Tulsa Tough

Drove down saturday afternoon to race around 7pm. I deliberately missed the friday race for a variety of reasons including first fridays at the new store on 18th/wyandotte. I didn't ride much at all this week so I was a little worried about getting my legs blown off.

Saturday was really hot, the course is pretty fun with pretty wide turns except for 1 and the crowds were awesome. I started at the back and stayed there for the first few laps. Didn't even try to move up. I counted 5 crashes throughout the race. To move up in this race took some serious negotiating. Lots of yelling, bowthrowing, etc and with the pace never letting up, it was nearly impossible. With 4 to go I put in a good dig and got to midpack only to skid to a stop behind a wreck, with 3 to go the same thing happened. With 2 to go my spoke rear wheels spoke broke and couldn't keep up with my rim rubbing my brake.'


Sunday I tried getting a neutral zipp wheel about an hour before the race but the man said the only way to get a wheel is to have a mechanical during a race. Last year I sat there listening to a cat 3 explain how he glued his tire up last night and thought he didn't do a good enough job so the man gave him a zipp wheel on the spot before the race. Phillip let me borrow his reynolds solitude wheel for the race and it worked the whole time.

I almost wish there was a rule that all racers are required to use open corsa cx tires with no more than 100psi at all the races. I swear those dudes wouldn't notice a difference in speed between 130psi and 95 in those crits, and cornering would be much more safer. I raced with 88 back and 86 front and it felt really good. I was using 23mm open corsa cx tires with challenge latex tubes.

The race starts fast, I was already in the back so I started and clipped in when right as the announcer began counting down at 3 (3,2,1, go) and passed about 20 guys before hitting the crybaby hill. The pace never let up the whole race. With 15 do go I began trying to move up quickly but I would only get by 10 or so before riding up the back of a wall of riders. The descent into the final corner was not good most of the time. Lots of guys trying to pass on the inside only to not make the turn at the bottom. The pace through that corner was very slow and the slingy effect hurt bad the whole race. With about 5 to go I noticed the field had gone from over 100 down to around 50. The only place I had power to move up was during the climb but since I was still in the back, there were 5 riders wide at the top of the climb and lots of guys blowing up at the top. Keeping your head up and watching for heads not moving was beneficial, I saw a few minor crashes from dudes riding straight into the back of someone who refused to keep pedaling.

I ended up 33rd for the day. Wish I had broke top 20 but I didn't. The 1/2 races in tulsa were definitely the fastest I've ever been in. The pace never slows down like in 3 races and recovery is non-existent. It was definitely a wake up call to start riding more, eating less, and eating healthy things. I am 170lbs right now, last year at this time I was 157.