Training Log Archive: Yvonne

Event: Dirty Kanza 200
 

Dirty Kanza 200

Executive Summary:
Great 100 miles. Then a terrible 60 miles.Came in a whopping 2 min. before the CP3 cutoff time and knew there was no way I could make the finish cutoff in my condition so bagged it.

Some data:
AVS to CP1 - 12.92
AVS to CP2 - 12.15
AVS to CP3 - 9.81
Total liquids consumed - approx. 7.35 liters (plain water, coconut water @ CPs and 1 doubleshot espresso @ CP1)
SaltStick capsules ingested - 13
Flat tires - 1
Other bike mechanical issues - 0
Physical maladies other than heat exaustion/nausea - 0
Navigational difficulties - 0

Discussion:
I started this race with what felt like a comfy, sustainable pace and continued that way to CP2 (101.9 mi.) I kept asking myself "is this too fast? are you exerting too much?", like, constantly. The mud in the first miles from the early morning thunderstorm didn't phase my bike one bit. Just spun on through while (dozens? more?) of other riders struggled to fix broken derailleurs. Weird. It really didn't seem that muddy. Tried not to be freaked by the police/emergency crew/Life Flight helicopter that all swooped in to help the poor guy that crashed on the backside of Texaco hill (think that's where it was). Shortly thereafter, stopped to lend support to another crash victim (shaken, bloody arm, and busted helmet but otherwise he seemed OK). Eeek. Watch those rocks and ruts.

A few miles after CP2, it was like a switch flipped and suddenly I was fighting hard for a measly 10mph. It was starting to heat up big time and that was not sitting well w/ me. It was windy too, but I much preferred that over the heat. I found a patch of shade @ mi. 120 and laid down. A ton of riders and a Jeep guy asked if I was OK. I crawled my way to the creek crossing @ mi. 130 and laid in the water for a while. Better. Sort of. Not for long. A few miles later, I got to a point where I really couldn't keep any food or water down. Oh, how I tried! I was relieved to get a flat tire just so I could stop. Crawled along. I kept waiting to feel better as it got dark and cooled off, but alas, that never happened. Spun along at a snail's pace and finally made CP3 @ 10:28PM - 2 min. before the cutoff. I had zero confidence in keeping a 10 mph pace to make the finish cutoff @ 3AM so I called it a night.

Conclusion:
I think my fueling/hydration/electrolyte plan went pretty well for the first hundred so not sure if my issues were from general intolerance to the heat, inadequate fitness, lack of experience w/ the mental aspects of cycling events of this length, or some combination of the three. Also, to be perfectly candid, I really didn't care that much about DNFing. Wha?? Yes. I didn't see this one coming, but 16 hours felt like more than enough biking fun for me. Additional time/miles didn't seem appealing at all -- not even for the challenge of it all. And 2 days later (as I write this), now that I am perfectly fine w/ almost no residual soreness or any other issues, it still feels that way. So maybe 100 milers are more my thing. Not sure. I do love gravel racing though and I find the Flint Hills an absolutely dreamy place to ride, so I'm sure I'll be back to DK next year in some capacity.

Numerous easy O&Bs from home to hwy w/ the bike in it's final configuration. Ready to roll!

2 easy laps around neighborhood -- made it into a Garmin Connect course to test my 910XT's course functions (that I have only used once before so obviously am not very familiar with them). DUH - I didn't know this when I bought the watch a few years ago, but this unit has very poor capabilities in this area (IMO). Very rudimentary, no turn by turn, but better than nothing.

Trash/recycle hauling.