Tulsa Tough '08 - 2 days of riding

Tulsa Tough – 2 days of riding

Saturday

I rode 100k (62 miles) at the Tulsa Tough with Chris, a friend from Owasso.  Starting weather was good.  There are a few fairly good hills heading out of Tulsa and at mile 8 I can remember thinking I was more tired than I should have been.  Not long after that my body woke up and everything was good.

584 total riders for all rides

Chris and Sean at the start

The 30 mile rest stop is in Avant.  We broke a rule leaving Avant; or maybe just showed no common sense.  We headed out of the stop straight toward a lightening storm.  Fortunately it dissipated as we rode.  Unfortunately there was a good uphill climb.

  

The 40 mile rest stop was in Skiatook.  We left this stop going into a dark storm.  We got some cold “stinging” rain between miles 40-50.  Several deep puddles assured complete water saturation of the socks.  The only other notable hardship is a steep hill at about mile 55.  We could see a guy in front of us struggle up the hill weaving back and forth.  A police car was behind him and we found out later that the cop had sounded his siren right behind him.

 Sean and Chris at the finish.

Saturday ride stats

Total riders for 100k = 279

Sean finished 128^th , Chris finished 132^nd

Total time: 3:42:18  - (Chris was 43 seconds later)

Time from leader: +1:08:33.000

Overall pace:  16.7mph

Sunday

I rode 100k (62 miles) for a second day.  This time I rode by myself.  I did see fellow Hotter ‘n Hell rider Bobby at the start and finish.  In the middle I just talked to whomever was closest.  The first 10+ miles were great.  We had a police escort all down Riverside Drive and through Jenks.  Riding 20 mph in a large pack is fairly easy.  After the police escort was gone the lead pack took off and I started losing site of them quickly. 

Rest Stop #2

I lost several items on this bike ride.  The first of which was my bike mirror at rest stop #2 in Keifer.  This mirror clips on glasses or a helmet.  I have a habit of knocking it off.  Anyway, this time it landed in the portapotty urinal.  I bit it farewell.  Maybe some less than fortunate rider retrieved it later.  On a different note, there is a mean hill right after this rest stop.

Rest Stop #3

I debated if I was going to stop in Kellyville.  I didn’t really need anything.  I decided to stop because a little boy was handing out water.  I thought he would like it if somebody took water from him.  Leaving that stop we heard reports of storms, lightening, and hail in Mannford.  I figured it would be gone before I got close.  For the second day proving I have lost all common sense. 

It wasn’t long after that when I realized it was VERY DARK.  Of course I was wearing sunglasses.  I removed them and it was still VERY DARK.  That didn’t bode well.  I would occasionally hear hair ripping through the trees.  I stopped by a small group of trees for a bit of shelter.  Then a bike passed and I couldn’t resist following.  That put me out on Highway 33 with no possible cover, horrible wind, and nickel size hail.  I got hit a couple of times with hail.  After about a mile the storm lessened. 

Then I came upon a group of bikers standing in the road.  As I pulled up to see what was wrong I realized that they had just been beaten by golfball+ size hail.  I saw some guys hand with a large raised welt.  I also saw several bruises.  I heard a couple of guys were bleeding.  Part of the group got in a ditch and part of them went ahead to a farmhouse.  I heard one guy say his helmet was cracked; one guy lost a garmin gps to a direct hit; and one guy had a broken rear derailer and was left with 2 gears.  I guess the good thing is we all wear helmets.

The riders that I had found were part of the lead group.  Most of these guys were trying to finish 100 miles in under 5 hours.  I got to ride with a number of these guys for about the next ten miles.  I did see a chain reaction wreck.  Only one bike went down.  The lead rider swerved which caused the bike behind to swerve and the third bike swerved and went down.  I came close to hitting the head of that rider as he slid in front of me.  Because of the slick wet roads he just slid and didn’t have any apparent injuries.  I talked to him at the finish line.

The group I was with didn’t stop at rest stop #4.  We did however learn that the 100 mile route was cancelled and they were asking everybody to take the 100k path.  So I got to ride with some of these guys longer.  Several miles after this stop we hit another storm front.  There was no hail but the wind and rain were amazing.  We darted into a neighborhood.  I took shelter behind a large sign with two other bikers.  Three other bikers went into an open garage of the first house in the neighborhood.  After a few minutes the rest of us went in the garage as well.  After a couple of minutes I walked around to the front of the house to announce that 6 bikers had taken refuge in their garage.  The owner didn’t seem to mind and he brought us towels and gave us a weather update.  This does lead to my second loss on this ride.  My cell phone was dead.  At one point it came on (by itself) and started buzzing and wouldn’t stop.  I removed the battery.  

