Dirty Kanza 200 Ride to benefit World Bicycle Relief.
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Thank y’all so much for your support on this ride. It was an amazing outpouring of local support that really helped fuel a GREAT ride.
The team did extremely well. We won and took fourth in the women’s division. We took 14th overall in Men’s division. We took 4th in single speed class. The only team member that didn’t finish topped her longest ride ever by over 50 miles. We raised close to another $1000 by hanging out at the WBR tent and talking to people when we weren’t riding.
My ride was GREAT, though I didn’t get the time I’d hoped for. That didn’t detract from it at all. There was a LOT to overcome. My shoulder felt like it wanted to fall off. I broke a tooth. I got 6 flats. I had to wait for a train to pass for about 25 minutes. It was the last 2 that really helped me make the decision to change my goal for the race from finishing in a good time to helping everyone I could to finish safely. That slowed me down a bit, but also opened up a huge can of awesome on the ride. One guy in particular was almost literally talking to unicorns when he came upon me. It took a while to get him mellowed out, relaxed and dealing with reality well enough to get his support crew summoned. The course was much more difficult than people had anticipated. Lots of people who didn’t think that they’d be out after dark were still on course, with more than 15 miles to go when the sun had set and night had fallen. Little lights that help you be seen have NO power to guide you in rural Kansas. I guess my planning paid off there. I had enough light to fry ants. For the last 15-17 miles I became lead goose… riding down the middle of the road lighting the way… with 3 or 4 people fanning back behind me on either side a “V” formation. It was good teamwork. When someone needed something, we all pitched in to make it happen. We collected people without lights as we rolled back into Emporia.
Hearing the roar of the crowd as we rode up was amazing. The whole downtown was packed with people partying and relaxing after their ride. There were tons of spectators and support crews to welcome us home.
A few things to note: You cannot imagine how huge the sky is and how lovely that looks. The view we kept getting as riders was this huge sky with puffy clouds and a straight line of dirt road rolling all the way to the horizon.
When the view presents this, we most often were riding all the way to the horizon.This ride was very difficult. Almost 1000 people started. Fewer than half finished. Over 100 miles of the ride was into an 18mph wind… or even worse, a cross wind at your face. The roads were usually too narrow to get much of a draft. One particularly brutal part of Sector 3 had us riding into the headwind for just over 30 miles on some of the roughest, hilliest roads of the ride with absolutely no breaks. That’s I met Mr. “I Talk to Unicorns”. He was so far gone, he couldn’t figure out which one of me was the real one that he should talk to. He was talking to me, but looking 18″ to my right.
The community COMPLETELY gets behind this ride. They get that it is a HUGE draw to their small town and they freaking roll out the red carpet for the riders and their crews. Every time we were riding around town in the days leading up to the race, people would drive up next to us, roll down their window to welcome us to town. I had people who I’d held the door for and rode in the elevator with tell me that they were really happy that we’d met. The town was absolutely draped in DK200 banners and signs. You cannot begin to imagine the amount of love that came out of EVERY LOCAL. I went to as many of the local sponsors to thank them and buy something from their shop. In the local tattoo parlor (I bought an awesome custom t-shirt that is too naughty to describe, but it had been made specifically for the DK200 weekend… and it was pink) I met the owner, thanked him and got a HUGE hug. The dude was a serious contender for the world championships in beard growing. (I’m not actually kidding there. He completes and wins and I totally believe it.)
Did I mention that this ride was hard? A buddy doing the race had hydration problems early in the day and never really got over them. He was sick, but pushed through the full 200. At the end he went directly to the ER and got 3 bags of IV fluids before they’d even think of discharging him. I rode home with his bike in the Missing Man Formation. People were soooo awesome. It is almost midnight and I had 4 different people pull up to offer me a ride back to the hotel. I told them I was finishing out to honor a friend who had finished, but couldn’t make the ride back to the hotel.
I can’t wait to go back! I’d go ride it again next weekend if I could…. just to spend a little time in that kind of bicycle-loving atmosphere. It’s a drug… a damn good drug.
Finish Line Self PortraitBlog entry about the ride: http://lovemycommute.blogspot.com/2013/06/dirty-kanza-200-race-with-service.html
Photos:
Day 1: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pedrogringo/sets/72157633826186284/
Day 2: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pedrogringo/sets/72157633846624590/
Day 3 (Race Day): http://www.flickr.com/photos/pedrogringo/sets/72157633877299743/
Day 4: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pedrogringo/sets/72157633879054540/ and http://www.flickr.com/photos/pedrogringo/sets/72157633910687210/Thank you all for your support and your generosity. You are wonderful and it is an honor to get to hang with you!!!
@Bilsko 54141 wrote:
Tremendous! You got me Jonesin to sign up for next year’s ride.
Kansas. Who knew?
You’re Rando background will serve you well in this ride. This is definitely a “ride your own pace” kind of race. Start training yesterday.
@Bilsko 54142 wrote:
Also, how can I get my hot little hands on a mint-condition signed 2013 Pete Beers trading card?
They did give me a few spares.
@KLizotte 54144 wrote:
Peter, your write-up now makes me want to go to Emporia, KS though I’d prefer a far shorter, easier, less bumpy ride.
They have shorter versions of the race… there’s a Century and 34 mile route. Both still hurt. The roads are what they are. The wind is what it is.
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