The Fargo doesn’t have a speedometer since it’s on the cross bike now. That drove me crazy at first, but the Fargo, in my humble opinion, doesn’t need one. It’s the kind of bike that makes it fun to just pedal and not worry about current and average speeds and instead just take in the scenery and fresh air. Believe me, I do like to now how far I have gone and in the Flint Hills it helps me to navigate since I have a non-smart phone and no gps.

I sure do enjoy the speed and comfort (yes I said comfort) of the cross bike, but there is a whole different feeling and comfort level to the longer Fargo. I do enjoy riding it quite a bit, especially since all this cycling has gotten my legs in such good shape. Not too long ago a long ride was in the 30 mile range.

Cycling is a great activity where gains can be seen quickly if you stick to it. Not only do you get in shape, but you fully experience a region on a bike. It brings you closer to being a “whole” person. By whole I mean, you get a real appreciation and connectedness for the land you are traveling through and for your body that is powering the transport. I eat better, sleep better and appreciate my body and the areas I ride through more that I ever have. Once again, the power of a bicycle is far reaching and life changing.

On this ride I was experimenting with my electrolyte levels and Enduralytes again. I didn’t want to cramp and I am trying to figure out what my body needs. I took three pills as I ate breakfast and I took a long time to finally get on the bike, since I wanted to have a relaxed day. I took two more pills before I left. I brought nuun enhanced water (I can only do triberry flavor btw) in my backpack and had two water bottles with plain water. I was trying to push it to see what too much electrolytes felt like. I am my own guinea pig.

It was a beautiful day with wispy clouds. I love riding my bike.

I used to hate hills and like the ease of riding pavement. Now, the exact opposite is true. Pavement is boring and gravel is where its at. Add the hills and low maintenance roads of the Flint Hills and a great ride is bound to happen.

Since Lance is going to retire again, I’d like to see him try the DK200 next year. I may have to make this a campaign of mine. I think it will take a lot more posts of making fun of pavement and the Tour de France before he will show up. How fast do you think he’d ride these 200+ miles of Flint Hills gravel? I don’t know if he can even handle it. For crying out loud, he hasn’t ridden self supported in awhile and the cows won’t even care how many Tours he has won. Bring it Lance, the DK 200 is waiting. You can crash at my place.

So here is a picture of me, thirsty. I found out what an excess of electrolytes feels like. I was drinking the nuun-water and then had to switch to my old fashioned water because I was just plain thirsty and it was hot. In this picture, you can see the salt in the creases of my face. That’s a headsweats headband on my head there and it’s not mine. I have taken Dustin’s headsweats headband hostage. Sorry Dustin, I’m gonna have to get you a new one, hopefully with the AM logo.

Soon I was out of plain water and I wanted nothing to do with the enhanced water. Uh, Oh.

I cut the ride a bit short and headed to Randy’s house, the cyclist’s paradise, No one was home, but I filled up with water and made it home without any problems. Thanks Randy! It was a great ride.

My friends, turn off the TV, get outside this week and enjoy.

Feed Your Monkey!
Eric

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A week ago today, some of us went on a ride to bid Jim Cummings a farewell. A great career opportunity has come up for him. He is a packaging engineer and I will be thinking of him next time I eat one of my very favorite candies. It had been a while since I had ridden with the racers and I was looking forward to a great ride. Let’s just say, I started out strong and feeling good until they started.

Leg Cramps.

Yeah, they suck so bad, they get their own paragraph. I just don’t want to be near them so I’ll leave them hanging up there by themselves and let spellcheck tell me it may be an incomplete sentence. I hate you leg cramps.

It could have been the lack of sleep, the afternoon cup of coffee or just being so hurried when I got home because my carpooler was late getting out of work, resulting in me being rushed and running around the house getting ready to ride that I forgot to eat a banana, pack any food or drink any electrolyte drink before I left, not to mention forgetting to bring my headlight. I was worried about missing out on the ride as I rushed out the door and rode over to the house of Tim Mohn.

To make a long story short, I was keeping up fine until my leg started screaming at me. The group waited for me at a couple of places and when I got there I got the shameful question: 

“You feeling OK?”

I felt miserable, and the question of shame makes it even worse. It’s much better to be on the other end of that. Feeling sorry for their slow, short friend I was given Accel gels, a Cliff bar and finally some Cliff Shot Blocks. Coming back towards town and after the shot blocks, I felt great. When the ride was over, I felt like I was ready to ride. I definitely need to get the whole electrolyte thing figured out for sure. Leg cramps suck.

I kept up just fine in the beginning and took a few pictures before the pain set in. Pretty sure I’d be a decent cyclist if I could get the cramps to disappear. Of course, I’d also be an excellent basketball player if I wasn’t five foot six.

Then we had another predicament. Jim, one of the founders of the DK 200 and gravel rider extraordinaire, had a flat. No, make that four or five flats, I lost track. He was riding his shiny new red Salsa Cross bike but didn’t have the tire situation set up yet. The Flint Hills gravel ate those tires up. That slowed the ride down quite a bit. I felt fine in the end and the breaks probably helped. Everyone made fun of the skinny tired cross bike. Just so you know, I haven’t had any flats yet on my cross bike set up with a Bontrager XR1 on the front and a Kenda Kwest on the rear with somewhere around 1000+ miles of Flint Hills gravel under them. (The Kenda Kommados look interesting too)

This calf was checking us out as we waited for the rest of the guys to show up. I had ridden the hills back towards Emporia at a fairly good pace. This stretch of gravel was very rough with lots of loose rock and big downhills. I was having a good time going fast and thought I was really fast since no one was behind me, but they were changing flats.

Hey look, lucky #7. The Browns and I waited for the group. Matt decided to go find them and went back. I was more concerned about keeping the leg cramps away and thought the break may do me some good. This is when Stephanie let me have half a pack of shot blocks and I had no more cramps after this short rest. And here she is, the better looking half of the Brown Duo.

Well, the rest was longer as another flat happened as the sun was going down. Jim didn’t seem too cheerful when I jokingly asked him if this was his first time in the Flint Hills.

The last flat that occurred was on nice downhill coming out of the Flint Hills. I should say it’s a fast downhill and it’s a good thing Jim controlled his bike and didn’t wreck. I gave him my last tube and we were off. All I had was my helmet light with low batteries. I turned it on and then the racers turned on their lights. They were super bright and made me and my little Coleman light feel a little inferior. I may have rode a little faster at the end of the DK 200 if I could have seen on those dark, low maintenance roads, Ah who am I kidding?

We hit pavement on the way home and lined up and pedaled hard. Our paceline would have rivaled any at the Tour de France, I’m almost sure of it. That was fun, as my cramps were gone and I owe everyone for helping me out.

We finished the night off with some food and beer and wished Jim good luck and farewell. He promised to see us all in June of 2011 for the next Dirty Kanza 200.

Good Luck Jim. Tear it up in Pennsylvania.