My bike still partially braving the elements.

This was a good group of guys to be with.  At least 4 of us were riding Specialized.

Picture of a few us as we were about to leave.

I think we left after about 20 minutes.  At that point my body had cooled down.  The wind and rain felt VERY cold.  A few riders stopped at the next rest stop so we were down to 4.  A bit down the road we were going around a corner and my helmet visor picked that time to fly off.  I went back to get it and never saw that group again. 

At this point we only had about 10 miles to go.  Most of it was on a long flat road.  Unfortunately all the rain had flooded the road in a number of places.  It wasn’t hard to ride through but it was deep enough that I was pedaling with my feet getting submerged.  My feet were cold and chaffing.  On top of that it was into a head wind for those final miles.

Lastly I had planned to watch one of the bike races when I was done.  The storm had cancelled all the races.  On the first day of riding I had commented to Chris that we couldn’t get any wetter.  After Sunday I realized that I could get wetter.  I will have to say that this year was Tulsa “Tough”.

Sunday ride stats

Total riders for 100k = 279

finished 17^th

Total time: 3:53:24

Time from leader: +16:59.000

Overall pace: 15.9mph

* not bad considering having to stop for weather.

Tour de Cure - 2008

This was my second year riding in the Tour de Cure, TdC, for the American Diabetes Association.  The 2007 TdC was my first organized ride ever and it really got me interested in biking.  Last year I pushed myself to 42 miles.  At that time it was quite a challenge.  This year I rode 75 miles.  As an extra incentive for fundraising I decided that if I raised $1000 I would ride on my mountain bike.  I raised just over $1500.  The ride took us from Mohawk Park in Tulsa to Owasso, Collinsville, Oolagah, Claremore, and the Port of Catoosa before returning to the park.

 We had a good sized group out of Bartlesville.  Front Row – Jim, Donna.  Second Row – Jack, Dan, Keith, Sean, Kevin, Richard, Jonathon, and Tom.

I assumed I would be well behind most of them.  However, Dan and Keith rode with me the whole day.  Dan, using a similar deal to raise money, also rode his older heavy bike.  Keith seemed to have some excuse about being tired.  

Here we are at the Tiki Bar in Collinsville.

The day was just about the nicest riding day of the year so far.  At Lake Claremore the “CARD Headstart” group was having a fishing derby.  Keith wanted some real food and they were cooking burgers.  He thought they might be selling them.  They weren’t selling them but some nice ladies gave us each a hot dog.  Overall a profitable detour.

We finally found a place that was safe for Keith to ride.

The next rest stop was at the Port of Catoosa.  This is also at the base of the optional “Killer Hill”.  This was about mile 62.  As we came up to Killer Hill I asked if we wanted to go up first or rest first.  Keith said he wanted water but Dan said he was going to try the Hill.  I followed Dan and Keith followed both of us.  I took a running start at the hill passing Dan.  I slowed down quickly.  About half way up I started to think, “Maybe we should have rested first”.  Keith passed me but I held onto second place.  We all made it up without stopping. 

A few miles from Killer Hill was a hill that we climbed last year but the course took a turn away at the base.  Keith suggested that we go up it anyway.  It was a fairly steep hill with a sheer rock wall on either side.  It made a nice for nice echoes as we went up and down.  Keith,who had been tired all day, seemed to perk up after we made this diversion from the course.  Keith lives for Adventure.  Either that or the Pizza he ate 15 miles ago finally started to work.

We got stopped by the same train three times.  The first time we waited quite a bit.  The second time we caught the tail end.  Several miles later we were riding beside the same train as we approached the entrance to Mohawk Park.  We were riding faster than the train and got to the park entrance just as the engines passed.   So we now had to wait for the entire train to pass.

We rode 75.053 miles at an average of 14 mph to finish at about 3pm.  We rode 5:21 and took about and 1:30 for rest/detour/hot dog eating/etc.  I think there were about 70 riders in our class.  We finished in the last 7.  Jack (below) was with our group also.  He took off early in the ride and had to wait for us slow guys.

At a couple of the rest stops we heard that there was a group behind us.  We heard them referred to as a father, son, and a slow guy.  They are Jonathon, Richard, and Tom; also, from Bartlesville.

