Final preparations for DK! #fueledbyscience #thisismaplewood #justanotherdayonthebike

This past weekend I spend some time in Lawrence, KS, riding some gravel with the guys out of Sunflower Outdoor & Bike Shop. Saturday we did a loop out to Topeka with a some climbing in the first half of the ride. On the way back to Lawrence we had a long flat sections with a tailwind where we got to rolling.
My shoulder and ribs held up good for the most part. I still feel the ribs when my heart rate gets over 165 bpm. Hopefully at DK most of the day will just be rolling and not too much hammering.
On Sunday, we did parts of the loop from Saturday. I didn't have lots of time so I turned back with a few of the guys. We had a good pace line going but we kept things under control.
As I go into the final week, I hope that I have everything in place. My training has been good even with the crash a couple weeks ago. I need to make sure this week that I rest and recover.

Dirty Kanza is almost here.

Less than two week out Dirty Kanza will be here. I can say my training has gone well and even with having the wreck on May 14th, I still should be ready. My shoulder & ribs are healing but still a little sore. On Sunday, I rode 95 miles on the road instead of doing The Hairy Hundred gravel race. I didn't think it was probably real smart to try to race just a week after the race. My long ride went well, but my neck did seem to get a little more sore as the ride went on.
I have started to pack for DK and with the help from Lindy, who has done the race a few times, and I think I will be ready. The most important thing is that I make myself eat & drink during the race. I have a problem of trying to push on through, but this is going to be 200 miles! I will have the opportunity to have 3 bag drops at 2 different locations along the race. I also have a couple guys reach out to me about riding together. This should be good to have a few familiar faces out on the race course.

Not what I wanted to happen!!

 Sunday  Tuesday

Every cyclist has a day they wish they could "do over". Mine was this past Sunday. While on a group ride, a teammate in front of me went down and I ended up going over the top of him and landed on the pavement. The first thing that went through my mind was - did I break anything & will I be able to race Dirty Kanza.
I had hit the ground hard and mainly on my shoulder. I had also hit my head but not real bad. My shoulder was sore and scrapped but I could move it. My teammate was ok but his bike was banged up. He had to get a ride home but my bike was ok, so I rode home.
I went to urgent care to get looked at when I got home. The x-rays showed I had chipped my clavicle but no broken ribs even though it felt like it. I was able to get into an orthopedic doctor on Tuesday and have another look at the x-rays. The ortho doctor said I couldn't have chipped the clavicle at a better spot and I should be able to ride as long as I would handle the pain. He said to be careful riding outside until I had more range of motion in the shoulder.
Tuesday evening I got back on the bike on the trainer and rode for 2 hours. There is pain but not as bad as it was on Sunday riding home. I have 16 days until DK to get healed up. That is not much time, but hopefully I will heal fast.
Dirty Kanza is going to be a really tough race going into it healthy and fully prepared. I know I have put in the work, so it is going to be a challenge to see if my body will hold up to the 12-13 hours of pounding on gravel that day.

Final big ride for Dirty Kanza.

Saturday was a good day on the bike. I was able to get in 160 miles and the legs felt great. I was a little upset that I didn't get to head out to the Katy Trail, but since it was still flooded in areas, I decided to get some climbing in. I rode the first half of the day with the boys and the Hub group. It was great to sit in the pack and not half to work as we rolled along. The second half of the day I went out into Wildwood to get in some hills. I was really happy to average over 19 mph for the day, but my body was cooked when I got home. Today I rode about 58 miles and some how my body recovered really well. I thought about going farther, but rest is also part of training plan. Next weekend is all about resting and recovering. May 21st is The Hairy Hundred, then Dirty Kanza is June 3rd.

Wet weekend on the bike.

This past weekend was wet, no other way to put it. Saturday's ride was one of the wettest rides I have done in a long time. Starting off the early morning in the dark and pouring rain wasn't easy. The good thing there wasn't much wind and the temperature was mild. About 30ish miles into the ride I punctured my front tire going down a hill. After quickly putting in a tube (I run tubeless), I was off again. I think if I didn't have Dirty Kanza in a month, I probably would have turned home around 40 miles out because it was raining so hard. I am glad I kept going since it turned out to be a good ride overall. This weekend I have one more really long ride (160ish miles) and will do most of that on the Katy Trail. Hopefully the trail won't be washed out from all the flooding we are having right now.