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Trans Iowa: This event will no longer be held
News about the former Trans Iowa event and anything related to it will continue to be posted here when relevant
8/7/24: During GT's recent trip to Emporia, he was invited to meet with the Japanese editor of "Bicycle Club" magazine, Taiki Sakamoto. Sakamoto-San asked GT to write a story of the beginnings of Modern Gravel and, of course, this mentions Trans Iowa. The article was published in issue #457 of "Bicycle Club" magazine, which you can find online if you wish to purchase a copy. Be aware that the text is in Japanese though. Thanks to Sakamoto-San for this opportunity to tell the story of the beginnings of Modern Day gravel riding and how Trans Iowa fit into that.
8/7/24: During GT's recent trip to Emporia, he was invited to meet with the Japanese editor of "Bicycle Club" magazine, Taiki Sakamoto. Sakamoto-San asked GT to write a story of the beginnings of Modern Gravel and, of course, this mentions Trans Iowa. The article was published in issue #457 of "Bicycle Club" magazine, which you can find online if you wish to purchase a copy. Be aware that the text is in Japanese though. Thanks to Sakamoto-San for this opportunity to tell the story of the beginnings of Modern Day gravel riding and how Trans Iowa fit into that.
6/6/24: The Gravel Cycling Hall of Fame inducted "Post Card Entries" as their "Gravel Icon" addition to the hall for 2024. This meant that the GCHoF asked GT to do the acceptance speech because of Trans Iowa's usage of postcard entries for 12 of the 14 versions of the event. (The first two versions utilized online registration)
Furthermore, an article posted on "Bike Radar" recently by Josh Patterson, their head editor, had this to say about Mark Stevenson/Guitar Ted:
"Stevenson promoted Trans Iowa from 2005 to 2018 and was instrumental in amplifying gravel riding
through his blogging and reportage. More than any other individual, he
is responsible for gravel cycling as we know it today, and he was duly
inducted into the Gravel Cycling Hall of Fame in 2022."
5/26/24: The bike shop that Trans Iowa used for support and which it started in front of for 9 of its 14 events has changed hands. Craig Cooper has sold the business to an employee and is moving on to other pursuits. We thank Craig for his selfless support of Trans Iowa, the racers, volunteers, and Guitar Ted over the years we were running the event out of Grinnell, Iowa.
5/14/24: We were saddened to learn that Trans Iowa volunteer, photographer, advisor, and dear friend, Wally Kilburg, died on April 22nd. Guitar Ted wrote a eulogy HERE He also posted a celebration of life, Trans Iowa style, HERE. Wally will be dearly missed. R.I.P.
10/12/23: A little late, but here is the link to the Gravel Cycling Hall of Fame report. The GCHoF also put up a separate page on their site about Guitar Ted HERE. There is also an "Acknowledgement and Credits" post on the Guitar Ted Productions blog which anyone visiting this site should check out HERE.
5/4/22: In a little less than a month, Trans Iowa co-founder Guitar Ted will be inducted into the Gravel Cycling Hall of Fame at a ceremony in Emporia, Kansas on June 1st, 2022 at 6:00pm. A report on the ceremony will be linked here in the near future. This represents what Guitar Ted says is an accomplishment that reflects the participation, support, and help given during Trans Iowa's 14 year run by riders, sponsors, and volunteers. In GT's estimation, this recognition belongs to everyone that had anything to do with Trans Iowa. If you were a part of Trans Iowa over the years, consider yourself going into this Hall of Fame along with GT. As he stated in a post about this induction: "I am nothing without all of you."
7/6/19: Have you been following the new series on "Guitar Ted Productions" called "Trans Iowa Stories"? You should be if you want to get some back story on the event that helped set off the gravel grinding scene as we know it today. You can catch a new post every Sunday, or search for old posts using the "trans iowa stories" line in the blog's search box. Here's a link to the site.
9/12/18: A new event, dubbed the "Iowa Wind And Rock", has been announced and will be run during the same time slot as Trans Iowa used to be run in. Rules and format are similar as well. See THIS POST for my thoughts on this development and for a link to that event's website.
6/25/18: It has come to my attention that artwork for one of the Trans Iowa headers, my artwork, by the way, was used by another artist to produce a work for a TI rider. Please note- ANY REPRODUCTIONS OF MY ART OR ANY IMAGES FOUND HERE USED IN ANY WAY WITHOUT MY EXPRESS PERSONAL CONSENT FOR PERSONAL OR COMMERCIAL USE IS CONSIDERED STEALING.
All you have to do, typically, to use stuff found here for most purposes is to ASK ME. I'm actually pretty fair when it comes to stuff like this.