The End.

Oolagah Drive n’ Ride

As told by a Bartlesville Pedaler… (not me)


Ten Pedalers rode the Oologah Lake Drive-n-Ride on Saturday.  Those riding included Dan S., Keith, Raymond, Neal, Sean, Alan, Dale, Norman H., Bill, and Kevin.  We started at 9 a.m. from the Fire Station south of Oologah; the NWS indicates the starting conditions were 46F with a NE wind of 7 mph, and the ending conditions were 64F and calm winds.  


Here are some of the highlights:
After waiting on a train for about 5 minutes, we rode east on Hwy 88.   We were then immediately passed by 20 or more cars that were also waiting on the train.  Dan and Keith broke away to a quick lead.  Kevin caught up to tell them about the first turn.


A chocolate lab chased us for about a mile at 15 mph on NS415 Rd.  A very persistent dog.  Keith assured us it is not uncommon for Norman "Big Dog" to have this effect on members of the canine species.  Note:  The dog was gaining on us at 15 mph.


My shortcut into Foyil involved a sidewalk and negotiating 1 to 3 steps by cutting throught the school grounds.  Dan still does not believe I pre-drove this part of the route.


Highlights in Foyil were the Andy Payne statue and Bunion Derby marker as well as riding on the original Portland cement section of Old Route 66.

Andy Payne Statue

By chance we met and spoke to the mother of a fellow Pedaler at the Fiddle Museum and Totem Pole Gift Shop east of Foyil.  


Keith almost got left behind at the Gift Shop.  He was busy talking to the ladies there about the history of Rogers County.  Also, he had to figure out how to make the Indian drum he purchased fit inside his jersey!  Keith has been practicing and believes he will be ready for a drum solo before our next Saturday ride :-)


On Hwy 28 to Chelsea, Dale and a couple of others broke away from us stragglers.  It always makes it easier to catch folks when they aren't quite sure where the next turn is!


The main group picked a spot on Wiganon Rd just west of NS 413 Rd to shed some clothes and eat snacks.  Raymond and Neal toured the NW side of Oologah Lake, put in two extra miles and found an alternate route.   All this and they rejoined the route still ahead of the rest of us.


Six of us decided to forego the C-Store in Talala and we forged ahead to Oologah to finish the ride with 56 miles.  The adventure riders, however, fueled up in Talala to ensure a successful tour of Goose Island and 10 additional miles.  The adventure riders can fill you in on that part.


Eight of us ate at Catfish Country after the ride, but not all at the same time.  If you've never been there they make a killer peanut butter fudge pie.

Dan, Norman, Keith, Sean

Goose Island - Adventure


Big Dog, Gravel Man, Sean, and Keith went to check out "Mother Goose".     Kevin had told us the road was bad - what he did not tell us was the road to the island was all down hill.  There was some mud that Gravel Man decided to go through instead of around it.  Sean did great so he is now a member of the Adventure Club.  


While going to the Island we got to witness a large fire set by a few teenagers - not sure what they were doing and we were a little afraid to ask.  We did have Big Dog, but he was not at 100 percent, and all his friends were at the top of the hill waiting on us.  That's right 3 big dogs at the top of the hill we had to climb just waiting on us.

Oklahoma Centennial Ride

I made the news.  My dental hygienist said she saw this story on channel 6 out of Tulsa.  She didn't pick me out but I think I made at least 2 tenth of a second in my Bartlesville Pedaler's jersey.  I am somewhere in seconds 8 to 9.  The attached picture has me in it.  I'm the farthest on the right.

This was a one time ride to celebrate Oklahoma turning 100.   I did my 3rd 100 mile ride.  The wind killed me.  Oh, and the hills.  Luckily they saved all the hills for the last half of the course.  And then a 15 mile ride directly into a terrible head wind to finish.  I saw Joanne; thanks for coming over to say "hi".  I assume Bill was there but when I looked I couldn't find them and the ride started.  I think Gary and Carolina were supposed to be there but I didn't find them either.

The ride was a bit different.  I got to wear the yellow jersey for a few miles when the lead pack missed a turn.  :-)  I was right behind them and I stopped while yelling; "I think we are supposed to turn".  There were a few turns that weren't marked quite as good as they could have been.  If you did the 100 mile or at least the eastern 45 you got to go through the zoo.  That was fun and dangerous and confusing.  Then the unexpected single file gate trying to get out of Mohawk Park.  On the West 55 route there was a street that was literally under construction.  It was easy riding but they were working on it as we rode.  And a pedestrian bridge with tight turns that was probably quite dangerous riding slow while being clipped.

