D u ring a few sections this past year I w ish I had ridden m y m ou ntain bike. T he g ravel is that g narly. T he g ravel prim arily consists of sm all chert lim estone rocks rang ing in size from a m arble to a plu m .Som e of those rocks are razor sharp. Flats are expected du ring the race, so a beefer tire and a lot of tu bes are a necessity. Tu beless setu ps seem to have ju st as m any problem s as traditionaltu be w heelsets.
The sun slowly began to rise and cast long shadows across the gravel and into the fields. The sun would menace the riders the rest of the day.
Prior to the start ofthe race the riders g athered in the m otelparking lot and chatted abou t the long day ahead. M ost w ore an eag er yet apprehensive look on their face.T he forecast for the day w as for record heat w ith a stiff head w ind for a larg e portion of the first half of the event. Fantastic.In fact,it ended u p being the recipe for a classic Flint H ills su fferfest. A t 6 A M the g rou p took off in a neu tral roll ou t. E ig hty five com petitors ou t of the 100 that reg istered for the event toed the line. T his w as the big g est tu rnou t thu s far in the short fou r year D irty K anza history. T he past cou ple of years there had been an E m poria Police escort at the neu tralrollou t that led u s throu g h tow n,bu t not this year. Instead of the E m poria Police,w e had a Jeep W rang ler w ith a film crew lead u s ou t w hile taking video.K inda m ade you feellike a pro.
“Ilove th e sou nd of cow b ells at six in th e m orning!” R olling throu g h the m ain strip of E m poria at the crack of daw n w ith 85 riders is a u niqu e experience.N ot m any locals w ere u p and at ‘em yet so the g rou p w as able to cru ise throu g h m ost of the traffic lig hts and stop sig ns.A g rou p of spectators w ere hootin’and hollerin’as w e rolled by the local bike shop. I love the sou nd of cow bells at six in the m orning ! O nce w e hit the edg e of tow n the g rou p took a rig ht tu rn onto the first g ravelroad ofthe day and the race w as on!
XXC SEASON ONE: ISSUE THREE
dirtykanza PAGE 6
T he pace picked u p a bit on that first bit of g ravel,bu t for the m ost part the g rou p stayed relatively tog ether w hich provided a g reat opportu nity to chat w ith som e g ravel brethen I haven’t seen in a w hile. I had m y cam era ou t early and often du ring the day w hich probably m ade som e folks nervou s. R est assu red I’ve had a lot of practice taking pics from the bike. I haven’t crashed yet!K nock on w ood. C on tin u ed > XXCMAG.COM