Tulsa Tough

Tulsa Tough was a race that our team, OKC Velo, had placed an asterisk next to on the calendar as it was a high priority race. It would take place the weekend of June 7th and 8th. The race attracts the largest Masters field each year in the Central part of the country and given that it is in our team's back yard, our presence was required.
 
Saturday's race was on a relatively flat course but the high temperatures and stiff winds would make for a difficult race. Starting the 3rd lap a solo move went up the road and very quickly began to put time into us. That move was made by a 40 year old rider from the "Elbowz" team, a semi pro team that had been winning some of the Pro 1,2 races in the area. It took about twenty minutes for the next move to get up the road with four of us. One guy, in particular, was very strong and he was intent on establishing the break. Without looking back he put his head down on some of the more difficult parts of the course and literally rode the other two guys off his wheel. It was down to just he and I and we proceeded to try and catch the Elbowz rider. While we put a dent in his lead, it became apparent we were racing for 2nd place. With one lap to go my breakaway companion began to try various things to drop me, none of which were effective. I won the sprint for a tough 2nd place.

The next day is known as the "Riverside Crit" and is a very difficult course with a steep climb every lap that takes a severe toll on the field after several laps. The climb is known as "Cry Baby Hill" and is packed with crazy spectators ringing cow bells and screaming encouragement to the riders. It has a very "Euro" feel and is a really fun place to race. Fortunately, I was able to stay in the front up the climb and just let attrition whittle down the field . Towards the end of the race there were only 5 or 6 guys together out of the 70 starters. One of the riders in the front group was Janne Hamalainen, a two time National Champion and climber extraordinaire. With one lap to go he hit Cry Baby Hill with everything he had and dropped all but two of us. On the flat section following the climb he sat up and I was able to recover for about 10 seconds before attacking with everything I had into the 2nd to last corner. I immediately had a large gap with neither of the other two guys really chasing hard. I sprinted to the last corner and hit the finish straight with a 50 meter gap for what was my best win of the year, and perhaps, the best win in many years given the competition. Tulsa Tough is appropriately named and a really fun place to race a bike. I will be back! Thanks for reading.

The Oklahoma Pro Am Classic

The morning of June 2nd saw me, Trevor Johnson, and JD McCay pile into my car for the five hour drive up to Oklahoma City. Evan was heading down to Austin, Tx. for a USAC Junior Development camp so he could not make the trip. The rest of us would be racing a crit on Saturday and another on Sunday. The race on Saturday did not start until 4:00 P.M. that afternoon allowing for our Saturday morning departure.

We arrived at the venue in downtown Oklahoma City about 1:30 hours prior to the start of the Masters 40+ race in which JD and I would be racing. Trevor would be racing in the Pro 1,2 race which would not start until 8:55 P.M. that night. I had originally planned on "doubling up" and also racing the Pro 1,2 with Trevor, but high temps and a nagging cold convinced me that descretion, in this case, was the better part of valor, so I ultimately decided to watch that race from the gallery!

OKC Velo would have eight or nine guys line up for the start of the Masters race which usually guarantees multiple attacks from anxious Pirates trying establish a breakaway. My old friend, Janne Hammilian, however, made sure nothing was going to stick in which he was not present. He either went with every break, or brought them back. He is just incredibly strong and has the rare ability to bring back even the strongest groups of riders if he misses the attack. About a quarter of the way through the race, Gil Summy, a very strong OKC Velo rider got away solo. After several accelerations by other riders attempting to bridge up, Janne launched an attack when the race had reached its zenith in terms of difficulty. I knew I had to go with him so I gut checked and rode across with him to the lone breakaway, Gil. We also had one passenger that refused to do any work, even after the four of us had been away together for three or four laps. Not long after bridging up to Gil, he began to fade and eventually came off the break. The other rider continued to sit on as Janne and I worked to open our gap to the field. No amount of prodding had an affect on our passenger so Janne told me to attack and he would bridge back up to me after dropping the free loader. I did as instructed and looked back to watch Janne sit on the guy until there was a large gap up to me, then he attacked him up the small climb on the back side of the course. The plan worked perfectly and when Janne got back up to me I put in a hard dig to ensure the demise of the dropped rider. Janne told me that he would not sprint me if I would work with him, which I had planned on doing anyway. I assured him that I would do my share unless I had teammates coming across the gap. There actually were a couple of OKC riders that attempted to bridge up and I would sit on Janne until I would see them get swallowed back up by the field. Janne never said a word, but he would notch it up any time he knew someone was attempting to bridge thus ensuring his second place.

As we came around for the last lap I told him to feel free to contest the win as he had earned the right to do so with all the work he had done in the break. As we came out of the last corner I accelerated and crossed the line for the win as Janne is not a sprinter. He is, however, one of the strongest 50 year old men in the country on a bicycle as his two National Championship jerseys prove. OKC also took 3rd, 4th, and 7th so it was a good day for the team.

Trevor started the Pro race on the back, and he stayed there for the next 90 minutes even as other guys were getting dropped. I could not believe the tenacity Trevor displayed hanging on, in spite of getting gapped a half dozen times and literally time trialing back onto the back of the field. He is one strong rider and I would hazard to guess his power file would show he averaged more watts during the race than the guys in the front since he was constantly yo-yo'ed in addition to having to come around riders that were getting gapped off. He ended up finishing the race which is an accomplishment in and of itself. More than anything, he got more comfortable toward the end with his cornering on what was a challenging crit course.

The next day I lined up in the Pro 1,2 race as I did not want to wait around for the Masters race to start at 3:45 P.M. I was very happy that I could stay in the front of the field even with several Pro riders from the "Elbowz" team launching attacks. After a break got up the road I missed the the boat when four guys launched the chase. I was angry with myself because I knew when it happened it would stick. After three laps I decided to gamble it all and attempt to bridge up to the chase. I got within ten meters before blowing up completely. The field was nowhere in site and a top ten place was guaranteed if I could just make it ten more meters to the wheel. It is so frustrating to be so close...yet oh so far away. I pulled out after missing the chase as I had no desire to drift all the way back to the field. While upset about missing the move to the chase group, I was actually pleased that my fitness level allowed me to move around in the field, as opposed to hanging on for dear life, which is what I thought might happen. Trevor had already come off the back so we got to pack up early for the trip back to Little Rock. It was a fun weekend of racing with good friends and no drama! What more can you ask for? Thanks for reading.