Of course it didn't help that my left knee started hurting at the 60 mile mark.  Same thing happened on the fall century.  But this time there were "lots" of hills left.  At 70 miles my right knee started hurting from the compensation.  I finished the last 20+ miles with a lady from Wichita, Mary.  Mary was doing her first century.  Talking to her helped me keep my mind off my worn out body and allowed me to finish.  A special thanks to Mary.

Sean and Mary

I’m not sure I want to do any more century rides.  Maybe just the cheating metric century (62 miles)*

* editorial note 8/29/10 - When I created this story almost 3 years ago I really thought I might never want to do a century ride again.  I think I just completed my 7th century this year.

Bartlesville Homecoming Parade

Vivian has always wanted to be in a parade.  Sean found an opportunity to ride with the Middle School Bike Club.  Since Vivian is riding yet the answer came from our neighbors bike trailer.  Since this time, Vivian has logged about 75 miles in the trailer.

Kelly and Vivian decorated the trailer.

Not going to ride my new bike with that trailer.

Our fans Veronica and Vanessa watching from the side.

Here they come.

  

There they go.

An official Candy Hander Outer.

Hotter’n Hell 100 - Adventures of the .0004

Hotter’n Hell 100 – Wichita Fall, TX
August 25, 2007

It is hard to believe I rode with 11,205 other riders.  That was the official number.  .0004% is what 4 out of 10,000 works out.  I hope the other 99.9996% of the folks have near the fun and great stories that we had. 


History

 Chris, Sean, Bobby, & Rich the morning of the ride.

First, who are we.  Sean (me), Chris, Bobby, and Rich.  That is just the order that I know everybody.  Three of us live near Tulsa.  Rich lives in Colorado Springs.  Four guys that average out to about 40 years old.  I just turned 40 a week before this ride.  I had a goal of a century, 100 mile, ride for October this year.  My previous record ride was 76 miles.  I never thought I would be doing it in the August heat and humidity of Wichita Falls, TX.  


I can blame Chris for planting the idea in my head.  Chris and I rode 30 miles a few weeks before the HnH.  I remember thinking "maybe I can do this".  I remember Chris saying that maybe he should just do the 100k, 62 miles.  A few more rides and a 100k ride the week before locked it that we would at least try the century.  The goal would be to make it to Hell's gate before cutoff.  Cutoff is 12:30.  If you don't make Hell's gate by 12:30 you are directed back to the finish line and only get to do about 80 miles.  After hell's gate the goal was easy, just to finish.  


As for Bobby and Rich.  Bobby is a very active and motivated guy.  In the Tulsa Tough he did 100k in 3 hours and he was going to try to finish in 5 hours.  Rich, Bobby's future brother in-law, is from CO and a very athletic person.  Rich and Bobby were going to ride together.  We had decided since they were going to finish so far ahead of us that they would drive separate.  That way they wouldn't have to wait for us all day at the finish line.  


Most of this story is from the perspective of Chris and me; however, Bobby and Rich added some of the more memorable moments.


Hotel
I booked the hotel on priceline.  The lack of online hotels in Wichita Falls forced me to book in Lawton.  I believe I bid for a 2 star hotel.  That rating was 1 star too many.  The lobby was somewhere well above 80 degrees.  The girl had very little interest in customer service.  There were no "non-smoking" rooms.  Chris and I were in one room.  The air conditioner worked little if at all.  We went back to the front desk.  I decided that I better confirm our reservation was for 2 nights.  Originally, we had booked 1 night but extended it through priceline to 2 nights. 


The girl at the desk did find us another room but said it was "non-smoking".  Hmm, didn't we ask for that in the first place?  Anyway, that was great.  Then I asked about the reservations.  She said we were only down for one night and at least was helpful enough to give us the phone number for priceline.  At least the room was cooler.  And it didn't have the "funky" smell, as Bobby described it, of our first room.  Priceline told me to make sure to tell the Hotel that our reservation was actually 2 separate reservations. 


Back to the front desk.  While the girl was checking the reservation I made a comment about they should get the air conditioning fixed.  She gave me quite a look in return; I was scared.  By some miracle she turned into a person and actually started talking to us.  Her name was Sara.  We found out that her husband had brought a fan for her to use but had broken the stand in transport.  It had a bunch of tape holding it together.  Sara did check and we did indeed have a separate reservation for the second night.  The problem being that we would need to check out/in the next day.  Or we would get a late checkout fee.?  Realizing that we were going to be gone all the next day she actually volunteered to check us out/in.  Sara did come through and do this for us.  Thanks Sara, I hope you got air conditioning. 


