Cycling Oklahoma
We will talk about everything cycling in Oklahoma. We cover races, athletes, bike industry, local gossip and everything fun that has to do with 2 wheels.
Cycling Oklahoma
The Random Show w/ Alan White & Chris Drummond
What happens when humor, camaraderie, and a love for cycling collide in Oklahoma? Join us on a lively ride through the latest happenings in our vibrant cycling community. From funny tales of gym antics and gentle ribbing on fitness apps to heartfelt tributes and personal stories, this episode is packed with insights into the cycling scene, including updates on Tour de Dirt, G3, and cyclocross. We warmly remember Corey Denton, celebrating his legacy with a memorial ride that highlights the deep connections within our community.
Ever wondered what goes into planning a cyclocross event or how to navigate the unpredictable world of competitive racing? Listen in as we share exciting plans for upcoming races in Oklahoma, from course logistics to the unique challenge of racing through sand and hills. We also explore the fascinating world of race strategies, touching on everything from single-speed banter to the importance of maintaining performance consistency. Whether you're handling unexpected mechanical issues or strategizing starting positions, there's a lot to glean from our racing tales.
And as the racing season heats up, we look toward the future with an eye on community collaboration, fundraising, and enhancing the overall racing experience. With discussions on the evolving dynamics of gravel racing and the challenges of balancing training with life's demands, we dive into the nuances of what makes our cycling culture thrive. The joy of creating cycling videos and the anticipation of upcoming Oklahoma race events round out our conversation. Whether you're a seasoned pro or a curious newcomer, there's something here for every cycling enthusiast to enjoy.
What is up? Cycling Oklahoma. Thank you so so much for coming back for another episode. This episode is, you know, one of those rambling ones were dumb and dumber and dumbest whichever you want to call us is just sitting around chatting and we talk about what's been going on in the cycling community in Oklahoma, things that are coming up this winter, races, kind of a quick recap of some of the series that have happened with Tour de, dirt, g3, you know, cyclocross, all those good things. So hopefully you enjoy this one. We will try to keep the intro short, but I want to say please, please, please, go check out cyclingoklahomacom. You can download a ton of gravel routes there. Look for new trails if you haven't explored our state on the trail system, so you can check that out there. But also on Instagram and on YouTube you can find both of them.
Speaker 1:At Cycling Oklahoma, our new video is released. This is the first of hopefully very many episodes that will showcase Oklahoma, our rural routes, our gravel roads, and tell the history of our amazing state. So this is a really big piece of the Cycling Oklahoma project, but just educating people about our amazing state and the routes that we ride. And so we have our first one up. So please go check it out. I cannot thank everyone that was involved enough. We had an amazing team to help put this together. They volunteered their time and their incredible skills. I just can't say enough about this amazing community and thank you so much for doing that. So Ryan Brantley, crushed with the videography and the edit. So thank you so much, ryan. And Mr Alan Gravel, doc White and Rosie Miss Rose, I can't thank you enough for lending your amazing voice to the video and the project. So thank you guys so much, and I want to say all that has been brought to you by our amazing sponsors. Clearly, you know this is the time that I have to plug stuff, but we have some new ones, or we have more than expected. So the video was sponsored and the podcast is sponsored by Ethan.
Speaker 1:Ethan's a great man. He puts his money into the sport and his business is thriving. They have financial service company. If you have money questions that's kind of the best way to put it Give Ethan a call. He's in our community, he rides mountain bikes. He's the tour de dirt cat to state champ, fyi. So not only is he really kind, but he's really fast. So Ethan can help you with, like life insurance, mutual funds, investments, just talking about planning your financial future, um, annuities, like all these kinds of things your Roth, your traditional IRAs, all this stuff. So, if you have financial questions, you're just maybe not sure what's going on with all the change in the world right now, or you want to take advantage of some of the moving of the market. So, um, yeah, give Ethan a call. You guys can sit down and talk and hopefully figure out ways to manage your money a little bit more efficiently and a little bit better with someone who's in our community and supporting someone who supports us. Ethan sponsored the video and I cannot thank him enough for that.
Speaker 1:Of course, more overhead doors. Where would we be without them? Without them, this winter, you need a better insulated garage door, or your garage door sucks and is squeaky and falls off the rails and all the good things, and the spring breaks because it's cold outside and you neglected it when you said you were going to do that this summer. Give more overhead door a call 405-799-9214. They'll take care of you, they'll get you all situated and again, we cannot thank them enough for being a part of this almost since the beginning. So more overhead door for anything that you need there.
