DK 200 Magazine 2015 by The Emporia Gazette

DK The Official Magazine of Dirty Kanza 200 2015

OF TRIUMPHS Joel Dyke: In Memoriam Paying tribute to rider, Dirty Kanza 200 co-founder, artist, husband and father Page 8

A Decade of Dirty

A lot has changed for the Dirty Kanza 200 in the last 10 years Page 16

THE WORLDâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S PREMIER GRAVEL GRINDER

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STAFF Publisher Chris Walker Dirty Kanza Executive Director Jim Cummins Dirty Kanza Event Coordinator LeLan Dains Sales Director Briana Julo Art Director Justin Ogleby Contributing Writers Morgan Chilson Michelle Davis Wendy Davis Mike â&#x20AC;&#x153;Kidâ&#x20AC;? Riemer The Coaches at CTS

CONTENTS

[Photo courtesy of Eric Benjamin]

Contributing Photographers Eric Benjamin adventuremonkey.com

Jason Ebberts

tblphotography.com

[Photo courtesy of Jason Ebberts]

Wendy Davis hugs Kristi Mohn as she is overcome with joy after finishing the Dirty Kanza 200.

ON THE COVER

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Dustin Michelson

Letter from the Director 4

Joel Dyke: In Memoriam 8

A Decade of Dirty 16

Items Special to the 10th Anniversary 24

Gravel City 28

Reaping Reward in the Flint Hills 32

While You Are in Town 34

Serenity Now 40

Running a Bike Race 46

The Gravel Grail 50

Girls, Get On Your Bike and Ride 54

DK: Question and Answer 56

Dirty Kanza Schedule 58

Dirty Kanza Trading Cards 60

DK200: By the Numbers 62

dustinmichelsonphotography.com

Shawn Honea Advertising Staff Christine Brown Saundra Hutchison Leann Sanchez Ad Services Margie McHaley Kelsey Barker Dan Ferrell Phillip Miller Devin Parkman Katie Potter Bradley Rice Copy Editors Brandy Nance Regina Murphy Circulation Manager Destin Nightingale Design IM Design Group

For more information, please contact: 517 Merchant Street Emporia, KS 66801 620.342.4800 DK Magazine is a publication of

WHY COME FOR ONLY ONE WEEKEND A YEAR? With hundreds of miles of roads and trails, come explore Emporia and the Flint Hills and discover something unexpected.

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outdoor enthusiast, come enjoy Emporia year-round. From handmade arts to craft beers, from live music to inspiring cuisine, to the stunning Flint Hills, there is always something happening. Come and enjoy it.

Call 800-279-3730 or visitemporia.com

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Whether you are an endurance rider, disc golfer, or an

[Photo courtesy of Eric Benjamin]

From the Director To all Dirty Kanza Participants, Fans, and Followers;

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Welcome to the 2015 Edition of the Dirty Kanza Magazine. We are happy that you have picked up a copy of this publication by The Emporia Gazette. And we are thrilled to have you be a part of our 10th Anniversary event, as we prepare to celebrate a “Decade of Dirty.” That’s right, folks. It’s been 10 years, and what a glorious 10 years at that! Who would have thought that a little old bike race held in the middle of the Kansas prairie would ever garner much attention? What’s more, who would have ever guessed that that bike race would grow to become an industry leader, attracting over 1,500 cyclists from around the world, and be featured in cycling’s most prominent publications? Through the support of the Emporia community, our event sponsors, our loyal participants, and our fans, that’s exactly what has happened! We decided that was reason enough to throw a party, and we intend to do just that with our 2015 event. All of us here at Dirty Kanza Promotions, along with Emporia community leaders and event supporters, have been hard at work to make this year’s event the best Dirty Kanza ever. And this very publication is evident of their efforts. In the pages that follow, you will find numerous stories from a wide variety of vantage points. Each of these individual stories have something exciting to share. Collectively, they serve as evidence of the incredible impact Dirty Kanza has had on the lives of our participants, on the Emporia community, and beyond. It all is very humbling and rewarding to each of us here at Dirty Kanza Promotions, as we take seriously our commitment to provide quality, life-enriching cycling experiences to our event participants, and as we strive to be an active contributor to our local community. Thanks for coming along for the ride. Sincerely Yours, Jim Cummins Executive Director, Dirty Kanza Promotions LLC

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What beautiful thoughts have you been thinking?

Paying tribute to rider, Dirty Kanza 200 co-founder, artist, husband and father

JOEL DYKE in memoriam

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BY MICHELLE DAVIS

WIFE OF DIRTY KANZA 200 CO-FOUNDER JOEL DYKE

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took on a big task when I offered to write a piece about my husband, Joel Dyke. Joel carried an awfully big personality with that famously lanky 6’5” frame of his. Indefatigable is a good starting description. Joel was the picture of boundless energy; he was a man who considered riding two hundred miles of unimproved Kansas back roads a good time. He was always up to something: some home improvements project, plans for a trip, ideas for a party, spontaneous pranks. I started to write a basic biography, dates, where he was born, where he grew up, where he lived, and it wasn’t painting the picture I wanted to show you all, so instead, I’m just going to talk about what drove Joel, what he loved, what his catchphrases meant, and what I think he’d like to be remembered for. Joel was a man who brought a good time with him wherever he went. Brimming over with bonhomie, he’d enter a room like a grinning whirlwind, with a bear hug, a

“hey good looking,” and a good word for everyone. Joel was a man who knew no stranger. A refrain I’ve heard repeatedly since Joel’s death runs something like this: a casual acquaintance of Joel’s will approach me and say “You know, I didn’t see Joel that frequently, but whenever I did, he made me feel like a long lost friend.” He had a lot of goodwill to offer and offered it freely. He liked to see people enjoy themselves, on and off a bike, and if he could help them do so, by God, he did. Joel was a builder, literally and figuratively. He loved building bicycle wheels; I believe it was a meditative act for him. His enthusiasm for frame building was immense. He had ideas on how to make a better everything. He was sure he had the design perfected for the ideal float-bike for small children — it was one of the projects he was preparing just before he died. He wanted our little son to have the best tool to learn with. He had big ideas about for fat bikes for short people, compact dirt-

jump bikes for very tall people, break-apart bikes for the wander-lusty, and light-butsturdy all-arounders for dedicated cycle commuters. Aside from bikes, he did a lot of DIY home improvements, from finishing out the attic in his first house, to helping build his own workshop, adding another shed adjacent, and renovating a house down our street for his mother. He’d done some very well-planned and executed modifications to our own house, opening up the dining room so that the flow from the living room all the way back to the kitchen is unimpeded, making quite a small house feel very spacious. In a more abstract sense, Joel loved building people up. He relished the early summertime period when the bike shop would take on a handful of young kids, high school students mostly, as extra shophands. He genuinely enjoyed training the new employees and watching them go from a bunch of kids who might not even know which direction to turn a wrench to a

create the Dirty Kanza 200. It was a chance to build something new, to bring some new fun to the community, and see what happened next. He had no idea the scale DK200 would grow to, nor how quickly. I think it left him a bit in awe. He lived to encourage. He was thrilled with Brett Shofffner’s urban mountain biking trail work and pitched in on a few workdays and encouraged everyone to try out the new riding opportunities Brett had brought to the Kansas City mountain biking scene. He was also a great fan of Ben Alexander’s Freewheels For Kids program, and was always on the scavenge for appropriate bikes for the young beneficiaries. He’d pitched materials in the direction of the 816 Bike Collective, and sent people seeking used bikes toward the Revolve shops. He wanted to see other grassroots cycling endeavors succeed, as it brings so much more depth and opportunity to the cycling community as a whole. He’d have liked to contribute more

himself, but there’s only so much one man can do, even a man as energetic as Joel was! Joel was a joyful person. He took delight where he found it, and shared it when he could. Sometimes, on his ride home from work during the summer, he’d call me from the road, encouraging me to go out and view a particularly good sunset. On our rides together, if we found some notably good vista, a great hole-in-the-wall eatery, or some other new-to-us diversion, he’d make note of it, literally, in a notebook, so that he could remember to tell other friends about the newest find. While Joel never broke out the aphorism “a pleasure shared is a pleasure doubled,” it’s fair to say that the principle was one which informed his actions. “What beautiful thoughts have you been thinking?” This is a question Joel regularly asked people. The first time he asked it of me, I’ll tell you, it made me think up a nice thought as soon as I could, because right at the moment he had asked me, I’d been mentally

