Tulsa Tough Bike Race

[king183]

How many of you have been watching Tulsa Tough, the 3 day event of cycling races in downtown Tulsa? I watched last night--I wish I could be there in person--and was really impressed with what Tulsa has done. This event brings thousands of cyclists and cycling fans from around the world to Tulsa, including the best professional racers (L9gion of Los Angeles; DNA Racing; Best Buddies, Automatic Abus, Ride Bikes Bro, etc). I didn't realize this until earlier this week, but it considered THE premier cycling racing event in the United States. All the pros have been raving about Tulsa and how well the event is run and how big the crowds are. It's great to see.

I would love to see something similar in OKC. I know we used to have the Pro-Am, which was amazing, and we have the Wheeler Criterium, which always has strong turnout. I believe the Pro-Am and Wheeler were organized by the same person (though I could be mistaken), and my understanding is the Pro-Am ceased operation because sponsors were not reliable (i.e., they'd pledge the money and then not deliver). With the increasing popularity of cycling, it would be great to bring bigger events like these to OKC.

[T. Jamison]

I lived in Sapulpa along the course out in the "sticks". People sit out in lawn chairs with cowbells, drink beer, and cheer them on all day. That was pretty cool.

[PhiAlpha]

I’ll be out there today and tomorrow. Cry Baby Hill on Sunday is one of the wildest events I’ve ever been to. It’s like spring break with a bike race running through it. Pretty unique environment for a bike race.

The whole city comes out to support the races from Friday to Sunday. Pretty impressive.

[shavethewhales]

Tulsa Tough is one of the best things Tulsa does, and it's pretty unique to Tulsa with Crybaby Hill and all. I was supposed to not only attend but also volunteer to help out this year, but tested positive for covid on Friday morning...

While OKC does need to keep striving to add big new things, I think they should leave the bike races to Tulsa. OKC has more marathons/runs/rowing events than we do, but we have a bicycle culture at least. One of the last things Tulsa has to keep it unique within the state.

[Bill Robertson]

Tulsa Tough is one of the best things Tulsa does, and it's pretty unique to Tulsa with Crybaby Hill and all. I was supposed to not only attend but also volunteer to help out this year, but tested positive for covid on Friday morning...

While OKC does need to keep striving to add big new things, I think they should leave the bike races to Tulsa. OKC has more marathons/runs/rowing events than we do, but we have a bicycle culture at least. One of the last things Tulsa has to keep it unique within the state.

I agree. I got to race Tulsa Tough in 08 and 09. It was very special because it's the only big bicycle racing in Oklahoma. OKC can have the Marathon and rowing but leave the uniqueness of Tulsa Tough to Tulsa. Not everyone has to have everything.

[shawnw]

While I'm a cyclist, I'm not interested in racing, but the event has some non-racing rides I wouldn't mind participating in.

Hoping Cycle 66 eventually evolves into a similar event. I rode the 66 mile route (plus I rode to Edmond and back to get to/from the starting line - 98 miles total) in the inaugural event last November and would love to see it grow.

[Swake]

Tulsa is home to BMX USA with the USA Cycling's Olympic BMX Training Center and has hosted the BMX Grand Nationals every year for the last 25 years, which is another pretty big race.

Tulsa also hosts a Ironman Triathlon.

[dankrutka]

Tulsa Tough is an absolutely incredible event. If you haven’t been, it’s a must. We held a memorial event for dad on Wednesday (he was really influential in the Oklahoma triathlon community from the beginning) and then I went to events each day. My only complaint is that they need to move back to later races. The heat was overwhelming on Saturday and they completed races right as it cooled down.

Unfortunately, a homeless person wandered into one of the races and caused a serious wreck. I believe they died. Absolutely awful.

[BG918]

Between USA BMX, Tulsa Tough and the extensive bike trail network in Tulsa (both paved trails and Mtn biking) the city has been developing more of a bike culture. I was just in Bentonville which has a distinct bike culture and it’s not on that level but getting closer. Really awesome to see all of the new bike lanes throughout downtown and midtown too.

