Riding Dirty – A Long Road Ahead
In roughly a month I’ll be representing for Elbowz in something a bit different then the traditional road race, time trial or criterium. At the time of registration this adventure seemed like great fun but as the date nears my take on the situation is starting to differ, slightly. On June 2nd I’ll be racing through Kansas on gravel roads in the 1-day Dirty Kanza 200.
Yes the 200 represents the mileage and let me reiterate it will be primarily on gravel roads. Well I signed up for it, so here goes. Something Nick taught me years ago, is to find out the course record and set your sights. It’s roughly 12hrs…So 12hrs is what we must shoot for.
Why is this topic surfacing today? Well we’re in the heart of criterium season in Texas. Between now and June there are few to no road races and endurance isn’t a key to ones training program. That said, tomorrow is really the only day I have with work, travel, and races where I can put in a “big day”. If Ben were here I know I’d have company; he’s not, so I’ll mostly be solo. The lights are on the bike and the alarm is set. I’ll be heading out at 5am and won’t come home till 5pm. The race itself is exciting in its own weird, masochistic sort of way, it’s tomorrow that I’m not looking forward too.
As one of the Regional guys, I can schedule in this sort of unorthodox race and training. It’s important to interact and engage with a different audience. It’s good for the team, sponsors and hopefully what I learn about myself during those dark fatigued filled moments will be good for me too…
Simon
