THE SHORT VERSION

While the days leading up to TIV8 were very dry, the evening of the pre-race, it rained, thundered, and lightning all night long right up to the start of the event. A couple more folks dropped right before the pre-race, so I took down 71 bags for the event. Then we had 4 no-shows, so the actual starting field was 67 for this edition of TransIowa.

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With wet roads, chilly temperatures in the low 40’s, and a strong East wind at 26-30mph, the event didn’t look to be a promising one from my standpoint. However; 55 people made it through CP1 (a record), 38 people made it through CP2 (a record), and the unofficial CP3 had 30 people go through. There were 19 finishers in all. All of them complained about the east headwind for the last 20+ miles along with unceasing hills and tons of fresh rock. All made the riders struggle to attain 10mph at the end of the 330 miles. Other than the wind, it wasn’t a bad weather year, thus breaking The Curse idea that several veteran TransIowa riders ascribed to the even year races.

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THE CHANGES

A big (but not totally unexpected) change came when D.P., my co-director through four years of TransIowa events, decided to quit his co-directorship and told me he was out on June 20, 2011. D.P. was instrumental in getting TransIowa off life support, when after TIV3, I was a threads width from pulling the plug on the whole deal. D.P.'s efforts in helping with route finding, recon, and cue sheets was invaluable to me, and made putting on those four TransIowas a heck of a lot easier. Thanks, D.P.! You’ll be missed by many. At this point a TIV8 had not been publicly announced, but as I stated, I was determined to put the event on again. A big hole was created by D.P.'s departure, to be sure, but I had some offers of help already, and a basic plan for doing the route in mind as well.

 

The coverage of TransIowa used to be limited to my blog, the TransIowa site, TransIowa Radio, and the endurance forum on mtbr.com. That all changed with TIV7, which was the most heavily documented version of the event so far. An article in Issue #157 of Dirt Rag and a documentary film entitled 300 Miles Of Gravel by Jeff Frings, released in May 2012, were unprecedented. Many smaller mentions in magazines like Bicycling, Urban Velo, and others also made TransIowa more well-known and covered than ever before. Obviously, that level of scrutiny couldn’t be upheld another year (or so I thought), so I didn’t expect, or hear, about any media action for TIV8 early on. A change that was fine with me after all the hoopla surrounding TIV7.

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One of the more interesting developments surrounded the film. Early on it was suggested that the premier for 300 Miles of Gravel be in Grinnell at the pre-race Meat-Up. Then we had Dave Mable offer to cover TIV8 as an in-race reporter for Iowa Momentum Magazine. Finally, we had Steve Fuller offer to come back again and be our official photographer for the event. I guess we were going to have media coverage again after all!

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THE LEAD UP

Summer went by quickly, and still no real movement on TIV8. Until late August, that is, when I publicly announced the event. Then shortly after, Jeff Kerkove made a great parody of a can of V8 Vegetable Juice, and designed a fantastic header for the TransIowa site. Consider yourself lucky if you actually saw it! Not more than a couple weeks later, a cease and desist letter was emailed to me from three Campbell’s Food, Inc. lawyers. Seems they didn’t find any humor in the parody! Jeff quickly conjured up The Plowman header instead.

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By late September, I had only drafted a route to CP1 in Montezuma. In late October, the recon got underway with a plan to go further south than ever before. Important bridges needed to be verified, and the first third of the route reconned from CP1, planned for Montezuma, Iowa, was done which accounted for approximately 118 miles. The first leg to Montezuma was scheduled for 52 miles. So approximately 170 miles was pretty much accounted for. Some snares were encountered on the return leg where the route crossed the Des Moines River for the second time, but as of November 26, 180+ miles had been checked out visually.

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January brought some unusually warm weather just after New Year’s Day and I took advantage of that by doing the final big recon of the course on January 8. There was no snow and it was a glorious day to be out driving. Like that will ever happen again! I found out I was about 20 miles short and would need to get a few more miles tacked on to get to my goal of 320. All the course was good otherwise, and now I could start the process of cue sheets. I ended up adding on the required route mileage which came out to approximately 326 miles. The last bits in Marshall County were not reconned, but I went ahead and finished the cue sheets in January. Now all that remained was a final rechecking with Wally and George in late March to verify everything before the cues went to print.

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The cue sheet check went well on March 24, only a few minor mistakes were discovered and a closed road that forced a reroute adding a mile and a few tenths to the total. The mileage figure was now 327.8. Checkpoint names were changed to Checkpoint Alpha, Bravo, and a “secret checkpoint” named Charlie. This was to be run by a couple guys as a way to see that riders were doing okay and to provide a much needed resupply point since convenience stores were in short supply.