HnH countdown
Rich was driving from CO.  He didn't get out of work until late and had a LONG drive.  He wasn't expected in until after Midnight.  The three of us went to Wichita Falls to look at the trade show and eat dinner.  Bobby and Rich had pre-purchased the spaghetti dinner.  We decided to pick up Rich's ticket so that it didn't go to waste.  I was going to pay for dinner; however, the guy gave Chris two tickets for some reason.  Basically I got a free spaghetti dinner out of the deal.  Yea!  We looked around and bought jerseys and stuff.  The jersey sales were crazy and it would have been very easy to walk away without paying.  Gotta like those trusting Texas folks.  I also bought a cartridge thing for airing my tires; whatever those things are called.  Chris finally got a cycling jersey.  


I think we got to bed a bit after 10:30.  Bobby stayed up for Rich  who rolled in at 1:39am after driving through some wicked lightening storms.  Four AM came very early.  We were meeting at the cars at 4:45.  Bobby wasn't quite prepared, on the way to the start we had to stop for Claritin because of his allergies.  We got to the ride at just about the perfect time.  Got in line about 15 minutes early.  Rich and Bobby went up front with the 100 mile "scorchers" while Chris and me lined up in the 100 mile "keepers" section.  Whatever that means.  Next in line was the 100 mile "hopefuls". 


Let the games begin

Tons of bikes at the start

We didn't move for 8 minutes after the cannon went off.  When we did finally move, the congestion didn't seem too bad.  The first 20 miles were amazingly fun.  Chris and I had a blast working our way through the pack.  Each at times picking different holes and lines to solve the puzzle and move through the pack.  The 10 mile rest stop was too crazy to even think about stopping at.  20 Miles was our first stop.  It was a mad house of course.  I think that is where I drank my first glass of something called "pickle juice".  The first sip is quite nasty.  But they swear it will help keep you from getting cramps and keep you hydrated.  I guess I will drink anything.  That was the first of 4 glasses of the nasty stuff.  I never got cramps or had hydration problems; maybe it does work. 

Bikes as far as you can see for 30 miles.  Amazing!

Off to the next stop.  The ride from 20-30 was just about as fun as the first part.  It was amazing to see so many bikes still together after 30 miles.  At the 30 mile stop they had the best cookies.  Getting ready to leave the 30 mile stop Chris saw Rich going by.  We quickly caught up to Rich.  Rich had kept up with Bobby for about 10 miles but then decided to fall back and ride his own speed.  A smart move.  Rich commented that Bobby told him there were "no hills" on this ride.  Chris and I laughed as we said "there are NO hills".  The whole ride was easily the flatest course I have been on.  Not to say there weren't things that resemble hills.  We rode with Rich for a bit but finally had to push on.  Somewhere before 40 miles we found Bobby on the side of the road.  He was changing his 4th flat.  We talked to him a few minutes before abandoning him for the buzzards.  But not before we gave him one of our tubes.  Another biker had given him a tube as well.  We later found out that Bobby started with 3 tubes and several air cartridges; must of had a premonition or something. 

Chris

We were feeling good and had plenty of water so we passed up the 40 mile stop.  That was probably a mistake for a few reasons.  First, we heard they had pizza.  Of course we heard about that later.  Secondly Chris got kind of tired before the next stop.  The road from about 40 to 60 miles was quite rough.  The smoother driving lines were bad and the center of the lane was enough to shake your bike to pieces.  

Sean

Before we started, Chris and I said that if we get separated then we would meet each other on the backside of the next rest stop.  On this stretch of road I figured out that even if I did ride off and leave Chris he was going to catch up to me before too long and most usually before the next rest stop. 


The 50 mile rest stop was good.  We stayed there quite a while.  We had 2 hours to make it to Hell's Gate.  We were seeing guys with smoked sausages and went looking.  Found one and wrapped it in a tortilla.  It was GREAT!  Amazingly I had to use the bathroom which probably took 10 minutes in line.  The worst thing about this stop is I got some mud in my cleat and had a hard time clipping in.  Chris decided that he was hurting a bit and we shouldn't skip anymore rest stops. 