6/20/18: First time Trans Iowa rider, Stefano Tomasello, shares his compelling race report HERE.
5/5/18: Trans Iowa will not happen again. In case you haven't heard or read the news, there will not be a T.I.v15. Read HERE for the reasons why. With my (Guitar Ted's) not being involved in producing this, there cannot be a v15 and there are no plans to "hand over" the event at this time, or in the foreseeable future. Thank you for all the years of support and for the memories! This site will remain live for the near future.
5/3/18: Race Images Links: Free to download for race participants. Any media use or promotional use of these images is strictly forbidden without prior written permission from Guitar Ted. Celeste Mathias gallery HERE.
Some great images of the Pre-Race Meat-Up and starting line for T.I.v14 can be found HERE and were taken by Katherine Roccaseca
5/1/18: OFFICIAL RESULTS: Over all Winner of Trans Iowa v14 is Luke Wilson who arrived back in Grinnell at Miller Park at 8:50am. The Single Speed/Fixed winner was Mark Johnson who got back Grinnell at 9:15am. The Women's Open winner was Janna Vavra who arrived back in Grinnell at 12:50pm. Following are the complete results
9/12/18: A new event, dubbed the "Iowa Wind And Rock", has been announced and will be run during the same time slot as Trans Iowa used to be run in. Rules and format are similar as well. See THIS POST for my thoughts on this development and for a link to that event's website.
6/25/18: It has come to my attention that artwork for one of the Trans Iowa headers, my artwork, by the way, was used by another artist to produce a work for a TI rider. Please note- ANY REPRODUCTIONS OF MY ART OR ANY IMAGES FOUND HERE USED IN ANY WAY WITHOUT MY EXPRESS PERSONAL CONSENT FOR PERSONAL OR COMMERCIAL USE IS CONSIDERED STEALING.
All you have to do, typically, to use stuff found here for most purposes is to ASK ME. I'm actually pretty fair when it comes to stuff like this.
6/20/18: First time Trans Iowa rider, Stefano Tomasello, shares his compelling race report HERE.
5/5/18: Trans Iowa will not happen again. In case you haven't heard or read the news, there will not be a T.I.v15. Read HERE for the reasons why. With my (Guitar Ted's) not being involved in producing this, there cannot be a v15 and there are no plans to "hand over" the event at this time, or in the foreseeable future. Thank you for all the years of support and for the memories! This site will remain live for the near future.
5/3/18: Race Images Links: Free to download for race participants. Any media use or promotional use of these images is strictly forbidden without prior written permission from Guitar Ted. Celeste Mathias gallery HERE.
Some great images of the Pre-Race Meat-Up and starting line for T.I.v14 can be found HERE and were taken by Katherine Roccaseca
5/1/18: OFFICIAL RESULTS: Over all Winner of Trans Iowa v14 is Luke Wilson who arrived back in Grinnell at Miller Park at 8:50am. The Single Speed/Fixed winner was Mark Johnson who got back Grinnell at 9:15am. The Women's Open winner was Janna Vavra who arrived back in Grinnell at 12:50pm. Following are the complete results
- Luke Wilson Open Men's @8:50am
- Mark Johnson Single Speed/Fixed @ 9:15am
- Mathew Kutilek Open Men's @ 9:30am
- Justin McBride Single Speed/Fixed @ 10:30am
- Dan Lockery and Scott Rider Both Men's Open @ 10:50am
- Trent Hovenga and Jim Koziol Both Men's Open @ 11:15am
- Ryan Simon Single Speed/Fixed @ 12:00 noon
- Joe Stephens Men's Open @ 12:22pm
- Nick Legan and James Nixon Both Men's Open @ 12:30pm
- David Weiss and Derek Brown Both Men's Open @ 12:42pm
- Mark Lowe and Tyler Puls Both Men's Open @ 12:45pm
- Janna Vavra Women's Open @ 12:50pm
- Jason Shearer Men's Open @ 1:02pm
- Ben Mullin Men's Open @ 1:17pm
Trans Iowa would like to thank it's sponsors: WTB, Black Mountain Cycles, Bar Yak, Pedal Of Littleton, Lederman Bail Bonds, Europa Cycle & Ski, Guitar Ted Productions, Riding Gravel, Wally Kilburg Photography, Jon Duke Photographer, The Grinnell Steakhouse, The Grinnell Chamber of Commerce, Bikes To You/Craig Cooper.
This will be the end of Trans Iowa events. The site will stay live for a time, at least. Look for any Trans Iowa related news to appear here in the future.
Thanks to Kerkove Design Media for the work on this site!
