Week #21 American Legion Post 197 Gravel Mission

Nice to have Lindy Carroll and Roger Williams come into town for the American Legion Post 197 Gravel Mission 100 miler. Lindy and I were able to go out to Joy's bench Friday afternoon.
Saturday was a great day and the gravel roads were in really good shape. The course was two loops and we had a good group working. Once we got into the second loop, Roger and I pulled away and things were going good. Unfortunately, Roger's stomach started to give him problems and he had to slow up. I went ahead and got the win. Roger won the military division. Lindy had a solid race. This was his second 100 mile race in 6 days. Overall a real good day on the gravel.
I am feeling good going into DK. The roads will probably be a little muddy in places and we will have some streams to cross. Hopefully everything goes well and it will be great to see everyone this weekend.

Week #20 Getting ready for Dirty Kanza

It was a good week on the bike. I got in a little over 400 miles in preparation for DK. I feel my training has gone well this year in compared to the past couple years before this race.

Saturday Josh and I got in a good long ride. We started a little after 3am in the rain and headed down the trail. The wind wasn't as bad as I had expected but we did get wet for the first hour and a half. By the time it was getting light we were heading west on our way to Ohiowa to ride the Lazy Horse Gravel Grinder and had a tailwind. That soon stopped and the wind switched to a cross wind along wind loose gravel. Not sure how many miles we went on a straight, flat stretch of road before we got to Ohiowa. With the rain the night before, they shorten the course to 50ish miles, but that still gave us around 130 miles for the day. It was a very nice event and great for the first time rider to get out and try so some gravel.

Looking forward to DK this year. I definitely have learned a few things the last couple of years. Anything can happen in 200 miles, but I feel like I will be prepared well. With all the races so far this year, my body is holding up well and happy to be riding the Lauf this year.

Week #19 The Sandhills

This week I got to go back to western Nebraska and spend some time with family. My nephew graduated from high school and I got to spend a little time out on the bike. As most days in western Nebraska, the wind blows. Saturday was no exception. After battling headwinds for the first 40 some miles, a nice tailwind pushed me back. Sunday was a much nicer day and I was able to get out onto some gravel. I always forget how sandy the gravel is around there. There were also lots of ruts in the roads from all the rain this spring.
This week it's back to getting some good miles in. Dirty Kanza is only 3 weeks away, so time to get busy.

Week #18 Actually a week of not racing

This week I actually got to stay home and didn't go to a race. April was a good month with around 1350 miles and 540 miles of racing. Josh & I got out on Sunday and had a great ride on the gravel. We had light winds until the second half of the ride then we turned north and had an awesome tailwind. Things were going great until we got back close to town and Josh stuck a nail in his tire. Luckily Jen was able to come and pick him up. Seems like if you are going to ride with me, you may need a support vehicle.
The next 3 weeks I will be prepping for Dirty Kanza. Hopefully we will have good weather on June 1st, but after this winter and spring, who knows. Next weekend I will get to find a few new roads in western Nebraska along with a "shorter" long ride.