Trans Iowa: Ten Years Of Tales #22

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

A bucolic scene from the recon of T.I.v5's course

 During the planning and running of Trans Iowa v4, David Pals and I talked some about the concept of Trans Iowa now that it had gone to a loop course. It could be done anywhere within Iowa, so why not move it around? It was an intriguing idea, but there were some reasons why I wasn't quite ready to move on just yet.

For one thing, I had a few ideas I had yet to explore for routes up that way. Secondly, I liked Decorah, (still do), a lot, and finally, I have a tendency to stick to things as long as they are good to me. Decorah had been nothing but awesome to me/Trans Iowa all along since day one. Sure- there were some reprimands and tough learning to be taken in along with the growing pains of Trans Iowa, but Decorah, and its people were good to me and the event.

However; that all changed in a day in the Summer of 2008. Suffice it to say that a number of events that year were affected negatively by the weather. An event I was roped into putting on, organizing it mostly by myself, was part of that. It was the "Big Wheeled Ballyhoo". A celebration of 29"ers, company demos, and hooliganism that had its first edition the year before in Decorah. I was assisted in that endeavor by the guy I was working for at Twenty Nine Inches at the time, but for the 2nd edition, he bailed out on me and stuck me with making all the decisions concerning it. Not what I wanted.

Anyway, the crux of this story is that I was put upon to call off the event, or not, due to flooding, possible trail damage, and no camping area available for attendees or a solid answer on where the demo trucks could go. It was getting right down to it. On one hand I had Decorah folks giving me some conflicting info and on the other hand I had vendors wanting to know if they should bother to make the trip or not. I decided to just make the safe decision and I called off the event.

Decorah folks said they would ride anyway, and actually, by the date of the cancelled event, it was beautiful. Go figure. Well, I went up for the entire afternoon and saw no one there that was supposed to be riding. I wrote about it on my blog, and suddenly, a very upset Decorah person with major ties and influence in the cycling community there was assailing me with e-mails and ended by saying, "........please do not consider Decorah for any future events."

Have a seat! More strangeness on the T.I.v5 route during recon

Well, I was a bit shook up by that. I shared it with David and he suggested we give them what they asked for and frankly, I agreed. There wasn't anything I could have changed about what had happened, I didn't feel like I/we had done anything wrong,  and I didn't feel that I, or Trans Iowa, needed to poke a stick at any sore feelings anymore by coming back to Decorah, so we moved on, but where to go?

David suggested we go south to Williamsburg, an area he was very familiar with. He said there were some really cool roads down  that way, so I agreed to look at that.

Looking back, Trans Iowa v4 was a transitional period for Trans Iowa. The last one having anything to do with Decorah, the first that had two checkpoints, and the beginnings of many friendships and the end of some other relationships. Things done at Trans Iowa v4 were the skeletons of ideas fleshed out in years to come. It was the first Trans Iowa that had a winner other than Ira Ryan!

Beginning with Trans Iowa v3 and ending with the final cutting of the cord with Decorah after T.I.v4, I felt like Trans Iowa became the event I had adopted as my responsibility alone. There was no more Jeff Kerkove, no Mike Curiak, and no more Decorah influences. Decisions on Trans Iowa going forward were all going to have to go through me. Yes- I had help and welcomed help, but in the end, it was here at this point that I recall feeling responsible for everything  about Trans Iowa.

Next: Changes......

Trans Iowa: Ten Years Of Tales #22

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

A bucolic scene from the recon of T.I.v5's course

 During the planning and running of Trans Iowa v4, David Pals and I talked some about the concept of Trans Iowa now that it had gone to a loop course. It could be done anywhere within Iowa, so why not move it around? It was an intriguing idea, but there were some reasons why I wasn't quite ready to move on just yet.

For one thing, I had a few ideas I had yet to explore for routes up that way. Secondly, I liked Decorah, (still do), a lot, and finally, I have a tendency to stick to things as long as they are good to me. Decorah had been nothing but awesome to me/Trans Iowa all along since day one. Sure- there were some reprimands and tough learning to be taken in along with the growing pains of Trans Iowa, but Decorah, and its people were good to me and the event.

However; that all changed in a day in the Summer of 2008. Suffice it to say that a number of events that year were affected negatively by the weather. An event I was roped into putting on, organizing it mostly by myself, was part of that. It was the "Big Wheeled Ballyhoo". A celebration of 29"ers, company demos, and hooliganism that had its first edition the year before in Decorah. I was assisted in that endeavor by the guy I was working for at Twenty Nine Inches at the time, but for the 2nd edition, he bailed out on me and stuck me with making all the decisions concerning it. Not what I wanted.

Anyway, the crux of this story is that I was put upon to call off the event, or not, due to flooding, possible trail damage, and no camping area available for attendees or a solid answer on where the demo trucks could go. It was getting right down to it. On one hand I had Decorah folks giving me some conflicting info and on the other hand I had vendors wanting to know if they should bother to make the trip or not. I decided to just make the safe decision and I called off the event.