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team of confident, competent workers. He mentored many a youngster and would tell me about the new kids’ progress. He felt a real pride in their accomplishments, and I think a lot of the kids drew self-confidence from his support and encouragement. Similarly, he was just naturally driven to build community. He volunteered time for trail building, maintenance clinics, and event planning. Because he liked to foster a good time, he had a hand in putting on events in various realms of the cycling world, on varying levels of scale, from Very Big Deal events like Cyclocross Nationals, to very small and silly events, like the annual Kansas City Trashboat Regatta. Joel didn’t discriminate. Road, mountain, cross, alleycat, you name it, he was there with an EZ-Up, toolkit, a big jug of ice water, and a smile. He understood that if you wanted to race, if you wanted to party, if you wanted to adventure, you sometimes had to help make the occasion. I think that’s what drew Jim Cummins and Joel together to

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grumbling about a frustrating situation at work. Instead of stewing over daft office politics, I thought of something better. I thought about a simple home improvement project I’d been considering; repainting my bathroom to a pleasing lavender purple to offset its insipid powder blue tiling. So I told him my “beautiful thought” and we got to chatting about DIY and other things (shoes and ships and sealing wax and cabbages and kings). It was right about the time I realized I liked the cut of this fellow’s jib and hoped we might end up dating. I’ve seen his “beautiful thoughts” question work its magic on other folks, too. It makes you think up something good, breaks you out of the mental doldrums that can settle upon the average hard-working stiff too often. I never knew where he got the idea to use this as a conversational gambit, but the positivity that it fostered made it a hell of a great ice-breaker. “Keep the rubber side down.” One of Joel’s most oft-used sign-off lines,

and the way he closed many an email, this was Joel’s version of “happy trails to you.” A veteran of many a two-wheeled mishap, tales of Joel’s mountain biking “yard sales” and the patchwork of road-rash scars that marked his hide bore evidence that he knew well, the hard way, the value of keeping the rubber side down. “Take care” is too bland, and “don’t do anything I wouldn’t do” is a pretty rash recommendation, but “keep the rubber side down” is sound advice and rarely leads to grief. “It is a sign of affection from where I am from.” This is a line most of you won’t have heard, but it was a common refrain in our household when Joel had perpetuated some exasperating prank or another on me, for the pure and simple pleasure of getting a really filthy look from me. My hard stare (TM Winnie The Pooh) had been dubbed “the scrote-withering death glare” by no lesser a visionary than Richard Harsh, but it had literally no known effect on Joel

Dyke. He thought it was cute. So, he would lick my forehead, grab my butt while I was chopping onions, or tip me way back in a tango dip when I wasn’t expecting it, just to get my goat. Then he’d tell me how charming I was when I was mad. As such, I couldn’t stay mad that long. Whenever I’d object to his good-natured harassment, he would swear that his annoying hijinks were “a sign of affection from where I am from.” If pressed to explain what culture considers being a pest was a sign of affection, he would, in a Mork from Ork sort of voice, insist that he was “from where I am from-from.” I include this anecdote because, well, Joel had a unique approach to romance, one which wouldn’t work with most women, I suppose, but was absolutely ideal from my perspective. Joel could be sweet, thoughtful, and a true gentleman, but a thread of silliness, mischief, and mirth completed Joel’s charm for me. We got each other, Joel and I did. We regularly joked that by marrying one

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another, we’d saved the dating pool an awful lot of chlorine. We were truly partners, bolstering one another’s strong points and helping to mitigate each other’s weaknesses. When I think about what Joel is likely to be remembered for, I have to step back. I know what I will remember him for — I will remember him as my adventuring partner, my sweetheart, father of our children, and honestly, the love of my life. But Joel was many things to ever so many people. A supremely competent wrench. A formidable timetrial opponent. A first-rate Oriental rug restorer. The purveyor of endless bad puns and mouldy dad jokes. An event planner, a lovable doofus, a teacher, a student, a ride leader, a fomenter of jolly chaos. Joel was a burst of goodwill, a reliable source of mildly inappropriate groping, and when all is said and done, a man who loved this world and those in it. He only got 48 years to work and play here, but he sure fit a lot into those years. Please remember Joel as a joyful person who put all of himself into everything he did. What you saw was what he was. I hope you liked it. 

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[Photo courtesy of Eric Benjamin]

A LOOK BACK

[Photo courtesy of Shawn Honea]

A DECADE OF DIRTY BY MORGAN CHILSON

From 34 cyclists in a hotel parking lot to one of the world’s premiere gravel grinding events, a lot has changed for the Dirty Kanza 200 in the last 10 years

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[Photo courtesy of Dirty Kanza Productions]

The race packet pick-up area in 2006 was a single round table in the garden area of the Guest House Inn.

Ten years ago, 34 cyclists gathered to battle for the first win at the very first Dirty Kanza 200. Fifteen of them would ride through the grit and gravel of the Flint Hills to cross the finish line, led by top cyclist Dan Hughes, who finished in 12 hours, 58 minutes. This year, the starting line for the premier gravel grinder won’t look anything like that small group of bikes from 2006. Crowding Emporia’s downtown will be 1,500 bikes straddled by determined, tough riders ready to take on the gritty hills — 900 riding the 200mile race and 600 forging through the 100-mile race. The course itself and the weather are the obvious challenges of the DK 200, and they are what bring riders from around the world to push themselves through this gravel grinder. Joe Partridge wrote in 2006 in his blog, after

finishing eighth overall in that first race, “This was a very good race. The riders were cool, the vibe was relaxed, and I had fun. It was hard, but not so hard that I wanted to shoot myself in the face for signing up. The section of hilly gravel between Cottonwood Falls and Eureka was super, and was just about worth the drive by itself.” Those words have been echoed repeatedly through the race’s 10 years, bringing a prestige to the Dirty Kanza that keeps DK Promotions, owned by Jim Cummins, Tim Mohn and Kristi Mohn, working hard. A race founder, Cummins was able to move last year into working fulltime on the race and other events for DK Promotions. The race changed significantly, he said, when it hit 500 riders. “Five hundred seemed to be the threshold,” Cummins said.

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“When you’re less than 500, you’re doing it on a part-time basis and it’s something you can do for grins and giggles, and because you’re just doing it out of the goodness of your heart. That’s why we started this event. We just wanted to give back to the cycling community. “When we crossed that 500 rider threshold, it became a fulltime job, and it became serious business to make sure that we were doing it right,” he explained. “And again, that we were providing that opportunity for a good experience. It just required a truly concerted, serious, thoughtful effort to make sure that it was getting done right.” The cycling community sure thinks it has been “done right” for the last 10 years. As word of Dirty Kanza experiences traveled through social media and in-person sharing during other races, the numbers just kept growing. And growing.

