My First Attempt at the Dirty Kanza 200 (The FULL Story)

hey we see here I want to tell you the story about my first attempt at the dirty Kansa what is dirty Kansa it's an insane event where you ride 200 miles about a hundred and ninety miles on some serious gravel I've done some stuff in the past some gravel rides mostly just dirt roads to be honest this is like proper gravel dude anyway I want to tell you about this story my experience and kind of maybe what you could expect on your first time out at dirty cancer let's get into it [Music] [Music] [Music] Lockman Orton attacked and I went with him like I've got three cameras right like to go pros and my little selfie stick like building it it was really cool and then I felt like a total turd taco there are some stories you just rather not tell over parts of the story you just rather not tell a bit of that here there's going to be a part of the story where it's just it one ginormous vegan excuse but it is what it is I really like battled with how to tell the story because of of just how poorly I did during this event and how to explain why that happened so we'll just get into that later I guess whatever let's let's just start with getting too dirty Kansa I actually was gonna fly out Wednesday get there like Wednesday at eleven o'clock at night and then drive from Kansas City the the two or three-hour drive to Emporia Kansas where I was staying kind of a marketing company that deals also with IRC tires and so that's the whole reason I'm coming out here is IRC tires is is who is providing this trip for me so I'm actually gonna stay in a house with them I'm not gonna dwell on this too much but so basically get on a plane the plane is delayed which means then I miss my connecting flight I actually run because I the fly hadn't left plane still in the ground but they're like we close the doors your smell so then I had to wait in this long line and try to figure out a different way to get to Kansas City a lot of the options were like 24 hours from now there's another flight but they're not gonna provide a hotel so you're just like sleeping in the airport for 24 hours that wasn't cool so then I found this other option that I could fly out at like midnight and it like jumped me back to like Las Vegas and then like Chicago and then Kansas City it was totally crazy that fly also got delayed neat bro by the time I landed in Kansas City it was like 3:00 in the afternoon and I hadn't slept at all right it's just been like this crazy 24 hour planes trains and automobiles type thing but we have the bike we have our G and we're headed to Emporia Kansas okay Google give me directions to Emporia Kansas City [Music] we are traveling to this house he gives me this description of the house he's like there's this house there's a barn attached it's a dirt road with puddles it's right by the freeway so and then he sends me a screenshot of the map so my god okay I think I can figure it out because I don't have the actual address so I'm driving and I see a long dirt road to a house with an attached barn which every house in this area is this exact description so I drive down this dirt road and there's trucks out and I park and I am literally about to walk into this house because my IRC guy said we're not there but just walk in the back door just come in and set up your stuff so then this dude on this tractor rolls up and bro if he hadn't been outside so he rolls up and I'm like hey man is this where the IRC guys are he's like no like bike guys there's the bike guys aren't renting this house so I just roll up to some random dudes house a good thing you were out here I was about to walk in the back door they were like yeah this is like they explained this exact setup and they're like just walk in the back door it's open so that had been super embarrassing sorry dude but if he had not pulled up dude I was literally gonna walk into some random strangers house in the back door and just be like what up I'm here I almost got my head blown off but so he was really nice and he was like no you know you don't belong here so then I Drive out and like the next-door neighbor is it's like the exact same house and so then I go down the dirt road and I find it and I'm here I get settled in though we have a place to stay so then I go into the barn which is like they have two totally dialed four bike setup it's really nice have a kind of a bike stand and tools and I'm running a felt breed with Princeton carbon rims and the IRC Okin Bokan tires and and yeah - I'm super stoked with the setup I have had a lot of time on it so I really wanted to get out there so I do I get it dialed I head over to the expo but they have like booths and all the stuff going on then I see Jeremiah Bishop who I don't know if you remember from the Vermont race but he was there and I was like dude what's up and he was ready to go for a ride I was also ready to go for a while and we went on a t-shirt ride to explore the surrounding area and sort of get a sense of what we were running [Music] and dude Jeremiah's like running a full-on road bike which is crazy but it got me a good sense of like the terrain like what are we actually riding here and I felt very confident my setup at that point because of how deep the gravel is it's very very deep and then we went to dinner dude I our seat like bought this Mexican restaurant IRC had all this stuff all over the place and we had some amazing Mexican food I got like veggie fajitas [Applause] dinner was amazing so now we're gonna take a little night ride back to the house warm I'm just in a t-shirt and shorts where's my little peaceful night ride dude who's he something funny there's a video store right here who in their right mind would go to a physical place to rent a physical unit to put in a physical machine to watch a movie [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] so Friday comes and we actually do this like industry ride or whatever with a couple people a good little