Review Date
July 30, 2008

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 4 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 1 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Ridden Once

Reviewed by: Wakarusageorge ,  Weekend Warrior

Summary:
This was my first ride, so this may be most useful to others like me who wondered: what would a ride like this be like? I had a blast and hope to be there next year. The 2008 ride was 83 miles of mostly hardpack gravel, starting in Madison, Kansas, and going north as far as 130 Road just west of the Emporia airport, then back south, and then west of I-35, back east across I-35, and then up into some of the highest and most scenic spots at the top of the Flint Hills. There were substantial uphill sections, some into a stiff south wind. The ground was occasionally loamy. Cows and cow pies were part of the scenery. The last started as mostly rolling hills, then turned into a a white knuckle-descent. One short killer hill right after the last SAG stop tested resolve. The last section covered mountain bike conditions, partly over roads closed to cars and trucks. The organizers provided ample food and water and friendly service at the four stops. A fair number of cyclo-cross riders seemed to have no difficulty, though I suspect they had some difficult with the very rocky sections on the closed section.

Review Date
December 27, 2007

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 5 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 1 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Once a year

Reviewed by: mtbjosh ,  Cross Country Rider

Summary:
I read about this a few years ago and after lots of searching finally tracked it down earlier this year. The website has changed from the past. Checkout the new one at http://flinthillsdeathride.com.

This is a fantastic ride and I flew in from Phoenix just to ride a piece of good ol Kansas. Good times and much harder than one would think for a gravel road ride in the rolling flint hills. This years race had rain early followed by hot hot hot heat afterwards which made for a torturous ride from start to finish. I'd highly recommend it though!

Here is a youtube video I put together from this years race.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=gpiDxLl8lEA

Cheers,

Josh
orthojosh@gmail.com

Review Date
February 6, 2004

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 4 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 3 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Once a year

Visitors rate this review
2.00 of 5, 1 votes

Review Date
August 11, 2003

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 5 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 2 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Once a year