Epic Training Systems- Trans Iowa V.5 Page 2

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2009 Trans Iowa V.5 Race Report Page 2

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THE RACE
(Mile 0- Mile 217)

Race day I was up at 2:30 am. I eat an English muffin with peanut butter. I begin my SPORTQUEST
race protocol by taking Recover Amino Pro and Vantage VO2.

My nutrition plan was simple. I would use CarboPro 1200 in my Nathan Synergy Hydration pack.

The Synergy is a dual chamber bladder. It has a total capacity of 100 oz. You can put 80oz in the
water chamber and 20 oz in the fuel or electrolyte chamber. I personally NEVER carry straight water.
I consider it a waste of precious capacity. Especially when doing unsupported Ultras every liquid
carrying vessel will have fuel in it. The Synergy hydration pack was awesome. It had just the right
amount of storage. I was able to carry my Topeak Morph pump in it. In the two front pockets-- I
carried my Vantage VO2 and Recover Amino Pro in one and my camera in the other. It was
comfortable and very practical. It was very light feeling and cleaned up very easily after the event.   I
highly recommend the Nathan Synergy pack.

I poured four bottles of CarboPro 1200 (that's 1200 calories per 16 oz bottle) 64 oz of fuel and 36 oz
of water. My plan was to just need water as the event went on. Basically I was carrying 5,000
calories on my back.

5,000 calories at 400 calories/hour = 12 hours of fuel.

I nursed the concentrated fuel mixture for hours and hours. Even in this highly concentrated strength
I never had an upset stomach. By the way SPORTQUEST doesn't recommend such a high
concentrate but in my opinion this race course, with so many unknowns demanded it and it worked
for me.

I strongly recommend using Sportquest products. If you have had digestive issues with other
nutrition products Sportquest is really easy on your stomach. You could experiment with Carbo Pro
to start. It is straight carbs no sugars!!!

Fuller knocks on my door right on time and we roll from the hotel at a little after 3:30. We arrive at the
start area which was a cemetery. In a weird way it felt appropriate. We had arrived with plenty of
cushion before the 4am neutralized start.

The weather was cool but very nice. I was wearing a Skins Long Sleeve compression garment as my
base layer, and three short sleeve jersey with my Rough Riders jersey as my top layer and Skins Bib
Long tights. I believe it was in the mid 40's.



We roll out and the pacelines begin to form. I can't tell you how nervous I was... OK I was scared
shitless. We were going 20+ MPH in a pace line at 4 O'clock in the morning on gravel. The bike was
bouncing all over the place and holding a line was nearly impossible. The riders in front of me were all
over the place as well. Just as I would get comfortable with how the bike was handling the gravel
BAM! we would hit fresh gravel and everything would change. If you haven't experienced this-- it is
nerve-racking until you relax and let your instincts take over. Remember this pure instinct because I
can't rely on experience . Remember I HAD NEVER RIDDEN GRAVEL much less RACED in it.
But here I was doing it. In a short amount of time, we had destroyed the main field and we were less
than 25, then less than 20, and then less than 15.

I arrived at CP#1 Washington 40 miles into the race, at 6:23 am (there's no way I'd remember that it's
from my cycling computer), with about 15 racers. We got our cue sheets for the next leg and within
seconds the lead riders were rolling off. Luckily, I was vigilant and jumped back on the bike. There
were six of us leaving town together. We got a little lost. Charlie Farrow and I shared some quick
laughs and once back on course we resumed race mode.


Things were going well for me as far as my nutrition. I also felt like I had good legs. A few miles out
of town Joe M puts on an "attack", probably more like a surge, and I think to myself REALLY? I think
whoa it's too early in the race for this. We were a small break of six riders and we could really put a
serious time gap on the chase group. The attack caught me off-guard and I didn't chase. I hesitated
and it cost me dearly. By the time I decided to chase the gap had opened up to 15 seconds and there
were two up the road. Charlie F. was the first to react and he and Joe were gapping the four of us. We
got strung out and I was caught out. I was now fighting a headwind and in Time Trial mode chasing.
I closed within 10 seconds but just couldn't reel them in. I just didn't have it. I remember saying that's
the winning break. Why? Because the riders in that group were strong, really strong.

I was disappointed with myself for my hesitation. I was now in the proverbial no man's land. I then
backed off and waited to get picked up by the chase group.

At some point we hit a pretty muddy road and I see Charlie Tri. He says his rear der. is AFU and he is
converting his bike to a single speed. I offer some assistance but i's apparent that this is a one man job.
I decide maybe this a good Kodak moment and snap his picture. We roll off together just as the chase
crew comes along and envelopes us. Charlie's bike just didn't want to cooperate with his three goals.
The chain didn't want to remain in the gear he had chosen. I found out later he broke his chain many
more times before his ordeal was over.



I tried to stay with the chase group but I had cooled off a bit from hanging out with Charlie so I got
dropped by the second group. The details are hazy so I don't really remember why I got dropped. I
remember the headwinds oh I remember the headwinds.

