There was some pretty heavy rain in the area during the morning of the day before the race. The rest of the day was pretty cloudy, and I was hopeful the weather would be pleasant on race day even though I knew conditions wouldn't be perfect no matter what considering the amount of rain the area had received in the previous weeks. Michelle and I got to Emporia early enough to check in to our hotel room and get situated before heading to one of the mandatory riders meetings. The meeting was full of some of the normal stuff you expect to hear at these things (such as "you are on your own"), and there was a nice tribute to Joel Dyke. Joel was one of the founders of the DK200 and he died in a tragic accident only months before the event. Near the end of the meeting it was noted that due to some pretty severe flooding, with 8 foot high streams specifically mentioned, the race course was subject to modification as late as the race start time. This concerned me since I had the planned course loaded into my Garmin and I really didn't want to use cue sheets, but I was ready to deal with whatever I needed to do. After the meeting we ate some Bobby D's BBQ, which has turned into a Cycle City tradition, and then headed back to our hotel so I could rest up.
I woke up at around 4:00 AM on the morning of the race to find that the pavement outside was wet and it seemed to be misting. This wasn't promising, but again I just rolled with the punches since it was out of my control. I ate some food, had some coffee, and got my stuff ready before we headed to the start/finish line in downtown Emporia. We got there and I proceeded to ride around briefly just to open up my legs a little bit. Last year's race started with a bang, so I wanted to be at least slightly warmed up so I was ready to hammer it. I then got to the start line with just a few minutes to spare, and before I knew it we were off. Michelle barely found me in time and literally came and gave me a kiss as the front of the pack had started rolling off. This year's start was a bit more controlled since the pace vehicles kept it at 15mph. But about a mile or so in the leadout was stopped at the train tracks on the south side of Emporia since there was a train approaching. This was probably a great move since crazy people would have almost certainly cut it too close trying to beat the train, and rumor has it that exact thing happened in the 2014 edition of DK. The train passed and we were again led off by the pace vehicles. I started near the front, and with the controlled lead I was able to stay there with ease as we approached the turn onto gravel.
We approached the turn onto gravel and the leadout vehicles pulled to the side. This is when the race really started since it was a free for all from this point on. The lead group was moving at a pretty swift pace, but I was able to stick with it as planned. It was at about the 6 mile mark I'm guessing that Dan Hughes, who has won this event on multiple occasions, somehow got involved in a crash about 5 bike lengths in front of me. I was able to stop and the damage was limited to him and at least one other person. I wasn't even aware it was him who had crashed until I saw him on the course later. He would recover not only to continue the race, but to win the 45-49 age group. Only a handful of miles after that, probably somewhere between miles 10 and 15, we encountered thick mud that was more or less impossible to ride through. I attempted to ride into it as far as possible to stay with the handful of people that were still on their bikes, but another rider made an ill-timed decision to cut right in front of my lane and I was forced to put my foot down. Restarting in the thick mud was impossible I found, so that was when I was forced to start walking. For the next couple miles or so it was mostly walking with a few areas where briefly riding again was possible. This really strung out the lead group since some were able to ride pretty far into it, some had to walk most of it, some people ended up with broken derailleurs, and others had to stop repeatedly to clear built up mud that was hindering wheels from spinning (myself included). This section made me really concerned that it could be a really long day or maybe even a day that was impossible to finish. But after that section of mud was cleared Joe Fox and I pressed on since we had met up in the mud after he had addressed an issue caused by another rider running in to him (potentially the same rider that cut me off in the mud it turns out).
I think it was near the end of this first muddy walking section that the picture below was taken on a very greasy, slippery hill. Eric Benjamin of Adventure Monkey fame took it, and he is good at what he does. This was one of several times I walked throughout this race. It was primarily mud-related, but at one point I walked a few hills because my chain had been so thoroughly un-lubed (is that a word?) by mud and water that it was creaking very loudly. I was concerned about breaking it by continually torquing it up hills, so I decided to play it safe. I even started to target puddles of muddy water as I got closer to checkpoint 2 just to lube my chain with something. I don't know if it was the best idea, but it did seem to work temporarily.