Speaker 1:Um, of course, pope and Edgar law firm. Um, you know, I think I I hammer at home every episode, but, um, you know they're stepping up and they're helping us. So if you have any attorney questions whatsoever, uh, please reach out to them. They are in Oklahoma and Texas, so I do know we have quite a few listeners that are across the border. So, pope and Edgar attorneys at law just Google that it's going to come up. Their contact phone number in Oklahoma is 405-360-7555. They can help you with everything from. You know, I had a buddy get his gun stolen out of his car last night. They have firearm law here, so if something did come back with that, this is somebody that you can reach out to. That's in our cycling community. They do real estate law, bankruptcy law, business law. I know we have a lot of business owners out there, a lot of us. It's time to start planning for probate and our estate planning, so we're dealing with that with our parents and things like that. So reach out to Wayne, um, and have him help you with this, answer any questions. You have Wayne stepped up and helped and I can't think of them enough. Um, so, if you have any questions about anything with attorneys in Oklahoma, texas, wayne is your man, please reach out to him.
Speaker 1:And, of course, our uh, newest and latest and most amazing sponsor. If you have not listened to our OMBA episode, please go back and listen to that. They do amazing things for our trail systems here in Oklahoma. Without this group of people, our mountain bike scene in Oklahoma would be dead. And so RideOMBAorg I got that wrong in the last episode, but it is RideOMBAorg they have an amazing race coming up December 8th Damn Zombies at Arcadia. It's a three and six hour endurance mountain bike race. You can do teams, come out and support it. Like, just get involved. These people do incredible stuff. They volunteer their time, they spend their own personal money to maintain our trails and the last or the least that we can do is support them. Join RideOMBA and it's at RideOMBAorg and you can see all the amazing stuff that they're doing but 50 bucks a year, just go join it, $50 a year and you can support our amazing trail system.
Speaker 1:So thank you guys so much for listening to this long, long intro. Um, I really appreciate everything, uh, and we have some really fun stuff that we're continuing to work on, but cycling Oklahoma, uhcom. Or you can check us out on Insta and get all the information that you need. But check out our newest video. It's super, super cool and I'm very proud of it. Hope you enjoy this episode. Thanks, guys. All right, gentlemen, now that we have been uh talking for I don't know 30 minutes, we probably should start recording, since we lost all the good stuff but we can't start until we're half a beer in.
Speaker 3:Half a beer in yeah oh what, what's keeping you guys?
Speaker 1:speaking. You need another already, okay well, I'll go get some here in a second, once you two clowns start talking, I'll go get more beer. Billy wants to sponsor beer for one of these podcasts, oh god. So he was upset that I didn't tell him last night. Uh, what was last night? Well, I don't. He found out somehow last night?
Speaker 3:oh, oh. Because he wanted to ride today, I said I can't dude, you gotta prep all day, all day long we're doing it at five o'clock but you can't ride dude, I've been at the spa all day. Do you work, oh?
Speaker 2:okay, sometimes. I know he takes pictures of weights and in the gym every day yeah, that's the best thing, ever Is that your at your work?
Speaker 3:No, that's the North side. Why dude?
Speaker 2:I bet you went in there and took like 20 pictures one day and you just kind of sprinkle.
Speaker 3:That's how you do it. I pull them off their website.
Speaker 1:I don't even go in there Just chat GPT, uh huh. Wait, what does a weight room look like?
Speaker 3:Oh, the best thing is like, so I'll go in there and walk the track just to warm up. But I've decided I'm going to Strava that track.
Speaker 1:And so I'm posting my outdoor walks to Strava. Tell me you're a douchey cyclist.
Speaker 3:I Strava my warm up walk at the Y grocery store.
Speaker 1:Please tell me you have the KOM. I do not have the KOM.
Speaker 3:I don't walk fast enough, I don't ride fast enough either.
Speaker 1:That's got to be your wintertime goal is to get the KOM at the Y I'm going to make it a target how far?
Speaker 3:off. Are you that weighs? There's some of those old ladies in there, dude.
