Randomness

Rural Nebraska flyover

Can you guess what's wrong with this picture?

Keep his family in your thoughts

Recently, Tour Divide rider Dave Blumenthal passed away after an accident on the 2010 Tour Divide. Very tragic. He leaves behind a wife and young daughter. Keep them in your thoughts.

Saturday!

First stop in Cortland

5 AM start from D Street then on to Cortland, Wilber, DeWitt, Beatrice, back to Cortland and then home. Got in well over a century with plenty of stops for local cuisine.

Rolling through the ghost town of DeWitt

Even with the heat and early start we still had a great crew this morning! Thanks for the ride everyone! We gotta do that more often.

Wednesday Night Gravel

Air Force One flyby

Dirt was surprisingly dry

Great crew tonight!

Edge of town train dicker

Sunday!

LHT with 8 tubes and a floor pump - no one flatted, but several crashes

Wills and I helped out Kris and the rest of the Cycle Works crew today at the Cornhusker State Games Triathlon which ended up being a Biathlon due to the lightning. Pretty wicked weather we've been having in the Midwest for the past couple of weeks. More storms forecast for next week too.

Saw some pretty interesting bike/gear setups as well as some really bad tattoos at the event today. Five thousand dollar carbon road bikes with disc wheels along side $89 dual suspension department store rigs. No matter what they were riding folks were definitely giving it all they had. That's the beauty of the Cornhusker State Games.

Saturday!

Break time on MMR near Valpo with a threatening sky to the south

We hit Harry's Tavern in Valparaiso for an early lunch

Beers and fried foods were enjoyed by all! Next time were gettin' the spicy battered pickle spears and funnel cake fries.

We hit plenty of sweet dirt today including this stretch on Ashland Road

Back to town this way

Last dirt of the day on NW 12th

I passed on the local mountain bike race this weekend and decided to chill and get some fun miles in. Just not feelin' it right now with the whole racing for a short period of time deal. There will be plenty of time for that in the Fall with cyclocross. Now it's time to just relax and enjoy riding my bike with friends. Really wish I was up in Wisco this weekend for the Trans Wisconsin. Hopefully that'll happen next year.

The Nebraska gravel sure is beautiful this time of year

Saturday!

Rollin' out after the rain and thunder

Nope.

Super sorry about the muddy roads fellas

SDA in town for the weekend!

Gettin' some grub at the Old Settler's Picnic in Palmyra

Regroupin' and rollin' back to town

Wednesday Night Gravel!

Pepsi, grilled cheese and some fries

DK200 Finish Line - One of the happiest moments of my life

The last push!

Crossin' the line

Jim and I at the finish

Interviewed by the local radio station - I have no idea what I said

Thanks to Shawn Honea (imdesigngroup.com) for the photos of the finish.

Dirty Kanza 200 race recap - I suffered like a dog and almost cried like a baby

So which hotel? Oh, OK. Nevermind.

Troy, James and I rolled into Emporia on Friday afternoon. The rest of the Nebraska crew were either on the way or already there. Nebraska had another great representation this year. We just can't get enough of that gravel goodness.

Friday afternoon heat. Saturday was more of the same.

The heat was a popular topic of discussion on Friday afternoon/evening. Thursday, Friday and Saturday (race day) had well above average temperatures. Sunday's high was forecast to be in the high 70's. Bad luck again this year for race day.

Local newspaper hyping the excitement

The town of Emporia really got behind the Dirty Kanza this year. The start/finish was in downtown Emporia in front of the Granada Theater. The street was closed during the day which had food vendors, kid activities, live music, and a beer garden! Kudos to Emporia and all that helped organize the festivities.

Jim Cummins, DK200 Co-Director and all around awesome guy, on the mic at the Friday evening pre-race meeting

Registration and pasta feed was at the host hotel. You gotta love having registration at the host hotels. Makes it a lot easier on the racers and family.

Joel Dyke, DK200 Co-Director and one of my doppelgängers, chattin' about the Dave Pals Award

Jim and Joel unveiled the new David Pals Award for the 2010 Dirty Kanza during pre-race meeting. The Award goes to the rider who has the biggest smile when they cross the finish line despite how they end up at the end of the day. Adventure Monkey provided a beautiful Flint Hills photo as the prize. Not sure who the award. My vote goes to Troy Krause (see below).

Cheering squad set and ready to go!

Riders readying themselves prior to the start.

Clear skies above. It's gonna be a cooker!

Over 200 registered with 170+ starting (unconfirmed)

The field had a very talented group of riders in attendance. Lots of gravel and enduro-cycling veterans. It was exciting to be in that field of riders.

All corners of the USA were represented at the DK200 this year

Neutral rollout with Emporia Police escort

6 AM the race begins. The temperature was mild, but the air was thick. The heat coupled with the humidity would punish riders the rest of the day. I know of a couple folks who went to the hospital for IV fluids after the race.

Thank you Emporia Police!

"L" is for Lance!

Slow rollin' through town for a couple miles

Game on!

In typical fashion, the race was on as soon as we hit the first gravel of the day. The pace was relatively subdued the first 15 to 20 miles.

Dan Hughes, former DK Champion and runner up x 3(?), was sadly missed this year. Heard Dan broke his collarbone recently. Bummed not to have him there. He's a great guy to ride with and always keeps the pace exciting. Several times during the early part of the race I thought to myself that we need Dan up there setting the pace.

