"The 33"-Road Bike Racing - Tailgunning at Tulsa Tough's NRC crit

Did the P/1 at Tulsa Tough Friday night. Very cool venue, fans surrounding the course, 2 Jumbotrons showing the best in reality TV (we put 130 of the fastest bike racers in the country on an 8 corner crit course in an NRC race and threw in a former TDF winner to see what would happen...), some up, some down; and old pushin 50 Ex just drinking it all in.

Hovered around the fast Texas crowd, figured they knew what they were doing, but found myself at the back end of the lineup as we staged. People were chuckin bikes over the rail just to get a spot up front.

Floyd gets his call up (ran into him a couple of times that weekend, once in the hotel laundromat where he was rolling in with a pillow case full of dirty clothes), they count down from five and it's "game on".

Miss my clip in and look back to see...empty.

The next 40 minutes were bailing out a 3 gallon a minute leak with a 4 gallon a minute bucket. Progress is slow indeed, mostly thanks to the fact that on that tight 8 corner course, we were sitting well above a 30 MPH average the entire time. Moving up a spot was a burnt match. That being said I did make very slow, steady progress up the field, getting past some very nice domestic pro kits in the process.

For the numbers geeks, the first 10 minutes were 336w ave and 349 NP.

Drafting.

Sittin in.

Which fails to really impart the subtle nuance of of around 30 spikes over 600w during the 40 of the scheduled 70 minutes I was in there.

Yep, I bailed, even though I could see the front of the race and was hanging fine. I figured I would save some legs and make some money in the geezer races the next two days, fortysixtieth wasn't going to pay well. Or anything actually.

Quite the folly, my form finally augured into the tarmac hard enough to register on the Richter Scale. Saturday I wasn't good. Sunday I wasn't much of anything at all. 43 races since January including Gila. Maybe I should rest a bit?

But I don't regret jumping in with the big boyz. I may not have much time left to hang for a great seat in what was an ultra fast, and ultra smooth race. Going three abreast into one corner and I got a Jelly Belly and a Rock Racing on each shoulder. I mean come on, you think I can die happy now?

But I don't regret jumping in with the big boyz. I may not have much time left to hang for a great seat in what was an ultra fast, and ultra smooth race. Going three abreast into one corner and I got a Jelly Belly and a Rock Racing on each shoulder. I mean come on, you think I can die happy now?

I know how you feel. It's amazing to ride at 30+ for lap after lap, just screaming through a downtown area.

You need to do some SuperWeek. It's like that, but twice as long, every day for two weeks.

Wondering what racing under the lights would look like, I ran across this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NK9jhrCR7dQ&NR=1



http://i228.photobucket.com/albums/ee303/ivanhoe_martin/tulsa.jpg


Did you by any chance find time to get in some shopping?

Wondering what racing under the lights would look like, I ran across this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NK9jhrCR7dQ&NR=1



http://i228.photobucket.com/albums/ee303/ivanhoe_martin/tulsa.jpg


Did you by any chance find time to get in some shopping?

The race was hard enough already.

Nice clip!

Great job Racer Ex. Sheesh- sounds like a busy season so far.

Yo DoK- if I can grab my Cat 1 upgrade this year or early next year- I hope to do some NRC races next year.

That is a long damn way from the back to the front of that bullet train!

Wondering what racing under the lights would look like, I ran across this.


Did you by any chance find time to get in some shopping?

That was an awesome video- esp the HD version.

Got caught in that spot in an old Tour of OH race. Passin 2, 3 riders in every corner lap after lap, look back and still at the back :lol:

Great to do it now and then when you get the chance.

Great job Racer Ex. Sheesh- sounds like a busy season so far.

Yo DoK- if I can grab my Cat 1 upgrade this year or early next year- I hope to do some NRC races next year.

Speaking of that...how do upgrades work in OBRA?

I suppose I could just read the rulebook, but I have it here, conversing with me on the internet.

I should have just signed up as a 1 when I got my OBRA license. I've effectively lost all of the points I had from USCF racing now, anyways.

Ex- When are masters nats? Are you racing? Peaking for them?

Speaking of that...how do upgrades work in OBRA?

I suppose I could just read the rulebook, but I have it here, conversing with me on the internet.

I should have just signed up as a 1 when I got my OBRA license. I've effectively lost all of the points I had from USCF racing now, anyways.

Ex- When are masters nats? Are you racing? Peaking for them?