Speaker 1:They're power walkers and what's even more impressive is these old ladies are on Strava. Probably God I hope that you never get that that will make me so happy. Uh-huh, all right, we have, we? When I say that we're flying by the seat of our pants on this, we really are, because we really just made the list of topics 20 minutes ago. On a serious note, we do want to give a shout out, uh and bring up and mention Corey Denton. Um lost his life tragically in an accident. Gosh, it's been about a month ago at this point. Yeah, Hopefully, um, in a motorcycle accident. I think probably everybody in our community has heard about it at this point. But if they haven't, um, reach out to the Dentons and let them know that you're thinking about them as they go through this. There is going to be a Memorial ride on the 16th, so November 16th. This will come out on the 15th, so November 16th, and we'll do something on Instagram to to promote it as well, at Draper, at 12 o'clock, I think it's.
Speaker 3:I'm assuming it's just going to be a fun little party yeah, ride bikes up party lap yeah, ride bikes, tell stories about cory.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so, um, if you can come to that, please do. But, uh, we just want to send our thoughts and prayers and all of our feelings out to the denton family for for this time that they're going through the holiday seasons. You know it's always crazy, but something like this doesn't make it much love to julian john. Yeah, for sure. Um, now, after that, we are going to get into the stupid stuff, the stupid stuff like cyclocross. Um, cause, you know, for all this time we've been told cross is coming, cross is coming.
Speaker 2:Oh, it's here.
Speaker 1:Good, it's here, can we? Can we get past it?
Speaker 2:And then, after the last race, it's coming again.
Speaker 1:That's the problem.
Speaker 2:It's Peter Airdo's favorite. He he loves when I put crosses coming on social media.
Speaker 1:When's the season over January?
Speaker 2:For us, yeah, it would be. Nationals is the second week of December. Where is it this year? Louisville, again. It's usually two years at a time, is it really? Yeah, this seems like a good place for it. I mean, it's central.
Speaker 1:It's not high.
Speaker 2:I don't like the course, but it's like it's a fair. It's not about you, chris. Yes, it is. Are you going? I am going. I don't know if I'm racing, okay, um, we'll just see how it goes.
Speaker 2:Okay, it's pretty up and down he's gonna get people caught up when you have been racing and I've been racing and I only have traveled a little, but more so with ryan, and I race and yeah, I'm kind of at the point where I don't know what I'm going to get each day, and some days I have really good days and some days I don't, and I, because I'm not really able to ride or train, I'm, I say I'm not able to I say I don't have time, and ryan pointed out to me that I have time.
Speaker 2:I just need to do what I used to and get up and do it. So he has a good point Did you tell Ryan to shut his mouth? No, I got up the next day and went road, but I don't, I don't make it a priority right now.
Speaker 3:So Chris is called getting old.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, priorities.
Speaker 1:So I still like to race. Dark and cold mornings get a whole lot less appealing, uh-huh it doesn't take much.
Speaker 2:If I hear a little bit of wind out the window, it's like nope, 60 degrees.
Speaker 1:It's deep winter yeah yeah, that's what the hot tub's, for that's why I really want to train this morning, but the weather just isn't going to allow that to happen.
Speaker 2:Yeah, come and walk with me at the y see please, please do I'm going to try to put off walking as my daily workout for several, several more years. How old are you now?
Speaker 1:42. Oh you're, how old are you like?
Speaker 3:here's listen, here's the good news next year I will be racing the 50 plus category and I've well you'll be, you'll be eligible I want to point out since our last podcast, we had every single weeknight cyclocross practice.
Speaker 2:Every single one, this is true, and Alan didn't show up to a single one, despite the fact that E-bike or no?
Speaker 3:Yeah, billy and amongst others were coercing me into a tent. Why did you not show up? It's high school band. It's on Tuesday nights.
Speaker 1:And you're in high school band.
Speaker 2:Now I am yeah Nice nights and you're in high school band. Now I am. Yeah, okay. From the first one everyone said alan's not here and ryan's not here. I said ryan will show up, he is gonna be here. I got there every time that I could I said, alan will will never make it.
Speaker 3:I think I only made it like three times yeah but, I did every chance I could and it was so fun the season is young. Those weren't real races, it's true. We're just getting into it. That that's right. I got the single speed ready. Have you been training under the radar? You'll never end up walking, dude, that's what Cross is it's walking?
Speaker 1:You're getting ready for the barriers. Yes, practicing, please practice your barriers at the Y and record that. Please, so we can share that.
