2017 DK100

We left for Emporia on Thursday morning.  The weather was clear, and we drove straight through (no side trips to Stillwater this year).  We arrived at the hotel around 6pm and had dinner at a local BBQ place (good ribs but so-so brisket and turkey) and drinks at Mulready's Pub.  Amy and Vince arrived late.

Loaded and headed to Kansas

First view of the Flint Hills from the Cattle Pens section of the course off the tollway

Cattle pens--the highest point on the course

Taking it all in

Enjoying some beers at Mulready's Pub on Thursday night

Mulready's Pub

We were up relatively early on Friday for the gravel expo, packet pickup, and the riders' meeting.  We also met up with Rayna, a fellow Pelotonian from the Lawrence area who I had met on the Peloton page online who was also doing the 100 mile race.  Everything went smoothly.  We had pizza and beers for lunch at the Radius Brewing Company with Amy, Vince, and Steve.  We relaxed at the hotel for a few hours before we went out to dinner at a small, local Asian restaurant recommended by Rayna--it was good.  

The forecast had been all over the place all week.  Sometimes the rain chances were huge and sometimes low.  There was a fairly high chance of afternoon thunderstorms on Saturday afternoon, but we just packed rain gear and didn't really get too worked up about it.  It was a relief on Saturday morning when no surprise storms had come through overnight like last year.  

Gravel Expo on Friday

Friday lunch at Radius Brewing

The LBC crew at Radius Brewing on Friday at lunch

We were up early with everything basically prepared the night before, and we rode the 3 or 4 miles from the hotel to the starting line in the dark.  We had driven the route in the car the day before, so we knew all of the turns.  It went smoothly, and we arrived at the start line 5 or 10 minutes before the 200 milers took off at 6am.  We couldn't find Vince or Rayna, so we just moved up to the area in front of the theater to almost exactly the same spot as last year after the 200 mile start.  There was a lot of nervous energy.  We took a few pictures, rechecked frame bags and camelbaks, got the headphones and music lined up, started the Garmins and Strava apps on the phones, and waited.  I, unfortunately, forgot to start the course map on my Garmin when we got up to the start line (I couldn't do it prior to moving into place).  I didn't discover this until after the race started, and it wouldn't load after we started.  This was a little upsetting since I was planning on letting my Garmin guide me through the course rather than digging out maps.  I mostly remembered the course from last year, but there were a few changes and I wasn't exactly very coherent over the last 30-40 miles of the course last year.  Oh well!

Here we go!

Early starting line pic for the DK200

Starting line pick for the DK100

That's me in the background on the right

We're off!

The race started at exactly 6:20am.  We were kind of in the middle of the pack.  There were around 600 in the DK100 race (about 90 women).  The pace was fast and comfortable.  I was watching my heart rate and determined that I wouldn't worry about speed too much as long as I was keeping my heart rate mainly in zone 2.  We were flying, and it was staying where I wanted it (154 bpm or less).  We were passing lots of riders and even lots of big groups.  The average speeds were around 15-18+ mph on these early, flat parts of the course, and it felt great.  We had maneuvered closer to the front of the race by the time we started hitting the hills.  We got separated a little on some of the climbs and descents through rough areas, small creeks, and mud holes.  

Around 15-18 miles in, we went through a very nasty creek/mud hole area, and some jackass went flying past me wildly in the left tire rut and absolutely soaked my face, body, bike, and clothes in dark brown watery mud.  He then lost control, crashed into the rider directly in front of me, and they both fell in front of me.  Somehow I managed to not run over either one of them or crash, and I gave him an uncensored piece of my mind as I rode off wiping mud off my glasses so I could see.  Just a short distance up the road from the mud, Rick was stopped on the side of the road working on his bike.  He waved me on, and I kept riding but slowed down thinking he would catch me.  I rode a few more miles, and he still hadn't caught me.  I stopped on the bridge that crosses over the tollway to wait.  I waited at least 5 min or more and got passed by lots of people.  About the time that I was considering riding back to find him, he rode up and motioned for me to keep going.  We met up and he said that his derailleur had gotten messed up when he went through the mud hole, and it wasn't shifting on hills now.  Vince caught up with us about here.  He had been riding with Rayna for much of the first part of the course, and she wasn't far back.  We reached the cattle pens--25 miles down (one-fourth finished), and I felt really good.   I needed to pee, but there weren't any facilities, and it seemed like too big of a hassle so I just kept riding knowing that there would be porta-potties at Madison (25 miles away).  Rick worked on his bike some more, and we took off.  The cattle pens are officially the highest point on the course.  

