Inside the 2018 Dirty Kanza 200 Gravel Race inc. Jens Voigt & Sven Nys! - Emporia, Kansas, USA

June 2nd, 2018 marked the 13th running of Dirty Kanza 200, arguably the world's most famous gravel race! Despite tough conditions with a thunderstorm delaying the race start by 30 minutes, and a headwind facing riders on the return leg, the course record was broken, by none other than Ted King (he won too).
Meanwhile, in realms of the mid-pack or beyond, JOM and K-Dogg of the Gravel Cyclist crew tackled the event, this video is their perspective. Will JOM make it 3 for 3 at DK200 and will K-Dogg finish his second Dirty Kanza 200? With riders such as Sven Nys and Jens Voigt lining up for this race, you could say Dirty Kanza has grown in popularity!
Audio is best enjoyed with headphones.
JOM's race report - wp.me/p4V4se-6jQ
JOM's race bike for the 2018 Dirty Kanza 200 - wp.me/p4V4se-6in
Hotshot (kills muscle cramps) - www.teamhotshot.com
Cover photo by Ian Matteson of ENVE Composites - www.enve.com
Web: GravelCyclist.com
Facebook: / gravelcyclist
Instagram - Instagram/GravelCyclist
Twitter - / gravelcyclist
Vimeo - vimeo.com/GravelCyclist
Music:
2 Above Zero by AudioNautix.com
Other tunes from KZbin's public audio library.

[@brianyost2001]

Way to be there for you buddy til the end! Great video!!

[@burtlloydphotography]

Super, and you are the first one showing me footage of Sven Nys :)

[@GravelCyclist]

I wonder if I'm the only one who caught footage of Sven Nys? :) I commend Sven for lining up and giving it a go!

[@sirces9]

Great video. Awesome job to all of you, and you all gave me the inspiration of adding this to one of my to do rides.

[@garethhelliwell9736]

Great footage as per usual. This is the best gravel related channel out there by far and the content is great. This race is defo on the bucket list of cycling things to do. Cheers.

[@GravelCyclist]

Thanks mate, appreciate the kind words! Still have a ton of content in the hopper... some rides from earlier this year, and more review content.

[@reganarendse6157]

Awesome video. Well done on collecting the footage during the race and then editing it thereafter

[@peterm.7497]

Awesome to do this video in 12 minutes -- thanks!

[@davesheek2019]

Nice breakdown of the course.

[@dereksmith3632]

What an achievement, something most can only dream of doing.

[@chwbiker]

Very nice coverage of the race. Hope to see the 2019 as well. Congratulations!!!

[@GravelCyclist]

Working on the 2019 edit at the time of this comment :)

[@gravelsasquatch6430]

Awesome work to the both of you! By far the best picture on the Chaise.

[@GravelCyclist]

Thanks for the kind words!

[@matthewnuzzaco2849]

This kinda reminds me of ultra marathons I used to run in the mid 90s. Great coverage, I’d love race this sometime in the future.

[@GravelCyclist]

Definitely like an ultra marathon. As an FYI, the organizers are now offering the DK XL... 350 miles of Dirty Kanza.... yikes! It was a trial event this year, but I'm assuming we'll see it as an option to anyone up for the challenge in 2019.

[@AccFinEco]

Great vid and well done! 🚵

[@GravelCyclist]

Thank you!

[@mtb7018]

Nice video, much appreciated. Well done!

[@GravelCyclist]

Thanks Rob!

[@sergiografbike]

Fantastic!!! Best Regards from Brasil!

[@GravelCyclist]

Thank you Sergio!

[@mtbjd3046]

Impressive. I just picked up my first Gravel bike, been a MTB only rider for over 20 years. So far. Love it. Been missing out.

[@brody5211]

MTB JD a Raleigh bomber I hope !

[@fredricknietzsche7316]

excellent effort!

[@johnwilliamson9453]

Very professionally done, good job to you and KDogg

[@GravelCyclist]

Thank you John!

