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#16
06-15-2018, 02:03 PM
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Sheeesh. Can't believe the sentiment towards this. The article sounds like sour grapes to me. Should everyone just get a "participation" medal instead?
If you pay entry and pin a number............it's a race. Period. I for one think that events AND participants should appreciate past Pro's coming to race. I geek out when I see past Tour rider out on same course. Granted I'm not finishing anywhere near their time, I think it definitely adds bit of prestige to the event when they do show up. 
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#17
06-15-2018, 03:46 PM
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Quote:
We had a thread about guys wearing skinsuits and using aerobars in gravel races a week ago and now this. So if I want to travel with some teammates to a race we can't ride/race together? We can't push the pace if we want? So lame. AZrider, you're doing Leadville. Guys use aerobars and race that too. I think Topeak/Ergon also brings a team. I love doing gravel rides and like getting off (or is it on?) the beaten track. Tons of fun. I also like doing races. If I show up for a race I plan on racing.
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#19
06-15-2018, 04:13 PM
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The big organizer around here, Spinistry, puts on events where you can choose to race or ride. Racers go off first. It's a series and the winner gets a nice set of Cantu wheels. I've done about half a dozen gravel races this year and it's a different dynamic than road racing. The big packs break up not far into an event. If the course is rough, then you have to pick your line and pack riding insn't good for that. It's more of a strung out group. I enjoy doing the events even though the last two have been epic with a night race in high heat and humidity, and the race last weekend in 100+ degrees and really dusty conditions. At any time, I can sit up and make it a "ride".
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#20
06-15-2018, 04:35 PM
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Pardon my genuine ignorance when it comes to these gravel type races but how much do team tactics really play into it? From what I've read, everybody is up in arms because Geoff Kabush's wife rode with Geoff "for the last 100 miles or so"...............it's a 200 mile race!!
If you see/saw that happening or playing out then just grab their wheel and enjoy the ride. This whole "i'm upset because they broke an unwritten rule that I created" is absolutely bogus.
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#21
06-15-2018, 05:06 PM
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I'm confused, there are folks upset because other people in a race they signed up for RACED?? The horror of it all. I've done a lot of gravel races over the years and every single time I knew everyone else on the line was racing too. The goal was to win, you know, finish first, ahead of everyone else. Occasionally I managed to do that, usually not, but that's racing.
Sometimes, there was even team tactics. I bet that sometimes they even planned it in advance. Often, I was on the receiving end of tactics, guess what? That's racing. There is only one reason for not winning the race, you didn't cross the line first. Everything else is whining and making excuses.
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#22
06-15-2018, 07:04 PM
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First off, I have been following the career of Amanda "Panda" Nauman for more than a few years and have a lot of respect for her and her opinions. It started with her participation, and winner of along w/a couple of 2nd place finishes, in the Belgian Waffle Ride here in Southern California. It's an event I've participated in 3 times - the full Waffle distance (144mi total, 40+mi on dirt, 13,000+') twice and the shorter Wafer distance once. It's a grueling event. Amanda is a world class cyclocross racer and a long time participant in gravel and mtn bike events. I also follow her on Strava and her training rides are amazing. All this while maintaining a full time job - so not a "professional" in the true sense, and, of course, limiting her ability to compete full time in the European Cx events.
Most, though not all (Dave Kirk, among others), of the posts here remind me of the television talking heads who weighed in on the Lance Armstrong doping drama all the while knowing basically nothing of the of the sport. The DK200 has not been advertised as a race - the winner gets a belt buckle for cryin' out loud. There are no points for a season/world championship, etc. It's just an event, like many gravel rides, where for most it's a personal test but for more elite riders it's the prestige of a win. I don't know much about the R2D2 but would guess it's similar. I do know that many randonnee events are like this - no winner, but there is a winner. Say, Paris-Brest-Paris. I don't think her post was sour grapes. She has placed 2nd or worse in many events and I've never seen a response like this. The last 80 or so miles of the course were into very stiff headwinds. And this, of course, after 120 miles of dirt, mud, hills and water. So there is a very real advantage to a draft. And the lament is that the women's winner was drafting her husband who, I will assume, was a stronger rider. I was also assume he was riding to assist her in her winning aspirations rather than his own. That is, she was beaten by a team rather than an individual. I think she is basically saying is that, as a long time gravel racer, she doesn't agree with those types of tactics. I do agree with other here in that the sport is changing as it becomes more well know and bigger names are coming into the events. I suspect that there will be more rules in the future tough no idea what those might be. It certainly could include those re team tactics, drafting, etc. Triathalon, for example, does not allow drafting and seems to be working.
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#23
06-15-2018, 07:25 PM
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Quote:
You bring up good point about Leadville. It was once very similar to DK in the sense that it was only really known within certain circles. Ever since an ex-pro by name of LA participated it's become this behemoth that now requires qualifying to enter. I guarantee this "controversy" over DK will bring more awareness, and more participants, and MORE teams/tactics/etc. Either abide or go ride by yourself. Quote:
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#24
06-15-2018, 07:35 PM
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In as much as the DK200 is a gravel race, it's no different than any event with an entry fee, numbers and pins, and a finish line. You line up, and if you've got a competitive gene in your soul, you're there to win - or do the best you can under the circumstances. The writer said she had help from her partner when a bad flat occurred. She said she rode with her teammates (people in her club) when she won, but denied accusations that there was any teamwork or drafting. I like Amanda, and know her for cx. But there's a real disconnect here. If KK rode with Luke and says it was for the experience of sharing the event with him, so be it. There was a time not too long ago when many of us thought he'd never ride again.
I'm sorry, but the story is more clickbait than it is news, much less valid news.
__________________
Atmo bis
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#25
06-15-2018, 10:38 PM
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Can women racers not complete the Dirty Kanza without assistance from their partners/significant others?
What a strange article. The gravel events down here around Atlanta didn't really take off until 2014/2015 and have always been competitive with teams and attempted tactics. The courses are almost always rough enough and with enough elevation that small differences in fitness blow up teams before they can get anything done but they do try. I couldn't imagine someone showing up at the ramble or fried green 50 and telling the georgia neuro guys not to work together or the peachtree bikes team they shouldn't try to put their best gravel racer on the podium. Just one of those  articles that seems not to have a point.
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#27
06-15-2018, 11:44 PM
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I haven't read the rules of the event, and am assuming none were broken by the winners.
The offended party can either come more prepared to compete next year, or get the rules changed more to her liking.
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#28
06-16-2018, 10:38 AM
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I'm not really big on this DK "win". There were different classes using the same race course. Let's say this were a USAC road race and a Cat IV rider had pre-planned a scheme to have a few Cat I's from his club (after dropping off the back of their race) jump out of the bushes at the half way point of the CatIV race and ttt him to a solo victory. Would you be good with that? Same principal.
__________________
BIXXIS Prima Cyfac Fignon Proxidium Legend TX6.5
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#29
06-16-2018, 11:42 AM
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Yeah, having a ringer pull you to the finish doesn't seem right. Sounds like that's the complaint. How does USAC handle different categories drafting each other? I recognize that DK is a bit different and classes have always mixed in the past, but this seems questionable.
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#30
06-16-2018, 11:49 AM
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AZrider
Did you race or work any of the Leadville events before Lance showed up or Lifetime Fitness bought it? I seem to remember that an awful lot of the long time participants weren't impressed with the tactics he used, pacers/team, to win the event after losing to Dave Wiens one on one his first year.
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