 

By November, I had again contacted Grinnell Chamber of Commerce events director, Sheryl Parmley, and asked about having TIV8 in Grinnell. The answer was an enthusiastic “yes”, and an announcement was made concerning this. Lodging prices were procured that held the line for prices set when we brought TIV6 to Grinnell. Cool! A sponsor also jumped in about this time – Gu Energy was again on board. The TransIowa buzz started up again, and emails with offers to help with volunteering, confirmations of hotel registrations, and general banter started up earnestly right off the bat. The pre-race Meat-Up was also scheduled to happen again at the Grinnell Steakhouse.

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Announcement of registration details went out on Guitar Ted Productions blog on November 13, 2011. Things were to be handled as the year before, with the then current list of 59 finishers having first crack at the roster spots, which were again limited to 100 riders. The registration for the finishers started on Black Friday, November 25, and all others could send in postcards on December 2 for a week. Registration cutoff was set for December 10.

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An initial rush of 18 finishers started out the first day, with nary a trickle afterward. Eventually 22 finishers took their spot on the roster. Then it was time to open things up to the rookies and veterans. Rookies filled up their quota in two days, but the veterans didn’t quite finish their allotment and a lone spot went to another rookie on December 10, the last day for registration. We ended up with about 15 folks, all rookies, on the waitlist. One Industry Cup fella, and in a new category we had an offer from Dave Mable, a TransIowa veteran and editor of Iowa Momentum, to become our first in-race reporter. We had one claim for a volunteers exemption, so in the end we had 103 on the official roster for TIV8. Speaking of the waitlist, I got pestered so much about that, I was fully convinced by late December to never do one again. Not worth the time I had to invest in email replies and explanations.

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The really odd thing was when drops did start happening in late December and early January, not a single person on the waitlist I contacted wanted in or would even reply back. Again, it just seemed like a bunch of wasted time. Added to this was the fact that folks were asking to get in yet as late as the end of January, which I could not allow or why even have registration and rules? It was just a really odd and frustrating deal this time around. By the time the waitlist (thankfully) expired, I had 96 total folks signed on to ride, including the three volunteer exemptions. By the end of February, the roster had whittled down to 89 riders.

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As of November 30, I had Gu Energy, a shop from Illinois called Wheel Werks, Oakley, and Salsa Cycles as sponsors. In January, Clif Bar recommitted as well. Early March saw Ergon committing and Clif Bars arrived at the shop for the event. Finally, Velocity stepped up again offering a nice A-23 wheelset as a prize.

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The final weeks before the event were marked by drier weather than in years past. Much needed rains came the first and second weekend of April. We thought only a torrential rainy period could possibly make TIV8 into a quagmire. Cue sheets went to print starting on April 16 and were completed and stuffed into baggies a week before the event. The roster had come down in numbers dramatically from February to 75 riders overall. No record this year! Other final details seemed to be falling into place as 105 orders for meals went into the Grinnell Steakhouse, and other minor details were coming together nicely.​ A final course check the weekend before the event by Jeremy Fry and Steve Fuller showed the recent rains had made the roads around Grinnell messy, but otherwise, things looked great. The roster lost a couple more folks by the Tuesday before the event. Now down to 73. Rookie class was only 26 this year after last year’s record of 40. The weather looked to be cool, maybe a tad wet with showers on Saturday, and windy from the northeast.​​

 

I had everything dialed for putting on TIV8. Cue sheets, volunteers, logistics, and even a room to stay in. I was only concerned about two things: I didn't have a way to change out a flat tire for my truck and the weather. I decided to gamble on the flat tire possibilities, but the weather thing was eating at me a bit. You see, it was an even numbered year for TransIowa (2012), and it is true - most even numbered years for this event have had really bad weather. For believers of The Curse, the weatherman was not disappointing - chance of rain from 1 p.m. Friday through late Saturday. Percentages for this were in the range that if you were a gambler, it was a no-brainer to bet on it. I was nervous about having another unfinishable year for TransIowa.

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I dropped my two children off at school, then loaded up the truck to bug out of town. As I did so, the drops of rain began to fall. "Great!", I muttered under my breath as I loaded up supplies, "Here we go again!" As I drove southward, things began to improve, and my spirits rose. I saw patches of blue sky and thinning clouds. During my promised pre-race recon of the first leg of the route, I began to think there was hope that we would miss the rain altogether. The roads were very dry, dusty, and in great shape, although the county maintainers had obviously been quite busy throwing down fresh gravel throughout Poweshiek County. The wind was really the only concern on Friday. 26mph with over 30mph gusts. The wind was insanely strong and straight out of the east.

 

I spent most of the day driving around the course checking things until about 2 p.m. Then I headed into Grinnell to set up for the pre-race Meat-Up and the showing of Jeff Frings' 300 Miles of Gravel. I was a bit concerned about that as well, since Jeff had to work and would be hightailing it down from Milwaukee just to get there by 6 p.m. I decided to have the film be last, just so Jeff would have time to have everything set up as he would like. As if having a major part in the film wasn't humbling enough, Jeff wanted to make this special trip just to gauge our reaction to it. I was very honored by that. Blown away, really. Jeff was obviously very excited to see how his multitudinous hours of labor and passion that went into this project would affect the viewers and myself.

