Trans Iowa v13 Lead up to the race

In the weeks and days leading up to this year's Trans Iowa, there was much looking at the forecast and worrying about what may come. Rain and cold and wind are all factors that could turn the event on its head.

At some point I just started laying clothes on the bed and trying to figure out what work work for what conditions, what -if any- gaps I had that needed filled. Since I had been steadily loosing weight since last summer, I had been stocking up on kit as I found it on sale, with lots of winter kit in the selection, since that's what I needed most when I started sizing out of my older stuff late Fall through Winter. The one thing I couldn't decide on was the shoes. I mean. I had a really nice pair that would be great, but I also wanted to use them for TransAm, and didn't want to trash them before that. With about a week to go, I found a deal on a low end mtb shoe that I knew would fit, since it is of the brand I wear. I had them in hand 2 days later, switched out to a well broken-in insole from another pair, and was in business, I added some shoe covers and fresh cleats to the order just to cover all the bases. I then logged about 150 miles before the race in them just to make sure there were no issues.

All that, and seeing what other riders were choosing as their shoes for the race, I could have just used my insulated winter mtb boots. Live and learn.

Packing was kind of hilarious. Street clothes for diner and the meat-up and such consisted of 2 tshirts, 2 button up shirts, one each jeans and underwear. I then had 3 bags of bike kit. a dozen pair of socks, 5 different gloves, 5 jerseys, 3 jackets, 2 vests, bibs, knickers, tights, arm and leg warmers (each in both wool and synthetic), 4 baselayers, 4 or 5 hats, plus rain gear.

3 bags of food, both on bike fuel and easy breakfast and snacks to deal with eating vegan in small town Iowa were added to the mass of luggage in the backseat of my car, as the trunk was full of tools and workstand and washbucket and a cooler of beer.

I had set my reservation at the hotel to run Thursday night through Monday morning, so while I had packed all the bags in the car Wednesday Night, the bike didn't go on the roof until Thursday morning, in a downpour, and I was on the road around 7:30am headed to Grinnell.