[PhiAlpha]

Check out the videos from yesterday on Cry Baby Hill’s Instagram page. It really is Bike Racing meets Mardi Gras. Great people watching as always. For the record, if that’s not your scene, there are plenty of less crazy places off the hill to enjoy the Sunday races.

https://instagram.com/crybabyhill?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

[OkiePoke]

Tulsa Tough is a great event. There have been some rumblings about safety after this years event. Guard rails, field sizes, and course security to name a few. As dankrutka mentioned, there were multiple bad crashes on Fri/Saturday. One in particular on Saturday when a homeless person walked out into the middle of the race where riders were going 30+ mph. Multiple people were seriously injured. I haven't seen any confirmation on the homeless person, but the rumors weren't good.

OKC area needs more cycling events. TT will not be replicated here, but we can support the culture with other events and races. Cycle 66 is later this year, and it is rumored there will be a day of crit racing to accompany the Fondo.

[PhiAlpha]

Tulsa Tough is an absolutely incredible event. If you haven’t been, it’s a must. We held a memorial event for dad on Wednesday (he was really influential in the Oklahoma triathlon community from the beginning) and then I went to events each day. My only complaint is that they need to move back to later races. The heat was overwhelming on Saturday and they completed races right as it cooled down.

Unfortunately, a homeless person wandered into one of the races and caused a serious wreck. I believe they died. Absolutely awful.

I heard yesterday that he lived. Apparently (at least according to the person I was talking to) the guy had been told multiple times to stay off the track and had been an issue all day. I'm not sure what else could've been done to prevent it. It's fortunate that more of the bikers weren't seriously injured.

[Bill Robertson]

v

I heard yesterday that he lived. Apparently (at least according to the person I was talking to) the guy had been told multiple times to stay off the track and had been an issue all day. I'm not sure what else could've been done to prevent it. It's fortunate that more of the bikers weren't seriously injured.

Crit racing is dangerous enough just with the riders on the course. I was generally an off the back Crit finisher because I hated crashing.

[OkiePoke]

I heard yesterday that he lived. Apparently (at least according to the person I was talking to) the guy had been told multiple times to stay off the track and had been an issue all day. I'm not sure what else could've been done to prevent it. It's fortunate that more of the bikers weren't seriously injured.

I rode by him earlier in the day and he was yelling some incoherent things.

I'm not sure if it was from this crash, but I know one of the cyclist had a fractured skull from an incident.

[Pete]

Check out the videos from yesterday on Cry Baby Hill’s Instagram page. It really is Bike Racing meets Mardi Gras. Great people watching as always. For the record, if that’s not your scene, there are plenty of less crazy places off the hill to enjoy the Sunday races.

https://instagram.com/crybabyhill?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

It looks a lot like Ironman races, particularly when there is a steep hill on the bike course.

I did Ironman Wisconsin (in and around Madison) and there is a similar setting on a short but very steep grade. It's fun as all the people are out in the road encouraging you (I'm sure they get asked to help push a thousand times) but tough when you are grinding up the hill on 12-14 hour day and by 10 in the morning everybody around you are drunk partiers. It's less fun the second time you go through on a looped course like Wisconsin because by then you are suffering and people are so hammered they are more obnoxious than encouraging.

There is something similar at Ironman Coeur d'Alene and Vineman in California wine country.

There is also an infamous half-Ironman called Wildflower in the middle of California. After the swim and transition to bike, you head straight up a big hill where it is eerily quiet apart from people trying to grunt their way to the top. Last time I did it, right in the middle of that first hill was a completely topless and well-endowed young woman holding a sign above her head that said, "My eyes are up here". As an added bonus, everyone is moving so slowly that you get a good long look and a chance to thank the nice young lady. A welcome relief from what cyclists call the Hurt Locker because there is no stopping and restarting; you'd have to go all the way back down and start over again due to the steep incline. Some people have no choice but to get off and walk their bikes, but that prompts terrible taunting from the drunken mob, a shaming for the ages. You run down that same hill as you near the finish line of the run (and race) and the crowd will hand you a beer and implore you to chug -- some do, but not yours truly. I did eat a deliciously salty slice of bacon that I was handed; probably equally unwise but it really hit the spot as did the ice-cold beer after the finish.