 

Once at the Grinnell Steakhouse, I met some of my volunteers who were especially helpful this year. Brent, Wally, George, and Tony were all instrumental in getting the riders signed in and numbers handed out. The timing of events, especially moving the start up an hour, made a big difference in getting folks in and on their way to eating more smoothly than last year. The Grinnell Steakhouse staff was ready, excellent, and super-accommodating to the needs of TransIowa. The room for the film showing was all set up ahead of time and we had a smooth running event Friday night.

 

I was concerned that the forecast would scare off a lot of riders and we would have many no-shows, but I underestimated the resolve of the folks signed on this year. Of a possible 71 still on the roster going into TIV8, only four no-showed. We got 67 folks signed in and into the meeting room to see the showing of the film and to hear me blather on about the course as I tend to do. It was probably a good thing I flip-flopped my original intent to have the film shown first and do the meeting last. You know, save the best for last, get the mundane stuff outta the way right out of the gate. 

 

Wally made a great observation during the Meat-Up. He said he loved to see how the meeting served to be a family reunion of sorts. A place where friends meet again. He is right about that. You could look all around and see folks catching up or folks making connections for the first time. I guess TransIowa has been around long enough now the veterans of the event see it as a kind of fraternity of sorts. We actually had riders from every year of TransIowa in this event which says something right there, I guess. It isn't like it is an exclusive club. No, TransIowa riders seem to enjoy meeting new riders coming into the event. The new riders certainly appreciate being able to have some of that veteran experience rub off on them too. That's why I like the venue. It makes people rub elbows. That isn't something you can avail yourself of at every meeting place. I know we could do a more traditional type of arrangement, but I still think the way it has been done the last three years is about as good as it gets.

 

After eating, everyone retired to the meeting room where I went in and did my usual. Then it was time to see the film. Jeff wanted to be able to say a few words before he showed the film, so I had him come up and he spoke about the why of the project, which was nice to hear. Jeff essentially wanted to explore the reasons folks do long, ultra-marathon events like TransIowa and to show off a cycling event he was drawn to since he is a self-described former long distance cyclist. Here is where I have some issues with talking about 300 Miles of Gravel, since my voice and my image is all over this thing. Jeff did a 30-minute interview on camera with me last year which he used a lot of in the project. He also used a lot of last year's TransIowa Radio broadcast as narration. If I say the flick is such-and-such or that folks were stoked about it, that might seem self-serving to some people out there. I'll let the flick speak for itself. 

 

The pre-race Meat-Up went really well though, and the riders in attendance were excited and ready to get going. The event went so smoothly that we were all out of there well ahead of my schedule and I was really happy to have it go that way. More time for a fitful night's sleep! That and the non-rain event (so far), was making me really hopeful that TIV8 would be the year that The Curse would be broken.

 

After the Meat-Up I went down to Bikes to You to check in on Coop and Rob V., who were doing an Oakley Swap event and were staying open late. As I walked in, I heard my voice as if it were being played over a scratchy sounding stereo system. What? It was Jeff Frings, who had come down to show the movie to them down there, and Coop had it on the store's loudspeakers. Weird! At any rate, as we were hanging out I heard it start to rain. Hard! It was coming down in buckets and washing away any hope I had of starting TIV8 dry. Oh well, maybe the curse thing was real. Nothing I could do about it now. I took off for the motel to see if I could check out the weather reports for the morning. It didn't look good on radar. Clouds were spinning off the low pressure center and rain looked likely for several hours. Now my only hope was that it wouldn't actually be raining at the start. I tried going to sleep, but I never really got much, if any, with all the lightning, thunder, and 50+ mph wind gusts. So much for a restful night.

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THE EVENt Part I

I had been up an hour already and was sitting at the start line of TIV8. As usual with this event, a few racers were already there tweaking their bikes, warming up, and generally just milling about. In about ten minutes, the area would be teaming with blinky lights, LED headlamps, and nervous cyclists readying themselves to go. Radar showed the rain was quickly moving away from us. It had, in fact, just stopped raining as I pulled up to the start area in front of Bikes to You. The winds were stiff in town and it was 42 degrees on the bank's thermometer. It would be colder and windier in the open country. At least it wasn't raining!