My Moment of Glory.  Or was is stupidity?
Somewhere between the 50 and 60 mile stops is the town of Burkburnett.  There were people downtown watching us ride through.  A girl had a garden hose and was spraying it for riders.  I couldn't resist.  After going through the hose I had to speed up to catch Chris.  As I'm accelerating and cutting back into the line a bike starts cutting in front of me.  I hit my rear brakes and the rear end starts sliding.  I'm thinking this is not good.  All the while I am saying "whoa, whoa".  I guess I thought I was riding a horse.  To me this is one of those moments when things start going in slow motion.  I pumped my brakes 3 times; each time the back end was sliding out.  On the second or third time I was staring at this guys' tire a few inches from mine as I was sliding, as I was strearing, and as I was leaning right to try and coax the bike away from him.  Somehow he stopped coming over and crisis nearly averted.  Now my momentum shot me to the right out of the line of bikes and toward the side of the road where a 9-10 year old boy was standing several feet from the curb.  He should have been in a safe spot except for a crazy biker.  As I was heading straight for this poor kid, I just kept thinking please stop moving and I won't hit you.  He was looking at me with wide eyes and trying to decide for himself which way to go.  Oh, and I pulled on my brakes for the 4th time and was sliding sideways yet again.   He finally froze and I was able to avoid him and get back in the riding line.  The guy who came in on me was saying it was his fault but I never should have been coming up so fast on the right in the first place.  The more I examine the situation it was mostly my fault. 


Hell's Gate
Finally made it to the 60 mile rest stop.  Bobby caught up to us.  He finally found the problem with his tire and had rode quite a ways without a flat.  I asked him his new goal and it was to "finish".  As we were leaving Chris decided to lose balance while clipping in and fall down.  Landing on a soft BIKE.  Got a nice cut from their rear cassette on his shoulder.  Luckily he didn't hurt himself or the other bike too much.  He did however bend the shifter hood on his bike.  He took this to the mechanic to see if they could straighten it.  Bobby took off.  I rested and used a bunch of icy cold towels while waiting for Chris.  That was very refreshing. 


Bobby's stop
Just outside of the 60 mile stop was Hell's Gate.  Nothing too exciting but it was nice to make this milestone.  Finally we made it to the 70 miles stop.  Chris asked if I thought he should have his wound cleaned.  It didn't look too bad but it was greasy from the other bike.  He went to the medical tent.  There he found Bobby.  Yikes!  Or more appropriately Bobby saw him and called his name.  When we see Bobby he is laid out with cold towels on him and a nurse taking his blood pressure.  He didn't look so good.  As we are there he starts looking worse.  They gave him an IV and informed him nicely that he has had a good ride and his ride is over.  He didn't argue.  Chris and I left after hearing that they are going to be taking him to the main medical tent. 

We found Bobby in medical

Bobby did want to finish the race in about 5 hours.  And his race was done in a bit over that.  We found out later that he made it to that stop and was wondering around looking for a drink.  The medical personnel found him and asked him how he was doing.   After talking to him a few minutes they found out he was dizzy.  It was downhill from there.  Bobby did share one part of his adventure with us.  In order to take him on the ambulance they had to take his temperature, rectally.?!  A sheet covered him from view.  I guess they used a bit of lubricant here; unlike when he had the same procedure at the main medical tent.  :-\. 


Chris and I were off.  We got conflicting information that Rich had already finished.  That would have been impossible unless he caught the SAG back.  SAG is the Support and Gear.  Basically the help wagons that drive around looking for people in trouble.  We made it to the 77 mile stop with little problems and sat under a tree for a while.  The pit stops get closer together near the end.  For some reason all the good cookies and snacks weren't available anymore.  It was bananas, oranges, weak powerade and water.  We found a couple of chairs and sat around with other riders complaining about the lack of any type of real food.  I had decided not to carry any energy bars because I assume we would have more than we wanted. 


As we were leaving the 77 mile rest stop I had a flat (or discovered I was flat).  I took off the wheel and while I was still getting tools out of the bag Chris had the tire off and ready for the tube.  Thanks to the CO2 cartridge I bought the night before we had that fixed in no time.  It was kind of hard to get the aired up tire back on the bike.   There would be a lesson I would learn from this. 