Also at Wildflower, they used to have naked bike aid stations run by students from nearby Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. They more or less cracked down on that (fun killers!) but it would still happen a bit on the most remote parts of the course. The whole thing is held at a lake in the middle of nowhere and everyone (20,000+) has to camp on site. As part of a long-running tradition, the student volunteers still streak through the campgrounds the night before the race.

[PhiAlpha]

It looks a lot like Ironman races, particularly when there is a steep hill on the bike course.

I did Ironman Wisconsin (in and around Madison) and there is a similar setting on a short but very steep grade. It's fun as all the people are out in the road encouraging you (I'm sure they get asked to help push a thousand times) but tough when you are grinding up the hill on 12-14 hour day and by 10 in the morning everybody around you are drunk partiers. It's less fun the second time you go through on a looped course like Wisconsin because by then you are suffering and people are so hammered they are more obnoxious than encouraging.

There is something similar at Ironman Coeur d'Alene and Vineman in California wine country.

There is also an infamous half-Ironman called Wildflower in the middle of California. After the swim and transition to bike, you head straight up a big hill where it is eerily quiet apart from people trying to grunt their way to the top. Last time I did it, right in the middle of that first hill was a completely topless and well-endowed young woman holding a sign above her head that said, "My eyes are up here". As an added bonus, everyone is moving so slowly that you get a good long look and a chance to thank the nice young lady. A welcome relief from what cyclists call the Hurt Locker because there is no stopping and restarting; you'd have to go all the way back down and start over again due to the steep incline. Some people have no choice but to get off and walk their bikes, but that prompts terrible taunting from the drunken mob, a shaming for the ages. You run down that same hill as you near the finish line of the run (and race) and the crowd will hand you a beer and implore you to chug -- some do, but not yours truly. I did eat a deliciously salty slice of bacon that I was handed; probably equally unwise but it really hit the spot as did the ice-cold beer after the finish.

Also at Wildflower, they used to have naked bike aid stations run by students from nearby Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. They more or less cracked down on that (fun killers!) but it would still happen a bit on the most remote parts of the course. The whole thing is held at a lake in the middle of nowhere and everyone (20,000+) has to camp on site. As part of a long-running tradition, the student volunteers still streak through the campgrounds the night before the race.

ha! That’s good stuff. Definitely sounds similar (though I fortunately haven’t seen the crowd go from encouraging to drunkenly discouraging at any of these yet lol). Lots of beers were handed out to the participants after the race yesterday as well though not as many in other years. I think the 100 plus degree temps reduced interest.

Didn’t realize you’d done an Ironman. Had a friend do the Tulsa one last year and have a lot of respect for anyone who manages to knock one of those out after seeing what he went through. He is 35, a retired marine, current high school wrestling coach who does the workouts with his wrestlers and is probably in as good as shape as anyone I know but was absolutely destroyed when he crossed the finish line. Heck of an accomplishment.

[Bill Robertson]

It looks a lot like Ironman races, particularly when there is a steep hill on the bike course.

I did Ironman Wisconsin (in and around Madison) and there is a similar setting on a short but very steep grade. It's fun as all the people are out in the road encouraging you (I'm sure they get asked to help push a thousand times) but tough when you are grinding up the hill on 12-14 hour day and by 10 in the morning everybody around you are drunk partiers. It's less fun the second time you go through on a looped course like Wisconsin because by then you are suffering and people are so hammered they are more obnoxious than encouraging.

There is something similar at Ironman Coeur d'Alene and Vineman in California wine country.

