I'm a happy member of the "Breakfast club" today. That was one of the hardest endurance events I've ever done. I was doing good until mile 120. Between there and Council Bluffs the wheels came off and I had to stop for a couple of hours to stop cramping and let my stomach settle. I was going to DNF at checkpoint 2 but forced myself back on the bike. With the sun setting and the temperatures dropping I actually recovered enough to start eating again and stop cramping. I really enjoyed biking under that big night sky in the middle of Kansas. I was talking with some veterans of the race and they all said it was the hardest day ever. Saw lots of flats and mechanicals and bikers scattered all over the course. I need to give a shout out to Specialized Trigger Pros. A brand new tubeless setup saw me all they way through the race. Not sure if I'd do the 200 again but there is that chance to up my finisher status to the midnight or sunset club.

Congratulations!! Glad you continued on to finish. FYI - Council Grove (not Bluffs).

For me in the DK50, after almost making myself sick thinking about everything that could go wrong (flats, mechanicals, getting lost, limited rides in actual gravel, crashing, way way way undertrained), it ended up great.

No flats, no mechanicals, the Wahoo folks showed me the day before how to load the route into my computer, John from Cantu was helpful with a tubeless lesson, and decent weather (sunny, windy, high 80s). Final result, I ended up going over 2.5 hours faster than I thought I’d go!

Wonder what I could do if I actually trained! Already planning to lay down a base and do the DK Women’s Camp in September.

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clm
Nashville, TN
https://twitter.com/ironclm | http://ironclm.typepad.com

I have found that most of the gravel events near me are free and the organizers go out of their way to keep it that way.

I don't have direct knowledge of gravel road races. My background was directing running races and some farm background.

IMO an issue with road races is that it ties up traffic and intersections need to be managed. If you're out in farm country, the main concern would be bothering the cows (seriously) and if it's not repetitive, then farmers will put up with it for a day. My guess is that 1) they do get permits or 2) some locales have bike friendly rules in rural areas where you don't have to stop for stop signs if there is no traffic at the stop (seriously). Riders must follow the rules of the road because they are not on a closed course.

I would not consider a gravel race or many small races to be profitable. Break even is the goal. Some money left for next year desirable. By the time you spend for this year and award prize money and food/drink to attract people, there is usually little left over. Putting on an event is exciting though and is done for love of the sport.

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Indoor Triathlete - I thought I was right, until I realized I was wrong.

Well deserved congratulations. Velonews had a results write up which I enjoyed. Peter Stetina, a fairly big pro, finished 2nd with the problems he encountered too. He "bonked" and was thanking the person who gave him a Twizzler with 10 miles to go.

Super hard race it seems by looking at the results. The winner under 10 hours on gravel! Was this what cycling was 100 years ago???

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Indoor Triathlete - I thought I was right, until I realized I was wrong.

From my, somewhat limited gravel race experience (just 2+ years and maybe 10 Gravel events), I think your perspective is probably right especially for the smallish local events. Often it’s just here’s your bib and they write your number as you cross the finish line. They might have an aid station or two and have some volunteers on motorcycles for course support. But beyond that it’s all pretty simple and laid back. Which is nice. And often entry fee is pretty low so I can’t believe they’re making much more than their costs.

What I find interesting is that Dirty Kanza appears to me to be thriving with a extremely difficult course. When you do the same with an Ironman course it will be closed within a few years due to lack of participation. Why is that?

From my limited knowledge the IMers, that I personally know, will do a extremely difficult course ONCE. In that way, they can say they did it. Then they go back to an "easier" IM which could be a more local race. Or if they haven't had enough of extremely difficult courses, they then find a new one to conquer.

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Indoor Triathlete - I thought I was right, until I realized I was wrong.

DK 200 has about half the participants of a thriving IM. Doesn't seem like an apples to apples comparison.

Congrats on finishing on a brutal day, def the hardest of 3 that I’ve done. Heat is my kryptonite and Saturday proved to be too much. Threw out the anchor at CP2 in order to preserve remaining brain cells and not risk heat stroke (again). Last year I made that slog and was in a hole for weeks after.

Nearly everyone I knew was throwing up or dry heaving at some point. Couple people I know took naps in the talk grass trying to get core temp down. At least one guy ended up in ER with dehydration. Though this year’s course was easier in easy parts and harder in tough sections. The heat just compounded that.

So well done on grinding that out.

Yes congrats to all who finished yesterday! Monster effort from those guys up front. Colin averaged 273 watts for nearly ten hours.

I like eggs, so will cherish my Breakfast Club patch. Hot and dry wind meant that I couldn’t keep my core temp down in the middle section as well. Felt great leaving CP1, then my body dropped into walking pace (relatively speaking). EF set up a neutral water stop at mile 99, and a camelbak full of ice got me to the middle water stop with some lucidity. Spent 45 minutes at CP2 waiting for me to cool off and the sun to start going down, then felt great once it started getting dark.

