Go West Middle Aged Man - Part 1 - Scene of the Crime

This mountain biking tour of the west included a Leadville Trail 100 course preview ride, a Leadville Race Series qualifier at Lake Tahoe, and a stop in Moab just because. I'll start in Denver.

"Will the owner of a black crewcab Ford pickup, Missouri license number XXX-XXX, please report to the customer service desk" the REI Denver public address speaker repeated, for a second or third time. After finding a few discount rack bargains, and proceeding to the checkout line, John and I noticed Dathan had disappeared. We assumed he'd went to customer service to see what the page was all about. 

John and I lingered in the main foyer for a few minutes, then made our way outside and awaited Dathan's return. John's phone rang, it was Dathan, and I watched and listened as his facial expression and tone of voice made the spiral from lighthearted jest to disbelief to anger. 

"Somebody stole my bike!" John exclaimed. 

Our mountain bike tour of the west was off to a rough start.

John and I made haste to the parking lot where we found Dathan talking with a REI representative. Both of them staring at the cut cable and empty slot on the 4-bike Kuat rack. 

The Grisly Scene

It's 11:30am, all bright and sunshiny, in the MIDDLE OF DENVER! We paid to park in the semi-secure lot adjacent to the store! Thievery is supposed to happen under the cover of darkness, in seedy out-of-the-way places.

Innocence lost.

John's Salsa Spearfish had been plucked from rack. The perp cut the cable, and likely pushed the bike over to the nearby rec. trail and rode away.

The Thief Thought We Might Not Notice

I hope the thief has flats and saddle sores on every ride from now on!

After several phone calls (police, wife, insurance) the realization settled in. John needed to find another bike. The show must go on. REI offered him a reasonable discount, but didn't have the bike John wanted. We headed over to Wheat Ridge Cyclery and John wasted little time picking out his new ride. While the bike shop prepped the bike we made a trip to the local police station where John filled out the stolen bike paperwork. We did find this helpful flyer in the station waiting area.

The PSA 

With the stolen bike properly reported, we drive back to Wheat Ridge Cyclery and pick up John's new whip. Time was of the essence as we'd planned to do a Leadville ride en route to Grand Junction. 

John's New Ride

The rack is full again.

We make the beautiful drive down to Leadville, arriving way too late in the day to carry out the pre-ride as planned. We have a couple of hours of daylight and use it to grind our way up St. Kevin. That first climb at +10,000ft. always makes you feel like a diet is in order. 

St. Kevin Scenic Overlook

I originally planned to ride the LT100MTB course from 6th street to the base of Powerline, then take the highway back to Leadville. With waning daylight, we cut it short and returned to Leadville after descending to Turquoise Lake.

Turquoise Lake Dam

The mountain air, the beautiful scenery, and bike riding were good for the soul after the day we'd experienced. We made it back to Leadville at dusk, loaded up the bikes and headed toward I-70 by way of Minturn. 

It's at this point we're attacked by a psychotic driver........

Dirty Kanza 2016

♪♫ Intro ♫♪

Thank you for being a friend

Traveled down the road and back again

Your heart is true, you're a pal and a confidant

"Thank you for being a friend"- Andrew Gold

May 31, 2014
Main Street music fades to the ratchet of my freehub and intermittent conversations of passersby as I push my bike through a parking lot off Merchant street.  I'm feeling high, not Denver dispensary high, but "race the sun" high. A young couple approaches, children in tow, "Thank you! Thank you for coming to Emporia!" the mother announces. She explains how much they appreciate the race and its positive impact on the community. A "thank you" from a complete stranger, a "thank you" for riding my bike in the beautiful flint hills. This is what makes Dirty Kanza special. 
That's why I keep coming back to gravel.

August 21, 2015
The evening prior to Gravel Worlds, team Kuat is doing our best to park the sprinter van in a far too small space near the Lincoln Nebraska downtown Holiday Inn. With the van situated for the evening, I notice Jim, Tim, and Kristi are arriving as well. Kristi makes haste over to us and gives me one of her trademark hugs. This act caught me by surprise, and touched my heart. Earlier that evening, at Cycle Works, Dan Hughes and Yuri Hauswald take time to share and explain intricate details of their gravel bikes to any and all. Their passion for riding is obvious. 
That's why I keep coming back to gravel.