Speaker 3:I did get a Facebook memory today of uh, ruts and guts when we had the bike one racing team and it was a mud year. That was just an absolute shit show and it was one of the dips. We went down and I just ended up like full sailing, like superman into the mud and just got up and thankfully it was single speed, did not destroy the bike nice.
Speaker 1:I've only had one. I mean I was very limited in my cross experiences, but I went to this one race in Tulsa area I can't remember which race it was Did the cat fives and I was so like doing the best I've ever done and it was super windy, like 30 plus and it was. So I was blowing the tape like way into the course and I didn't even realize what was happening. So it blew in, catches on my derailleur and of course, like I don't know, so I just keep going. So it rips off. Of course it gets tangled up in there. So then I'm off trying to like get it untangled. Can't get untangled, so I'm like huh. So I'm like finally get it to a spot where I think it's pretty good Get going again. Damn thing happens again.
Speaker 1:Because one had been broke and it was like just flapping in the wind. And I went past and it flipped up right at the wrong Like what are the odds of it happening? And it happened twice. I was so pissed Because Cat5 race was like 30 minutes anyways, so I didn't even get to. I drove to Tulsa and it's always the first race in the morning. I didn't even get to do my 30 minutes. I was like this sucks, I'm so pissed. And yeah, I have pictures of me walking across the course with a red tail about 20 feet long behind me. Just miserable, brilliant.
Speaker 2:I did one of those that we were in Cincinnati like I don't know, three, four, five weeks ago, that goes by fast. But again, I didn't know three, four or five weeks ago, that goes by fast. But I again I didn't know if I was going to race. So I registered morning of and they put me in the very back. So it was like all the cat, cat, one field. And then, like the masters, 40 and 50 plus and they put me behind everybody because it's race day, reg, that's just they do, they do call-ups on usac. And then so I was like, well, I mean, what the hell? Like the worst, like it's there's nowhere to go but up. So I was just like going through the field. I had no idea where I was at, but I was actually having a pretty good time.
Speaker 2:And then I end up. I passed a guy that was like putting his chain on and I knew that guy was probably leading the race, the master's race. I'm like shit, now I'm in first. Like now I've got to. Like now I'm like a little nervous because I got to try to stay in the lead and I clipped a post and my axle snagged the tape and I had.
Speaker 2:I had probably six feet of tape and it was on the brake side and I'm like, well, as long as I just keep moving, it won't get in the brake, like it won't. And I only had it for a lap and I bet 20 people said you got tape on your bike and I was like, oh my God, I know. Like what do you want me to do? Stop and get it off. And then, like I hit the pavement for start-finish and Ryan's standing there watching hey, you got tape on your bike.
Speaker 3:I'm like I know and then it ended up just falling off on the pavement luckily.
Speaker 1:But yeah, I was like man.
Speaker 2:This is going to suck if it gets in my brake.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that would have wadded you up. Wow, are you going to race cross?
Speaker 3:So there is one race coming up, so what are the next cross races coming up?
Speaker 2:Well, this coming weekend, the what would it be? The 16th and 17th 16th and 17th.
Speaker 1:17th and 17th this weekend flyers cross.
Speaker 2:Two-day race in tulsa. Okay, um, a good one to go to because, if you're on the fence, because it's going to benefit the flyers, so and for people that don't know what the flyers are.
Speaker 2:The flyers is a junior development. I wouldn't even go that far. It gets kids into riding, so it's not all development and racing. It gets kids on bikes riding in general. They do Wednesday Night Ride in Tulsa. They do mountain bike, they do road. It's like Tanner's gotten a lot of kids on bikes over the years and it's now evolved where they do have an elite program with my son, ryan, and Isaiah Cold Breath and Tate and Parker.
Speaker 2:Because that's who they're racing for when they're racing national processes. Yeah, so so it's, and they're getting some good recognition on a national level. That's awesome, um, so it's kind of it's it's really starting to take shape into like from the bottom up type of program. So, um, but it's it's all based on sponsors and fundraising and donations and stuff like that. It's not there's no big you know monetary sponsors for it. So the race this weekend will will benefit that program. So if you're on the fence, it's two days, saturday and sunday, you can do either day, and so if you can only do one day or the other, go do one day and and support the program. But well, that race. And then the next weekend, november 24th, we are putting a race on in Oklahoma City.
