Thursday, May 17, 2007

I'm in for the DK200...

Oh yeah -- I just got word that I'm officially on the roster for the Dirty Kanza 200 miler this Saturday. My excitement suggests to me that perhaps I don't know exactly what I'm getting myself into. But hey, ignorance is bliss, and right now I'm pretty darn happy.

We take off around mid-day tomorrow for the trek down to the start in Emporia, KS. The crew will be mw, Cornbread, Endurosnob, -jb and myself, and it'd be super sweet if we kept our group together. Not sure if that'll happen since among us we'll have fixies, singles and at least a couple geared bikes (Cornbread and myself I know of for sure).

I'll be on the El Mariachi, set up 9-speed with my Reba on the front (88mm travel). I tried running the rigid fork over the past weekend, and realized that my body definitely prefers a suspension fork, even on gravel roads... and our gravel roads are nothing like the insanity we'll ride over during the DK200. The Flint Hills get their name honestly, and I've read accounts from riders of last year's DK200 comment that the rocks are like arrowheads sticking out of the ground, just waiting to slice through your tire (or whatever else is rolling or dragging across it).

Note to self... don't wipe out. It'll hurt.

So I'm going into this very humbly. It's my first foray into the crazy world of ultra-endurance mountain bike racing. Just finishing will make it the longest ride ever for me, and that in itself is enough of an accomplishment for now. I'm not thinking at all about being up with the leaders, unless my good buddy MW is there too. I'm MW's wingman on this journey.

So it should be fun way to spend a Saturday... and likely part of Sunday too.

Whatever you do this weekend, have fun!

Cheers,
MG

7 comments:

Emily said...

nice. it's good to see you getting into a new world of masochism. good luck!

VeloCC said...

MG, how exciting! My thoughts and prayers are with you guys. And I am hoping to be able to come along next year.... Good luck and Gods speed

redstone said...

Damn man, good luck. You will certainly have more hair on your chest next time I see you!

MG said...

thanks y'all! it's gonna' be fun, in a masichistic sort of way, for sure.

cheers,
mg

nicol said...

The whole concept is amazing! Wow.

redstone said...

Great job, Matty! I checked the results. You and Wills rocked the house - how close to death were you at the end?

MG said...

thanks dave -- i bonked extra hard before the third checkpoint at 155 miles, but after a rockstar and a full throttle back-to-back with a slice of sausage pizza and a box of chewy gobstoppers, i was back in business.

the last 45 miles were probably some of the best miles of the ride, believe it or not! when i finished, i was tired, but not as bad as i thought i'd be. my knees were aching though... that was probably the sorest part of me.

mw looked like he coulda' ridden another 200 miles when he finished... and he probably could.

lookin' forward to seeing you this weekend dave!

cheers,
mg