull this off. No false expectations, just 'nose-to-the-grindstone' work. All due to what happened in T.I.v7.

Did it work? Was T.I.v8 perfect? Yes, and no, and "it depends on who you ask". I guess the main thing that came out of Trans Iowa v7 was that this drive, this fire in my belly, well it made the rest of the Trans Iowa organizing and production after this a lot simpler, more precise, and it led to a lot less problems. And that was a good thing after an emotionally draining time going through things that should not have happened which undid friendships and hurt me personally.

I never went through anything quite like that again because of Trans Iowa. But that isn't to say that there weren't issues and excitement that I could have done without. That happened right up through to the end.

Next: We take a break from the story about the next Trans Iowa in the story, v8, and take a look at some of the artwork that defined the event in The Look Of Trans Iowa.

Trans Iowa Stories: Ends And Beginnings

"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!

Trans Iowa v7 was a pivotal one, and from where I sit, the major changes that occurred had to do with two things. Ironically, they were related to one seemingly simple thing- cue sheets. Obviously cue sheets were central to how Trans Iowa ran. Without a marked course, a GPS track, and since I made new courses for every Trans Iowa, the only way to run the riders around the "big-assed loop" was by cue sheets. Obviously, the task required to produce them was arduous, tedious, and time consuming. Without concise, correct cues, Trans Iowa would be an unmitigated failure. Of course, I took cue sheet production and the quality of those cues very personally. If they were late, not right, or if riders became lost or frustrated due to poor execution of the cues, I would take that upon myself as the worst thing for me personally. So, keeping all of that in mind, I will continue on with what caused the end of a partnership and nearly undid a friendship.

You may recall that as I told the story about T.I.v6 that David emailed me with a frustration over cue sheets and that this nearly derailed Trans Iowa that year. You'll also recall that I largely forgot about that going into T.I.v7. However; after a fantastic Fall and Summer spent off and on with David doing bicycles and recon, he pretty much went "radio silent mode" for December through March. I couldn't get a hold of him, my emails went unanswered, and I became worried about the cues again, since he was in charge of that.

Emily Broderson sent me this multi-part post card in sections that I had to assemble for T.I.v7 entry

I became increasingly frustrated with the situation to the point that I had determined in my mind that beyond T.I.v7 I was going to have to be the only one that would do cue sheets. In my view, no one else was taking this as seriously as I needed it to be taken. That was my pre-T.I.v7 view. What I did not know was that David had been putting in 12+ hour days at work, suffering threats of cutbacks and potential loss of his job, and trying to hold his family life together. Unfortunately, he wasn't communicating this with me at the time, so all I knew was that the cues weren't being done, and that this was unacceptable. From what I knew, it was my opinion that David was incompetent. Unfair viewpoint looking back on it now as it was, but those were my true feelings at the time.

  In the end, all I knew was that Trans Iowa had to be put on. Finally, David produced some cues and I was going to finish up the deed myself for T.I.v7. It wasn't a pretty exchange of e-mails to get to that point. However; it got worse. David, in an effort to get his part of the course done, just ran cues off a poorly formatted GPS mapping site which had multitudinous miscues and was totally unusable. It was probably due to his state of affairs at the time with work and such that this occurred. At any rate, it was obvious that he hadn't checked the cues against his part of the route plan.

I was deeply alarmed and angry. I cannot remember the details, but somehow we managed to get better directions for his part of the course, and Trans Iowa was, somehow, able to go on. That said, this poorly vetted section which David was in charge of came back to bite us. Plus there was another unforeseen snafu waiting in the weeds for us as well. But before we discovered that, I had the film crew of Jeff Frings and his wife to deal with and there was a situation that I found puzzling in regard to that.

Friday before T.I.v7 was foggy, wet, and dreary.

David had once again expressed displeasure in how he had sort of a backseat presence in terms of Trans Iowa. He didn't like that I had referred to him as "d.p." on my blog, and he wanted more of a "say" in things. I was a bit puzzled by this, because when Jeff Frings offered to do a short interview just before we left for the Pre-Race Meat-Up, I asked David to join in. He declined.

