Trans Iowa Experience

There is no easy way to describe the motivation for wanting to ride a bike for 300 plus miles on gravel in Iowa, you either get it or you just plain don’t. One of the great motivators for me to come to the U.S. to do these ultra events is that I get to hang out with people who when told about an endurance race involving large amounts of suffering don’t question “why would I want to do that?” but instead ask “where do I sign?”

In my eyes, Trans Iowa is the pinnacle of gravel racing simply because of the quality of racers that it attracts. I have to admit though I was fascinated by thoughts of exceeding a triple century worth of gravel and the physical and mental challenges that it would put me through.

Months of the usual preparation were invested in this event; travel, accommodation and on the ground logistics are as big a challenge, if not bigger, than the race itself. After all turning pedals is the easiest thing in the world, whereas hoping that the guy loading the bags at Heathrow Airport remembers to put my bike on the plane before his lunch break is just down to pure chance.

Although I had no control over getting my bike to the U.S., thanks to Guitar Ted I was to be adopted into the Fuller family from my arrival in Des Moines, Iowa until my departure. Steve Fuller is a gent and an awesome host, his family made me feel welcome and without them life would have been a ton more difficult.

Different continent or not, the pre-race deal is pretty similar when traveling to a race: unbox bike, dial it in as best as possible, eat as much food as your can and rest as much as possible. This time was no exception with just the slight addition of traveling to the start in Grinnell, Iowa the day before the race for a pre-race meeting and meal.

I was so happy to meet so many people that I felt, through hours of online chat, I already knew, including the friends I had made from the Dirty Kanza the year before. I was feeling really relaxed about this event, with no pressure to do anything but turn the pedals for as long as I could and see what would happen.

Still, no matter how relaxed you are, I think the anxiety of just wanting to start gets to everyone. You have everything ready to a point where nothing can be changed and you are ready to go but yet a night's sleep is still in between you and the start. Luckily Guitar Ted. in an effort to reduce this period of limbo, starts the event at 4:00 a.m. in the morning! It was barely worth my head meeting pillow.

The Start

With 325 miles of gravel in front of us, you would think the start would be pretty steady; a lot of chatting and social riding for a hundred miles or so before the task of racing took hold. That is what I would of liked. Instead we started with a neutral roll out, drafting Guitar Ted's truck though the streets of Grinnel before hitting gravel a few miles later and immediately taking off as if it was a 100 mile race! Pace lining fresh gravel from the offset.

A little over fifty mile in, not far from the first checkpoint my Salsa teamate Tim Ek got a flat. I was quick to eject from the crazy front group and stop to help. This race is LONG and I wasn’t gonna burn myself out in the first few hours. While fixing Tim’s flat we were joined by DK200 race director Jim Cummins and our first group of the race was formed.

The Groups

The trick to surviving the Trans Iowa for most (including me) is to get in to a good group. This can be difficult as everyone has their own pace and race agenda but for the sake of sanity it is a must for me.

The trio of Tim, Jim and myself was great and we were riding at s strong pace. Tim has finished Trans Iowa multiple times and Jim was ploughing through fresh gravel like he was riding tarmac. We were making good progress and quickly began picking up more riders. Some were passed, some joined and soon our small group grew to 7 or 8 riders strong.

The dynamic of the race mean’t that the group constantly changed as we filtered in and out of convenience stores to resupply, but the constant was that Tim and I had decided to see this thing through together, so when he flatted for the third time I was with him again. With the same tire giving him so much trouble it looked like his race might be done. After what must have been the 10th check of the tire between us, Tim’s eagle eyes spotted a tiny piece of flint barely pushing through the tread and must have been scratching a hole over hours in the tube. Tim’s Trans Iowa was back on again!

The Night

As darkness fell and the temperatures dropped the group had consolidated into what would be its final format; Myself, Tim, my Iowan host Steve Fuller, Jay Barre, Ben Oney, Charles Parsons, Mike Johnson, Paul Carpenter and silent most of the time but always there Chris Wells. An eclectic mix of novices and finishers that came together through chance but were solid through the whole night.

The temperature took a few racers by surprise and as I would find out later resulted in the retirement of the other Brit in this crazy race, Vin Cox. He was simply too cold to continue even after raiding recycling bins for insulation. Tim managed to gather up some spare clothes from the group and when the final convenience store was reached he went all out and bought himself a Mountain Dew sweatshirt to see the rest of the cold night out through.

