THE CHANGES 

Again, nothing radical, but I did want to fine-tune a few details. Things like number plates, which riders were still not getting right. A mandatory on-the-bike placement was implemented. The rerouting procedure would go on each set of cues going forward along with the DNF number to call. This would hopefully promote understanding of reroutes and prevent volunteers from having to man reroute places all night long! The Slender Fungus would be relied upon for more support pre-event and during the event.

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Otherwise, it was looking like business as usual starting out in 2014 looking at TIV11. Grinnell was going to be the starting town. The Barn would be a part of the event. The Grinnell Steakhouse would provide the space for the pre-race Meat-Up. Procedural elements for producing another TransIowa were pretty much dialed since TIV8, so nothing unusual there either. No, TransIowa is not a glitzy affair or a big production and I doubt it will ever be and that is just fine by me. I suspect you agree with me. TransIowa is about defeating one’s demons. Defeating them alone with no fanfare or support! 

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TIV11 was announced on August 9 on the Guitar Ted Productions blog once again and received immediate strong positive reaction. Much like it does every year, except the response is much larger than in years past. Volunteers stepped forward and included a few notable TransIowa finishers like Mike Johnson, Matt Gersib, and Steve Fuller. The lodging deal was set again at the Grinnell Comfort Inn & Suites at $70/night. The block of 40+ rooms sold out within hours of the announcement before anyone had registered!

 

There was a new tweak to registration this time. Since there are now over 100 finishers of TransIowa over ten events, the finishers sure could take the entire roster if they all decided to come back! I reverted to limiting their participation, but to guarantee former winners would have a spot. However, ALL entrants would have to gain entry by postcard and by a specific date. When I allowed winners to just send in an email, and finishers could do the same, I was getting the feeling this was on the verge of becoming an abused way to get into a TransIowa. In fact, I had to turn down two former winners for TIV10 due to this loophole that almost was. I ended the Industry Cup for similar reasons. It was becoming a way to pay to play, in a way, which wasn’t fair to those who have/had no industry connections. Back to basics then!

 

The registration started on October 27 with a one-week window for finishers to get in. However, prior to this date an individual tried to bribe their way in by sending a card to my employer and telling him to give me the postcard on the 27 and there was an amount of money included in the letter. Besides that disqualified entry, two folks miscalculated their overnight letters which arrived on the Saturday before the registration opened, so they missed the cut. Early cards and disgruntled individuals were noted in larger numbers this time, especially in regard to the rookie registration, which saw the roster filled for them in 30 minutes! People waiting in line to drop off registration cards were in higher numbers than ever before and many people missed the cut due to that and mishandled overnight letters. If there is a TIV12, there will be no overnight or hand delivered cards allowed again. All will have to run the same gauntlet of the USPS to gain a chance to enter the event.

 

THE LEAD UP

This wasn’t supposed to happen - TIV11, that is. I was dead set against going past 10 for a long time, but something happened, and that is the biggest change from years previous. I’ll get to that in a minute, but for now, the history of TIV10: It was a very well received event and maybe more than ever, due to the largest field to ever take a start (106), there was a huge outpouring of thanks and a huge groundswell of support for a TIV11. I think that has to do with the difficulties of TIV10, which I have repeatedly said was the toughest one to date, and that seems to draw out this sort of response. Much like it did back in TIV2 and other tough years, TransIowa seems to elicit a desire to try again. I still cannot really explain that.

 

I heard from many sponsors they received emailed thank you's from the riders, which is the first I have ever heard of that happening, although I am sure it has in the past to some degree. That said, I was very chuffed to have gotten that feedback. That makes me proud of the sort of folks that do this event and certainly played into the decision to do another one. While there had been strong feelings about possibly stopping TransIowa altogether, it became more apparent that there were strong feelings on not only my part, but on the part of several riders and volunteers for a continuance of the event. Ari Andonopoulous of the Slender Fungus threw in his hat along with the rest of his crew as helpers. I had already gotten four volunteer offers to help before two weeks had gone by past TIV10. Wally and George threw in their hats to do it all again. Rob Versteegh was in again with the Barn, and the Grinnell Steakhouse was talking about shutting the restaurant down just for our party next time. Talk about your no-brainers! Only a few short days beyond TIV10 I decided to do another one. I let a few key people know and started looking at routes again. Meanwhile, I tried to recover from a personal record of having been awake for 43 hours during the weekend of TIV10. 

 

Jeremy Fry was again my companion for recon, which we started in early October. The route, which was planned to go southeast of Grinnell, was fraught with reroutes, dead ends, and unsatisfactory terrain. While we covered everything drafted but the last 80 miles, it was clear a revising of things was in order. That was especially so due to the lack of a convenience store opportunity past CP2’s planned distance. A second recon happened November 1 and we settled the route out for the most part. We were over 340 miles by November 14, so I had a few things cut out and we found a couple errors in tracking that brought the route down to a more manageable total of 331.77 miles. The route was unique in that it stretched southeast to northwest and in many places the route passed within one mile of itself. The final recon with Wally and George in mid-April was cut short due to time and 76 miles were left without a final check. Wally and George were determined to check that section out just prior to the event, but cue sheets were printed ahead of that anyway.