Had the same thing happen to me at IMLP in 2014, and knowing how my body would react based on the same conditions there is the only reason I didn’t drop out.

How so? There were 2700 participants at DK.

I was only counting the 200. Ironman isn't running an Olympic and a 1/2 on the same day. Really not a debate I'm interested in having, just pointing out that thriving and failing are somewhat relative to the event size. If the Chicago marathon were only getting 20,000 entries we would consider it near death.

Huh? I'd say that's disingenuous, at best.

Different RD's and events have WIDELY varying definitions of what "success" and "thriving" mean.

Does DK sell out?
Yes, apparently pretty rapidly - especially compared to many/most cycling events.
What more is needed to be "thriving"??

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float , hammer , and jog

I must not be communicating very well trying to comment while also trying to work. I think that was my original point and I don't disagree with anything you said.

That EF water stop saved me. I don't think I would have finished without it.

I was riding in what I think was the 2nd main group from CP1 to the EF Water Stop, with a group of about 20-30 or so guys off the front. I felt ok, until I didn't. I imploded somewhere around mile 110. Cramps, bonk, cold sweats, etc. From that point on, it was just a test of survival. I sat in the 120 mile water stop for a long time. I got to see the lead females come in and out and got to cheer on some friends. There was a creek somewhere between 120 and the 150 mile stop, and I sat in the water for a while. After that, it was pretty much a stop every 10 miles when there was a tree to lay under, and limping along in between that. I threw up at the 150 mile stop, and a few more times after the finish.

I've never had a worse day on the bike. Overall, I'm glad I finished, but that's about the only positive thing i can say right now about the day. Last year after I finished DK i said i would never do it again. I wish i held myself to that. Honestly, I didn't enjoy myself much on Saturday. I think I'm done with DK. It's a very good event, but I think I enjoy the 100 mile distance races (like Land Run) more.

Hopefully I'll recover in time for Oregon Trail Stage Race in two weeks. Those stages are going to be tough, but at least they aren't 200 miles in a day.

Wow. Thank you for your report. Both your first year and second year experiences communicate that there's no guarantee in outcome when attempting events like these.

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Indoor Triathlete - I thought I was right, until I realized I was wrong.

Pretty much everyone who races Iron Man thinks they can qualify for Kona so they cherry pick races to do that. Or, to keep trying to better their PR. At DK there is nothing to qualify for and the course changes every year so it’s hard to compare your times.

Carl Spackler - I wondered what happened to you. Bummer deal. I saw you on Friday but you were engrossed in a conversation with a bunch of guys and I was with my brother.

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clm
Nashville, TN
https://twitter.com/ironclm | http://ironclm.typepad.com

My day: Somehow had fun even as follows---

The instant we hit the gravel I dropped my chain off my drop stop ring...lol. Standing in the muck the entire field went past.
2 miles later after chasing through half the field dropped it again! NO WAY!
Mile 26 was back to within 100 yards of the lead and got stuck in the jeep rut and crashed. 100% chance helmet saved my life. Ruined helmet, kit, cracked ribs, road rash. I continued on.
Mile 28 first flat. Got back at it and still felt strong.
Mile 130 still had it calculated out could make sub 12 with no more flats.....but.....
Mile 133 flat #6. Called wife. Was sick of begging equipment off others.

Somehow....still an epic day. Fitness my best ever. Was hoping to race for the podium, but not close....lol. Not sure how bad I want to chase a CTL of 150 and then be forced to deal with a mechanical mess like Saturday again. Pretty deflating. I swear I'd have been better off on a full squish MTB than a gravel rig. What a brutal course. Ha!

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24 Hour World TT Champs-American record holder
Fat Bike Worlds - Race Director
Insta: chris.s.apex

I think I saw you at mile 26 - it was a full end-over-end, right? I passed by and pointed out where your bottle was, if that was you. I figured it was a tuck-and-roll reflex that kept you intact.

Bright orange kit. There were several crashes about that time so not 100% sure it would have been me. I even drove that portion the day before and knew the danger of the rut.....not my day!

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24 Hour World TT Champs-American record holder
Fat Bike Worlds - Race Director
Insta: chris.s.apex

I am pretty certain there are strong opinions on this, and know it has been discussed ad nauseam regarding Grassroots vs. Corporate Evil

But thought this article did a nice job capturing the race

https://www.velonews.com/...rty-kanza-200_494465

At the end of the day, WorldTour Pro or not, it's still going to be some Tip Top Gunner that is going to win these things. And everyone else gets to enjoy the experience/bragging rights.