Trans Iowa V.9 was a success

A full and detailed post regarding the race report for trans iowa is soon to come.  Yesterday the car had a flat tire and today the fridge stopped working, but you know what? I'll take it after all the good luck I had this weekend.  What a great race and fun time.  I ended up finishing 6th overall 3rd open male.  I rode with some insanely tough riders, had perfect weather, and no mechanical issues.

I packed a bunch of stuff with me that I didn't even use, in fact most of it I forgot I had.  At night I got so cold and hungry not realizing until today when I unpacked my camel pack that I had handwarmers and cliff bars stuffed inside. If I only knew...

I will draw from those memories for years.  There were times while training for this event that I wanted to drop out even before the race started, but once I was in the race quitting never once crossed my mind.  No matter how bad it hurt or how slow I was going, I knew I was going to finish or die trying.  I didn't care if I finished last as long as I finished.

To end up placing so well and being competitive was a great bonus!

More to come,
David

Start packin

I'm getting everything packed for Trans Iowa, only a few days away.  It sure is tough trying to decide what I will need while spending 30+ hours on a bicycle.

Checking the water packs for leaks.

Sunrise on Saturday is 6:15 Sunset is 8:00.  With those times, I will be spending 12 hours in the dark between Saturday morning and night.  I am double checking the run times on my lights.  There are no outlets to charge batteries in the middle of farm road iowa!

Seems like I am forgetting something...

The bike is ready.

Evan doing the final bolt check. 

Power cell to charge bike computer.  It can also hook up to my headlight and cell phone if those run out of batteries.

What a difference a few days makes.  Sunday I posted how calm and not worried I was, and today I'm really starting to get anxious.  I'm just ready to get this race started!

-David

No bikes this weekend.

Took a trip up north with Dad and uncle Dan to work on the "shouse" (shack/house).  I wish I would have gotten a before picture, the new siding we put on really made it look a lot better.  Still lots of work to be done.

After we got done Sunday afternoon I snuck off to climb Castle Rock.

It was good!

I have been busy with life the last week or so and the bike has been collecting dust as a result.  I don't feel to bad about it because I have been running instead.  I'm just sick of riding my bike in the rain and cold!  Only a few more days till Trans Iowa.  I'm not as anxious as I thought I would be.  I am heading into a lot of unknowns and I am ready to see if I can hold up.

Here is a  short video from the top of Castle Rock today.

3 weeks left

     Trans Iowa is less than 3 weeks away, and I'm feeling good.  The bike seat is becoming a pain in my ass, but I suppose that comes with the miles.  My goal for March was 800 miles and I ended up with 840.  I started off April this week with 246 miles, that included commutes to work, a 100 mile ride and a 3 mile run.

For some reason when I'm biking to work the sunrise looks awesome, but I never notice it in my car.

This well is always flowing and people are often filling gallon jugs from it.  It tastes like normal water to me.

Harry on the attack.

Saturday morning I got out early and rode over to Crystal Lake to see if anyone was heading out for the group ride from Wheel Werks at 8am.  Turns out Bryce and Harry were there and ready to go.  They started off strong, at one point I looked down on a flat section of road and saw we were cruising along at 28 mph.  My mountain bike tires were howling like super swampers on a 4x4. 

The flags were flying strong.

Luckily once we turned and started heading into the wind they turned it down a couple notches and I was back in my comfortable heart rate again.  The wind was brutal, but luckily I started the ride heading into the wind so when I circled around and started heading home I had smooth sailing. 

Swanson Rd., I wonder if its related to the chicken broth.

The angry Silo.

After the 100 miles on Saturday I didn't really feel like riding Sunday.  So I went for a little run.  It was a nice change of motion and with the warm temps I enjoyed it. One more week of torture and then taper off for two weeks.  Cant wait.

-David