The Finish

As dawn started to break again we must of only had 25 miles left. The thought of the finish line, the realization that it was going to happen and the lift in spirits by the rising sun meant that peoples spirits soared and the pedals seemed to turn a little easier. Every hill now was a little race between myself and Jay Barre. While Tim eased back with some nagging knee pain, the miles went by easy as Jay, Steve, Paul, Charles and myself continued to play. Then just as we were playing on another one of what must have been hundreds of climbs this race includes, BOOM! Tim comes past absolutely on the gas. He had lifted his saddle a touch which had instantly cured his knee and he was set on getting the race done as soon as possible.

As we rolled up to the finish line barn we were handed a well earned beer and then the previous 325 miles didn’t seem so bad. The good thoughts prevailed, burying the bad moments– out of sight and mind.

In their fury to finish and race each other Tim and Steve had hooked a wrong turn as they finished a few minutes after to again more beer and congratulations, both well deserved.

My Trans Iowa experience could not have been a better one. Steve Fuller really looked after me, the weather cooperated and was fantastically warm and dry during the day and mercifully dry during the night. The people I rode with inspired me to come back over and over again. The group I was part of was rock solid and everyone of those guys contributed to me being able to finish. The Salsa Warbird I rode for 325 miles in Iowa and countless training miles in the UK, I could not of asked for a better bike for the task.

It's difficult to truly appreciate the enormity of Trans Iowa. Even having ridden the event I find it difficult to quantify the experience to anyone. I guess the experience is one you have to try for yourself.

A huge thanks to all those who helped in completing this phenomenal challenge. From Guitar Ted (Mark Stevenson) organizing this thing, and his helpers performing a great job manning the checkpoints, the Fuller family for looking after me so well while I was in Iowa, Salsa Cycles for not only providing me with a great bike (a Salsa Warbird) but also making me part of the Salsa family and allowing me to ride with great racers like Tim Ek and every single rider I met on course showing me that there others out like me willing to suffer to be rewarded by achievement.

Photos by  Imaginegnat

The complete version of this story and additional photos will appear in the next issue of XXC Magazine due out early this summer.

Ronde van Vlaanderen ... Cobbles and Bergs.

When people ask me about my Salsa Warbird I generally tend to tell them its a cyclocross bike .. its easier .. how do you explain about gravel racing when you live in a country that doesn’t have any.  The reality though is that its not just a gravel racing bike as its merits lend themselves to so many surfaces.

When a group of friends decided that riding one of the road spring classic sportives in Belgium would be a great way for a break and that the classic decided on was the Ronde van Vlaanderen (Tour of Flanders) there was no doubt that I would be riding the Warbird .. firstly as so close to Trans Iowa every mile I could ride on it would help my cause but secondly as the course is littered with many sections of cobbles covering climbs, descents and the flat.

The RVV starts in Bruges taking a fairly flat and fast route to the outskirts of Oudenaarde where at this point the fun starts ... the route circuits the city taking in as many cobbled ‘bergs’ as possible ... short sharp climbs some seeing gradients of 22% and mostly cobbled.

Our ride preperation was not ideal .. our hostel room the night prior situated above a bar with a DJ on till 4am with what seemed like most of Bruges taking advantage of the loud music and strong beers ... music variety was good it just would of been better without the prospect of 260km to ride the next day on what ended up being 2 hours sleep.

7.30am we rolled down to the main square in Bruges ... the weather was cold hovering just above 1 degree celcius ... like most sportive style rides the start is between certain times so no mass start ... we pedalled through the start and began our spring classic experience.

The pace was initially brisk hovering around 18mph as we bounced from group to group up the road catching the riders that started earlier ... we would just settle into a group that felt like about the right speed then we would arrive at a feed station ... out the feed station the pace would be up again as we again looked for the group that fit us the best.

As we hit the outskirts of Oudenaarde a quick look at the computer showed the first 80 miles had been an average of 17.5 mph ... a reflection of this flatter section of the course.

The second half of the course was far more ‘interesting’ as we started to tick off the climbs.

At the foot of every climb there was a sign board telling you the name of the climb, how long it is, the average and maximum gradient... 

...with a CX chainset on the warbird ... 46/36 ... my game was then how many of these I could climb in the big ring.