group and then once that was done we actually then went with the bigger group ride it was a huge group ride super big sort of just getting to find out like who's here which is so nuts to see guys from California doing this race you just like well II you know II mean like I didn't know you were gonna be here so it's really cool to see so many people from all over the place and just like riding the exact same thing I rode like five miles on with like dude and what's so nuts is so many people I talked to said one I've never done 200 miles before and this is like my first gravel experience but they're gonna just send it and it's so crazy that when you some ask someone they're like oh I'm not doing that 200 I'm just doing the 100 bro a 100 miles is insanity on gravel but only here in dirty Kansa is for some reason 100 miles like oh that's just a good little boy you're just gonna do the little one that's a lot of riding and then there's even a bigger one there's the dirty Kansa XL which is 350 miles which is just insane I'm doing the 200 a lot of other people are doing the 200 so then we get set up with we go into like the place where you sign up tell me what is what's the tip what's the pro tip [Applause] malware 20 you just have to know that you're gonna push through that but so then let's kind of talk about what the game plan is for the race I feel great I feel very confident in my fitness I feel very confident in my fuelling strategy my whole program is dialed I've tested this program on several very big rides right climbed a kaiser which was 8 hours and 42 minutes same program of like fueling strategy and training the Vermont and and Belgium waffle which Belgian waffle like I did super good at all I'm worried about it's like a flat or mechanical cuz I feel friggin so my plan is to stay with the front group at all costs at all costs like we're just goin for glory dude glory I want to be up there banging bars with Taylor Finney and Lachlan Morton and I want this shot of me and an EF education dude off the front that's what I want bro so I'm just like dude let's do this let's like not even look at power I am just going to empty my soul to make this front group how's the plan and then once I make the front group we'll go from there [Music] good morning good morning it's 5:00 in the morning we're riding to the start [Applause] what a big day is in store for me feel good though feel good what's your game plan then attack then yeah see what happens I think it's gonna be super interesting how the World Tour guys kind of shake it out like if they like start forcing early breaks and stuff because then you might just be like you know it screwed how important do you think it is to get on that front try and I think just staying in that front is gonna be important but not the vibe at the start do just Saul good so vibin feeling so good just like want to hug everyone like a few we're about to embark on something epic all of these all of these things have been going around about the course being super muddy and some of the and the Duke is gonna be rain and everyone's saying like if it rains you're gonna have to walk your bike like 10 miles like there's just all this craziness going around so everyone's kind of nervous and then they start calling people up and the call ups dude or just world tour world tour world tour world gravel champion like you know Northern Ireland champion just like champion champion champion champion [Applause] for the line from Boulder Colorado welcome Taylor Finney go start we're off and I am gonna just battle as hard as I can to stay as far up the front [Music] [Music] [Music] love trees Oh bro I am kind of make this funk group and I'm in a battle for the front that's just that's just what's gonna happen dude I have no not even worried about how I'm gonna finish I just need to start with before I could even think about finishing well I'm not looking at my power meter I'm not looking at anything all I'm doing is how can I get to the front of this race which everyone sort of doing and then I find myself on Lachlan Morton's wheel and he's attacking and I am just like juice dude do I got my 360 cameras I've got a GoPro front and rear and a 360 camera and I'm following an attack by Lachlan Morton and obviously this is the dumbest thing I could ever do because what if we got away I'm gonna blow into shreds but it doesn't matter doesn't matter bro this is this is what I wanted was to be up there with like these greats and I was I was there we got brought back really quickly but it still doesn't matter I was off the front with Lachlan Morton for a bit I'm crushing it I'm crushing it dude I'm doing so good dudes are crashing I like missed every crash because I have to start and stop the girl Poe right bunch people are crashing punch bill getting flats and I'm just avoiding all this we get to a super technical section like dude this gravel some of this was like trucks had gone through so there's like only one line the and and dudes are just flying and it's so difficult because you can't really choose your line cuz you're on someone's wheel so then what will happen is they're going and then all sudden they hop out of a line and you're like in a ditch like and so I was uh has a little hesitant man but still really full gassing it and during one of the most technical parts of the the race it had broken apart quite a bit and I'm just so I'm so bummed because I can see the front group like we we kind of get out of this technical section and there's a front group of mini 30 and I'm not in it but Blake Anton was not any as well and so me and him sort of got to the front and was just like better more him did me I'm like bear in his draft and we're just flying did trying to catch and everyone's on her wheels but guys are like being smart about this and not blowing themselves up so we didn't really have a whole lot of people trying to help with this chase but to again I am I don't know what I'm power wise I'm