Wow, I can't believe I never posted about this race. I got on here to reread my review of it from last year, feeling nostalgic and there's nothing here! Well, retrospect a year later I am now posting my review of Warrior Dash in Tulsa.
We had such a great time in north Texas that we decided to redo warrior dash in Tulsa, OK Sept 24th, 2011 (pretty sure that was the date).
I got my rear out of bed early to watch my friends start the Redman Triathlon then up to Tulsa we went. The "parking lot" aka the big cow pasture was about 5-8 miles from the race site. The buses were running pretty well, but we were a later wave so some of the seats were covered in mud and water. This wasn't that annoying to me, but if you have some time to wait before your run it might be annoying having a big wet spot on your butt.
We found the start, they were handing out monster drinks. First time I'd ever tried it..... yuck...... Off we went, starting in the grass, then to a paved path, then to a little bit more grass, then another paved path..... I started thinking.... Texas was so much better..... Where's the obstacles? Why is there so much paved path? Then we hit a few obstacles and I was thinking, okay, that's better. Still think Texas was better. Then we came to a steep inclined bridge which went into the woods. Hmmm..... liking this more...... a really nice off road path, rocks to jump on/around. Then I make it to the water stop. Thinking that was fun, wishing there were more obstacles. Hard right turn leaving the water stop.....
Hello, mountain..... where'd you come from? There was a very steep incline in the path. As in hold the roots to get up it. From there on it was up, up, up. They didn't need obstacles, nature provided it. The run turned into a hike. Most people weren't running anymore. I LOVED this course. When you got about to the top there were a few more obstacles, over the wall, climbing things, water logs, etc. It was great even a year later I remember this being so much fun. Then the best part of all - What goes up, must come down :) We had spent a mile or so going up hill, the downhill happened in about two tenths of a mile. It was straight down. If I remember right you had to climb a wall on the way down too. It was awesome. At this point I realized if I were to ever do a warrior dash again I would be coming back to Tulsa for this awesome trail run. At the bottom of the mountain was the barb wire crawl in the mud, another wading pool and finally over the fire! It was a great time! I WILL be back to this one. I may even go up there to run the course just for fun it was so great.
Hotter'n Hell 100 Endurance Ride
7:28:56
Pros:
The first 2/3rds of the water stops were packed full of good stuff. Tons of food, sports drinks, gels, fruit, it was amazing. And let me just say Thank you so much to whoever it was that sponsored the 50odd mile stop, Margarittaville was wonderful, they had sausages and more food than all the other stops afterward combined. I stayed there for probably 30 minutes. Had it not been there I would have given up.
The atmosphere was so cool. I've never had a ride where at every moment you are surrounded by people. At no time are you alone. There is always someone within sight.
Cons:
Last 1/3 of the water stops were not good. Either they were poorly stocked to begin with or it was all gone by the time we got there. That last stretch is where I really could have used some food and it was all gone.
Shirt is kinda lame, wishing I'd sprung for the jersey.
Some people I know had trouble with the timing chips.
Personal:
I have to admit that was so much harder than I thought it would be. I hauled following a guy from San Antonio for the first 30 miles. He said his goal time was 5 hours, I knew I couldn't hang with him the whole time, but I thought I'd try. After I lost him, I found my friend Corey (yes, the one that ditched me when I crashed a few weeks ago). We rode most of the rest of the course together. In fact the whole crew I went with hopped, skipped and jumped each other after the 50ish mile stop. Corey moved on when I stopped for lunch, I had left my friends in the dust at the start. When I passed Hell's Gate just 30 minutes before they were to close it I was worried my friends weren't going to make it through. Imagine my surprise when not 10 more miles down the road I discover they'd passed me while I was hanging out at margarittaville. We all ended up finishing within 30 minutes of each other. My garmin shut itself off again so I don't know what my ride time was, but oh well. I'm proud that I finished. I heard someone say it may have been the hottest one yet, don't know about that, but I do know my cell phone battery in my jersey pocket got fried. So it was plenty hot.
I saw people crash. I saw people puking. I even saw a truck with trailer packed full of people giving up with only 10 miles to go!! I am incredibly proud I finished this. It's a must do on a recreational cyclist's bucket list.
