Yeah, should be pretty easy to predict what they need to stock up on- the course and the number of participants is known well in advance, what performance athletes are going to want to consume on the run is well known.

 

The more shocking thing, though, is that a race for professional athletes hinges on people being able to run into a rural 7-11 to purchase supplies mid race.  You'd think the organizers would have fueling points set up strategically.

The gas station might not have the right distributors to get the stuff the riders want.

4 hours ago, X said:

The more shocking thing, though, is that a race for professional athletes hinges on people being able to run into a rural 7-11 to purchase supplies mid race.  You'd think the organizers would have fueling points set up strategically.

 

The event has evolved from humble beginnings in 2005.  It was originally a completely self-supported event, meaning people had to get drinking water out of creeks, bring along a camp stove, and stuff like that.  Also, it was originally a locals event, meaning the riders actually knew the ranchers and were welcome to get water from their hand pumps.  I actually knew about this event early on because one of my better friends from college and a former bandmate grew up in Emporia. 

 

There is now much more information available on this specific race than even when I did it several years ago.  But even with all of the info (many videos, active facebook groups, etc.), the conditions are so wild and unpredictable that big stuff goes wrong, even for the most prepared people.  The problem is that ordinary riders are now driving huge distances or even traveling from overseas and then getting pissed off when conditions are bad and they DNF 32 miles into a 200-mile event.  It probably cost me $2,000 to participate in this event (hotel, gas, specific items purchased for the bike, and then - oopsies! - a trip to the ER!).  But many people are spending over $5,000. 

 

The race is now organized by a foo-foo organization called "Lifetime".   That's why the name was changed from Dirty Kanza (which single-handedly did a ton to promote the event) to "Unbound" (whatever that means).  They've also added two water oasis stops to the 200-mile course, which has made things a lot easier. 

 

That said, it's probably now the single-biggest annual bicycle race of any kind in the United States.  Before that it was probably the Leadville 100, but few people from the east bother with that event since if you don't live in Colorado full-time it's a really bad idea to go for a 100-mile ride at 10,000 feet.  The thing about the Dirty Kanza was that it was within 1-day driving distance of Colorado, which is why a lot of top riders started doing it in the 2010s.  Those same people aren't going to drive to the Michigan Coast-to-Coast (which is coming up next weekend, btw).