The rest of the ride leading up to checkpoint 1 wasn't overly eventful, but I did think my day was over at about mile 25. On numerous occasions there was no choice but to ride blindly into pretty large puddles covering the road. On one of these I must have hit a large rock because I was jarred forward and my left brake lever came loose on the handlebar. The lever was locked closed and my wheel wouldn't spin, and I didn't know what the problem was and I feared the worst. I got the brake loose and was able to proceed without losing much time. Although I did have a multitool with me that probably could have helped with the loose lever, I didn't want to waste the time rummaging through my tightly packed saddle bag in order to dig it out and then work on it. So for the next 55 miles I was lucky enough to deal with a loose lever that would move around as I applied my front brake. There were some pretty high stream crossings that were at least to my knees during the rest of the section leading up to checkpoint 1, but it was nothing impassable. However, there were several reroutes that made it a bit confusing to navigate up to checkpoint 1 in Madison, but we made it there in under 5 hours despite the mud delay and confusion.
This is where I'll make note of how much a good support team can be invaluable at Dirty Kanza. My wife was my main support person, and she was riding along with Celeste Mathias. Celeste has supported John Mathias on countless bike rides, so she is pretty much a pro at it. Their kids Stina and Cody were also there to help out and support at least one other rider aside from John and myself. At the Madison checkpoint the whole team was there to do whatever I needed them to do since all of us riders typically arrive at different times. Michelle replaced my bottles and food, Cody tightened my loose lever, and either Celeste or Stina lubed my chain. This was all priceless since their help allowed me to just stand there and eat. I have thanked the group on multiple occasions for their help, but there really is no way to express my gratitude.
I got out of the Madison checkpoint as quickly as I could, and then it was back to riding. This was used as a checkpoint in last year's DK, so I knew leaving the checkpoint town involved riding up a steep hill with brick cobbles. It didn't seem as bad as it did last year, but it was a bear of a hill nonetheless. Not more than 10-15 miles past the checkpoint was the second muddy walking section of the day. It was not as long as the first section, but it caused some havoc. I probably tried to ride too much of it and that caused my chainring to become completely clogged with mud, which forced my chain to drop off. This is normally a quick and easy fix, but when I couldn't get the wheel far enough toward the back of the bike to get into the dropout I knew I would have to remove some of the mud from the chainring. This took what seemed like several minutes, but I finally got it figured out. I caught back up with Joe and off we went after spending several more minutes getting the peanut butter-like mud cleared out of our forks and chainstays.
At mile 102 we crossed a creek followed by a STEEP hill. The below photo was shot at the top of that climb. Thanks to Dave Leiker for sharing (http://prairiedust.zenfolio.com/)! The climb wasn't that long, but it took all the torque I could put on my pedals and handlebars to get up it. At this point I found a groove and just rode. I looked back soon after the climb and Joe was out of sight. With the Tour Divide less than two weeks away, I'm glad he didn't try to hammer it too hard. Having said that, he still finished 30th if I'm not mistaken, so pretty impressive!
After riding solo for a few miles I came upon a group of three riders, including another singlespeed that I'd been going back and forth with throughout the first half of the race. I'm not sure how he knew this, but he said that he and I were in 2nd and 3rd place in the SS category. I thought it sounded cool, but I couldn't figure out how he would know that. I knew another SS guy had passed Joe and I earlier that I didn't stress too much about since it was still pretty early, but I had assume more would be in front of us. So I just assumed he was wrong and kept at it. After about 10 miles with that group, I went to the front and pulled away. At this point I rode mostly solo for around 40 miles until the second checkpoint in Cottonwood Falls, which was at around mile 152.