Pros:
The first 2/3rds of the water stops were packed full of good stuff. Tons of food, sports drinks, gels, fruit, it was amazing. And let me just say Thank you so much to whoever it was that sponsored the 50odd mile stop, Margarittaville was wonderful, they had sausages and more food than all the other stops afterward combined. I stayed there for probably 30 minutes. Had it not been there I would have given up.
The atmosphere was so cool. I've never had a ride where at every moment you are surrounded by people. At no time are you alone. There is always someone within sight.
Cons:
Last 1/3 of the water stops were not good. Either they were poorly stocked to begin with or it was all gone by the time we got there. That last stretch is where I really could have used some food and it was all gone.
Shirt is kinda lame, wishing I'd sprung for the jersey.
Some people I know had trouble with the timing chips.
Amy, me, and Alice waiting for the 6 AM start.
Personal:
I have to admit that was so much harder than I thought it would be. I hauled following a guy from San Antonio for the first 30 miles. He said his goal time was 5 hours, I knew I couldn't hang with him the whole time, but I thought I'd try. After I lost him, I found my friend Corey (yes, the one that ditched me when I crashed a few weeks ago). We rode most of the rest of the course together. In fact the whole crew I went with hopped, skipped and jumped each other after the 50ish mile stop. Corey moved on when I stopped for lunch, I had left my friends in the dust at the start. When I passed Hell's Gate just 30 minutes before they were to close it I was worried my friends weren't going to make it through. Imagine my surprise when not 10 more miles down the road I discover they'd passed me while I was hanging out at margarittaville. We all ended up finishing within 30 minutes of each other. My garmin shut itself off again so I don't know what my ride time was, but oh well. I'm proud that I finished. I heard someone say it may have been the hottest one yet, don't know about that, but I do know my cell phone battery in my jersey pocket got fried. So it was plenty hot.
I saw people crash. I saw people puking. I even saw a truck with trailer packed full of people giving up with only 10 miles to go!! I am incredibly proud I finished this. It's a must do on a recreational cyclist's bucket list.
Wee Chi Tah Mountain Bike Race, Hotter'n Hell Weekend
1:17
1st in my age group in cat 3.
Cons:
WATER!! I thought the flier was a joke. It says "We will have water stops, but they will be in the wrong places" haha, that's funny. No, not really. There is only one water stop only a couple miles in, unmarked, around a corner, so I missed it. I did stop and steal a bystander's water, she consented, but seeing as I was already opening it to drink, she didn't have much choice. If you do this race, come well prepared because it might as well say no water stops.
The course was tricky. Most of it was not hard, but there are some bits you absolutely have to walk unless you're just kick ass awesome on the bike.
Pros:
Some great hazards: Highway to heaven, that was so cool! You're like 5-6 feet off the ground on a bridge that might be a foot and a half wide and there are no side. The course was great, I nice mix of easy and hard.
Definitely go ride this course sometime, it was a blast. However if you have trouble with narrow passages, this would not be the course for you. There were a couple spots where you had trees on one side and a good size drop on the other. Also some very steep descents. Did I mention we had to go up on an old cement foundation and come back down! This course is so much fun!!
Nice shirt. Nice medal. Fun people. Would definately do this one again, but next time I will have loads of water with me.
Personal:
Well, that was interesting. My first official mountain bike race. How'd I do? Well, here is what one guy said to me afterwards, "You did a great job keeping up with us.... there at the beginning..." Thanks a lot. I was very proud of myself in the beginning. There is a tight tree section which slowed me down and I'm sure frustrated those directly behind me.
My friends, Alice and Charlie, waiting oh so patiently for me to get back so we could go eat.
Picked it up again, but altered my line to let a guy pass at the worst possible moment. There was a hard right which sent me off the bike and dropped my chain. I had to stand there fumbling with it, while watching to see if anyone was coming down the incredibly narrow trail. I was standing in the trees on a slope, my bike on the trail and I had to pick it up to let people pass. ARGH! I had a hard time recovering after that, but I did have a good time.
