Flint hills death ride - Madison Kansas

Has anyone on this site heard of or competed in this event? It looks like it would be a hell of a ride. I'm not near ready for it this year but would like to make it a goal for next year. I found a link to it from the t-town bicycles website (out of Tulsa Ok). Please let me know if you've ridden this ride or if you know someone who did. I'd like to hear about some personal experiences of the ride. Thanks, Greg

 

I'm riding it this with some friends. We try to train at about 80 miles. One man said he dehydrated one year and enjoyed a three day stay in the hospital! I can tell you more after july 29th

 

Please let me know how it goes. It looks like a hell of a challenge and I'd like to do it next year. Talk to ya later, Greg

 

Born2beahick, give us an update. How was it?

 

It was definately a death ride! after the second sag stop there was an ascent that was over three and a half miles long, not real steep but still the oil field roads were rough enough too shake your fillings loose, so running above a 10 mph average took all out effort! that one climb took our group about 45 minutes! 103 degrees with not much shade. but the volunteer fire truck at the last sag hoseing people down was a godsend, It's hard to compare it to other events, but I'll try, the only ride that ever hit me harder was a century road ride that I averaged 18.7. There were mountain bike races that made me sweat more and took away my breathing, I did a triathlon in june that was a real challenge, and won a silver medal in a 5k run just last week, but can't really compare that kind of activity to the death ride. it was as much mental as it was physical. the heat was relentless as was the driving wind out of the south (witch we headed into after the long ascent) and both of these things worked on your mind as well as your body. If you quit pedaling you stopped! just that simple, you had to stay on the attack if you wanted to get anywhere. In all it was the toughest gravel road ride I ever road! we had done several 80+ mile gravel road rides to train and some xc trail ride as long as 30 miles but these roads were in a class of there own! Many people sagged out or caught lifts to the next sag, some took the shortcut voluntairily, these people weren't given there finish medals or allowed to order a jersey! So the only perks of doing the ride can only be hard by finishing the ride in it's entirety. Sorry this was so long winded and I don't mean to paint it as something that's next to impossible to do! I rode it with my training partner who happens to be female, so the ride can be mastered by anyone, even people not in the best shape could do it, just have to ride smart and be aware of your limitations! Give it a try, No Boats, No lights, No motorcars, Not a single luxury!