I was again in no man's land as the lead and chase groups were up the road and I had no idea how far
behind another paceline would be. A SS'er came and went. And then along came Jeremy. I don't
remember what mile it was but it was somewhere around or after North English. Or maybe before oh
heck I can't remember. What I do remember was Enduro Snob rolling out of North English before me.
His pink Indy Fab bike is so recognizable. His pink Indy Fab bike is so recognizable. I remember seeing
it in pictures from previous TI's. I do remember the headwinds. We were heading Northwest and
West and the headwinds were demoralizing me.

The only other thing I remember about the long haul (only 111 miles ;) to checkpoint #2 was the
incessant rollers. I couldn't believe how you could string together sooo many rollers.Oh Guitar Ted and
d.p. I was cursing you then. But it's ALL GOOD NOW! On and on they went many of them so steep
that Enduro Pro, on his SS, would dismount and walk up. After muscling up my fair share of these
rollers I decided to swallow my pride and dismount and walk with himl. Jeremy was struggling as well
but he looked the best out of the three of us.

Being an experienced Ultra cyclist, I knew that energy conservation was the key to finishing this
endurance event. However, even with this knowledge ingrained my psyche I was getting my ass
kicked! Mentally I was not in the game. This rolling terrain was not what I had expected. Why had I
thought that Iowa was flat? Or at very worst gentle rollers.

The other thing I was struggling with was how many hours it was taking me/us to cover the course.
We weren't at Checkpoint #2 yet and I was feeling overwhelmed with the slow-going nature of this
event. I was falling asleep and feeling lethargic. At one point, I just pulled over, dismounted and sat
against a fence post. It was only 4pm and I could've really used a good sleep at that point.

It was a good seven minutes later before I got back on the bike. I couldn't believe what I saw as I
crested one of the rollers, Jeremy and Enduro Snob were waiting for me at the top of some distant
roller. As I dipped down, I lost sight of them. I felt as though I was bobbing up and down in the ocean
and every now and then I could catch a glimpse of the ship I was swimming towards. It was that
glimpse that would give me hope as I crested and dropped into another chasm. As I climbed back up
yet another effing roller there they were waiting for me. I said the only thing I could say "thanks for
waiting". And that my friends was a line the three of us would repeat to each other until checkpoint #2.
Jeremy and I had the distinct pleasure of continuing that said process until the finish.

We arrived at Le Grand at 5pm two hours before the cut-off. Jeremy had talked about DNF'ing while
en-route to CP#2. Enduro snob was having Achilles issues and pulled the plug at Le Grand. My
Achilles tendon was hurting as well but not enough to DNF. This was a "new bike build". I was 151
miles into this race and my saddle height wasn't perfect yet but I wasn't going to mess with it now.



I was hungry and feeling ok considering. DNF'ing was the furthest thing from my mind. I learned a
long time ago that your pain and malaise would be temporary but a DNF would haunt me forever. Well
at least it has that effect on me. I wasn't going to fly all the way from California to DNF in Iowa.

My theory on DNF's goes like this if your machine can not be repaired or jerry-rigged to finish the
event then you call it a day. If you have an injury that will take more than two weeks to heal then you
also have no other option. I got that two week thing from somewhere and I apologize that I can't
remember where.

HERE IS AN EXAMPLE OF THE MACHINE NOT BEING ABLE TO BE JERRY-RIGGED BROKEN
CARBON HANDLEBARS FROM CRASHING INTO A SNOW STAKE 10 DAYS BEFORE RAAM
2007 ON THE EASTERN SIERRA DOUBLE CENTURY ABOUT 70 MILES IN I FELL ASLEEP AND
RAN OFF THE ROAD. SINCE THAT INCIDENT ALL NEW BIKE BUILDS HAVE ALLOY
HANDLEBARS.

I DNF'd a 400km brevet once after 225 miles and another 40 to go (including two long climbs) and
about 4 hours left of a 27 hour time limit. I had gotten lost several times in the desert east of San
Diego. I was in terrible shape even after sitting an hour in a casino, having had the breakfast special.
But you know almost immediately after I called for that ride I felt good. And once I got in the car for
the long ride back to the start I felt great!

I went into Trans Iowa with no real bailout plan. Sure I had Fuller's number but I was not calling
anyone to pick me up. In addition, my flight back to California was not until Monday morning so I was
either going to ride back to Williamsburg or Des Moines. Either way I was not calling for a ride.

I was able to convince Jeremy to continue and we rolled off without Enduro Snob. For some reason,
much of the next section is mostly a blur. Jeremy and I made our way to Checkpoint #3. It was
around 1am I think. The store was closed but someone was nice enough to provide pizza for us
late-comers. I was very appreciative regardless of how cold the pizza was. So a big thank you to the
responsible party!

It brought a smile to my face to see Enduro Snob at Trear CP#3. He could have easily gone all the way
to the start/finish and get some sleep or ice his Achilles. But no, there he was, still on the course
volunteering at CP# 3. I went behind the building to strip down and get re-dressed. Purely by chance I
discovered a little piece of heaven. One of the HVAC fans was putting out air that was warmer then the
ambient air and it just enough to get my mind off the cold night and take the chill off. I put on my
W oolistic 100 % M erino wool long sleeve base layer put my jerseys back on arm warmers and my
Showers Pass Pro Tech shell.