Decorah folks said they would ride anyway, and actually, by the date of the cancelled event, it was beautiful. Go figure. Well, I went up for the entire afternoon and saw no one there that was supposed to be riding. I wrote about it on my blog, and suddenly, a very upset Decorah person with major ties and influence in the cycling community there was assailing me with e-mails and ended by saying, "........please do not consider Decorah for any future events."

Have a seat! More strangeness on the T.I.v5 route during recon

Well, I was a bit shook up by that. I shared it with David and he suggested we give them what they asked for and frankly, I agreed. There wasn't anything I could have changed about what had happened, I didn't feel like I/we had done anything wrong,  and I didn't feel that I, or Trans Iowa, needed to poke a stick at any sore feelings anymore by coming back to Decorah, so we moved on, but where to go?

David suggested we go south to Williamsburg, an area he was very familiar with. He said there were some really cool roads down  that way, so I agreed to look at that.

Looking back, Trans Iowa v4 was a transitional period for Trans Iowa. The last one having anything to do with Decorah, the first that had two checkpoints, and the beginnings of many friendships and the end of some other relationships. Things done at Trans Iowa v4 were the skeletons of ideas fleshed out in years to come. It was the first Trans Iowa that had a winner other than Ira Ryan!

Beginning with Trans Iowa v3 and ending with the final cutting of the cord with Decorah after T.I.v4, I felt like Trans Iowa became the event I had adopted as my responsibility alone. There was no more Jeff Kerkove, no Mike Curiak, and no more Decorah influences. Decisions on Trans Iowa going forward were all going to have to go through me. Yes- I had help and welcomed help, but in the end, it was here at this point that I recall feeling responsible for everything  about Trans Iowa.

Next: Changes......

Cold Commuting With The Cold Avenger

Cold Avenger Expedition Balaclava

With Triple D coming up, I figured I'd best be prepared for any eventuality in terms of weather. In many ways, I've been "lucky" the last two years in that it hasn't been "stupid cold" or really windy. I almost wished I had pogies last year, but it warmed up enough during the mid-day that I made it through without them. But you just never know in mid-January what weather you'll get.

I was hearing about this special balaclava and I have looked into it before, but took the chance that I wouldn't need it and passed on it. However; this year I took the plunge and ordered the Cold Avenger Expedition Balaclava.

I've had this sitting on the shelf for about ten days now, but I couldn't use it since the air temperatures were so balmy of late. However; as many of you may have noticed, the Mercury has headed South and in its wake we are experiencing truly bitter cold air temperatures. In tandem with the wind out of the Northwest yesterday, it felt like -22°F. Perfect! I got the Cold Avenger balaclava out and "suited up" to do battle with the frigid air and 6 inches of fresh snow on By-Tor the Titanium Mukluk. A simple, (normally it would be simple), commute turns into quite the adventure at these temperatures and with these conditions.

Like something from your worst nightmare!

The fit of the Cold Avenger is worth commenting on, because it is unusual, and by past reviews on this item, I do not seem to be alone in my views of it. The Cold Avenger Expedition Balaclava is a two piece design. There is a "traditional" balaclava hood made from some fleece that is claimed to be four times more wind resistant than "traditional fleece" product and that due to it being "tightly woven". On either side of the "hood" there are copious amounts of hook material. This mates with the loop material on the second, "mask" portion of the Cold Avenger Expedition Balaclava. The "mask" portion is held onto the "hood" portion by the means of this hook and loop set up, and allows you to remove the mask when you need to eat, drink, or clear your nose without removing the hood part, or any other head gear you may be wearing as well. The "mask" part is the heart of the system which allows for the breathing of the wearer to be more comfortable and "normal".

The thing is, the dang hood part is cut silly. The "cap" part on top of your head is not "deep" enough, so the opening's top runs way up high on your forehead and the lower part runs right under yer eyeballs. Seems like if one could magically "shift" the opening downward a bit on the hood it would be a better fit for a lot of people. This isn't unfixable, but at $80.00 retail, this is a bit of a disappointing discovery with this product. I am able to work around it as it is, but it is a tad frustrating.

Now the "mask" part? That is brilliant. I really was pleased with this part of the product. The mask has an internal wire across the bridge of the nose which is formable so you can customize the fit and feel of the Expedition Balaclava. But besides that neat little feature, your breathing in the mask is really free and it works as advertised. If you've ever worked yourself hard in sub-zero temperatures, you know what I mean when I talk about "lung burn"- that awful feeling you get when you are sucking down really cold air into your breathing passages. The mask eliminates this altogether and you can suck air as hard as you need to without restriction. Sweet!

Don't let that Sun fool ya- It was super cold!

So, I set myself up with this balaclava on first, then my thick, Polar fleece hat, and tried my Oakley Jawbones with this set up and along with the rest of my gear, headed out into the -22°F windchill, straight into the wind, for my 5 mile ride to work. I didn't get very far before I realized two important things: One- you really need to concentrate on breathing with your mouth with this system. It seems to keep the fogging to a minimum with regards to eyewear. Secondly: Eyewear will likely fog over anyway, leaving you blind.