Feed Your Monkey!
Eric

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I have racked my brain, day and night, since my finish at the DK200 trying to figure out what would be the best gift for a DK 200 participant, family member or just someone that loves the Flint Hills. After much thought and restless nights, I figured it out. A beautiful archivally printed photograph from the Adventure Monkey would be perfect! I just can’t think of a better way to remember the Flint Hills than a landscape on the wall or taped to your mirror or tacked to your cubicle wall.

Since you weren’t as lucky as Ellee Thalheimer from Portland, Oregon to win the David Pals award, you have other options that I have just made available today.

David Pals Award Winner

I have many 8×10 prints available to purchase. Most of them are ready to ship the same day. I am keeping the price to a low $20.00 per original signed print and I can ship five of them with one low shipping charge too, just in case you wanted more than one. How to get one you ask?

You can click the store button on the top menu or just go HERE. Yes, I know my “store” is pretty ghetto, but hopefully one day we will look back on this time and laugh at my lack of sales and html skills. And on that day all of you will be wearing Adventure Monkey gear, sipping on Adventure Monkey Pickle Juice and reading the latest issue of Adventure Monkey Magazine too. Excuse me, I was daydreaming there for a second.

Just in case you were wondering, any image you see on this site can be printed and sold. The canvas prints like the one in the picture above are my favorites. They are vibrant, large, and very modern looking. I’m not just saying that, they are really breathtaking. If you want something like that or need anything else just shoot me an email any time.

Yes, I know, I need a “real” ecommerce site to sell stuff, but until then, visit my “store” page and order something.

Magazine News

I know, it has taken me forever to finish the latest magazine. It has been proofed and edits are being made and the final proof will be made this week. Soon, very soon, it will be ready. We had a big party last release, but this time I have contributors from all over the country. I need to think of a way to release Issue Two with a BANG! Maybe we will have another party for whoever can show up and a Flint Hills Ride the day after. Just a thought. Let me take a second to tip my hat to all the contributors for Issue Two. There are great stories and amazing photography in this issue – and I am picky about that stuff. This magazine would not be anything without all your help. Thanks so much. Want a preview? Here you go.

This is as close as you're going to get, for about a week or so...

Feed Your Monkey!
Eric

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The Dirty Kanza 200 was an amazing race. With the Flint Hills, the wind, heat, flint rock and 205 miles, only 65 people finished out of around 160. Officially, I was the 52nd racer to cross the finish line at 19 hours and 51 minutes. Here’s how it went down for me:

First let’s back up and look at the week before the race.

I was worried about being hydrated because I saw how hot it was supposed to be on race day. I drank more water everyday than I usually do. It seemed like the more I drank during the day, the thirstier I was and so I drank more. The day before the race, I picked up my bike from the shop and went for a little 11 mile warm up ride to get home. It was hot and I drank a lot of water. When I came home and pulled off my jersey, it was soaked as if dunked in water. I had drank lots of water that week without thinking about electrolytes. Stupid amateur, I had basically cleansed my system of electrolytes, which I think explains my performance on race day.

I had the pleasure of hosting a couple of cool guys at my house. You may know them, Jason Boucher and Matt Gersib. Nicest guys ever. In fact, meeting great people was the highlight of the weekend.

I was excited, nervous, and couldn’t even think straight. The night of the DK 200 dinner and rider meeting was very cool. A guy there from St. Louis asked if he could take a picture with me – the Adventure Monkey. Yeah, I thought that was cool and my kids thought it was a little weird, since I am just Dad to them. My daughter says that I’m famous, but that is not true and all I want to do is inspire people to get outside, push their limits and become better for it. Our sedentary lifestyle is terrible on us as a nation.

Jim Cummings, co-founder of the DK 200, spoke and gave this site serious props in front of racers from around the country. Thanks so much Jim. I supplied a canvas print for a special prize and it was unveiled to the crowd with ooohs and aahhhs. I was on top of the world at that moment. Here’s some shots from that night:

Custom built trophies made by Joel Dyke

The Registration Table, I was so excited filling out my paperwork, I could barely spell my name

Mission accomplished

Co-founders, Jim and Joel

Salsa studs being recognized

Tim and Kristi Mohn being recognized for helping to take this event to the next level this year

Joel explaining the David Pals award

The unveiling of the David Pals award

Wow, I must say, I need that canvas for my office

What do they say? Red sky at night, riders in for the hardest ride of their life...

Couldn't resist the cool angle before getting in the car

That night, I mixed up Perpetuem into a paste and filled three water bottles and stuck them in the fridge. I made up packets of Endurolyte pills in little baggies. I put some water in three bladders, two 70 ounce and one 100 ounce and put them in the freezer. I made a couple of sandwiches, packed a jar of  pickles just in case I would want a pickle and a couple containers of fruit. I also had a bag with tools, two extra tires and tubes, extra sunscreen and some other odds and ends for Adam to pack in the support truck in the morning. I threw a tube of nuun tablets in the bag, next to the bananas,  just in case I would want to go back to those, but the taste made me feel gross one ride, so I quit using them a few weeks ago and was replacing electrolytes with Endurolytes instead. Little did I know how important that move would be on race day.

I went to bed, a little too late and tried to get more than four hours of sleep.

4:15 a.m., time to get up. I ate eggs and oatmeal and made some coffee. I packed things up, went downstairs to get my bike and realized I forgot to put another layer of wrap on the bars. I did that and brought the bike upstairs. Adam was already there packing things up. Without him there, I would have forgot something for sure. My head was not on straight that morning. He looked at me in my jammies and realized it was a darn good thing he was there. Jason and Matt had already left, and I still was getting ready, yikes.

I did the bathroom thing, but it wasn’t a great showing if you know what I mean. I wanted to get that dealt with before racing. Oh well. I got dressed in my slick Pearl Izumi kit, came out of my room and Adam had everything packed in the truck. I do not recall anything we talked about on four mile trip to downtown Emporia where the starting line was. I really didn’t think I’d be that nervous and excited.I couldn’t even get my number on my bike. Adam did that too.

Wow, there were a ton of bikes and racers in front of the Granada Theater. It was the coolest thing I had ever seen. I said hi to a bunch of friends before we took off. I started the video to record the start. I will have it ready soon. Jim set us off promptly at 6 a.m., and 160 cyclists headed to the Flint Hills with a police escort through town. Once the first turn came up and the police car went straight, the racers in front took off, fast. It was the coolest thing to see the leaders take off and the line of cyclists lengthen out from that point. Thanks to my wife for taking these pics.

Tiny cowbells for the fans

Kevin Collings and I making small talk before the ride

Camera ready

My friend Scott there to make me laugh a bit before starting into 20 hours of pain

This body is as ready as it can get, or so I thought

Matt Brown saying something like,"This is what we talked you into huh?"

Seagato ready to ride hard

Jim explaining something, everything a blur at this point

Jed wishing me luck and getting ready for his DK lite (20 miles - no offense Jed, but c'mon, 20 miles?)

Jed, Adam, my support man, and me. Oh and that's my mom in the AM tee.

Slow ride out of town supported by the EPD

I'm off and nervous as could be

Getting clipped in and pedaling, I about ran into Kevin and took him out of the race. Good thing that didn’t happen, the race would be hard enough without that.

