The Cutoff Controversy
We would like to point out that the Flint Hills Death Ride is really two separate routes tied together. If you are still behind the cutoff point at 12:00 noon, you will be asked to take the shortcut home. Most folks have been appreciative that we sent them down the shorter road. But some of you have fussed about this. Now I can understand and appreciate the dismay at discovering that you are about to be asked to take the short route. This means a couple of things. It means you are not going to finish the entire route. It means you will lose whatever bragging rights those of you who complete the ride legitimately have. It also means that you will not get a Finisher Award. We will have a cut-off time and we will enforce it. Look at it from this perspective. First of all, we completely understand what this ride does to the average rider's physiology. You will be dehydrated, and exhausted, and hurting under even the best conditions. Secondly, it is 12:00 in the afternoon. You have been riding for 4 hours, if you are behind the cutoff point you are less than a third of the way through the route. Since you are at the back of the group we assume two things. Either there has been a mechanical problem or you are simply not as strong or in as good of physical condition as the people ahead of you. We think these are reasonable assumptions. In the best case scenario, at your present rate you will be on the road for another 8 hours.
There are a few problems with this. The easiest part of the course is behind you, it only gets tougher. It is only going to get windier and hotter or wetter and colder, and you will be even more dehydrated than the guys who made it in earlier. You will be in the elements longer and will lose that much more water and burn that many more calories. You will not go faster in the last sections. Repeat, you will NOT GO FASTER. In fact, it is more than reasonable for us to assume that you will slow down, a lot. That simply has been our experience. So now that 9:00 pm arrival time becomes 10:00, or maybe even 11:00. Guess what, it gets dark at 9:00. Did you bring lights? Frankly, we have no desire to be looking for folks who are in the serious throes of heat exhaustion, sitting somewhere on the route, in the middle of the night and, in case you haven't checked lately, helicopter fuel is extremely expensive. It's those kinds of conditions that result in fatalities. We also know from past experience that many folks legitimately underestimate the fact that they cannot realistically complete the route. If you are a first timer this is an understandable response. You have no experience to tell you that under the current set of circumstances the likelihood that you will die on the route is pretty high. The effects of exhaustion and heat may already impair your judgment. You may not be in the position to make fully rational informed decisions. In those cases we reserve the right to decide for you. We have no desire to work a fatality. If you have any questions go back and read "The Acts of Stupidity" clause in this brochure.