Editor’s Note: Anyone who was paying attention last Winter in early January and was trying to get an entry into the Dirty Kanza 200 knows that the process was over about as soon as it started. Demand for slots into the annual Kansan endurance race was at an all time high, basically taking mere minutes to fill the 2000 slots available.
The Dirty Kanza Promotions folks understood that something had to change in regard to the registration process and they have come up with a new plan which will go in to effect later this year to select the riders who will be fortunate enough to get in to this classic of gravel grinding. RidingGravel.com will also be providing a forum thread again to facilitate transfers under the authority of Dirty Kanza Promotions. Read the press release for more below.
Dirty Kanza Announces
New Event Registration Process for 2018
Due to high demand, we are unable to accommodate everyone who wishes to participate in the Dirty Kanza gravel road bicycling challenge. Therefore, a lottery selection process will be utilized to determine who will be allowed to participate in the 2018 Dirty Kanza. See more after the break….
Overview:
Registration will be conducted online, and can be accessed from the “Registration” page on the Dirty Kanza website at dirtykanza.com. Individuals will have the opportunity to submit their name for participation in the 2018 Dirty Kanza from December 1, 2017 at 8:00 am CST, until December 16, 2017 at 11:59 pm CST. Registration for event entry selection will be free of charge. However, credit card information will be collected at the time you submit your name for consideration. Your credit card will be charged only if you are accepted to participate.
Selection and Payment of Entry Fees:
Winning entries will be selected on or about January 13, 2018. Subject to event eligibility requirements, the individuals whose names are drawn will be awarded entry in the 2018 Dirty Kanza. These selected event participants will be notified by email, per the contact information they provide. Each participant’s credit card will be charged the event registration fee, a small processing fee, as well as any additional fees for add-on items chosen by the participant.
Group Registration Option:
A group registration option will be available for those families, friends, and other small groups (up to 4 individuals) who ONLY want to participate if they can do so together. All group members must submit their name for lottery consideration using the same Group Name. If the Group Name is selected, each member of the group will be accepted to participate, and charged the appropriate fees. Individual group members are not required to participate in the same event distance.
For More Information:
Visit our website at dirtykanza.com
Individual Participant Registration Fees:
Dirty Kanza 200-mile distance – $200
Dirty Kanza 100-mile distance – $100
Dirty Kanza 50-mile distance – $50
Dirty Kanza 25-mile distance – $35
(Plus a small processing fee.)
For more details on registration options and classifications, refer to the 2018 Dirty Kanza Riders Bible, which can be found under the “Info” tab at dirtykanza.com.
Participation Field Limits:
This event entry selection process will be used to fill the following number of spots…
Dirty Kanza 200-mile distance – 1,000 individual participants
Dirty Kanza 100-mile distance – 750 individual participants
Dirty Kanza 50-mile distance – 400 individual participants
Dirty Kanza 25-mile distance – 200 individual participants
General:
- Only one lottery application per person. (Either as an individual, or as part of a group.)
- Consideration will be given to multi-time DK200 Finishers nearing 1,000 Mile Club status, area residents and other long-time supporters of Dirty Kanza, and women as a continuation of the #200Women200Miles campaign.
- The entire selection and registration process shall be at the sole discretion of Dirty Kanza Promotions, whose decisions and interpretations shall be final and binding.
- Dirty Kanza Promotions reserves the right to cancel, terminate, suspend, or modify the selection process at any time and for any reason.
- Dirty Kanza Promotions reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to disqualify any individual it suspects or believes to be tampering with the entry selection process, or to be acting in violation of these rules, or acting in such a way as to be detrimental to the integrity of this event.
- Dirty Kanza Promotions shall not be responsible for incomplete entries, declined credit cards, nor entries received after the application deadline for any reason.
- Comp’d entries for sponsors, press, and other industry notables have no impact on the lottery selection process, nor do they count towards field limit totals.
Refunds and Transfers:
All registration fees are non-refundable and cannot be deferred to the following year. Event registrations may be transferred, if done so before the deadline of April 1, 2018. Requests for transfer received after April 1st will be denied. No exceptions. See below for more details…
2018 Dirty Kanza Event Entry Transfer Procedure
- It is the responsibility of the person currently registered for Dirty Kanza to find someone to acquire their event entry. You may want to visit the special forum established at ridinggravel.com to find someone to take your spot, or to find an event entry that is being offered for transfer.
