Dave's story: Haddam Hounds Hundy

BaseCamp athlete Dave Douglas shared his experience at the 2026 Haddam Hounds Hundy bike race in Kansas.

The Haddam Hounds Hundy was both challenging and fun. The course layout was definitely my favorite layout of any event that I have participated in. The course was laid out in loops. So for the 100k it was four completely different loops.

This was the most technically difficult coarse that I have ever ridden. There were a lot of MMR roads with a lot of deep and wide ruts. There were deep and wide ruts in the middle of steep climbs. There were deep and wide ruts in the middle and at the bottom of descents. There were even deep and wide ruts on sections where the grass was so thick that you couldn't see them coming. At one point as I was approaching the technically most difficult climb, the rider in front of me dropped his front wheel into a deep rut and did a slow speed endo. I managed to skirt this rider and continued to work my way up the climb. At the top of the climb there was a sharp steep lip. The rider who was now just in front of me spun out and had to quickly to unclip. I had to quickly change directions, but I did manage to make it over the top. Anyone who has ridden with me knows that my technical riding skills are not great. On a decent on the third loop, I swerved to miss a large hole. I missed the hole. But my rear tire dropped into a rut. It grabbed the rear tire so hard that I went from about 20 mph to almost a dead stop. A solid grip on the hoods kept me on the bike. At the bottom of the hill, I noticed that the rear tire felt soft. A quick inspection revealed the tire was soft but not leaking. With only five miles left to complete the loop, I decided not to mess with it. I grabbed my air pump when I completed the loop. The tire had less than 10 lbs PSI. At this point the temps were mid 80s, and I was starting to overheat. I dumped some cold water on my head and headed out for the fourth loop.

There were several times throughout the day where I felt like I could push a little harder, but fear of cramping and not being able to complete the route caused me to hold back. I completed the fourth loop feeling good.

It was great to see fellow BaseCampers Galen and Sue Hageman there.

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