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Trans Iowa V2 recap
Last week I finished off a series of entries about the 2005 version of the Trans Iowa endurance event. I’m devoting this week to a recap of this year’s event — Trans Iowa V2 — which took place on the last weekend in April.
Whenever you “set the table” for your guests, you always hope that they like what you have prepared, and there are plenty of anxious moments before everyone arrives. For Trans Iowa V2, I was no different; in fact, I don’t think I slept a wink the night before the event. I suppose the other main worry I had as one of the race promoters was that someone would get injured or, even worse, die. Of course, injuries are always a possibility that people putting on races have to live with but it’s still not a comfortable thing to grapple with. Happily, I can report that nothing beyond sore muscles and shattered egos resulted from this years event!
We planned Trans Iowa V2 for the weekend of 29-30 April, and those days were marked by rain, mud, and gritty performances by several of the racers. The event, which started in the early morning hours in Hawarden, Iowa, began with a slight drizzle coming down and high hopes that the riders would reach the finishing town of Decorah, Iowa. Of course, everyone’s best laid plans were no match for the soaking rain that started a day and a half before the start of the event.
Riding the course: getting the race underway
The riders were expected to cover a course that measured 340 miles, and do it in 35 hours or less. A halfway checkpoint was established in Algona, Iowa at the 154 mile mark. Here riders were to access the drop bags sent ahead from the start. The rest of the course was unsupported, and the riders were in charge of navigating the course, with the help of cue sheets. The route itself was unknown to the riders until the pre-race meeting the night before the event. The race started off at 4 am, and within a few miles of the starting line, a lead group of about eight riders broke away from the main field.
The “B” level maintenance roads of Iowa
Photo: Jeff Kerkove. Stormy weather combined with Iowa’s “B” roads proved to be difficult for every racer in the event.
After the 21 mile mark, the lead group had about a four minute gap on the rest of the field, but was slowed down by the first encounter with a “B” level maintenance road, which, for all intents and purposes, is nothing but a dirt pathway. The soaking rains had turned this section of road into an unrideable sea of muck. The riders were forced off their mounts and were reduced to walking the entire mile.
This part of the race slowed them down enough so that the average speed for the lead group was dangerously close to taking them outside the time limit for getting to the first check point at Algona by six in the evening.
To make matters worse, the gravel roads, upon which most of the race was routed, were also soft and slow, and this made progress even tougher. With 30 miles of the course covered and more “B” road encounters, only about eleven riders were inside the time limit to reach Algona. It was at about this time that the rains came back with a vengeance, which only added to the misery. At the 62 mile mark, the “B” level maintenance roads, which were a main feature of the opening salvos of the event, had taken their toll on the field. No one was within the specified time limits any longer. At this point, Jeff and I decided to allow anyone that wished to race to Algona for their pride and honor. But nobody arrived, and all the competitors called it quits by seven o’clock that evening.
Wrapping things up in Algona
The competitors in the 2006 edition of Trans Iowa put in a gritty performance, but the conditions were overwhelming and, due to the format of the event, the entire field was outside the time limit, making it impossible for anyone to complete the event. The conditions were the main reason the event ended in Algona, where Jeff and I set up an impromptu raffle to distribute the prizing for the event. While the competitors were gracious, complimentary, and very wet, in the end it was a bittersweet way to finish the event.
To read more about Trans Iowa V2 and to view some images from this year’s event, please head on over to the official Trans Iowa website. You can also read my recap of the event on my site.