I ditched the Oakleys on top of my hat where they stayed for most of the ride. Then the next thing that cropped up was that aforementioned bad opening on the balaclava proper. I fussed with this off and on during both trips on my commute. It was a bit frustrating, but I could eventually get it to sit where I wanted. I will say that it was a warm set up and no wind whatsoever touched my skin where it was covered. In that regard, the balaclava works great.

Coming home the ambient air temperature was slightly above zero, and going with the wind proved to me that the Cold Avenger Expedition Balaclava was on the verge of being too warm for me. So, I think I know when I will be using it in the future, and that will be if the air temperatures, or windchill combined with the air temp gets to be zero degrees or colder.  Above this temperature I think I will end up becoming too hot and perspiration management will be more difficult.

Conclusions: For the asking price, I feel that the balaclava is a let down. Theoretically the idea for this product is awesome, but the execution of the important balaclava component is a fail. It just fits really badly. Yes- I could work with it as it is, but for $80.00 I am not at all pleased with that part. That said, Cold Avenger offers a "half mask", which gets you the awesome "respirator" part, for $59.99. In my case, I will likely fit the mask portion to another, better fitting balaclava, or try to get the Cold Avenger one modified a bit to fit better.

I would not recommend this product until Cold Avenger addresses the ill fit of the balaclava. If they do, I feel it would make this worth the benefit. As it stands I feel I have a nearly worthless balaclava due to poor cut and fit of that part of this product. And as I stated, from reading other reviews of this product, I am not at all alone in this.

Note: I paid the full retail price for this product and was not asked by Cold Avenger to review or test this item. I was not paid, nor bribed for this review and I strive to give my honest thoughts and opinions throughout.

Cold Commuting With The Cold Avenger

Cold Avenger Expedition Balaclava

With Triple D coming up, I figured I'd best be prepared for any eventuality in terms of weather. In many ways, I've been "lucky" the last two years in that it hasn't been "stupid cold" or really windy. I almost wished I had pogies last year, but it warmed up enough during the mid-day that I made it through without them. But you just never know in mid-January what weather you'll get.

I was hearing about this special balaclava and I have looked into it before, but took the chance that I wouldn't need it and passed on it. However; this year I took the plunge and ordered the Cold Avenger Expedition Balaclava.

I've had this sitting on the shelf for about ten days now, but I couldn't use it since the air temperatures were so balmy of late. However; as many of you may have noticed, the Mercury has headed South and in its wake we are experiencing truly bitter cold air temperatures. In tandem with the wind out of the Northwest yesterday, it felt like -22°F. Perfect! I got the Cold Avenger balaclava out and "suited up" to do battle with the frigid air and 6 inches of fresh snow on By-Tor the Titanium Mukluk. A simple, (normally it would be simple), commute turns into quite the adventure at these temperatures and with these conditions.

Like something from your worst nightmare!

The fit of the Cold Avenger is worth commenting on, because it is unusual, and by past reviews on this item, I do not seem to be alone in my views of it. The Cold Avenger Expedition Balaclava is a two piece design. There is a "traditional" balaclava hood made from some fleece that is claimed to be four times more wind resistant than "traditional fleece" product and that due to it being "tightly woven". On either side of the "hood" there are copious amounts of hook material. This mates with the loop material on the second, "mask" portion of the Cold Avenger Expedition Balaclava. The "mask" portion is held onto the "hood" portion by the means of this hook and loop set up, and allows you to remove the mask when you need to eat, drink, or clear your nose without removing the hood part, or any other head gear you may be wearing as well. The "mask" part is the heart of the system which allows for the breathing of the wearer to be more comfortable and "normal".

The thing is, the dang hood part is cut silly. The "cap" part on top of your head is not "deep" enough, so the opening's top runs way up high on your forehead and the lower part runs right under yer eyeballs. Seems like if one could magically "shift" the opening downward a bit on the hood it would be a better fit for a lot of people. This isn't unfixable, but at $80.00 retail, this is a bit of a disappointing discovery with this product. I am able to work around it as it is, but it is a tad frustrating.

Now the "mask" part? That is brilliant. I really was pleased with this part of the product. The mask has an internal wire across the bridge of the nose which is formable so you can customize the fit and feel of the Expedition Balaclava. But besides that neat little feature, your breathing in the mask is really free and it works as advertised. If you've ever worked yourself hard in sub-zero temperatures, you know what I mean when I talk about "lung burn"- that awful feeling you get when you are sucking down really cold air into your breathing passages. The mask eliminates this altogether and you can suck air as hard as you need to without restriction. Sweet!

Don't let that Sun fool ya- It was super cold!

So, I set myself up with this balaclava on first, then my thick, Polar fleece hat, and tried my Oakley Jawbones with this set up and along with the rest of my gear, headed out into the -22°F windchill, straight into the wind, for my 5 mile ride to work. I didn't get very far before I realized two important things: One- you really need to concentrate on breathing with your mouth with this system. It seems to keep the fogging to a minimum with regards to eyewear. Secondly: Eyewear will likely fog over anyway, leaving you blind.