Speaker 2:Finally crosses back in Oklahoma City, and I had originally planned to put it on at Trosper, which was talked about in the last podcast. That was a course that I was going to fully have to construct. The way that land is, there's enough like flat ground to put a course, and so I actually um perkins was going to help me with some equipment this weekend I was going to go out and build it and with all the rain. It was just like, yeah, we thought we were going to get the equipment stuck and looking at it I was like, man, we could do a way better job if we just wait. So we moved it to eldon lion park, which, uh, sheridan put a race on that years ago and still it's the one hustleberg talks about his podcast, where he ran into the metal pole. Where is eldon lion park? It's 30.
Speaker 3:Yeah, get the it's off of that's not the one with the rugby field, is it? No, it's um, it's.
Speaker 2:It's just this huge park and it's got a, that's not the one with the rugby field, is it? No, it's just this huge park and it's got a disc golf course in it, but that's about all it has. Okay, 36th and it's in Bethany, let's see.
Speaker 1:Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Wow, it's 7400 Northwest 36th. Okay, If you go to Capitol Cross on Bike Ridge when you register you can just click the link there and it'll take you to the park.
Speaker 3:It looks like it's just off of 39th and probably Meridian or a little further west. Rockwell, yep, rockwell, okay.
Speaker 1:Where the Bethany Children's Health Center is. Yep, it's just west of that Awesome.
Speaker 2:I think you enter off 36 36 maybe to get into the park. But, yeah, I'm super excited because I still feel like this is one of the best cross courses we had. It just had a good mix. It's got a a large hill in the middle of it. For what reason, I don't know. It's just like they piled a bunch of dirt and left it. Um, about a third of the field is sand, so we can plug as much sand in as we want. It's not. It's not a man-made sand pit, it's just natural sand. So, um, I'm excited to get that going, but that'll be november 24th cool, perfect pre uh thanksgiving event yeah, yeah, you can either go.
Speaker 2:You can go burn off some calories, or you can go to thanksgiving with a sling on or whatever.
Speaker 3:Whatever happens, you have a good story category yeah, are you racing single speed?
Speaker 2:uh, I'll do. Masters ryan will do single speed, really, I think so. I think he wants to not you, the other ryan.
Speaker 1:I kind of have a single speed because my bike doesn't really shift okay well, I mean, if I just promise not to shift, can I ride single speed?
Speaker 3:yeah okay, you can race single speed, you can zip, tie your shift to you, can pull you, it's it's not the spirit of single speed, but, oh god, who cares I?
Speaker 1:kind of don't have a choice.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's either replace your shift cable or just race single speed yes, that's the race I'm targeting.
Speaker 3:That's my A race.
Speaker 1:That's your A race for the year. That's my A race for the year.
Speaker 2:I say it's 70-30, whether you actually show up too.
Speaker 1:Which way?
Speaker 2:is 70?. Which 70? 70 is you're not coming.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 3:That's good odds.
Speaker 1:That's pretty accurate, actually Very weather dependent.
Speaker 3:Okay. So out of the 30%, 30 he shows up. What's the percentage that he finishes? Zero, zero. How many laps will he finish? One and a half, listen. If somebody's there handing out bourbon and bacon, then you got.
Speaker 2:Now that he knows you can put tape in your bike and quit, he's just gonna right, throw a little in there yeah, you just keep in your pocket.
Speaker 1:You can get to the back side, of course, and put it in there, just park there and just then take off again. Be be like oh guys, I got tape. We don't have yellow tape on the court, it's over there in the corner.
Speaker 2:It was from the last race.
Speaker 3:Six, seven, eight years ago. It's a 30-minute mechanical. I don't know what happened.
Speaker 1:Well, I think, if you had bour to do more laps Not faster, but more of them.
Speaker 3:Yeah, we did one. I can't remember what park it was, but you made me race, you Malot, you made me Troy Cowan.
Speaker 2:Is that what they're doing, jaeger? Yes, I took one of those and as soon as it got to my stomach, I was.
Speaker 3:Brutally, brutally cold that day.
Speaker 1:That is not something you can shoot and ride hard.
Speaker 2:No, it was awful I think there should be. After. After rock the mohawk, there was a bunch of the little kids up by the barriers. You kind of run up, run up this little hill under the barriers and then there's like tents, so it's kind of like where all the spectators hang out, and they had there's probably seven of them and they all had a different, different hand up ready, and I think there should be a guide of like yes, or no.