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| Racers have been known to mentally break down and cry along side of the road. |
Media
Nick Legan's race report on the "Rambleur" site is HERE
Trans Iowa v8 winner, Eric Brunt is featured in this new post on Cannondale's site.
Will Ritchie's WTB blog post about Trans Iowa can be found HERE
Celeste Mathias' photos from T.I.v12 can be seen HERE & HERE
Jason Boucher's 2015 T.I.v11 image gallery is HERE.
Travel Iowa did a story about gravel tourism centered around Trans Iowa for a 2015 article: HERE
The Grinnell Chamber of Commerce awarded Trans Iowa with the "Outstanding Tourism Experience Award" for 2014.
Wally Kilburg's photo album from Trans Iowa V10 is HERE.
Jeremy Kershaw's images are HERE
An Article by Mark Elsasser on T.I.v10 which originally appeared in the inaugural edition of Grit.cx HERE
Wilderness Trail Bikes put up a post about "Why Trans Iowa Is Rad" HERE
An interview with Cristina Mihaescu, first ever women finisher on a single speed, from "Over The Top Radio"
Bicycle Times this time from Jeremy Kershaw. This is a version of his story posted originally on his blog.
Official T.I.V8 photographer Steve Fuller put up his shots on This Flicker Page. Go there for some great shots of this years event.
Jeff Frings released "300 Miles of Gravel" a movie made about Trans Iowa V7, in May of 2012. This film was shown on television in the Chicago area and has won a Chicago Regional Area Emmy for Outstanding Sports Programming- One Time Special. (Purchase a copy by clicking here)
"Iowa Momentum Magazine" ran a story on Trans Iowa in its March 2012 issue.
"Bicycle Retailer and Industry News" runs a story on gravel grinding featuring Trans Iowa on its cover for its last issue of 2011.
"Dirt Rag" ran an article on T.I.V7 in its issue #157 released 7/11
Bicycle Times published an article on T.I. in issue #10, 2011
Des Moines Register Cityview Article about Trans Iowa 2010
Nick Legan's race report on the "Rambleur" site is HERE
Trans Iowa v8 winner, Eric Brunt is featured in this new post on Cannondale's site.
Will Ritchie's WTB blog post about Trans Iowa can be found HERE
Celeste Mathias' photos from T.I.v12 can be seen HERE & HERE
Jason Boucher's 2015 T.I.v11 image gallery is HERE.
Travel Iowa did a story about gravel tourism centered around Trans Iowa for a 2015 article: HERE
The Grinnell Chamber of Commerce awarded Trans Iowa with the "Outstanding Tourism Experience Award" for 2014.
Wally Kilburg's photo album from Trans Iowa V10 is HERE.
Jeremy Kershaw's images are HERE
An Article by Mark Elsasser on T.I.v10 which originally appeared in the inaugural edition of Grit.cx HERE
Wilderness Trail Bikes put up a post about "Why Trans Iowa Is Rad" HERE
An interview with Cristina Mihaescu, first ever women finisher on a single speed, from "Over The Top Radio"
Bicycle Times this time from Jeremy Kershaw. This is a version of his story posted originally on his blog.
Official T.I.V8 photographer Steve Fuller put up his shots on This Flicker Page. Go there for some great shots of this years event.
Jeff Frings released "300 Miles of Gravel" a movie made about Trans Iowa V7, in May of 2012. This film was shown on television in the Chicago area and has won a Chicago Regional Area Emmy for Outstanding Sports Programming- One Time Special. (Purchase a copy by clicking here)
"Iowa Momentum Magazine" ran a story on Trans Iowa in its March 2012 issue.
"Bicycle Retailer and Industry News" runs a story on gravel grinding featuring Trans Iowa on its cover for its last issue of 2011.
"Dirt Rag" ran an article on T.I.V7 in its issue #157 released 7/11
Bicycle Times published an article on T.I. in issue #10, 2011
Des Moines Register Cityview Article about Trans Iowa 2010
Zach Dundas' book "The Renegade Sportsman" contains a chapter about T.I.V3
Video
Dave Mable's T.I.V8 video
Video
Dave Mable's T.I.V8 video
T.I.V5 Clip by George Vargas.
Clip By Matt Gersib From T.I.V6
Ben Shockey's T.I.V7 Video Scrapbook
Part I
PartII
PartIII
PartIV
An article about running, but related in spirit to Trans Iowa. Recommended for those wondering about this event.
Clip By Matt Gersib From T.I.V6
Ben Shockey's T.I.V7 Video Scrapbook
Part I
PartII
PartIII
PartIV
An article about running, but related in spirit to Trans Iowa. Recommended for those wondering about this event.