Our local group entered two team of 3 riders each. If one team gets in, we will have some support.
That’s like a worse case scenario! Thanks for the update. I think I’ll work my back out too (if I get in) before I do it.
In the other thread that @mcneese.chad mentioned I had said I was doing DK. Now things have changed. My wife leaves for Europe the day after the race, so I have no crew and I need to be home. I’ll fall back to The Epic 150 instead.
200 lottery! 
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I can top that for a worst-case scenario…got really sick the weekend before DK (Memorial Day weekend). Literally did not have enough strength to get out of bed…sinus congestion, horrible cough, massive fatigue…coughed so much and hard that I strained my rib cage muscles.
Rode twice that week and could barely turn the pedals around.
Still had lingering cough by race day, but though I could get through it. Suffice to say, I was very wrong. Body way too fatigued…wheels started coming off @ mile 60. Hoped the first aid station and a Coke would get me going again…nope.
I have never cramped on the bike before EVER and by mile 75 I was in full body cramps. Legs were completely seized…had to call my support team.
First ever DNF. 
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@Nate_Pearson just listened to the podcast today. A couple of additional points.
- 38 tires minimum and more people are going 40 or 42
- I used Terravail Cannonball 38. Zero flats. Might run then again or go with the cannonball 42
- there are some short steep climbs especially if the route heads out to Little Egypt (north I think) like last year. I had a 40 x 42 but couldn’t shift into smallest gear. I had to walk several hills in the last 50 miles because I wasn’t 1:100:
- there were HUGE ruts that you got stuck in and had to ride out until the bottom
- back and upper body are as important as legs
- 100% agree with @chad. First 100 miles should feel painfully slow. I thought mine did and it wasn’t slow enough!
- last and definitely not least, your goal should be to beat the sun
Here’s hoping we both get in
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A couple more
- be VERY careful about getting up to the front at the beginning. I got in the 14 hour group and it was still FAST. It is almost impossible to stay under your power goals if you are up front. Be warned
- don’t connect your phone to your computer. Or turn it to airplane mode. My Wahoo Roam was great. Plenty of battery left. But my iPhone died
- go slower in the feed zone and don’t forget something. Way more important than fast in and out but forgetting bottles or food
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Ha! Little Egypt!
We got out there on Little Egypt and it got hot. That was a decisive point in the race for lots of folks. Not just us. It was where THE MOVE happened and Collin broke away for the win. I love that road.
The 30 miles from mile 90 (start of little Egypt) to the 120 mile neutral water stop looked like a war zone with people lying on the side of the road. And the neutral water stop looked like a triage camp. After that it was just about survival!
@aydraper it was rough! That’s one more way to look at pacing the race starting out. I would have been MUCH BETTER OFF going out harder with a faster group…riding over my head a little…and letting them drag me up to Little Egypt before the day got hot.
Bottom line: if the EF Surprise Oasis had not been there I probably wouldn’t have been able to finish. 
You are going to crush it this year, though.
First things first. I need to get in!
Thanks for all the tips everyone!
What was your NP/AP and weight for that 14 hour group?
Can you talk a little more about that? How important is being in a group?
I’m so excited for you @Nate_Pearson, really hope you get in, you can hear the passion for it in your voice!!
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The first 50 miles of the current DK course heads north and is very flat. Comfortably under 2000ft of climbing during that stretch.
The next 13.5 miles (just before the first stop in Alma) or so are the hilliest on the course. 927ft of climbing over those 13.5 miles. The next 30 miles after Alma are 1773ft of climbing capped off by the wonderful Little Egypt road which is known for it’s scenic quality and steep ascent/descents…you’ll also be descending INTO the DKXL race at about that time. Those two sections (before Alma and between Alma and Little Egypt) were the back breakers. Literally for @aydraper.
I elected not to chase a fast group during the first 50 miles. By the time I got into Little Egypt temps were in the 90s & I suffer in the heat. What I’m saying is if I had decided to latch on to a fast group during that first 50 miles and got to Little Egypt a half hour earlier in 80 degree weather it might have been easier going.
There are a LOT of riders in that first 50 miles who will do work.
As to riding with a group in general, solo riders at DK should always be communicating & asking other riders around them if they want to ride together. Everybody wants to ride together. Almost nobody asks. If you ask and organize you’ll have a group of 8+ riders in no time.
My first DK200 I basically soloed the whole thing because I was too uptight to ask other riders to organize. My next DK I was asking everybody to ride.
In all my time riding DK the only person to ever say they wouldn’t ride with me was the Gravel Cyclist dude. Over the course of a few races he has always, always elected not to ride with me. Every time I asked he said no. And that’s ok! Everybody gets to have their own DK. But in general it’s true that pretty much every solo rider at DK would rather be riding with a group. So ask them!
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There are people in the first 50 miles that will die for you. Ha. I couldn’t believe how deep people were digging in the first quarter. There is no need to put your nose in the wind early. There will be someone else totally keen to do it for you.
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Here’s last year’s route, btw. I suspect it will be materially the same this year.
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Did you kick his dog or something?
I’ve never kicked a dog so it can’t be that.
Maybe NOBODY wants to ride with me and he’s the only one who has the courage to actually say it.
Maybe my aerobars turn him off.
Maybe my skinsuit turned him off.
Maybe he thought he was too tyred to roll turns.
I got the last laugh, though. His mechanic did me a big solid in Council Grove.
Seriously, though, it’s ok with me. I still watch most of his stuff and give him a thumb up. It’s all good.
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Thanks! The first 50 miles is usually into a headwind too, right?
In my head this strategy seems good:
0-50: Get in a good group the first 50 miles. Don’t bury yourself but put out some power.
50-100: Pace well, don’t kill yourself on the climbs. Don’t worry about staying with any group.
100-200: Talk to people and try to make your own pace group
What do you think?
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