The first berg of note was the Koppenberg ... if you know of the spring classics then you know the Koppenberg .. I have riden this climb twice before so I knew it was a leg stretcher ... as we approached the climb it came just after a left hand bend and just before the bend you could see the gradient and the cobbles of the climb .. 

on this occasion unlike the previous climbs up it I got rode into by another struggling rider ruining my 100% record early on in the day ... a quick few steps and a cyclocross remount saw me ride to the top.

This then set the precendent for the rest of this ride ... the bergs and cobbled sections then came thick and fast ... disc brakes and 38c tyres were a god send as my progress seemed alot less laboursome than those on skinny tyres and superlight carbon bikes.

I managed to tick off near all the steep climbs using the 46 ring until almost the last which I knew would not be possible ... coming at around 135 miles in you hit the Paterberg .. a max gradient of 20% which comes in the last half of the climb... at only 350m ish long its short and sharp and I was glad of the 36 inner option on this one.

The final 15km or so again became relatively flat as we strung back out into a paceline riders dreaming of being Boonen or Cancellara riding toward a career defining win J

158 miles had been covered to the finish.

The ride had started and finished cold .. at one point touching minus temperatures but importantly had stayed dry ... the hard work of the first 80 miles had really been worthwhile getting to experience the later part of the course .. many waffles were eaten and that evening strong beers drunk.

Was this good training for Trans Iowa .. who knows but it certainly was another great day on the bike and the take home message was certainly that a Warbird is not just for gravel .. its for road, dirt, cobbles, etc J

'When i'm 64' ... my first AUDAX.

It has a route, a time limit a start and a finish but it’s not a race or a sportive … so what is it ??

…. its an AUDAX.

Since I started looking at longer and longer rides I have always had an eye on Audax as maybe not my main source of events but definitely as a means of getting in some good long rides and exploring routes I would normally never have chance to ride.

The events are relatively low key on the whole attracting a hundred or so riders ... there are bigger events like the London – Edinburgh – London and Paris – Brest – Paris but on the whole it’s a more relaxed affair.  The entry fees are modest somewhere in the region of £5 which in this day and age of liability and blame which has driven other events fees through the roof to cover insurances etc is a very small sum of money.

The principal is very simple … the routes are long distance which Audax UK classifies as generally over 200km … you navigate via route card or GPS … you visit controls which may be someone part of the organisation to stamp your brevet card or simply purchasing good and retaining a time stamped receipt from a specified town … and there are many awards to aim for in relation distance of events ridden, cumulative distances and cumulative climbing … it’s a beautifully simple system.

Audax is latin for ‘bold’ and those that were among the riders at my first Audax experience could certainly be described as bold.

My first Audax was to be the 200km ride ‘When i'm 64’ ... so named as it was ridden on or near the birthday of race organiser Nigel Hall.

The start was the small village of Aldborough St John and registration as I imagine is common amongst most Audax events was conducted in the village hall.  At registration a quick look at the bikes outside and the riders inside I quickly realised the disparity between the people at this event and those at my more usual race orientated affairs … there was very little form over function and peoples attire and bikes were all very purposeful .. and on the whole looked to have seen many an Audax mile.

The days weather was best described as consistently poor … we rolled out at 8am into rain and on the whole it would stay that way for the day ... on occasion it stopped raining.. as it was snowing !

I was amazed at the initial pace as we barrelled along wet roads everyone settling into the days ride and getting to know one another.

After only 16 miles I punctured and had to stop .. I had been slightly off route with the front guys as they were avoiding poor condition back roads (minor detours are acceptable) so after fixing my puncture I was forced to cut back across on to the official route and allow my GPS to earn its keep.

I was only riding for another 12 miles or so before the first control … all the days controls were ‘Free’ indicating no set control simply purchase something and retain the receipt as proof you were there.  In this case it was a Tesco filling station and I met up with riders from the Hambleton Road Club … leaving the filling station I stayed with these riders and would do so for the rest of the day.

Having good company and conversation was the order of the day as the poor weather robbed us mostly of the magnificent views of this part of the country … plus having 6 wet riders storm a café on a Saturday lunchtime is slightly less embarrassing to the individual than venturing in on your own and being the only wet cyclist there J

As it turned out the guys I was riding with on the whole had ridden many Audax events so were an excellent source of info as to what to use and which events to ride.

I managed to take no photographs during the day so have to thank Paul John Manacourt for letting me use his images .. I think the following few shots capture the day .. cold riders huddled outside a convenience store after collecting their control receipts around the half way point.

.. and the Warbird taking a well-deserved rest on a railing J

We finished the ride in the dark … it took near 12 hours start to finish but was a hugely enjoyable day and I left with a massive respect for these very tough Audax riders.

