My Trans Iowa experience began two years ago. Todd Scott, Alex Dolpp, and Joe Partridge represented Michigan in the first Trans Iowa race. Todd finished fourth overall and first in the single speed division, with Joe and Alex accounting for two of the remaining seven finishers. After talking to Todd about the race, I wanted to give it a try. Last year, Trans Iowa filled up before I could get my registration in. As a result, I was an internet spectator. I followed the pre-race activities on-line and listened to updates during the race. Due to rainy weather conditions, no one completed the 300 mile race. This year, I was determined to compete in the race and use it as a fundraiser for the Lance Armstrong Foundation.
Following my shoulder surgery in August 2006, I started my training program. I had not competed in an individual endurance event of this length or in an event that was self- supported that required navigation. I used double century training programs as a guide and developed my own training program. My plan included many rides in excess of four hours. In December, the weather cooperated and I found it easy to get my mileage in: however, when winter finally arrived in January, I found the long rides outside and on the trainer nearly unbearable. If not for my determination to complete the race, I am not sure how many of the rides I would have skipped. Mike and Taylor Birmann joined me on some of my training rides, which helped to motivate me.
I am a rider that likes to be prepared, but this race had so many unknowns for me. Thoughts of what tires, wheels, gearing, equipment, food, water, lights, and training kept me up at night during the long winter months. I read all the web pages and prior stories that I could find. I asked Joe, Todd, Mike, and other riders for advice. As the race grew nearer, I began to use trial and error testing for a majority of my concerns. By the end of March, I had a list of all my equipment and felt good about everything except my gearing. In April, another rider had written that the neat thing about the single speed category is that whatever gear you choose you will be wrong. With that in mind, I made my final gearing decision of 32 by 15. I planned to carry a 100 ounce camelback, pump, first aide kit, medication, sunscreen, chamois cream, light, 3 batteries, back-up light, cell phone, emergency blanket, valve stem converter, 2 tubes, patch kit, tools, tire levers, chain pieces, 4 water bottles, plus energy gel and bars. I’m guessing the weight of the gear was over 12 pounds!
My step-father Tom was my support crew. On our way to Decorah, I was amazed at the elevation changes and started thinking about my gearing again. We made it to Decorah early in the afternoon and checked into the hotel. Tom and I drove to the start of the race, and I went for an hour pre-ride. Once again I thought about my gearing, the hills around Decorah are impressive. After the ride I got a shower and organized my gear. I had forgotten a back-up rear light and antacids, which we went to find. I was able to get the antacids at Wal-Mart, but couldn’t find a light. At 5:30, we met up with about 40 others for dinner at Mabe’s Pizza in Decorah. The food and conversation were great. It was good to finally meet some of the people I had read about and talked to on-line while preparing for the race. After the mandatory pre-race meeting, final packing, and my attempts to block out Tom’s snoring, I was able to fall asleep at 12:30. Normally this would not be a big deal, but this race started at 4:00 AM. As my four alarms started blasting at 2:30, I was worried about my lack of sleep and felt tired. When we arrived at the start at 3:30, there were only a few people there. The temperature was cool, in the 40s, so I stayed in the warm van until 3:45. I rode about one mile and lined up with the other nuts (I mean riders!). I was surprised at the lack of gear the majority of the expected front runners were carrying. Most had only 2 water bottles and minimal gear, including the single speed favorite, Chris Plesko. I started wondering if I had too much gear, but what could I do now?
After a half mile neutral start, we encountered some significant climbs right away, and the group quickly separated. Off the front were Ira Ryan, Brian Hannon, and Chris Plesko. I was in a group of six chasers. Our group included Team Polska (3 Polish riders), their friend, Joe from Minnesota, and myself. At one point Marcin from Team Polska said “we have a good group, including a crazy single speeder”. I replied “I had to join you because I am Polish”. We continued for about an hour, and then we came to the leaders on a hill. They were unsure if they had missed a turn on the cue sheets, so we stopped with them. As the remaining riders climbed the hill towards us, we decided we were on course and started riding again. I looked back down the hill and was caught up in the beautiful site of all the lights heading up the curved hillside. We dropped Chris, and I realized I was the single speed leader of the race. Ira and Brian went off the front again, and the remaining six of us continued our chase.
When we arrived at the first convenience store in Postville, I bought a small bottle of water and filled by camelback. Everyone else was eating food, drinking Gatorade, and taking their time. I realized I had brought too much food and supplies, as the stops were going to be more leisurely than I had anticipated. Aaron Millberger rolled into the parking lot and said he had been trying to catch us for over an hour. We left Postville without him. Team Polska’s plan was to take it easy on the hills, and pick it up on the flats, rollers, and downhill sections. I went off the front on the climbs and dropped to the back on the other sections. I was never able to recover, as I was working on all sections of the course. I wasn’t sure if I could keep the pace up for more than few more hours and still be able to finish the race.
The beautiful scenery impressed me throughout the ride. At one point we passed some cows standing in the gravel road, probably a typical Iowa site! Somewhere between Wadena and Stanley, Team Polska separated from Joe and me. Aaron caught us about a half hour after were dropped. The three of us continued as a group until Independence. I enjoyed the scenery and the conversation, but not the dogs. The dogs were everywhere, barking and chasing us down the road about every half mile.
The pitting was something new for me. Often the group in front would leave when we arrived, so I always knew we were close. As we rolled into Independence, Team Polska stopped at a gas station for supplies, where Joe and Aaron joined them. I told them I was going to head out of town, go to the bathroom, and stretch my legs. Plus that way I knew I was in 3rd place overall. The pace over the first 120 miles began to bother my right knee, and I thought some stretching would help. As I was going to the bathroom, Team Polska went by. I decided to ride with them for awhile. I assumed they would drop me again and I would get picked up by Joe and Aaron.
