Katie Compton Is Heading to Dirty Kanza
Before you get too excited, no, 15 time U.S. National Cyclocross Champion Katie Fn Compton is not becoming a gravel privateer anytime soon…or ever. But the cross crusher is set to do a little gravel grinding with her sponsor Knight Composites at the Dirty Kanza on May 30 as part of the DK50 Lite Fun Ride.
“Doing the 50 miler lets me be engaged with people and be part of the scene without the racing and suffering. You can’t really have conversations with people when you’re at the front racing,” Compton told Bicycling.
“My dad grew up not far from Emporia [Kansas]. I know the hills and the wind and the temperature. There’s no way I’d do 200 miles of that. I like short hard events and to be done riding my bike when I’m tired,” Compton said with a laugh.
Compton will be at the Knight Composites’s booth on Friday during the expo for an autograph signing and will also be a featured speaker at an event for Women Ride the World, a Dirty Kanza initiative to increase female participation in cycling events.
Though it’s Compton’s first official gravel event, the veteran cyclist, who also holds two National Mountain Bike Champion titles in short track and formerly piloted a tandem with her blind partner Karissa Whitsell on the track, is quick to note that she’s been riding on just about every surface on Earth since she threw a leg over a bike.
“I’ve been riding gravel on the road and mountain and ‘cross bike forever, but I’m looking forward to riding on gravel with tires that are most conducive to it,” Compton said.
Compton also said she’s likely to put a few gravel-specific events on the calendar in the future.
“I’m not going to become a full time gravel racer, but I’d like to be part of some of these events in the future. At this stage of my career I want to enjoy the bike and being out riding. A few gravel events can definitely be part of that.”
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