[@shawnbikes]

A couple friends of mine went to this ride this year. I love riding on gravel, although I use a regular road bike but I don't think I would be ready for any sort of competition, yet. I hail from southern Illinois where over the past couple of years, we've put on a lot of gravel rides. Great video explaining the event!

[@GravelCyclist]

Hey Shawn... I"ve used a regular road bike for Roubaix type events, check out Rouge Roubaix as an example, but Dirty Kanza is far too much rough stuff for roadie width tyres. If you do begin riding on a gravel/CX bike at some point, definitely go tubeless! Good luck and thanks for the kind words!

[@shawnbikes]

All my road bikes are tubeless ready. I have one that is a allum frame and the other is full carbon. With that kind of wear on the bike, do you think the allum frame bike would be a better option?

[@ncbassmix]

Awesome ride and video! Sub'ed

[@chrisblanchard4938]

Nice video. Thanks for posting it. I would love to do this race some day.

[@GravelCyclist]

Thank you Chris, I too hope you can attempt Dirty Kanza. Definitely a must-do gravel ride / race!

[@RTPgardenguy]

Congratulations, and bravo to K-Dogg. That looked tough. Keep buggering on 😁

[@GravelCyclist]

LOL buggering on, nice haha.

[@fifthcircle1]

Great vid. Holy crap! Are you literally holding up K-Dogg across the finish? That's scary!

[@nunobertolo3928]

Bom trabalho!!!!

[@howdyitsdavid]

Looking forward to your thoughts on AB's 46/30 shifting with Di2. My experience has been.....mostly good.

[@JasonScottCarter]

Looks like so much fun, even with all the suffering. I hope one day I can do this ride.

[@GravelCyclist]

I hope you do too Jason, it is a tough ride, but a very rewarding experience.

[@JasonScottCarter]

I am going to have to up my fitness level big time. I don't live to far from you and just started getting into riding gravel/dirt roads.

[@GravelCyclist]

For sure, you cannot bluff this race. My final training ride, three weeks before the race, was 174 miles in length and mostly on gravel roads.

[@bkflex55]

Awesome vid. Makes me more determined to do the Kanza. Next step: sneak buying a gravel bike past my wife!!

[@GravelCyclist]

Haha good luck with that!

[@francesscanlon5882]

Are all wife's the same not left buy or do any thing

[@bikerbud3903]

Your in a win/win situation. Get the bike and then a divorce = more time to ride and travel without someone nagging you. Your holding all the cards. lol

[@blanken1]

do you have experience with waxing your chain. I do for road, but curious about waxing for long distance gravel rides. thanks

[@miporsche]

nice video GC! I did the DK100 and kept wondering when I would experience Beaatch Hill or the water crossing. I was disappointed that all we got was the hike-a-bike, and a stinking 1/2 pint glass with a sticker. I'm thirsty enough for the full pint next year! Cheers! Geoff

[@GravelCyclist]

I heard there was at least two miles of muddy hike-a-bike in this year's DK100?

[@miporsche]

True! I had painters' shoe covers rolled up in the camelbak in case of mud--keeps it out of the cleats, a tactic that I'll repeat in the future. Nice not having to stop and dig mud out of my biking shoes. It was a good ride. We walked in three short sections due to mud

[@neilashton9459]

Well done JOM

[@howardmontaque8147]

Very Cool! I am trying to ride further. At 30 miles I tend to cramp severely. I drink plenty of water. What do you suggest?

[@jaman5735]

i cant believe that theres actually people doin this race on fatbikes!!! but its somethin else doin it on any bike, nothin but respect to all!!!!

[@peteransel2715]

JOM, congrats on the Big K hat trick! Quite an accomplishment! Tech Question: You've mentioned before that you prefer traditional, minimal flair (about 4 degrees) handlebars, with a shallow drop vs. 16 degree gravel touring bars. I'm building my first gravel rig, but from the dirt/gravel I've done, with my road bike, I agree, yet, hoping for a bit of advice. Curious if you subscribe to the "Go 2 mm wider that your normal road bike handlebar width for gravel" theory. Fantastic report on the Dirty Kanza!!!