Like Cummins, Kristi Mohn said she has watched the growth with a careful eye. They don’t want the race to get too big and detract from the riders’ experience. “We grow it very diligently, and we had a couple of years of big jumps, but since then, they’ve been small increments,” Kristi Mohn said. “We’ll know a lot more after this year. We’re kind of changing up the course a little bit, and changing up the checks points and how we manage that. That could give us some options.” Cummins agreed. “We set a field limit every year, and that field limit is not set on how much demand is out there,” he said. “The demand is far greater than that, actually. At the end of every event, we become our own worst critics, and we try to very honestly assess ‘how did we do?’ Did we put on a good event? And did we create

a situation where every single participant had an opportunity to have a life-enriching cycling experience? That’s our mission. (If so), then we’ll grow for the following year.” The race’s continuing growth made it necessary for someone to run the event on a permanent basis. Cummins was finally able to pursue his dream and leave a 30year career to become a full-time race promoter. “I was spending 20 to 30 hours a week all year long doing organizer stuff, so it was a part-time job,” Cummins recalled of the previous years. “There were many, many days when all of my buddies were going out on a training ride, and I couldn’t go because I had to stay home and work. Emails to answer, sponsors to call, meetings to go to, and so for a lot of years, it was truly as if I had a second job.”

[Photo courtesy of Dirty Kanza Productions]

Emily Brock is awarded a first place trophy by Joel Dyke for the 2010 Dirty Kanza 200.

The original DK Logo, created in 2006 and used through 2010.

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The Beginning Cummins started the race with Joel Dyke, a cyclist and dear friend who died in an accident in December. Although Dyke had stepped away from his role in the DK 200 in 2010, the organization will honor him as part of its 10year celebration, Cummins said. “We are going to be paying tribute to him throughout the weekend, and just celebrating the life and the way he gave of himself to make the cycling community such a special group of people,” he said. “He was a welder — he was more than a welder. He was an artist. His paint brush is a welding torch. He was a strong husband, and a strong father, and was a huge, huge part of the cycling community in Kansas City.” After Dyke decided to put his focus on other things, Cummins brought Tim and Kristi Mohn on board as partners in DK Promotions. Both are avid cyclists, and Tim Mohn rode in the first race. Kristi Mohn related that she rode “the year that we had that big rainstorm” and made it to mile 192 when a flat she had repaired finally gave out for good. But as the race grew, it became apparent that it was just too big for the organizers to be on their bikes. They needed to be organizing, although Kristi Mohn said it looks as if she’ll give it a shot again in 2016.

Now, with all of his hours spent in the new office of DK Promotions, Cummins said he still works a lot of hours. “I thought I was going to finally have time to ride my bike. I don’t. I get on my bike maybe twice a week. I have a lot of days that start at 3 a.m. and finish at 8 or 9 at night,” he said. “I’m not complaining. It takes a lot of work to organize this. It’s also been more rewarding than what I thought it was going to be. I continue to meet a lot of wonderful people in the cycling industry. I’ve developed relationships with our sponsors that run deeper and stronger than what I expected, which is extremely rewarding.” Celebrating 10 Years As the 10-year mark approached, the Mohns and Cummins spent a lot of time brainstorming what they would do to make the anniversary special. Tim Mohn volunteered — and essentially volunteered his entire family, Kristi Mohn pointed out — to create handmade musette bags to give to riders. But despite her teasing, Kristi Mohn said she appreciates that DK does things like this for the riders. “We try to do things that are very personal, very big personal touches,” she said. Another new experience this year, but one that will probably continue after the

anniversary, is the All Things Gravel Bicycle Expo that will take place Friday from 10 a.m. until 9 p.m. It will add to the festive, expo atmosphere of the event, with display booths from sponsors and others. “People will be able to interact and engage with the riders,” Cummins said. “We’re just looking forward to seeing how that develops, and how that might grow. We think it will become a real popular component of the Dirty Kanza week.” The race is about the riders and the experience, but it also belongs to the hundreds of support team members who come to town and also Emporia residents, who have enthusiastically backed it. And as long as the DK 200 keeps providing a challenge for participants and a benefit for sponsors, it is likely to keep going strong. Is there a point where it can’t grow anymore? “It’s a question we ask of ourselves quite a bit,” he said, and then referred back to discussions about growth being a function of how well the race is run. “I think if there is a limiting factor on our growth potential, I think we are that greatest limiting factor. It’s a function of how good can we be. I think gravel road racing is one of the fastest growing genres in cycling today. I think there will always be more demand and response to Dirty Kanza than what we will be able to provide.”  [Photo courtesy of Shawn Honea]

E H T Y O J N E E COM

F O N O I T C E L E S T S E G R

S R E E B T F A CR IN THE REGION

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DK Magazine | 21

DK Magazine | 23 [Photo courtesy of Eric Benjamin]

SWAG

Riders and Dirty Kanza fans can expect products made specifically for them

ITEMS SPECIAL TO THE 10TH ANNIVERSARY BY MORGAN CHILSON

The 10th anniversary of the Dirty Kanza 200 will bring in two new items to celebrate the race’s growth and commitment to providing a premiere gravel experience for riders. A hand-sewn, one-of-a-kind musette bag, designed as a personal gift to riders who participate in the DK 200 this year, will be one of the sought-after items. Tim and Kristi Mohn, co-owners of DK Promotions, have been sewing 1,700 of the bags (along with help from their daughter and family friends). “I think it was Kristi’s idea to do a personalized musette bag for each rider this year,” Tim Mohn said. “I sew; I make my own shirts. I thought, well, I think I can do this. I’m trying to do 20 a day for five days a week, and

I usually get up in the morning and sew for an hour or an hour and a half, and then I get home and sew or another hour or hour and a half. Kristi cuts everything out for me. My daughter Sydney has been serging the straps.” “We have a sweat shop set up in our bedroom,” Kristi Mohn said. “It’s a family affair.” Yes, making the same bag over and over — although each will be personalized with a screenprint of the rider’s name and the DK logo — gets a little old. But both Tim and Kristi Mohn said it’s things like this that make the race special. “I think it puts a personalized touch on the race, and it keeps it kind of grassroots,” Tim Mohn said.

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“There are probably not a lot of big races like ours where the promoters would actually do something like this. It made me feel better than ordering some cheap, Chinese-made thing.” “This is one of my favorite things that we’re doing. Gravel riding is a grassroots movement, basically. You’ll hear it talked about on the gravel grinding scene — DK is one of the events that has pushed gravel grinding kind of out of the grassroots level into more mainstream,” Kristi Mohn said. The second item new to the DK 200 this year is available to everyone, not just riders. Geoff Deman, head brewer at Lawrence’s Free State Brewery, has created a new beer for the race. It’s not the first DK 200 brew, though. “I think that we were originally approached by the organizers back in 2010 or 2011 to create a beer for the event,” Deman said. “Someone involved had mentioned that they liked hoppy rye beers, so I came up with the original DK 200 beer named Dirty Kanza RyePA. That beer was dark brown and very hoppy with a slightly roasty finish. A great beer to be sure, but not necessarily what you want to throw back at the end of a 200-mile race through the dusty backroads of the Flint Hills.” The latest beer, being introduced during the 10-year celebration, is the Dirty Kanza Kölsch. “The Kölsch style originated in Cologne, Germany, and is a hybrid style, part lager, part

ale,” Deman said. “It’s dry, crisp, slightly fruity and very thirst-quenching, with a nice hint of German Saphir hops in the finish.” The challenge to create a beer that captures an event like the DK 200 is part of a process. Deman said ideas for the recipe can come quickly “if one is feeling inspired,” or take some time to be tweaked into getting the desired flavor. “Brewing is akin to cooking and as a brewer I feel great affinity to chefs. You become familiar with your ingredients and how they interact with one another and over years of practice and experience you begin to trust your instincts,” he said. The original beer, the RyePA, was designed to capture the essence of the Dirty Kanza, and Deman described it as “dark, earthy, complex, citrusy from hops … evoking the sunshine beaming down.” The latest beer is less conceptual, he added. “(It) better responds to the needs and desires of the folks that come out to enjoy the race in the sunshine,” Deman said. Free State currently plans to make four batches of the Dirty Kanza Kölsch, which is about 2,200 cases, and it will be available on draught and in six-packs. The label for the new beer was designed by Emporia’s IM Design Group, and it incorporates the DK 200 logo, along with cyclists powering their way through the Flint Hills gravel. 