There is also an infamous half-Ironman called Wildflower in the middle of California. After the swim and transition to bike, you head straight up a big hill where it is eerily quiet apart from people trying to grunt their way to the top. Last time I did it, right in the middle of that first hill was a completely topless and well-endowed young woman holding a sign above her head that said, "My eyes are up here". As an added bonus, everyone is moving so slowly that you get a good long look and a chance to thank the nice young lady. A welcome relief from what cyclists call the Hurt Locker because there is no stopping and restarting; you'd have to go all the way back down and start over again due to the steep incline. Some people have no choice but to get off and walk their bikes, but that prompts terrible taunting from the drunken mob, a shaming for the ages. You run down that same hill as you near the finish line of the run (and race) and the crowd will hand you a beer and implore you to chug -- some do, but not yours truly. I did eat a deliciously salty slice of bacon that I was handed; probably equally unwise but it really hit the spot as did the ice-cold beer after the finish.

Also at Wildflower, they used to have naked bike aid stations run by students from nearby Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. They more or less cracked down on that (fun killers!) but it would still happen a bit on the most remote parts of the course. The whole thing is held at a lake in the middle of nowhere and everyone (20,000+) has to camp on site. As part of a long-running tradition, the student volunteers still streak through the campgrounds the night before the race.

I bow down. I would never even consider doing an Ironman or any other triathlon. I always joked that "If God wanted me to run He wouldn't let me afford bicycles".

As to steep inclines. There was a very short lived race in the mid-70s. I believe only twice. It started and ended in Talahina and went over the Talamina drive. Extremely difficult climbs going up and insane speeds coming down. There were a number of racers that ended up off the road and off in the woods on the way down.

[Pete]

I've done 3 full Ironman races (Wisconsin, Coeur d'Alene and Florida), the first one coming at age 47.

The race is the fun part -- the full year of training in advance is much more challenging. By the end, you're begging for the race just so you can get it over with.

The race itself is mainly mental because no one shows up to the starting line without the proper physical training. It's a very, very long day and the nature of it is you are out there alone with your thoughts for most of it. Those partying hill mobs only see a few minutes of a 10-17 hour ordeal, most of it on some back-country road where, after you settle in and everyone spaces out, you only see a few other cyclists. And you aren't allowed to ride in packs, so you may get a few atta-boys and not much else while you're glued to your saddle for 6-8 hours.

Most people who don't finish freak out on the swim (it's a mass start and beyond claustrophobic and intense) or break a chain or encounter some similar bike disaster. Let's just say I've never been happier to run a marathon in my life. If you make it that far, you're pretty much home free unless you have some sort of terrible GI meltdown (I won't elaborate but have seen things that still haunt me).

Easily the hardest yet most satisfying accomplishments of my adult life. Sure makes for great stories!

[Pete]

As to steep inclines. There was a very short lived race in the mid-70s. I believe only twice. It started and ended in Talahina and went over the Talamina drive. Extremely difficult climbs going up and insane speeds coming down. There were a number of racers that ended up off the road and off in the woods on the way down.

Yes, where there is a steep climb, there is also a steep descent at some point.

I'm not a daredevil but the bike is my weakness so I'd fly down any hill as fast as I possibly could in aid of making up time and only later realize one rock in the road could have meant curtains. I've seen close to 50 MPH on my bike computer, which is insane on those skinny road bike tires and winding 2-lane roads. And when you are training, steep canyon roads (at least in California) offer the best possible workout.

In fact, a good friend of mine and one of the best triathletes I've ever seen was killed last year during a steep bike race near Boulder. What often happens is you go flying downward then someone going much slower panics and veers into your path while trying to get out of the way. Hilly courses are very dangerous.

I don't ride much since moving back here. People are not used to sharing the road with cyclists and often have outright aggressive hostility; I had a couple of close calls and decided to stick to running and the pool. At least we now have dedicated paths but those can present their own problems, such as pedestrians not paying attention.