[@BrentonCollas]

Great work, cobber. Gravel is slowly getting going in Adelaide as you know. Do Americans have trouble with your accent? Seems pretty neutral to me...

[@TimTheMusicMan]

What skill level do you need to do this race?

[@oneworld2642]

One day I will join dirty kanza race 👍🏼🐶

[@efesosnola9633]

Would you recommend tyres of 30mm or bigger ? Are 28mm okay too ? I'm a roadie, i want to start gravel rides..

[@GravelCyclist]

Hi there. For the Dirty Kanza, I would recommend a minimum width of 35mm. You can ride 28mm tyres on a lot of hard pack gravel roads, but you'll be in trouble if there is loose dirt and gravel.

[@NewEnglandDirtRoadie]

what would you say is sufficient tire width/clearance, and what would you say is optimal tire width/clearance? just scored a ridiculous deal on a focus mares cx, but 38mm would be the widest i would want to run, while still maintianing 3-4 mm clearance on either side.

[@GravelCyclist]

You'll be fine riding 38mm tyres in about 90% of the world's locales. The Mares CX is a nice machine, I've seen several people run them on gravel roads, no worries at all! I often run 35mm tyres that increase to 38 / 40mm depending on the width of the rim. Now, if you encounter the sort of mud that is in Georgia, Kansas and Oklahoma (the sticky kind), you'll run into problems. Time to walk your bike then anyway :) I highly recommend the Panaracer Gravelking SK (tubeless). It is my primary go to tyre, and what I've used at all three of my DK 200 finishes. Good luck!

[@freddixon]

question, short a support crew could a rider just use a large under the seat bag to carry all of the additional water and food needed for the day?

[@GravelCyclist]

The rules of this race state you MUST have a support crew in order to participate. Hydration and such is one thing, but if you plan to abandon the race, the support crew's other job is to retrieve you. If it wasn't for these rules, you could possibly carry all of your stuff on the bike, but it would be a ton of water. I'd much rather utilize any stores in each of the towns where the checkpoints reside. If you decide to attempt the Dirty Kanza, please read the rules, you don't want to finish and later be disqualified.

[@xunbroknx]

Are you planning on running the gravel king SKs again? I can't decide on tires.....

[@GravelCyclist]

Seth, if it's a dry race, affirmative. If wet, I'll run the mud version of the Gravelking.

[@elvzwoods]

I couldn't read your time in the video, how have your times compared year to year, especially with the headwind in 2018?

[@GravelCyclist]

2018 doesn't compare because I took care of my teammate.

[@fenderperry]

Congrats on your 3rd finish. Do you have recommendations on places to stay?

[@GravelCyclist]

Generally, you need to book way ahead of time if you hope to score a hotel in Emporia. So, check the usual hotel websites - also, airbnb.com

[@fenderperry]

Thank you sir, I will save the link.

[@acyutanandadas1326]

That storm was well timed for ''MUDDY KANZA''

[@steveb1972]

Congrats Sir! Great to see you met up with Russ and Laura from Path less pedalled. Did you catch Katherine Moore from GCN? 😊

[@GravelCyclist]

Thank you Steven, Russ and Laura are really nice folks. I hope to collaborate with Russ at some point in the future. I did not see Katherine Moore, but there has been some controversy brewing about her ride at DK. She is now recorded as a DNF. If you see the GCN video, you'll notice her support vehicle is on the race course, providing feeds to her and whomever else was with her. I don't make the rules, but they are there for a reason. You can only accept support from your crew at the three race checkpoints. I don't know if the GCN people didn't study the rules or attend the rider meeting?, but it is disappointing to see media entities not respecting the race. With that said, I suspect there was no ill intention from these folks to knowingly cheat / break rules, but you have to educate yourself ahead of time. There's no excuse for ignorance!

[@steveb1972]

Gravel Cyclist oh dear!