At the stop, I had put water in one of my bottles to use if my camelback went dry. Good thinking - since my camelback went dry about 10 miles outside of Brandon. Our plan was to check in and refuel after we got our second set of cue sheets. As we made the final turn to the checkpoint, we passed the race leaders, Ira and Brian heading back into town for supplies. Race promoter Guitar Ted greeted us at the checkpoint and complimented our blistering pace. I felt great. I called my wife, Cheryl, to tell her I felt great and was having a good time. After a couple minutes of organizing our cue sheets we noticed that Ira and Brian were headed in a different direction than the race. Team Polska decided to leave quickly and take over as race leaders. I looked at the cue sheets and noted the next town was 10 miles away. I decided to go with them, but knew I was making a mistake – I hadn’t taken the time to fill my water. We were on a trail similar to the Kal-Haven trail; even though I felt at home, I knew there would be no place to get water. About half way to La Porte City, one of the Team Polska riders gave me a bottle of water - what a ride saver! Soon after that, we were caught by Ira and Brian. We would later learn that they were going to get some food when we passed them. They returned quicker than they wanted to when they were informed that we were on the course in front of them. Ira told Guitar Ted we were “Polish bastards”. In La Porte City, we were all able to refuel and take a considerable break. We continued as a group for a couple hours. I was actually leading the race when we came through the first B Level road, which is a dirt road that is not maintained, finally my bigger tires helped! All the others in the group were on geared cyclocross bikes with skinny tires.
The four Polish riders (Team Polska plus me) were dropped again somewhere around mile 160 by Ira and Brian. At that point we were heading mostly west into a stiff headwind, probably about 25 miles per hour. Since I had to stand on all the climbs, the wind was just killing me and my knees. I started taking Aleve and tried to draft as much as possible. We pitted again for a long time in Dike. I dined on a pork tenderloin, nutter butters, and chocolate milk. My Polish counterparts ate double cheeseburgers and ordered one more each. At about the same time, Aaron rolled into the station. He said he was not staying long, just needed water and would be on his way. I too was ready to hit the road again, so I left with Aaron. I enjoyed talking and riding with Aaron. His pace, cadence and riding style reminded me of Mike Birmann. I felt very comfortable riding with him. I would ride the remaining 125 miles with Aaron. We saw Ira and Brian leaving Dike when we stopped, and we left Team Polska behind. This sequence continued until we were outside of Janesville where we saw Brian. He was dropping out of the race, he said his knees were bothering him from being on a new bike. I knew how he felt; my knees were very painful and starting to swell. I told myself that if it got much worse before we made the 225 mile mark, I would have to pull out. I was leading the singlespeed category, and I didn’t know if I could actually quit. All of those old sayings started ringing in my head, like “quitters never win and winners never quit”.
At the stop in Janesville, with about 120 miles to go, Aaron and I were told that we were about 10 minutes behind Ira and about 5 minutes in front of Team Polska. As were loading our gear and getting ready for the night ride, Team Polska pulled in. They dropped one rider and the remaining two chased us to the next town.
After Janesville, the night sky opened up with bright stars and the moon. We saw many farmers with raging bon fires enjoying the night with their families, but their dogs were chasing us. At least in the daylight, we could see the dogs coming. At night they were able to sneak up on us. To make things more challenging, we had to make it through two bottom bracket deep water crossings. As a result, my feet were soaked and cold. With about 80 miles to go, my knees were done. Every crank made me think about stopping. I started using mostly my left leg on the climbs. I told Aaron that he may have to go on alone, and I would try to stay on with Team Polska when they caught me. Then things really got bad….about 5 minutes after we decided Aaron would go on, we realized we had made a wrong turn! While we re-traced our route, we lost about half an hour to the race leader, Ira, and we didn’t know if Team Polska had passed us. We rode as fast as we could to get back on course, sometimes over 20 MPH on the flats. Once we were back on course, we checked for tire tracks in the road and at the second water crossing. It appeared that only Ira was in front of us.
We continued our talks and rode though the night at a much slower pace. We arrived in Decorah in what we thought was 2nd and 3rd place. As I expected, we finished on some killer hills. I knew that the sadistic organizers would have it no other way. When I crossed the finish line I was relieved to be done, but surprised to see Marcin, the reaming member of Team Polska. He had indeed passed us when we went off course and finished in 2nd place. I felt bad for Aaron – he would have been driven to catch Marcin and battle for 2nd place. But on the other hand, had we known there were two riders ahead of us, I would have ridden the last 4 hours alone.
I finished 4th overall and 1st in the single speed category with a time of 26 hours 4 minutes. I rode 333 miles on gravel roads, hitting a top speed of 42 MPH and a low speed of 3 MPH on some of the later climbs (not including the two I walked). My bike, tires, and gearing worked perfectly and my tireless planning paid off. I learned how far I could push both my mind and my body during the race.
I have always believed that the cyclical action of turning pedals helps me to relax and think. As I pedaled around Iowa, I realized how fortunate I am. I competed in the race as an individual, but make no mistake, it was a team effort. My sponsor, Team Active, assisted with the biking equipment needed for the race. Mike and Taylor Birmann provided company on many of my long training rides. Friends and family helped me achieve my goal of raising $1,000 for the Lance Armstrong Foundation - my pains during the race were nothing compared to the suffering I have witnessed at the hands of cancer. Finally, I am thankful for my family, especially my wife Cheryl. Their love, support, and understanding made the goal of completing this race a reality. The best part of the race was coming home to an impromptu party of friends and family all too excited to hear me recount my story of this crazy race, Trans Iowa.