To the Stars
Without further ado, with Vermont Social, I’m excited to present DIYgravelDK:
A summary:
It was the start of my second century and coincidentally just as the sun was rising that I started to settle into my darkest point. The elevation over these next sixty miles went up and down like an EKG, climbing more than 10,000 feet. Somewhat arbitrarily, I had estimated being able to maintain 15mph average speed over the entire route’s 310 miles, stops included. With this in mind, the 11pm start time meant I would roll to the finish around sunset making for a scenic culmination to the day. So I was already on my back foot here 100 miles in, with an average speed exactly at 15mph, not including stops which were happening more and more frequently. Exacerbated by the elevation, the next sixty miles only slowed me down that much more.
I knew that 90% of the ride’s 310 miles were gravel. My estimate was that maybe 3% of it would be Vermont’s infamous “Class 4” roads. These decade and century-old, unmaintained gravel roads will slow the most adept vehicles to a crawl as they navigate a safe line through. Given that so much of Vermont’s gravel is silky smooth and able to maintain high speeds, going into the day, I really thought the route would be achievable even with a hearty road bike. It’s somewhere around the 50th mile of Class 4 that I realize being aboard my Cannondale Topstone Carbon Lefty is the only thing allowing me to comfortably move forward at all.
It's the relative achievements that stand out on a ride of this magnitude. I spent more than five hours of my ride at or above threshold. Around mile 255, I checked off my “accidental Everest”. That is, having cumulatively climbed 29,029 feet just by coincidence by following the route. With this achievement reached, the longest climb of the day and dusk both imminently loom on the horizon. Riding the distance of Dirty Kanza is an achievement unto itself. Ride it one and a half times, over a considerably greater elevation gain? In one day? Absurd.
Ad astra per aspera, To the stars through hardship. The Kansas state motto refers to the pioneering spirit of the settlers, hearty enough to survive the barren landscape. More so, the state often featured bloody clashes between anti-slavery factions against the pro-slavery proponents. 2020 is a year of hardship and unimaginable difficulties. As if a global pandemic wasn’t enough, the clashes over race and humanistic conflicts here throughout America are staggering. Making the most of an otherwise gloomy scenario, Dirty Kanza embraced the DIYgravel initiative I started earlier this year and encouraged their participants to ride on May 30, their original event date. They branded their now-virtual expo Ad Astra, to the stars. I set out on May 30 at 11pm knowing that a few passing showers were in the forecast but hoping for an otherwise clear night – ideally setting out riding under the stars. In reality, I rode the first six hours in what felt like a hurricane. Sideways wind pelting rain at me from every angle. When night turned to day, the rain subsided, but temperatures still just a few degrees above freezing. It wasn’t until late on Sunday the 31st that the bone chilling cold left me. One Everest behind me, only a few miles from the finish, the sun began to set, and I saw the first star twinkling overhead.
#DIYgravelDK, a 310-mile gravel ride clear across Vermont, ad astra, to the stars.