The water crossing was interesting. I'm glad the guy in front of me stopped to dismount, if he hadn't I probably would have tried to ride part of it which I wouldn't recommend. There were a couple of deep spots I could definitely envision someone biting it.
1st in my age group in cat 3.
And they're Off!
Cons:
WATER!! I thought the flier was a joke. It says "We will have water stops, but they will be in the wrong places" haha, that's funny. No, not really. There is only one water stop only a couple miles in, unmarked, around a corner, so I missed it. I did stop and steal a bystander's water, she consented, but seeing as I was already opening it to drink, she didn't have much choice. If you do this race, come well prepared because it might as well say no water stops.
The course was tricky. Most of it was not hard, but there are some bits you absolutely have to walk unless you're just kick ass awesome on the bike.
Pros:
Some great hazards: Highway to heaven, that was so cool! You're like 5-6 feet off the ground on a bridge that might be a foot and a half wide and there are no side. The course was great, I nice mix of easy and hard.
Definitely go ride this course sometime, it was a blast. However if you have trouble with narrow passages, this would not be the course for you. There were a couple spots where you had trees on one side and a good size drop on the other. Also some very steep descents. Did I mention we had to go up on an old cement foundation and come back down! This course is so much fun!!
Nice shirt. Nice medal. Fun people. Would definately do this one again, but next time I will have loads of water with me.
Personal:
Well, that was interesting. My first official mountain bike race. How'd I do? Well, here is what one guy said to me afterwards, "You did a great job keeping up with us.... there at the beginning..." Thanks a lot. I was very proud of myself in the beginning. There is a tight tree section which slowed me down and I'm sure frustrated those directly behind me.
Picked it up again, but altered my line to let a guy pass at the worst possible moment. There was a hard right which sent me off the bike and dropped my chain. I had to stand there fumbling with it, while watching to see if anyone was coming down the incredibly narrow trail. I was standing in the trees on a slope, my bike on the trail and I had to pick it up to let people pass. ARGH! I had a hard time recovering after that, but I did have a good time.
I'm trying to spit out all the mud people were throwing up after the river crossing.
The water crossing was interesting. I'm glad the guy in front of me stopped to dismount, if he hadn't I probably would have tried to ride part of it which I wouldn't recommend. There were a couple of deep spots I could definitely envision someone biting it.
Spin Your Wheels
Course and Elevation for most of the 100 mile course.
Alice and Corey. Corey and I took off with the fast group determined to catch our friends that started an hour earlier. The escort cop cut off two miles and went straight down Route 66. I didn't care much I wanted to catch Amy. Corey and I decided we would forget to mention the short cut when we caught them :p We hauled for the first 6 miles then eased up, but even easing up we hit 25 miles at 1:15 in. For me that is ridiculously fast. We stopped at the 52? or however far turnaround.
I got a laugh out of the chamois butter smeared on the toilet seat... ewww! I was thinking, that will probably be the highlight of my blog today!! I'm sure I can come up with something funny to say about it, "I guess they wanted to share." I really enjoy the rest stops. Something about all the bikes and people just make me smile. I snapped this pick just before we left.... it would be the last time I smiled on this ride.
Hundreds of bikes collecting as the sun comes up is a beautiful sight. I enjoy the excitement (and food), the talkative company (and food), and the funny jerseys.... oh and the food. This ride is the best fed and most supportive ride in the city. Police escorts, tons of SAG, extremely well stocked rest stops with everything a cyclist could ask for. Last year I couldn't find the people I was looking for before the start. This year I did.
A mile from the rest stop, I was trying to get comfortable again. We had been at the rest stop for 15 minutes, which was too long. I was shaking out my legs, adjusting my shorts. My left hand was on the bar, but my front tire caught a small crag in the road, pulling it to the left and I couldn't regain control. Head first into the cement, but fortunately I had enough time to try and point my fall in the direction of the grass. I rolled off the road and was sitting in the grass at the end. I'm not sure how my feet got out of the clips. I added arrows so you can see it. The left arrow is where the helmet is split, as in I can pull the whole thing apart and see light in between. The arrow on the right shows the big dent. That grey line should be straight, in fact the dent is on the top middle and bottom of that side of the helmet you just can't see it well in the pic.