April 30, 2016
Still recovering from my Trans Iowa effort, I'm driving The Epic course, providing SAG to the field. I come upon the tandem team of Jeff & Carrie Sona tending to a low tire pressure issue due to a sketchy valve stem. I top the tire off with my floor pump and give them a spare valve stem for insurance. They thank me and ride on. A few days later Carrie messages me and wants to know if I plan to attend Cedar Cross, she wants to bring me a package of valve stems for helping them out. I inform her it was a gift. 
That's why I keep coming back to gravel.

L to R Don Buttram, Jim Phillips, Jamie Wynne - Photo Credit: Jason Ebberts

Reluctantly crouched at the starting line

Engines pumping and thumping in time

The green light flashes, the flags go up

"The Distance"- Cake

June 4, 2016

Team Kuat was in tight formation during the melee of the notoriously non-neutral "neutral" roll-out down Commercial street. A wee hour deluge left a wading pool where a road used to be in the lowlands adjacent to the Cottonwood River. Our first taste of gravel, a fording. A few more miles, and in the distance I see riders stopped, left side of the road, right side of the road, middle of the road. I was dumbfounded, why is everyone stopping? It was about that time that I noticed the gritty buildup on my chainstays, I see the looks from the derailed riders. Their faces covered in "it's too early in the race for this to happen!" Mother nature was serving up drive-train destruction. I dare not shift, held my breath, soft pedaled like the first day of spin class. And then, as quickly as it appeared, it was gone. With the exception of a ghost shift or three, I was spat out the other side unscathed. A Jim Phillips road kill hop shed the remaining crumbs of destruction. 

Collin Little fording the Verdigris River

We regroup and braid a path southwest around I-35. Our pace, while slightly aggressive, finds consensus. Mile 23 has us climbing up to the cow pens and we start the decent that eventually leads us to the next fording, the Verdigris River. This section of the 200 mile route is nearly the same as years before. I expect wet feet and a muddy climb out. Photographers love this crossing, and we love seeing the familiar faces of Jason Ebberts and Linda Guerrette. 

So if you want me off your back
Well come on an' let me know

Should I stay or should I go?

"Should I stay or should I go"- The Clash

Three hours and fifteen minutes into the ride and we're at Madison High (mile 48) for checkpoint #1. Josh directs us to the Kuat van and we waste little time refueling. The short out and back to CP#1 allows some face time with riders ahead and behind our pace, as well as some tense traffic maneuvers. 

Jamie Wynne is greeted by a young fan at CP#1 Madison, KS

The Texaco Hill descent, at mile 66, is rough and aggressive. It was near the bottom, just prior to a cattle guard, I see a small crowd tending to a downed rider. As I got closer I notice several of the bystanders on cell phones. With 10 years of firefighting and EMS under my belt, I could read the gravity of the situation. I knew several of the riders tending the injured, quickly assessed the situation in my head, and decided to ride on. But as I pass close by, I could see what produced the serious tone. A rider had crashed hard on the descent, with substantial damage to his face. He was semi-conscious, and bleeding profusely. I rode a few feet past this scene and stopped. I couldn't do it, I couldn't ride on without checking to see if I could help. I needed to know that the crowd included persons with medical emergency experience. A quick chat with Josh Schrock, and I was assured there were qualified people on scene. I would later find out that the injured rider was Thomas Adams, from Stillwater, OK. While Thomas suffered substantial injury, (broken jaw, teeth kocked out, and facial lacerations) he's currently on the mend. For that, I'm so thankful. Casual Cyclist (Bobby Thompson) was one of many that came to Thomas' aid. Well done Bobby. Read his story.

Mile 70 - Teter Hill Road - Photo Credit: Linda Guerrette 

We'd previously discussed a team effort to race the sun, and I knew that would be tough. The chances of 4 teammates maintaining the same pace for 200 miles of gravel are low, but the attempt was made. Collin is antsy, briefly off the front, then easing back. Around mile 85 he discusses pace with me. Collin wants to collect the 1,000 mile Weiss Goblet and beat the sun. I admire the goal, and offer my suggested pace to get the job done. "You need to average above 14.25 to have a chance to beat sundown", I offered, "and we're currently at a 14 mph average." Collin falls back a bit and discusses his plan with Kuat teammate Jim Phillips. A few minutes later he comes around me, hell bent for Eureka. I wish him well.