Speaker 2:Cause I took a. I took an Oreo and not a good call. I was almost choked on it just cause I like pop the whole thing in my mouth, but a powdered donut, oh, I knew better. I think Jess Parker took one and it's like man crackers.
Speaker 1:I was going gonna say saltine crackers, you're just gonna inhale the powder and die on the course.
Speaker 2:Yeah, there was a way to do it where you just get like a random hand up and you just take, you get what you get. Yeah, that would be hilarious, that would be.
Speaker 1:We need a wheel to spin one lap and that's what you get the next lap oh, okay, maybe we can implement that to the practice races, because that would be a hilarious competition, or yeah, or you could just do like a fun hot lap situation, like a fun race kind of thing, where you could do something like that. Yeah, how many hand-ups can you take in a certain amount of time or something, yeah.
Speaker 2:Just be. I would say be cautious on what you take, because that's a good motto for life, Chris.
Speaker 1:Sounds like some good dad advice. Rye Rye, he's been doing pretty well so far.
Speaker 2:Give us an update on him yeah, he's been doing really good at. We went to montana last week. Is that pan am?
Speaker 1:yeah, that was pan am. Oh, and let's go ahead and say like, brag a little bit about pan am games, like for all of you guys you guys both did great.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean what yes and no? Like I didn't have a very deep field, like I knew there was two guys I would be really racing for the win. And it was one of those like if I had a good day I probably would have won, but I didn't have a good day. Those guys were faster but you know, having a bad day like still gotta be. I was like kind of bummed out there in the last couple laps because I just riding like shit and I was like man, there's probably a lot of people to be really happy to get third at pan am, so I should just get over it and get on with my race so for those that don't know what, what is the pan am game like?
Speaker 2:it's a pretty big deal it's, it was the continental championship, so we have like north and south amer, so so pretty big deal. Yeah.
Speaker 3:I got third yeah.
Speaker 2:But, like in my category, you don't get a ton of people that are going to travel from the whole continent. You're going to get some good North Americans if it's here. Um, I don't know, like I wanted to win, but at the end of the day I didn't really put in the work to win, the work to win. So I was like I was hoping to get more or less get lucky, like the course was good for me and if I had a good day I probably could have won, but I didn't. So I didn't.
Speaker 2:But oh well yeah but I was more there. I was going to support isaiah and ryan and I thought, well, if I'm flying there, I can just pack another bike. All three of us are on the same size bike, so I have a spare, full spare bike for both of them as well, not knowing what conditions we would get.
Speaker 1:And they're racing U23, right.
Speaker 2:Isaiah's racing 17 to 18, uci and Ryan's racing U23. So it's his first race, u23 only. So he's had to race elites all year because they don't do you 23 separate in the U? S because there's not enough. And what's crazy is he got 11th on. So the day one was like a C2, just a standard UCI, and then day two was a uh was Pan Am championship race. So he got 11th on the first day in the elites, which is his best finish. Yet it's pretty bad ass. It's pretty. It's pretty badass, it's pretty. It's pretty incredible.
Speaker 2:Yeah, he, he, it was a learning moment. He should have got 10th, and 10th was the last points position and he, he just made a stupid mistake on the last lap and we talked about it. It was like he was faster than the person he caught. He caught one guy for 10th and he made a really aggressive pass on him when it was just the two of them. Yeah, and I watched the guy's body language change from like I'm over this to like I'm going to get him back. Yeah, and that's his whole mission, the rest of the lab. I watched him like dive every corner. He's like I'm going to get him back. And then he got him back in the last turn, oh, and it's like it cost him.
Speaker 2:You know, it was weird at the house we were a little like we're all a little bit bummed and I'm like I think he just got 11th, though that's like, that's insane. Everybody's there. Like it's not 11th, like like I've gotten top 10s in those, yeah, but I've gone to the smaller races that not everyone's at. It's like you play the game to get points. It's like he did it with. Everyone was there to race panhams. So yeah, it was pretty incredible and what could he have done different?
Speaker 3:he could have not I just told him early no, no, too, too aggressive.