We had gotten the map for leg one the night before. Looking at it, I saw it was a route I used for training many times. I knew exactly what to expect. I knew where the hills, ruts, water crossings and everything else would be. All I wanted to do was find my pace and ride. I did. I started passing people. I saw flats everywhere from the first gravel road (long day for that guy) on. Flats were happening at a rate that surprised me. I knew there would be flats but wow. I prayed for no flats.

I rode at a pace that is comfortable for me. Slow climbing hills but a decent pace on the flats and I am a champ on downhills. I didn’t think I was going too fast at all. I was going anywhere from 15 to 17 mph on the first ten miles. I was in a pack of cyclists and felt like I was going too slow, so I found a line and left them behind and started passing more people. I passed Kevin, but knew that wouldn’t  last. He’s a strong rider. About that time, a friendly cyclist let me know my seat bag looked like it was going to fall off. Great. I stopped at a turn and fixed it. A few seconds wouldn’t matter over 200 miles, so I wasn’t worried about stopping.

The weather was humid but very mild, great riding conditions. The first big hill was coming. I had climbed it many times and put Bobby on it on this shot:

The big hill - notice the rider changing a flat on the right

This hill slowed us all down and spread out the competition some more. I was feeling good, climbed the hill and was off into the Flint Hills. I laughed again, thinking Bobby climbed that hill 13 times for that shot. What a stud.

Once into the hills, I felt the wind. It was blowing pretty hard and gave us a good headwind to fight. Didn’t matter, I was ready for it. I trained for months on these very hills and in stronger winds than this. Even before training started, I was riding these hills. This was my home turf. I was hoping for a good show on the first leg. I knew I would slow down later in the race. Man was I wrong.

Thirteen miles into the race, while climbing a hill, my calf cramped up. WHAT THE? I haven’t cramped in over a year. I was riding 100+ mile rides once a week to prepare for this. I never cramped up. I rode through it and hoped it was just nerves or something, but it felt on the verge of cramping again for awhile.

Remote and flat part of leg one

I was moving right along, passed up another Emporia hopeful, Scott O’mara, who is faster than me. I didn’t feel like I was going too fast though, just tried to keep a comfortable pace. I continued to see flats throughout the first leg, but no flats for me. Then it happened.

Just after a scenic water crossing where a guy on a motorcycle was shooting pictures (where are those btw?) of us, I started climbing another rolling hill some 30 miles into the race. That’s when my right inner thigh cramped up, bad. I had to get off my bike and rub my leg. I was shocked at this predicament. I wasn’t sweating too bad yet, as the temperatures were still mild and the wind was keeping me cool. But there I was, cramping up already as if I had done no training at all. To say I was upset is a huge understatement. I could have cried I was so mad at my body. What was going on!? I was passed by everyone, it seemed, at this point. The first checkpoint was still 30 or so more miles away. I had to make it. I pedaled on quite gingerly. There were many hills and the headwind became fierce to me at that point. I was confused and wondered at my chances now. Thirty miles though? What the heck?!

Riders in the distance

It was tough going after this. It seemed like an eternity before I came to the turn that would put me in position for a tailwind most of the rest of the way to the first checkpoint. Finally, a tailwind. I felt like I had ridden 100+ miles already at the forty-some mile point. I knew I was in trouble. There was a big hill to climb before I could enjoy the tailwind. I started climbing. Then cramped up again in my thighs. Ouch. Wiggins was there for some support and he was having cramping problems too. He tried to give me some reasons why I would be cramping, but it didn’t make sense to me at all. I had ridden harder than this just two weeks ago in 20+ mile sustained winds for 130 miles and felt better at the end of that than I did at forty-some miles into this race.

I hit the downhill, felt better and actually made great time all the way into Cottonwood Falls. I kept a 17-23 mph pace all the way in, riding with a nice guy from Lincoln, Nebraska on a custom titanium bike. Great guy, and the conversation helped me to forget the cramps. Oh and BTW, I was taking Endurolytes this whole time too.

I finally made it into Cottonwood Falls at 10:20 a.m., beaten and confused as to why I was having such troubles. I was so out of it that I hadn’t decided for sure that I was super low on electrolytes. I didn’t eat pickles or anything yet. I refilled my wingnut pack with water and more endurolytes and refilled my water bottles with water and a fresh bottle of Perpetuem. I was hurting so bad that I put the video camera (sorry Kristy) and the small camera in the truck. I was looking for any way to remove weight from my body. I had hit survival mode early on. I drank some Gatorade and I ate something, but I can’t for the life of me remember what. I was out of it mentally. The video shows me putting my helmet on immediately after I took it off,  like a confused idiot. Lots of nervous energy.

Checkpoint One of the DK200 from Eric Benjamin on Vimeo.

JJ took care of me on every stop - what a little man!

Talking to Jim about my tough first leg

Me on leg 2, Adam went ahead to get a shot of me

I felt a bodily need, and stopped into the Casey’s store to take care of it. I had to take my tight jersey off because I was wearing bibs underneath. As I did that, my hand and forearm cramped and I had to use my other hand to open the cramped one. Not a good start for the second leg of the race, but I was able to take care of a bodily function, which was very good news for me. I put some almonds in my pack for some food and left.

It was a mere 42.5 miles to get to the half-way checkpoint. That should be easy. Therefore I brought 70 ounces instead of 100 ounces of water in my hydration pack. I also had a 24 ounce bottle with water too. I was hoping the first rest would have stopped my cramping. I hadn’t figured it out yet.

The first part of leg two was on pavement and had a nasty crosswind. I felt tired. I soon started cramping again. I then got to Diamond Creek Road and stayed on it for a long time it seemed, cramping stretching, rubbing, pedaling hurting. I saw a cyclist under a tree calling it quits with the same symptoms as me. It crossed my mind that I may not make it to the second checkpoint. A couple of guys passed me and asked how I was doing. I explained my predicament and one of the guys was nice enough to give me a pack of Margarita shot blocks from Cliff. Thanks man, wherever you are.

The second leg had some low maintenance roads, plenty of hills and lots of heat. The temperature was now in the 90′s. I had to push through almost this entire leg of the race with severe leg cramps. There was no leg muscle that escaped from this pain, they just took turns screaming at me. I began to pray with all my heart for God to help me through this. Yes, to some this was just a race, no big deal, just drop out. To me, this was my moment in life to do something amazing. I had prepared so hard for it. I was not about to give up. More than me, I thought of all the people rooting for me around the world because of this blog. I thought about my wife and kids. I wanted to show everyone that the underdog can win in real life. “Please God take this pain away.”  This whole thing brings a tear to my eye even now.

I was getting close to finishing the second leg, five or ten miles out. That was when I ran out of water. I was looking ahead for farm houses or anything that would have drinkable water. Another kind soul found me, a racer from Oklahoma, and gave me some of his water, about two big drinks worth. Thanks man, wherever you are. I was not alone in this effort for sure. I think I needed to learn that. I needed to lean on a higher power and others to do something great. To be honest, this race became a 20 hour prayer session for me to get through the cramps, the crazy tire eating rocks and at night the fear of getting lost and being eaten by mountain lions.