[Pete]

BTW, I'm sure everyone is aware of the single-car accident that left Tiger Woods almost crippled.

When I saw the news coverage I knew exactly where it was and what had happened, because I've trained on that road in Palos Verdes precisely because it's so steep. And where he went into the weeds is near the bottom of a big, sweeping downhill that is tighter than it looks... Until it's too late to react.


Having shared all these terrible stories, I have many, many more of riding all the way to San Diego and taking the train back... One of the coolest things I've ever done, as you not only hug the coastline (and again, see tons of people partying and having fun along the way) but also ride through Camp Pendelton which provides amazing sights you would otherwise never be allowed to see.

Also many rides through various parts of wine country, including most of the places in the movie Sideways and then farther north in the Napa Valley.

Also have ridden all through the big hills around Santa Barbara.

If you've seen a section of PCH or a canyon or mountain road in a TV show or movie filmed anywhere near Southern California, I've probably ridden it on my bike. So, lots more great memories than bad ones.

[Bill Robertson]

BTW, I'm sure everyone is aware of the single-car accident that left Tiger Woods almost crippled.

When I saw the news coverage I knew exactly where it was and what had happened, because I've trained on that road in Palos Verdes precisely because it's so steep. And where he went into the weeds is near the bottom of a big, sweeping downhill that is tighter than it looks... Until it's too late to react.


Having shared all these terrible stories, I have many, many more of riding all the way to San Diego and taking the train back... One of the coolest things I've ever done, as you not only hug the coastline (and again, see tons of people partying and having fun along the way) but also ride through Camp Pendelton which provides amazing sights you would otherwise never be allowed to see.

Also many rides through various parts of wine country, including most of the places in the movie Sideways and then farther north in the Napa Valley.

Also have ridden all through the big hills around Santa Barbara.

If you've seen a section of PCH or a canyon or mountain road in a TV show or movie filmed anywhere near Southern California, I've probably ridden it on my bike. So, lots more great memories than bad ones.

Wow! Riding places like that would be amazing. Closest thing we did around here was picking a day with VERY strong south wind and riding to Wichita and having some of our wives come get us. We could fly!!!! But that isn't even in the same world as riding up and down the coast.

[king183]

BTW, I'm sure everyone is aware of the single-car accident that left Tiger Woods almost crippled.

When I saw the news coverage I knew exactly where it was and what had happened, because I've trained on that road in Palos Verdes precisely because it's so steep. And where he went into the weeds is near the bottom of a big, sweeping downhill that is tighter than it looks... Until it's too late to react.


Having shared all these terrible stories, I have many, many more of riding all the way to San Diego and taking the train back... One of the coolest things I've ever done, as you not only hug the coastline (and again, see tons of people partying and having fun along the way) but also ride through Camp Pendelton which provides amazing sights you would otherwise never be allowed to see.

Also many rides through various parts of wine country, including most of the places in the movie Sideways and then farther north in the Napa Valley.

Also have ridden all through the big hills around Santa Barbara.

If you've seen a section of PCH or a canyon or mountain road in a TV show or movie filmed anywhere near Southern California, I've probably ridden it on my bike. So, lots more great memories than bad ones.

Geez, that sounds amazing. You just made me turn to my wife and tell her we're going to ride that route ASAP. I follow a couple people on Instagram that ride in Southern California and it seems like the absolute perfect place to ride.

[Pete]

^

It's wonderful and for the most part, drivers are very accustomed to sharing the road with cyclists.

[Bill Robertson]

^

It's wonderful and for the most part, drivers are very accustomed to sharing the road with cyclists.

Much unlike here. I can't count the number of "Share The Lane" signs that disappeared almost as soon as they were put up. Very sad for our city.

[Jersey Boss]

^

It's wonderful and for the most part, drivers are very accustomed to sharing the road with cyclists.

Did you ever do any Mtn Bike races or ride REPACK?