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Official 2015 Dirty Kanza Support Event

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  • Official 2015 Dirty Kanza Support Event

    Official 2015 Dirty Kanza Support Event

    This is the Kansas City Jeep Club's official race support event thread for the Dirty Kanza 200. This race is a 200 mile offroad bicycle race that takes place in the Flint Hills of Kansas. This is race that draws thousands of bicyclists and their friends and crew members from around the world, and the KC Jeep Club plays an important part in making it all possible.

    This thread will be updated as information is collected and the event becomes more organized.

    Event Details

    When and Where

    Location: Emporia, KS

    Date: Course marking on Friday, May 29th, 2015. Race support on Saturday, May 30th, 2015

    Jeep and Jeeper Requirements

    This is a safari-style event. If you have a Jeep in good mechanical condition you can do this. There are no substantial obstacles, no technical or challenging spots, and nothing that will break your Jeep.

    Things you should have with you or on your Jeep:
    • a 2" hitch receiver
    • working CB radio
    • pair of good work gloves
    • tow hooks (just in case)
    • camera
    • bottled water
    • sunscreen
    • club decal and window sticker
    • cell phone


    Nice to Have:
    • HAM radio on 2m
    • lawn chairs


    Volunteer Activities

    Course Marking

    Requires: At least four volunteers

    When: Friday, May 29th, 2015.

    We will be meeting at the Dirty Kanza office, 11 W 8th Ave. in Emporia, KS at 8 AM on Friday. Jim has a busy day on Friday so please do NOT be late as he will not be able to meet with us later.

    What:

    This activity involves setting 1/2" rebar with PVC pipes and ribbons, plus sometimes spray painting road surfaces, to help make tricky parts of the course less tricky. It takes 4 or 5 hours per leg (with a single Jeep), and is a lot of fun. Typically if you set a leg, you'll also be responsible for pulling the markers once the leg closes. This means you will have a Sunday obligation if it is the last leg.

    More than one Jeep can mark a given leg and in fact, it is the best way for new volunteers to be introduced by going with someone who has done this multiple times.

    Checkpoints

    The Checkpoint locations will be in Madison and Cottonwood Falls, therefore the legs are as follows:
    • Emporia to Madison, DK200 cut-off is 1pm
    • Madison to Cottonwood Falls, DK100 cut-off is noon, DK200 cut-off is 8pm
    • Cottonwood Falls to Emporia (finish-line)


    Race Day Support

    Requires: At least eight volunteers

    When: Saturday, May 30th, 2015

    Sag Support:

    Our responsibility will be to take those riders who have purchased the support crew for-hire services and who are dropping out to the closest open checkpoint. The support for hire folks will be establishing times for shutting down a checkpoint and moving on to the next station but we don't know them yet; likely to be a fluid thing that we will need to adapt to on the ground. The Race will provide us with hitch mounted bike racks to help facilitate this activity.
    • Riders with their own support crews are responsible to get their own selves off the course but it will be your call as to how much support you render in those instances. A radio call in the coordinator so they know to notify that rider's support crew might be helpful.
    • Rendering Assistance: The only assistance we are allowed to give during the race to riders who have not yet dropped out is water. Everything else will disqualify them
    • First Aid: It goes without saying that most of us are not first responders. Ultimately, we will each need to make this decision for ourselves but you should not render first aid outside of your comfort zone, especially if you haven't been trained to do so.


    It is estimated that we will not need to transport more than half-dozen riders per leg as most riders decide to stop while sitting in a lawn chair at a checkpoint.

    Work Hours:

    In addition to the 200 mile main event, there are three other races we need to be concerned with; a 100 mile, 50 mile, and a 20 mile. The 200 mile race has three legs this year. The 100 mile race shares parts of the 200 mile race. The two smaller races do not share parts of the larger races. All races start Saturday morning. The 20 and 50 mile races will probably be completed before the Madison check point opens and certainly before the Cottonwood Falls checkpoint is open.

    We will split race day support up into at least two shifts. If we have enough Jeeps we will do more. The first shift will start with the race at 6am. It will run about 12 hours. The second shift will start mid to late afternoon, depending upon race progress and how busy the preceding shifts have been.

    We will need to have two Jeeps active on each open leg, and two Jeeps available to support the 20 and 50 mile races. This means that for the first shift, we need to have four Jeeps to start at 6am. Two Jeeps to cover leg one and two Jeeps to cover the smaller races. We will need four Jeeps to cover the second shift.

    Event Visibility

    There will be one full city block shut down for the weekend on 8th Ave between Commercial Street and going west to Merchant. The Race is a co-owner of the building at the SW corner of 8th & Commercial, and they will be using the east half of that city block for the rider hospitality tent.

    The area we will be parking in is displayed below. We have the area bounded by the blue rectangle and our way in and out is shown by the green arrow.



    This is the western half of the street on W 8th Avenue between Merchant Street and Commercial Street, with the alley as the demarcation between west and east.

    We can easily fit 10 Jeeps in this area. We can put up a pop-up tent/canopy and display our club banner at that site. This will also be a great place for people who are not working at the time to park their Jeeps to show them off. If we could also get a volunteer or two to man that tent, especially with a cell phone, CB radio, that would be great.

    Area Information

    Accommodations

    Hotels: They fill up fast and are likely gone by now. You should call and see if you can make reservations instead of relying upon online reservation systems.

