Johnson Family

Hello Johnson family!
In about 6 weeks I will be headed out to Decorah, Iowa to do a race called TransIowa on April 28th and 29th. Now I know what you are thinking.

"Maybe it's like that RAGBRAI ride!"

Well it is similar in that they are both in Iowa and involve cycling. However TransIowa is about 322 miles long and takes place primarily on gravel and level B roads. Therefore I will be on a mountain bike instead of a road bike. The other thing that is different is that RAGBRAI takes 7 days or so to complete whereas TransIowa has a 34 hour time limit.

"Oh a 34 hours time limit, what a wussy!" you might say.

Yes I thought you might feel that way so I have upped the ante this year and will be racing it on a bike that has only one gear. Uphill, downhill and flat. Headwind, tailwind or calm. I will have only 2 options in terms of pedaling 322 miles, use the gear I brought or walk. The race is also self-supported which means after it starts, no one is allowed to help me. I am allowed to buy food, water, batteries and other supplies along the way so I will be stopping at the occasional gas station and/or resturant. However for this race I can't have a support crew follow or meet me anywhere unless I need to drop out of the race. The picture at the top of the post is from last year when the race was so hard and muddy that no one finished. The previous year the weather was nice and there were 9 finishers. This year approximately 100 riders will take the starting line for an unknown course. That's right, we know the distance and longest distance between any two towns but other than that we don't find out the race route until the day before the race starts!

Now I was going to drive out there for the race but I've had a bit of a change of heart. Getting there from Denver doesn't seem so bad but the thought of driving 14 hours home after staying awake riding for 322 miles makes me cringe. Instead I am thinking of flying into Rochester International Airport. From there I need to get to Decorah which is apparently about 45 miles south. I can rent a car but I wanted to see if anyone was interested in helping before and after the race and/or being my emergency bailout contact. Normally I would rope Marni into this task but school isn't out for the summer yet and I've already made her use most of her vacation days supporting me at other races. If you're interested in helping post a comment here or email me at chris@shiftedthinking.com. If you just want to wish me luck or tell me I'm crazy also feel free to post a comment or email me. Thanks for reading everyone!