 

I gave myself some time before I started herding the riders behind my truck for the planned controlled roll out. My course was laid out so that we would turn east at the next corner north from the bicycle shop, then go as far east down 5th Street as we could before turning north. This road led us out of town, but the chip seal lasted several miles this way. I wasn't sure until I was actually leading out the TIV8 peloton where I would peel away and let the race begin. I gave my usual description of the first moments of the event and my parental sounding warnings to the riders, which I do every year. Then it was counting down the minutes to 4 a.m. and the tooting of the horn. This would be the first year the "Truck With No Name" would have that honor. It was the vehicle I purchased with Mrs. Guitar Ted that I had always intended for this task, but D.P. had always wanted to use his Element before. Now that he was gone, my truck was pressed into duty.

 

Speaking of the truck and D.P., this reminds me that it was the first TransIowa in a long time where I didn't have a partner in the vehicle with me. Last time that happened was TIV3. In a way, I had a support person that year with Zach Dundas following along who was writing a book that featured TransIowa in one of its chapters. This time there would be no one following along with me either. I was not really thinking about that though, I had other pressing matters on my mind. "One minute!", I shouted out, and then I got buckled in for what would be a long weekend in a truck on gravel roads. At precisely 4 a.m., I tooted two short blasts on the horn and pulled away. Meanwhile, I could hear the cheer from the riders and the sparse crowd of onlookers and we were off. TIV8 was officially happening. A moment that was months and hours of work in the making was finally happening. A couple things always strike me at the start of TransIowa.

 

First, the moment of the start, for me at least, is much like the start of a sled ride. The moment when you feel gravity clawing at the sled and you know that any sense of control is quickly slipping away as the snow and gravitational pull send you flying downwards. It is exciting, and you know the moments that are coming in the next 34 hours are going to make for one thrilling, crazy, out-of-control ride. All I can do is herd the best that I can and pray that all goes well. The ducks on my end were all in a row, but there are so many things happening over miles and miles of Iowa gravel roads that I would be foolish to even think I could be in control over them. TransIowa is something that gains a life of its own in that time.

 

Second is something much more serene and beautiful. The trail of riders with their lights blazing is a kind of mesmerizing and awe inspiring. The roll out is the only time all the riders are strung out together, and I always crane my neck a few times to get a glimpse of the spectacle. Unfortunately, I have to keep my eyes mostly up the road this year, as I don't have the luxury of having D.P. doing the driving, so my glimpses were brief yet satisfying.

 

So much for all of that, I had cleared the city, so I goosed the accelerator and flew up the road and over a hill. The ghostly glow from 67 LED headlamps shone like a moon from behind the first hill in my rear view mirror, then they were gone. Then the next thing about TransIowa starts to hit me: the alone feeling. It's kind of jarring, going from the festive atmosphere, the nervousness of the start with all the bright lights, to the dark, brooding Iowa farmlands still lying in sweet slumber. And me, alone in a truck, checking cues and trying not to go into the ditch.

 

Of course, the route was good to go, I checked it all the day before up to CP1, but you never know, and I wanted to see how wet and squishy things were after the rains. I stopped about 16 miles in and stepped out of the truck on an eastbound stretch of the course. Holy cow! The wind was so strong I had to use both hands to press the door open and get out of the truck. Just as I had surmised, the wind and temperature was worse out here. Bone chilling, wet wind with a 40-degree air temperature being wind chilled by a 26mph wind with higher gusts. Nice. It may not have been raining, but this wasn't good. You see, the course went due east for 11 miles over hilly roads. I felt that it might be a deal killer. The roads? They seemed a bit soft, but not bad. However, there was a B-road which might really throw a wrench in the works.

 

I beat it up the road and parked on the entrance to it to wait for the leaders to show up. It was completely dark when I arrived at the B-road. I decided I wanted to get out and soak in the feeling of the countryside, but after about five minutes of that, I was chilled to the bone. A car passing by stopped and the driver asked if I needed help with anything. I said no, but thanked him as I stood shivering in the wind. Then I hopped back into the relative shelter of the cab of my truck and squinted through the slowly lightening shades of morning until the darkness had been chased away. What was left behind was a grey, cold sky and a wet landscape. According to my calculations, the riders must have been going at a slower pace, not to be wondered at with that wind. Slowly, I could discern a black smudge crawling up the road. The leaders! They were barely doing a 12mph average by my figuring. Ugh! I wasn't worried about the guys I could see, but my mind was thinking about the back end of the field and was wondering how much slower these conditions were causing them to go. How many would make the checkpoint before 9:30 a.m.? I had visions of losing half the field off the top due to the severe conditions. The Curse was real, perhaps, after all.

 

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THE EVENt Part II

I was pretty bummed about the conditions at this point. I was totally convinced that TIV8's field was going to be cut in half by the combination of wet roads, winds, and cold. I suppose I was still thinking about The Curse and, of course, I'd seen riders get nipped by the conditions and the time cutoff before. By the time I reached CP1, I assumed that my volunteers would be not very busy. It was nearing 8 a.m. already, and no one had been through the checkpoint which I had manned by 6 a.m. just in case. The speeds this particular morning the racers could carry just did not warrant that, but you never know what the weather will do. 