I ditched the Oakleys on top of my hat where they stayed for most of the ride. Then the next thing that cropped up was that aforementioned bad opening on the balaclava proper. I fussed with this off and on during both trips on my commute. It was a bit frustrating, but I could eventually get it to sit where I wanted. I will say that it was a warm set up and no wind whatsoever touched my skin where it was covered. In that regard, the balaclava works great.

Coming home the ambient air temperature was slightly above zero, and going with the wind proved to me that the Cold Avenger Expedition Balaclava was on the verge of being too warm for me. So, I think I know when I will be using it in the future, and that will be if the air temperatures, or windchill combined with the air temp gets to be zero degrees or colder.  Above this temperature I think I will end up becoming too hot and perspiration management will be more difficult.

Conclusions: For the asking price, I feel that the balaclava is a let down. Theoretically the idea for this product is awesome, but the execution of the important balaclava component is a fail. It just fits really badly. Yes- I could work with it as it is, but for $80.00 I am not at all pleased with that part. That said, Cold Avenger offers a "half mask", which gets you the awesome "respirator" part, for $59.99. In my case, I will likely fit the mask portion to another, better fitting balaclava, or try to get the Cold Avenger one modified a bit to fit better.

I would not recommend this product until Cold Avenger addresses the ill fit of the balaclava. If they do, I feel it would make this worth the benefit. As it stands I feel I have a nearly worthless balaclava due to poor cut and fit of that part of this product. And as I stated, from reading other reviews of this product, I am not at all alone in this.

Note: I paid the full retail price for this product and was not asked by Cold Avenger to review or test this item. I was not paid, nor bribed for this review and I strive to give my honest thoughts and opinions throughout.

Merry Christmas!

Guitar Ted Productions would like to thank you all for reading and for those who commented here throughout 2013. Tomorrow look for another Trans Iowa Tales post, and I'll be back again with something on Thursday.

Safe Travels and hug a loved one!

Merry Christmas!

Guitar Ted Productions would like to thank you all for reading and for those who commented here throughout 2013. Tomorrow look for another Trans Iowa Tales post, and I'll be back again with something on Thursday.

Safe Travels and hug a loved one!

Solid Ice Testing

Thursday night we got some ice and it made everything nice and slick. So, it was a perfect opportunity to test out the 45NRTH Gravdal tires with 252 studs in each tire.

Now, I've ridden 35mm-38mm studded tires before. Innova and Kenda tires that felt dead and stiff as a board. They made me hate studded tires so much I swore I'd never ride them again. Sure, there were more expensive, hard to track down Nokians and some others, but these were for my old commuter bike and they needed to be 38mm tires or so to work. Not 26 inch mountain bike tires.

The Gravdals are 38mm tires and would have fit that old commuter rig I had, but I don't, and now the tires are on an older Vaya. That's a good bike to have them on too, because of the low bottom bracket and longer stays which give me more stability anyway. With the Gravdal tires, I figured I wouldn't be in too much danger of going down suddenly. 

See the white scratches? The studs scraped the ice when I laid the bike down

Still, these were "skinny" tires and getting bounced around, or sent offline a bit on ice was going to put those studs in a bind as far as grip is concerned. There is little room for error with such a small footprint. That's why I usually opted for a grippy, really wide 29"er tire at a ridiculously low pressure. I used to have really good luck with WTB WeirWolf LT's at 15psi, for instance. But these tires were no where near that foot print, and I was going to have to be very careful.

Fortunately I did not take a dive or even get close to going down. I had a couple of tense moments and I knew that the studs were gripping, or I should have gone toppling over. I stopped on the way home to see if a certain stretch of pavement I had just crossed was still ice covered and by the scratch marks left in the ice by my studs when I laid the bike down, I knew that indeed it was still very slick.

So, the tires passed the test with flying colors. However; I'd feel a lot more secure on, say Dillingers with studs! I'll have more to add to this later, but for now, these are pretty darn good Winter tires if you are stuck with, or choose to ride skinnier shoes in Winter.

Solid Ice Testing

Thursday night we got some ice and it made everything nice and slick. So, it was a perfect opportunity to test out the 45NRTH Gravdal tires with 252 studs in each tire.

Now, I've ridden 35mm-38mm studded tires before. Innova and Kenda tires that felt dead and stiff as a board. They made me hate studded tires so much I swore I'd never ride them again. Sure, there were more expensive, hard to track down Nokians and some others, but these were for my old commuter bike and they needed to be 38mm tires or so to work. Not 26 inch mountain bike tires.

The Gravdals are 38mm tires and would have fit that old commuter rig I had, but I don't, and now the tires are on an older Vaya. That's a good bike to have them on too, because of the low bottom bracket and longer stays which give me more stability anyway. With the Gravdal tires, I figured I wouldn't be in too much danger of going down suddenly. 

See the white scratches? The studs scraped the ice when I laid the bike down

Still, these were "skinny" tires and getting bounced around, or sent offline a bit on ice was going to put those studs in a bind as far as grip is concerned. There is little room for error with such a small footprint. That's why I usually opted for a grippy, really wide 29"er tire at a ridiculously low pressure. I used to have really good luck with WTB WeirWolf LT's at 15psi, for instance. But these tires were no where near that foot print, and I was going to have to be very careful.