In the back of my mind in that moment I was flummoxed. How can you be a bigger part of Trans Iowa if you don't want to get out there and be "the face of it"? Getting on camera for the film was, as I saw it, the perfect opportunity for David to jump in. Also, in my mind, he was already a bigger part of the event behind the scenes. In my view, at that point, he maybe had too much of a part in the event, because I was under the impressions that he couldn't even produce cues that were decent. I was completely confused by David at that point.

Back to the film- Jeff Frings didn't want to intrude upon the natural state of affairs, rather wanting to capture things 'as they would normally be' for a Trans Iowa. So there was no script for David and I to follow. The impromptu interview before the Pre-Race Meat-Up was really the only chance to 'get a word in'  regarding the film. So, the result was that I got on the film, ended up being a major part of it, and David barely got any screen time at all. Trust me- it wasn't a plan going in. It was just how it was with David and he seemed to avoid the spotlight wherever possible.

Then there was the bridge out at Mile 7 on course the following day. Sheesh! That was a big surprise! Of course, it resulted in an off-course excursion for most of the T.I.v7 field, leading them up an unnecessary Level B road, and essentially put a lot of riders into arrears time-wise. Many missed Checkpoint #1 because of this. Included in that bunch was Jay Barre, who is the very disappointed fellow in white in the film "300 Miles Of Gravel". That scene "gets" me every time I see it. Now you can probably guess why that is. Anyway.....

I had photographer Steve Fuller drive the course previous to T.I.v7 and he had reported no issues. But I hadn't checked it. So afterward I instigated the policy wherein I drove to CP#1 the day before a Trans Iowa every year. Sometimes further, just so I would never again have to deal with THAT situation. And if that wasn't enough......

Morning dawns on Easter Sunday during T.I.v7. David and I were searching for two lost riders.

This happened to be another time when David insisted we try to get some overnight rest. So we had reconned far ahead of the riders and it was apparent by the cues in the latter half of T.I.v7, which happened to be the part David was responsible for, that there were many shortcomings. Once I realized this, it reinforced the feelings I had about taking complete control of the cues and recon. This was just too much for me to deal with again in the future. In the meantime, we went on with recon ahead of the riders until we went back to Grinnell, and finally we tried to get some sleep.

We met the riders coming in as we backtracked the course Easter morning of 2011.

Again, I don't know how much sleep I actually got in, but it wasn't much. I do remember getting a phone call while it was still dark out from an angry Matt Gersib who took me to task for poorly written cues, getting riders lost, and making their hard training efforts worthless by misleading them on some wild goose chase across Iowa that was unfinishable. Finally, Matt added that he and his riding partner were lost. Of course, I was deeply alarmed and took it very personally. I had failed Matt. So, I made David get out of bed and we were going to backtrack the T.I.v7 course to find Matt and his riding companion no matter what it took.

Reading cues backwards is hard enough. Reading cues backwards on little to no sleep is nigh unto impossible. Add in goofy miscues and it is no wonder that, at one point, my brain was so twisted around that I had to have David stop the car and I had to get out and clear my head. David insisted he knew which way to go, but I was so upset I wasn't going to trust anyone's judgement in the matter other than my own. So we stood there until I was satisfied I had it right, then we continued. David was fairly nonplussed by it all by outward appearances, but I am sure it made him angry looking back.

We forged on with less issues and after awhile, we were actually having a pretty good time. Occasionally we would stop and chat with incoming riders, and to a person the feeling was that it was an awesome event. However; I kept hearing tales of a broken down bridge where riders had to tightrope walk across some open decking on supporting timbers across a creek. Internally I was horrified. Someone could have easily fallen and gotten injured or worse in the dark. Apparently it was all due to another miscue on David's part of the course. Had I known this was in the course, I would have rerouted it out. But what was done was done.

David Pals, (back to camera) chatting with Eric Brunt (L) while John Williams attends to his bike.

We continued on route and everyone we passed by finished eventually. We came upon the final two riders, Matt Gersib and another guy, in North English. MG shot me a glance that could have killed. He was livid. Needless to say they did not finish either.