 

April 28, 7 a.m. @ the corner of 200th and 430th, Poweshiek County: I made a TransIowa Radio post in which I state, "...the wind is really just gonna knock a lot of people out of this."

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I was thankful for all my folks there though: Brent, Tony, Gumby, T.J., Alex, Mike, and Gail, who were all super friendly, helpful, and efficient with the racers. They actually did get busy there, but I figured, "How many racers can get there in an hour and a half or less?" The leaders - six of them including the Braun Brothers, John Gorilla, Troy Krause, Eric Brunt, and Charly Tri, had just barely pulled in after eight bells. Surely the other stragglers were much farther behind...so I thought.

 

The leaders were not well-organized as a unit in the checkpoint. One of the Braun brothers actually didn't even look like he would stop at all, and we didn't get his name. He ended up rolling to the first corner then waited. The rest seemed to be content to take their time until Charly Tri joined the evasive Braun and the rest seemed to be getting a bit nervous now. I stuck around a bit after they left to get gas and an energy drink, then I left town on the route. Only two others had come through in this time, both alone. My bad feelings about the numbers of folks likely to make it weren't abating, but that would have to go to the back burner. I had a reroute that I had mentioned might happen at the pre-race to the riders.

 

I decided at CP1 to enforce the reroute. It was for a particularly steep, muddy B-road with a low water crossing. It certainly would have more than the 10 inches of water it had across it after all this rain. Friday it was a benign yet interesting feature. On a day like today, it would be unnecessary roughness. Wet legs and feet on a cold, windy day? No. I rerouted the area, which was easy-peasy. Around this time CP1 had closed down and my awesome volunteers had everything dialed as far as who was in and who made it through. When Brent called me I was floored. "How many?", I asked incredulously. He repeated the number. 55 riders had passed out of 71. I was absolutely stoked. The Curse was broken! This was a record number of riders to pass through a checkpoint in TransIowa's history. Heck, it was more than a lot of TransIowa fields at the start! Wow! My mood had changed and now I was really excited. How many people would make it to CP2? I was betting a lot would. And the roads were firming up noticeably. The wind tamed down to be a gentle breeze with gusts into the teens at best. Even the clouds were thinning more. This was a TransIowa now!

 

My CP2 guys, Wally and George, were following along, jumping down the course to catch glimpses of the riders and to take images. We were in constant texting communications all morning. I kept them abreast of developments. Wally texted me that he and George were going to wait for me just outside of a small town up the road. I met them and we stood in the middle of the road and had a few laughs as the morning wore on. We all remarked on the number of riders out on the course and we were happy to hear that some of our friends and favorites were still in the running. The event had reached a new milestone despite the dark, stormy night leading into the event and the tough weather and roads the riders faced from the get-go.

 

As much as it was fun to hang with Wally and George, there was work that needed to be done. An unmarked corner south of town needed attending to, and I had to bid Wally and George farewell for the time being. I got the corner marked, and then took a look at the B-road that followed. Knowing I shouldn't drive down it, I drove south a mile to go around and get back on course. The day was glorious, and TIV8 was gaining momentum.

 

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THE EVENt Part III 

I am in total panic mode as I counter-steer into my out of control slide on an Iowa B-road. That was close! While trying to avoid the B-road on course, I ended up finding another one. I was a bit distracted just at that moment. Driving ahead of the riders as a last check for surprises, to mark out reroutes or unmarked corners, and to monitor the progress of riders makes for a lot to keep on top of. Added to that are the cellphone calls and texts from riders dropping out, texts from Wally and George, and texts from photographer Steve Fuller. Of course, there is the odd TransIowa Radio post that I was making. Many decisions, sometimes many at once.

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The phone seemed to go in streaks with being really busy, and it happened just at the wrong time as I was trying to grab the roster sheet to make a mark by a riders name who was on the phone trying to DNF. I looked up and BAM! I was in it. A B-road and now my truck was sliding out of control. I threw the phone down and got really busy driving. I literally went a half a mile sideways and the rest fishtailed with mud slinging up in the air so high it was clearing the truck. It was touch-and-go there, but I pulled it all the way for a mile to solid road. Whew! Let's not do that again!

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During all this madness, a selection at the front had occurred. The original lead group shattered into bits as Charly Tri, Matt Braun, and his brother, Travis Braun, made a break for it at Hedrick, a small town on the route where riders were stopping at a convenience store. For the time being, Troy Krause, Eric Brunt, and John Gorilla teamed up but were several minutes down on the leaders. Then a group of approximately eight riders containing Dennis Grelk, Mike Johnson, and others were farther behind. It was also a spot where riders would get at least a 100-mile ride in. Several noted this and DNFed at Hedrick. Citing the morning's energy expenditures as putting them into a deficit, they decided to call it quits while still bagging an Iowa gravel hundy. For many that stopped here, it was the furthest they had ever gone, or the furthest they had ever gone in a TransIowa. A win either way you look at it.