Working hard

Rick (and Vince) before the cattle pens

Climb up to the cattle pens

General race pic on some hills before the cattle pens

At the cattle pens

There are some pretty good downhills immediately after the cattle pens, then the roads go through some beautiful ranches with rolling hills and some steep ones with absolutely gorgeous views.  Last year these hills really made me suffer and I hardly noticed any of the scenery.  This year they were much more manageable, and it was probably my favorite part of the ride.  The music and scenery were perfect, and I was feeling strong, riding fast, and having a blast.  Rick and Vince moved ahead of me here, but I watched my heart rate and just rode my race.  

I kept a good pace going as we worked our way toward Madison.  I was really dreading the river crossing from last year where we had to carry our bikes across a deep, rocky, fast river.  We went through some river crossings but not that one.  Around mile 40, it became apparent that this year's route was going to bypass that crossing, and I was very relieved.  I passed Rick on a steep climb coming out of one of the river crossings, and he told me to just keep going and not worry about waiting up for him.  His bike still wasn't shifting on the steep hills.  I realized that I was probably going to be on my own for the rest of the ride, and he might not be able to finish this year if he didn't get his bike working, but I couldn't do anything to help so I had to just keep going.  

I reached the Madison checkpoint at 3:26:47 (including the 2 stops--about 10 min total)--avg riding speed of 13.6 mph including the stops and actual riding speed over 14mph).  This was almost an hour faster than last year, and I was thrilled.  Rick was somewhere behind me now, and Vince was at the rest stop and about to head back out when I arrived.  Rick pulled in at 3:27:21.  I needed to pee something awful by now but found out that the portapotties were at a different location.  We got the Camelbaks refilled, took pics, and checked in on Facebook before riding several blocks to the portapotties.  We came back to the rest stop, and Rick worked on his bike for a while before we took off again.  We burned about 20 minutes in Madison but left fully reloaded and feeling pretty good.  

Rest stop at Madison--half-way there and feeling great!

This is the part of the ride where everything fell apart for us last year, so I was concerned about how we were going to feel getting started again.  The next 20 miles of the course winds around a lot through some river crossings with some bad roads and lots of climbs.  The wind wasn't going to be an issue this year, but rain was looking more likely.  We started out at about the pace of the first 50 miles.  We stayed together for the most part and didn't have any trouble following the course.  I recognized areas where we really struggled last year, but things were much better this time.  We left the rest stop with fully loaded Camelbaks and water bottles on the bike this time, and we both worked hard at staying hydrated and taking electrolytes to prevent cramps.  It wasn't blazing hot, but it was warm and very humid and the sweat was pouring all day.

One of the many tough climbs after Madison around mile 55-60

Climbing hard!

I don't know who this rider is, but this picture illustrates well that Kansas ain't flat!

We ran into Rayna at around the 60-65 mile mark.  She had stopped on the side of the ride (to pee behind a car I think).  We slowed down and waited, and she caught on and rode with us for several miles.  She had gotten past us on our extended stop at Madison.  At mile 67, we hit some very steep hills coming out of a river crossing where we had first started cramping up last year.  She said she was going to walk the hill, and I was determined not to walk so we parted ways.  Rick's bike still wasn't shifting right so he was in a higher gear and I couldn't keep up with him.  I made it up the hill without walking (everyone else around me was walking except Rick) but didn't see either one of them for the rest of the ride.  

I was still feeling pretty good, but my back had started hurting quite a bit and my feet were starting to burn and get that nerve-like pain which is almost unbearable.  The road switched around a lot here and went through a very rough, unmaintained area.  This was the location of the first hill we had to walk last year.  I REALLY wanted to get through the course without walking a hill this year, so I focused on making it up that short and very steep hill at about mile 70.  The approach to the hill was so rough that you really couldn't build up any speed.  I took it as fast and strong as I dared.  There's a steep ledge near the top of the hill.  My speed wasn't enough, and I couldn't power up it seated.  When I attempted to stand, my back wheel spun out and down I went on my left side on the ledge.  I felt some pops in my back and was kind of relieved because I hoped it had popped my back and that the back pain and pressure would be improved.  I was still clipped into my bike on the top of the hill sprawled out across the road.  There were 5 to 10 riders behind me.  I apologized for blocking the road (but don't kid yourself people--none of you were going to make it up that hill).  A couple of them came up and helped get my bike up after I unclipped.  I got up, did a 10 second check of the bike and my left leg & arm--a few scrapes but nothing bad, thanked and apologized again, and took off.  Everything seemed good.  The adrenaline was flowing, the back pain seemed better, the feet still hurt, and I was through most of the big hills.  