I have decided to try and complete a Super Randonneur this year which is comprised of a 200km, 300km, 400km and 600km ride so first one down only 3 more to go !!

Thanks again to Nigel Hall for this excellent event and the guys from Hambleton RC for the good company for the day.

More info on Audax here. 

(Note: I apologise for any inaccuracy in my interpretation of Audax and welcome all comments to amend factual content J )

Hit the North 2013

There is nothing I like better than sitting at home with a cup of coffee trawling the net for new and interesting events I can travel too... I don’t let geography limit my selection of what I want to go and ride and I am constantly amazed by the creativity of events in their format and location.

With this desire to ride new events all the time its no surprise that I very rarely go back to the same event twice .. this is no reflection on how good these events are its just that with finite time and money and a ‘must do’ list of events ever increasing its difficult to ever repeat anything.

There are however a few events that I will continue to go back to as long as the organisers give up their time and usually money to put these events on ... Hit the North in Manchester is one of these events.

Hit the North falls early in the year in February .. the weather can be blizzards of snow or glorious sunshine ( February in the UK is a strange one) ... the course on the whole remains mostly unchanged ( this is no bad thing) and the format is very simple ...you race for 2 hours and you ride a CX bike or a mtb or if you are fancy you have both just in case.

The course is so devised that the split between whether a CX or Mtb is a better machine is a close call and it literally comes down to the weather on the day .. if its muddy the CX boys will love it.. if its dry then the descents will favour the Mtb riders.

I went to the event this year with no expectations .. I would of normally had a season of cyclocross in my legs but as I am going to Trans Iowa and it falls relatively early in the year I have concentrated on just being on my bike as much as possible for as long as possible.

The start line gridding is one for riders honesty .. if you genuinely believe you are ‘Nick Craig’ fast or actually Nick Craig then you take up the first few rows .. then the speed of rider filters back .. I decided first half of the pack seemed appropriate for an unknown level of fitness.

The race started as I was casually looking the wrong way not on my bike with a jacket in my hand J  Not exactly textbook.  All that meant was that I had a lot of people to ride with for the entire race.

The course was perfect for the Salsa El Mariachi singlespeed ... alot of flowing stuff with a few short sharp climbs which weren’t too bad ... I felt great flowing round just picking up places as I went ... even the horrible muddy ‘field of dispair’ .. a long muddy push ... allowed some mid race banter between riders.

There is a lot to be said with racing with no expectation or goal .. it was a very enjoyable experience and I think my final race position benefited from my relaxed riding ... as I looked to eat a gel at what I though was an hour in I had been racing for 1:50 Hours !!

I was caught and lapped by Nick Craig 500m from the line on what was then my last lap .. no shame as the man is getting nothing but faster and is a total gent while racing.

Final standing was 21st from 240 finishers and a fantastic day out on the bike was had.

Huge thanks to the race organisers for yet again putting on a fantastic event and I will be back next year ... and the year after ... and the year after ... J

Winter motivation ... El and Back

Winter for a cyclist is traditionally a time for laying the foundations for whatever grand plans have been schemed for the forthcoming year … time has to be invested into miles and miles of riding and from this investment comes the success in whatever challenges we have chosen to undertake.

The only difficulty is that here in the UK winter brings a whole host of challenges to hinder our forward progress testing the motivational skills of even the most hardened riders … whilst our American counterparts seem to effortlessly switch from autumnal rides to great adventures on ski and fatter treads in picturesque snow we get dealt endless days of rain. When temperatures begin to fall sufficiently enough for the rain to cease we are left with trails of endless sticky bike ruining mud and roads coated in black ice ready to pull the tyres from under you.

When an opportunity comes along to break up the winter slog with something a little different … a challenge not a race… a chance for people to gather and enjoy riding no matter what the conditions may be then you take that opportunity … for me this was a bike packing event called ‘El and Back’.

El and Back, based in Wales and named as it involves riding into the Elan Valley,  is one of many great events organised by Stuart and Dee Wright who amongst other things are the people behind the UK bikepacking forum Bearbonesbikepacking.co.uk.

The event is beautifully simple and effective … there is no set course… you have a set of checkpoints with only one of those being compulsory (just so happens it’s the furthest from the start) and some suggested spots for overnighting … you plot your own route and ride at your own speed whether that be solo or in a group … there are no prizes and the only rule being if you do choose to sleep then it must be done outside whether in a tent or a bivi.

