This year the East Texas Showdown welcomed 100 riders from all over the US, but it was two road cyclist from nearby Austin that would push the pointy end of the race. Kuya Takami was our 2022 East Texas Showdown winner with a time of 23h 56m, setting a new Fastest Known Time (FKT) and Dennis Lastochkin was the second person to cross the finish line, but his time did not officially count after he accepted assistance on course.
Dennis and Kuya are team members on a road cycling team called Night Owl Racing based out of Austin, TX. Before signing up for the ETS the longest either had ridden was 170 miles on road and they had no bikepack racing experience! However, they each came in with a little bikepacking experience. Dennis got into bikepacking as a way to take his two daughters with him on some of his grand cycling adventures. Kuya has us all beat because his first bikepacking trip was 300 miles with his family at the age of 9! A story that we were all shocked to learn!
Aside from that limited experience with bikepacking they had no knowledge of bikepack racing, the rules, ethics, or spirit of solo self supported racing. It made for an interesting dynamic and a learning opportunity by all parties involved, but we all did learn and the end result was very positive indeed. Listen to today’s episode as the worlds of Road Racing and Bikepack Racing intersect on the East Texas Showdown.
Community Spotlight
Velo Cruces, ‘Every Body Rides with Grace’ is hosting adaptive cycle parade in Las Cruces, NM on Saturday June 4th. Please click the link for more info on how you can attend and be part of the important work Grace and her family are doing.
Episode Sponsor
Kuat doesn’t also make great racks, they give back too. One way that do this is through their Future Forest Initiative through which they have planted 592,875 trees today. Visit Kuat.com today to learn more about what they are doing for our forrest and check out their racks while you’re there…wink…wink…
🎉 New Patrons 🎉
Todd Crafter
Thomas Sumter