doing but I am full gas trying to get back onto the group full gasp all gasp all gasp [Music] Oh come on Tyler go Tyler and then I do I make it back on other group and maybe the groups like 30 strong out of how many people started the race a billion and now it's just like the group like okay oh we're gonna probably just roll until the first rest stop which it comes at like 65 miles so I'm so stoked dude and I've been on top of my hydration bro I drank three coconut waters the night before I was very hydrated going into the race and then I had three bottles on me all with beta fuel I had a bunch of gels like my fueling strategy dude should have worked it should have been good but right about 50 miles I've made the front group here comes the vegan excuse [Music] did all of a sudden I'm like I'm feeling as if I've had eaten nothing that I've drank nothing that nothing is being absorbed into my body my stomach is like really distended and very sloshy nothing is being absorbed I'm just like see this sucks man very quickly within about a five mile period I went from feeling great holding lots of watts to I could barely turn the pedals over so then I fall out of the front group another group comes with like a trek dude on you know like a pro World Tour guy but a bunch of guys that didn't make the front group like high-level dudes didn't make the front group they catch me and I literally could do 75 Watts 75 watts that's about my maximum watts that I can do and I'm just thinking what is happening why why is this happy I was really trying to hold on to the first aid station I made it 50 miles with the front group [Applause] I still have 149 miles left or right [Applause] good garlic and so I'm thinking all I need to do I guess is get to the next rest stop and then I've got my camel pack that's full of beta fuel tons of calories you know maybe I just went really really hard in this first 50 miles and so then I burned through all this calories but it was just so strange how what my body was doing right away Brian plain water yeah nope I think I'm good okay now yeah so then I roll into the rest stop and like NASCAR pit stop at boom-boom-boom were gone and I get my camel pack on and I'm trying to drink from my camel pack but I'm full this is what's so weird I'm literally water is like here like I'm trying to drink and I'm just little I'd written nothing wit like I was full to the brim of fluid nothing was being passed down so then I couldn't really drink from my camel pack and some ik do what has happened this is where I embark upon one of the hardest mental challenges I've ever embarked on I guess the silver lining of this I don't know how this has changed my perspective on how deep someone can go because it's one thing if you have the wats and you have the fitness and everything's working well but when nothing is working well on your body like it's all mental I can't not finish that's not even an option I hate telling this part of the story eighty miles in and I have nothing dude my soul is gone from my body and I was so far forward that so many people keep catching me and being like what's up dude hop on I'm just like I have nothing I have nothing I can above a barely pedal the bike so then I'm just being passed and past and past and past and past forever but dude I just mentally went somewhere where it's like all you have to do is just keep pedaling this will eventually be over just pedal the bike no matter how hard you're pedaling huh just keep pedaling the bike [Applause] [Music] it is going I mean they're pretty much done thank you excuse me sir you wouldn't happen to have like a coca-cola that you would want to donate to a crack cyclist so I'm just gonna sit here for a minute cuz anything I say is just so dumb right you're just so dumb I'm sort of coming back to life did getting some water in me and kind of just starting to enjoy the ride but it's so insane that we have 101 miles bike [Applause] volleyballs fifty miles to the next rest stop I don't know I'm sorry to just accept that I'm gonna enjoy this ride versus doing really well whatever man let's have fun it's beautiful out here so anyway so I'm just like okay all I gotta do is just peddle my bike if you just keep peddling your bike no matter how hard you're pedaling you it you will be moving through space and in an amount of time you will be done so this is by far the hardest mental challenge I've ever had to face is to essentially ride 150 miles with like the flu or something and I did dude I just kept riding and kept riding and kept riding very slow everyone was passing me there was like a fat bike like two dudes on fat bikes huge tires and they just roll past me there's nothing I can do it's not even a matter of I'll just jump on their wheel nah I gotta happen I have 75 watts to my name I keep seeing Taylor Finney on the side of the road broken down changing flats and so I was thinking well you know be really cool if I stopped and helped him maybe he needs a co2 I have a bunch of them and then we will just be best friends forever and we'll ride and we'll just be the greatest friends that have ever been sharing all that one two three Velociraptor friends yep so I stopped at pull over hey what's up dude he didn't he didn't need my help but actually at a certain point we did end up riding together for a little bit and I asked him how he deals with pressure like coming to this event everyone's thinking dude Taylor Finny is gonna ride off the front no problem he should win this hands down but he's riding with me way off the back obviously he had mechanicals but like how does he deal with that pressure for one he thought I saw my tire pressure so then it was a very awkward conversation cuz I'm like what are you talking about and he's like why are you talking about tire pressure and I'm just like what are you talking about tire pressure I'm asking you about mental pressure so it's like just a really awkward conversation for a little bit but then he was like oh