Be here.

Transiowa v3 beings at 0100 AZ time this weekend. I’ll be up in the Kaibab, asleep in the truck, and when I wake up part of me will be looking forward to this:

Iowa has some truly great hills.

300 miles of this will be gnarly, especially with some good winds. And there will be winds.

One of the great things we can get from riding a bike is a better reading of the landscape. Macro erosion contours look different in the Southwest than they do in the plains, in the later you just have to look harder.

I fell back into cycling in Iowa in 2004-5m while M was finishing school. For months over the fall and winter I slowly discovered the wonders of B roads, and kept pushing further to explore. Then I hear about Traniowa v1, weeks before it ran. I wanted to go watch, and would have but I had to work all weekend.

I was in for this weekend, but priorities happen. Its a long drive, and as I stand now physically I wouldn’t be ready. Still struggling to go slow to go fast.

I will miss it.

At some point I want to go back. Spring would not be my first choice, but at some point I’ll head back and do a proper across the state gravel ride. Planning might be problematic, but Iowa has more roads than any other state, and good maps.

To Nice, Plesko, Pals, etc, best of luck and experience. Happy suffering.

The Zane Grey 50 miler is also Saturday. Another one not for this year, but on the list for the future. Meltzer is on board, so it should be a good non-race. Man is unstoppable.

I’m off to scout and binge on our own AZ gravel, high in the pines. As I ponder the many scouting rides for putting together the Prescott Monstercross, which will happen this fall, I can reflect on how nice it is to have such a robust que to keep me busy.