Rev. Dr. Kevin Emge tackled the swim portion of the Ironman Texas North American Championship on April 22 just like everyone else. But when he transitioned onto his bike for the next stretch of the race, something was… different. Sure, the 58-year-old Iowan used aero bars, a Bento box for snacks, and a sleeveless triathlon suit, but riding a fat bike instead of a tri bike took the grueling endurance challenge to a whole 'nother level of tough.
For seven hours and 12 minutes, Emge battled fellow racers and his own wide tires to finish the 112-mile bike portion of the triathlon. He clocked an average speed of 15.49mph, putting him at 1,854th of 2,671 total athletes for that segment (as well as 78th of 160 athletes in the 55-59 division)—an especially impressive finish considering his choice of gear. (Train to reach every cycling goal with the game-changing interval and weight-training plan in Maximum Overload for Cyclists, published by Rodale!)
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While he had plenty of time for the marathon portion when he rolled through the last transition, Emge finished on foot 10 minutes after the cutoff time and recorded a DNF.
In spite of that, he earned many admirers for his wild ride. We hunted him down to ask a few questions, mainly, “Why?!"
BICYCLING: Where did the idea to use a fat bike come from?
Rev. Dr. Kevin Emge: I thought I saw a fat-tire bike in the bike rack at Ironman Wisconsin. Of course, this got my mind spinning. I was looking for something different. I had finished nine out of nine Ironmans I'd entered and wanted an additional challenge. So I bought an inexpensive fat-tire bike weighing over 32 pounds and began to train for Ironman Texas.
"I came to wage a private trial with myself but it was also a lot of fun to be a spectacle."
Nine medals?! What's your triathlon racing background?
I did my first triathlon in 1984, and my first Ironman in Austria in 2001. I took a break from Ironman-distance races [but] got the itch again to do a full Ironman in 2014. But, training hard, I ruptured a disk and had to have back surgery. I couldn't go on RAGBRAI—our across-the-state bike ride—so I took my motorcycle to Sturgis. I was hit by a deer on the way out, and shattered my leg. After trauma surgery, I couldn't walk for three months. So the next summer, I was just overjoyed to be able to race again. I did Ironman Austria again after 14 years. I was so excited. I began doing two to three Ironmans a year.
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How did you prepare for the race?
I had many, many winter trials to overcome to get to Ironman Texas. I live in Iowa, which means I faced ice, snow, wind, and cold for five months prior to this race. I usually wore four layers with heated gloves and insulated bike boots.
What did you hope would happen in Texas?
My main goal was just to see if I could finish the swim and bike portions in the 10.5 hours allowed. According to my training times, it would be close. I didn't think too much about the run. I also wasn't expecting the horrible head wind we had in Texas.
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So how did it go?
Because of my first goal, I really hammered the bike. All the encouragement was great on the course due to my fat bike. I went much faster than I did in training and finished it in plenty of time.
Putting so much out on the bike course left me spent for the marathon. I usually paced myself well, and on my time-trial bike, I never used even a fraction of the energy needed for a heavy fat-tire bike in terrible wind. But I knew I would never forgive myself if I gave up.
I did the three loops and finished before midnight, but since I started the swim early my actual time was 17:10 [which qualifies as a DNF]. I didn't know this until the next morning. When I found out I took my medal back to race officials. They wanted me to keep it since I completed the Ironman, but I couldn't keep any of the finishers stuff or medal. This race was about an internal struggle and internal race; I already have nine medals at home.
Will you try Ironman Texas again?
Of course. Being so close, I need to try this again… I think. I have two more Ironmans this year and I'll do them on my very fancy Trek time-trial bike.
But this Ironman Texas on the fat tire bike was one of the highlights of my 35-year triathlon career. People were just so supportive and gracious. The web posts came in such great numbers it was hard to follow. It was very humbling. I came to wage a private trial with myself but it was also a lot of fun to be a spectacle.