[@steveb1972]

Gravel Cyclist glad you had a good ride John. Looking forward to that collab! 😊

[@GravelCyclist]

Definitely staying well out of this. After the mess with Mr Nick Frey in 2016 (another bloke who brought a support car onto the course), I reckon the organizers will clamp down on this issue in 2019.

[@behappychef158]

Is this nearly the same course as 2016? Looks like it!

[@GravelCyclist]

Course hasn't changed much in the three editions I have ridden.

[@grandad1982]

Why not use a wet lube considering the stream crossings?

[@GravelCyclist]

I was using a wet lube... my comment was more of a joke than anything.

[@brody5211]

How many tubes did you carry ?

[@GravelCyclist]

Two.

[@yilmanbabilonia]

How many flats did you have?

[@GravelCyclist]

None.

[@OneWheelLess]

Great vid, thanks for taking us along! How do you like the panaracer tires? I’m wondering how they compare to the donner mso?

[@GravelCyclist]

I've run Panaracer Gravelking SK's for all three of my Dirty Kanza 200 races. That should tell you something... it is my favorite all-round gravel tyre. See my review here - www.gravelcyclist.com/bicycle-tech/review-panaracer-gravelking-sk-35mm-and-40mm-tires/

[@dhirajmasandful]

which bike do you ride for kanza

[@GravelCyclist]

Here you go - kzbin.info/www/bejne/apSaoWSvqpZjZqc

[@137997311ful]

How in the heck does one ride in those crazy conditions for 200 miles? I would try it, but my kneecaps would eventually pop off!

[@GravelCyclist]

Enzo, you have to ride a bunch of miles / kilometres leading into the event. Ideally, that preparation has you ready for the big day! There is now a 350 mile event known as DK XL... I hurt a lot thinking about that one.

[@137997311ful]

@@GravelCyclist my hats off to you! I can endure a lot of pain and suffering because I'm a hard headed Italian! I bike tour, cross country ski, run, mountain bike and hike. I'm constantly beating my body-up! When I do so, it makes me feel alive and gives me a sense of accomplishment and meaning in my life. I wish you many years of riding and a good journey, friend! Best, Enzo

[@MS-rt2jw]

low average speed (this years winner did it in 12-13h I think) and reduction in average wattage (aerobar, few buddys to form a breakaway and draft) and being used to the conditions. Also the gravel feels nowhere near as bad on low pressure 2bar tubular or tubeless tires. There's quite a few riders who dont see the whole thing as a race and have quite a few hours break during the race and come in during the night. There is no sweeping van hehe.

[@lewardkeeneoppura2684]

do you use a trainer on ur cyclocross bike??

[@GravelCyclist]

I never use an indoor trainer!

[@lewardkeeneoppura2684]

Gravel Cyclist u hav a certain reason or u just don't feel like it?

[@GravelCyclist]

Reason is, I hate riding indoors! Why ride indoors, when I can ride in the real world. Where I live most of the year, the weather is very mild so winter is not an issue. Year round outdoors riding!

[@princepage632]

dude, how many miles do you ride a week? i mean i ride a hundred a week. you must be riding at least 4x that!!

[@GravelCyclist]

I typically average about 10,000 miles / 16,000kms most years.

[@Dr.Schlitz]

Every time I ride on gravel and then ride on the road, the thought crosses my mind - why would anyone want to ride on gravel?

[@GravelCyclist]

Gravel cycling definitely isn't for everyone, but a lot of folks at this event love the challenge. I still enjoy riding the road from time to time.

[@hansschotterradler3772]

On gravel roads you encounter very little traffic. And the traffic that you do encounter moves slowly.

[@GravelCyclist]

A huge attraction, especially in this day and age of distracted drivers on their cell phones, etc :(

[@hansschotterradler3772]

I'm done with roads since my co-worker's neighbor killed a cyclist who was riding on a shoulder. The driver was drunk and is now serving time in prison.

[@dingane]

That's basically it in a nutshell.

[@LaughingSaint66]

Interesting how many baddass ladies ride this race I could pick up chicks there 😂😂🕺🏻🕺🏻🥰