When I grow up, I want a trading card. 

DK Cover model, Jamie Wynne, Gutting it up Teter Hill

My celebrity friend, sans beard.

♪♫ Bridge ♫♪

The tales they tell of men

I'm not waiting on a lady

I'm just waiting on a friend

"Waiting on a friend" - The Rolling Stones

The northerly wind, like a light push from the hand of a friend, made the final 10 miles to Eureka a joy, but we all knew what's coming. Collin had put some distance on Jim and I since his departure, and was in and out of the 100 mile CP#2 at Eureka about 15 minutes ahead of us. Upon arrival, Jim hit a low point. The wind and heat had shoved him to the back of the pain cave. Jim Bruer of Stillwater, came over and offered Jim a cool place to rest in a nearby motor-home. Later, I find that he'd received a spa treatment. We rest a bit and wait for Jamie to join us before the northerly push back to Madison.

Cooling my undercarriage at the 100 mile CP#2 - Eureka, KS - Photo Credit: Carrie Sona

Collin Little & Mark Gullet at CP#2 Eureka, KS

Josh performs his bike maintenance magic, and me, I drank and ate, and drank, and ate. Honestly, I was feeling good. In endurance sports there's an old adage, "No matter how good or bad you feel, it won't last." Jamie arrives and begins the rest and refuel process. We're nearing departure from CP#2 when Andrea Cohen comes over to the Kuat pop-up to visit with us. We invite her to join in the push back to the red brick pavers on Main St. Madison. 
She accepts. 
Little did I know, her addition is key to my DK200 finish.

I don't know about anyone but me
If it takes all night, that'll be all right
If I can get you to smile before I leave
"Running On Empty" - Jackson Browne

The push East out of Eureka is hot, but we're fresh and not yet battling the wind. Fellow Missouri cyclist and friend, David Pryor joins our cycling soirée for a few miles, then blasts on to Madison. All the fun and games come to a grinding halt about mile 128 when we turn North. Like so many others, we stop and cool off at Rocky Ford. At mile 131, just south of hwy. 54, Jim and Jamie decide to call it a day and find SAG at the intersection of 54 and Rd. 387. I ride on North with Andrea. Collin is 45 minutes off the front, battling the wind, heat, and humidity en route to Madison.

Endurance cycling fact: Your thirst increases exponentially for every mile you know you're out of water. I've depleted my 3 bottle supply and this weighs heavy on my mind. Andrea gave me a small portion of her remaining small portion of water. "It's got electrolytes in it," she tells me. I would have drank it with dead flies in it. We connect with Bobby Wintle and Seth Wood somewhere in the desert between Rocky Ford and Madison. I see the voluminous bottles attached to Seth Wood's  fork, and study them intently for sloshing. No sloshing found. The ever generous Seth repeatedly offers me some of his remaining water supply, but I didn't want to jeopardize his race. We connect with Josh Lederman and he shares a portion of his water supply with me. This section is dry, if you haven't determined from my dehydration ramble. If only the Kuat van were here with water and gummy worms for all. We're a mere 3 miles from CP#3 (mile 161) and there's a farmhouse with a table and a hose near the mailbox. I drank 20 ounces in a fashion akin to a world championship round of Gelande Quaffing.  

We pedal on to Madison.

It's better to feel pain, than nothing at all
The opposite of love's indifference
So pay attention now
"Stubborn Love" - The Lumineers


This was a dark point for me. I had pains from my temples to my toes. The bucket of water I downed back at the farmhouse didn't help my appetite, and I need to eat. This was a dark point for Collin as well. I found him kicked back in the Kuat van at CP#3. He's been waiting for me to arrive. I rest, refuel, and adjust my front brake. Collin is ready to ride and heads out 20 minutes ahead of me. I wait for Andrea. On the way out of Madison, Big Dave shouts to me, informing that Bobby and Seth have left a few minutes earlier. I want to catch them for company during darkness.