I was crestfallen. My friend was angry and had every right to be. But now it was off back to the finish line to see who would come in. I missed Dennis Grelk winning the event. The only other time that happened  that I missed seeing the winner come in was at T.I.v1. (On finish-able years, that is) I was sorely disappointed, but I do remember both David and I cheered when we received the news from the finish line.

Once Janna Vavra and Scott Bigelow came in, David wanted to leave immediately. There was only a few minutes left till the cut-off, and those two riders were the end of our concerns, so I get it. However; I wanted to hang out longer, but the tone in David's voice made me feel like we had to leave right away. So, I got a word in edgewise with Janna and a pic, then we had to scoot, because David said he had to be somewhere. I think now that he was just fed up with me, Trans Iowa, and all that was going down in his life and wanted it over. I'm spit ballin' there, but I bet that's not far off the mark. David brought me back to my truck, I got my stuff and he said goodbye and walked briskly back to his vehicle, started it, and drove away. It was the last time I'd see him for many years. No agreements to do anything again. No looking back, no commentary, he just sped away and never looked back.

Immediately I was furious with him and for several days my anger burned and I was searching for ways that maybe I could release him from his duties. I had the "Dirt Rag" feature article to wrap up right after T.I.v7, and then about mid-June, I got the proofs of the article back from then editor, Josh Patterson. I hadn't heard a thing from David since T.I.v7 ended.

Wally Kilburg and George Keslin ran CP#2 for v7. It was the start of something great.

But I had heard about him. His father, Darryl, often frequented the shop where I used to work, since he lived not far away. He told me about David's troubles with his job, and that things were rough for him. Well, I was softened toward him greatly by this news, but perplexed as to why he felt the need to solely bear his burdens. Still, I wasn't at a point where I could let him have the sort of responsibilities he used to have, but it was time to reach out. The proofs of the "Dirt Rag" feature were a good excuse to do just that.

So, I sent the article proof along with a question: "Are you still in to do another Trans Iowa?" David responded that "....yeah, I think my TI days are over." And to tell the truth, I was greatly relieved. Now I didn't have to delicately work around how I was going to have to be the only one in control, because now David had made the call himself to quit. While I was saddened to see our partnership end like that, I was unburdened and lighter in my spirit than before. 

It should also be said that David related that he was upset that post T.I.v7 only four individuals (including myself) had reached out to him after Trans Iowa v7 was over.  Once again, his dissatisfaction with being seen as not a part of the event worth being grateful for was expressed. But leaving that aside, while I was relieved that there would be no further tensions between he and I and Trans Iowa, I knew that his absence would be felt keenly. Not by anyone else, apparently, but by me? Yes.

And then there was Matt Gersib. That friendship reached the threadbare state when after T.I.v7 Matt went on a tear on my blog commenting about the event in a negative way. I had a lot of behind the scenes email and conversations with Matt, and eventually we got the fences mended to the point that Matt decided he would be a volunteer at T.I.v8 to monitor my corrections to the event.

I'll tell you what- that whole post-T.I.v7 thing undid me. Now I am so glad I made the effort to be Matt's friend, and I am really proud of how Trans Iowa changed because of the things I learned with David Pals. But at that time these things were some of the most difficult things I had ever had to deal with. Boy! Was I ever glad to have the events of Trans Iowa v7 behind me! 

Next A Fire In The Belly

Trans Iowa Stories: Ends And Beginnings

"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!

Trans Iowa v7 was a pivotal one, and from where I sit, the major changes that occurred had to do with two things. Ironically, they were related to one seemingly simple thing- cue sheets. Obviously cue sheets were central to how Trans Iowa ran. Without a marked course, a GPS track, and since I made new courses for every Trans Iowa, the only way to run the riders around the "big-assed loop" was by cue sheets. Obviously, the task required to produce them was arduous, tedious, and time consuming. Without concise, correct cues, Trans Iowa would be an unmitigated failure. Of course, I took cue sheet production and the quality of those cues very personally. If they were late, not right, or if riders became lost or frustrated due to poor execution of the cues, I would take that upon myself as the worst thing for me personally. So, keeping all of that in mind, I will continue on with what caused the end of a partnership and nearly undid a friendship.

