It's Over

I think I was awake most of the night, re-thinking every decision. Since sometime mid-summer '08, I'd thought that I might be able to pull this thing off with only a handlebar bag. Somewhere along the lines early this year, I'd opted to add a small bag onto the saddle to hold over-stock of science food and any supplies for repair.

The real wildcard came into play as the final week approached... Weather.

I've seldom been shy of riding in inclement weather. In fact, I cannot think of a condition short of some type of tropical storm that I haven't ridden in. Checked off the list; heat, wind, rain, cold, snow... I'm okay with 'em all, but hadn't planned on riding in the rain for TransIowa.

Pre-departure packing involved little more than last minute sweep every bit of cycling type clothing and accessory into the car and go. One might have thought I would put more actual planning into it, but somewhere deep in my mind I must have been hoping the forecast would change.

After a couple of last minute stops for some shoe-covers from County Cycles in Roseville and a new mini toothbrush at Target, I picked up my friend Scott 30 minutes behind when I'd originally committed to. We made the 5 hour drive down to Grinnell discussing ideas and second-guessing preparations.

Once we got to our hotel, I prepared the bike. I opted to add a rear rack and a pannier to add much needed capacity. With the rain and anticipated cool overnight temperatures, I decided to bring full rain gear and a change of dry clothing. It was more than what I wanted to carry. I weighed decisions carefully figuring that it was better for me to bring a few things with in the interest of comfort and finish.

It was really a hopeless night of "sleep." I felt like I rolled over every few minutes to check the clock to see if it was time to wake up. I finally decided to get up at 2am to take a shower before our 2:30am wake-up call.

It was foggy and wet when we started. There was a very distinct sound of splattering mud on tires once we hit the gravel. It was sloppy, slow, and wet. All seeming to come to a rather drama free ending when we failed to reach the first checkpoint in the allotted time.

While riding back to Grinnell, we happened to pass by the "B Road" that seemed like the final undoing:

From Drop Box