GOOD LUCK DK RIDERS! ia Awake ing Empor

ars For 13 Ye

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DK Magazine | 25

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DK Magazine | 27 [Photo courtesy of Dustin Michelson]

IMPACT

[Photo courtesy of Dustin Michelson]

GRAVEL CITY

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The growth of the Dirty Kanza 200 has been an economic boon for Emporia

The Dirty Kanza 200’s phenomenal growth in just 10 years has been a boon for Emporia’s economy to the tune of just over $1 million a year, and it’s even changed the way the Emporia Convention & Visitors Bureau markets the community. Topping the $1 million mark is the best approximation CVB Director Susan Rathke can get on what the race is bringing in every year from a variety of economic calculators used to determine such things. “It’s grown from such a small event to such a large one, and it’s still growing,” she said. “It’s grown from half a million dollars, to approaching a million to just over a million.” The extra events that surround the DK 200, like this year’s new allday expo on Eighth Avenue with tents and vendors and the training camp added last year, all help to increase the economic benefit for the area, Rathke said. The numbers may vary based on those calculators — the state has one, various economic development groups have one

[Photo courtesy of Dustin Michelson]

BY MORGAN CHILSON

— but all work to compute how many days the riders and their support crews are here, people who come for the race and don’t spend the night, and numerous other factors that go into determining an economic impact. Rathke said she thought the $1 million number was low considering the added events. “I think it’s a wonderful thing,” she said. “It’s meaning a lot more for us here at the CVB. We’ve just completed a marketing plan, established for 2015, and we have two target markets, and one is the active leisure traveler.” While the CVB doesn’t have to actively market the DK 200, the new plan gives them the focus of trying to bring people the outdoor, active traveler to the area year-round. “Come and enjoy our disk golf courses, come and ride the gravel, enjoy our parks, do the hiking, motorcycles, everything,” Rathke listed off the options. “The active leisure traveler is our new target for the leisure market.”

[Photo courtesy of Dustin Michelson]

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Although that leisure market has always been a focus of the CVB, Rathke said the DK 200 and gravel riding shifted what the agency is doing. Even the photos used in advertisements that go in publications like Midwest Living, AAA magazine and others are different. “The ads themselves are going to be a little bit different photo-wise, of people doing things, not just walking down Commercial Street with a shopping bag,” she said, adding that captions put the focus on enjoying the Emporia area on two wheels or four. “We have our two main segments, the active leisure travelers and the other is our meetings and conventions,” she said, of the CVB focus. “Good things lead to other good things. Those are our narrowed market targets, and we’re going for it.” Mayor Jon Geitz has seen the tremendous economic impact the DK 200 is having on Emporia, but he also sees another side to the cycling event. It builds camaraderie in the community, and even an increased focus on healthy activities getting on a bicycle. “I had noticed that, just with my group of friends, that while 10 years ago might jog or go to the gym or whatever,

there are now some pretty hard-core cyclists,” he said. “That’s just people who’ve been exposed to the events and have gotten on board, whether it’s the 100, the 200, the 50,” he said, and added, laughing, “There’s a good chunk that are that weren’t riding 200 miles on gravel 10 years ago, just for no reason.” The benefits of tackling a challenging race like the DK 200 are more than physical, Geitz said. “Obviously, the 200 is a test of not just your physical fitness, but your emotional fitness, your mental toughness, your ability to deal with surprises, things beyond your control,” he said. “It’s definitely an allbody experience, and definitely a way to get out of your comfort zone, and push yourself.” The coolness factor of the DK 200 shows itself in surprising ways. “The early morning, when everybody leaves, the last couple of years, the weather’s been perfect, you watch the sunrise over downtown, and all the bikes have their lights on as they get started, it’s just a real peaceful experience,” Geitz said. “The street party as people come in is something I know a lot of people take part in, and it’s a good communitywide event.” 

[Photo courtesy of Dustin Michelson]

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(p a r king l o t o f Go o d ce n t s S u bs)

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(pa r k ing l ot of t he n ew Wate rs Tru e Valu e)

704 E. 12th Ave. • Emporia, KS 66801 • (620) 342-7294 • www.do-b.com

We’re much much more than a jewelry store!

30 | DK Magazine

L I V I N G We also have commemorative bicycle charms

and as always, FREE gift wrapping 619 Commercial • Emporia, Ks • 620-342-2932

O U T

L O U D !

• CYCLIST - BLO GGER • “Finding a fitter way afer 40!”

WendyLivingOutLoud.blogspot.com sheridesbikes321@gmail.com • AKA SASHA PETROSEVITCH • WWW.APABSTSMEAR.BLOGSPOT.COM

WHERE MY ALTER EGO WRITES ABOUT ALL THINGS MOUNTAIN BIKING

REAPING REWARD IN THE FLINT HILLS BY MIKE ”KID” RIEMER

Salsa Cycles Marketing Manager

32 | DK Magazine

s they say, stuff (or the four-letter version of stuff ) happens. Life is full of the unknown, even as we try to contain and control all that goes on around us. In those moments of “stuff happens,” we are presented with challenges to overcome. At times, those challenges are truly trivial and meaningless, nothing more than the over-complications we’ve introduced into our own lives. But then there are the other times; times when the challenges we are presented with are big, very real, sometimes frightening, and truly difficult. These challenges show up in many ways: sickness, injury, loss of work, broken relationships and even death. They are real challenges; never fun, but part of life, and things we all have or will face in time. There is no avoiding them. But there is also a third type of challenge: the challenges we choose to bring upon ourselves. The Dirty Kanza is a perfect example of this. For 10 years now the DK has presented an opportunity for selfchallenge and growth, realized through many, many bicycle pedal strokes over 200 miles of gravel in the Flint Hills of Kansas. Riders face far more than just those long miles of gravel. They face heat, wind and hills they didn’t believe could exist in the “flat” state of Kansas. They battle with physical issues such as muscle fatigue and dehydration, sore feet and sunburn. But the biggest challenge riders must overcome is self-doubt. To succeed at the Dirty Kanza, a rider must defeat the mental demons that will plague them as they ride. A rider must get through the “dark times” with belief in themselves, belief that the goal can be accomplished and the understanding that the discomfort they are experiencing is only temporary and will eventually cease. A rider must keep themselves from living too deeply in the sometimes painful moment they are experiencing just then and understand there are better moments to come. They must be able to look forward toward the light at the end of the tunnel. As in life, the successful Dirty Kanza rider must understand that there is more good than bad to life, that the bad won’t last forever, and that more good awaits them at the end of that very long road. There is real beauty in the fact that DK riders start and finish in Emporia. In the long hours and many miles between leaving and returning, they open themselves up to challenge and change. They finish as changed individuals, rich with new experiences, selfknowledge and confidence. A lot can happen on a 200-mile bike ride. In 2006, Jim Cummins and Joel Dyke created a really long, really tough, really beautiful bike ride. They did it to challenge themselves and a few other folks that thought riding 200 miles through the Flint Hills in one day would be an interesting, challenging, and rewarding experience. Since that fateful day, Jim, Joel, Tim, Kristi, Lelan, Casey, Becky, Susan, Jeanine and countless others have helped thousands of others take on the same challenge. I thank them for helping so many reap such rich personal reward. 

INSPIRATION

DK Magazine | 33 [Photo courtesy of Jason Ebberts]

EXPLORE

While you are in town Take the opportunity to explore Emporia and the Flint Hills and see everything the area has to offer.

