Morning Ride

Afternoon Ride

The words creaked from my throat, “I’m starting to come undone pretty bad man” @lachlanmorton retorted in just above a whisper, “That’s the point of this whole thing. Everybody’s f*cked. We’ve got 100km to catch those guys” It was at this moment, deep deep deep in the white hot pits of heatstroke, dehydration, blurring vision & cramps w/ nothing but more sun & bottles full of dust for comfort that I began to understand what @dirtykanza was all about. This was not a bike race, this was not a, “fun ride” or a tour for peligros and ham ‘n’ eggers, this was a vision quest, a truly epic journey, a battle not against other riders but w/ the hard bleached sun above & the heart, mind, soul & dust packed lungs within. 
We slogged our way to the final aid station and wobbled to a stop. I had serious thoughts about quitting right there. Not because I wanted to but because reaching the finish seemed physically impossible. But after packing my shorts with ice, chugging a double sized coke and dumping four mega sized bottles of ice water over my head, our support crew of @tqhopper @jvaughters @marywruns my father @joel.howes61 & @matthewcbeaudin were able to coax me out of the shade & back into motion. The rest was just a blur of pain and Lachlan’s pink shoes going up & down, up & down. A never ending Groundhog Day vortex of cramps and hills topped with runaway summits. 
But then... kissed by fair winds, we were delivered to the town of Euphoria. Sorry, EMPORIA. Wait, no, I’m calling it what it was: Euphoria. Lach and I rolled into Euphoria, grinning ear to ear, nourishing ourselves with the high fives from spectators, proud of ourselves, proud of all the others riders that dared to take part in such an event, proud and in awe of the human spirit. 
Thank you to the town of Emporia for giving this event all the love & support it deserves. Thanks @dirtykansas for allowing us to come out & be a part of the gravel community. Thank you to all the riders, fans, & random kind Kansas folk that said, “good luck” “hi” “have fun” and “your crazy” this weekend. & thank you to the @ef family for supporting our dreams.

Top Sports

alex howes

The big bad Dirty Kanza 200 2019

7 Photos

19 Comments

Segments

Sign up to view more activities from alex howes

Morning Ride

Morning Ride

Afternoon Ride

Afternoon Ride

Morning Ride

Want to see more?

The #1 app for runners and cyclists

Sign Up for Free. Track your progress and reach goals. Join 100 million active people on Strava.

See More from alex