My pace stayed about the same.  A few miles down the road I started feeling some aching in my left ribs, but the foot pain was overpowering everything.  I rode past the farmhouse where Rick laid out in the yard last year and where I had filled my Camelbak with the water hose.  No one was out this year.  The pace was steady and I was riding with a lot of the same riders with us switching positions and passing each other back and forth at times.  I was 80+ miles in now and started trying to calculate finish times.  My goal all year had been to make it in under 9 hours.  This portion of the course had taken us over 6 hours to complete last year.  I knew I was going much faster but didn't even know what time it was now.  My bike computer told me how long I had been riding, but there had been stops which didn't show up on that and it gets confusing.  My computer shows the time, but I didn't know if it was set for CST or MST or if it had been changed for daylight savings time.  When I really started thinking deeply about it and talking to another rider, I was shocked to realize that I would likely be finishing in around 8 hrs if I kept the same pace (maybe somewhere around 2:30).  I can't describe how exciting that was.  It had taken us over 11 hours last year, and it was after 5:30 when we finished.  I really wanted to stop and get some relief from the excruciating foot pain and increasing left rib pain, but I didn't want to lose any more time on the course.  I rode with a couple of the same people as we approached Emporia.  Thunderstorms were also starting to pop up very close on these last miles, and this provided even more motivation to keep the pace up and get to the finish line.  

At around mile 93 or 94, it all hit me and I teared up a little.  We were really cranking it out now.  We went through the tunnel and climbed that last hill on the Emporia State campus where I cramped up and had to walk last year.  I hit it hard.  It hurt but there were no cramps this year.  I teared up again as I wove through campus approaching the finish line. One bad part about finishing at 2:09pm rather than after 5:30pm is that the crowd is much smaller.  I backed off from the riders I had been riding with and took it all in.  I high-fived the kids and spectators coming up to the finish line and crossed the line in 7:49:41--almost 3 1/2 hours faster than the year before (actual moving time of 7:25 for an average speed of 13.3mph)!  I got my finisher's glass and couldn't find anyone.  Rick finally showed up--he didn't expect me in that early.  Amy and Vince didn't either and had just sat down with something to eat.  Rick had finished in 7:37 (moving time of 7:08) and Vince in 6:51 (moving time of 6:31).  Rayna came across at 7:57.  Steve had mechanical problems beginning at that same mud puddle early in the race and ending on that steep hill where I crashed, and he had to abandon the race.  Amy did the DK50 and plans to do the DK100 next year.  I posed for pics with Rick and then Rayna, signed the finisher's wall, and climbed the steps (even though I didn't need to this time) to prove that I could.  Last year I couldn't climb them and couldn't even stand after a while.  

Mission accomplished: 7:49!!

Here are our finish videos:
https://results.chronotrack.com/athlete/index/e/29333359  Lori's finish video
https://results.chronotrack.com/athlete/index/e/29333362  Rick's finish video

Signing the finisher's wall

Had to climb the steps this year--could barely stand last year

Finish line with Rick and Rayna

Very dirty and slightly scraped up legs

We hung out in the downtown area for several hours eating street tacos, drinking horchata, eating fruit, drinking recovery drinks, and eating or drinking anything else we could get our hands on.  We watched the 100 mile riders continue to finish and the 200 riders started to finish.  It was a lot of fun.  I was feeling remarkably good, but it was now obvious that the left ribs were broken!  They were crunching when I moved, talked, and breathed and were really hurting now.  Around 5:30 or 6:00 we got back on the bikes and rode back to the hotel.  It wasn't as bad as I had feared.  We showered and rested for a while before heading back to the downtown area for dinner and beers at a local Mexican food restaurant (which was excellent).  We had pie from a street vendor and watched more DK200 finishers come across the finish line until about 10:30.  These were the 16 hour finishers--maybe where we could potentially be if we did the DK200........

Street tacos after the ride

Back at the hotel before the shower

Post-ride pic at the hotel

Dinner and beers later after a shower and rest

Hanging out downtown for the festivities and the DK200 finishers

Very dirty bikes

Headed home on Sunday morning in the rain

Finisher's glasses and race numbers

So, it was a very successful DK100!  I beat my finish goal by 1:11.  We finished strong.  We got to enjoy Emporia and all of the DK festivities.  The broken ribs kind of dampened the excitement after the event, but I was back on the Peloton bike within a few days (even days before I could lie down and sleep in a bed rather than a recliner) and back on the road in a couple of weeks.  I wouldn't change anything about this year except I'd walk that damn hill rather than try to power up it.  Next time I'm walking it!  Within a day or two, our thoughts started turning to next year.  This is absolutely crazy, and I'm not committing to it yet, but there are thoughts of trying the DK200 next year---we'll see how the training, fitness, and motivation hold up through fall and winter............