Like That Thing They Do In France - But In Tulsa!

While waiting for our final Travel Approval, we decided to simply focus on having some fun this weekend. Friday night Angie and I went to downtown Tulsa to watch the initial night of bicycle racing in the Tulsa Tough. Those who know me know that bicycling is a passion of mine, and Tulsa initiated the Tulsa Tough series 4 years ago. In that short time it has grown exponentially, is now on the Professional Cycling circuit, and has the second highest payout - $151,000. Oh, and it’s mottos is, “Like That Thing They Do In France – But In Tulsa!” How cool is that!

The Tulsa Tough is a really neat and unique event which brings in 1500 Pro and Amateur racers from around the country and world. It runs for three days, Friday – Sunday, and the racecourse changes each day. The Friday races are in the Blue Dome District, Saturday races are in the Brady District, and the Sunday races are in a course down along the river, which includes a wicked downhill hairpin turn. The Brady and Blue Dome Districts are home to many restaurants, bars, nightclubs and other entertainment venues, and just adjacent to downtown, which gives some awesome day and nighttime views of the art deco buildings. You can see a couple of the huge jumbotrons in the photo backgrounds, one of which was directly below the Blue Dome. It makes for a real festival atmosphere and is loads of fun to attend. Also as part of the event there are touring rides Saturday and Sunday of varying distances, with those able to do both century rides (100 miles) on back-to-back days in under 5 hours each winning a coveted “Deuce” cycling jersey – not an easy feat! My best century time was an 18mph average on the Hotter ‘n Hell 100 in Wichita Falls about 7 years ago. I’ll let ya’ll do the math on that one! Needless to say, I’d fall well short, and no way I’d have the legs to come back and have any sort of decent time on day 2! The weekend also includes a “spandex-free” Townie Ride for those just wanting to do an organized short ride around town, as well as a festival area especially for kids. They also give away 225 free Trek bikes to kids in 4th through 6th grade. However, in order to get a bike they have to go through an extensive safety course and complete the Townie Ride. The event organizers want to build the Tulsa Tough into one of the premier events in the country, with sanctioned Pro racing bringing some of the world’s best racers, as well as growing the touring rides to 10,000 riders.
This year’s racers included Floyd Landis (2006 Tour de France winner (before getting it stripped) and a number of both male and female National Champions and Criterium winners. It was the first time Angie had ever watched any bike racing, and she seemed to really enjoy herself, although she definitely cringed at a couple of the nastier crashes that occurred right in front of us, including one which took out about 20 of the female Cat 1 and Pro’s! I think it also brings back memories of my nasty crash last year as well.

We grabbed some subs from Subway and headed to the festivities. When we got downtown we located a group of friends and riding buddies affectionately known as Team Crude.
They have a school bus that has been converted to a cycling transport vehicle and home base for camping and viewing rides/races. The inside has storage shelves in the back, a couple large couches in the middle, and tables with chairs in the front. The top of the bus has a full platform extending the whole length of the bus, with built in connectors for bikes (can hold 20+), but which also has attachments and add-ons so that it can be covered to provide a shaded hangout. It’s quite the spectacle. Lee Griffin, who takes care of the bus, had communicated with the event organizers and was able to park it right at the start/finish line all three days. As you can see from the pictures, there simply is not a better way to watch the races than from on top of the Crude bus! No shoulders to look over or craning to get a better view. Angie and I hung out here most of the night and it was absolutely loads of fun. It was also great to meet up with a bunch of friends I haven’s seen or ridden with much lately: Pedro and Sherry, Lee, Sylvia, Patty, Tyrone, Cindy Lou, Tom, Stillwater Kevin, and numerous others. Kevin is leaving next week on a cycling trip from Washington State to Maine, the second time he’s done it. Most of the others will be taking part in Oklahoma FreeWheeel, the cross-state bike ride that starts next weekend. This marks the second straight year I won’t be riding on FreeWheel, after completing 6 in a row……too close to adoption departure, and I must keep all my vacation time. I will probably be in a bit of a weird mood all next week……when you love cycling and all your friends are taking part in a particular event, it really eats at you that you’re not there with them! Nevertheless, I wish them strong tailwinds and mild weather the whole week.

Although I didn’t take part in the Tulsa Tough tours this year, I did get a nice 53 miler in yesterday (home-to-Oologah-to-Talala-to-Ramona-to-Vera-to-Collinsville-to-Oologah-to-home) and a 43 miler in today (home-to-WillRogersBirthplace-to-Oologah-to-Vera-to-Collinsville-to-Oologah-to-home). I’m still on my mountain bike (Cannondale F700 hardtail with road slicks), but it takes a whole lot more energy than a road bike, and I think I’m about to get my Guerciotti prepped for some riding. I’ve done a number of century rides on my Cannondale and, let me tell you, it’s one heck of a workout. I did the Tulsa Tough century on it a couple years ago and, with 25 miles left to go (just south of Avant), my legs gave out………that was one of the toughest last 25 miles I’ve ever done, but luckily was on mostly flat terrain. Two years ago a group of us did an awesome ride from Tulsa-to-Bartlesville-to-Dewey-to-Coffeyville where Oklahoma FreeWheel was wrapping up, then hitched a ride back to Tulsa on the Team Crude bus. What an awesome day that was!

For those with an interest in cycling, there’s a wicked cool video on YouTube that Lance Armstrong posted about on Facebook, and which has become an internet sensation and was the most watched video for a number of weeks. It’s a kid-friendly 6 minute bike stunt video of Danny Macaskill shot in and around Edinburgh, Scotland. The things this guy does on his bike are absolutely unbelievable, and it's got a cool soundtrack to boot! Take a look-see by copy and pasting into your browser: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z19zFlPah-o

Will Cameron be at all interested in cycling? We have no idea. We certainly hope so but, if not, no problem. We’ll find his interests and passions and get excited about those. We’re just anxious to get him home. Will this be the week we get Travel Approval?