Andrea and I have newfound energy after CP#3 and make short work of a fairly aggressive climb at mile 164. As the night comes we connect with Bobby and Seth. I love the synergy of our group, and I really love that we're on the final leg of the day with 40-ish miles to go. In the final moments of daylight, around mile 178, we stop to light up and eat a bite. Our friend Shawn O'Mara rides up to our party. We are 5 strong. In Shawn's own words, "After hours upon hours of solo rolling, coming upon old friends (& new) in the dark Kanza night was an oasis for my cycling soul." We are determined, and push hard to Emporia. The final miles of Dirty Kanza are always special, but in the company of good friends, even more so.

The Finish Push with the Emporia Express

This group worked so well together. A gravel ballet begins with each member taking a pull, then bowing to the back. It's truly a thing of beauty. We're all rewarded for our work buy pushing the groups average mph to 15.2 in the last 26 miles. On road R, just south of the Neosho river, around mile 197, I see Collin just ahead. Our group is wound like an 8-day clock and I invite him to jump on the train to Commercial St. He told me his pace was set, and he was doing all he could. After watching the lights of Emporia for what seemed like hours, we enter the ESU tunnel under I-35, and chug up the Highland St. hill. A quick tour thru campus, and behold, what we've been waiting 17-1/2 hours for, the Dirty Kanza finish chute. 

Music. Hand tags over the barrier. Warm fuzzies.

We can rest now. Hugs. That glass.

I tell Kid Riemer, pointing to Andrea "That girl, she's straight-up carbon fiber." he says, "Yes, I know."

I see Tim, and ask where I can find Kristi. 

I need a hug.

Myself and Andrea at the Finish

 ♪♫ Coda ♫♪

In a chair at the mouth of the Sunflower pop-up with Tim, Dan, Jon, and others, I'm offered the remains of a whiskey bottle, I accepted.

My 4th, and most enjoyable day on the Kanza.

That's why I keep coming back to gravel.

We know the game and we're gonna play it
And if you ask me how I'm feeling
Don't tell me you're too blind to see
"Never Gonna Give You Up" - Rick Astley

If you want the classical composition to my garage band power chords, check out Janeen McCrae's version of DK here.

For the love of the ride, read Yuri Hauswald's words.

For perspective from the leading edge of the race, read Mike Easter's 

DK200 race report.

For all things gravel, check out The Gravel Cyclist

Behind the Lens

Linda Guerrette - Linda Guerrette Photography
Jason Ebberts - TBL Photography
Patrick Evenson - Coverage Photography

From the amazing lens of Andy White I share the DK200 2016 Champions

2016 DK200 Womens Champion - Amanda Nauman

2016 DK200 Mens Champion - Ted King

#racklove

Trans Iowa V12

The Interim

I'm struggling here. I know the post "big event" dip all too well. In the days following, you feel a sense of loss and depression. That "what do I do now?" feeling. You second guess your training leading up to the big event. You question nearly everything you do and have done. Maybe you're less than pleasant to be around. 

As I write this, I'm nearing two weeks after my finish at Trans Iowa. I've been battling all of the above. My left hand is still numb, specifically at the finger tips. I've been dealing with a virus for the last 2 weeks. My compromised immune system allowed this beast to settle in, afflicting me with headaches, cough, fever, and lethargy.

Jim Phillips and I at The Cedar Cross - May 7th, 2016

On a bright note, I'm recovering and feeling much better. This coming weekend (May 7th) I'm heading to Jefferson City MO to enjoy 110 miles of The Cedar Cross. This race is a mash-up of gravel racing, mountain biking, and self flagellation. Racing Cedar Cross was a motivational tool to get me back on the bike. June 4th I will be in Emporia KS for 200 miles of the Flint Hills. Regardless of the conditions, The Dirty Kanza is never easy. 

Cedar Cross

Heading to Iowa - L-R Myself, Collin Little, Jim Phillips, Jamie Wynne

Trans Iowa v12 - Prologue

Sunday morning, shortly after sunrise #2, Jamie, JT and I have been riding for 27 hours and we're approaching the City of Baxter Iowa. In the distance I notice what appears to be the city limits sign. Jamie and I are side by side, enjoying a rare glassy smooth stretch of pave. No words, just an exchange of looks. I hear a servo chirp from Jamie's Di2, I drop a cog, we stand, we sprint. Jamie takes the city limits sign sprint win.....at mile 286. We still have 54 miles to reach the finish line. Right there, that's why I love him. 

