Some background: Several years ago I determined that I'd cycled in forty-three States, none of which were the ones adjacent to Texas. To remedy that I turned to Velo View Bike Tours and took trips to New Mexico and Arkansas. Then, on a trip to New Orleans, we took my bike and I did a thirty-three mile ride on the levee. That left Oklahoma. I'd been ignoring my partner, Dean, when every year for fifteen years he would ask me to join him at Fort Sill. This year I finally made it, though without Dean who crashed a few years ago and is no longer riding.
The first thing I liked about going was the very inexpensive registration. When I looked at the course maps, I liked the very straight out-and-back designs and minimal elevation change. Getting on to Ft. Sill was easy once you filled out the request online. I didn't particularly like having to race after doing the Texas Road Race Championships, which is traditionally the last race of the year. But this would put a pin in cycling in Oklahoma. I also didn't fancy going on I35, especially on Texas-OU weekend. Therefore we took 183/281/44 to Lawton, seeing very few cars.
The weather turned out quite nice, but with a chilly start. The 9:00 44k and 22k road race ran simultaneously, but different routes. It looked like thirteen guys for the 44k and ten for the 22k. The 44k started first. After a decent interval, I started with the 22k guys. This would be eleven kilometers out, with some inclines (not steep enough to be called hills), against a moderate breeze. I planned to find a big back and hide behind him on the way out. As it happened, one very strong guy immediately took the lead followed by another who had the type of back I looked for. One other rider came behind me, but the other six were gapped and were soon left behind. I hung with them for the first couple of climbs, but on the third one, at about three and a half miles, they finally dropped me. Without my escort, speed dropped 3mph. At the much anticipated turn-around, I could judge the third place guy to be about a minute and a half in front of me and the fifth place guy about the same behind me.
It took around twenty-six minutes going out and twenty coming back. Unfortunately, the guy behind me came on strong and overtook me about a mile from the finish. I came in fifth, about ten seconds out of fourth, but first in my age group. We now had a two hour wait before the time trials.
Another thing I liked about the setup here, they had chipped numbers to attach to the seat post and none to put on your jersey. I unloaded the TT bike and switched the number, then loaded the Emonda back in the car. By the way, I warmed up and raced in my tights (under 65 degrees cover the knees) and wind jacket. The jersey had long sleeves. The temperature hovered around 55 in the shade and 60 in the sun, which only hit a few spots this early. I brought chairs, but since we parked within yards of the start/finish line and registration canopy, the car seats were more comfy and warm.
The time trials were a unique format, one I really liked. The 5k racers would go out the same road we had in the 22k race. At the end of 5k they would just continue, at a reduced, no-racing, pace to the start of the 10k, which was an additional 5k. The 10k would take them back to the original start/finish line. If you only wanted to do the 5k, you would just turn around and noodle on back to your car. I think only one person did that, and no one did only the 10k.
The order of the race was youngest first, so I came last. As it turned out, there was another gentleman who wasn't on the registered list. He was last. He was also in the 80-84 category and in talking to him later, his birthday in March of 1942 put him older than me. For a relatively flat course, I found myself changing gears a lot. Cadence and heart-rate were quite steady. My time and speed were not particularly impressive, but the finish time was good enough for fifth overall, and, of course, first place in my age group. We had about a half hour to hang out at the 10k start. They had a few chairs and refreshments.
I did well in the 10k, it being downhill with the wind mostly at my back. I held considerably faster speed, averaged 22.4 mph, and for the third time was first in age group and fifth overall. But an interesting stat, which I've known for years, is that I could hold my heart-rate five beats higher going with the wind than against it and cadence was up five rpm. That is, I worked harder going downhill than up.
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