okay I get what you're saying you're talking about pressure pressure not tire pressure I'm like yeah he said like you have two choices you have two choices to like listen to that or not listen to that but all you can do is ride your bike I don't know man that would I needed that in that moment I needed him to just say this guy who's so good and he's like my spirit animal just to tell me like dude it doesn't matter just ride your bike that's all you could do so just do that so I do that I keep riding [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] I wouldn't say I have a full-on second wind but I'm not like contemplating waiting like we know we I know I make [Applause] there was there was a time there so I'm just kind of I'm just kind of enjoying it right now dude just just riding the race is definitely over for me but I guess you could still race the Sun I don't know I mean it's so freakin pretty out here so it's kind of like I tried dude I tried to stay with the front group I really tried to have a killer result now it's just about right the felt bike company they're the ones that are like sagging me so I roll in and they're like excited like oh let's get you going and I'm like dude I gotta lay down for a very long time so then I lay down in the van I can just bringing any sort of nutrients into me is just not possible which is frustrating so I lay there for what feels like an eternity and I'm just thinking dude like I I just gotta keep riding so then I get on the bike and I start riding and the last like 50 miles or the easiest miles okay it's like the easiest bit of all of it's mostly flat so at least there's that and I kind of just dude just pedaling my bike just head on my bike pedal my back pedal my bike just constantly getting passed by people so I just anyone who ever knew of me or heard of me it's like this guy's the worst he must edit his videos so well to make him look like he's doing good cuz I just passed him and he was laying on the side of the road I just gets it if I break 30 miles get to 29 miles then you can quit and now I'm gonna lie to myself about getting into the teens get to 19 miles I am absolutely pear-shaped bro [Music] [Applause] [Music] hiya two guys come up towards pretty much the end the sun's going down and they're like hey we got to make it before the Sun goes down because if you do get like a special patch it's a special accomplishment okay cool I have nothing inside but for whatever reason like they motivated me just to like stay on their wheel a little bit and they actually towed me and they dragged my ass into the finish the finish even though I am six hours behind the winner something ridiculous like that it's just lined with people dude and everyone's cheering and trying to slap your hand music is play it's just such a warm welcome congratulations you're a contender thank you but the finish the finish area just dude rough five with you makes you feel amazing no matter how you finish I literally cannot believe that I made it a hundred and fifty miles with how I felt just the worst I've ever felt on a bike ever in my entire life just not even on a bike the worst I've ever felt periods so I can't believe that my mind was able to push me to the finish so then I go into like the IRC a little pop-up tent collapse on the ground I'm dead and I all I want to do dude is just get home and go to sleep I've been thinking about Swan diving into bed pretty much for 150 miles vela worthy Brian he actually loads me up and he takes me back to the house I go and I get in bed but I got to take a freaking shower and [ __ ] because I'm super disgusting so like not really I really just wanted to crawl in bed and almost pretend like this never happened look the event was so phenomenal I had no at no point did I think I'll never do this again this is salt kind of stupid for me to say for how bad I did it's not that hard right it's really not that difficult if you just keep pedaling your bike you name in a ton of guys had so many mechanicals or issues so that's kind of you know if you have a bunch of mechanicals or issues that sort of takes the steam out of your sails but for the most part bro almost anyone can finish this event it's just about continuing to pedal that bike and I think that if there's anything that you can pull out of this video to show that is that for 150 miles dude I had enough and so if I could go 150 miles pushing 75 watts dude you could do that right it's not it's not that bad it is it is a true test because it tests everything and tests tests your mechanical skills write a test your fuelling strategy test your fitness and really test your mental attitude and so at what point are you willing to just call it and when you don't call it and you make it to the finish did you're stumped your stand it changes your life man and changes how you're gonna look at all other things because that was a really hard day for me and I can't wait to come back next year but we got to embrace these these moments and I think that again the mental fortitude in which you don't think you can finish but you do that's important huge thank you to IRC tires who allowed me to stay in the house got me dialed felt bikes who got me with the SAG support and the bike prints and carpet wheels get me dialed on their wheels again dude everything about my program was perfect except for me so at least there's that that I am the failure not anything else around me so there you go hope you enjoy as always vegan cyclist [Music] older than love trees [Music]

Channel: The Vegan Cyclist

Views: 371,883

Keywords: vegan cyclist, vegan cycling, health and fitness, bicycle riding, road bikes, cycling, bike racing, cycling tips, the vegan cyclist, go pro cycling, cycling go pro, bike hacks, cycling racing, tips for cycling, vegan athlete, cycling videos, cycling workouts, sufferfest cycling, gravel racing, gravel bikes, dirty kanza

Id: NB4rUXb4DRY

Length: 35min 57sec (2157 seconds)

Published: Sat Jun 29 2019