Speaker 2:In what way? What do you mean by that? Uh, it'd be hard to explain, but I mean he ran into the guy. It was a tight spot and they like locked bars and he like forced a pass. When he was, he was clearly going faster. I was like you could have made that pass anywhere on the course and not you like. You motivated him to do something.
Speaker 1:So if he had a past, him clean. That guy may have had a completely different. Yeah, ryan was going better.
Speaker 2:So it's like wait, wait until it's flat and attack him and just right away, yeah, and you know it was the last lap, last half lap, gotcha, so it was just.
Speaker 2:I knew he was probably upset after but like, yeah, right, when he came back, I was like you can't do that, you learn. You know, sometimes I give him a minute, but this one I was like you need to hear this right now. Like you, that was your fault. And he's like he's maturing, he got it. He's like, yeah, you're right. And he wrote over and found him and apologize. He's like man, I shouldn't have done that. And the guy slammed him in the last turn and almost made him crash and he's like you know, they've just like shrugged it off.
Speaker 3:It's like that's racing.
Speaker 2:So good teaching moment. Good, like, makes you 23. So they're both like mature enough to realize, yeah, um, which, which could lead me into my race, and some things that happened in my race. That was pretty sad, but yeah, then saturday, he, uh, he did really good too. He got eighth. Which crazy, he got 11th in the elites, was still the sixth u23 wow, yeah, I was like man, you were a sixth. U23 and U23 crowds I mean, they're just as fast as the elite.
Speaker 1:Especially when you get that 21, 22-year-old that's good. That's a big difference between an 18-year-old.
Speaker 2:That's good and a 22-year-old. That's good. He just turned 18 three weeks ago. So, yeah, his coach walked by after Sunday because he got eighth and was like man, that was an incredible ride for a first year. So it's always keeping him reminding him of like where he's at yeah, yeah, it's progression.
Speaker 3:So is the next step for those kids? Like the only thing I can compare it to at that level is like in soccer, right At the U23, everybody has a fitness and sort of. The next step is the mental game and and the ability to be more thoughtful in how you approach it, what you do like really a lot of that, yeah well like he.
Speaker 2:So the, the other kid he was racing with on sunday, so they came down to the last lap. It was for seventh and eighth On Sunday. Yeah, and it was just the two of them and we've known this kid forever. Aubrey went to cross camps with him. Super good kid, really good bike rider. Spent the whole first half of the season racing Mountain Bike World Cups in Europe. So he's legit and he has been for the last several years where Ryan hasn't. So he looked he's legit and he has been for the last several years where Ryan has. And so, um, he looked like Ryan's, like man. I just kept attacking him. He looked like he was done, but he'd come back and I was like, yeah, he's got, he's got more years of going that deep in his body than you do, so he can just like do it again, and he knows like.
Speaker 2:I'll do it again. And then there's this one section. It was like almost everyone was running up it. Ryan was riding it and like a couple other kids and that was like his card on the last lap. If he made it it would have probably been a done deal. And that kid sat and it's like kind of a flat, false flat into it. So you're kind of trying to like rest to get the punch and I was watching that kid waited, waited, waited the punch and I was watching that kid waited, waited, waited and just like passed him right at the last second.
Speaker 3:So he couldn't ride it and I was like that was, that was way smarter like you.
Speaker 2:you have to know that's a possibility and you don't get to rest that lap. You go as hard as you can. So a lot of it's just just like race iq and strategy and like yeah, like knowing like man, I, I can go hard again. Yeah, like I don't want to and it's like it's fun to watch and it's like I don't know you watch them go that hard for that long and then just keep doing it. It's pretty, it's pretty unreal. Like like Isaiah did not have good races up there and it wasn't like he did anything wrong necessarily, he just had two bad days. Like, well, he got, he got 15th on the Pan Am day, which is not bad, but he's definitely like a top 10 kid yeah.
Speaker 2:And it's the same thing. Like I talked to him after the race and I was like man, you just, you know, like I've learned, and I had this conversation with Evan the other day and then I saw Ryan's coach like posted a newsletter. I don't know if you guys I shared it. I don't know if you guys I shared it. I don't know if you guys read it, but it was like the exact conversation I've had. You get so like emotionally invested in these kids and then you're watching them and you it's almost like you're frustrated when they're not having a good race. And I've just learned over the past handful of years, like when you know they're putting the work in and you know it's like man, if you're in 30th, I know that's the best you can do. Like it's not, like you're you're not trying, you're not, you're just not having a good day and he just didn't. He had two bad days and so it wasn't like, oh you suck. It was like here's what I saw that you need to work on.