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"Just for the record, we didn't attack at Hedrick. There was a split before that with the three of us riding away (not attacking), Gorilla in the middle, and Krause/Brunt just behind. They came into Hedrick just as we were getting ready to go again, but there was no deviousness or attacking. Krause and Brunt would get the final say though. Good job to them for doing what we couldn't." – Charly Tri

 

I was stoked on the numbers that were still in the event at such a point though. The weather was cooperating to such a degree that I wondered aloud if this might be the year we break the record for finishers, which was set in TIV3 at 24. I saw the three leaders pass by at about 106 miles in and then took off down the course to check for any issues ahead of them. I took my time, enjoying the countryside, not pushing it too hard. I knew the night was coming and I needed all my reserves for making it through on no sleep. 2:30 p.m. passes by and I've been up for 12 hours already at this point – so have almost all the racers. Really, probably none of us slept much anyway, being nervous and the noise from the storm that passed through.

 

Approximately 140 miles into TIV8, the course came through Agency, Iowa. What a weird name for a town, eh? I liked that we went through there, just because of that. Anyway, I swung over to the convenience store, just off the route, and cleaned out my truck which was swimming in aluminum energy drink cans and Clif Bar wrappers. I was about to leave when I spied a Ford SUV which curiously had similar gravel/mud spray all over it to my truck. "Hmm, must be someone with TransIowa.", I thought. Sure enough, it was our official photographer, Steve Fuller. Steve and I compared notes on the day and he invited me down the road from town to sit with him and wait for the leaders to come through.

 

On our way there, Steve was driving ahead of me when he pulled over and motioned for me to open the door to my truck. He said he was seeing tire tracks up the road and that the leaders may have passed by already. What! I decided to race up the road to verify this. Sure enough, there were tire tracks going down, across the Des Moines River bridge, and down the road on the other side. When I turned the corner to ascend the opposite bank, there they were! They seemed to just be getting started after a brief stop, but however that may be, I didn't have time to stop and chat. I had to race up the road a couple miles to a corner that needed marking.

 

I barely staked in the last board when they were on my tail! I jumped in the truck and took off like the hounds of hell were after me. Then it hit me that another corner needed marking since there was no sign, and I beat a path to that corner and staked it out. Whew! No sign of them and I jumped into the truck, sped up the road a bit more, and stopped to try and make a quick TransIowa Radio post at 2:11 p.m., but I had to cut it short when I saw them coming in my rear view mirror. Dang! These guys were flying up the road. They had 40 miles to go to CP2, and at the rate they were eating up the road, I was thinking the sub-24 hour TransIowa was going to happen. I wasn't going to let them catch me again, so I took a bit faster approach to doing the final road check and headed straight for CP2 where Wally and George would be hanging out.

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THE EVENt Part IV

I cracked open a cold bottle of Legend Pale Ale at CP2, which was again manned by the duo of Wally and George. This pair of intrepid cycling nuts were at TIV7 with a setup that made them something of a legend to TIV7 veterans. They had heaters, videos, music, and nutritional supplies for the riders, but most of all, Wally and George are just real down to earth, encouraging guys. Folks don't soon forget that, and expectations amongst some were high for their checkpoint going in. In fact, riders were making it a goal to see what these two characters would come up with this time.

 

They weren't disappointed, I'll tell ya that much, and many that had never experienced Wally and George's rural brand of hospitality soon learned why the spot was a goal of some of their peers. Heck, they even had a warm fire this year! John Gorilla was overheard saying that CP2 was so good there should have been a time limit for staying there. It was a pretty nice oasis. I spent a fair bit of time there, kicking back for a bit and jawing with Wally, George, and Matt Gersib who was coming down to man the CP3 we had planned.

 

Convenience stores were real sparse on the course this year – about four spots we went through had one, and one of those was off course a few blocks. In the last 200 miles of TIV8, there was only one convenience store opportunity without going a ways off course. I let CP2 and CP3 serve as stations of sorts to at least patch the holes with something. I wasn't willing to sacrifice how cool the course was for a mundane loop over to a town with an open convenience store.

 

The first arrivals at the checkpoint were the three riders that had been chasing me since just outside Agency, the Braun Brothers and Charly Tri. Knowing how fast they had been going, and still were, I figured I'd better get settled back into the truck and set off for CP3. The three riders showed up at 4:41pm, which is about 2-2.5 hours sooner than this far into any previous TransIowas. That would be 170 miles, by the way. Before I walked away, I asked how the trio was doing and Charly said something to the effect that he was "being towed around by these two", or something similar to that. I didn't know how serious he was, since he seemed to be moving fine otherwise, and looked fine to my eyes. I jumped into the truck, nonetheless, and went onward to see the secret checkpoint.