This is my dirty and ripped jersey. I think the only reason there isn't a huge hole is that I ended up on the grass. My knee is scraped, you could see the muscle when it was fresh, but it's just bright red now. My shoulder and elbow are scraped up. I have a big bruise on my inner thigh of one leg and a bruise on my haunch of the other leg. I can tell you right now I will be hurting in the morning.
Corey had ditched me in that mile (I told him I am no longer friends with him! I was just kidding Corey... mostly :p) It was on a downhill so there was only one guy directly behind me that saw it. He road up a little frantic and kept asking me if I was okay. I told him I was fine. I sat there for a minute and tried to decide if I had lied to him. A group of "cyclists" passed me after I had stood up and one made a snarky comment about my choice of places to stop... maybe I never want to be a true cyclist. I thanked the guy that stopped, took my bike, started to mount, to my surprise my handlebars and my wheel were not pointed the same direction. I dismounted and about that time Alice road up behind me. She helped me square my bars and helped me make it to the 32 mile rest stop... where I didn't get my clip out and pulled a dummy flop onto the gravel. Despite Alice's sound advice to stop and head back, I opted to go for the 100. My shoulder hurt, I couldn't turn my head all the way to the right, but I got some antiseptic at the rest stop and pushed on.
It sucked. The course beyond that is hilly, but I still wanted to catch Amy and at this point I wanted to catch Corey. Our friend Charlie helped nurse me along the rest of the ride, but my front derailleur wire came off at the top of the Cat 5 (or so I hear that's what it is) hill. I lost Charlie at that point. Then my garmin finally died. That is when I decided I was done. The pain killer Charlie had given me at the 42 mile rest stop was beginning to wear off. My lower back was speaking to me and the words were not kind. I was done. My first SAG. I tell you what though, if there ever was a ride to want to SAG in on, it would be this one. You cannot find a better t-shirt ride than this. It should be on everyone's list.
The bike is now in the shop, I have bought a new helmet and I'll let you know how my body feels in the morning.
Pros:
Pretty tshirt
FOOD! Lots of fruit, clif bars, shot bloks, peanuts, pickles, pickle juice, crackers, cookies, etc.
Tons of sag, you get passed by a sag car nearly every mile. It definately came in handy.
Volunteers, tons of volunteers asking what you need the moment you get in ear shot of the rest stop.
Police escorts. Countless cop cars, even more bike cops. Stopping traffic at most intesections, toward the end picking individual riders to escort through town.
An entire week to pick up your packet from 8 in the morning to like 6 in the evening.
Cons:
Hilly, hilly course. If you want it mostly flat do 52 or less. If you think you need a challenge, then by all means go for more. I don't think I'll attempt the 100 here ever again. The back end of the course is too much. Even if I hadn't crashed, it was a hard course. I am very happy that they changed the path up a bit from last year, it kept us out of downtown El Reno.
Pros:
Pretty tshirt
FOOD! Lots of fruit, clif bars, shot bloks, peanuts, pickles, pickle juice, crackers, cookies, etc.
Tons of sag, you get passed by a sag car nearly every mile. It definately came in handy.
Volunteers, tons of volunteers asking what you need the moment you get in ear shot of the rest stop.
Police escorts. Countless cop cars, even more bike cops. Stopping traffic at most intesections, toward the end picking individual riders to escort through town.
An entire week to pick up your packet from 8 in the morning to like 6 in the evening.
Cons:
Hilly, hilly course. If you want it mostly flat do 52 or less. If you think you need a challenge, then by all means go for more. I don't think I'll attempt the 100 here ever again. The back end of the course is too much. Even if I hadn't crashed, it was a hard course. I am very happy that they changed the path up a bit from last year, it kept us out of downtown El Reno.
Lighthouse Sprint Triathlon
1:22:20
4 of 10 age group
15 of 64 females
500m S:10:15 T1: 0:48 13m B:41:40 T2: 0:28 5K R: 29:12
Bike Course and Elevation coming soon
Course:
Bike - Flat. It's around hefner, you don't get any flatter. You have to go up over the Hefner Parkway bridge, but other than that, it's like riding a trainer.