 

After TIV10’s enormous prize table and t-shirt offering to the riders, I decided to dial back the hoopla a bit and we had the most minimally sponsored TransIowa yet. Pedal of Littleton sent over some Salsa Cycles bar tape and WTB provided every official finisher of TransIowa with a set of WTB Nano 40 TCS tires. I also got some backing to do a limited run t-shirt for the volunteers from Tacopocalypse. That was pretty much it aside from a donation from Lederman Bonding Company to help out with expenses. The event was backed by the Grinnell Steakhouse with the provision of the meeting room. Rob Versteegh also was going to help us out by opening up the Barn again for the finish line. Wally Kilburg and George Keslin were back again to do the image taking. In a big surprise for me, Jason Boucher also showed up and took some great shots. Many riders were taking shots during TI11 as well. More so than in any other year. In a last-minute call just before TIV11, I was contacted by an individual doing a film project on gravel about doing an interview after the event, but it never went down due to the way things went with the weather. This same individual then sprang the idea of tagging along in somebody's car to film the event, but I put the brakes on that since I had no time to clear it with the riders or logistically.

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THE EVENt

The roster stayed solid at 120 folks with three volunteer exemption additions until about April 1, when I got my first dropout notification. Then it went on with about a drop every other day till we were down to 93 riders with two volunteer exemption riders by ride time. Interestingly, there were only about 30 rookies in the field. The process to put the event together was a bit different since the Slender Fungus did the numbers and I had others helping in other ways that used to be things I had to take care of personally. The whole deal did go smoothly though, and when it came time for the event it was all good.

 

The weather had been relatively dry right up to the TransIowa weekend, but of course, the day of TransIowa was forecast to be rainy, windy (from the east!), and rather cold. Things were shaping up to be a real humdinger and TIV11, even though it was an odd year, wasn’t going to have the best of weather. Volunteers were mostly past TransIowa veterans or folks that understood ultra-endurance events, so the crew was top notch and it helped to make the event go smoothly.

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The eleventh running of TransIowa was marked by difficult conditions that decimated the field of 94 riders. Bad weather truncated TIV11 and made it the shortest TransIowa ever. It not only rained beforehand, but the wind and rain during the event was brutal. Rain was nearly sideways, the roads were mushy and slow, all resulting with all but one person not making CP1. Greg  Gleason made it through, but only by 5 minutes. He eventually pulled the plug after 123 miles which he covered in 12 hours and 20 minutes - too slow to make further time cuts. Only Greg Greg was TIV10’s winner and was looking to punch his ticket to back-to-back winning finishes, but it wasn’t to be so.

 

With Gleason making only 123 miles by 4:20 p.m., he threw in the towel, seeing he wouldn’t make further time cutoffs, and the event was over. Gleason was declared the winner, but there were no official finishers. The majority of folks in it were already cleaned up and at the bars or on their way home by the time Gleason stopped his ride. Although TIV11 was a short one, it engendered the sort of response that comes with complete TransIowas and maybe even more so.

 

This TransIowa was also marked by a large number of stories of riders helping riders and many acts of kindness and conduct deserving of commendation were observed. Too many to mention here.

 

Even when no one finishes, everyone that rode won. – Guitar Ted

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What often seems ridiculous, without purpose, and demoralizing is anything but that to those who were actually there toeing the line. In fact, although it may seem very unbelievable to outsiders, this result actually is a motivator to make it back next year. Training plans and rides to keep up the fitness are already being planned by many who had their dreams of a TransIowa finish dashed this year by the insane winds, rain, mushy roads, mud, and cold. Until the next TransIowa is announced. 

 

THE AFTERMATH 

The event was the shortest of the TransIowas so far, but much like TIV2, it engendered a response of gratitude for the chance and a desire to come back again. TIV2 was shorter in distance, actually, but that was a point-to-point format. TIV2 was also longer in terms of time. TIV11 is the shortest in distance and ended earlier than any of the planned loop format courses so far. No bad words were heard about the event by the participants and most seemed to be pretty pleased with the set up and the way things were handled.

 

Now that TransIowa is a known entity, it seems that outsiders that have little knowledge and no experience in gravel events see something like TIV11 and TransIowa in general as weird, unfathomable, or a joke. The folks that do get it were just fine with how it was run and, while disappointed in their outcomes in the event, were all appreciative and supportive. TransIowa will continue to cater to those who desire to be challenged in a unique way and will never have licenses, winner’s jerseys, points, or be sanctioned. Some may not see it as a race, or see its rules as being fair, but they are what they are and this is what makes TransIowa unique and appealing to those who are not all about trappings and hoopla.

 

The most unusual TransIowa in years, and perhaps since TIV2, was TIV11. Considering we had four straight, finishable years since TIV6, it almost seemed unreal that TIV11 was unconquerable. That’s the weather for you. It was bound to happen again some year. Despite the shortest running since TIV2, and the shortest ever since the loop format was introduced, riders were very complimentary and volunteers were re-upping for a possible TIV12 right away after TIV11. Everyone was flabbergasted by the sharp downturn in the weather on the very day TIV11 was to start and all were up for another chance at this next year.

 

It was hard for me to process the event since it was so different than previous years. However, I don’t think there was ever a moment during TIV11 or immediately afterward that I thought I would stop doing TransIowa with that event. How could I end it that way? It just seemed natural to have another go at it, so a TIV12 was never in doubt early on.