I rode the event in a group of four .. myself, Steve Wilkinson, Alan Goldsmith and Paul Pomfret … our machinery covered a wide spectrum … 2 fat bikes 1geared and 1 singlespeed .. 2 29ers 1 geared and 1 singlespeed…. I was singlespeeding a Salsa Mukluk all the way.

I must profess that in regards to route planning I was merely a passenger .. too many cooks etc so Alan set the route and that formed an informal starting point with alterations made on the fly as the weekend progressed.

The route we took for the 2 days saw us moving over varied ground .. mostly very wet and muddy ground but varied … feet were wet but the mood was good … rain subsided and was replaced by snow which eventually gave out to a clear sky.

The first day we covered a mere 70km though everyone seemed hard fought as defined trails on the map were non existent on the ground as we hauled our loaded bikes across tussocky fields and up steep hillsides.

The overnight stop was at a high point on a hillside utilising a phone transmitter mast as a windbreak … again the group was divided by chosen shelter with bivi bags, a tarp and a tent being used… our group for the evening had swelled to 5 with the chosen spot already having a tenant ... as chance would have it a friend and also sponsor Nick from Alpkit.com.

The night sky was exceptionally clear and allowed for excellent stargazing … the temperature dropped and sleep was fitful as choices in sleeping gear were in some instances quite wrong.  I woke to the sight of Alan defrosting his boots with his gas stove and Steve running up the hillside trying to warm up.

I made a coffee from the comfort of my sleeping bag having left my stove nearby the night prior … then the unwelcome task of getting out into the cold and packing up every strap and buckle on the bikes luggage now frozen.

The second day was a much easier affair … we utilised familiar tracks and roads to the group so the day was near entirely rideable back to the start to find Stuart and Dee treating the finishers to coffee and cake.... 2 days totalling a meagre but thoroughly enjoyable 110km.

The conditions of the weekend were typical of the UK winter ... on your own you would find riding and training in them a laborious task but as a group with an event to complete the whole affair was a lot more pleasurable.

A big thanks to Stuart and Dee for this event .. a great winter motivator … a taste of what the year can bring.

I came away certainly more motivated and also with a desire to sleep out more this year … not to mention with a sizeable bikepacking gear shopping list !!

February brings a polar opposite event in Hit the North .. 2 hour MTB vs CX bike event .. a totally different flavour of riding but no less motivating to get out and train and make the most of every opportunity to ride … no day on a bike is a bad day.

Thanks to Paul Pomfret for capturing the experience with some great images whilst my camera curled up and died in the cold.

Almost over and nearly about to start.

So 2012 thats pretty much done with save a few weeks but 2013 is nearly here .. a fresh year .. a new start ... 12 whole months of opportunity !!!!

I got back from Dirty Kanza pretty tired ... I wasn't done with bikes but I was certainly done with rigorous training regimes so I decided to have a few weeks off training and racing .. well that kind of turned into a few months .. I rode when I wanted to, I went trail running .. I even bought a surfboard and am still attempting to learn to surf :)

I weighed up what I wanted from cycling ... tried to put myself back into the mindset you always find yourself in mid race when you just wanna quit and eat cake .. well i was sure I still wanted to eat cake and I was 99% sure I still wanted to race or at least put myself into challenging situations even if that involved a number board or not.

Then the 1% doubt I had was quashed by Salsa.. both UK and US Salsa folk.. showing enough faith in me to set me up with a few new bikes and let me start telling people I was a Salsa sponsored rider ... joining a great group of existing riders who never fail to inspire me.

So then the training started ... I never train when the motivation is not there its so counter productive to force yourself to do anything your heart is not in ... turbo sessions and longer rides were the order of the day and thats where I am now.

Oh yeah those Salsa bikes ... well I can't complain on that front .. I cleaned house of everything I owned prior to these bikes and put in place what I consider 3 bikes that can do absolutely anything .. a quiver with a bike for every occasion, mood, event ...

 

 

Warbird, El Mariachi SS and Mukluk .... a bike for any mood that takes me ...

The Warbird is going to see a great winter of long mixed on and off road rides .. not to mention the Pave of Belgium ... getting ready for taking it 'home' to where it belongs .. the gravel roads of the US... 320 miles of them at Trans Iowa.

The EL Mariachi will see a fairly quiet time before being let loose at Hit the North race in February and from then it will be my go to bike for all shorter mountain bike rides and races ... I suspect it will see some bikepacking action too.