Run - Mostly flat. There was one very small hill. As for barefooters there was one spot with some gravel across the road. There was also a small stint of pretty course asphalt, but it probably wasn't more than a quarter of a mile.
Pros:
T-shirt.
I heard they let you practice swim for free for a couple weeks before the tri.
The course is flat.
There was plenty of water stops on the run! Yeah!
Hot dogs and burgers afterwards.
Cons:
Website information. You have to go to the calender on their website which only gives you the course map and the link to sign up. There is not enough information on the website or the signup site. No timeline for race day. I showed up at 5 and the guy had to make a phone call asking when transition would open. He then had to call again to ask when we asked about the start for practice swim.
No courtesy email reminding people about packet pickup. Everyone does this now. I guess I've gotten too used to the fun rides and runs picking up packet on race day. I forgot about it until a friend called me about an hour before it ended.
5 second swim start! Why? You'd have thought they'd have learned from last year and all the complaining, swimming head first into each other, and swearing off this race as a never again. I was lucky enough to have put in a far too fast swim time so I only had two people pass me and relatively little congestion. There was around 100 people fewer this year than last and I still heard about congestion problems in the pool.
This is not my photo, I stole it, but I was already on the course at this point and have no photos to show of me, so haha, if any of you are reading this and want me to take your pic off my blog let me know and I'll photoshop you out of it. Left to right, Kari, Christin, Terri, and Amy waiting for their swim to start.
Personal:
I knew this was not going to be a PR for me. I hadn't swam or run in two weeks, hadn't rode in a week. I didn't feel good going into it. I just wanted to have a good time. I saw a lot of familiar faces which is a great thing about the triathlon community around here. It made me sad this was probably the last tri for me this year! In the end I felt great during the whole thing, it was a great race for me. I had a great time and didn't hurt myself :) I felt absolutely awesome on the bike, good on the swim, and I was sub 30 on the run. Can't beat that for two weeks without running. I put it all out there and am extremely pleased. I think this may have been the first race I didn't wonder "Why am I doing this?" Maybe I have said that before, but I really did have a great time :) I enjoyed cheering on my friends. I probably would do this one again, but I will definitely put in a too fast swim time to avoid the backup :p
4 of 10 age group
15 of 64 females
500m S:10:15 T1: 0:48 13m B:41:40 T2: 0:28 5K R: 29:12
Bike Course and Elevation coming soon
Course:
Bike - Flat. It's around hefner, you don't get any flatter. You have to go up over the Hefner Parkway bridge, but other than that, it's like riding a trainer.
Run - Mostly flat. There was one very small hill. As for barefooters there was one spot with some gravel across the road. There was also a small stint of pretty course asphalt, but it probably wasn't more than a quarter of a mile.
Pros:
T-shirt.
I heard they let you practice swim for free for a couple weeks before the tri.
The course is flat.
There was plenty of water stops on the run! Yeah!
Hot dogs and burgers afterwards.
Cons:
Website information. You have to go to the calender on their website which only gives you the course map and the link to sign up. There is not enough information on the website or the signup site. No timeline for race day. I showed up at 5 and the guy had to make a phone call asking when transition would open. He then had to call again to ask when we asked about the start for practice swim.
No courtesy email reminding people about packet pickup. Everyone does this now. I guess I've gotten too used to the fun rides and runs picking up packet on race day. I forgot about it until a friend called me about an hour before it ended.
5 second swim start! Why? You'd have thought they'd have learned from last year and all the complaining, swimming head first into each other, and swearing off this race as a never again. I was lucky enough to have put in a far too fast swim time so I only had two people pass me and relatively little congestion. There was around 100 people fewer this year than last and I still heard about congestion problems in the pool.
Personal:
I knew this was not going to be a PR for me. I hadn't swam or run in two weeks, hadn't rode in a week. I didn't feel good going into it. I just wanted to have a good time. I saw a lot of familiar faces which is a great thing about the triathlon community around here. It made me sad this was probably the last tri for me this year! In the end I felt great during the whole thing, it was a great race for me. I had a great time and didn't hurt myself :) I felt absolutely awesome on the bike, good on the swim, and I was sub 30 on the run. Can't beat that for two weeks without running. I put it all out there and am extremely pleased. I think this may have been the first race I didn't wonder "Why am I doing this?" Maybe I have said that before, but I really did have a great time :) I enjoyed cheering on my friends. I probably would do this one again, but I will definitely put in a too fast swim time to avoid the backup :p
Duncan Dehydrator
2:48:02
8 out of 9 women
I did finish ahead of a few guys doing the same distance tho...