Trans Iowa v12 - Sunrise #1

Trans Iowa v12 Starting Line

My memory of the events leading up to the Baxter Iowa sprint are fuzzy, like a dream recalled in fractured segments.

3:50 AM Saturday morning, and I'm chatting with Corey Godfrey near the start line. I've been riding endurance gravel for +5 years and this morning, I see many friends and familiar faces. It's a narrow spectrum of riders that "enjoy" this hobby. A few words from Mark, a blast of the horn, and we're rolling conservatively fast and furious toward checkpoint #1 at 50 miles.  

Trans Iowa Starting Line

At a post race meeting, I was asked about my race day plan. In all honesty, I didn't have a global plan, not one detailed in hard copy. I had an immediate goal of sticking with team Kuat to checkpoint #1 at 50 miles. We had to average right at 12 mph to make it before the cutoff. Three hours, thirty-three minutes later, we arrive at check point #1 with a 15 mph average. 

Step #1 successfully completed. 

At mile 70, nearly 5 hrs into the ride I stop at a Casey's in Victor, Iowa. The place is busy, buzzing with riders refueling, in search of the elusive "real food". I want a slice of pizza, but it was disappearing at rate typically reserved for bread and milk before the snow storm. My team Kuat friends had split up, with Jim and Collin ahead of me, and Jamie trailing me by a few minutes. I down a sandwich and chips, load up on liquids, then head North.

Saturday Morning - Mile 90 Climbing the 13th Ave. Hill

Somewhere around the 100 mile mark, I hear a familiar voice behind me shout "Nice bike". The voice is Jim Cummins'. He's complimenting my bike because, it's a righteously good lookin' bike.....and it used to be his righteously good looking bike. Jim is riding with Scott Omara and Warren Wiebe. We spend the next several hours visiting and making our way North to the next source of sustenance, a convenience store in Traer Iowa at TI mile 132. By Traer, we've been riding for 9 hours and 40 minutes and we're hungry for some more "real food". 

My Fargo in its natural habitat

We leave Traer and continue the push North, assisted by a much appreciated tailwind. This section is highlighted by an arrow straight 10 mile run up Ansborough avenue. Nice hard pack gravel, perfect weather, and that tailwind. Even with 150 miles on the legs, this section was a joy.  

The Interim

I have the luxury of like-minded friends willing to train with me for hours and hours. Months prior to Trans Iowa, nearly every weekend was spent exploring new routes that Collin had mapped. Gravel exploration exposes you to areas that you would otherwise never see. There's beauty in this world that is muted, or altogether removed by the creature comforts of the modern automobile.

Sunrise Training Ride

In these hours we talk life, love, politics, religion, and more importantly, bikes and bike racing. At times we just bitch and moan, it's clinically therapeutic to bitch and moan. 

Jim, thanks for documenting our rides so well.

Trans Iowa v12 - The Sunset

Thirteen hours, fifteen minutes, and 165 miles after leaving Grinnell, we arrive in Hudson, Iowa. I'm still travelling with Jim, Scott and Warren. At this point in the race, Jim Phillips is off the front at +1 hour, Collin is leaving the convenience store a few minutes after I arrive, and Jamie arrives a few minutes after I do. We rest, we fuel, we ride.

From Hudson we're heading primarily West toward Grundy Center at TI mile 189. It's getting dark, and during the stop in Grundy Center we fuel and adjust clothing layers accordingly. 

Jamie and I had been leap frogging one another for 20 hours now. I come upon him at an intersection near the 200 mile mark. I let Team Emporia ride away and joined Jamie and JT. We would spend the remaining 140 miles together. 

 Trans Iowa v12 - The Darkness

We continue the push South toward the Iowa River valley. Around TI mile 220, Jamie, JT, and I are descending a hill on the rutted B road, 270th Ave. JT caught a front wheel in one the ruts and face planted hard. We both thought this might be the end of JT's Trans Iowa. We had him sit while we assessed him for damage, and quickly deemed his wounds superficial. His headlight required some McGyver engineering, but the bike controls were sound. 