Then the Mukluk .. well why not ... you can never not have fun riding a fat bike :)

So I have already sketched out a rough start to 2013 event wise ...

- El and Back, Wales .. a super cool bikepacking event from Stu at Forest Freeride / Bearbones Bikepacking.

- Hit the North, England .. another episode of the excellent cross vs mtb 2 hour race by Jason Miles and friends.

- Whinlatter Challenge, England, .. 30+ miles of climbs of supeb Whinlatter Forest racing.

- Ronde Van Vlanderren, Belgium .. Tour of Flanders sportive ... can you say 'CANCELLARA' !!! :)

- Trans Iowa, US .. this is the flagship event of my 2013 ... 320 miles of grinding gravel :)


A little light on events initially but everyday the list grows and I find myself juggling finances and annual leave ... certainly gonna be a diverse year if nothing else.

Dirty Kanza 200 ... the whole story.

Apologies this has taken so long to put together .. the following is my Dirty Kanza 200 story ..

Indecisive … maybe not the right word but one I could apply to my cycling history … I am never sure which bike I prefer riding or indeed what racing I prefer… so I don’t limit myself to any particular discipline or machine.

At the end of 2011 I was convinced that 2012 would be the year I stayed in the UK with no desire to attend some far flung challenge that would test me physically and usually financially … it wasn’t long however until I was called out on a passing comment on my desire to go and compete in one of the ever growing number of ‘Gravel Grinder’ races in the US … once the words have passed your lips and you have called it then you have to do it… that’s the law.

Gravel grinding is the name adopted to represent the practice of covering large distances travelling on the many gravel roads found within the US … events usually cover anywhere between 100 miles to 320 miles and attracting road and mountain bike riders to race head to head on a fairly level playing field.

With some internet research, facilitated by the excellent XXC Mag news (http://xxcmag.com/news) and the Gravel dedicated blog  ‘Gravel Grinder News’ (http://www.gravelgrindernews.com/), I came across an event hailed as the ultimate gravel grinder… The Dirty Kanza 200 …. My race for 2012 had been found… sorry bank balance.

The first hurdle was to get an entry, easy I thought as with time differences in play I could leisurely apply online over a coffee whilst others were having to get up at 5am to try and get in.  I knew the race last year sold out quickly so I was prepared to get my entry in… I even had time that day to do some base miles in the morning.  Getting home after my ride I logged on a few hours after entries had opened .. ‘Sold Out’ !!!!!!!

The event had sold out in 2 hours !!!! 400 places gone … I was quick to get added to the waiting list and to contact the race organiser, Jim Cummins, to see how likely a ‘wait’ would be converted to an entry … luckily the organisational excellence of this event allowed them to grant every rider that was on the waiting list an entry… I was in.

Training began … in fact before I had my entry it had already began … I stopped cyclo cross racing at the end of December and on New years day I tagged my first road century of the year … which was followed near every weekend with a ride of at least 80 miles every Saturday and more usually over 100 miles.  As I trained I was always conscious of my average speeds and trying to replicate a speed that would see me finish the DK200 in reasonable time.

Training progressed well … in March I was able to complete a near 200 mile ride on a mix of mainly road with some offroad sections in just over 13 hours … the event as a total unknown was difficult to train for so I just aimed to ride as many miles as possible.

Researching the event it was clear that equipment choice was also a key element to having a successful race … not only did the bike have to be set up well for many hours in the saddle but also the durability of the parts was a key issue tyres especially as some racers in previous years had suffered up to 8 flats in this race.. I guess the venue… the Flint hills … was an indicator of the challenge posed to the bikes rubber.

As always I had a pretty clear picture of the bike set up I wanted to race on… cyclo cross geometry… disc brakes… clearance for bigger volume tyres… comfort and durability being key… these desires could only be provided by a small number of companies.  Those companies were approached in a hope that some may extend an offer of help and in most cases they did… a bike was born.

The build centred around a Salsa Vaya frameset, Salsa being one of few companies that have embraced gravel grinding and actually invest time into developing product for it as well as sponsoring events such as the DK200.  The UK supplier of Salsa, Ison Distribution, kindly provided not only the Vaya frameset but also the Halo tyres and wheels to be used too.  Other companies to offer assistance included the saddle manufacturer Brooks who supplied a saddle which even out of the box offered some reassuring levels of comfort to an area I had no desire to abuse on the bike.