- Event entries must remain in the original event distance. In other words, a 100-mile entry cannot be transferred to a 200-mile category. Entries may be transferred to a different category/gender within the same event distance.
- The individual currently registered for Dirty Kanza must submit an email to dirtykanzatransfers@gmail.com requesting the transfer. The new participant assuming the transfer MUST be cc’d on this email.
- Dirty Kanza Promotions will then “Reply All” with further instructions to keep the transfer process moving forward. These instructions will include a request to the new participant to send payment for the event entry to Dirty Kanza Promotions. Once payment has been received, the transfer process will continue.
- A check will then be issued by Dirty Kanza Promotions to the original owner of the event entry, for the original cost minus a $30 processing fee.
- Once the transfer has been completed, both parties will receive a confirmation email from Dirty Kanza Promotions.
- Both parties will be expected to respond to requests made by Dirty Kanza Promotions in a timely fashion. Failure to do so will void the entire transfer process.
- Dirty Kanza Promotions will not manage a wait list, nor will we act as “match maker” to help anyone find an entry.
- Do not simply “give” your DK entry to someone, then have them show up for Rider Sign-In. All riders will be required to show a government-issued photo I.D. in order to obtain their event packet. If they aren’t on our roster, they won’t be allowed to ride. No exceptions.
Note: Deadline for all entry transfers and all registration changes is Sunday, April 1, 2018 (11:59pm CST).
Questions about this procedure can be submitted to: dirtykanzatransfers@gmail.com
About Dirty Kanza:
Organized by Dirty Kanza Promotions, the Dirty Kanza is recognized throughout the cycling industry as the world’s premier endurance gravel road cycling challenge. Cyclists from all across North America, Western Europe, and beyond converge on Emporia, KS each year to test their mettle on the remote and rugged roads of the Flint Hills region of east-central Kansas. The only remaining expanse of natural tallgrass prairie in North America, the Flint Hills have been called “the eastern most part of the great far west. Find out more about Dirty Kanza Promotions here… http://dirtykanzapromotions.com/
Note: Information provided for this post was provided by Dirty Kanza Promotions.
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Disappointing. I’ve not had any trouble getting in the last two years. Do I need to take my A race off the training calendar? Who knows…?
@Buckjazz: Considering that one of the race directors spent well over 8 hours personally answering emails to disgruntled entrants who had issues with the online registration, which was caused by an overload of individuals trying to enter the event, and also considering that the event filled within minutes, the lottery is a better way to make it fair and easy on the promoters AND prospective riders. Everyone has the same chance of getting a spot.
Keep in mind that while you may have seen it as an easy way for you to guarantee entry into the event, that wasn’t the case for literally hundreds of others. Add in the extreme possibility that almost anyone can pick up a spot from someone dropping out closer to the event, (we know this because RidingGravel.com has facilitated the transfer site for the last two years), and the lottery system makes more sense than a broken, overloaded online model.
Changes often precipitate negativity, but in a few years I suspect no one will be complaining. It will just be different than it has been before. This is not the first time registration details for the DK200 have changed or been modified, and its increasing popularity is to blame for that. Had things stayed the same, or had demand decreased, you would have seen no reason to have this change, but that clearly is not the case here.
Ted,
Thanks for the insight. I’m lucky to live close. I’ll be in Emporia to enjoy the fun whether or not I get to ride!
Ted you have a thankless job as a race director. Coming in as a newbie I appreciate anything you or any other ride organizers do for the sport. I also would like to thank you for working with Raleigh on the Tamland as I bought one. Here is my question to you from a working guy that has limited vacation time and I have to put my requests in early. Could you give some general info out on the estimated cost of the registration/dorm fees/support that can be bought for the ride. I wasn’t a gravel rider until late spring this last year. Many thanks for all the hard work you and others do. Thanks
@Larry E. Brenize- Thank you, and to clarify, I do organize and run an event called “Trans Iowa”. I think perhaps you were thinking I am involved in the Dirty Kanza 200. I am not, but a quick email to them would clear up any questions that you might have. I am loathe to speak for them in regard to costs as they may be different from the past, and in fact, I know that race registration has gone up.
I see that they posted the costs over at gravelcyclist. Trans Iowa is on my to do list but I need to get a few other races under my belt first. Thanks
I’m glad that the entry fee for transfers is now being handled by DK promotions, last year on the transfer forum people were offering way above the initial entry fees for an entry transfer.
Hello from Down Under,
Does anyone know how many spots the local university offer for participants in the DK?