Finally, I had made it to Council Grove and knew I had an electrolyte problem. Brooke saw me arrive and was scared for me, she didn’t say anything to me at the time, but thought I looked like I’d been through hell already and this was only the half-way point.

I had left Cottonwood Falls at 11 a.m. and arrived in Council Grove at 2:25 p.m. That amazes me when I consider the cramping and stopping I had to do to get through it.

Coming in to the midway point

Tired beyond words

Team Didde - the Adventure Monkey support crew

Here’s a short video of me eating pickle spears in two bites, describing the carnage of the second leg.

DK200 Checkpoint 2 from Eric Benjamin on Vimeo.

Why yes, I'll have another pickle

my steed

I started feeling much better. I drank a bunch of the pickle juice from the jar, added nuun tablets to my water and was off, feeling strong. I added more cashews and beef jerky to my pack too. Now every drink of water would give me electrolytes because of the nuun. I took a nice long rest, feeling my muscles buzzing. It was like I could feel the muscles filling up with electrolytes and getting ready to ride another 100 miles. I liked the visual anyway. Since I needed a long rest, I didn’t leave until 3:40 p.m., a little over an hour break.

leaving the midway point, feeling better

Yes, I know this post is already too long, but I have 100 miles to go.

Leaving Council Grove, I had 38 miles to get to the last checkpoint. I wasn’t about to push hard, as my muscles had taken a beating already. Bu I felt strong and pedaled at a pretty good pace, with no cramps. I wasn’t getting passed any more either. Every cyclist I saw after that I was passing. Leg three was proving to be pretty mild and I felt like I was on a training ride making good time.

Then I hit Little Egypt Road. It has small boulder sized rocks and hills that are so steep, I had no chance of riding up them. I stopped at the foot of one of these boulder pocked hills and just chuckled and got off the bike. Pretty sure I would have to push up that hill if I was fresh, especially with the stock gears I had on the Trek XO. I pushed up and it was so steep I felt like I was hiking. I cramped a bit climbing that hill by foot. When I finally got to the top, I was looking forward to a fast ride down, but unless I wanted a sure flat, I had to go slow. I prayed for no flats once again. That road was chock full of boulders and tire pulverizing rocks. I found that my hands were so tired, it was hard to ride the brakes all the way down the hill. I wish I had pictures, but at this point, camera weight was out of the question.

I finally made it out of that area and had pretty good gravel to ride the rest of the way,  although I had to push up another hill or two because of the steepness and my tiredness.

I passed a poor guy laying by the side of the road with his bike with no signal on his phone to call for help. I tried to help, but had no signal either. I told him to get to the top of the hill and try it and said goodbye.

I gave someone else one of my tubes because he was trying to change a flat and had a tube with a busted stem. I gave him a tube and hoped I wouldn’t need it.

I rolled into town thinking I had missed the cutoff point. It felt late. But I made decent time, considering I had to push up two or three hills on foot. I came in at 7:15 p.m. and I felt stronger at this checkpoint than at any other checkpoint yet. I saw Adam and said, “I’m back in this baby.” I was feeling good.

Coming in strong to Alma, notice the long shadows - night is coming

Eating pickles in 100ºF heat seemed totally normal at this point

This video shows me talking about Little Egypt Road. As I look at this I notice how freaking bloated I look from all the crazy weird crap I’d been eating all day. Oy, shut up and give me another pickle.

DK 200 Checkpoint 3 from Eric Benjamin on Vimeo.

This shows exactly how I felt

At this point I felt the need to take care of a bodily function again. I couldn’t use my hands anymore at all, so Adam had to strip my jersey off and I walked in the convenience store, to the shock of the locals, in my bibs. I was a dirty, smelly mess at this point and the race was far from done. It was at this stop that I found out that all the other Emporia riders were out. We had some strong riders too, very strong. I only saw one rider leave on his bike from here. All the others left in cars with their bikes on bike racks. I felt good and was not about to give up now, although it felt great to sit and rest. I had to force myself to keep going. I left at 7:50 p.m. knowing it would be dark soon. When I applied more butt butter for the last leg of the ride, I was alarmed because it burned. It’s not supposed to burn. I told Adam I hoped that wouldn’t become a limiting factor after all this.

Let's do this

Leaving into the night to find my way home - 66 miles to go

I was feeling like a warrior at this point. I had heard about a lot of super strong riders that had dropped out. I was also a bit timid to continue on because I knew it would be getting dark. Leaving Alma, I headed towards Eskridge. I was riding hills larger than any hills I had ever seen in Kansas. It was amazing. Huge thunderheads with lightning shooting inside could be seen between me and Emporia. The wind picked up suddenly and pushed me towards the finish line. I hit 42 mph on one downhill before I realized I should slow down and make it home rather than wreck on the last leg. At this point I saw the most beautiful of any sunset ever. I knew I was not alone in this.

I passed up about four to eight more riders before it became pitch black out. Then I had the fun time of riding on roads worse than low maintenance roads. They were bad. It sounded like I was riding on glass on one road. Rocks were flying everywhere. One hit me in my shin and I yelped, it hurt.

At this point, I wasn’t hurting, I was scared. I had a light on the bike and one on my helmet. I could see five to eight feet in front of me maybe. These roads were full of ruts, huge rocks, water crossings and the tall weeds were whipping my legs as I tried to stay in the ruts. I was mostly upset about the need to go really slow. This portion was insane and my hat goes off to any riders that finished in the dark. It was nuts. I saw plenty of animals, glowing eyes first as I made my way to Emporia. I was scared. Tim Mohn had seen a mountain lion not too long ago while on his bike. I would make a nice snack for one of those. More prayer.

It was a beautiful sight, maybe more beautiful because of everything I had been through that day. I only brought one set of batteries because I knew I’d be home by 9:30 p.m. They were supposed to last for 3 hours on the bright helmet light setting. Last time I road 66 miles in three hours was NEVER. I dimmed it when I could, hardly ever. Every time I stopped to pee (I told you I just can’t go on the bike) I turned off the lights and was able to see every star in the sky. It was amazing, but short lived. I had to get back on the bike and pedal. Every moving thing freaked me out a bit. Trees are not his scary in the daytime for sure.

I texted Adam my mileage at my potty stops when I had service. I finally got to good gravel again and had about 28 or so miles left. That’s nothing, except when you’ve already ridden 172 miles. Every crossroad, I scanned for markers with my light to make sure I wasn’t supposed to turn. In the dark I felt lost. On those tiny rutted roads, I felt seriously lost and kept praying to not get lost, not get a flat and not get eaten by a mountain lion.

I looked at the clock on my phone which was in need of a charge. It was almost midnight. I finally recognized were I was and had twenty miles left to go, then 10. It seemed to never end at this point. I was moving around, but could not position myself to make the butt more comfortable. I was not about to end this trip because of a little pain now. I was sad because I knew no one would be at the finish line to greet me. Well, I knew my family wold be there, but the crowd Adam told me about at the third checkpoint would be gone. No beer garden or festivities would be there. I was a little bummed. But thinking of the finish line brought tears to my eyes. I wanted it so bad and I was going to make it.