Same as they do in USAC. Also, if you're a 1 in USAC, I'll just make you a 1 in OBRA. Easy shmeezy.

If you're not a 1 in USAC, you can always petition Jan. She handles the West Coast. I just let her deal with all the Cat 1 licenses anyways. Everything here is P/1/2 except for a few isolated exceptions. The Hood 1/2 race is being done by USAC but everything else is being done by OBRA.

Did the P/1 at Tulsa Tough Friday night. Very cool venue, fans surrounding the course, 2 Jumbotrons showing the best in reality TV (we put 130 of the fastest bike racers in the country on an 8 corner crit course in an NRC race and threw in a former TDF winner to see what would happen...), some up, some down; and old pushin 50 Ex just drinking it all in.

Hovered around the fast Texas crowd, figured they knew what they were doing, but found myself at the back end of the lineup as we staged. People were chuckin bikes over the rail just to get a spot up front.

Floyd gets his call up (ran into him a couple of times that weekend, once in the hotel laundromat where he was rolling in with a pillow case full of dirty clothes), they count down from five and it's "game on".

Miss my clip in and look back to see...empty.

The next 40 minutes were bailing out a 3 gallon a minute leak with a 4 gallon a minute bucket. Progress is slow indeed, mostly thanks to the fact that on that tight 8 corner course, we were sitting well above a 30 MPH average the entire time. Moving up a spot was a burnt match. That being said I did make very slow, steady progress up the field, getting past some very nice domestic pro kits in the process.

For the numbers geeks, the first 10 minutes were 336w ave and 349 NP.

Drafting.

Sittin in.

Which fails to really impart the subtle nuance of of around 30 spikes over 600w during the 40 of the scheduled 70 minutes I was in there.

Yep, I bailed, even though I could see the front of the race and was hanging fine. I figured I would save some legs and make some money in the geezer races the next two days, fortysixtieth wasn't going to pay well. Or anything actually.

Quite the folly, my form finally augured into the tarmac hard enough to register on the Richter Scale. Saturday I wasn't good. Sunday I wasn't much of anything at all. 43 races since January including Gila. Maybe I should rest a bit?

But I don't regret jumping in with the big boyz. I may not have much time left to hang for a great seat in what was an ultra fast, and ultra smooth race. Going three abreast into one corner and I got a Jelly Belly and a Rock Racing on each shoulder. I mean come on, you think I can die happy now?

You are a monster.

Nice. RX, I saw you in the first clip.

First 10 minutes of the CAT 3 crit gave me 290 average power (no NP here at work) and a speed of 28.12. Up the little hill we were doing 400-500 each lap (shy of the 600+ I bet you guys were doing)

You guys are def a step up.

I was extremely impressed with the dude who held off the field for the last 12 laps or so Friday night in the 3's. He held that 11 second gap to the finish.

All this talk of crazy power is making my legs hurt. I only have my first cat 5 crit tonight...

You were fun to watch in there.

(That sounded like I could pick you out, didn't it?)

That race was pretty amazing on that course though. Maybe next year I'll be a 3 and can race friday night, though from what I understand the 1,2 race and the 3 race were crashfests.

Sounds like a puke your guts out kind of great time. Nice job hanging in there for 40 laps.

I would hop in a race like that in a heartbeat if I could. And I'd probably last for 2 or 3 heartbeats.

You were fun to watch in there.

(That sounded like I could pick you out, didn't it?)

That race was pretty amazing on that course though. Maybe next year I'll be a 3 and can race friday night, though from what I understand the 1,2 race and the 3 race were crashfests.

They were. 7+ crashes in the 1/2 on Friday. The P1 race had one small one, which was good considering the course and 130 riders.

Glad I could entertain. I'm easy to pick out in my all gray AARP kit, plus I'm the only rider using a walker.

If anyone sees my form I've got a reward out BTW.

If anyone sees my form I've got a reward out BTW.

um... did I miss the thread where you told us about your win last Monday?

um... did I miss the thread where you told us about your win last Monday?

That was the last time I saw it (real form). Are you going to Ft. Worth in the next few days? If so could you check around the course? It looks fast, shiny, and confident. Can't miss it.

I think someone swapped it for PCad's when I was picking up my winnings. I think they injected PCad's with Goofy Juice which wore off after Friday night.

I dunno. Going to scrape something up for this weekend then I'm taking a lot of naps.

You were fun to watch in there.

(That sounded like I could pick you out, didn't it?)

