Dirty Kanza

This spring we didn't see much of Steve.  He accepted a new position at work which meant four management training trips to St. Louis.  Each one lasted three days, including one that he had to leave on Mother's Day.  AND he was training for the Dirty Kanza which meant 10-12 hours of biking each week.  And I thought marathon training was bad!  Ha!  The combination of traveling for work (St. Louis) and traveling for fun (biking) left me to do a lot of single parenting for a few months.  Thankfully, I don't have a job.  It would have been very stressful if I was working full-time and taking care of the kids by myself.  With me staying home, it was just annoying. :)

The Dirty Kanza is a 200 mile bike race (this year actually 206 miles) in the Kansas Flint Hills.  It is mostly on gravel roads, but there are also river crossings and paths through cow pastures.  Each rider is required to have a support crew although they can only provide food/drink/bike maintenance at 3 checkpoints.  Registration sells out in hours.  At the actual event we saw license plates from people all over the United States and Canada.  And it's only a 1.5 hour drive for us.

Megan: Why did you sign up a 200 mile bike race?
Steve: Peer pressure from people at work.
M: Did they take you in a back room?
S: Yeah, no.  Actually all the people at work were doing the 100.  It was peer pressure from my biking friends who made fun of the 100.  So I did the 200.
M: How did you get your lovely wife journey to the back roads of Kansas with you?
S:  Well, she said no at first.  I said, but yes.  She loved it.  We stayed in a dorm room together.
M:  It did bring back memories of college.  Same furniture.  It even smelled like my old dorm room.  So tell us about the start of the race.
S:  Well, I was able to find my boss in the parking lot.  We rode together at the start line for the first 20 feet before he figured out he forgot something.  Then I found Jason Chase a good 20 seconds before the gun went off.  So overall a pretty optimal start.  As soon as we got out of town there was a one foot deep puddle that we all had to ride through.  It was rude awaking to the start of the race.  Another mile later there were a good 50 people on the side of the road trying to fix their broken bikes.  At that point I thought it was going to be a long day.
M:  So how many miles of fun did you have?
S: I don't remember which ones were fun.
M:  When I met you at the first checkpoint at about mile 50 you seemed okay, but at the second checkpoint at mile 100 you weren't looking so hot.  Actually you were looking very hot.  Because it was 90 degrees.
S:  I drank an entire gallon between miles 50 and 100, but somehow still managed to be dehydrated.  I took a break at checkpoint 2 that was longer than any other bike race I've ever done in my life.
M:  You said you wanted to quit because you didn't think you could make it to the next checkpoint before the time cut-off.  Then I got a text on my phone that your boss Mike was also at checkpoint 2.  So we went over to see him and you biked the rest of the race together.  Although he did leave you for a bit and made it to checkpoint 3 before you.
S: My low point occurred at a water crossing with 70 miles left to go.  I was laying in the water and my entire lower body was cramping so bad that I wasn't even sure I could get on my bike.  I was looking for a spot to walk to so that you could pick me up.  I threatened my boss to get him to leave me for dead.
M:  You told him, "There was only room for one in my pain cave."  That has to be the quote of the weekend.
S:  Luckily I got back on the bike and the sun went down.  The last leg was phenomenal.  I rode the whole way trading pulls with Mike.  It was a blast to be able to finish the race with him even if it was at 1:30am.  I was proud that although several times I didn't think I would make it, I found a way to get it done.

checkpoint 1: Madison

checkpoint 2: Eureka

sad Steve

happier Steve

Steve and Mike in Eureka

I had a lot of time to kill in the middle of nowhere Kansas.  So I went exploring in a state park and found a cool waterfall.

checkpoint 3: Madison

Ready for the last leg

finish: Emporia

There are some beautiful pictures from the race on the website.  Search number 857 for Steve.