I finally rolled into town about 1:45 a.m., went through the ESU campus and came to the intersection of 12th and Commercial. There was a red light and a cop sitting there. Crap, so I stopped and waited for green, what a retard. He knew there was a race in progress. Green, I pedaled for a good hard finish about 4 blocks away or so, I can’t really remember. I saw Crystal Wintle first, ringing her bell and yelling and jumping. I knew it was her because of her cute, pregnant belly.

Then I heard it. Thinking about it now brings tears to my eyes as I type this. There was a crowd of people waiting for the Adventure Monkey, the Monkey Man, for me to finish. I tried to ride and look hardcore, but I couldn’t wipe the smile from my face. I would’ve cried if I could have. I cannot describe the feelings I had finishing that punishing race. I was met by my support man, Adam and my daughter, Melissa and then the rest of the crowd. Jim Cummings shook my hand just like he promised he would when I finished the race in an email long ago. Thanks everyone for waiting. I love you all. It was amazing to overcome what I did to finish that race. I was finally proud of myself, and a few other people were too.

made it home!

Wow - I have no words to describe the relief of finishing that race

A little sugar from my Honey

Proud Family

I hope that I have inspired you to do something amazing. I did it. To set a stretch goal and to meet it, overcoming many odds has been one of the best feelings I have ever had.

Thanks to Dustin and Matt for the excellent tire choice with ZERO flats. Thanks to the Didde Family for the support service. Thanks to Jim, Matt, Lelan, Bobby, Jed, Dustin, Kevin, Jason, Mike and a few others for all the cycling advice. Thanks to my family for all the support. Thanks to Jim and Joel for such a great event. Thanks to Sam for the support and advice. A special thanks to my sweetie, Jennifer, “Adrian, we did it!” (from Rocky for you that are clueless) Thanks to my mom, dad, Jennifer, Alex and everyone that helped with the booth on race day. Thanks to everyone that reads Adventure Monkey and has inspired me to be a greater person.

My Monkey is fed, bathed and has been sleeping for a week after the DK200.

Finishing the DK 200 from Eric Benjamin on Vimeo.

Feed Your Monkey!
Eric

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Here’s a quick rundown as I can’t type or do anything else very well with my swollen and stiff fingers.

It was the hardest day of my life, on or off the bike. I felt every emotion at one time or another.

Something else I felt – cramps. 150 miles in? No. Thirteen miles in, I started to cramp. Thirty-some miles in I was fully cramped in my thighs. After riding 100+ miles every weekend for months, I thought I was good to go. I had never experienced cramps on any of these rides. Can you imagine how I felt? How could this be happening?

I had to stop, stretch, lose my middle of the pack position and keep going. After the first checkpoint, I rode forty-some miles cramping all the way to the half-way point. I was in pain. I was upset. I ran out of water. It was like I never trained at all.  All I could think about was how many people I’d be letting down if I didn’t finish. I kept going, pedaling through the cramps.

I knew I had to do something different at the second checkpoint, the half-way point.  I decided I was low on electrolytes and up to this point I was using Hammer enduralytes for electrolyte restoration. It wasn’t working. Long story short, pickles, pickle juice and nuun tablets got my electrolytes back in check. I used nuun tablets the rest of the way and the cramps were gone, but my muscles were sore and tired from almost 100 miles of cramping up to the half-way point. I also added beef jerkey and almonds to my on-the-bike nutrition.

At the third and final checkpoint I was feeling strong. I saw Adam, my support man, and said, “I’m back baby.” I ate more pickles, got my headlamp on and took off. I had 66 miles to go, almost there. This leg had the biggest hills I’ve ever seen in Kansas and as the sun set, I was blessed with extreme beauty.

Darkness. Farm roads with big tire busting rocks. Animal eyes reflecting back at me. Storm clouds full of lightning in the distance. Winds blowing. Every star in the night sky visible. Another moment of extreme beauty.This leg had the added element of fear. Fear of being lost, flatting on a rut called a road, and not being able to see more than five feet in front of me with thoughts of mountain lions dancing in my mind.

I finally made it to good gravel roads and just had to pedal into the finish line, around 28 more miles. The longest 28 miles ever. I was tired and my backside was feeling like ground beef.

I finally rolled into town, thinking everyone would be gone since it was 1:45 a.m. To my surprise and inner joy, I had a very large cheering section to bring me home. Thanks everyone, you don’t know how much that meant to me. I can’t even put into words the emotions I felt at that moment. Sorry I took so long.

Also, I need to thank a few other people. Adam and the Didde family for being the best support crew I could have ever had. Thank you for all your help and support. A rider from Oklahoma that gave me a few swigs of water and some enduralytes on the second leg. Another rider from Missouri that gave me shot Cliff shots, also on the second leg. Jim and Joel for putting on such a great race and for marking the route well, because I was too delirious to even look at the maps. AND All of you for the support and motivation.

Remember what I said a few posts back? I am no one yet I am everyone. It’s your turn to do something great. The full DK 200 post coming later, stay tuned.

Feed Your Monkey!
Eric

Me after 205 miles

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I have a Dirty Kanza racer coming into town and staying at my place tonight. I am pretty excited to meet him. He’s pretty famous. I will post pictures next week if he allows his picture to be taken. You just never know how these celebrities may react. I may have to go buy some special purified water for him or something like that. Friday, I will have another racer crashing at my house too. I am pretty excited about this whole weekend. The Dirty Kanza 200 has become a great event for racers, their families and the Emporia community.

I met with my mom and wifey last night to discuss to Adventure Monkey booth setup for Saturday. I feel bad because I can’t be there to help out, so we are trying to keep it as simple as possible. They will have a few Adventure Monkey magazines for people to look at and will also have many 8×10 and 4×6 post card size photos of the Flint Hills for sale along with the rest of the t-shirts all under a pop up tent. I am hoping that it goes well and the wind is not too bad – for them and the racers.

All my preparations, plans and training are coming to an end and race day is only two days away now. I feel like a kid in line for the big, scary roller coaster. The chicken exit is just ahead and everything in my body is telling me to take it instead of risking my life to ride the roller coaster. Such is life huh?  There is always an easier way or a reason NOT to do something, but living with regret is something I would rather not do anymore. This is my symbolic way of starting to live for real. I can’t think of a better way to do it than 200 miles of Flint Hills gravel can you?

On the drive to work today, it all sort of hit me. Kind of emotional. I go through moments of thinking I am crazy to moments of pure excitement and pride that I have made it this far. It’s those moments that I think I am crazy that I try to wipe out of my mind quickly. I think about the sponsored racers and other great seasoned cyclists that will be there and I think, “what am I doing?” I can’t afford any bad thoughts or feelings to invade my mind. We are often hit with negative, false beliefs that have been handed down to us throughout our lives. Feelings of not being good enough, strong enough, smart enough or whatever. Get rid of them. I think the thing to do is find your strengths and capitalize on them. It seems that somewhere down the road, we are taught to look at our weaknesses and strengthen them to make us better. Let me just say, that is a dumb idea. Find other people to handle your weaknesses and work on the things you are good at and you will become great. That being said, someday, the Adventure Monkey headquarters is going to need a good book keeper and accountant. I hate that stuff, but I digress.