Troy rockin' the PCL kit

Riders strung out in a double pace line once we hit the gravel. Basically sticking to the automobile tire tracks because those are usually the best lines with the fewest amount of rocks. And there are a lot of rocks in Kansas.

Butch and Wills leadin' the charge on single speeds followed by Steve and Eric. Jah!

Once the rollers started the group split a bit

Lance Andre gettin' areo on the fat tires - Lance would go on to finish 2nd overall on the day and then go to the hospital

Steve (pictured left) of 30th Century Bicycle rode great all day

Joe Fox (pictured left)of Cycle City finished 3rd on the day! Jeremy Fry grindin' it out (pictured right)

Pick a good line!

You gotta to be on your toes if you aren't in front. Lots of large rocks are embedded in the roads which can end your day quickly. Troy almost suffered that fate. He would end up crashing badly after hitting a rut around mile 20. He had gravel rash from ankle to shoulder and a messed up bike, but still continued on and finished 8th overall. Amazing. If he hadn't gone down, I think he would have won it. Next year, man.

Dennis, my other doppelgänger, crashed into Troy when he when down and ended up busting open his chin and elbow. He ended up with a dozen or so stitches in the chin and elbow and had to drop. Heal up Dennis!

Let the Cattle Gauntlet begin

"Hee-yah! Go on, git! Hee-yah!"

Joe Meiser and Kearney, Nebraska native Mike Marchand leadin' the charge after the break

Sometime around when Troy was going down a break occurred. The front of the group sped up on a slight downhill which shed several riders. The pace picked up for the next hour and eventually when the dust settled there were four left; Joe Meiser (enduro badass), Mike Marchand (2009 DK Champion), James Blake (Lincoln strongman and DK rookie), and myself (dork). It was a great crew. I was stoked.

Alright Joe, give me your sexy pose. Yep, that's it.

Let's do this fellas!

The four of us worked together and rolled into the first checkpoint with a modest lead on the rest of the field. After a quick refuel and restroom break we were off for more Flint Hills gravel.

Mike Marchand clipping along

After the first checkpoint, James would fell of the pace a bit. Soon thereafter Joe, Mike and I stopped for a pee break. It ended up being more than a pee for me. For some reason, I had stomach issues all day long. It was ugly.

Somewhere before the half way point Mike and I pulled away from Joe who was also battling a stomach issue. Then Mike started to cramp up a bit. I kept the tempo steady and ended up rolling into the halfway point a bit ahead of Mike. I had to keep rollin'. Stopping in the heat, even for a few minutes, absolutely kills me.

The heat steadily climbed throughout the morning. By the time we hit Council Grove (halfway), it was in the lower 90's. I was drenched in sweat from head to toe. Things were only gonna get worse.

Sufferin' like a dog

After the second checkpoint, some clouds came rolling in from the North. Ah! The Bike Gods have smiled upon us today! The temperature instantly dropped 10 degrees and it even rained for a bit. It felt great.

After riding solo for 15 or so miles, I thought I went off course. So I turned around and did some back trackin'. That's when I ran back into Mike and Lance Andre. The three of us rolled together until I flatted on the infamous Lil Egypt Road. That road is one rocky SOB. Mike and Lance waited for a bit as I changed out the flat, but they eventually continued on when I took a lot longer than I should have to change out the flat.

The cloud cover was intermittent by now so the temperature began to climb again.

Mike, Lance and I rolled into the third checkpoint staggered about a minute behind each other. Lance refueled and headed back out as Mike and I finished up at the convenience store. Mike and I would end up passing Lance on the big and plentiful rollers in between Alma and Eskridge. That was the toughest part of the race, hands down.

The clouds were gone by then and the temperature was getting ridiculous. I saw 104 degrees on my bike computer a few times on that stretch. Around mile 160 Mike stopped and said he couldn't continue on. I was bummed. Now it was a solo effort. Honestly, I didn't know if I could do it alone.

Double track goodness of Gun Barrel Road

I rolled into Eskridge and took 10 minutes to refuel and hit the restroom. The stops were quick and efficient. No wasted time.

The view from atop of Gun Barrel

The rest of the day I rode solo. Always looking back for another rider. It was a death march. Unfortunately, I had headwind all the way back to Emporia. Shortly after I finished the winds shifted 180 degrees when a storm front rolled in from the North. Ha!

The finish was quite an experience. I'm guessing around 100 folks were waiting at the finish line ringing mini cow bells and cheering me on. I was so shelled I could hardly crack a smile. I had been hanging on by a very thin thread for several hours. The stomach issue prevented me from eating much all day. Jim Cummins came over and shook my hand. I gave him a big hug and would have cried if tears were possible. My proudest day on the bike.

Troy sportin' his wounds and a big smile after finishing. Bingo!

Scott Bigelow Cycle Works/Moose's Tooth rider (rider on the left) after crossing the finish line. He crushed it all day. Congrats!

Emily Brock took the Women's win. Nice work!

Cycle Works/Moose's Tooth rider Aaron Gammel after the finish. Great job, man!

Awards ceremony - I keep looking back at the finish line hoping to see Aaron finish

Wicked handmade DK200 trophy by Joel Dyke

Whew, now that's some enduro bloggin'. Alright, I gotta wrap this up cuz I don't have much sensation in my hands.

Thanks to Jim Cummins, Joel Dyke, the city of Emporia, all the DK200 Sponsors, my personal sponsors - Cycle Works and the Moose's Tooth, the Nebraska support crew (Debe Sue, Tyler and the Gammel family), and all my friends for all the encouragement and support. I love you all!