Orange Mud Adventure Channel

Join us Jim and Lelan walk us through the the history, challenges, changes, growth and craziness of the Dirty Kanza 200 gravel grinder race. This is one of the most iconic gravel grinder races across the US with 2200 athletes in total races across the various distances offered. Emporia Kansas may not be known as having the best singletrack, but it has some amazing gravel roads and is quickly becoming one of the primary destinations for endurance mountain biking across the US.

Learn more at: http://dirtykanza.com

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About: Dirty Kanza Promotions was founded in 2006 by Jim Cummins, with the assistance of fellow cycling enthusiast Joel Dyke. At that time, gravel grinding was just beginning to catch the interest of the endurance cycling community. However, Jim had grown up in the Flint Hills of east central Kansas and had been riding gravel for decades. Inspired by some of the early gravel grinder events… and convinced the Flint Hills had the best gravel to be found anywhere in the world, Jim and Joel decided to create Dirty Kanza 200.

Initially, these two gravel aficionados had no idea the extent to which this whole gravel grinding thing would grow, nor did they give it any real thought. That wasn't what motivated them. They both simply felt their lives had been enriched through cycling. And DK200 was their attempt to give back to the cycling community.

Since then, the popularity of gravel grinding has exploded and is now the fastest growing genre in the cycling industry. The popularity of DK200 has grown too, from 34 participants in 2006, to an anticipated 2,200 riders in 2017. And while that growth has brought with it a few changes to our format and the way we have to manage certain aspects of the event, one thing has remained constant… DK200 is a grass-roots event, organized and managed by folks who are passionate about cycling, and done so for the primary purpose of providing life-enriching cycling experiences for our event participants.

Zach Bitter is the 12 hour world record holder (101.7 miles) 100 mile American record holder (11:40:55), 200k (125mi) track record holder (16:22:27), 100k track record holder (6:58:00) and 3 time USATF National champion 50 mile record holder. Aside from his speed, he's a low key guy that is great to chat with and loves to share his knowledge about running, nutrition, and life. In this episode we cover his win at Javelina 100 in 2016, training for 100 mile ultras, nutrition, Western States 100 goals and who wore the crop top better, Scott Jurek or Jim Walmsley.

Join us as we learn more about what it's like to be a race director, the struggles, success, fun, cost, and more. Paul has been putting on races for 5 years with Outdoor Pursuits and is an animal of an ultrarunner as well.