It's that time again. Tomorrow morning at 8:00, registration opens for the Dirty Kanza 200 and 100. Everyone from the lone first-time cyclist to entire teams of road-hardened gravel pelotons are setting their alarms for Saturday morning to be among the first in line to register on bikereg.com.
For the last three years, the buzz has been that it would sell out in the first hour. It hasn't happened yet. It takes a day or two before selling out, but 2016 may change all of this. If the wide variety of gravel rigs out there being offered by every bike shop in the universe is any indication, the popularity of gravel "grinding" is doing nothing but continue to grow.
And one of the top gravel events going is the Dirty Kanza. People are even starting to come from other countries for a chance to do this Flint Hills monster. Lucky for me, the heart of all this gravel goodness is only 108 miles directly southwest of Kansas City on I-35.
As always, the town of Emporia will celebrate all things cycling for a few days on the first weekend of June, rolling out the red carpet. The town's folk will show up in force. They are open and friendly in a way that you just don't see these days... anywhere. They will tell you they are glad you are there and mean it. It is kind of amazing and is the final part of the alchemy that keeps me coming back.
I wasn't sure how I was going to feel about the winter gravel season this year, but that familiar rush of joy of having goals (looser... as in not crushing) and contact with people who I have come to call my friends over these last three years, started to sweep over me. Messages began to filter in as I got in gear with hotel arrangements, sticker shock stopping me momentarily after finding the Best Western "Hospitality" House had almost tripled it's rates for the event. After a few more unsuccessful calls, I remembered to start breathing again after a friend reached out, offering his family's Emporia home to three of my Boulevard teammates and myself.
So... no more floating around in the strange early January doldrums... wondering about the direction of winter training. I'm committed. I start building the 2016 season tomorrow. All that is left to do is to make sure my fingers are on the keyboard at 8:00 AM.
http://www.dirtykanza200.com/registration/
Showing posts with label DK200. Show all posts
Showing posts with label DK200. Show all posts
Friday, January 8, 2016
Friday, January 9, 2015
DIRTY KANZA 200
http://www.dirtykanza200.com/registration/
I'll be curious to see who signs up for the 200 tomorrow morning. I have a feeling it will sell out quickly this year. I've got a big ol' thing for this event and the people around it and I am especially in love with the town of Emporia.
When it comes to riding gravel and the people who do it, the vibe is like no other that you are going to find in the bike world. It's a rural/punk type of thing... kind of like the mountain bike scene, but with mutton chops and more of a long-haul trucker flavor. I think that's the best way I can describe it. It's a place where the guys who look like rugby players from the turn of the last century can still rule the day. Some of the characters that you meet out on these epic trails and b roads are bigger than life and add to the fun and great sense of community that gravel grinding is becoming known for. Long story short... it's special. The Dirty Kanza is special. The people make it that way and I hope it never changes.
I showed up for the first time a couple of years ago to do the 100. This was after a car wreck ended my triathlon season. Fate is kind of funny like that. It will push you in directions you never thought about for yourself. This was the start of my cycling career... and what better for a big-ass crunchy case of whiplash than training and racing on every gravel road you can find? Just pop the ibuprofen and go! With less than two months to switch my legs and my brain over to 100 miles of gravel, I defected in a huge way and never looked back.
As a side note, I am known far and wide for my ability to get flat tires... anywhere, anytime, triple kevlar, tubeless - doesn't matter. Dirty Kanza photographer, Jason Eberts captures the DK100 version of this phenomena here: http://www.tblphotography.com/blog/2013/6/dirty-kanza-200-2013
The following year, I stepped up to the 200. I was out in the elements all of the winter of 2014 putting the miles in. Layer upon layer of base riding got stacked up like cord wood in preparation for this deal. A few early season gravel century races gave me confidence that I would be able to make my first DK200 a good one. As mid-spring hit, work had started to compete for my time - lots of it. So, in my typical fashion I gave both my job and training all that I had (afterburners on, aimed at wall, full speed ahead). I learned some things in 2014. I learned that sometimes, the best laid plans won't prevent things from falling apart. You give it your all and accept the outcome... whatever it is. More often than not, you aren't going to make it to the podium and the personal race inside of your heart and your mind has got to be good enough.
