Losing the Dirty Kanza Half Pint

In the first 18 episodes of Choose the Hard Way, I've had the chance to share interviews with some of the world's top performers. Ep. 19 is different. Recently, I met an astronaut who challenged me to share more about my own failures through this podcast. No problem. I have lived through an abundance of painful experiences in business, relationships and life when I have doubted myself, fallen short, given up too soon or done everything I could and still failed. I've been racing bicycles off and on for 30 years, almost always losing. On this episode, I discuss the years of training that went into trying to win the Dirty Kanza Half Pint, a 105-mile bike race held on gravel roads in the Flint Hills near Emporia, Kansas. The Dirty Kanza 200 gravel race has become one of the most iconic bike races in the world. The Dirty Kanza Half Pint is the shorter version of that race. The 2019 edition of the race will happen on June 1st. The 2,500 entry slots to the races sell out in less than a minute when they become available half a year in advance and people travel from all over America and the world to compete in these races.  I've completed the race three times, finishing near DFL in 2013 and taking second place--but not winning--in 2014 and 2015. Joining me is Blake Kasemeier, a.k.a. @blakeoftoday, co-founder of the content marketing agency Slide 32 and host of the Good Grief podcast. We raced as teammates at the Half Pint in 2014 and 2015 and tied for second in 2015. In this episode we discuss the 2013 and 2014 races. We go deep on what it's like to take a trip through the ass kicking machine, going back for more and what you learn on that journey. And laugh at ourselves quite a bit. We'll tackle the 2015 race in a future episode. Because it was such a truly horrific experience that it merits at least another 90 minutes of analysis. Want more? Read the stories I published about my races in 2013 and 2014 here. Connect with Blake @blakeoftoday on insta and twitter. Connect with Slide 32 at www.slide32.com and @slide_32 on insta and twitter and catch the Good Grief podcast at https://anchor.fm/good-grief.   Thanks for listening. If you have questions, comments or want to suggest a guest please reach out to @hardwaypod on social or email me at [email protected]. I've had times in my life when I've been in hot pursuit of my dreams and gave up when I hit obstacles I didn't think I could overcome. After more than two decades working with the world's top performers, I've learned that to be the best in the world, or just find your personal best, you have to choose the hard way. There aren't shortcuts or hacks that will get you there. And you're going to fail over and over along the way. By sharing these stories, I hope to empower more people to reach beyond who they think they are and just keep going, no matter what they encounter in life. You can help me make it happen when you take a moment to subscribe to Choose the Hard Way, leave a review and rate the show on iTunes or wherever you listen. It only takes 30 seconds, I truly appreciate it, and so will the people who you help find the show. You can also sign up for the Choose the Hard Way newsletter to get more information about episodes, guests and awesome things when you go to www.choosethehardway.com/newsletter. You are what you overcome. Choose the hard way. https://www.instagram.com/blakeoftoday/ https://www.instagram.com/slide_32/ https://twitter.com/slide_32 https://www.slide32.com anchor.fm/good-grief