That race was pretty amazing on that course though. Maybe next year I'll be a 3 and can race friday night, though from what I understand the 1,2 race and the 3 race were crashfests.

The 3's was a crashfest all weekend. There was a wicked one Sunday at the bottom of the hill where a guy used another riders bike as a ramp. He got about 4ft of air and traveled at least 8 feet landing right in front of the medic tent

I left just before the 3 race on Sunday. But I did see the crash in the 4s where the guy (more than likely) broke his collarbone.

After that I was glad that I pussed out this year. The Sunday course is an absolute blast, but it seemed like folks were taking waaaaay too many risks.

I saw two crashes in the 3's Friday night. The first one happened in the start/finish stretch where it looked like a dude simply fell over. I think 6-8 guys went down with some scrappage. Then in the finish, some guy decides to sprint for 40th and completely takes himself out. Never saw someone skid that far on their back before.

On Saturday guys in the 4's kept swarming on the downhill section to make up spots. There was a nice pileup in the early laps as a result. My bars went to the right and my body went to the left but somehow I managed to powerslide through.

The Pro/I women had a nasty stack up on that same corner. They kept crashing all weekend though.

The Pro/I women had a nasty stack up on that same corner. They kept crashing all weekend though.

True dat. I was eating tacos when the ambulance was brought on during their race.

Just happy to know I'll probably never see a race of that caliber. Good on ya (my wife is Australian) for being able to race with dudes around half your age. ( Did I just insult you :D )

True dat. I was eating tacos when the ambulance was brought on during their race.

Yeah, we were sitting in the shade with beer in hand when that happened. Still have no idea what started it, but when they announced that they were neutralizing the race for a bit I knew it wasn't good. Sounds like it could have been worse, but that doesn't mean that it wasn't bad. I hope that woman recovers alright.

Just happy to know I'll probably never see a race of that caliber. Good on ya (my wife is Australian) for being able to race with dudes around half your age. ( Did I just insult you :D )

Yes. Some of them were well under half my age.

(sigh)

Please don't die happy yet...I want to read about bigger and better in the future...good stuff Racer EX!!!

Shameless VC plug: hope to see you and some others at the TX Age-Based Championships on Saturday :-)

You guys catch the "godhatesfags" group on Saturday? Man what a show.

Please don't die happy yet...I want to read about bigger and better in the future...good stuff Racer EX!!!

Shameless VC plug: hope to see you and some others at the TX Age-Based Championships on Saturday :-)

I'll be there Saturday and tomorrow for the Driveway.

^^ Excellent!! How are you treating Thursday night? Are you going to race hard and in the spirit of going for a win? Or, are you going to use it to keep the mind and body race ready without over exerting...or something else? I love the Thursday night crits, but, I'm afraid that I'll get too competitive and burn a lot of energy, which I want there for Saturday. What are the potential benefits of racing Thursday night? I suspect this might come down to trusting my instincts about my body and sticking to it...what might be good for others is not necessarily good for me at this point in time...

As an aside, I was looking through confirmed riders and JV on your team is listed twice for the same race...don't know if he was charged twice, but, he might want to look into it...

^^ Excellent!! How are you treating Thursday night? I was looking through confirmed riders and JV on your team is listed twice for the same race...don't know if he was charged twice, but, he might want to look into it...

Thursday will be a good opener, the last couple of 35+ races have gone less than 40 minutes. We've got a good team presence too, which makes my life a lot easier. Rest and go light Friday, then see what I have on Saturday.

I guess JV's twice the racer most guys are, so he figured paying double was only fair ;)

Thursday will be a good opener, the last couple of 35+ races have gone less than 40 minutes. We've got a good team presence too, which makes my life a lot easier. Rest and go light Friday, then see what I have on Saturday.

I guess JV's twice the racer most guys are, so he figured paying double was only fair ;)

For this Thursday, that's like calling a drowning man "wet."

Thanks RX :thumb:

WR, sounds like the '27 Yankees :)

Sat is going to be good...Robenette, Benz, Bickel, Barton and Frazier all in one race....unless these guys all crash in the last 100m one of them will take home the jersey...if I were a betting man I'd be laying some dough on one of the three B's...

Sat is going to be good...Robenette, Benz, Bickel, Barton and Frazier all in one race....unless these guys all crash in the last 100m one of them will take home the jersey...if I were a betting man I'd be laying some dough on one of the three B's...

Glad that you're not...momma always said it was the work of the devil ;) Other than that, I concur...looking forward to watching that race!