The next stop is at 84 miles.  As we pulled up to the stop my tire was flat again!  Great!  At least there would be a mechanic to change it for me.  Or at least we thought there would be.  I didn't have another CO2 cartridge to air up the tire and my small pump would be a killer.  Also, didn't really want to use our only spare.  Luckily there was a SAG wagon with a good pump and a spare tire.  I learned two lessons.  First, when you change a tire check it for the "reason" you had the flat in the first place.  Or you will have a flat again.  We found a rock in the tire; I guess that had to be the reason.  Secondly, release the brakes and the tire will go back on much easier.  I think we may have found a few cookies at that stop.  That was much needed. 


Leaving that stop I had a bunch of mud in my cleat and couldn't clip in my left shoe.  I was doing terrible.  Chris took off on my and I couldn't keep up.  People were passing my like crazy.  I was really trying to decide what happened to me.  I didn't think I was having a heat stroke but I kept thinking I would stop if I got the slightest bit dizzy. 


Not sure when but we found out that Bobby had been released from medical; that was good to know.


Chris was waiting for me at the 92 mile stop.    Only 10 miles to go.  I was beat.  I blamed most of it on my shoe problem.  As I was cleaning my shoe a lady suggested I use their water hose.  That worked GREAT!  We rested for a bit and some lady came by and put cold towels on our necks as we sat by this big fan.  Chris was saying that he felt good.  I didn't feel good.  I felt like I could finish but would be tired and slow.  I was hoping I would feel better clipped in.  We started up the road and I quickly realized that I was starting to drag.  And I heard something, something that I dismissed earlier.  A rubbing sound.  I told Chris I was stopping.  That is when I learned my third lesson about a flat.  Make sure your tire isn't rubbing your frame. 


With my back tire free I was back in good form.  I was passing a bunch of people who had passed me not long before.  The only reason I stopped at the 96 mile rest stop is because I didn't know where Chris was.  I hadn't been looking back and in true Chris fashion he was about 10 seconds behind.  He did have a low tire so he borrowed a pump and aired it up while I got a quick drink.  


It was now 5 miles to the finish.  I felt like I had tons on energy and was ready to get this over.  I rode about as fast as I could.  I don't think I ever looked at the speedometer to even see how fast I was going but I did feel like I was flying most of the time.  I had to slow down two times.  When two bikes in front of me were riding too far apart and trucks were passing.  I HATE when riders do that.  Then there was a sharp turn and I had to nearly stop for a recumbant.  Also, there was a bar and guys shouting "free beer" that made for a distraction.  Not a distraction that I wanted a beer but a distraction that you had to watch for people around the corner.  And it did look like one biker did stop for a beer.  Who the heck would stop a few miles away from the finish? 


I never once looked back for Chris.  I thought about his low tire.  I would have felt very bad if he had a flat and I left him behind.  But then he could have called me :-).


At that point we were riding by a neighborhood.  It was really cool that they either had the streets blocked off or an officer was stopping traffic.  There was one good hill, overpass actually, going into downtown.  That slowed me a bit.  But coming off that overpass was great.  Zooming into four lane streets taking corners wide and fast.  I finally turned toward the finish line and raced past two bikers.  I think one was saying they had a flat.  Anyway, as I got to the finish line they called my name and people were clapping.  That was cool :-).  As I slowed down I spotted Bobby on the side sitting under a tree for shade.  I pulled up to him and said something about Chris being somewhere behind me.  And in true Chris fashion he was no more than 10 seconds back.  The time was just after 4PM.

The Finish Line.

We finished!

Now the big question was "Where was Rich?"  Bobby had actually seen Rich while in the ambulance.  Rich was walking.  We checked the medical tent and nothing.  Bobby still wasn't feeling great.  Chris and I loaded up the bikes and found a shower.  Never showered in a portable shower trailer before.  It wasn't too bad.  As we got out of the shower Chris saw Rich pull across the finish line.  The time was about 5:30pm.  Rich had a number of leg cramps and walked several times to work them out.  By the time we got to Rich, he was in the medical tent because of the leg cramps.  He never looked "out of it" like Bobby did.  We were almost literally the last people still left in the racing area.  Almost everything had been taken down.  I went to get the truck and a TV crew came by.  Rich, Chris, and the back of Bobby's head made the channel 6 news that night. 


I drove back with Bobby and Chris drove back Rich.  We left while Chris and Rich were still getting in the car.  It is about an hour back to Lawton.  It was good to have my pikepass so I could quickly get through the toll road.  Bobby was hungry and we were talking about food as we got near the hotel.  I was saying something about waiting for Chris and Rich when we pulled in.  Wouldn't you know it, Chris was 2 seconds behind me.  I just can't shake that guy. 