    Camping:
    • Emporia RV Park: This is an RV campground located in Emporia. I have stayed there before and it is conveniently located and reasonably priced. The owners participate in the DK200 as riders, they're pretty cool. It is along the Interstate so there is a little bit of noise. Full hookups. Steph and I are staying there again this year.
    • Numerous USACE facilities: There are numerous US Army Corps of Engineers campgrounds in the area. All of them are at least 45 minutes from Emporia but they are all nice places. They are cheaper than the RV park in Emporia.
    • Randy Smith's private property: One of the race organizers has a good friend, Randy Smith, who has offered to let us camp on his property located in Emporia, KS. It is free. It is only primitive camping so you'll need to be self-contained. This shouldn't really be a problem since the event is only a one or two night stay for most.
      • If you want to camp here, please send me a PM with your complete contact information. I will put you in touch with the property owner.


    People

    Current Volunteers

    The following list identifies all of the volunteers (in alphabetical order) who have confirmed their participation.

    If you would like to be added to this list, or know of someone I have missed, please let me know and I will update it. Please also let me know if I spelled any names wrong.
    • Ron Armstrong; Marking/SAG, Shift not specified
    • Kevin Bennett, Marking/SAG, Second Shift
    • Denison Bowman
    • Ken Brown
    • Kenny Burns; Marking/SAG, First Shift
    • Sarah Fiedler; Marking/SAG, First Shift
    • Todd Fiedler; Marking/SAG, First Shift
    • Dave Gilsdorf, SAG, First Shift
    • Paul McAffee; Marking/SAG, Shift not specified
    • Bill Trotter; Marking/SAG; Second Shift
    • Al Byars
    • Rod and Shelley Baker
    • Jim Spinner


    Additionally, make sure you specify what days you will be available and if you have a shift preference for race day. Please include your full contact information!

    Unconfirmed Volunteers

    The following list of people have expressed interest but not confirmed they will participate.
    • Scott Mosier


    Race People

    These folks are Race staff, officials, or somehow connected to the race other than as KC Jeep Club participants. There information is included here for reference.
    • Jim Cummins
    • LeLan Dains, manages the SAG folks
    • Randy Smith, private property owner where camping is available


    Other Information

    HAM Radio

    The Emporia Amateur Radio Society will be assisting with race communications on the day of the race. Mike Pate (KC0NFG) is our contact with them. Mike is also a Jeep person, so he doubly cool (radio and Jeep). They will have some folks working net control from their homes, and some folks on the course at checkpoints.

    The following repeaters will be available for use:
    • The club's repeater, K0HAM frequency 146.985 tone 88.5, is south west of Emporia and covers a 30 mile radius on an average day
    • The K0ESU repeater on 443.000 MHz with a 103.5 tone, is in Emporia and has about 20+ mile radius
    Last edited by tfiedler; 05-28-2015, 06:55 AM. Reason: updated confirmed volunteer list
    "People who want to share their religious views with you almost never want you to share yours with them." -Dave Barry

  • #2
    Todd you can add Denison Bowman to the confirmed list.

    Comment


    • #3
      I am a maybe. I'll let you know when I get my schedule finalized.

      Comment


      • #4
        Just put us down for what ever shift we are needed on. We'll probably be out there during the whole race anyway.
        Bill T.

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        • #5
          Updates made to the original post. Thanks!
          "People who want to share their religious views with you almost never want you to share yours with them." -Dave Barry

          Comment


          • #6
            You know I will take the first leg.

            Comment


            • #7
              I will help on this, I prefer the morning leg but will be there the whole time to help if needed

              Comment


              • #8
                Originally posted by Dave Gilsdorf View Post
                I will help on this, I prefer the morning leg but will be there the whole time to help if needed
                I added you Dave. Put you down for first shift SAG.
                "People who want to share their religious views with you almost never want you to share yours with them." -Dave Barry

                Comment


                • #9
                  Originally posted by bbtj View Post
                  Just put us down for what ever shift we are needed on. We'll probably be out there during the whole race anyway.
                  Put you down tentatively for second shift. Also have you down for Friday and Saturday. Let me know if that is incorrect.
                  "People who want to share their religious views with you almost never want you to share yours with them." -Dave Barry

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    ALL: I have confirmation back from Jim today so I added the detail in for our parking arrangements, along with a picture.

                    -Todd
                    "People who want to share their religious views with you almost never want you to share yours with them." -Dave Barry

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Originally posted by tfiedler View Post
                      Put you down tentatively for second shift. Also have you down for Friday and Saturday. Let me know if that is incorrect.
                      Sounds good, and we should be there Friday and Saturday.
                      Bill T.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Thought I had posted up on this I will be going down Thursday with the popup eather no kids or just AJ. We will be there to work both Friday and Saterday coming home Sunday if all goes well AJ will have her ham call and driving permit both. May have room for others as well I will know more as it gets closer
                        KB0ZNR
                        05 LJ, Chevy LSS, 241OR, Mutt long arm, OBA, AEV High Line, Full cage, 35s tube steps and bumpers, 31.5 gal fuel tank

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Who needs somewhere to camp. I visited Emporia this weekend to see where to stay. As expected all the normal spots are taken. Today I called the Lyons County fairboard to see if they would open the fairgrounds for camping. I think they are going to. I do not know yet waht services will be available, like power, or showers, but will find out soon. How many if anyone is interested in this site. The fairgrounds are just east of I-35 on right 50 hiway. 816-591-4394

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                          • #14
                            Dave touch base with Todd Fiedler.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Possibly interested in participating. Maybe man the tent? Idk.
                              "I've only been a Jeep owner a few years, but I'm finding that a Jeep is a lot like a woman. They clean up nice, but they're more fun when they're dirty..."
                              Easy livin'--10 jku rubi ;),2012 cummins mega, 95 ZJ

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