34 | DK Magazine

Thursday Night Rides Explore the area and warm up with a 20-mile gravel ride with the Human Power Company. The rides will start in front of the Emporia Arts Center, 815 Commercial St., at 7 p.m. Disc Golf Visit Emporiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s disc golf courses and play a round. Emporiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s courses are some of the best in the country and play host to the PDGA National Tour event, the Glass Blown Open.

BENNETT DENTAL GROUP The

Latest [Photo courtesy of Dustin Michelson]

in Dentistry from People who

care

David Traylor Zoo and Soden’s Grove Experience exotic animals and lush botanicals in a beautifully landscaped setting at the David Traylor Zoo, or visit the All Veterans Memorial in the founding city of Veterans Day. Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve Hike miles of trails through one of the last remnants of tallgrass prairie left in the world or explore history with a guided tour of an 1881 ranch house. Hit the Trails The four-mile Camp Alexander Pioneer Trail is a twisty single track to an open double track that will challenge even the most physically fit rider. The ESU trails, located just north of Emporia Sate University, consist of a network of winding trails that run next to the Neosho River. The ride-ability is easy to moderate, but still fun for an expert rider to rip through. Play a Piano They are literally all over downtown. Enjoy a Pint Try a craft beer brewed right here in Emporia at Radius Brewing Company, taste the Dirty Kanza Kölsch by Free State Brewing Co. that was inspired by the Dirty Kanza 200, or hang out at Mulready’s Pub and relax.

MICHELLE E. MALONE, D.D.S.

Accepted

NEW PATIENTS

BRENTON L. BENNETT, D.D.S.

LEANNE BURRIS AND ERICA TABARES, Registered Dental Hygienists

909 COMMERCIAL STREET EMPORIA, KS • 620-343-9220

O T K C U L D O O G ! S R E D I R K D L L A

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Eat Out From barbecue to wings to Mexican to fine dining, there is a restaurant for every culinary taste. Be sure to take a gastro-tour of Emporia to get a true taste of the Flint Hills.

RICHARD L. BENNETT, D.D.S.

[Photo courtesy of Dustin Michelson]

Welcome to Emporia DK Riders & Families!

603 COMMERCIAL ST. • 620-342-5871

36 | DK Magazine

MON-WED 8-6 • FRI 8-6 • THURS 8-7 • SAT 8-5:30

The American Family Team welcomes riders, crews, and family’s to the Dirty Kanza. Enjoy your time in Emporia and the Flints Hills Region.

SERVING EMPORIA AND SURROUNDING COMMUNITIES WITH QUALITY SERVICE AND FOOTWEAR FOR OVER 60 YEARS!

Books, Magazines, Gifts and Local Interest 716 Commercial St. â&#x20AC;˘ Emporia, KS 620-343-9649 â&#x20AC;˘ towncrierbookstore.com

DK Magazine | 37

DK Magazine | 39 [Photo courtesy of Dustin Michelson]

LANDSCAPE

SERENITY NOW The beauty and peace of the Flint Hills helps create the mystique of the Dirty Kanza 200

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he Flint Hills of Kansas doesn’t offer what some would consider traditional landscape beauty — scenic mountains, towering redwoods, or white-capped stretches of water. But as Dirty Kanza riders and their support teams push their way through 200 miles of Kansas gravel at the end of May, it’s likely they’ll be drawn into the serenity of the Flint Hills prairie. Even the people who see the landscape every day driving to work often fail to appreciate the treasure that swoops down through

Kansas. The tallgrass prairie once covered 170 million acres in North America, and now less than 4 percent remains, most of that in the Kansas Flint Hills. The Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve, located just 15 miles from Emporia to the west, takes care of the Flint Hills and educates people about the value of saving the prairie lands. “Most of Kansas lives up to its stereotype of being flat, and that’s just the geography of the region,” said park ranger Eric Patterson. “The Flint Hills stick out from

all that. They’re not vertical by any stretch, but it will pose a challenge to cyclists and walkers, and just anyone who comes on out here.” Patterson, who has worked at the Tallgrass preserve for about 12 years, said 96 percent of the tallgrass prairie lands were turned to agriculture over the years. “I love to eat, and need to, but it has two sides — some of that comes with a cost. The Flint Hills are fortunate in that the landscape itself is resistant to plowing, and that has helped to maintain its originality,” he said.

BY MORGAN CHILSON

Many visiting Kansas for the first time for the DK 200 are surprised by the rolling hills and the terrain. Endurance athlete Rebecca Rusch, who won in the female division in 2014, has traveled the world participating in endurance events. She told CycloCross magazine, “I just figured Kansas wasn’t on my short list of places I need to visit. I thought the race would be really boring, and 200 miles on a ’cross bike is a lot of mileage. I thought there would be nothing to look at. But I was wrong. It’s a really beautiful place and much hillier

[Photo courtesy of Eric Benjamin]

plow the fields and turn them to agriculture is part of what creates the challenge of riding the DK 200, although much of the gravel on the roads has probably been imported from other parts of the country. Patterson said the Flint Hills would more accurately be called the Limestone Hills. But an early traveler through the area, Zebulon Pike (for whom Pike’s Peak in Colorado is named) wrote in his journal entry that he was “passing through rough hills of flint,” Patterson explained.

DK Magazine | 41

than I expected. I like it enough to go back three years in a row.” Kristi Mohn, co-owner of DK Promotions, said part of the joy of organizing the gravel grinder is celebrating Kansas. “There are just few other places in the United States where you can have that kind of continuity of gravel roads that are gorgeous and beautiful, and yet still have small towns that you can use for checkpoint towns,” she said. The geology of the Flint Hills area that made it difficult to

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[Photo courtesy of Eric Benjamin]

The reality is the rocky terrain is primarily limestone and shale, he said. But riders will “run into flint that inevitably boils up around the limestone that erodes away,” Patterson explained. “Some flint, and some sharp rocks, and when you’re moving at speed and all, a little rock can leave a big hole.” Like many, Patterson said he didn’t necessarily think Kansas was beautiful or even that it had hills before he came here. “That expectation gets turned on its head, and people are impressed by that. Especially if you come from a built up landscape or a more forested, mountainous type of area, the vast reach of land is different, or even disconcerting,” he said. “We’ve had some foreign visitors, especially from Shanghai or Tokyo, look out to the horizon and not see another person or building or anything. It’s truly a revolutionary view to some who have never seen landscape like that. “That’s impressive; that puts us up there with the Grand Canyons and the Yellowstones of the world,” Patterson said of the peace of the prairie. “Without any exploding volcanoes and jagged mountain ranges, we kind of lack the in-your-face value. It’s really kind of cool. The wide open space — it’s a very cerebral kind of landscape. When you’re stuck with yourself out here in these wide open spaces, your mind can’t help but spin around on different things. 

[Photo courtesy of Jason Ebberts]

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[Photo courtesy of Dustin Michelson]

RUNNING A BIKE RACE

THE BIZ

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The owners of the Dirty Kanza work behind the scenes to pull off such a large event BY MORGAN CHILSON

From the left, event coordinator Lelan Dains, co-owners Jim Cummins, Tim Mohn and Kristi Mohn.

ehind the scenes of the Dirty Kanza 200, juggling multiple tasks and tracking the myriad details required to make such a large cycling event run smoothly, are the owners of Dirty Kanza Promotions LLC. Owned by Jim Cummins, co-founder of the DK 200, and Tim and Kristi Mohn, the professional events promotion company’s focus has been centered on the DK 200, but that is expanding every year now. “Dirty Kanza remains our big event, but we put on other cycling events throughout the year. Another event that we do is called Lunar Kanza, a night-time ride in the Flint Hills under a full moon,” Cummins said. “It’s not a race, not a competitive event, just a fun ride. It starts and finishes in downtown Emporia, and finishes with a block party with a beer garden and a food court and a live band.” Lunar Kanza was held for the first time in 2014 and drew about 300 participants. This year, they plan to open it to around 400, Cummins said.

