After completing two dirty Kanzas, Colorado's Mark Symns changed into unable to smash in the course of the lottery put in region for the final two years. thanks to some last-minute luck, Symns snuck into the field for the 2019 dirty Kanza 200.
In his pre-race gravel document, he shares what he has finished to prepare for Saturday's race. he will determine again in after his 202-mile day to report on how it went.
by means of Mark Symns
they are saying that life often throws you curveballs, but this year I got one which become a pleasing shock for once.
I rode the dirty Kanza 100 in 2015 and 200 in 2016, but like most individuals, neglected out on the lottery the remaining two years. After this yr's disappointment, I agreed to meet some chums in Eskridge, KS on may 11th for the Gravel experience for Maisie's pride.
This wintry weather I had a Dean Torrey's gravel bike custom made, and are available hell or high water, i was going to experience some legit, Flint Hills gravel. Maisie's was no doubt 119 miles of the great Flint Hills gravel i used to be trying to find, and i considered my hunger for gravel satisfied.
however greater than a week after Maisie's, my normal submit-race indulgence of beer and donuts become interrupted via an e mail containing a registration code for the DK 200.
because of some first rate luck, i was in! but if you happen to are living an hour north of Denver, there's more to heading to Emporia, Kansas for a 200-mile unsupported experience than having a license plate.
After Maisie's pride, Symns obtained the good news he turned into headed to the soiled Kanza.
could the entire indispensable points be pulled into region? time off work? verify. Lodging? determine. (sort of—one nighttime sound asleep in a minivan counts, correct?). Hiring a support crew? (dragging my 2-year-historic and 7-month-ancient to Emporia and again was no longer whatever my spouse or I had been inclined to accept as true with) examine.
seems I didn't have a legitimate excuse no longer to tug the set off. DK200 2019, right here I come, equipped or not.
subsequent, each gravel rider's obsession—gear. The setup on my Dean performed admirably all the way through Maisie's, however there's one key aspect that keeps nagging me—tubeless or no longer tubeless? I'm well aware of the advantages of going tubeless and have run tubeless on my mountain bike for years, but in my mind, there are a couple of huge drawbacks.
Symns has a Dean Torrey's equipped for the DK200.
generally apartments in the Flint Hills come from cuts to the sidewall. No volume of sealant will repair that. If one does get a flat, tubeless tires are usually significantly extra complex to get off the rim and seated when making an attempt to position it back on, that can consume up beneficial time.
no longer to mention removing the tubeless valve stem if using a tube to fix the flat, and that answer has proven to be less than surest. It's often a brief fix, in my experience, requiring additional troubleshooting and repairs now not too a long way down the street.
and naturally, if i'm going tubeless, which ones? there is an awesome variety of options this present day, but I'm limited to what's accessible in my area—at this element even with two-day start that best leaves time for installation, not driving and troubleshooting.
a quick Google seek what's both purchasable and respectable for DK situations (38-42mm width, moderately-sized knobs and further flat protection) concludes with the 40mm Ritchey WCS Speedmax. If the test rides are a bust, then lower back to the 38mm problem Gravel Grinder with tubes. It appears a specific amount of handwringing over tire alternative is a prerequisite for any gravel race.
The rest of my setup is fairly dialed. Three to 4 bottles on the bike per leg, counting on distance and heat. One Beta red, one or two Skratch and one water. I favor to evade hydration packs for persistence racing since the weight on the shoulders and lower back takes its toll over time and refilling them can be time-consuming.
I will be using my Garmin aspect a thousand for navigation and using stats and a tiers power meter to strike a cord in me how no longer-elite my using is.
in contrast to loads of my fellow riders, there might be no aero bars on my Dean. not as a result of they don't make feel, but as a result of I have zero event with them.
Lezyne pressure force pump as a result of relying on CO2 cartridges is foolish should you're in the core of nowhere and you may get a pump that's the same size as and weight as two cartridges. Clueless patch kit, tire patches, one tire lever, Crank Brothers Multi device 17, two spare tubes, a shop rag for when things get messy and some cash all fit in a medium measurement saddle bag and will deal with 95% of the mechanicals one will likely stumble upon.
The Spot GPS tracker will also fit in there, for calling search and rescue in the experience of a true emergency, and so my household can follow my development via the phone app.
For typical race approach, I consider Craig Richey's suggestions nailed it. except one factor, tip #4—spending loads of time driving at threshold.
obviously he can grasp 250-300 watts for one hundred miles. respectable for you in case you can, but i will be able to't. For us mere mortals, I've discovered even at a solid Zone 2, low Zone 3 effort, at about a hundred thirty miles in, I'm smoked. At that factor, I ought to limp alongside and look ahead to the 2nd wind to kick in, as he did.
but I'm naturally now not in it to win it. everyone rides a race like this for their personal cause—the problem, the solitude, the experience, the camaraderie, the scenery. For me, it's all of it. i like that a race like this calls for everything; health, patience, determination, the ability to strategize and adjust and contend with any variety of gear and prerequisites connected considerations.
The Flint Hills await for Symns 2018 soiled Kanza 200. © Z. Schuster / Cyclo cross magazine
should you add it all up, I'm tremendous stoked to be going returned because there's whatever thing special in regards to the soiled Kanza. Like for a lot of others, my first DK200 is what pushed me to smash my up to now conceived boundaries of what I might do on a motorbike and delivered me to the world of patience racing.
living in Colorado, I have the luxurious of many patience mountain bike races to make a choice from, and that they have all of the important facets I simply outlined. however there's anything missing when evaluating them to the soiled Kanza.
possibly it's as a result of I lived in Kansas for a great deal of my 20s or the unrivaled vibe surrounding and permeating the complete race, from the pre-race meetings at the Granada to the giant cheers at the conclude line, however you arrive well after dark like me.
anything it's, i will be able to't wait to taste it once again. although it's on brief note.
stay tuned for a gravel file from Symns after his 2019 DK200 experience. For greater from Emporia, see our 2019 soiled Kanza insurance.
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