DIYgravel: Dirty Kanza Ad Astra

“…yeah, I just had an idea.”

There are some important talking points here, so my hope is that this comes together succinctly. Stay with me.

1) DIYgravel. It’s a thing. It’s booming in fact. Seeing the rides pour into the submission page and seeing more on social media warms my heart. There are almost 3,000 rides uploaded over the past two months and that number is only going up. I can’t really express how much it inspires me seeing how many of you are riding DIYgravel.

2) 200 on 100. Also a thing. A ride in the epic sense, this 200 mile adventure links Vermont’s northern border to its southern border, entirely on Route 100. Creative name, eh? (Before you ask, it’s entirely paved.)

3) Joe Cruz. Editorial contributor to Bikepacking.com, philosophy professor, cycling map aficionado, and Vermonter. Without any particular reason, I recently asked Joe if he knows of a “200 on 100” ride, but dirt edition. That sent him on a meticulous homework project.

4) It would appear that in the spring of 2020, 200 mile rides are the new century. I’ve “only” done 200 mile rides fewer than 10 times in my life. Four of those have been from Emporia, KS alongside many thousands of my best friends in Dirty Kanza. This Saturday, May 30 would have been my fifth attempt.

5) There’s a Latin expression, per aspera ad astra which translates to “through hardship to the stars”. This rings true. Dirty Kanza is making the best of this years completely unexpected scenario with the creative title Ad Astra.

6) Going full circle now, thinking about how to honor Dirty Kanza with this edition of DIYgravel, I wanted to go big. Dirty Kanza is a focal point of my season, we’re largely stuck in our home states, a ride like the 200 on 100 is something I’m always keen to do, and it was around this time Joe chimed back in to say, “Hey Ted, I created a route. I think you’re going to like it.” He was right.

I present unto you DIYgravel: Dirty Kanza Ad Astra. A 312 mile ride with an “accidental Everest” along the way, as it covers more than 31,000 feet of climbing from start to finish. It’s 90% gravel with fewer than 5 consecutive miles of pavement. Whoa.

I’ve never ridden anything beyond a 216 mile 200 on 100. Who knows how that final 100+ miles will feel. I’m estimating a 20 hour day. Turns out Joe lives in the southwest corner of the state. He’ll be there to wave the finishing flag.

Rather than starting at a normal hour and finishing at some heinous hour of the day like 3am, I thought it makes sense to depart ad astra. So I’ll be rolling out around 11pm on Dirty Kanza Saturday. Feel free to bring your mask and meet me along the way.

How to Follow:
I’ll be broadcasting frequently from my @iamtedking stories.
I’ll use the hashtag #DIYgravelDK
You can follow my life tracking with a Garmin inReach here.

How to do More:
I’m really excited about the logo we created and better yet, the donation store where you can be part of something even bigger.