You may recall that as I told the story about T.I.v6 that David emailed me with a frustration over cue sheets and that this nearly derailed Trans Iowa that year. You'll also recall that I largely forgot about that going into T.I.v7. However; after a fantastic Fall and Summer spent off and on with David doing bicycles and recon, he pretty much went "radio silent mode" for December through March. I couldn't get a hold of him, my emails went unanswered, and I became worried about the cues again, since he was in charge of that.

Emily Broderson sent me this multi-part post card in sections that I had to assemble for T.I.v7 entry

I became increasingly frustrated with the situation to the point that I had determined in my mind that beyond T.I.v7 I was going to have to be the only one that would do cue sheets. In my view, no one else was taking this as seriously as I needed it to be taken. That was my pre-T.I.v7 view. What I did not know was that David had been putting in 12+ hour days at work, suffering threats of cutbacks and potential loss of his job, and trying to hold his family life together. Unfortunately, he wasn't communicating this with me at the time, so all I knew was that the cues weren't being done, and that this was unacceptable. From what I knew, it was my opinion that David was incompetent. Unfair viewpoint looking back on it now as it was, but those were my true feelings at the time.

  In the end, all I knew was that Trans Iowa had to be put on. Finally, David produced some cues and I was going to finish up the deed myself for T.I.v7. It wasn't a pretty exchange of e-mails to get to that point. However; it got worse. David, in an effort to get his part of the course done, just ran cues off a poorly formatted GPS mapping site which had multitudinous miscues and was totally unusable. It was probably due to his state of affairs at the time with work and such that this occurred. At any rate, it was obvious that he hadn't checked the cues against his part of the route plan.

I was deeply alarmed and angry. I cannot remember the details, but somehow we managed to get better directions for his part of the course, and Trans Iowa was, somehow, able to go on. That said, this poorly vetted section which David was in charge of came back to bite us. Plus there was another unforeseen snafu waiting in the weeds for us as well. But before we discovered that, I had the film crew of Jeff Frings and his wife to deal with and there was a situation that I found puzzling in regard to that.

Friday before T.I.v7 was foggy, wet, and dreary.

David had once again expressed displeasure in how he had sort of a backseat presence in terms of Trans Iowa. He didn't like that I had referred to him as "d.p." on my blog, and he wanted more of a "say" in things. I was a bit puzzled by this, because when Jeff Frings offered to do a short interview just before we left for the Pre-Race Meat-Up, I asked David to join in. He declined.

In the back of my mind in that moment I was flummoxed. How can you be a bigger part of Trans Iowa if you don't want to get out there and be "the face of it"? Getting on camera for the film was, as I saw it, the perfect opportunity for David to jump in. Also, in my mind, he was already a bigger part of the event behind the scenes. In my view, at that point, he maybe had too much of a part in the event, because I was under the impressions that he couldn't even produce cues that were decent. I was completely confused by David at that point.

Back to the film- Jeff Frings didn't want to intrude upon the natural state of affairs, rather wanting to capture things 'as they would normally be' for a Trans Iowa. So there was no script for David and I to follow. The impromptu interview before the Pre-Race Meat-Up was really the only chance to 'get a word in'  regarding the film. So, the result was that I got on the film, ended up being a major part of it, and David barely got any screen time at all. Trust me- it wasn't a plan going in. It was just how it was with David and he seemed to avoid the spotlight wherever possible.

Then there was the bridge out at Mile 7 on course the following day. Sheesh! That was a big surprise! Of course, it resulted in an off-course excursion for most of the T.I.v7 field, leading them up an unnecessary Level B road, and essentially put a lot of riders into arrears time-wise. Many missed Checkpoint #1 because of this. Included in that bunch was Jay Barre, who is the very disappointed fellow in white in the film "300 Miles Of Gravel". That scene "gets" me every time I see it. Now you can probably guess why that is. Anyway.....

I had photographer Steve Fuller drive the course previous to T.I.v7 and he had reported no issues. But I hadn't checked it. So afterward I instigated the policy wherein I drove to CP#1 the day before a Trans Iowa every year. Sometimes further, just so I would never again have to deal with THAT situation. And if that wasn't enough......