As I was approaching the 145-150 mile mark I came upon another rider that I thought looked like a SS rider that had passed Joe and me earlier that I didn't worry about at the time. As I got closer and knew it was him that was the first time all day the thought of possibly winning crossed my mind. I was skeptical of the one SS guy's claims that I was in third (before I passed him), but I thought it was possible. I was feeling great and was 3/4 done, so that was a confidence booster even if I wasn't taking the lead as I passed him. I pulled away by a couple minutes in the few miles before the checkpoint, and my support crew again killed it at helping me out. Cody soaked my chain that was in dire need of lubrication with some Tri-Flow, Michelle again took care of my food and drinks, Celeste cleaned my mud-caked glasses for me, and Stina gave me some very encouraging words. This is when I realized that I almost had to be in the lead because Michelle was having a hard time controlling how amped up she was with excitement. She told me I was 10th overall, but she didn't mention that part where I was winning SS. She would later tell me that she knew, but she didn't want to tell me for whatever reason. I remember commenting about how amazingly well I felt compared to the same point last year, which is when I felt so bad I just laid down in the grass and had to be convinced to get up and finish. I wrapped up my "pit stop" as the SS guy I had passed earlier was pulling in, and I took off again.
The remaining 42 miles was a solo effort that consisted of a stiff headwind for the first 12 miles or so. I had been dreading this section all day because I knew the north winds would make it tough, but in all honesty it could have been much worse. I kept my head down and watched the miles tick down to the point where I knew I'd be turning out of the wind for good. It is around this turn where I stopped last year to regain my wits since I borderline didn't know where I was, and feeling so great this time around was a nice feeling. I passed several riders that were doing the Dirty Kanza Half Pint (the 100 mile race), and with about 15 miles to go a guy approached from behind me at a blistering pace. If I'm not mistaken it was a guy named Jason Siegle. I wasn't going slow by any means, and he just kept gaining on me. I was prepared to have a tough finish if I had to fight for the top step of the SS podium, but he came next to me and I stopped worrying about him when I saw he had gears on his bike. One lower place in the overall standings wasn't something I was going to lose sleep over. I could have jumped on his wheel to keep up, but he appeared to be in a zone that I didn't to mess with since he wasn't putting my SS chances in jeopardy.
As I approached Americus and knew I only had about 10 miles left with mostly a tailwind, I started to come to grips with the possibility that I might actually win this thing. That combined with the fact that I was going to get to eat some real food soon, grab a cold beer, and kids running up to the road cheering made the next 10 miles really fun. It was an experience unlike anything I have ever felt. I don't know if it was emotions or what, but it was almost as if I was outside of my own body. I kept what felt like a fast pace while also keeping an eye out behind me to make sure nobody was coming, and before I knew it I was back on pavement pulling into Emporia. I followed the course through Emporia State University, and then I was heading down Commercial Street with the finish line in sight. I won't even try to explain how good it feels to see the finish line approaching after 200 miles, but it's pretty awesome to say the least! People were lined up along the cones and gates outlining the path riders took the the finish line, and they were cheering like mad. After waving at my support team and giving fives to random outstretched hands I hopped over the finish line and that was it. Below is a shot of me waving at my crew at I approach the finish that Michelle took with a Garmin Virb.
As I approached the tent past the finish line where they give riders their DK finisher pint glasses, "200" stickers, and "Race the Sun" prints (if they finished before 14:42, which I did), I was curious to know what my result was. Jim Cummins (the DK co-founder) handed me my stuff, shook my hand, and congratulated my finish, but I still had no idea what my result was. As I exited the tent and found Michelle she was super excited, so I hoped for the best. She pulled out her iPhone since she was tracking the results and showed me my 12th overall finish. Right next to that said "Single Speed 1st". I'm not one to get overly outwardly excited, but for obvious reasons I was elated. I'm not really sure how I went from 10th at the last checkpoint to 12th at the finish since only 1 person went by me, but in the big picture it isn't terribly relevant. I also increased my lead from the two minutes it took for the second place SS guy to pull in to Cottonwood Falls after me to 8 minutes by the end. After months of often brutal training in nasty weather and long sessions on the turbo trainer my efforts had paid off! After the race I signed the sponsor board and then wanted something to eat!
