Time to ride!: Tulsa Tough

Another End of May, another Tulsa Tough. After a quick 50min Driveway warm-up we drove up to DFW Thursday evening and got to spend some time on Trinity Trail in Ft. Worth. Later that day, we arrived at the best Host Housing we could ask for - that of teammate Chad.

rest-stop Texas-style

Night #1 was rather uneventful. Rode out to the course, met up with friends and teammates, watched Jed Rogers sprint to 2nd in the 1/2 race, downed some energy drinks, and did a 65minute Twilight crit. There was not much to do for me in that race as the field sprint was pre-determined with 10laps to go and Chad already found his spot behind the winning Jelly Bean squad around eventual winner and former teammate Brad Huff! CC ended up 13th which was a bit disappointing since he was 6ht wheel going into the final turn but a OUCH rider decided to go against the laws of physics and dived into the final corner way too hot, rolled a tire, and crashed - causing a major rumble in the front.

Day#2 was already more exciting. We got to pin our numbers at the Soundpony, had more energy drinks, and socialized with (some already intoxicated) cycling fans on Main Street. After a quick rest stop at New Medio (the media/PR company behind Tulsa Tough and one of my teammates' employer) we rolled to the start in the Brady District with a nice 90 F heat around 6:30pm. It was - yet again - fast and furious and it took me 10laps to move anywhere to the front. When I finally did, I punched it through the Start/Finish and about a dozen guys came with me. Every major team had at least one if not two guys in the break and we rolled pretty good for a few laps. The pace there was so much harder than chilling in the field. I would go 200W less in the peloton vs. riding in the rotation in that move. But, the break was probably a bit too big and once Floyd Landis punched up the little rise on the backside the break fell apart and I was back in the peloton. I recovered, and recovered some more. With 10laps to go I got CC on my wheel and got him in the Top20 when I saw an opportunity to go off the front. Adam Bergman was dangling off the front of the field with 15seconds and we're kind of going slow. I punched it up the rise by the Soundpony and quickly joined him w/ 9 laps to go. We rode hard for a few laps before they rang the bell for the biggest prime of the day - $500. Since I'm not gifted excessively with fast-twitch fibers I figured I need to get this. So once again, I rode flat out over the rise on the back-side of the course and my race was done with 5 laps to go while collecting some change for the day. Chad came in 11th so we're improving from day to day :-)

this is for you, BigDaddy Walker

Day#3 usually suits me well with a hilly crit course but not this time. Somehow, my legs were MIA after going okay the last two nights. I was there for 50minutes and then had to call it quits. Weird. One day you roll, one day you're slow. CC saved the day for us with a Top 10 and an 8th place in the Omnium while "Huffy" dragged his through-cheer leading-formed body over the hills of Riverside and held on to the Omnium lead. Impressive.