Course and Elevation
Let me start by saying I had friends doing the rides, they enjoyed it, had a great time. I didn't hear any complaints. They said the course wasn't that hilly, well supported, great time. Boy was I jealous...
DO NOT DO THIS RACE UNLESS YOU ARE A TRUE CYCLIST!.... or if you want your ass handed to you..... The riders are fast, it is hilly, and it is hot by the end. If anyone is keeping track, it should be obvious from my other posts, I don't take any of this that seriously, it was obvious I didn't belong here. With the exception of one very friendly newbie, who beat me by 28 minutes, the group was not exactly inviting.
Pros:
There was a waterstop at 10 miles that you pass 3 times, I felt like it was enough. There was also a med tent w/ water if you were desperate at the start/finish.
Jerseys for the winners, I don't know about quality since I sure didn't get close to one. The medals are cute with the little skeleton rider on it (I did get one of those since there were only two in my age group).
Food! Good food at the end, you just have to ride back to get it! There was a small spread at the race site with some stuff to refuel and a place to rest before heading back.
Showers, I've never had an event that offers a place to shower afterwards, really nice facility.
Cons:
There was a 5.5 mile ride to the start, which you also had to ride back after the race.
Some difficult hills, but one killer hill 10 miles into the loop. I saw a guy zig zaging it in my last lap. It was hard.
Okay, tri's and du's usually have a bike shop tent at the event to offer basic mechanical help before and after. There was nothing like that here. No one with the race/ride had a pump or anything to help. On rides I've done SAG usually has some basics to help, but this SAG was apparently around to only take you back.
Road hazards were well marked the last 3 miles, the other 11 miles were not!
Personal:
My goal was to finish in 2:30. I seriously believed I could avg somewhere in 17mph. My friend Amy and I drove the course before the start and I seriously considered changing to the ride. We got back barely in time for the ride out. I didn't want to huff it the not quite 6 miles to the race start, but I had to push a little to keep up with the group. The ride was looking more and more appealing. Then up rode Alice, she appeared at the moment I needed her to! I realized I was at the back of the group and had decided I might just watch the race start then go back and ride with my friends. Alice's small talk about all the men stopping to pee by the road helped me get my mind off the daunting task at hand. It was her first cycling race too. I wasn't the only first timer! I could do this!
The problem was I really couldn't, I was hoping I could keep up for most of the first lap at least until that killer hill at mile 10. I held in there for 4 miles, when the 65+ men showed up I got bumped out of line. Retrospect I should have kept pedaling and held my ground, by moving over and letting off to try and slide back behind the last guy I had already lost too much momentum to keep up, not that I would have made it to 10 miles anyway, but to have my confidence shot so early made the entire thing more difficult.
I could always see someone in the distance so at least I had someone to chase. I caught up with one guy half way through the second lap, we chatted for a minute about when we would be lapped by the guys doing 4 laps. Sure enough in the last two miles of the second lap, here they come swishing on by like I was standing still.
I dropped my chain on the decent leading to the hill up to the timing map. I coasted as far as I could trying to finagle it back, I got it, but then couldn't convince it to shift to granny gear so I still had to get off and fix it. I got to the timing mat and I'm not sure what got my attention, but I suddenly became very aware of my rear tire. It was definitely looking depressed. No.... you're just looking for an excuse to stop..... it's just your big rear weighing it down...... I can't get a flat.... I've never gotten a flat except in my driveway.... I can't have a flat....... I rode while my inner monologue continued. By the time I was 7 miles into the last lap I knew my tire was going flat if not flat already judging from the sound that developed. The more I thought about it.... Why bother getting off... I only have one cartridge. I've never used it before and I know I'll screw it up, which would just leave me to be sagged in. I've forced myself to continue each lap as much as I wanted to stop, I was not going to allow myself to be sagged in with only 7 miles to go.