Once the bike equipment was resolved then the nutritional side was addressed with help from Bounce Balls and Eat Natural bars … the calorie requirements of century rides every weekend was astronomical.

Close to the event I managed to squeeze in a double century on the Vaya which was a reassuring ride as everything felt just perfect and after 13 hours on the bike I had no untoward aches and pains … everything was set to go.

The day of travel started as usual with the usual gamble at the airport check in desk … will they charge me excess or will I blag it ??? Excess ...  Luckily only £40 which seemed fairly reasonable as the bike bag weighed in a not so lightweight 28kg.

Arriving at the midway point Chicago we filed through another security check and filled in forms stating we hadn’t brought a selection of fruit and veg into the country eventually reaching the luggage collection … easy, collect bag, re check in bag, go catch next flight.

First bag comes through no problem ... go wait for bike at oversize baggage … belt starts… pushchair, pushchair, some kind of ornament.. cardboard box… pushchair… belt stops.  NO BIKE !!! … checked other areas of luggage hall and asked as many people as possible all who were slightly less informed than that last.  Eventually we gave up waiting for it and went to check in our remaining bag and report it missing.

Arrive at Wichita… final destination only to find bike still missing and only a day to find itL

We caught a ride to the town of Emporia, home of the DK200, with a wife of one of the local racers, we were immediately struck by how helpful everyone was… the word had got out my bike was missing and for the next mornings social ride I had already been loaned a bike, a little small but it mean’t I could turn some pedals and loosen my legs.

At this point I had got word back to Pat at ISON distribution in the UK that the Vaya was missing and I guess he just sent a cry for help across all contacts at Salsa in the US as sitting in my motel room the afternoon before the race I get a text to say that Salsa have a bike for me ... a few hours later I am at the High Gear Cyclery in Emporia meeting Bobby from Salsa and he is handing me a prototype Salsa ti gravel bike owned by Ryan Horkey, another Salsa rider … thank you very much !!! a bike I had never ridden but I was back in the game.  After a quick supermarket sweep to replace my missing shoes, hydration pack etc I was fully kitted up and ready to race.

Race day …. The race started at 6am so myself and a friend from Oregon, Tom Letsinger,   rolled out the motel at 5.30am and joined the procession of blinking led lights to downtown Emporia … the entire main street had been closed for the event and the 400 riders due to start had begun to amass organised by projected finishing time banners held by women on roller skates.. Rock and Roll !!!  After a pre race coffee I optimistically jumped up the front and lined up with the 12 hour guys.. after all I was hear to race not ride 

The first 3 miles were neutralised … or as neutral as a pack of nervous riders could be as everyone constantly jostled for the best position in the pack before a right hand turn onto gravel would see this race get underway.

The pace was brisk … well it was bordering on fast .. I had been warned that the start of the event would be fast as people tried to get out the front out of the dust and form some early groups … I wasn’t lied to as this is exactly how it played out and like racing a road race I was always mindful of my position in the group and stayed within the first 20 or so riders so as to be best placed for any eventuality.

As it turns out that eventuality was that everyone in this lead group of 20 or so was so pre occupied with racing that navigation had taken a back seat …. The event route is mostly way marked but this isn’t a given as things move so each rider gets a route card to the next checkpoint of which there are 3 and as you arrive at the checkpoint you get the route card to get you to the next one.

So we arrived as a swiftly moving pack into a t junction then the realisation of the navigational error set in …. We had ridden maybe 2 miles passed the turn off we needed … so now we needed to ride 2 miles back to it …. What once was a fast pace then became insane as the lead group then became the gruppeto with 380 or so riders ahead of us.

Quickly that lead 20 riders had become maybe 10 or 12… the quality of the group was good with 2 previous winners and the winner of the annual Gravel worlds race and we were cutting a path through the riders in front fighting our way back to the front … with still 170 or so miles to race there was no consideration of the effort that was being invested in this chase,  as every minute passed the temperature had started to rise.

50 miles into the race we had finally regained the lead but the pace had just become too much and I decided ... although my hand was being forced by those around me… that to continue riding this quickly would soon see me exploding spectactularly so I eased back and as I watched the front group ride away I found myself on my own.

Mentally this race is very tough … the terrain is undulating you get very little reprise from the effort of racing … the temperature this year was around 30 degrees celcius so for a Brit it was very hot and it is very dry … what can be soul destroying is that you can see the line of riders strung out over miles ahead of you and to look back the same …. This also becomes very disconcerting later in the race when you can’t see riders ahead or behind as the doubts of possible navigational errors creep in.

