DK200 Race Report Part II

It was Emporia’s own Matt Brown with two other riders in the lead of the DK200! Oh man! I know Matt likes to start strong because of his racing background but holy cow to be in the lead of this year’s stacked field was pretty incredible. Then I began to worry about him finishing if he was pushing that hard already. I was pulling for him to finish this year. I think he gets a lot of grief for never finishing the DK200. I told him earlier that week this was his year to finish it. He has had heat stroke and with the weather usually being hot enough to fry eggs on the gravel, the DK200 becomes a dangerous affair for him. But this year, hell I was wearing a jacket as I shot these photos it was so chilly. As he passed me he said,

“The lead group took and wrong turn and got off course.” Oh OK, now I understood. And here’s the deal. The leaders that ended up in the top ten were way back in the field of riders now. They would have to  fight to regain the lead. I wondered how they all would hold up because of the effort they would have to put forth to get to the front. But just think, if that wrong turn wasn’t made Cameron Chamber’s record would have been blown out of the water. But finding your way is all part of the DK200 experience. And at this point Matt was in the front.

 There go the top three 25 to 30 miles into the DK200

I am going to put ALL the pics out here soon. I know you want to see yourself in the Flint Hills, if I did shoot you. For this post I am publishing some of the really good ones.

 Here come Gunnar Shogren and Rusty Folger

 And there they go!

 Joe Fox from Cycle City!

 Some guy in red having a ball! OK, so I don’t know everyone.

All these riders at this point, very early in the race, are in front of some very fast and skilled riders. They would soon catch up and pass these mere mortals. But is was cool while it lasted.

 

 Wait, is that a number one coming up from behind? That would be last year’s winner, the human diesel, Dan Hughes.

 Dan on his own picking off riders to get to the front

 

 Here come some Salsa riders that were also contenders to win

 Tim Ek and Joe Meiser from Salsa!

I was shooting and having a blast rooting these guys on. We were on Texaco Hill, the first big hill of the race. It’s a long, steep climb that these riders made look easy.

 

 Is that? Yes it is.

 It’s Cornbread, another favorite to win!

 

 

 Chamois Butt’r team

 Bobby Smith seems to be glowing he’s so happy early in the race

Wait a minute, is that? Yes it is! Here comes the Queen of Pain, Rebecca Rusch!

 The Flint Hills

 There she goes and would end up finishing third even though she’s way back in the pack at this point.

 Jed Sampsel from Emporia!

 Here comes Matt Gersib another contender and wait a minute, is he pulling a gun on me?

 

 

 

 The beauty of the Flint Hills

 A course marker. I was going off course to get to Battle Creek Hill without bothering riders

We got to Battle Creek Hill and waited. Since I was shooting into the sun I wanted to use a flash at a high sync speed. I tested it out on Scott as we waited.

 Battle Creek Hill. And here come some riders!

 The leaders were switching places by this point. There’s Gunnar!

 Rusty was riding on his own at this point

 Two powerhouses – Dan Hughes and Corey “Cornbread” Godfrey

 Tim Ek grinding up the hill

 Matt Brown!

 I have never seen a team have as much fun as the Chamois Butt’r Team. That’s a group of great guys with great sportsmanship too.

 Battle Creek Hill

 

 

 

That’s Emporia’s Randy Smith!

Emporia’s  Scott O’mara!

It was interesting to see how the riders were riding and who they were teamed up with or if they were on their own.

 Some happy guy!

Jed Sampsel from Emporia, the Veggie Gravel Grinder, going strong

Garret Seacat, sort of from Emporia riding strong too

I shot a bunch more pictures and then we got out of there. I needed some gas, since we were expecting to be in the helicopter I wasn’t prepared, and I wanted to check in on the Pablove Grub support crew.

 Pablove Grub Support tent

The Pablove Grub support crew was manned by Adrian’s family and friends. They are not cyclists and have never done anything like this before. I have to say, I was blown away with how well they did. But more importantly, the riders loved them. The Pablove Grub support crew took great care of their riders and even took care of other riders too. They were an amazing bunch. I think they fell in love with cycling a little bit that day too. If you are a rider and have good things to say about them, please email Jim Cummings or me. All money raised goes directly to the Pablove Shutterbugs program. Here’s a video about the program and one about Pablo and his family that started The Pablove Foundation. Here’s the Adventure Monkey page if you want to give.

“It’s About You” Pablove and Nike Livestrong from tyler whisnand on Vimeo.