[Photo courtesy of Shawn Honea]

“We’re going to intentionally keep it much smaller than Dirty Kanza. Where DK is a national and, now, even a world-wide event, we want Lunar Kanza to remain more local,” he explained. “It’s one way we want to give back to the local cycling community.” DK Promotions also added an ultra-distance running event, Race the Chase, which includes 5K, 10K, 25K and 50K events through Chase County, starting in Cottonwood Falls. “Runners run out to the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve, north of Strong City,” Cummins said. “It is gorgeous out there. It’s just a beautiful, beautiful place, and part of what we are hoping to accomplish is to promote the fact that we’ve got this beautiful national preserve here, right in our own backyard.” DK Promotions also has agreed to take over organizing and promoting the gravel grinder rides that are held as part of Emporia’s Veterans Day celebrations, Freedom Fest. Cummins said the event is a fundraiser for the All Veterans Memorial in Emporia, and DK Promotions is donating their services.

[Photo courtesy of Jason Ebberts]

[Photo courtesy of Eric Benjamin]

came in full time. She also is in charge of the books. The three went together and bought a building in downtown Emporia at 11 W. Eighth Ave., and DK Promotions rents a space in that building. With a real office and numerous events, the last thing the three turned their attention to was their desire to give back to the community. One way they’ve elected to do that is through a scholarship. Emporia State University has opened its dorms to help provide rooms for people attending the DK 200, and part of the dollars collected for that are set aside for a Dirty Kanza scholarship, Cummins said. “That scholarship is available first to a student in their health and recreation management program, and if someone from that program doesn’t apply, then it’s opened up to their general student body,” he said. The Mohns and Cummins all hope to continue to be able to show their appreciation of Emporia’s support of the Dirty Kanza. In fact, Kristi Mohn worries about maintaining momentum. She listed Emporia’s “phenomenal”

support of racers at the finish line and welcoming attitude toward everyone as part of the reason for DK’s success. She’s glad to see the economic benefit that occurs for local businesses during the week of DK, and feels the added responsibility of making sure such progress continues. “That, to be honest with you, is probably one of the things that probably weighs the heaviest on my shoulders. We’ve made this really great event and I now have heard many businesses tell me that A, it’s better than Christmas for them, and B, they time the opening of their business to Dirty Kanza,” she said. “I think what really strikes me with that is (what happens) if we screw this up, and all of a sudden nobody likes coming to Dirty Kanza. There are things you can’t control: the weather. DK has made it so that I don’t even look at weather forecasts anymore. I can’t control it and it just stresses me out.” Anyone familiar with Kansas weather can certainly relate to Kristi Mohn’s apprehension. But rain, shine or wind, it seems unlikely DK 200 will let Emporia down any time soon. 

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“We may add another event or two eventually, but our plate is pretty full on those four events right now,” Cummins said. “Well, and it’s actually more than that because we have the Dirty Kanza Training Camp that we do. We’ve grown from eight campers last year to 24 this year; if we see growth like that again next year, we’ll probably have to have two training camps on two consecutive weekends.” That pretty full plate is being handled primarily by Cummins, who last year left his profession of 30 years to run DK Promotions full-time. Tim and Kristi Mohn both are still involved, but both have careers outside of the promotions business. “I think my main job is just kind of the grunt,” Tim Mohn joked. “They’re the brains and everything; I just kind of help. Most of my job this year, since Jim has gotten back, is going to be the day of (the DK). I did route design for the last two or three years, but since he’s come back, he has more time to do that.” Kristi Mohn said her focus is more as a “big picture” thinker and idea person since Cummins

[Photo courtesy of Jason Ebberts]

[Photo courtesy of Dustin Michelson]

DK Magazine | 49 [Photo courtesy of Eric Benjamin]

1000 MILES

THE GRAVEL GRAIL There is a new award this year for the crazies who have ridden 1,000 miles in five Dirty Kanza 200s

50 | DK Magazine

[Photo courtesy of Sunflower Outdoor & Bike]

BY MORGAN CHILSON

The idea for the 1,000 Mile Club award came to cyclist Dan Hughes during the 10th hour of the 2014 Dirty Kanza 200 from what he calls a “cave of pain.” The well-known owner of Sunflower Outdoor & Bike in Lawrence has powered through seven DK 200s, winning three of them. “The inspiration was actually a little self-serving in the sense that last year, during the race, I think probably at hour 10 when my mind was beginning to wander a little bit and I wasn’t having as much fun as I was having earlier in the day, and I was tired, I thought, ‘There really ought to be some sort of award for people who have finished this race a number of times,’” Hughes said. People like Corey Godfrey, who has finished eight races, and Joe Fox who has finished six, need an award, Hughes determined during the 2014 race. Now, those men and others will line the stage this year to receive the first 1,000-Mile Club awards ever given out at the DK 200. Nine people will slide right into the club, and another nine have the four races under their belt and may get the fifth this year, Hughes said. Hughes — who said in an Adventure Monkey blog of how he feels before each race, “I’m sure they’ve done studies on the mental state of condemned men at some point. That’s what I think I feel like.” — said finishing even one DK 200 is the goal of most riders. This award honors those who’ve put themselves on that course numerous times. “All these people who come back year after year after year. Here’s a group of people that has overcome flat tires, they’ve overcome crazy weather, they’ve overcome

cattle running alongside them on the open range, they’ve overcome heat fatigue,” he said. Whether they won or not doesn’t matter. It’s whether they finish. On a lighter note, this was also a way for Hughes to get a glass with a little more heft to it than the pint glass given to everyone who finishes the DK 200. His kids keep stealing glasses from his previous wins. On Sunflower’s blog, he wrote: “Anyone that’s crossed the finish line on Commercial Street knows the joy of having accomplished something special. And the honor of holding aloft the coveted Finisher’s pint glass is something to be savored for perpetuity in my book. Sadly my children don’t see it the same way. If you were to glance in our cupboard at the Hughes house, you would see nary a one Dirty Kanza pint glass. Despite repeated efforts to get them to use other, non-essential, pieces of glassware, my brood insists on using the DK glasses. And things happen … they get broken (all of them).” So the award Hughes settled on was a specially inscribed goblet, which may survive his children, but also gives symbolic weight to the accomplishment of riding 1,000 miles or more. To design the new glass, he turned to his stepfather, Jim Smith, a retired Hallmark artist who put his talents to capturing the essence of the DK 200 on a glass. And no, he didn’t draw a picture of a flat tire. “Jim is a very, very talented artist, and the Kanza has a rich history and the Flint Hills kind of lend themselves to that kind of artistic expression,” Hughes said. For Smith, it was fun to tackle the project because he and his wife have been DK 200 enthusiasts (possibly just Hughes enthusiasts?) for years. “I was trying to think of a design that kind of covered all the bases, so to speak, of what the Dirty Kanza is about,” Smith said, of the design that includes a star motif and, of course, the numerals 1,000. “I don’t know why it occurred to me, but I thought a bike chain would make a great border. Then within the bike chain, it might be fun for those who have done 1,000 miles to look at the schooner and see the names of all the checkpoints, the little towns on the route of the Dirty Kanza.”

[Photo courtesy of Sunflower Outdoor & Bike]

The way those town names curve in the cup design, Hughes said, is “reminiscent of the rolling Flint Hills, and there’s a sun and a moon, calling out the ‘Race the Sun’ aspect of it.” Glassware is hard to photograph and Hughes joked that Andy White, his social media brand manager at Sunflower, did a phenomenal job taking a photo of it filled with a dark liquid to set off the design, making it look like “The DK Gravel Grail,” he joked.