Twenty hours, and 236 miles in and I feel a serious bonk heading my way. It's 1:20 am Sunday and I need some calories. We stop for a nature break and I tell Jamie that I need some real food soon. He offers me half of the breakfast burrito that he'd been packing since Grinnell. I'm not sure what the shelf life is for a breakfast burrito, but that might have been the best thing I've ever tasted, at least that's how I remember it.

It's 3:10am when we arrive in State Center, Iowa. TI mile 265. We're out of food and water. We cross a set of railroad tracks and find a closed convenience store. We sat down for bit, unsure what to do next. Luckily JT pulled out his phone and determined there was a convenience store a mile further. Otherwise we may have sat there for days. 

Little did we know, Collin and Jim had left this c-store 15 minutes before we arrived. I remember Jamie and I slumped in the floor of the Caseys, leaning against the coffee island. We had no words, but listened to the clerk explain to a coworker how nobody wanted to work very hard these days. With warm food and rest came the strong desire for sleep. We found the energy to get up and head back out to the bikes.

Single speeder, Jeremy Kershaw rode up as we were loading bottles. He exclaimed that he'd been riding alone for hours, obviously elated to see a convenience store and people. He asked Jamie, "How far out is the lead group?" Jamie paused, looked him square in the eye, and said, "I don't know what that means?". 

Trans Iowa v12 - Sunrise #2 The Deep Gravel

Jamie and JT - Somewhere in Iowa

After that city limits sign sprint in Baxter, the gravel got mean. Deep chunky gravel that tries to make you bleed. Combined with continuous rollers, this was soul crushing. 

It was one of the final stretches due East that I looked down. I kept seeing bright flashes of light. The flashes were reminiscent of the sun reflecting off the surface of water. The first time, I just dismissed it as a rogue reflection, the second time I was looking for the source of this phenomenon. I failed to find it. I discussed this with Jamie, and he said with certainty, "there are no flashes of light coming from your tires, ride on". 

At mile 335, we stop at an intersection to drink. I post this to Facebook. I remember reading it several times over in my head, making sure it made some sense. 

It did.

Trans Iowa v12 

 Jim Phillips - 11:11am (31hrs:11min)

 Collin Little - 11:24am (31hrs:24min)

 Jamie Wynne - 12:06pm (32hrs:06min)

 Don Buttram - 12:06pm (32hrs:06min)

Jamie, Myself, and JT at the finish. 

At the Finish Line - Left to Right, Jamie Wynne, Jim Phillips, Collin Little, Don Buttram

Austin Rattler 2016

Mountain bike racing is not pretty, I have pictures to prove it. 

Yours Truly At the Finish

My goal: Travel to Rocky Hill Ranch, race hard and secure a slot in the Leadville 100 MTB this coming August. Others had similar ambitions, LOTS of others. If my aging chicken legs, didn't produce the finish time necessary for a Leadville coin, plan B had me vying for spot via qualifier lottery. 

My friend Dathan Atchison invited me to carpool down with his family. The trip was enjoyable, and the drive time passed quickly. We traveled on Thursday, for a Saturday race. 

Friday we made the quick trip from our hotel in Bastrop, out to Smithville for packet pick-up and to pre-ride the course with Dave Wiens and other racers. I'm an unabashed Dave Wiens fanboy. He's a Topeak Ergon team member, a two-time US National Mountainbike Champion, multiple worldcup winner, member of the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame, and rounding out his resume are SIX consecutive Leadville 100 MTB wins! 

But the accolades are not why I'm a fan. Dave will ride the course with you, offering valuable insight to everyone from the first time racer, to the seasoned pro. He's genuine and humble, the world needs more of that. Oh, and by the way, Saturday, he won the Austin Rattler. When Dave speaks, listen.

Wiens on the course at Austin Rattler 2016

With a feel for the course under our belts, Dathan and I called it quits after 8-10 miles. We'd have our fill on Saturday.