Morning dawns on Easter Sunday during T.I.v7. David and I were searching for two lost riders.

This happened to be another time when David insisted we try to get some overnight rest. So we had reconned far ahead of the riders and it was apparent by the cues in the latter half of T.I.v7, which happened to be the part David was responsible for, that there were many shortcomings. Once I realized this, it reinforced the feelings I had about taking complete control of the cues and recon. This was just too much for me to deal with again in the future. In the meantime, we went on with recon ahead of the riders until we went back to Grinnell, and finally we tried to get some sleep.

We met the riders coming in as we backtracked the course Easter morning of 2011.

Again, I don't know how much sleep I actually got in, but it wasn't much. I do remember getting a phone call while it was still dark out from an angry Matt Gersib who took me to task for poorly written cues, getting riders lost, and making their hard training efforts worthless by misleading them on some wild goose chase across Iowa that was unfinishable. Finally, Matt added that he and his riding partner were lost. Of course, I was deeply alarmed and took it very personally. I had failed Matt. So, I made David get out of bed and we were going to backtrack the T.I.v7 course to find Matt and his riding companion no matter what it took.

Reading cues backwards is hard enough. Reading cues backwards on little to no sleep is nigh unto impossible. Add in goofy miscues and it is no wonder that, at one point, my brain was so twisted around that I had to have David stop the car and I had to get out and clear my head. David insisted he knew which way to go, but I was so upset I wasn't going to trust anyone's judgement in the matter other than my own. So we stood there until I was satisfied I had it right, then we continued. David was fairly nonplussed by it all by outward appearances, but I am sure it made him angry looking back.

We forged on with less issues and after awhile, we were actually having a pretty good time. Occasionally we would stop and chat with incoming riders, and to a person the feeling was that it was an awesome event. However; I kept hearing tales of a broken down bridge where riders had to tightrope walk across some open decking on supporting timbers across a creek. Internally I was horrified. Someone could have easily fallen and gotten injured or worse in the dark. Apparently it was all due to another miscue on David's part of the course. Had I known this was in the course, I would have rerouted it out. But what was done was done.

David Pals, (back to camera) chatting with Eric Brunt (L) while John Williams attends to his bike.

We continued on route and everyone we passed by finished eventually. We came upon the final two riders, Matt Gersib and another guy, in North English. MG shot me a glance that could have killed. He was livid. Needless to say they did not finish either.

I was crestfallen. My friend was angry and had every right to be. But now it was off back to the finish line to see who would come in. I missed Dennis Grelk winning the event. The only other time that happened  that I missed seeing the winner come in was at T.I.v1. (On finish-able years, that is) I was sorely disappointed, but I do remember both David and I cheered when we received the news from the finish line.

Once Janna Vavra and Scott Bigelow came in, David wanted to leave immediately. There was only a few minutes left till the cut-off, and those two riders were the end of our concerns, so I get it. However; I wanted to hang out longer, but the tone in David's voice made me feel like we had to leave right away. So, I got a word in edgewise with Janna and a pic, then we had to scoot, because David said he had to be somewhere. I think now that he was just fed up with me, Trans Iowa, and all that was going down in his life and wanted it over. I'm spit ballin' there, but I bet that's not far off the mark. David brought me back to my truck, I got my stuff and he said goodbye and walked briskly back to his vehicle, started it, and drove away. It was the last time I'd see him for many years. No agreements to do anything again. No looking back, no commentary, he just sped away and never looked back.

Immediately I was furious with him and for several days my anger burned and I was searching for ways that maybe I could release him from his duties. I had the "Dirt Rag" feature article to wrap up right after T.I.v7, and then about mid-June, I got the proofs of the article back from then editor, Josh Patterson. I hadn't heard a thing from David since T.I.v7 ended.

Wally Kilburg and George Keslin ran CP#2 for v7. It was the start of something great.

But I had heard about him. His father, Darryl, often frequented the shop where I used to work, since he lived not far away. He told me about David's troubles with his job, and that things were rough for him. Well, I was softened toward him greatly by this news, but perplexed as to why he felt the need to solely bear his burdens. Still, I wasn't at a point where I could let him have the sort of responsibilities he used to have, but it was time to reach out. The proofs of the "Dirt Rag" feature were a good excuse to do just that.

