16thJune
OKC ROCKS
After spending the night at the Haga’s house and enjoying their great hospitality (minus the bathroom laden with all things Aggie, from the shower curtain to the soap dispenser) we started our trek to Oklahoma City for two $10,000 criteriums. The first race was around the Oklahoma capitol building which was a lot bigger than I expected. The course wasn’t very technical with the race literally being on the roads that surrounded the building but it was still very hard. A straight headwind was ripping into the section heading toward the start/finish area.
Racing at a Capitol Building was a first.
Individual riders tried to get away but with the wide, open roads it was easy for the field to pick up the pace and bring back the lone escapees. About halfway through the 90 minute race a group finally established a lead of around 10 seconds and we started attacking trying to get someone in the group. After our attacks the other teams played it perfect and would counter all of our moves, putting us in a big hole. Two groups had come together and we were lacking representation. In a last ditch effort I attacked and was joined by two others as we crushed ourselves for three laps to finally reach the lead group.
Trying to bridge to one of the breaks.
Not long after I reached the front group I had a mechanical and was stuck riding in my 53 X 11. This obviously made a hard situation pretty much impossible as I just tried to stay in the wheels and save as much energy as possible. Ian ended up bridging to the lead group with around 15 minutes left and did a great job covering moves but a group rolled off and Ian and we were stuck sprinting for 8th place. I tried to find Ian to tell him my problem with my gears but we couldn’t quite hook up and trying to sprint into a fierce headwind with my huge gear didn’t quite work out. All we could manage was a top 20. We rode home knowing we raced hard, but were still dissapointed on our results from the weekend so far.
Sunday was an important day for the team as our last chance to dip into the ample prize money on hand before returning home. Luckily, we received reinforcement from an on-form Wenger. Everyone felt motivated to race smart and dig deep in order to get some better results than the days before.
After Ian used his OKC connections with Chris and Justin Wolfe, we found a replacement part for my bike mere hours before the race thanks to the owner of Schlegel Bicycles. I cant thank him enough for being so generous and helping me out. It would’ve been a big downer to travel all the way up from Austin and not get to finish up racing on Sunday. When Phil was finished fixing my bike in the parking garage we headed to get some lunch and enjoyed watching Germany crush Australia in the World Cup. Alan dropped his soccer knowledge on all of us and we just waited to hear the announcer yell GOOOOOOALLLL!
We made it to the race and were glad to see a smiling Wenger in the Durata truck (a.k.a. dood canoe). As we got ready, we noticed the same howling wind from the day before. With the team finally at full strength, we talked about how we were going to reverse our fortune. Dave was very attentive from the beginning and was covering moves like crazy. Everyone on the team fed off his early performance and we started placing riders in all of the dangerous moves. Eventually the move went and Dave and Ian were in it.
Dave and Ian practicing synchronized biking in the break.
The rest of us just followed moves behind and Phil ended up getting in the second break. Alan, Chad, and I waited for the finish, and the two young guns jumped the rest of riders and took the field sprint. Dave ended up placing a strong 4th place and Ian and Phil ended up in 10th and 11th. Overall, it was a great way to end the trip with such a good team effort.
Photos courtesy Biff Stephens.