Fortunately I did not take a dive or even get close to going down. I had a couple of tense moments and I knew that the studs were gripping, or I should have gone toppling over. I stopped on the way home to see if a certain stretch of pavement I had just crossed was still ice covered and by the scratch marks left in the ice by my studs when I laid the bike down, I knew that indeed it was still very slick.

So, the tires passed the test with flying colors. However; I'd feel a lot more secure on, say Dillingers with studs! I'll have more to add to this later, but for now, these are pretty darn good Winter tires if you are stuck with, or choose to ride skinnier shoes in Winter.

Trans Iowa: Ten Years Of Tales #21

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

Charles Parson heading toward our makeshift finish line in Edgewood

 As David Pals and I looked at each other at the bottom of that hill in the darkness of night, we knew in our hearts we had run out of options to push Trans Iowa v4 any further up the road. Now it was time to decide what to do about putting an end to the event.

We knew that only five men were still in the event. We quickly called our Checkpoint #2 folks, and they informed us that all had passed through with the exception of Corey Godfrey. He was informed of our predicament, but it would be incumbent upon us to catch the other riders to tell them that the town of Edgewood would be the finish of T.I.v4.

We quickly identified a corner where we could set up a makeshift finish line near the end of a street that was on the course. We weren't there too long when we were questioned by the local cops. What were we doing and why were we standing around? When I explained that we were ending a bicycle race there, the local law enforcement officer said, "Well, I hope they aren't out there all night. There are plenty of drunks on the road around here." That was not very encouraging news! But it did reinforce our feelings that we were doing the right thing by ending the event. The only other option we had to continue the event was to run the riders about 4 miles around on a heavily trafficked blacktop. With reports of drunks confirmed by the local officers, we were glad to be ending the ride where we did.

Winner John Gorilla with his "gutter beer".

Not long after that John Gorilla's support crew came around a bend and stopped in front of us. They had gotten word about the finish from having been at Checkpoint #2 when we called. We decided to ask them to man the last corner before our position, and to warn the riders the end was four blocks up the street.

They agreed to this and it wasn't much longer when we heard screams and cheering. This all a little after midnight! Well, David and I watched as three riders sprinted up the street. One made a move and got a little clear of the other two. It would be John Gorilla who would cross the "finish line" first followed by John Kucharski and Charlie Farrow.  There was a bit of confusion and anger at first for our ending the event, but after some explanation, all three agreed it was the prudent, (yet not altogether popular), move to end the event there.

John's crew, with his wife Adele, all arrived then on the scene and things were a bit chaotic for a bit. Riders were taken care of, plans were made to get riders back to Decorah, and Adele found John a beer in the gutter, which he promptly cracked open and drank with gusto. Soon though, it was quieter, as we awaited the next finisher, Charles Parsons, who was attached to John's group. Charles rolled up about an hour later, and they quickly packed him in the vehicle to get back to Decorah. It was getting colder now and we were all alone again in Edgewood.

Skip Cronin talks with Cornbread at the finish of T.I.v4

 Not for long though, as a huge van full of Lincoln Nebraska riders and support folk rolled up in Edgewood. They had heard my report on Trans Iowa Radio about the impromptu finish line. Their "last man standing", Corey "Cornbread" Godfrey, was the last man out on course. They were there to fetch him when he arrived.

The Lincoln crew was boisterous and full of energy at first. I was a bit concerned, seeing as how it was about 2am in the morning! However; one by one they wandered back to the van to warm up or go to sleep. Things quieted down, and it wasn't long before David and I were standing there, peering into the dark waiting to see an LED lamp round the last corner of T.I.v4.

Earlier I was warned that Corey could be "directionally challenged" especially in the darkness. This greatly concerned David and I. Around about 3am, David was peering up the street when he suddenly turned, looked me in the eye and said, "Let's go!" I knew exactly what we were going to do too. We backtracked the course. Looking for signs of Corey. Maybe he had taken a wrong turn? Maybe he was crashed out by a frost heave or......? The imagination runs wild after being up for 24 hours straight with all the stresses we had been subjected to.

Suddenly David saw him. His little LED light bobbing in the dank blackness. We stopped and chatted Cornbread up. He was tired, but seemed coherent. He had been a bit befuddled by the rerouting and had considered sleeping off his fatigue in a ditch but thought better of that when he heard coyotes yipping in the shadows near by!

John Gorilla raises the "trophy stone" the following day in Decorah.

 Well, Cornbread was led in and the Lincoln crew quickly collected him and disappeared into the night. David and I loaded up the SUV I used that year and headed off to our room in Decorah for a couple hours of shuteye before we were to meet John Gorilla and Joe Kucharski to download their prizing at a Kwik Star convenience store parking lot. 