 The Pablove Grub tent was there as a beacon of hope for their riders

 The Salsa support crew was set with Ryan Horkey large and in charge

 Joe Meiser at checkpoint one – kissing babies and shredding gravel

I spent some time talking with everyone and seeing how all the Emporia riders were holding up. The weather at this point was amazingly nice. I had no sympathy for any whiners at this point in the race. Then Jed’s wife Reneé grabbed me and asked if I was good at fixing bikes. Those that know me well will be laughing right now, but I have gotten better at taking bikes apart and putting them back together. Just don’t ask me to do any plumbing or woodworking. Anyway, Jed’s chain had a bad link and was shifting erratically. I helped take the link out and tried to put a SRAM masterlink in its place. I couldn’t get it to click for the life of me. And every time I put some muscle into it I was surprised at how much of my pectoralis muscle was needed to fix a chain. Because of open heart surgery, this was giving me some pain. Crap! I felt bad for Jed having a mechanical that could keep him out of the race. Finally I looked around for someone I knew could help. I saw the amazing chops of Joel Dyke. He saved the day and Jed was able to continue on.

There were some good, technical spots to shoot in the second leg of the race, but I didn’t want to take my wife’s pretty, new Rav Sport on those roads so Scott and I took the highways to checkpoint two and waited to see how the field of riders was looking.

 Even though he took a wrong turn and got back in the field, the human diesel, Dan Hughes showed up first to checkpoint two.

 Dan was in and out of the checkpoint very quickly

 Kristi Mohn, Race Director and Traffic Cop extraordinaire

 Rusty Folger came in the midway checkpoint in the number two spot

 Cornbread was #3

Rebecca Rusch came in like 11th but left so quick I think she shot into 3rd.

 

 Rebecca was caught smiling in most of my pics – even when grinding up hills with 20 miles to go to the finish. Yes, she is the Queen of Pain.

 The finish line was incredible this year!

At this point it was in the upper 80s and I heard I few riders complain of the heat at the midway checkpoint. I had no sympathy. I went back to E-town with Scott to download files and see how things were going downtown. Then I shot over to the last checkpoint in Council Grove to see how the lead group was shaking out. I was having fun watching the DK200 from the view of a spectator but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t hurting inside. I wanted to be on a bike.

I got to Council Grove and found out the leaders were already there and gone. Hmm, they are going at a record pace now. At the midway checkpoint we didn’t think any records would be broken that day. Now things were heating up!

I knew there were some big hills by Lake Kahola so I raced there. I didn’t see any racers for quite awhile. Dang it! I really wanted to get some shots of them on the last leg. Finally I came upon the leaders. I passed slowly as to not stir up too much dust (sorry guys) and waited on the hill leading out of the Kahola Lake Valley.

 Here come Dan and Rusty

 And there they go!

 Here comes Rebecca Rusch!

 

 I shot a few more riders and then sped into Emporia for the finish

 Here they come!

Dan and Rusty beat the old record by one minute!

 Rebecca Rusch comes in third overall and shatters the previous women’s record!

 

 Rebecca and Dan – Champions of the Gravel

 I shot more riders (check out the Pablove Grub sign back there!) before finally feeling like I rode the DK200 myself

Cornbread!

This was the most active I had been in eight weeks. I suddenly felt tired and very cranky. I had to go home and cool down for a bit before returning to the finish line.

 I came back to watch all the night finishers.

 Matt Brown and Scott O’mara! Matt finally tamed that beast.

 

 Mikey caught his second wind.

 Bobby Wintle speeds across the finish for a successful day!

Then, I hate to say, the weight of the camera and the bag got the best of me. I had to put them away. I have a few more shots, but missed a lot of our Emporia riders. My feet ached, my chest was sore, but it was a great day. I stayed at the finish line until the last Pablove Grub rider came in at 2:28 am.

My favorite story though was of Sam Tovar, my friend and the doctor that heard the heart murmur for the first time. He was two to three miles from town when he went over a bridge in the dark. His skinny tire got caught between the slats and he went head over heels and his face became one with the ground. His rim was bent and the tire would no longer hold air but he could see the lights of Emporia just ahead. Never a quitter, he pushed and carried his bike the rest of the way. He crossed the finish line with a loose tooth and bloodied face with his bike on his shoulder. Wow. Much respect Sam.

That was a great day! Next year, I will be on the bike.

Feed Your Monkey!
Eric