6 of us from TN drove down the Emporia, Kansas to compete in the Dirty Kanza 200 mile gravel race. The race started out at 6am with the sun rising and cool temps. After about 15 miles of gravel, the wind picked up and didn't stop until mile 62. This was no ordinary wind...it was either a dead-on headwind or a wicked crosswind gusting up to 40 mph and averaging probably 25 mph. It was effort to pedal the flat sections and keep my speed over 10 mph. The sun was out in full force and by 1pm the temperature was in the 90s with peaks up to 98 degrees. The 40 mile stretch from checkpoint 1 to checkpoint 2 had very very little shade. The only sweat I had was in my helmet. My jersey never felt wet. I downed 4 bottles (94 ounces) in the first 62 miles and 4 bottles in the second 40 miles and had to ration fluids both stretches. The fluid was not refreshing at all due to it being 90 degrees....mmm warm gatorade...yum!
I made my goal the halfway point and called it a day. We barely made it in. New accomplishment in finishing my first true century. I had an incredibly fun weekend with the race just being the icing on the cake. I learned a ton about myself and riding and racing and friendships on this trip. Everyone who towed the line put in an immense effort. Moots/Swiftwick/Yazoo racer Jeff Scott was the sole rider in our group to completely the entire 205 miles. He rocked the race and pushed through some really tough conditions. I am inspiried by him and hope I can put what I've learned to use in future challenging rides.
I will add more of a detailed write up later today or tomorrow. For now here are some photo highlights:
Dan (L), Thad (C) and Grant (R) during the neutral roll out as the sun was coming up. (6:03AM)
The view from about mile 20-30.
Grant taking a photo of the cattle running along side of us. I have a short "oh shit" moment when I thought they were going to cross/run into us. But they stayed in their pasture and just ran with us for a 1/4 mile. It was something I'd never experiences before and was surreal.
Jeff Scott telling us the night before the race that he was gonna get 2nd place SS. Confidence is key!
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