Spin Your Wheels

Course and Elevation for most of the 100 mile course.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

Du Draper Twice On Road Duathlon

3:15:51.3   
14 of 17 females
1 of 2 age group
55:40.7    1:26.8  1:44:09.1    1:12.0    33:22.8
Course and Elevation Profile

Course:
Run, a bit deceptive.... it's not really hilly... but the slope going out of the marina is a tiny nasty little hill.... not sure if it's the gravel that made it feel that way, but it was an unpleasant little hill, other than that just a rolling course, not flat, but I wouldn't call it hilly. 5K course, two laps for the 10K. In case you didn't catch that a stretch of the course is gravel.

Bike, speaking of nasty little hills. There was one hill that was unpleasant on the bike. I'm a wimp what can I say? Don't get me wrong it wasn't awful, but I really do not like hills. Beyond that one hill though it was not bad at all, mostly flat... ish. I hate to say flat. If you are from around here flat is Hefner, which has I think a 3 foot elevation change. That is flat, but if you are not from around the city, then I'm sure this course would be considered flat, minus that one hill. One lap for the short course, two for the long.

Pros:
Plenty of water! Three water stops on the run, so you got to hit the water stops 8 times. There was one water stop for the bike too, which was nice. Very useful, especially on a day like this!
Run course was well marked, had no problems figuring out where to go.
Food! Lots of food at the finish!
First prize was a hat :) Very cool.
Ice baths! So wonderful, exactly what I needed at the end of this!

Cons:
Bike sticker.... you want me to stick that on my bike? Seriously? And then not even have anyone around to check it when I take my bike out of transition.... seriously? It was a name tag sticker, like you wear at some lame reunion. I have scrubbed my bike for 15 minutes and I still haven't gotten all the goo off it.... not happy....
The bike course could have used a marker to tell people to go south on post. I knew where to go, but the bike ahead of me paused for some time trying to make a decision where to go. On the second lap the cop car had moved into a position that pointed people in the right direction.

Personal:
I always feel better if I know people at the event. This was one of those lucky days. A few of the OCCC crew were there. A couple people I'd met the day before at the off road race were there. One in particular, had volunteered the day before and gave me grief about my vibrams, jokingly telling me I should wear some shoes (ha... ha....). In fact every time we passed each other during the 10K he kept telling me to put on some shoes.

My knee still hurt from the trail run the day before, I picked up a light weight knee brace the night before and wore it during the entire race. I also had some pain killers before, just in case. I told my husband that a DNF was possibly in my future. I wanted to do everything in my power to ensure that didn't happen.

I wore my vibrams thinking, if my runs turn into walks, the cement is going to get very hot. I am glad I did since part of the course was gravel, not small gravel either. Large rocks and lots of them, on a slope. That was the only time I walked in the 10K was up the gravel hill, wasn't worth possibly hurting myself. The 10K is a new PR for me by two minutes and on a harder course too. The knee ached a little in the beginning, but by the time I started my second lap it had stopped complaining. I realized in the second lap that I wasn't feeling sweat around my glasses like I always do. They are cheap sunglasses, I have to constantly wipe my face or they slide off due to all the sweat. I thought maybe the overcast and the water I'd been pouring all over me must be keeping the sweat at bay.

I took an extra bit of time in transition. I unvelcroed my vibrams which I didn't need to do. I fiddles with my bike shoes longer than necessary. I just needed a breather. Off I set, across the mount line, first shoe in... clatter, clunk, click, click... wtf? I pedal up the hill wondering what all that noise from my gears was about. As I get onto the main road, it became apparent. I couldn't shift to high gear... I begged and pleaded with her. I changed from high to low on the cassette, even reached down while riding trying to push the front derailleur over... cursed at her.... nothing worked. I finally jumped off and forced the chain up, but it slipped off a couple of miles down the road.... so there I am in granny gear..... trying so hard to catch any women I could cause since I finished the run next to last of women. I did catch some, but I found the entire bike leg to be frustrating, I know I could have averaged 18. I could have taken 15 minutes off. I know I could have, there were more than a few times I just topped out and I cursed and yelled at the damn bike. By the end of the second leg though I had made peace with it, until Glen passed me..... oh hell no.... that's not gonna fly..... new goal, forget passing women, pass Glen.

Nearly to the end of the bike, I missed the water stop, the guy was trying to help the runners and I wasn't going to stop while he came back to my side of the road. It's about then that I realize, I still don't feel sweat on my face. I reached a couple fingers into my helmet and felt a a bit damp, but definitely not the normal amount I'm used to. I started to freak out a bit, I knew that was a sign of something, maybe too much salt? I had been choosing the junk drinks instead of water today since I knew it was going to be really hot by the end.

I mentioned to a few people as I went out for the last leg that I didn't think I was sweating. One said I needed more water, I complied and asked her to pour 5 or 6 cups on me. Another sent EMSA after me, which was nice, they gave me a bottle of water, but I told them I was determined to finish this race. I did a lot of walking in the last 5K, it was hot, nearly everyone was walking.... but not Glen..... I still had a goal. I poured water all over myself and set out to catch him. At the turn around he told me he'd worked too hard to catch me on the bike, so I better not pass him. There was another woman behind me, I told her we needed to catch him! Team work, we needed to work together and go beat him! She tried, but she told me in the end she just couldn't find the strength in the heat to catch either of us. My friend Charlie rode up to check on me a few times, I told him I just wanted to catch up to Glen, I had to. He of course rode ahead and warned Glen I was coming :) In the last tenth of a mile I did it! On that sorry gravel road! I did it. He told me as I passed "I told you not to do that." My response - "What can I say you should have taken off those shoes."