That was pretty much that. Trans Iowa v4 was done and David and I headed our separate ways. In the days immediately following T.I.v4 I did my usual assessment and thought about the future. I liked the two checkpoint idea a lot. I liked T Bock's handling of our Pre-Race meeting. I pondered moving Trans Iowa somewhere else. David and I actually had discussed moving it around Iowa to explore different parts of the state, but I figured we would do at least one more out of Decorah. I had some roads I wanted to use that we hadn't used yet. Of course, something would happen that would change all of that! More on that later....

There was some grousing about the truncated event, that it wasn't a "real Trans Iowa", but I put that into the perspective of Trans Iowa v2, which no one "finished", but we recognized a "winner of the overall prize" that year in Lindsay Gauld, so why not just say that John Gorilla "won" T.I.v4? It wasn't his fault we had to stop the event. Anyway, T.I.v2 and v4 set a precedent that I have used since, and that's the way it goes with long events like this that have to account for road conditions and weather.

Next Week: Trans Iowa gets shunned.
 

Trans Iowa: Ten Years Of Tales #21

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

Charles Parson heading toward our makeshift finish line in Edgewood

 As David Pals and I looked at each other at the bottom of that hill in the darkness of night, we knew in our hearts we had run out of options to push Trans Iowa v4 any further up the road. Now it was time to decide what to do about putting an end to the event.

We knew that only five men were still in the event. We quickly called our Checkpoint #2 folks, and they informed us that all had passed through with the exception of Corey Godfrey. He was informed of our predicament, but it would be incumbent upon us to catch the other riders to tell them that the town of Edgewood would be the finish of T.I.v4.

We quickly identified a corner where we could set up a makeshift finish line near the end of a street that was on the course. We weren't there too long when we were questioned by the local cops. What were we doing and why were we standing around? When I explained that we were ending a bicycle race there, the local law enforcement officer said, "Well, I hope they aren't out there all night. There are plenty of drunks on the road around here." That was not very encouraging news! But it did reinforce our feelings that we were doing the right thing by ending the event. The only other option we had to continue the event was to run the riders about 4 miles around on a heavily trafficked blacktop. With reports of drunks confirmed by the local officers, we were glad to be ending the ride where we did.

Winner John Gorilla with his "gutter beer".

Not long after that John Gorilla's support crew came around a bend and stopped in front of us. They had gotten word about the finish from having been at Checkpoint #2 when we called. We decided to ask them to man the last corner before our position, and to warn the riders the end was four blocks up the street.

They agreed to this and it wasn't much longer when we heard screams and cheering. This all a little after midnight! Well, David and I watched as three riders sprinted up the street. One made a move and got a little clear of the other two. It would be John Gorilla who would cross the "finish line" first followed by John Kucharski and Charlie Farrow.  There was a bit of confusion and anger at first for our ending the event, but after some explanation, all three agreed it was the prudent, (yet not altogether popular), move to end the event there.

John's crew, with his wife Adele, all arrived then on the scene and things were a bit chaotic for a bit. Riders were taken care of, plans were made to get riders back to Decorah, and Adele found John a beer in the gutter, which he promptly cracked open and drank with gusto. Soon though, it was quieter, as we awaited the next finisher, Charles Parsons, who was attached to John's group. Charles rolled up about an hour later, and they quickly packed him in the vehicle to get back to Decorah. It was getting colder now and we were all alone again in Edgewood.

Skip Cronin talks with Cornbread at the finish of T.I.v4

 Not for long though, as a huge van full of Lincoln Nebraska riders and support folk rolled up in Edgewood. They had heard my report on Trans Iowa Radio about the impromptu finish line. Their "last man standing", Corey "Cornbread" Godfrey, was the last man out on course. They were there to fetch him when he arrived.

The Lincoln crew was boisterous and full of energy at first. I was a bit concerned, seeing as how it was about 2am in the morning! However; one by one they wandered back to the van to warm up or go to sleep. Things quieted down, and it wasn't long before David and I were standing there, peering into the dark waiting to see an LED lamp round the last corner of T.I.v4.

Earlier I was warned that Corey could be "directionally challenged" especially in the darkness. This greatly concerned David and I. Around about 3am, David was peering up the street when he suddenly turned, looked me in the eye and said, "Let's go!" I knew exactly what we were going to do too. We backtracked the course. Looking for signs of Corey. Maybe he had taken a wrong turn? Maybe he was crashed out by a frost heave or......? The imagination runs wild after being up for 24 hours straight with all the stresses we had been subjected to.

Suddenly David saw him. His little LED light bobbing in the dank blackness. We stopped and chatted Cornbread up. He was tired, but seemed coherent. He had been a bit befuddled by the rerouting and had considered sleeping off his fatigue in a ditch but thought better of that when he heard coyotes yipping in the shadows near by!

John Gorilla raises the "trophy stone" the following day in Decorah.

 Well, Cornbread was led in and the Lincoln crew quickly collected him and disappeared into the night. David and I loaded up the SUV I used that year and headed off to our room in Decorah for a couple hours of shuteye before we were to meet John Gorilla and Joe Kucharski to download their prizing at a Kwik Star convenience store parking lot. 