Life was great when I crossed the finish, I headed straight for the watermelon I eyed going into the last lap. I didn't want to linger since my legs would just feel worse. I mounted my bike, looked down, sure enough my tire was flat. Silver lining, I got to sag back to the Simmons Center. Changed my tire, tried to use my cartridge and sure enough pierced it too early and wasted it. Good thing I didn't stop during the race to change it.
8 out of 9 women
I did finish ahead of a few guys doing the same distance tho...
Course and Elevation
Let me start by saying I had friends doing the rides, they enjoyed it, had a great time. I didn't hear any complaints. They said the course wasn't that hilly, well supported, great time. Boy was I jealous...
DO NOT DO THIS RACE UNLESS YOU ARE A TRUE CYCLIST!.... or if you want your ass handed to you..... The riders are fast, it is hilly, and it is hot by the end. If anyone is keeping track, it should be obvious from my other posts, I don't take any of this that seriously, it was obvious I didn't belong here. With the exception of one very friendly newbie, who beat me by 28 minutes, the group was not exactly inviting.
Pros:
There was a waterstop at 10 miles that you pass 3 times, I felt like it was enough. There was also a med tent w/ water if you were desperate at the start/finish.
Jerseys for the winners, I don't know about quality since I sure didn't get close to one. The medals are cute with the little skeleton rider on it (I did get one of those since there were only two in my age group).
Food! Good food at the end, you just have to ride back to get it! There was a small spread at the race site with some stuff to refuel and a place to rest before heading back.
Showers, I've never had an event that offers a place to shower afterwards, really nice facility.
Cons:
There was a 5.5 mile ride to the start, which you also had to ride back after the race.
Some difficult hills, but one killer hill 10 miles into the loop. I saw a guy zig zaging it in my last lap. It was hard.
Okay, tri's and du's usually have a bike shop tent at the event to offer basic mechanical help before and after. There was nothing like that here. No one with the race/ride had a pump or anything to help. On rides I've done SAG usually has some basics to help, but this SAG was apparently around to only take you back.
Road hazards were well marked the last 3 miles, the other 11 miles were not!
Personal:
My goal was to finish in 2:30. I seriously believed I could avg somewhere in 17mph. My friend Amy and I drove the course before the start and I seriously considered changing to the ride. We got back barely in time for the ride out. I didn't want to huff it the not quite 6 miles to the race start, but I had to push a little to keep up with the group. The ride was looking more and more appealing. Then up rode Alice, she appeared at the moment I needed her to! I realized I was at the back of the group and had decided I might just watch the race start then go back and ride with my friends. Alice's small talk about all the men stopping to pee by the road helped me get my mind off the daunting task at hand. It was her first cycling race too. I wasn't the only first timer! I could do this!
The problem was I really couldn't, I was hoping I could keep up for most of the first lap at least until that killer hill at mile 10. I held in there for 4 miles, when the 65+ men showed up I got bumped out of line. Retrospect I should have kept pedaling and held my ground, by moving over and letting off to try and slide back behind the last guy I had already lost too much momentum to keep up, not that I would have made it to 10 miles anyway, but to have my confidence shot so early made the entire thing more difficult.
I could always see someone in the distance so at least I had someone to chase. I caught up with one guy half way through the second lap, we chatted for a minute about when we would be lapped by the guys doing 4 laps. Sure enough in the last two miles of the second lap, here they come swishing on by like I was standing still.
I dropped my chain on the decent leading to the hill up to the timing map. I coasted as far as I could trying to finagle it back, I got it, but then couldn't convince it to shift to granny gear so I still had to get off and fix it. I got to the timing mat and I'm not sure what got my attention, but I suddenly became very aware of my rear tire. It was definitely looking depressed. No.... you're just looking for an excuse to stop..... it's just your big rear weighing it down...... I can't get a flat.... I've never gotten a flat except in my driveway.... I can't have a flat....... I rode while my inner monologue continued. By the time I was 7 miles into the last lap I knew my tire was going flat if not flat already judging from the sound that developed. The more I thought about it.... Why bother getting off... I only have one cartridge. I've never used it before and I know I'll screw it up, which would just leave me to be sagged in. I've forced myself to continue each lap as much as I wanted to stop, I was not going to allow myself to be sagged in with only 7 miles to go.