The beauty of the goblet is just a small way to honor those who’ve powered through 1,000 or more miles on the DK 200. In addition to the riders listed above, awards are set to go to John Mathias, Tim Ek, Matt Gersib, Matt Wills, Peter Goode and Gerald Hart. As Hughes said on his Sunflower blog, “A good group of folks that have repeatedly demonstrated the necessary elements to complete a Kanza AND the lack of sense to keep coming back for more!” 

52 | DK Magazine [Photo courtesy of Jason Ebberts]

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WOMEN

[Photo courtesy of Jason Ebberts]

FAT BOTTOM GIRLS, GET ON YOUR BIKES AND RIDE BY WENDY DAVIS

and physical benefits. For instance, cycling is one of the best ways to reduce your risk for health problems such as heart disease, high blood pressure, and some cancers. Riding a bike regularly has been shown to reduce stress and anxiety for those who are battling mental illness and depression. Biking is a great low impact exercise that can be as intense as you want. If you are trying to lose weight turn up the intensity to burn fat, whittle your middle, and build muscle. Cycling is a fun way to increase stamina and strength. We can all use more of that right? Cycling is the perfect exercise. Don’t believe me yet? Here is some more info. Cycling is easy on your knees, feet, joints, and legs. What’s cool about this is that pedaling gets your heart pounding without pounding your body in the process. Biking is not a weight bearing activity so it has little impact on your joints and biking is much kinder to your body than running. No matter what your clothing size is, fitness level, or list of aches and pains, you can ride a bike. Routine cycling can help you change all of those; it’s up to you. Over the past few years you may have noticed the growth of women’s cycling and a larger female presence at area gravel grinders. After 2009 the ladies finally began to trickle in to the Dirty Kanza. By “trickle in” I mean only nine women had seen the finish line by 2011. That was my first year and I believe there were less than twenty of us signed up. I have seen the growth over these last four years and I can tell you it’s been magnificent. The Dirty Kanza Crew has done a tremendous job growing the women’s field. The promoters have taken the “if you build it they will come” approach. In 2014, they decided to separate the women’s category to women 39 and under and women 40 and over. This move showed their commitment to grow girls on gravel, I approved highly. This year the DK 200 has 33 women in the 39 and under and 49 signed up for the 40+! That total exceeds the amount of women who signed up the first seven years! The DK Lite, the 100 miler, has one hundred and twelve women signed up! Wow, aren’t those numbers impressive? I think it’s safe to say that women riding

gravel is finally catching on! Now, how do we keep expanding? How do we get more women on bikes? How do we get even more women to sign up for the Dirty Kanza next year? Let me rattle off a few ideas. Ladies, I suggest you tell your stories. Tell how the bike has positively impacted your life and throw out invites for rides. Yes, it’s just that easy. Fellas, you can help us by being encouraging and freeing us up from some household duties. I can’t tell you how many women have told me they don’t ride because of household chores; I ride in spite of them. Also, take the kids off our hands once in a while too. If you play this correctly guys, you can have a happier and healthier wife in no time at all. Not to mention more bikes and spandex. My husband owns more bikes and bike related accessories because I ride also. A wise man named Matt told him “always make sure your wife has the best, if not an even better bike than you do.” This piece of advice served my husband well so I wanted to pass it on. My husband took this as “Make sure she has everything she needs to ride all the time. This will insure she will ride and let you ride.” No truer words have been spoken. I got bit by the biking bu, too! And if you ask him I bet he will admit it’s the best thing that could have ever happened. I believe EVERY woman should own a bike and ride it often. The benefits you will receive will change your life. The people you meet the places you go will enrich your days. You get to make all the decisions in regards to what type of relationship you want to have with your bike. You decide when, where, and how long. Hell, you can invite friends. No pressure or a hammerfest is totally up to you. You can go on epic journeys blazing new trails and sleeping on sand bars or you can ride flat gravel to the wineries with your girlfriends, your decision. You can pin on a number and compete with your friends or show up as a volunteer to enjoy the camaraderie of likeminded people. You can take quick rides to the store or restaurant in your area or visit a local park and take on the trails. The bike can be whatever you want it to be. It will mold you, shape you into a better human. It’s one of the benefits. Very simply, bike = healthy, happy human. 

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adies … What if I told you that I know how to acquire the fountain of youth? I know the secret weapon that will actually turn back time, adding years to your life and make you happier and healthier each time you use it. Intrigued? You will also have the potential to lower stress, lose weight, and make new friends. This purchase will not take up too much room, doesn’t require a plethora of gear and there is a wide range of costs to fit every budget. Have you figured it out yet? It’s a bike! Remember two wheeled fun when you were a kid? I grew up in the 70’s, remembering no helmets and soaring through the air over a homemade ramp pieced together with broken two by fours and bricks. We would set them up right in the very middle of the road, crazy kids. Things were different back then. Our parents let us pedal miles away from the house on a daily basis without a care in the world. If you had a bike there was a huge sense of freedom that came with it. We could explore anywhere and everywhere, as far and as fast as our legs could carry us. I rode my bike to school, to the candy store, and to soccer practice. You could tell where all your neighborhood friends where by the pile of bikes in the front yard. Things were different in the 1970’s. My relationship with bikes terminated when I learned to drive at age seventeen. I did not get on a bike again until twenty years later. My learning process started out with a bang as my very first bike ride landed me in the ER, I made it about 1 and ½ miles on the trail. Accidents happen. It took roughly five months to heal my broken elbow and get me back in the saddle. It was just a rough start. These days being an adult doesn’t have to mean all work and no play. There is no age limit for riding a bike, studies have shown one can cycle into their 80s. Yeah! And chances are good biking will make you feel like a kid again. Since there are side-effects to everything, negative and positive, you can expect to experience a little of both if you own a bike. As I stated before I had an accident, actually I’ve had several, it comes with the territory. However, I can assure you that the positives I have experienced have outweighed the negatives. Riding a bike regularly has many mental

QUESTIONS

DK Q&A BY THE COACHES AT CTS

One of the best aspects of the Dirty Kanza 200 is that it not only brings together cyclists from all over the world, but it also introduces ultraendurance cycling to a ton of people in and around Emporia, Kansas. Here’s a handy guide to some of the questions racers and spectators have about this special race:

For the Racers: If you’re planning on toeing the start line on Commercial St., we’re assuming you’ve educated and prepared yourself for the Dirty Kanza 200. Your equipment should be dialed and you should know what foods and drinks keep your stomach happy and functioning. So we’re going to skip the basics and give you some more advanced race-day advice: Should I start hard or easy? The benefit of pushing yourself at the start is that you get to cover more ground in the draft of a larger and faster group. The downside is that you may burn some valuable energy very early in the day and you may pay for that effort later in the day. A good balance is to settle into a group with riders of similar strength so you can share the pacing work and get some shelter from the wind.

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The line or the draft, which is more important? The line. Drafting is great and you should do it whenever possible, but if staying in the draft means riding a bad line in loose and sharp gravel then stay in the cleaner line. Loose gravel is slow. It takes more power to ride through it. And a flat tire will cost you a lot of time and make you lose contact with the group you’re riding with.

[Photo courtesy of Eric Benjamin]

What do I do if I get an upset stomach? Most GI distress is caused by reduced gut motility. Your gut stopped working and you have to get it moving again. 1 ) Slow down but keep moving forward. A lighter pace lowers energy demand. 2) Cool down. When you’re hot, cooling takes top priority and digestion takes a back seat. 3) Sip water. You’re nauseous because there’s undigested food lingering in your gut. You need fluids to help get it moving and digested. As you start to feel better, start consuming small amounts of food again so you can keep going, at least to the next aid station. Overall, make sure you’re consuming a balance of foods and drinks that will provide fluids, calories and electrolytes.