That was pretty much that. Trans Iowa v4 was done and David and I headed our separate ways. In the days immediately following T.I.v4 I did my usual assessment and thought about the future. I liked the two checkpoint idea a lot. I liked T Bock's handling of our Pre-Race meeting. I pondered moving Trans Iowa somewhere else. David and I actually had discussed moving it around Iowa to explore different parts of the state, but I figured we would do at least one more out of Decorah. I had some roads I wanted to use that we hadn't used yet. Of course, something would happen that would change all of that! More on that later....

There was some grousing about the truncated event, that it wasn't a "real Trans Iowa", but I put that into the perspective of Trans Iowa v2, which no one "finished", but we recognized a "winner of the overall prize" that year in Lindsay Gauld, so why not just say that John Gorilla "won" T.I.v4? It wasn't his fault we had to stop the event. Anyway, T.I.v2 and v4 set a precedent that I have used since, and that's the way it goes with long events like this that have to account for road conditions and weather.

Next Week: Trans Iowa gets shunned.
 

Trans Iowa: Ten Years Of Tales #20

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

Re-routing: Nothing was sacred!

 Of all the Trans Iowas so far, perhaps T.I.v4 was the most adventurous for me. There never was a dull moment, really. David and I were working our tales off at high stress levels just trying to save what we could of this one. To get as far as we did? I consider it one of my best achievements as an event director. Of course, I would assume David would say as much.

As if gale force winds, snow, freezing cold temperatures, flooded rivers, and mudslides weren't enough, we were really only halfway through the obstacles that were set against us.

I recall that we had gotten word that about 5, maybe 6 guys were still in the event past Winthrop. Who those all were was something of a mystery that wouldn't work itself out until later, but the wind and cold had basically shelled most of the riders off. In a way, David and I were somewhat relieved to know this. But then we forgot all about the riders for several hours.....

We crested a hill. I remember seeing a huge lake glinting in the afternoon Sun. A gravel road stretched out in front of us and disappeared under the jewel-like waves. Our course! We sprang into action with maps, discussion, and then decisions. Using our protocol for rerouting, we basically made a new course for probably ten to fifteen miles around the flooded area on roads we had never laid eyes on. Fortunately, everything worked out well that way. We were particularly afraid of what we'd find ahead at a B Road section we had in the course.

That image of the stop sign there? I remember that very well. I decided to stick the ripped duct tape strips up there. The wind was so strong, the sign was doing that side to side dance you sometimes see signs do in strong winds. There was an eerie humming noise all the while I worked on this as well. Like something of a moaning in the wind. It wasn't until I finished the tape job that I realized that the sound was being produced by a high tension electrical wire above my head.

Joe Meiser's rear derailleur: Image by Rob Walters

Then we sped on to that B Road. We feared what we would find and were already making plans for a re-route. When we got there, miraculously, it was fine! We couldn't drive all the way through it, but we did drive almost all of it, which we had thought would be impossible coming to that spot.

Okay, so with the huge re-route and the B Road okay, we forged ahead to Checkpoint #2 which was in Earlville, Iowa, right off Highway 20. We were finding the roads to be in pretty fair condition, and for a time, we were more relaxed. The volunteers at the checkpoint were grilling steaks and we had some beers. Some earlier drops and some other folks stopped by and made for good times. It was still cold and raw, the Sun was setting, and we had to take our leave. By now we knew there were indeed only five riders left, and we knew who they were. Things were looking pretty good, with the exception that we had found out one of our next B Roads, about 30-40 miles up the course, was 6 feet under water. No problem! We knew a good re-route.

However; when we pulled out of Earlville, the complexion of the roads was quite different. We weren't out of town 3 miles when we had to start in re-routing the course again, and it got worse the further we went on. In fact, the frost heaves in the road were so bad at one point we had to abandon the car to check the roads. There was a tree down across one road we needed to use, and David left me there to break off enough branches in the dank darkness so that riders could pass by on one side of the road while he forged ahead to check on another re-route.

Washed out road in the headlights. (Note David Pals standing in the washout)

It was getting later in the evening and progress was slow, We had not even made it to Edgewood by 10pm and that was only about a dozen miles on blacktop roads from Earlville. Just past Edgewood we found our way blocked again, and had to investigate another re-route down a long, wash-boarded descent. By this time David and I were exhausted both physically and mentally. It seemed that something was against us, and to overcome it was proving to become more and more difficult Re-routing in broad daylight was one thing, but under the utter blackness of rural Iowa skies it was mind-bending. Then we saw it and I stopped the car. A huge washout, probably 10 to 12 feet across, right at the bottom of a long, sure to be high speed descent for the riders.

We carefully considered our options. The stones in the washout were loose and footing was treacherous. Riders would have meager LED lights which would be hard to see by. David and I looked at each other and we knew this was the end of the road. Nothing needed to be said, but now it was time to arrange the end game.

Tomorrow: The Sprint Finish and Looking For The Lost Sheep

Trans Iowa: Ten Years Of Tales #20

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

Re-routing: Nothing was sacred!

