Dirty Kanza 2010....

Have to start out this post with thank you's. In no particular order & if I forget someone don't think I don't appreciate anything/everything you did! The Gammel family, Debbie Sue, & Tyler for their support at the checkpoints. To everyone (Lincolnites that is) who stopped during their race to assist in first aid/bike repair, I'll elaborate in a bit. To Jim, Joel, & crew for putting on, pulling off, & being so passionate about an event. To all the people I rode with, spoke with, suffered with during this event...thank you. A shout out to Andy from Manhattan, we rode together from about mile 70 to Little Egypt, his previous long ride was 88 & he finished later that night. I enjoyed your company.

Thank you to my travel partner's Cornbread & James, this was a great trip. It's never a bad trip when one of your travel companions wins the event! That's right, C-bread is the 2010 champion of the Dirty Kanza 200!!! No one deserves it more, one of the strongest gravel rider's out there. In his 4th attempt he found the perfect blend of fitness, nutrition, hydration, & guts to pull out a commanding win. An awesome achievement to say the least. Temperatures hovered around 90 as the day wore on with humidity above 70%...nasty. C-bread completed this tough course in around 13 hours 30 minutes, an hour up on 2nd place. Congratulations man!

The story behind the story. Friday night pasta dinner & pre-race meeting. PCL is always there...

The masterminds - Jim & Joel...
Our support crew, how sweet is this...
5:15 am Saturday morning we rolled the 3 miles to the start, already 73 degrees & the air was thick...
Emporia welcomed us with open arms, this year's event started in front of the Granada Theater in the heart of downtown...
The race started promptly at 6:00 with a surprisingly gentle tempo over the first 20 miles. It wasn't long before we were joined by cattle running along side of our group, some on the safe side of the fence but many on the same road as ourselves...
Just past mile 20 we start to head East with a downhill & good tailwind, the group ramps it up with speeds in the mid 20's. About 20 or so are in this lead group & I found myself sort of in the middle of the pack, not ideal positioning. Someone in front of me starts to struggle against a deep rut, there front wheel fighting the lip of the rut. Cue slow motion, I can see it coming. I've got no where to go & my front wheel starts chattering against the edge of the rut. I didn't have to fight it long because I went down hard & fast at 25mph. This isn't a road crash, this a rutted out B Rd. crash. No sliding to a stop with the accompanying pavement abrasions but a hard smash & short slide to a quick stop. I've got the most extensive series of abrasions I have experienced in my cycling career. The G-man is right behind me & he goes down opening a big gash in his chin.

Over the next few minutes the rest of the Lincoln crew caught up with this accident scene & stopped to help. Butchie, m-dub, Nathan, Bruce K, Fred, & even my vet Mark Falloon all stopped to offer assistance. Thanks to everyone of you!

My handle bars were sideways, no problem got out the multi & fixed that. My chain keeper was jacked up but no problem used the multi on that as well. The major problem was my front wheel was terribly out of true, like really bad. Not taco'd but heading that direction. I got out the spoke wrench & got it some what better, eventually m-dub started banging it on the ground which got it "rideable", that's a broad term. I disconnected my front brake & I was ready to roll. Less than 40 miles to the first checkpoint & I could get first-aid & do some more repairs.

m-dub working on my front while Butchie performs first-aid on Dennis's chin. He eventually made it to the 1/2 way point but had to pull out & got stitches in his chin & elbow area...

crash scene...
the least of my worries, it's everything above what's pictured that is hamburger...
Is this my blood or Dennis's?
this might be mine, unsure...
Off I go racing to the checkpoint for repairs, both body & bike. As I approached, my back was hurting & I considered abandoning...briefly. When I rolled in to the checkpoint I was surrounded by people wanting to help & asking me what I needed. I immediately knew I would continue. A few more hard bangs on the ground & some twists of the spoke wrench were performed while others tended to my open wounds & I was back on the road with front brakes & all.

Weird, but even with all the carnage on my right side & my PCL kit torn open at the hip & shoulder...I was in really good spirits. Only 40 or so miles to the 1/2 way point. I can do this!

Along the way I met up with FOB & we spent some time together, he was riding great.
The support crew was at the 1/2 way when I got there, Dan Hughes told me Cornbread was off the front. Oh yeah!! That's what I'm talking about.

Next stop Alma at mile 140. Here's my refuel pile...
Healing nicely...
From Alma to Eskridge is painful, it was painful last year & it was worse this year. The wind died completely & this 25 mile leg was calm, still, dead air. A cooker. We had some cloud cover earlier but the sun was out & blazing hot, doing its best to force a rider's submission. Not today my friend.

Rolled in to Eskridge to find nearly the the whole lead group. Right on! Some looked ok & other's were in a deep, dark place. My travel partner James was on the hurtin' side of the fence, 165 miles would be the end of his day, a new PR. I know you would have wanted to finish but hold your head high, you rode great! These conditions were brutal.

How brutal? The guy sitting next to me threw up on the table, I'm not kidding...
From just after Alma to Eskridge I hooked up with Bicycle Shack rider Eric Finks. A great partner to suffer with. We were in roughly the same condition & worked well together. We rolled out of Eskridge with just 40 miles to go to the finish. I was also glad to have him with me because he had a "real" light and I estimated we would finish after dark. All I had was a little blinky light because I always plan to finish in the daylight. I cut it close last year but this year it would definitely be after dark.

We ended up getting some help from the wind and crushed it all the way to the finish. We passed one more rider about 3 miles from the finish & we were 2 minutes behind the two guys in front us. Eric took 7th & I rolled in right next to him in 8th. Couldn't have asked for a better partner to suffer with, weird how that works out. We finished in approximately 15 hours & 23 minutes, I think. Other Lincoln finisher's were Scott Bigelow, Aaron Gammel, Matt Wills, & Butch Johnson. Well done & well done to everyone that gave it their best shot. I know you'll all be back.

this morning:

a mixture of dust & sticky drinks...
the cotton candy bar tape took a beating...
parking lot sighting this morning...
wow, what a weekend...

Later,

TK