In all fairness to Chris he wasn't behind me much.  I was often on his wheel.  Considering he doesn't ride as much as I do he did great.  I was also very impressed with Rich.  I guess he thought about quiting near the end but somebody said they would ride with him to the finish.  If I would have had leg cramps I would have taken an early SAG.  Of course I am also impressed with how fast Bobby rides.  Unfortunately I think of the saying "a candle that burns twice as bright also burns half as long"  Then add the heat of Texas in August and well, the candle doesn't have a chance in hell ;-).  


Our meal in Lawton was somewhat memorable.  I'm not sure I remember what was going on exactly but Rich wanted a draft.  The waitress came back 4 times with different stories about beer and then finally a manager came over.  I believe finally Rich drank something out of a bottle.  Can you tell I'm not a beer guy?  The waitress was nice and other than beer issues the meal was good. 


All in all these were a great fun group of guys and it was a great adventure.  I hope to see them all next year at the same place and time next year.  But this time at a nicer hotel and in Wichita Falls.


- Cyclepup




Miscellaneous stuff


On the way to Lawton we stopped at a McDonald's on the turnpike.  Chris was buying me a drink.  While he was paying, I came up behind him and grabbed my cup.  In the crowd Chris didn't know it was me and told the lady the "some guy" grabbed the cup.  She gave him another.  Bobby got a free drink out of that deal.  I guess I got a free drink too because I never paid Chris. :-) 


Timing stuff
  8:52:34 was the total time as the chip registered
  9:04 was the time on the finish line clock when I came in.
  6:14:59 riding time  
  Almost hard to believe we stopped for 2.5 hours.
  101.95 miles total
  16.2 average mph (based on riding time, not overall time)
   29.7 max mph
   551.15 my odometer.  I got this bike on 7/5/07.


Chip results.  Fastest Men's time 4:26:58, pace 22.5mph 
    my time 8:52:34, pace 11.3mph
    785th place out of 801
    there were 83 women.  I finished before 3 of them
    The timing chip cost extra.  I didn't notice the timing chip on most people.


Wichita Falls weather 
  temp - high 94 low 78  (a very average temp for this day)
  humidity - high 79 low 41
  luckily it wasn't 109 like the previous record year.  When Hell's Gate closed at 11am.

Big Mac Attack – The End of Innocence

 Unfortunately, I was unable to make the Skiatook Dam ride.  I thought that was where all the adventure would be.  With Keith leading and all; but then everybody assumes that.  With the impending HHH coming up, I did think I had better get some HOT miles under my belt.  I plotted a 100k course around B’ville where I wouldn't be too far from a pitstop every 15 miles or so.  I also had excellent SAG support from my wife and kid.  A thanks goes out to the family.  Just what was the point of this story?


Oh yes, on the way out 123 to Woolaroc, I got pummeled by what I think was a 65 MPH Big Mac.  I believe I saw Special Sauce as it bounced off my knee.  The car was an old, faded, red General Motors something.  I was on the section with a wide shoulder and 2-3 feet off the line.  Just what would bring somebody to pitch a burger out the window?  I might say they were a good shot, but then they were probably aiming for my head.  Then I have to think.  Why would somebody throw away a Big Mac?  Did they buy it with the intention of  finding a biker?  Did they buy two and decide they weren't that hungry?  Had it been sitting in the car for a few days and they finally found just the right trash receptacle?  Are they a Trek rider and didn't like the colors of my Specialized?  Did they know that I secretly don't like the Big Mac?  The questions are endless.  I was picking off lettuce and wiping away the Special Sauce for the next 40 miles.


This all leads to the end of my innocence.  I used to think my worst enemies were the dogs.  I kept reminding myself to get some pepper spray just in case they are too aggressive and I don't have the energy to outrun them.  Off subject... Will I ever feel safe again?  Will I wince every time a car passes?  What if the culprit only had a beer bottle handy rather than the Big Mac?  Will I have post traumatic stress syndrome?  Will I recoil in fear as I pass by McDonald's or more so, when I pedal by a McDonald's?  Okay, probably not.  I'm being a bit dramatic.  It does make me wonder what other people have experienced.  I would be interested to hear other stories.


On a different note, if I can keep up the pace I did on Saturday I should probably make Hell's Gate, assuming they don't close it early.  That also assumes I attempt the 100 miles.  Oh, and that there aren't any more Big Mac Attacks.

Note:  Avoid these on bike rides!  Unless of course you stop and buy one.