Life was great when I crossed the finish, I headed straight for the watermelon I eyed going into the last lap. I didn't want to linger since my legs would just feel worse. I mounted my bike, looked down, sure enough my tire was flat. Silver lining, I got to sag back to the Simmons Center. Changed my tire, tried to use my cartridge and sure enough pierced it too early and wasted it. Good thing I didn't stop during the race to change it.
Norman Conquest, 42 miles
Course and Elevation Profile
This was a fun ride. Proceeds go to the children's developmental disability hospital in Norman. There was a HUGE crowd, we even started a bit late because they were trying to find parking for people. So if you choose to do this one, definitely get there early. Police escort for the ridiculously fast. There were quite a few cops out for traffic control. They weren't at every intersection, but there were quite a few and at the ones that were dearly needed.
I have to say, unfortunately, we got to see how well the emergency dispatch in Norman works. There were three wrecks. One due to a water truck wetting a road, another I missed, it happened behind me, and a third which was pretty severe around a sharp turn. The first wreck had a cop already on scene. We passed the ambulance and fire truck only a mile down the road flying in the direction of the bad wreck. So bravo to Norman for responding so quickly.
Okay, there is a reason it's called the Norman Conquest, Conquer the Hills and Conquer the Heat. There are hills, really, hills. You want to be ready for them or they will serve you your rear. I rode this course a couple times last fall and it's hard when you're starting out. Be prepared!
Rest stops were well placed. The bananas were kinda green unfortunately, but the oranges were good. Water, gatorade, no pickles though... I was kinda disappointed in that, most long rides have pickles.... They made up for it at the end. There was a wonderful spread of fantastic food, by far the best catered event I've been to.
I was going to do 68, but my buddy I was riding with decided she'd had enough so we cut it short. I'm glad I rode with her, I would have pushed and tried to see how fast I could do the 66 and probably been miserable at the end. This was a very enjoyable ride. I've ridden these hills before and whined the ears off a couple of my friends in the process. This time the hills didn't seem bad at all, I stayed in high gear for most of them. I guess Meers was good for me :) I do like the tshirt, it will be a comfy lounge around the house in the fall shirt. I will probably do this ride again.
This was a fun ride. Proceeds go to the children's developmental disability hospital in Norman. There was a HUGE crowd, we even started a bit late because they were trying to find parking for people. So if you choose to do this one, definitely get there early. Police escort for the ridiculously fast. There were quite a few cops out for traffic control. They weren't at every intersection, but there were quite a few and at the ones that were dearly needed.
I have to say, unfortunately, we got to see how well the emergency dispatch in Norman works. There were three wrecks. One due to a water truck wetting a road, another I missed, it happened behind me, and a third which was pretty severe around a sharp turn. The first wreck had a cop already on scene. We passed the ambulance and fire truck only a mile down the road flying in the direction of the bad wreck. So bravo to Norman for responding so quickly.
Okay, there is a reason it's called the Norman Conquest, Conquer the Hills and Conquer the Heat. There are hills, really, hills. You want to be ready for them or they will serve you your rear. I rode this course a couple times last fall and it's hard when you're starting out. Be prepared!
Rest stops were well placed. The bananas were kinda green unfortunately, but the oranges were good. Water, gatorade, no pickles though... I was kinda disappointed in that, most long rides have pickles.... They made up for it at the end. There was a wonderful spread of fantastic food, by far the best catered event I've been to.
I was going to do 68, but my buddy I was riding with decided she'd had enough so we cut it short. I'm glad I rode with her, I would have pushed and tried to see how fast I could do the 66 and probably been miserable at the end. This was a very enjoyable ride. I've ridden these hills before and whined the ears off a couple of my friends in the process. This time the hills didn't seem bad at all, I stayed in high gear for most of them. I guess Meers was good for me :) I do like the tshirt, it will be a comfy lounge around the house in the fall shirt. I will probably do this ride again.
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