 Of all the Trans Iowas so far, perhaps T.I.v4 was the most adventurous for me. There never was a dull moment, really. David and I were working our tales off at high stress levels just trying to save what we could of this one. To get as far as we did? I consider it one of my best achievements as an event director. Of course, I would assume David would say as much.

As if gale force winds, snow, freezing cold temperatures, flooded rivers, and mudslides weren't enough, we were really only halfway through the obstacles that were set against us.

I recall that we had gotten word that about 5, maybe 6 guys were still in the event past Winthrop. Who those all were was something of a mystery that wouldn't work itself out until later, but the wind and cold had basically shelled most of the riders off. In a way, David and I were somewhat relieved to know this. But then we forgot all about the riders for several hours.....

We crested a hill. I remember seeing a huge lake glinting in the afternoon Sun. A gravel road stretched out in front of us and disappeared under the jewel-like waves. Our course! We sprang into action with maps, discussion, and then decisions. Using our protocol for rerouting, we basically made a new course for probably ten to fifteen miles around the flooded area on roads we had never laid eyes on. Fortunately, everything worked out well that way. We were particularly afraid of what we'd find ahead at a B Road section we had in the course.

That image of the stop sign there? I remember that very well. I decided to stick the ripped duct tape strips up there. The wind was so strong, the sign was doing that side to side dance you sometimes see signs do in strong winds. There was an eerie humming noise all the while I worked on this as well. Like something of a moaning in the wind. It wasn't until I finished the tape job that I realized that the sound was being produced by a high tension electrical wire above my head.

Joe Meiser's rear derailleur: Image by Rob Walters

Then we sped on to that B Road. We feared what we would find and were already making plans for a re-route. When we got there, miraculously, it was fine! We couldn't drive all the way through it, but we did drive almost all of it, which we had thought would be impossible coming to that spot.

Okay, so with the huge re-route and the B Road okay, we forged ahead to Checkpoint #2 which was in Earlville, Iowa, right off Highway 20. We were finding the roads to be in pretty fair condition, and for a time, we were more relaxed. The volunteers at the checkpoint were grilling steaks and we had some beers. Some earlier drops and some other folks stopped by and made for good times. It was still cold and raw, the Sun was setting, and we had to take our leave. By now we knew there were indeed only five riders left, and we knew who they were. Things were looking pretty good, with the exception that we had found out one of our next B Roads, about 30-40 miles up the course, was 6 feet under water. No problem! We knew a good re-route.

However; when we pulled out of Earlville, the complexion of the roads was quite different. We weren't out of town 3 miles when we had to start in re-routing the course again, and it got worse the further we went on. In fact, the frost heaves in the road were so bad at one point we had to abandon the car to check the roads. There was a tree down across one road we needed to use, and David left me there to break off enough branches in the dank darkness so that riders could pass by on one side of the road while he forged ahead to check on another re-route.

Washed out road in the headlights. (Note David Pals standing in the washout)

It was getting later in the evening and progress was slow, We had not even made it to Edgewood by 10pm and that was only about a dozen miles on blacktop roads from Earlville. Just past Edgewood we found our way blocked again, and had to investigate another re-route down a long, wash-boarded descent. By this time David and I were exhausted both physically and mentally. It seemed that something was against us, and to overcome it was proving to become more and more difficult Re-routing in broad daylight was one thing, but under the utter blackness of rural Iowa skies it was mind-bending. Then we saw it and I stopped the car. A huge washout, probably 10 to 12 feet across, right at the bottom of a long, sure to be high speed descent for the riders.

We carefully considered our options. The stones in the washout were loose and footing was treacherous. Riders would have meager LED lights which would be hard to see by. David and I looked at each other and we knew this was the end of the road. Nothing needed to be said, but now it was time to arrange the end game.

Tomorrow: The Sprint Finish and Looking For The Lost Sheep

Friday News And Views

 The other day, a good friend of mine, (and far better photographer than I!), posted his "10 Favorite Images of 2013". I thought it was awesome, and so since I take a lot of pictures myself, I figured "why not?"

So, in no particular order then, here are my ten favorites from 2013 for this edition of "Friday News And Views".  Enjoy!

Matt Wills at Odin's Revenge

Summer Stormy Sky At Sunset

Snowy Ride At Ingawanis Woodlands

Harvest 2013

T.I.V10 Recon

February Fat Bike Riding

Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitational 2013

Summer Gravel (Image of me by Jeremy Fry)

Fat Bike Ride With My Son

Fall 2013

Friday News And Views

 The other day, a good friend of mine, (and far better photographer than I!), posted his "10 Favorite Images of 2013". I thought it was awesome, and so since I take a lot of pictures myself, I figured "why not?"

So, in no particular order then, here are my ten favorites from 2013 for this edition of "Friday News And Views".  Enjoy!

Matt Wills at Odin's Revenge

Summer Stormy Sky At Sunset

Snowy Ride At Ingawanis Woodlands

Harvest 2013

T.I.V10 Recon

February Fat Bike Riding

Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitational 2013

Summer Gravel (Image of me by Jeremy Fry)

Fat Bike Ride With My Son

Fall 2013