Wish me luck and send good vibes my way for Saturday. I am walking by the chicken exit and riding the metaphorical roller coaster of life from here on out.

Feed Your Monkey!
Eric

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The closer is gets to race day, the more nervous I become. I keep checking the weather and depending on the website, it may be 92 degrees, humid and windy or 87 degrees, humid with isolated thunderstorms. The heat and humidity will determine how much water and therefore which hydration pack I will have to use that day.  Dehydration will ruin my day for sure. Not much I can do about thunderstorms, tornadoes and flying monkeys though.

Speaking of flying monkeys (Wizard of Oz reference, in case you’re scratching your head) there are a few things, fears if you will, that I must face to complete the DK 200 this Saturday. A few of my fears are:

• Extreme heights
• Shark attacks
• Alligators attacks
• Having to poop in gas station bathrooms
• Mountain lion attacks
• Crashing in an airplane
• Grizzly bear attack

Ok, well, the major fear I must tackle on race day is the gas station bathroom thing. Not to get too personal, but I am a regular guy. Just so we are on the same page, I eat lots of fruit and plenty of fiber and I am a two-a-day kind of guy. As you can see, I have reason to be worried.

No, it’s not the 200 miles of pedaling in the heat in the middle of nowhere with 15 mile stretches of isolation that scares me. It’s not the moutain lion spottings that Kansas has been having more and more of (I’ve never seen one yet). It’s the thought of having to take off my jersey so I can pull down the bib shorts, all in the confines of a nasty public restroom when I am sweaty and dirty that has me worried. Yuck.

It’s not so much that I am scared, it’s just a “thing” about me. I enjoy using my own bathroom at home. I have to “go” at work as you can imagine, and most of the time spent in there is used for cleaning and sanitizing before I sit down. That’s just the way I am. The best thing to do to tackle my fear, is to admit it first, and then deal with it. I already did the first part, and here’s how I plan to deal with it on race day.

I am getting up early on race day to drink a cup of coffee to “get things moving” early. Even if that is successful, I am pretty sure I will have to go again, since I will be riding for an entire day and eating weird cycling food. I will have some sanitizing wipes on my support vehicle ready to clean a disgusting Casey’s toilet so that I can sit my sweaty, nasty self on it and take care of business. I am not looking forward to it at all, but instead of buying lightweight carbon fiber bicycle components, this is the cheapest way for me to lose weight and be faster on the bike. As you can see, I am going to go through some major hardships and pain to finish this race.

If I can handle this part of the race, the mountain lions, thunderstorms and 200+ miles don’t stand a chance to stop me.

Feed Your Monkey!
Eric

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• I was riding my 19 year old Giant ATX 760 enjoying the countryside and realizing the therapeutic effects of cycling.
• I owned 2 pair of cycling shorts, no jerseys and never thought I would be wearing tights or bibs
• I had never ridden in the cold weather
• I never fixed a flat bicycle tire
• I only owned the tires that were on the bike
• I never broke a bicycle component
• I thought an $800 bicycle was expensive
• Thirty mile rides were killer
• I wished I had a way to start bringing my camera on my rides
• This website was dedicated to wedding and portrait photography and had a cheesy blog to match
• I was a bit overweight and was covered by a layer of flab
• I had never entered a cycling race and never thought I would
• I was bored, tired and uninspired with my professional life
• I had no thoughts of monkeys, magazines, t-shirts, tours or basically anything this site has spawned

How did things change so drastically in one year? Now it looks like this:

• The Giant hangs in the garage, I am picking up the Salsa Fargo from the shop and taking in the Trek for a tune up
• I own enough jerseys, shorts, bibs and other gear to ride almost a week without washing (I definitely need more)
• I can ride all year long no matter how cold
• I can fix a flat on the road well (although not as fast like Matt Brown)
• I own a stack of bicycle tires for different conditions
• I broke a new derailleur in two, bent a derailleur hanger and am now on my third chain for the Fargo
• An $800 bicycle is cheap
• Thirty miles into a ride, I start to loosen up and feel good
• I not only bring my camera, but will now be shooting video on my rides
• This website is dedicated to cycling, fine art photography and inspiration; I retired from “normal” portraits and weddings
• I have gotten back down to my college weight and just have a bit of flab left on the midsection
• I am riding in the DK 200 this Saturday for my first race
• I am excited by the growth, community and future of Adventure Monkey
• I have many thoughts of monkeys, magazines, a clothing line, tours and anything this site may spawn next

How did things change? I was tired, somewhat depressed, out of shape and frustrated at work. I needed to get away and burn off some steam. I got back on my bike. Ten mile rides turned into 20, then 30, then 50, then 60 then 90. Somewhere on those Kansas roads the Adventure Monkey within came to the forefront of my mind and I started this site. The rest is history. Why am I telling you this?

I am writing this because I am no one and yet I am everyone. I am writing this because I am a nobody and yet I am everybody. If I can make these changes, turn things around and enter one of the most epic races in the land, then you can too. It’s time to put your foot down, make some decisions, and start to live life like you were meant to live it! Quit finding so many excuses why you can’t do something and figure out a way to do it. There’s always a way. It’s never too late.

You may not want to ride a 200 mile bicycle race, but there is something out there you want to do. Figure out how to do it and find joy in the journey of doing something. I have.

Yes, I am a little nervous about the race coming up. Nothing great comes easy. Everything great has a price. I will be brought to my breaking point more than once along those 200 miles, but after I complete the DK 200, great things will be within my reach. In my mind, if I can accomplish that, then I can do anything I put my mind to. After the DK 200, I will be putting a lot of thought into this site and Adventure Monkey as a whole. Issue two will be released soon thereafter and it is really an incredible issue written by people overcoming odds and achieving great things. To be honest, I never thought I’d be creating a magazine this freaking awesome. I am in awe as I look at the magazine coming together on my computer monitor. I just wanted to tell you today to go for it, whatever IT happens to be. Don’t live with regrets.

Feed Your Monkey!
Eric

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I take it easy and make sure to eat and drink well the day before a big ride, but it wasn’t in the cards for me this time. Melissa had a softball tournament in Hillsboro, Kansas on Saturday. I didn’t realize it, but I would be sitting outside in the wind and heat for 11 hours. Top that off with not eating well, drinking enough water and getting home really late, and I was headed for disaster.

The alarm went off on Sunday morning at 5 a.m. After a full day of sitting in hot wind and sunshine, eating hamburgers and snack food, not drinking enough water and getting to bed around 11:30 p.m., I was way too tired to wake up, so I hit the snooze. I finally got up, ate breakfast, packed up and was pedaling by just after 8 a.m. To be honest, I was tired, but was motivated to get in a great ride.