 

This was manned by TransIowa veterans and finishers Matt Gersib and Jeremy Fry. The deal here was that I allowed them to give anything they wanted to give to racers, as long as I didn't know about it. You know - secret and stuff! I did send along some of the Gu Energy and Clif Bar stuff we had gotten for the event. The riders would have to traverse some pretty hilly terrain to get there. Many of the riders would be tackling this in the dark. With nearly 200 miles in their legs and bodies, the minds being frazzled, devoid of nutrients and water, these hills would maybe be a bit tougher than usual as well.

 

Out of the record number of 55 riders that passed through CP1, only 38 made it on time to CP2. Out of the 17 folks that didn't get that far, many got close and a couple came in late to CP2, so long rides were put in by a lot of folks! Some folks that reached CP2 called it a day. One of those was a big surprise to many onlookers. Charly Tri stopped his ride just past CP2.

 

I got to CP3 before dark, and Jeremy and Matt had everything all ready to go. While I was there, I got the word about Charly, so we were on the lookout for the Braun Brothers. I figured at the pace they were setting, they would be along about 7:15 p.m. However, they were about 15 minutes later than my prediction, and they also pulled in to stop a while, which was another surprise to me. I figured them to cruise right on by. Both brothers came up and started taking off gear, but not before a local 13 year old that had wandered over full of curiosity had them barraged with about 20 questions. Then she went on breathlessly to explain most of her life to anyone that would deign to listen. Now, I gotta hand it to the Braun brothers and other racers that came through and visited with this girl - they were all very kind, attentive, and decent to her, despite her personality which was a bit testing. Given the mental and physical state of these racers, I was proud to see how they responded to her. In fact, one of the Braun Brothers actually offered to fix her bicycle for her! Gotta love the typical TransIowa rider.

 

I bugged out of there shortly after the Braun's arrived. Given their speed, I figured I had better get a move on in case I needed to be attending to any last minute details. CP3 had 30 riders eventually visit it, so I figure it was a success. There was one more convenience store stop, if you got to town soon enough. It was in Pella, Iowa, but the road there wasn't straight or level. It would be a tough slog. Plus, there would be no more friendly faces. No encouragement. The last 140 miles of TIV8 from CP3 stared the remaining riders in the face, and it would be a severe test of men's wills and strengths until perhaps some of them would arrive back in Grinnell.

 

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THE EVENt Part V

I was sitting at the trailhead for the Volksweg Trail just inside of Pella's city limits waiting to see the Braun Brothers go by (and I really needed to urinate)! CP3 was a busy, busy place Saturday evening. It started out with the attempted fix of that local girl's single speed rig by the co-leader of the event, and it ended with some ragged, half out of their mind TransIowa riders just hoping to find a mythical pizza in a podunk town. In between there was a bunch of drama and the race was turned inside out there and further up the road.

 

As far as appearances went, it would have seemed to be a slam dunk that the Braun's were going to have the TransIowa prize of the Oakley watch to themselves. The last of the chasers, Eric Brunt and Troy Krause, would hold on for the runner-up spots, and John Gorilla would finalize the podium. We'd see Charlie Farrow pull some endurance mojo out of his hat for a miracle finish, a la TIV5, and a cast of usual suspects would fill up the in between spots. Just when you think you know how it's going to end, everything you know is wrong.

 

Earlier, Charly Tri succumbed to full-body shut down after passing CP2. Then I got a bomb dropped when I took a call from John Gorilla who said "...it was a difficult decision, but..." he was dropping out at CP3. Then the scare of the event for me was when Charlie Farrow didn't show up at CP3 before everyone went through behind him (or that were behind him, I should say). My good buddy, Matt, backtracked the course and found him struggling not more than 7 miles away. He too climbed into the broom wagon. That wasn't even the real zinger. I recall I was driving the last bits of the course, high up on some freshly graveled hill, when the cell rang to life sometime shortly before 2 a.m. "..yeah, we're done. Just not feeling it..." The two that had animated the entire event since Hedrick 100 miles in were calling it quits not more than about 56 miles from the finish. The Braun Brothers were out of TransIowa!

 

Who would win? I heard from the Brauns they were seeing some tire tracks in the gravel ahead of them. They had been making wrong turns, and apparently someone had leap-frogged them. They were insistent it was one set of tracks. I surmised it was Eric Brunt with Troy Krause somewhere behind him. Surely these two would come in first and second for TIV8's top honors, since Troy would win the Single Speed/Fixed category as well. Wow! I was floored. Now to see the rest of the roads were good and get to the finish line.

