72. That is the total number of miles I rode. Only 45 or so of them were on the TransIowa route. Others were me riding back to the hotel in Decorah. The remaining were extra I added on the periphery. Several of the miles were part of the original course that had been re-routed due to dangerously high water in one of the crossings. I decided to go see the high water crossing first hand before turning around and back-tracking. That was one of a few detours that I and about everyone else took. Just one of the many challenges of a TransIowa experience.

The wind was another one. The wind was coming out of the West and most of the first 40 miles or so were heading mostly West. Brutal. 30 mph winds with gusts. And the wind was cold, too. The temperature was an agreeable 31 degrees without the wind, but the wind was always there and had a way of getting inside of clothing and chilling down to the bone. (I heard wind-chill values down in the single digits.) Have I mentioned the sleet? or the snow? How about all the hills?

I was under-dressed, under-strengthed and under-motivated.

So I started out with everyone else (how it usually works) but then ended up spending most of my ride on my own. I was with Thad and Dan and a few others at the very start up the hills, but that didn't last more than about 3 minutes. They were riding a clip I knew I couldn't sustain so I dropped off to settle into a pace I could handle. In the wind, that wasn't a very fast speed. By the time I was getting closer to the first town, I finally found a guy (named stephen I think, on a geared cross-check w/ a moustache handlebar) that was riding about my speed and was also interested in not riding alone anymore (I stumbled upon this guy wandering through a random cemetary... he was trying to get feeling back into his feet.) We just rode side-by-side instead of really working together (more on that later). We finally made it to a convenience store in the first town on the route, 38 miles in. It took us 4.5 hours to get there. Stephen and a guy named Michael (from chicago area) (who I had also ridden some with and had been yo-yo-ing with for a while) arrived and were decided to drop out. There was a girl there named Julia who was also there who wanted to go on and try to make the checkpoint if possible. I was on the fence. I said that while not probably, it may be possible because much of the remaining miles to that point may be with a strong tailwind. (I would later find out that this was mostly not the case and that the crosswinds were just as brutal as what had already been encountered - there was no way we could have made it- but that is neither here nor there.) So after taking care of some business and getting a sausage, egg, and cheese croissant, I decided to just go with it and try to make it to the checkpoint. I was planning to head out with Julia, but as I came out of the store, she was heading down the road. I ate my sandwich and such and decided to head down the road that she had taken as well as the guys heading back. I thought since she was going that way I could see how I was feeling and either turn to follow Julia or head back. I had 5 hours to make it about 60 miles with the wind behind me (or so I thought). (It was actually 70 miles). When I got going, I felt pretty good and so grabbed my cue sheets to figure out where to turn. Then I realized I was heading the wrong way completely. I had to turn around and face the wind back up the road to find my correct turn. Once going the correct way again I experienced delays due to some inaccuracies on the cue sheet and then I missed a detour and had to backtrack (described above). By the time I got to about mile 45, I found myself to have covered about 5 miles in an hour. I had 4 hours to cover 65 miles, and I had yet to experience that tailwind. It was then I decided to head back to the hotel. Decorah was about 15 miles away and the ride back was almost all was with that tailwind I had been wanting. I knew I couldn't make the checkpoint, but there was a bit of satisfaction in finishing my ride by home on my own power.

So about the drafting or working together... Maybe I am too independent, stubborn, or just stupid, but the spirit of a ride like this to me is individual effort. The rules say that drafting is allowed, but doing so seems to remove some of the personal achievement associated with finishing any or all of this or similar races. That said, I can't say that if I was in a group I wouldn't participate for a while just to get a break. Also, this probably just reflects what I personally get out of the race. So this is not a complaint or an indictment, but more of a realization of the differences of people's reasons for doing a ride like this. With people to ride with and work with, I no doubt could have made it further and faster, but not sure if, even then, I would get as much out of this ride. So maybe with my approach I will never win; and in conditions like this weekend, I may not even make it that far, but it is still fun and worth making the effort.

Great people and a great event. I only regret that with the way so many people pulled out early (including the "finishers" whose race was cut short due to dangerous conditions) most people headed out of town and there was not much post-ride discussion or camaraderie at all. (Maybe we missed the party by leaving early Sunday morning - but I doubt it). I had a great time at TI4 and I do hope to ride again in TI5.