For the Spectators: How do Dirty Kanza riders train for this event? Most DK200 racers ride and train year-round, for this event and others, with a mixture of moderate-duration (1-4 hour) rides, some longer endurance rides (5-12 hours), and shorter interval workouts. Intervals workouts use alternating periods (1-20 minutes) of high-intensity effort and low-intensity recovery (1-10 minutes) to develop sport-specific fitness. This adds to the general aerobic endurance from the longer, steady-pace rides. How many calories will DK200 riders burn? It depends on how hard they push themselves, but the range is about 450 calories/hr for riders at the slower end of the field and 700+/hr for the leaders. What will DK200 riders eat and drink while riding? Since even the skinniest cyclist has plenty of stored fat to burn for energy, they only need to replenish about 20-30% of the calories they burn each hour. So, if a rider is burning 600 calories/hr, he or she may aim to consume 120180 calories/hr, mostly from carbohydrates. To stay hydrated and control core temperature they’ll consume 40+ ounces of fluid per hour, some from plain water and some from sports drinks containing carbohydrate and electrolytes. As the day gets longer, riders sometimes experience cravings for salty or sweet foods, but they tend to stick to foods and drinks they’ve used in training so they don’t eat something new that might disturb their stomachs. Just the thought makes my butt sore. How do they stay comfortable? Well, it’s not always comfortable but that’s something riders prepare for. The equipment and apparel help (larger tires for more cushioning, padded handlebar tape, padded cycling shorts, gloves, anti-chafing cream) and the rider’s body position on the bike is typically more upright than an aggressive road racer’s position. The professional coaches at CTS have coached more than 15,000 amateur, pro, and time-crunched athletes in the past 15 years. For more information on fullservice personal coaching, training camps, and CTS Bucket List events (of which DK200 is one), visit www.trainright.com. 

[Photo courtesy of Jason Ebberts]

DK Magazine | 57

SCHEDULE Make sure you don’t miss any events on during the week of the Dirty Kanza. Tuesday, May 26th DK Store open (727 Commercial St.) 4:00pm - 7:00pm Wednesday, May 27th DK Store open (727 Commercial St.) 4:00pm - 7:00pm Thursday, May 28th DK Store open (727 Commercial St.) Noon - 8:00pm Artist Reception - (Emporia Arts Council) 4:30pm - 6:30pm Group Ride (Granada Theatre) - 7:00pm

58 | DK Magazine

Friday, May 29th Group Ride (Granada Theatre) - 9:00am Rider registration (11 W. 8th Ave.) - 10:00am - 9:00pm “All Things Gravel” Expo (11 W. 8th Ave.) - 10:00am - 9:00pm DK Store Open (727 Commercial) - 10:00am - 9:00pm Rider Meeting (Session 1) (Granada Theatre) - 3:00pm - 3:30pm Rider Meeting (Session 2) (Granada Theatre) - 5:00pm - 5:30pm Rider Meeting (Session 3) (Granada Theatre) - 7:00pm - 7:30pm Pre-Race Palooza Dinner (St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church) 4:00pm - 7:30pm (500 tickets, sold at door)

Saturday, May 30th DK200 Start (Granada Theatre) - 6:00am DK100 Start (Granada Theatre) - 6:20am DKLite Start (Granada Theatre) - 6:40am DK Store Open (727 Commercial) - 6:00am - 10:00pm All Day (Commercial Street) - Family Fun Events ~Noon (Granada Theatre) - First DK Half Pint finishers Kids bike race and run (Granada Theatre) - 3:00pm - ~4:00pm First DK200 finishers (Granada Theatre) - ~4:00pm Sunday, May 31st Rock Star Breakfast (White Auditorium) - 7:00am - 9:00am Awards Ceremony (White Auditorium) - 8:00am - 9:00am DK Store Open (727 Commercial) - 9:00am - Noon

Creating Champions with our Business Planning

With over 100 years of combined service and experience, we are here to assist you with both business and individual services. Emporia, KS Office L•W•K Associates, LLC

Managing Partner: Bryan Whitmore 1420 C of E Drive, Suite 100 • Emporia, KS 66801

(620) 343-7930

Lebo, KS Office L•W•K Associates, LLC

Managing Partner: Cecil Lane 16 E. Broadway Street • Lebo, KS 66856

(620) 256-6644

Lawrence, KS Office

(785) 843-0641

DK Magazine | 59

L•W•K Associates, LLC

Managing Partner: Sarah Williamson 3300 Mesa Way, Suite A • Lawrence, KS 66049

RIDER CARDS

Every year, The Emporia Gazette and Dirty Kanza Productions team up to produce trading cards featuring riders of the Dirty Kanza 200. You can pick up your set by visiting these sponsor locations.

old n ey

s & An li k

EYE

Amanda’s Bakery Bluestem Farm & Ranch Supply Bobby D’s Merchant Street Barbecue Brown’s Shoe Fit Casa Ramos Clint Bowyer Autoplex Do-B’s Dynamic Discs Eclectic Bikes Emporia Arts Center Emporia CVB Emporia Realty Group ESB Financial Flinthills Mall Granada Coffee Company Granada Theatre

Physicians & Surgeons

60 | DK Magazine

State of the Art No Stitch Cataract Surgery Glaucoma • Laser Surgery Retinal Diseases Consultation & Surgery Eyelid Surgery • Botox Satellite offices in Chanute, Iola, Burlington, Council Grove, Eureka, Herington, Hillsboro, Marion, Osage City, Manhattan, and Parsons

Michael G. Reynolds, MD

1602 W. 15th Ave., Ste B Emporia, KS 66801 620-342-6989 or 800-794-1209

Wayne L. Anliker, MD

Java Cat King Liquor Liquor Locker Lyon County State Bank Mulready’s Pub Paper Moon Antiques Plumbing By Spellman Radius Brewing Company Riddle’s Jewelry The Scoreboard Sports Bar & Grill Sutherland’s Lumber Subway Sweet Granada Town Crier Williams Automotive

Welcome Dk200 participants anD fans!

Marlin Flanagin,DDS Comfortable STATE OF THE ART

DENTISTRY •CEREC: Single ViSit Porcelain Crowns •Snoring Appliances

LIQUOR LOCKER

neW PatientS WelCome

Supermarket Of Fine Wines

620-343-3171

•individualized Care for All Ages

enhancing Smiles Since 1988

Liquor • Cordials • Coolers • Beer

1200 C of E Drive • EMPORIA www.dentistsemporiaks.com

2716 W. 12th st. emporia, ks 66801

VISIT US ON FACEBOOK

You Have To Be Tough To Go The Distance Emporia, Kansas • Since 1963 3002 W. Hwy 50 • Emporia (620) 343-1700 • (877) 296-9871 www.jnford.com

Serving the Central Kansas area and providing Ford Quality Parts and Service.

Locally Owned Family Business for over 50 Years.

DK Magazine | 61

STOP IN AND CHECK OUT OUR 2015 MODELS.

by the numbers

DK200

Past Results

Past Finishing Times

38 entrants 18 finishers

2006 2007

2007 - 13:57:22 2008 - 11:58:32 2009 - 14:23:00 2010 - 13:38:00

50 entrants 19 finishers

2008

75 entrants 42 finishers

2009

2011 - 12:53:00 2012 - 11:56:00 2013 - 12:03:39 2014 - 10:42:49

100 entrants 19 finishers

2010

200 entrants 65 finishers 350 entrants 68 finishers

2011

450 entrants 267 finishers

2012 2013

1000 entrants 331 finishers

2014

1200 entrants 465 finishers

62 | DK Magazine

2014 Finishers Rank

Name

Division

Time

Rank

Name

Division

Time

Rank

Name

Division

Time

Rank

Name

Division

Time

Brian Jensen

M35-39