I have failed the mt.net bicycle training **** talking group- 3rd place by less than 3 seconds :(

https://www.pinkbike.com/news/yeti-c...on-opener.html

 

Epic shot Dave. Damn dude, finishing 3rd is badass in the pro/open division. I'm sure AF not capable of anything like that.

This is the face of a tired dude that just realized he was 3 seconds from being on the top step. LoL.

 

thanks man. yeah i'm pretty pissed- I was leading through 3 stages (of 4), but didn't know it because we never got to see timing until the end. Oh well- I would have ridden the same either way.


I saw you are looking to get a carbon 29er- these evil bikes are pretty damn fun. I've had both the following and wreckoning...

 

First off, big kudos for the enduro podium Dave. It's nice to see such hard and specific work in training pay off.

__________

Dirty Kanza 200

Emporia, KS June 3

80% chance of thundershowers forecast for race day. 206 miles, 6700' gain.
3 aid stations with water at 50-70 mile intervals. Volunteer crew will have your drop bags at each station.
Otherwise, it's 206 miles of remote, muddy backroads.
Borrowed a set of clip on carbon aero bars from John. Bringing a set of 33c PDX muds in case the 40c Ramblers on the bike prove to be less than optimum on the pre ride Friday.

Truly, I'm scared

 

Which bike will you ride? Your van dessel?

 

Yup.

Reynolds ATR wheelset relaced with CX-Rays
40c Ramblers, tubeless
RS785 hydro disc shifters
48/34 x 11-32
XTR 11s shadow RD with Wolftooth Tanpan ratio thingy
Carbon aero bar clip ons
1600MaH auxiliary battery for Garmin zip tied to aero bars
2 cages with 22oz bottles
Camelback 70 oz (3.~5hrs between aid stations)
Crank Bros Candy Ti
Specialized S-Works 6 MTB shoes


Actually thought hard about doing on the Pivot 429 (4") with 2.0 tires and clip on aero bars. The suspension would be nice but I really want to do it on a proper gravel bike.

 

Well that's a sweet rig, I remember the pics from earlier. This ride sounds like a great test of character. Good luck with it, you'll have a blast I'm sure!

(buy a fat bike now)

I rode on a somewhat soggy railtrail a few months back. 15 miles felt like 50. So 200 would be like 700, or half way to Emporia. haha.

 

Thanks... the power meter training has really paid off. I'm happy with that.


How long is the cut-off for finishing this gravel race? At 15mph average you'd be out there for almost 14 hours. Add some mud and you'll be needing lights. woof

 

I plan on putting the Niterider in my last aid station drop bag. Mud could make it 16hrs easy. Sunset is 8:46 local time.

 

6am rollout, cutoff is midnight 3am? (Or none? They probably go home at some point.) Ted King took 11h30m to finish last year.

I think the 50 mile support race sounds fun

 

To survive this thing means rolling along below my LT. That's strange to me because any of the other competitive grinders I do are like road races. The front group is spending a lot of time floating around FTP in the first two hours when there are still may hours left to race. Lots of time spent above AT. So you are dreading that high intensity stuff early on because you know you will pay for every watt later. In DK, I simply can't do t hat without cracking early. So the plan is to not burn a single match early on. When the big front group starts thinning out and gaps open, I don't jump across them and suffer on some 25 year old cat 1's wheel in a crosswind. I sit up, take a drink and spin, and spin and spin, for 14 hours.

 

The rig

 

might as well throw some fireball shooters in there too.

good luck

 

The race is completely unsupported. There are three check stations you need to hit and they have water but that's it. So you make three drop bags and they are at roughly 50 to 70 mile intervals.

mine:
4x gel flasks each with ~540 calories of Perpetuem
1x cinnamon bun
2x Clif Nut Butter bars
1x clif bloks with caffeine
1x banana
1x bottle w/ Heed electrolyte powder
1x hotshot cramp stuff
1x giant rice krispy treat bar
2x Tates oatmeal raisin cookie
1x mini bottle of chain lube
1x microfiber towel
1x red shop rag

 

needs more booze though

 

I have not had a beer since Wednesday. I can assure you though, tomorrow night I will be enjoying some tasty beverages.

 

What is this I don't even.

 

nice job #63 oal. Can't wait for the race report!!!

 

Me too. The winner is a local bro/friend, said conditions were perfect, set an all-time record.

 

Not bad:60Emilio Cervantes14512:33:1416.47Lake Forest, CAM50-544