____________________________________

Saturday morning the weather looking promising with only a 20% chance of afternoon showers. The field at Rocky Hill Ranch was large, 575 in the 100k race alone. 

The 100k Starting Line

With the traditional shot gun blast by race director Josh Colley, we're off to the races. The first lap of (3) bypasses the immediate single track in favor a double track climb to break up the field prior to entering the single. The pace is aggressive, and I'm working hard to maintain my solid position as mid-pack fodder. The course offers variety to suite every rider's taste. Dusty double track, open cow path single (which felt like babyhead cobbles), some of the tightest wooded single I've ridden to-date, and straight up gravel road.

The ONLY time I was clean during the race.

I'm focused and riding solid. I finish the first lap with +13 mph average. There's plenty of opportunities to drink and eat on this course. I'm sharing the Atchison family support crew, they kept me fueled and got me in-and-out in stellar fashion! 

My lap number 2 was solid, albeit at a bit slower pace. (11.4 mph avg.) It was nice having a good idea as to what was coming up next on the course. Lap number 3 was different. It started sprinkling rain about 5 miles from the finish. At 4 miles to go, the sprinkles turned to a deluge. What had previously been sweet berms was now muddy, greasy face plant material. I backed off my pace in the muddy sections and finished the race in 5hr:18m:59s. 

  

With this being the first Leadville qualifier of 2016, the field was tough. My finish time did not merit a Leadville coin. I was left to the luck of the draw during the lottery portion of the racers that finished under the cutoff time. It was not my lucky day. I plan to head to Leadville in July to compete in the Silver Rush 50. My goal for Silver Rush, same as before, race hard and secure a Leadville 100 MTB position. 

 "I Never Lose. I Either Win
Or Learn."
~ Nelson Mandela

Dathan went on to rock the Rattler with a phenomenal 4:28:28. A time worthy of Leadville entry on performance virtue. Dathan, well done brother! Congratulations, you're heading to the race across the sky!

Dathan Atchison on the 2016 Austin Rattler Course

 This weekend, April 23-24, I'm off to Grinnell Iowa for a bike ride with friends.

'Til we ride again.
Cheers,
db

Land Run 100

Photo Credit- James Gann

The Scene: 2016 Land Run 100 finish line.

District Bicycles- Stillwater Oklahoma. 

Bobby wants us to #unlearnpavement. What is that?

"Something that allows each person the opportunity to begin to find out who they really are, and what they are capable of. This is the heart of unlearnpavement."
    ~Bobby Wintle

 "What's he on?", says a bystander.

Bobby's "on" a mission. A mission to make each and every one of the nearly 500 riders and runners feel the love that he has for them as they cross the finish line. He wants us all to see the world as an exciting place to be.

He's "on" for 7 plus hours. He's "on" unbridled enthusiasm, and the world needs a helluva lot more of it. 

Bobby wants you to get a glimpse of how he sees the world. A world ripe with adventure possibilities. He knows the secret. Shared suffering. He knows friendships forged in trying times are strongest. He knows that feeling of satisfaction that overwhelms you when you've completed something that once seemed insurmountable.

Don't show up at Land Run with an easy day in mind. You're at the wrong race. Most of the riders experienced the difficulties of the 2015 race, or at least seen pictures. The fleeting moments of muddy bravado, punctuated by expensive noises. 

Be prepared to hike-a-bike, or risk an early race day retirement. 

When I'm here, I feel at home. I'm among like minded, caring, and loving friends. I truly enjoy seeing these friends take on this challenge, a challenge that may have defeated them in the past, and find redemption in the red clay mud.  

Why gravel?

My answer is simple. Modern roads have been engineered to reduce the time it takes to get from point A to point B. Fair enough, I appreciate that when I'm driving. But when I'm riding gravel I get to enjoy stretches of road that I would never drive. I get to enjoy the true lay of the land. I see, hear, and smell the world at large. I can ask the question, "Where does that road go?" and then find out.

And when I get to take that adventure with friends, that's just icing on a seven layer cycling cake.

I was asked, "Do you know everybody here?".........not yet.

Bobby, Crystal, Team District Bicycles, all the wonderful, welcoming volunteers, Stillwater, thank you for the family reunion. 

Photo Credit- James Gann

Much Love,

 db