 

I finally pulled into the grassy lot just beyond the finish line of TIV8 at 2:30 a.m. Sunday. Steve Fuller was already there snoozing in his rig. I felt the elation of having finally gotten all the driving done and that it appeared TIV8 would be a successful event, so I sat on the tailgate of my truck and drank my last Legend Pale Ale to celebrate. Funny thing as I sat there sipping on the beer. I was feeling a biting east wind. It was getting just about as bad as it was the morning before. This would really test the riders resolve. I had seen miles of fresh gravel and a surprise B-road that was in store for the finishers, and now the wind on top of it which they would have to face for about 15 miles of the final 25 coming from the furthest west and north point on the TIV8 course. That wasn't really registering on my radar at that moment. I'd been up for over 24 hours straight now, and I was beat from bouncing around in that truck most of that time. I thought I'd try to get a bit of shut eye, so I tried to get into a comfortable position in the standard cab truck I have. Hmm, this won't do. I'll try this. Nope, ahh! It wasn't really working.

 

Then I heard a car pull up. It was Jeremy from CP3 wanting to drop off stuff with me so he could go home. Jeremy chatted for a bit, then I climbed back in the truck for a bit when he left. It wasn't long after when a Chevy truck came wheeling into the area and stopped right next to me. Okay, so much for trying to sleep. It turned out to be Eric Brunt's dad, who wanted to make sure he'd be there to see Eric come in. Seems some folks actually were listening to TransIowa Radio! About that time, Steve emerged from his vehicle and we chatted about the amazing turn of events that occurred over the previous hours of the night. 3 a.m. passed and 4 a.m. was coming hard. There would be no sub-24 hour TransIowa this year.

 

Eric's Dad was pretty animated during this time. He was nervous as a pet coon. I talked with him and assured him that it may be a later arrival than 5-6 a.m. with the gravel and now the wind, which seemed almost as harsh as Saturday morning. I was suspecting closer to 7 a.m. time, but I was going to start wondering more if it got beyond 7 a.m. It did go beyond 7, but not by a lot. About 7:10 Eric Brunt rolled in to the finish to some sparse cheers from the few that were assembled there. Unfortunately, my only TransIowa Radio post failure of the event was the one where I announced the winner! Troy Krause rolled in about 10 minutes later and claimed second overall and the single speed crown. This was also Troy's second TransIowa finish in a row.

 

More folks started filtering in to the lot and we had a small party of cheering fans for the remaining 17 folks that would roll in. We had more repeat finishers from last year (Charles Parsons, Mike Johnson, Adam Boone, Scott Bigelow, and Dennis Grelk), we had folks finally knock off a TransIowa finish after previous attempts (Matt Maxwell, Robert Fry, Aaron Schnee, Bruce Currin, Jeremy Kershaw, Jay Barre, and Mark Johnson), we had new first-timers (Chris Schotz, Dan Jansen, and Charles Showalter), and an old veteran who came back and did it again, Joe Partridge, who was one of the original 9 to ever finish TransIowa. Pugsleys were ridden, whiskey was drunk, and tears of joy were shed by men and women alike. 19 finishers gutted out a course with an ending that was universally agreed upon as being brutal in its content of fresh gravel, hills, and wind. As if that wasn't hard enough, Charles Showalter and Corey "Cornbread" Godfrey both whacked their rear derailleurs off on the last B-road at about seven miles out, so they scooted their rigs to the finish line! Hardcore indeed.

 

I stayed until the very end, but just at the time I was about to get out of Dodge, the Alabama Crew pulled up and were asking about their man, John Karasch, who was still out on course with another rider, Scott McConnell. In the end, they would get back to Grinnell to finish the course in almost 36 hours. Amazing! I pointed my truck home long before then, but a funny thing happened. By this time I had been awake for close to 38 hours and I was nodding off on the highway, so I pulled off on some gravel to look for a napping spot. Oddly enough, I woke right up, so I drove the rest of the way home on gravel! And that was the end of TIV8.

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THE AFTERMATH

The event seemed to go without a hitch and everyone was very complimentary in regard to how everything was. The movie 300 Miles of Gravel, which was shown at the pre-race Meat-Up, was a hit, and an offer to riders to obtain a copy was made at the meeting. From the start to the very end, the event did not see any snags, troubles, or other negative issues from an organizational standpoint. Riders were beyond complimentary to the volunteers, and the volunteer crew this year was the biggest I’ve had at a TransIowa ever. Cue sheets were universally said to have been spot on. The troubles from last year were definitely rectified.

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Best run TransIowa ever? Quite possibly. Certainly the fact that the weather ended up cooperating making it a finishable event made the event seem more successful from my standpoint. The riders seemed to all be in agreement that the event went smoothly, from the ahead of schedule pre-race meeting, to the cues, and finally to the volunteers at checkpoints, so the event got a stamp of approval. Records were set for riders still out on course throughout the entire event. Only the number of finishers fell short of the record set in TIV3 when we had 24 cross the line that year.