If you want to be in the Dirty Kanza in early June, your window is opening up Tuesday.
Starting at 8 am, Dirty Kanza Promotions is taking applications for its second annual registration lottery. Operations manager LeLan Dains, KVOE’s Newsmaker guest Monday, says the goal was to make the registration experience more pleasant for the crush of potential participants.
Last year saw around 2,700 riders, and Dains says there were around 5,500 people who registered for the lottery around the world. This year will have a capacity of 3,000 riders.
Dains says this year will see the same list of races as last year, including the signature 200-mile race, as well as the 100-, 50- and 25-mile rides and the high school race. Almost 200 riders also registered in December for the initial 350-mile XL, and DK has accepted 75 for that race. Dains says local riders and longtime riders “should like their chances” of getting accepted.
Dains also says there will be a major change at the start of the event in early June. For the first time since the initial race in 2006, riders will head north out of Emporia instead of going south. Alma and Council Grove will serve as checkpoints.
The registration lottery ends Jan. 13, with riders getting notified Jan. 19. For more information or to register for the 2019 DK, go online to www.dirtykanza.com.