I made it to Emporia on fumes that weekend and toed the line on Saturday morning alongside everyone else knowing that I had a long day ahead of me. I was exhausted, mentally and physically, and I knew that I was not going to be able to race this thing the way I had planned. I had accepted all of this and put it to bed in the days before. The only thing I wanted from this experience was to finish it, ride within myself and simply make it to the end. That mental re-set was what I needed to get out there on one of the most glorious prairie spring mornings you could hope for and celebrate the simple act of being alive and turning the cranks.
At 6:00 AM, the gun went off and uncharacteristically for me, I went out at a cautious pace, careful to not burn any matches if I could help it, so early in the day. I knew I was going to need each and every one of them on the final quarter and I was rewarded with the finish 20 hours later.
I'll write about this experience, the training and I'll even throw my insane obsession with TIRES into the ring (yeah... it's a problem) in the weeks to come. Just in time for DK fever. Better late than never.
I'll be curious to see who signs up for the 200 tomorrow morning. I have a feeling it will sell out quickly this year. I've got a big ol' thing for this event and the people around it and I am especially in love with the town of Emporia.When it comes to riding gravel and the people who do it, the vibe is like no other that you are going to find in the bike world. It's a rural/punk type of thing... kind of like the mountain bike scene, but with mutton chops and more of a long-haul trucker flavor. I think that's the best way I can describe it. It's a place where the guys who look like rugby players from the turn of the last century can still rule the day. Some of the characters that you meet out on these epic trails and b roads are bigger than life and add to the fun and great sense of community that gravel grinding is becoming known for. Long story short... it's special. The Dirty Kanza is special. The people make it that way and I hope it never changes.
I showed up for the first time a couple of years ago to do the 100. This was after a car wreck ended my triathlon season. Fate is kind of funny like that. It will push you in directions you never thought about for yourself. This was the start of my cycling career... and what better for a big-ass crunchy case of whiplash than training and racing on every gravel road you can find? Just pop the ibuprofen and go! With less than two months to switch my legs and my brain over to 100 miles of gravel, I defected in a huge way and never looked back.
As a side note, I am known far and wide for my ability to get flat tires... anywhere, anytime, triple kevlar, tubeless - doesn't matter. Dirty Kanza photographer, Jason Eberts captures the DK100 version of this phenomena here: http://www.tblphotography.com/blog/2013/6/dirty-kanza-200-2013
The following year, I stepped up to the 200. I was out in the elements all of the winter of 2014 putting the miles in. Layer upon layer of base riding got stacked up like cord wood in preparation for this deal. A few early season gravel century races gave me confidence that I would be able to make my first DK200 a good one. As mid-spring hit, work had started to compete for my time - lots of it. So, in my typical fashion I gave both my job and training all that I had (afterburners on, aimed at wall, full speed ahead). I learned some things in 2014. I learned that sometimes, the best laid plans won't prevent things from falling apart. You give it your all and accept the outcome... whatever it is. More often than not, you aren't going to make it to the podium and the personal race inside of your heart and your mind has got to be good enough.
I made it to Emporia on fumes that weekend and toed the line on Saturday morning alongside everyone else knowing that I had a long day ahead of me. I was exhausted, mentally and physically, and I knew that I was not going to be able to race this thing the way I had planned. I had accepted all of this and put it to bed in the days before. The only thing I wanted from this experience was to finish it, ride within myself and simply make it to the end. That mental re-set was what I needed to get out there on one of the most glorious prairie spring mornings you could hope for and celebrate the simple act of being alive and turning the cranks.
At 6:00 AM, the gun went off and uncharacteristically for me, I went out at a cautious pace, careful to not burn any matches if I could help it, so early in the day. I knew I was going to need each and every one of them on the final quarter and I was rewarded with the finish 20 hours later.
I'll write about this experience, the training and I'll even throw my insane obsession with TIRES into the ring (yeah... it's a problem) in the weeks to come. Just in time for DK fever. Better late than never.
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