So, I sent the article proof along with a question: "Are you still in to do another Trans Iowa?" David responded that "....yeah, I think my TI days are over." And to tell the truth, I was greatly relieved. Now I didn't have to delicately work around how I was going to have to be the only one in control, because now David had made the call himself to quit. While I was saddened to see our partnership end like that, I was unburdened and lighter in my spirit than before. 

It should also be said that David related that he was upset that post T.I.v7 only four individuals (including myself) had reached out to him after Trans Iowa v7 was over.  Once again, his dissatisfaction with being seen as not a part of the event worth being grateful for was expressed. But leaving that aside, while I was relieved that there would be no further tensions between he and I and Trans Iowa, I knew that his absence would be felt keenly. Not by anyone else, apparently, but by me? Yes.

And then there was Matt Gersib. That friendship reached the threadbare state when after T.I.v7 Matt went on a tear on my blog commenting about the event in a negative way. I had a lot of behind the scenes email and conversations with Matt, and eventually we got the fences mended to the point that Matt decided he would be a volunteer at T.I.v8 to monitor my corrections to the event.

I'll tell you what- that whole post-T.I.v7 thing undid me. Now I am so glad I made the effort to be Matt's friend, and I am really proud of how Trans Iowa changed because of the things I learned with David Pals. But at that time these things were some of the most difficult things I had ever had to deal with. Boy! Was I ever glad to have the events of Trans Iowa v7 behind me! 

Next A Fire In The Belly

This Would Have Been The Weekend

The first time I ever stood in front of Bikes To You in Grinnell with a bike in '09. Image by D. Pals

Note: I wrote this part of the story up about the time when everything went to heck in a hand basket for 2020. So, yeah- Had I still been doing T.I., this would have been cancelled too. But read on for what the real point of this edition of the Trans Iowa story is really about. 

This would have been a day not all that long ago that I would have been bouncing down some rural gravel road running a silly event dubbed "Trans Iowa". In fact, I would have been in Grinnell, Iowa yesterday, most likely, and wouldn't have returned back to Grinnell until tomorrow sometime. In between would have been 300 plus miles of gravel, adventure, surprises, and camaraderie between old friends. There maybe would have been new friends made too, but I'll never know now, of course.

Sometimes people ask me if I miss it. I don't, really. I think about it often. Obviously, since I have been busy researching stories for the series that runs every Sunday on the blog. That series is called "Trans Iowa Stories", and through that work I have remembered a lot of things I had forgotten. I also had old memories sparked anew. Some good, some not so much. So, I have been well acquainted with my feelings about this old event for many months now.

So, maybe it is unfair to ask the question, "Do I miss Trans Iowa?" Because certainly there are things I do miss and things I do not miss at all. The negatives outweigh the positives at this point, so this is a good thing since I don't put on the event anymore. But that is not to say that the positives are not important to me. They are important beyond belief. But I am not going as far as making another Trans Iowa happen again to relive those things.

And the last time I stood at that spot with a bike (or three) The T.I.v14 start. Image by George Keslin

But that said, look at the image above here. See all those people? If you asked me, "What do you miss most about Trans Iowa?", it would be the people. Definitely. The best people I ever met were Trans Iowa participants, volunteers, or fans of the event. I became friends with many of them. That's what I miss most, and likely will be the thing I always will miss the most. I was blessed to know many of these folks even just a little bit that I had the chance to.  I am doubly blessed to still have a few of these wonderful people as friends to this day.

Speaking of the series earlier here, I would be remiss if I didn't promote tomorrow's epic "Trans Iowa Stories" post. It is about double the length and will be a marathon read, just like Trans Iowa was a marathon level gravel grinder. But this episode of "Trans Iowa Stories" is very important. It details the end of my partnership with co-director, David Pals and how my "brother from another mother", MG and I almost lost our friendship over what happened with T.I.v7. Fortunately, that never came to be, but I do know that T.I.v7 was the version that changed everything about Trans Iowa.

And it changed me.

Stay tuned.......