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An endurance event is born: running the race
In last week’s entry, I described some of the pitfalls and successes that we had in getting the first Trans Iowa event off the ground. This week I’m writing about how the event actually went down.
One of the first things that became apparent was that Jeff and I didn’t have enough help. Even though I tried not to show it, the enormity and seriousness of the task at hand was brought home to me when I looked into the faces of all the racers at the check in. We ran the pre-race meeting without a hitch and then it was start time.
The first half of the Trans Iowa course
Jeff had decided to ride in the event as an ‘embedded official’ while I ran interference in the shop van. Things were going well so far: It was sunny, cold, and all the racers seemed to be coming along nicely. That was the last of that though!
The “B” road sections were plenty gooey, what with three days of rain in the lead up to the event. The riders found out that the muddy mile sections were best ridden in the ditches where “grave sized” holes were hidden in the long green grass. Even I got tangled up in one of these mud filled pathways when I decided to give the last B road a go in the shop van. With mud flinging off the wheels everywhere, I looked like I was in a mud bog competition more than I did a bicycle race director! I nearly got stuck, but I pulled through in the end.
The B roads were behind us now with long, flattish gravel sections on the menu. What we hadn’t expected was the wind. It came with a fury out of the north/ northwest at a constant 25 to 30 mph with gusts of over 40mph! This shattered the field into small groups of two to four riders each. Dehydration became more of a problem with the wind and many riders succumbed to fatigue and lack of water before the 100 mile mark. At the Algona check point, which was half way through the event, many riders packed it in. Several didn’t even make the 6pm cut off. Out of our 51 starters, only 17 left went on into the night from Algona.
The second half of the Trans Iowa course
With the coming of night, the wind gave way to a full moon, a clear starry sky, and frigid temperatures. The mercury dipped down to 28 degrees that night, and I was caught off guard by that, as were several of the remaining riders. In the middle of the night, with about eighty miles to go, the final selection was made.
Across the finish line
The first riders came in to Decorah, Iowa to finish in just under twenty four hours. Only nine of the original 51 that left Hawarden the previous day would pass the finish line at the bottom of a long down hill gravel descent. After 308 miles, some of the finishers looked like they had been in a bar room brawl. They were literally numb, bleeding, and swollen. Some for weeks afterwards! Yet they all said that they enjoyed doing the event.
The folks that didn’t finish were adamant that we should give them a chance to come back again to have another crack at it. Jeff and I obliged them, and next week I will tell the tale of this year’s event. For a results list and some previews of next week’s entry, check out the Trans Iowa website.
1. Posted by 2006 Trans Iowa photos » The Biking Hub: Mountain | 9:43 am, 2 May 2006
[…] For the regulars out there, Guitar Ted has been spending the last few weeks describing some of the highs and lows of getting the 2005 edition of the Trans Iowa endurance event off the ground. The 2006 Trans Iowa went this past weekend and it was, how do you say… a bit wet. […]