One of the most exciting new events on the ultra-endurance calendar this year was Trans-Iowa presented by Cateye and Tifosi Optics, an event which should have garnered little attention, given the place Iowa occupies in the imagination of most mountain bike racers. But when a brutal race format (300 miles, solo, unsupported) meets a well-known race promoter (Jeff Kerkove of the Cateye Enduro Team), well, anything can happen. The field filled up in a hurry, and 50 racers toed the line in Iowa on April 23 for what would turn into an epic adventure, proving that you don't really need mountains to push your body & mind to the breaking point.
At the end of it all, Ira Ryan of Portland, Oregon, stood tall as the winner. A bike messenger by day, Ryan has been racing since the age of 16 and is part of the Veloshop team, a small developmental team which focuses more on cyclocross than anything else. Their sponsors include The Fresh Pot, Stumptown Coffee, Phil Wood, SOMA Fabrications, Chris King, Great Harvest Bakery, The Divine Cafe, Swanson Thomas and Coon (the bicycle lawyers) and Magpie Messenger Collective, where Ryan works. If you are ever in Portland stop by and tell them hello, and thanks for supporting cycling.
Ryan took time to answer a few questions about his experience at Trans-Iowa, and the equipment choices he made going into this unique event.
1) First off, I have to ask, what inspired you to travel all the way
from the Portland area to ride 300 miles of gravel roads across
Iowa?
Growing up on a farm outside Iowa City as a teenager I started riding
my bike to school on gravel and then when I started racing and got bored with
the same traing loops over and over, I discovered that riding on gravel was a
great way to build technical riding ability and get off the beaten path. I would probabaly call myself a roadie more than anything else but being a bike
messenger draws on so many different abilities as a cyclist the Trans
Iowa was the perfect application and a great homecoming as well.
2) Prior to the race there was a lot of discussion in the forums
about bike/equipment selection. Your choice of a cyclocross bike
seemed to be very wise. Were you sure you were making the right
choice, or did you feel it was risky? What led you to choose the
cross bike?
Feeling comfortable on skinny tires on gravel was the first thought
regarding equipment. Based on my experiences riding on gravel on a road bike, if you push a little bit bigger gear and aren't carrying a lot of gear you can
float over the gravel rather than have to push through it. Everyone was
skeptical about my 700x28 touring tires but unless it was wet we would most likely have well traveled, smooth sections of gravel. The frame I rode is the
first frame I ever built. Unfortunately I didn't have time to have it painted
before the race but it rode great. I would call it more of a road/cross mix
with the intention of using it for long, fast touring in the future.
3) Tell us a little about your training. What was your longest
training ride prior to the event? What was your plan for nutrition?
I was in the habit of riding a century every week or so, in addition to
my mileage during the weekdays as a bike messenger. I did a couple of 160
mile days to train but anything over 5 hours is all about keeping fuel in my
body. Great Harvest Bakery in Portland made a bunch of energy bars with
peanut butter, nuts, raisins, chocolate chips and coffee for me that contain aprox 500 calories per bar and I drank Perpetuem from Hammer Nutrition. Mainly, I used what I trained with to make sure my body was comfortable with the fuel.
4) What other races are on your schedule for the year? Which event
is your favorite?
I don't really have a schedule. I burned out on road racing because it
was so structured and it never seemed like people were having a good time so
now I just ride when I feel like it. Well, except for work. I usually log
about 35 mile per day as a messenger so a race on the weekend needs to be really epic or fun for me to do it. Portland just hosted the North American Cycle Courier Championships which I raced in this weekend. Looking at some local mountain bike races to do single speed, some summer tours and Paris Brest Paris in 2007.
5) Everyone seems to hit a low point in such long events. What was
yours, & how did you push through it? Or were you just lovin' life
the whole way?
I think riding with Brian Hannon from Boulder, CO most of the way made
things easier but we both got a little weird around 3 or 4 in the morning.
Aside from that, I felt pretty good that whole way. In a race this long I think being able to push a mile per hour faster comfortably makes a winning move. In all honesty, I cried twice during the race because everything felt so good, my body, my equipment, the weather, the gravel. Truly epic.
Thanks to Ira for sharing his insights and experience. Stay tuned to Ride424.com for the 2006 race schedule so you can get your spot in the next edition of Trans-Iowa.