I also did something that I have never done before on a ride. I brought a point and shoot camera with me instead of the DSLR. I didn’t know how long I would be riding before I would see another town with a store, so I brought 100 oz. of water with me in the backpack. I wasn’t about to add the weight of the Nikon D300 in the pack on top of that, so I took my wife’s Canon PS SX 100 IS. Nothing too fancy about this camera at all. I was determined to focus on cycling and leave the camera on full Auto mode too. Would I get anything good? Well, this post proves that it’s not the camera that takes a good picture, it’s the operator (yeah so I guess there’s a few good ones, hopefully you agree). Framing the image (composition) is what’s important (after proper exposure of course).

A major difference between my D300 and a point and shoot is the huge sensor and ability to shoot in RAW mode. Notice in the images that the highlights are blown out and lacking detail compared to when I shoot with the Nikon. Shooting JPEGs is nice because they are compressed and therefore smaller files, but to be compressed the computer in the camera throws out the details in the highlights and deep shadows. That means they are gone. No amount of post processing can get the lost details back. They are gone for good. The smaller sensor also captures less resolution and is a lot noisier than a nice big sensor. That said, I felt a freedom I have never felt with my big camera. A lot of these shots were taken while pedaling. Many of these shots wouldn’t have been captured with the big camera that I have to stop and get out of the backpack or trunkbag to use. In a matter of seconds I had my shot versus a matter of minutes to get the big camera out of the bag.

Nothing can change the fact that I hate framing an image on a little LCD screen – Yuck. In fact, I didn’t think I was getting anything good. I am used to framing the image in the viewfinder.

I must say, I will be looking into a smaller camera for the bike after this experience. Now, back to the regular broadcast.

I left town and headed North. For about 20 miles I had a nice tailwind blowing me down the hilly roads. It was morning, I had cool temperatures and I was feeling great. Nothing much better than being pushed along by a tailwind.

I pulled out the camera and took this first shot while pedaling. I was hoping it wouldn't rain on my mini DK plans.

Sun rays peeking through. All things were great here - A strong tailwind, beautiful scenery, a fast bike, fresh legs and a point and shoot camera. Notice the lost highlights in the upper left.

Heading north with a strong tailwind about to hit some downhills and get some serious speed going.

I passed by Kahola Lake, headed west and then south for miles of riding into a fierce Kansas headwind. I was ready for it this time. I needed some hard miles to prepare for the Dirty Kanza.

After 20 miles of a sweet tailwind, I turned into the wind and was tortured for the remainder of the day.

Miles of hills and headwind on Victory Road (Road V)

Time to stop, stretch and take a picture of the Trek X01, a nice bike but not as photogenic as the Fargo

So yeah, I know the sprung seat looks a bit out of place on the Trek but it will save my butt on the DK200!

A little more bike porn. I love that carbon fork!

Another thing I was wanting to do is test out my tire choice. I was using the near slick Kenda Kwest on the rear and a Bontrager XR1 on the front, both with slime tubes. I was decided on going with the good sized XR1′s on the Fargo for the DK 200. Now that I am riding the Trek X01, that big tire won’t fit on the back. I needed a smaller tire. I was going to go with a Schwalbe Marathon, but my friend Matt at High Gear thought they would be pretty heavy for a 200 mile race, although they are very puncture resistant. Getting in on the conversation that day was Dustin Burgardt, a three time Dirty Kanza veteran. He has used the Kendas every time without a flat and said they are fast rolling too. Gravel is not like single track. It’s not like I need a lot of traction as much as I need to go fast for 200 miles. I am putting the bigger XR1 on the front for cushion and help in cornering.

All in all, I rode over some harsh roads, some mud and climbed many hills. I had no problem with traction and had no flats. I feel pretty good about my choice so far.

I hit a bit of slop which threw mud all over me. I was looking like a real cyclocross cyclist now.

I rode through Cottonwood Falls and then went west out of town on 8th street. Now I was into unknown territory for me. The wind was beating the crap out of me. I was heading west and south. The wind was relentless. The road seemed to never change and the gusts were torturous. My ears were deafened by the sound of jet engines as the wind blew by my ears. It became discouraging to put so much effort into pedaling and to look up and see the same scenery for so many miles.

Curve ahead on a road I haven't traveled before, I caught a bird in flight, but notice no details in the white sky.

Same curve, wider view. I made the sensor focus more on the sky to get some details in the sky in Auto mode.

Trying to get used to using a point and shoot. I hate using an LCD screen to frame the shot. Notice the look of disdain on my face. Little did I know the images would look as good as they did, well except for this one.

Looking back at the beautiful Flint Hills after I climbed my last hill against the blowing wind.

Focus on the sky, the ground is too dark. Focus on the ground and the sky detail is lost. Focusing on the road or horizon seemed to do the trick. This road actually goes forever when the wind is gusting 40mph in your face.

Same road? No, check the details. The fact is, I pedaled into the wind for miles and miles and the road seemed to never change. My sanity was hanging on by a thin thread.

Tree in the Flint Hills. I was looking for any reason to stop at this point.

Another fault of the point and shoot - too easy to take pictures of myself instead of pedal.

Different road again. This is what makes cycling in Kansas so difficult - unchanging scenery, heat and high winds.

There was one point where I had to just stop pedaling and stand. It was hard to take the beating of the wind. I stopped, took a swig of my Perpetuem paste, put my head down, tried to clear my mind and pedaled on.

Finally, a curve in the road, anything to make the miles go by.

There's my speedster, the Trek X01. After I have High Gear put on that carbon stem, I think I'll be good to go.

I was happy to finally be heading back east, but the crosswind wasn’t much better. The important thing to me at this time was that I was not giving up and continued to pedal on.

Excuse my French, but I just became a badass.

At this point I was headed East near the turnpike and was now fighting a nice crosswind.

Another hill.

And another hill. I was going for a tough ride to prove to myself I could finish the DK200.

Fenceposts

At this point, somewhere around 70 to 80 miles in, I was beat. I started to get a headache around 85 to 90 miles in and finally had to stop and pee for the first time. It (the pee) had the appearance of concentrated Gatorade and I knew I had better drink some more water. I was to the point that I didn’t want to drink anything and I felt a little queasy, so I forced myself to drink to hydrate myself. I didn’t realize how hot it had gotten outside until I would stop riding and feel the hot, humid air. I would immediately be drenched in sweat. I believe I was to the point where I had used up all my body had to use as energy. I was running on Perpetuem, Accelgel and nuun enhanced water. Suddenly I felt the need to eat real food. Pickles, chips and a sandwich is all I could think about. I was a little worried about myself physically at this point, but forcing the water down and taking sips of the Perpetuem kept me going. I will tell you the truth, this had become the hardest ride of my life. The messed up thing about it was, was that I was happy about it. I actually wanted to push myself to the limit and then go a little farther. If I could do this, I could do the DK 200 with good nutrition and less weight in the backpack. Since I had gone out by myself, I put everything in the backpack but the kitchen sink and the Nikon. That extra weight was harsh on my body.

Cows were freaking out all day as I rode by, but not this one

After taking a beating most of the day, I headed up this hill to fight the headwind some more.