The salvation from the mental anguish this event can place a rider in is the checkpoints, of which there are 3,  where a rider can have a support team with supplies .. in my case this would be my girlfriend Grace and Tom’s girlfriend Cassie operating out of a motorhome… these checkpoints were a welcome break to take a moment off the bike get some cold fluids and try and eat which in the heat was difficult.

As the race continued I found myself less and less able to force any real effort through the pedals as I was constantly battling to replenish the fluids my body was expelling through every pore on my body and the effort of riding alone on these roads was mentally tiring, it is never good to have a lot of time mid race to contemplate the wisdom of riding these endurance races as invariably the question of sanity arises.

Every now and then I would ride past an unfortunate racer with a flat and customarily offer assistance which unfortunately was mostly not required … fellow Salsa rider Tim Ek I passed on 3 occasions with flats later learning he eventually had to change both tyres due to sidewall cuts… other than these brief encounters the occasional rider or group would catch up but I would find it difficult to settle into a pace other than the one I was riding at so eventually I would be out on my own again… even the iPod wasn’t helping as I never realised how very similar every AC-DC track is.

Not long after the second checkpoint with around 80 miles left to ride I was caught by another rider ... I think I had seen him coming for maybe 10 miles and this time instead of passing we seemed to be riding at a similar pace, Shane from Boulder, Colorado.

Shane was also appreciative of the company and we settled into a similar paced ride each waiting if the other needed a quick stop or was slightly slower on any section as to ride together was a great mental preserver.

My hopes that the temperature would start to fall off in late afternoon never materialised and coming into the final checkpoint with less than 40 miles remaining I was hotter than ever … rolling out saw the first 7 miles of the final section ridden on shaded disused rail path … a real treat after baking for so long we were quickly however back onto gravel and into the sun to cruelly ride past not only the shaded track we had been on several times but also a large lake to watch people enjoying numerous watersports … at this point the idea of riding straight into the motels pool on return to Emporia had started to seem quite reasonable.

A final missed turn 12 miles from the end added another few bonus miles to the days travels and I was thankful that only 2 navigational errors had been made the whole race as I had read of huge errors being made by previous years racers and at that point it would have been difficult to force myself to backtrack any huge distance.

The welcome sight of paved road saw us enter the final few miles of the race as we passed through the centre of the University campus then entered the finish straight … the whole town it seemed had come out to party and cheer the finishing riders over the line. As myself and Shane rolled over the line together we had time for a final knowing handshake in recognition of the tough day on the bike we had just endured and eventually overcome then I was greeted by Grace and local rider Shawn Honea who quickly furnished me with a cold beer.  The bike was returned to Salsa’s finishing line stand and I got to sit on the pavement and reflect the days ride …. First international rider to not only complete the DK200 but also any US gravel grinder hopefully highlighting the challenge of these events and the worth of travelling to race them… a true physical and mental challenge.

The event blew me away on all fronts .. the organisation.. the local people.. the tough challenge of just completing this race.  The drama of losing my bike never seemed to matter as the help I received overcame any obstacle that arose from it.

Huge thank you to especially the following people in no order;

Grace, my long suffering bike widow girlfriend,  for letting me again take up our holidays with crazy races and still having the patience to support me well during the event.

Jim Cummins and the Dirty Kanza crew for such a fantastic event

The kind people of Emporia for making me feel so welcome.. especially Shawn, Rick, Amy and Lynette.

Pat from Ison Distributiion for the bike and parts.

The guys at Salsa in the US for the replacement bike.

Brooks for the saddle I never got to race on but in training proved excellent.

Eat Natural for all the great bars I consumed preparing for this great event.

Bounce Balls for all your product that helped me recover after every crazy training ride.

Matt Brown and the rest of the guys at High Gear Cyclery, Emporia, Kansas for their help in setting me up with what I need to race.

My friends Tom and Cassie from Oregon, Tom raced well to a 2^nd place singlespeed finish and Cassie was the means to get Grace to every checkpoint and help to support my race.

Finally and maybe most importantly Rick Perry, this crazy fool convinced me to enter this event and also entered himself … he worked hard to secure sponsors and logistics only to have life and work conspire against him so he himself couldn’t make the trip.

All photographs for this race report kindly supplied by Eric Benjamin, The Adventure Monkey and John Foote ... Ultra race pics .