Gettin' it right for Iowa aint no easy task...

It is more difficult and more bitter when a man fails alone.”

― Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart

Dear Self:

Getting ready for the Trans-Iowa. Quit foolin’ & deludin’ yourself about how you ain’t racing it… that instead you be out there just tryin’ to finish.  It don’t work that way down there in Iowa.  It ain't your race...your are just a pawn. Get it right—The whole thing is about racing. You are racing against it all fallin’ apart. Sooner or later itz gonna fall apart.  “Things fall apart.”

Like you, your gear is antiquated so you’re racin’ against stuff thatz gonna break sooner rather than later. You’re racing against flat tires and broken chains and trashed derailleurs… You’re racing against the onset of knee pain, against Achilles pain. You’re racing and hoping that your fragile back holds up. Itz like when the Wicked Witch of the North gotz Dorothy all locked up in that creepy castle and she getz that big-ass hour glass thingy going; puttin’ little Dorothy on notice that she aint got much ‘time” left here on earth, so she better get moving…You better get moving…You’re racing against the onset of darkness and then itz buddy, The Cold that seeps into your body. The merciless cold that invades your aged joints, the coldness that infiltrates into your true essence and robs you of your desire to keep going. AND you be racing against the most awesome foe of all…Racing against the most basic need of all…The need to stop the damned bike and sleep.  “Things fall apart. The center cannot hold.” You’re like Dorothy, hoping and a praying that you can outlast them flying monkeys.  Scare me.

Also, you aint gonna race this thing on hour own.  The mantra of “me gonna ride my own race” doesn’t apply to the Trans-Iowa.  If you want to finish the Trans-Iowa your going have to form some coalitions, alliances, you will need to caucus…because going it alone is just too hard.  Get your head right!

C