The rest of the evening was full of congratulations, food, and watching other people finish. Joe rolled in about 42 minutes after me and seemed elated when Michelle told him I had won as I was approaching them. He gave me a big hug, I gave him a beer, and we chatted a bit before he went off to clean the mud off his bike and his body. Michelle and I milled around the street party for a while with Celeste until John rolled in with what is at least his 5th DK finish. Then we headed back to the hotel to clean up and get some much needed sleep.
I probably slept a total of 5 restless hours on and off throughout the night. A very soft bed coupled with a really sore back made sleeping pretty difficult. When morning finally rolled around we went and grabbed some coffee and donuts (I'm not embarrassed to say I ate a lot of donuts) before heading to the awards breakfast. It started with the 1000 mile club goblets being handed out (Joe and John both got one), and then they gave away a bunch of swag in a drawing (I didn't win anything). There were a lot of category awards to hand out, and it was fun to hear my name when it was my turn. I won the trophy I'm pictured holding below, a cycling vest indicating I'm a "DK200 Champion", and some swag from Orange Seal. Contrary to my brother's assumption, I did not win tons of cash, sponsorship deals, etc, which actually made me laugh.
I want to again note how awesome my support crew was during this race. I owe them a lot of gratitude! Related to that, I owe my wife Michelle tons of gratitude for dealing with me disappearing for hours at a time or building our schedule around my riding at times. She is busy herself a lot of times since her resident physician duties often see her busting her butt from dusk until dawn at the hospital, clinic, etc, but other times when she is free what we do revolves around my training. I also owe her tons of thanks because for the second year in a row I rode DK on our anniversary weekend, so she is cool for tolerating that from me! Luckily next year DK will be the week after our Anniversary. I also owe my coach tons of thanks for putting me through the wringer in preparation for this event. There were a lot of sucky rides that made me hate my life, but I trusted in this person's knowledge and tried to do exactly what I was supposed to (and will continue to do so). As I have mentioned in previous posts, I still don't know if I'm supposed to say his (or her?) name or not since our arrangement is a side project for him, so I'll err on the side of caution. Nonetheless, this person has done great things for me.
It was a memorable weekend to say the least! I'm happy to know that I have the mental strength, determination, stubbornness, or whatever it took to push through. I'm also excited to continue to build on the fitness I've developed and see where it leads me in the future. I'm hoping for a race next year with dry conditions and pleasant weather, and luckily for my wife it comes several days after our anniversary! Despite the obstacles that this year's DK200 required racers to overcome, I still beat my time from last year by 14 minutes even though last year had about the most ideal conditions one could imagine. I'm now very curious to see what would happen in ideal conditions with better fitness and smarter planning. Either way, from a big picture point of view this is all for fun, so I'll just keep approaching it that way as much as I can.
Finally, I must mention a comment I made some time ago about what I would do if I actually won DK. To paraphrase what I said at some point in the past, I noted that winning DK would warrant a tatoo to commemorate the occasion. Well now I have a choice to make! I don't have any tatoos primarily because I've never been confident enough with anything to permanently affix it to my body, but I suspect this is something I'll never be ashamed of. Perhaps something like the DK logo with "Winner" and/or the year, category, etc in a location that will not be visible unless I want it to be. Maybe a future post will outline the details of that. Some people may not agree, but for me this is a pretty big deal. I know there are detractors out there that talk about how DK has sold out from its roots, but I don't think what they have done is necessarily bad. Has the race gotten massive? Absolutely. Has the organization that Dirty Kanza has turned into become more of a business than a group organizing fun rides? Probably. But that same organization also does a lot to benefit the community of Emporia, and it also contributes money to good causes, such as children with cancer. I know some people prefer the grassroots feel of some gravel events, but I experienced nothing negative this entire weekend - and that is with or without the win.
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