Du Draper Twice, Off Road Trail Duathlon

2:13.47
4th of 12 females
1st out of 6 in my age group!! Woohoo!!
4kR: 27:49.4   T1: 1:10.6  20kB: 1:13:30.2  T2: 0:51.3   4kR: 30:26.0
Course and Elevation Profile

First duathlon and first off road bike race, so take my opinion for what it's worth since I have no point of reference.

Run course, had a couple of steep inclines, but nothing too bad. There is one very rocky descent that tripped me up a bit. I did see one guy fall.

Bike course, very easy, no big obstacles, just a winding path with a couple of good straight aways, there were also a couple fun jumps but easy to avoid if you wanted to. Definately beginner friendly.

Pros:
Plenty of water stops, two on the run, and one of the three loop bike. I will not complain about water this time! Can you believe it??
Very friendly people running it.
Easy bike course, mostly easy run course.
I got a hat for winning my age group... Nice :)
Food!! Glorious food at the finish! Watermelon never tasted so good!

Cons:
Bike - They assumed everyone could follow the green arrows.... eh, I was lucky I rode this course four times in the last two weeks. There were a few places people could easily (and did) go off course. To make matters worse the trail was marked for a crit from thursday night which made things a little confusing. Next time I might even volunteer to mark it cause it needed to be marked.

Run - The run out followed the same path as the bike in... surely this could have been arranged a bit better.... Even if we ran on a non existent path it would have been better than having to dodge bikes. They even said at the prerace meeting that bikes have the right of way.... since when?? Pedestrians always have the right of way. I don't care what they say. I moved off the path for the people running up as I came in. The guy riding in as I was running out was not so polite and I had to dodge him. I feel like there was enough space that definitive paths could have been tied off to allow each their own path.

Apparently the two 5Ks were actually 4Ks. So if you are a stickler for accuracy that might be a problem for you.

Personal:
This race was a lot of fun. I'm sold I want to do a true mountain bike race :)

I was extremely happy with my bike time, especially since I stopped to adjust my seat post, stopped for an encounter with mother nature, stopped twice to be passed, and nearly crashed twice trying to pass (really need to work on that :p). I am sold on trail bike racing... I definitely want to try it again, without the run. The run was hard for me, I'd only run once in the last three weeks. And that was a mediocre run since my dog was getting overheated I walked a lot of it. I rolled my ankle on some rocks. It didn't bother me till the last half mile of the second 5K, I think I started to over compensate with the other leg which caused awful knee pain. I haven't had knee pain like that since giving up my asics a year ago. Shame on me for slacking on the running, lesson learned.

SKUNK!!! In the first lap of the bike what jumps onto the trail!! AHH!!! I came to a hard stop and gasped. Oh pleeeeaasee!! Don't spray me! That tail went up and I held my breath for a minute. I knew people were coming up behind me, so I inched forward slowly which encouraged the little bugger to run, unfortunately it ran down the trail :p I followed it for a while, maybe 20 yards down the trail it decided it'd had enough company and dashed into the brush. I yelled skunk as loud as I could to warn those behind me and moved on as fast as I could.

I could hear people talking ahead of me in the last lap, I was determined to get ahead of more women! I did it! Woohoo! I knew they'd be right behind me on the run. I started walking a lot in the last half mile when my knee started to tweak and sure enough one of them caught me, she beat me by a minute, but I managed to finish a minute ahead of two others that were in my age group. So victory among defeat. The only other two that beat me were girls, 15 and 17 cross country high school students. My body has been through far more than theirs so I don't feel bad about being beaten by them! :)

Limbs for Life's Blaze through the Adventure District 5K

26:26
19 of 152 females
5 of 28 age group
Course and Elevation Profile

The course, hilly, not awful, but sloping inclines and steep downhills. I knew that going into it since this went right through the zoo, I go there nearly every week with my girls. I was also prepared for the not so barefoot friendly parts of the course. What I was not prepared for was Remington Park. We ran on the grass inside the track, not a big deal for me, I found it enjoyable. Nearly everyone else I heard afterwards did not.

Pros:
I was sold on this race as soon as I heard about the charity. What a great cause getting artificial limbs to those that can't afford it. I will definitely be back next year.

I got to run through the zoo! How cool is that?? I love races in places you would otherwise never get to run in!

Tshirt, yes I like races with tshirts.

I feel like the cons are lopsided, I enjoyed this race, the ambiance was great. Seeing people who benefit from the organization was great. Maybe if it was a longer race I'd have more to say about it :)

Cons:
I guess there were very few trail runners there, everyone was complaining about running on the grass. Most of the last mile was on grass, some of it wet. Lots of people said they would not be back next year for this race unless they changed the course. It would be more enjoyable to run most of it through the zoo. Of course that would turn it into an out and back, it would also have to go through buildings or exhibits to get the extra mileage to stay in the zoo, so I don't know what the solution would be. I enjoyed the course. I loved going through the zoo, I enjoyed the grass. I will definitely be back next year whether it's changed or not.

The other complaint I heard: It needs to start earlier. I agree, after getting up so early for tri's the last few weekends. It felt late, it was already hot. I spent an hour hanging around waiting for the race to start and was already sweating. That would be my one big con for this race. Seconded by water! Which is always my complaint about nearly all races. One water stop on a very hot morning is not enough.

There were issues with the timing which is not the Limbs for Life's or DG Production's fault. Apparently the software that the two companies use weren't compatible so things got jumbled when they sent all the racers' info to the timing company. There was a similar issue the week before at OCCC's triathlon, hopefully DG can figure out a solution, knowing them they probably already have.