Dirty Kanza

DK200- a 200 mile gravel road race in the beautiful Flint Hills of Kansas. There's not too much video because I was white knuckling the handlebar a majority of the time. The route proved to be extremely technical with fast descents over rock gardens and water wash outs. The day was tough with high heat, high headwinds, mechanical issues, and steep hills. We keep our heads down and ground it out. We set our goal to be in by midnight and on the route decided to ride up every hill without walking and accomplished both! What sets DK apart from all our other long distance rides is the community involvement. The highlight for me was coming in to the finish line with a cheering crowd, that made you feel like rock star! Being successful at an event like just doesn't happen without the help of a community of supporters. A big thank you goes out to Jeff Bushong for suggesting the tire plug kit (worth the extra 4oz). That sir saved our race! Thank you to all the hugs, smiles, encouragement and love from other local racers and their sag support (Molly J. Cripe Birt, Caleb Fritz, Laura Furey, Kiel Lester, Dan Gadbery, Matthew James, Britt Ann). A huge thank you Laura Fritz for sagging for us! She was extremely helpful and had everything well organizing so we could get in and out. Sorry, you had to wait so long for us to get from control to control ;). Impact Zone Training Center and all the coaches that worked with us (Carlos Soto, Katy Gunderson, Jonathan Poole, and Josh Roberts) and helping us build the strength and endurance to with stand a race this tough. And Chas Smith and Ariana Torres for pushing me, encouraging me, and believing in me to get that one more rep. To the riders we have rode this year with Wabash River Cycle Club thank you for training with us! Thank you to my co-workers (Kelly Guy, Christy DeYoung, Brittney Rhodes) for working around my training schedule and allowing me to be oncall during recovery weeks. A huge thank you to my Mom (Becki Ashley-Emenhiser) for house and pet sitting every time we went out of train for a training ride or race. We appreciate all of you so much!