I got off the bike to stretch my back out with some of Jen's Yoga poses.

One last shot of the Trek X01 before I headed up that hill.

Looking back at the ribbon of a road that I just pedaled into the fierce headwind

I'm hurting here, so much that I stopped to take another picture of myself.

Curves and cows.

These rocks brought to you by the Dirty Kanza 200!

The beauty of Spring in the Flint HIlls.

Riding on a high ridge with the wind blasting me from the side.

Green hills

I liked the sliver of a road peeking out from among the hills. Notice the bird flying too.

I loved the ribbon-like curvy road flowing by the tree.

Dreaming of real food, I finally see the Madison water tower in the distance. Yeah, that's what I thought too - it's still far away, but close enough to motivate me to pedal harder.

And pedal harder I did. I was amazed and actually proud of myself for keeping on going as hard as I was. Madison ended up being farther away than I wanted. But the downhill into town was worth it.

I made it - Casey's in Madison, KS. Time to get a sandwich!

As bad as I thought I wanted that sandwich, juice and candy bar, I was still tired when I got back on the bike. My body was sore, but I had a little ways to go to get home yet. Notice the bike computer above is right at 100 miles. I was going to find some gravel to add some more miles between Madison and Emporia and stay off the pavement. The roads around Madison are quite hilly. Even though I now had a tailwind, I was too tired to fully enjoy it, but I was still pedaling.

Leaving Madison and climbing more hills. I wanted to lay in the grass next to the bike.

Those tiny buildings and water tower in the distance is Emporia, yeah a little ways to go yet.

I was getting closer to home now. I pedaled hard as the roads smoothed out and the tailwind carried me along. I didn’t use any butt butter this time, and was regretting that choice as I tried to find a comfortable spot to sit. I didn’t get any actual saddle sores, but I was feeling pretty raw down there.

Finally back in Emporia. I loved the way the sun hit the building downtown.

I made it! It’s hard to describe to feeling of accomplishment I had after this ride. I was beat, near dehydrated, sore all over, and I felt great! I knew I could tackle the DK 200 in two weeks, I just knew it. All in all, I rode 131 miles and averaged 13.5 mph. My breaks were very short and I made good time considering almost killing myself from lack of day before nutrition and dehydration, not to mention the brutal Kansas winds.

Yes, I am still worried about finishing the DK 200 in two weeks, but now I feel my chances are better than ever. I hope to make it across the finish line in time for the awards ceremony at 9 or 9:30 p.m.

Feed Your Monkey!
Eric

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• Bike: 2008 Trek X01
• Additions: Bontrager carbon stem (last year’s model on sale), Brooks Flyer Special saddle for comfort
• Pedals: Crank Bros. Candy
• Tires: Bontrager XR1 on the front and Kenda Kwest with k-shield protection on the rear
• Storage: This is yet to be decided but here’s what I am deciding on:
  70 oz Camelbak with a Feedbag or two or
  Wingnut Enduro with 70 oz. or 100 oz. bladder depending on the heat
  The second choice gives me ample storage and the pack rides low on my body, taking the weight off my back. I have trouble fitting everything in the first choice. Here’s what I want to bring with me:
• multi-tool
• tire levers and patch kit
• 2-3 extra tubes
• 4 CO2 cylinders with pump
• hand pump
• energy gels
• chain lube
• moist wipes (just in case)
• lip balm
• eye drops
• extra chamois cream
  Not sure if this is too much or not, but I am still deciding on exactly what to carry with me. I don’t want to DNF just because I didn’t bring enough tubes, etc.

Well, this is an edit, since a “Wise” cyclist noticed I didn’t mention lights and assumed that I was planning on winning the race which is a good assumption, I think. But just in case I can’t maintain 20-25 mph for 200 miles of hilly gravel, dirt and low maintenance roads, runaway cows, 40 mph wind gusts, high heat and humidity and maybe a few tornadoes here is what I have for lights:

• Trek Ion 3 Headlight on the handlebars
• Trek Flare 3 LED Taillight for the rear blinky light
• Coleman headlamp for the helmet

Looks like I can get 60 hours of light from the Trek Headlight, taillights seem to last forever and the helmet light claims 6 hours of use on the bright setting. These aren’t super bright, but bright enough and fairly long lasting. I have tested this out, and the Trek lights up the ground in front of me pretty well, not great, and the Coleman is very bright. When I look at street signs, they reflect back at me like when I’m in my car, so that should help me find my way and look at the map. The bad thing is the bugs. They love the bright helmet light and fly directly into my face. I was forced to just look down on one night ride because the bugs were so thick, it was nasty and dangerous to look up. I will bring extra batteries because I have been known to get lost in the bright sunshine. I hope to high heaven I don’t get lost in the dark in the middle of nowhere.

Race Caps Supreme and Enduralytes too. At the support stops, I will have some real food, but I really don’t want to eat too much, since I get bloated easily while I ride for some reason. I know I will have some PB&Honies, pickles, Doritos, turkey sandwiches and lots of water for sure. I will also have more tubes tires and tools on the support vehicle.

If you have done the DK 200 before or something like it, and have any advice, please comment or email me. I need it. If you are wondering why I made certain choices, comment and we will discuss gear!

I determined late last year to stop waiting, wishing and making excuses and to start living “for real.” In case you are wondering, the DK 200 is part of that plan. Yes, I chose the most epic race for my first race ever. I have done everything I can to prepare including century+ rides every Sunday through the Flint Hills. It’s close now and yes, I am a bit nervous. Race day is June 5th starting at 6:00 a.m. If you are the praying type, I could use some of that on June 5th. I may be crazy, but it feels great. Just over a year ago a 30 mile ride would wipe me out. Now a 100 mile ride seems pretty normal. 200 miles seems crazy, but I believe my finish is going to be a great victory for myself and my confidence and the future of Adventure Monkey! I am not preparing for a DNF. It’s out of the question at this point.

Also, if you are going to be around Emporia, there are going to be activities and vendors downtown for the Dirty Kanza 200. I am in the process of ordering pictures. magazines and t-shirts to sell at our little booth. My booth will be pretty limited as, all this costs money and Adventure Monkey can’t even afford to purchase a full kit for me to wear in the race. Yes, I am sad, but the Pearl Izumi gear I have for review is very nice and wouldn’t you know it, matches the bike too. The Adventure Monkey booth will have 8×10′s and postcard sized prints of the Flint Hills and some samples of larger prints. I wish I could have special edition DK200 Adventure Monkey shirts, but that may have to wait until next year’s DK200.

I mentioned in an earlier post, that I won’t be bringing my camera on the race, too heavy and time consuming. I also asked if someone out there would let me borrow a video camera to use. I am very excited because Kristy at Bowcycle, all the way from Canada, has come through for Adventure Monkey and is letting me borrow one of THESE. I hope to finally produce Adventure Monkey’s first video! Thanks so much to Kristyand Bowcycle! I hope to get it soon to test and hopefully it won’t be too heavy to ride for 200 miles. Now I just need some memory cards…

Feed Your Monkey!
Eric

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