MS 150 Red River Challenge on a fixie
MS 150 Red River Challenge on a fixie.
Ride report (NOT a solicitation for funds)
Once again, the predominately-South winds of North Texas turned 20mph head winds for the MS 150 Dallas to Ardmore, OK. The good news,…It didn’t rain….much. I started at the usual 48x16 but changed to 48x18 at about 40 miles because of the headwind. I got some surprised reactions from riders at the beginning of the ride. I guess they thought a guy on a fixed gear would probably finish with the obese on comfort bikes. But about half way through they became a bit more interested as I passed them going uphill and they passed coming down. This continued until the turn off for the century loop (an extra 12 miles) which I took and the others didn’t. The bad thing about the Red River Challenge is that the first day 90% of the time you are heading North into a head wind, which helps explain the terrible time of 5 hours 59 minutes for the 100 miles. The last rides came in at 8:00pm, thirteen hours after the start – these were the people I was impressed with over weight, out of shape, comfort or K-mart bikes but still managed to ride the entire course.
Traffic control was unbelievable, SAG vans were everywhere, motorcycle “escorts” where everywhere. Local bike shops had repair areas at every rest stop. Every rest stop was over flowing with food and drink. It was the widest variety of food I have ever seen on a ride (bananas, cookies, trail mix, peanuts, protein bars and even Twinkies).
The second day was the 62.5 miles and started with a mass start as state troopers closed off the bridge over Lake Texahoma for all 2,300(est) to cross in one mass formation. After that, it was 62 miles of Oklahoma rolling hills and 3 hours and 10 minutes to the finish line.
I will probably do it again next year or the Ride to the Beach this October, on my fixed gear of course. The best part had to be (like on most rides) is to riding along with a group at a pretty hefty clip, when someone notices and says, “Wow, a single speed.” And I reply “Fixed.” The look on their faces makes it all worth it.