Speaker 1:So what happens in every sport? Yeah, it doesn't matter what it is Like. There was days that you just like show up and like nothing can go wrong. You're like I cannot miss a putt and I have no idea what's going on.
Speaker 2:And the next day you're like I can't hit the club face and those good days, like I tell athletes I work with like they're very rare.
Speaker 3:Very rare and figuring them out like it seems like some people have that figured out.
Speaker 2:But all the numbers can be right and you show up and you just don't function that day.
Speaker 1:Doesn't work. Yeah, and usually it's what you think is a really good day for them. It's probably just a normal day for them, but they're just so much more gifted, or whatever the case may be that their normal day seems like a great day yeah, but when they have a great day, shut up.
Speaker 2:When I was talking to him I was like man, you just need to learn. You need to learn from every race.
Speaker 1:You got to manage, need to learn, you need to learn from every race.
Speaker 2:You, gotta man, you need to break it down. What could I've done different? I was like I've won races that I was not happy with how I rode, and it's like just because you win doesn't mean you rode well, so right. It's like having those productive, positive conversations at right after I think is so helpful because, like they're frustrated, they're upset, whatever, and then it's it's just like you don't, you don't beat them up more. They're already beating themselves up. It's like all right, here's what you need to work on.
Speaker 1:Here's what you need to think about, but it's whenever they can get, instead of having a bad day and the bad day turning into 30th but the bad day stays at 16th and the great day is a top three, like a podium, yeah, but a normal day is seventh to tenth. Yeah, that's where you want to be. You never want to have that bad day. Just sinks the ship off the radar, yeah. And then that's when you're like okay, now I'm that's. That's when you get to the next level. It's not like when you're, good is good, everybody's good.
Speaker 3:When you get to that a certain level, everybody's good is good yeah, we used to say don't let two bad days become five bad days, right and when you're bad.
Speaker 1:They just can't be a horrible day, right? Yeah, that's, that's where it's. How do you manage when?
Speaker 2:we have two days in a row and you have a bad first day. It's like you try to like get them to all right, move on, like tomorrow is not today, so, and sometimes they turn it around and sometimes they don't. Like Ryan, I watched him on Saturday up there and his legs looked like so fast, so snappy. I'm like man, he looks good and he was just ripping and then like half a lap into Sunday his legs looked super slow and heavy and I was like this is not good. Like I thought eighth was going to turn into like 16th and like somehow he just like made it happen. Because afterwards I was like you did you feel worse? Today? He's like, yeah, I didn't feel good. I was like I could tell like I could tell by his leg speed that he was off. But then he looked at his lap times and he was faster on sunday you looked slower the whole race and you were faster so it's just like.
Speaker 1:That just means he's smarter.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's like when you, when you line up and it's not good, it's like.
Speaker 1:This is here's what you have to work with today but don't use it as an excuse, like figure out how to work with it relate it to like normal people, like us, and you go out and race like you have a trail that doesn't fit you right or a crit that you're like man, it's got a lot of climbing. I'm not me, but if you can manage and be smart inside the race, you can salvage points for the series or whatever the case may be. It's not just at that elite level, it's like every or training, even training. You don't feel good every day, but if you can go out and get through it and make it what it needs to be, or adjust it and make it what it needs to be, yeah, I think at the lower level there's you can lean on so many things Like I don't have this or that.
Speaker 2:It's like, no, it's the same thing. At the elite level, you just have no more excuses. You've done the training, get the best equipment. Everyone's catering to you waiting on your hand and foot, like all you do is get on the bike and race it where I think the everyday rider has a lot. But like when you line up, like just like, what do I have to work with and how do I get the most out of that, yeah you can quit why'd you look at me when you said that?
Speaker 2:you could not even show up. Why'd you look at me when you said?
Speaker 1:that man so after this weekend, how many more? Uh, when is like? So we got after your race, which is november 24th, the following weekend, um.
Speaker 2:Ruts and guts today in tulsa. And that wraps up our series.
Speaker 1:Um, which goes into like damn zombies, is the next race weekend zombie, which is a six hour, three and six hour mountain bike race. They have team events and you know what? If you want to dm me, I have a couple of free entries. Do you guys have an idea of how we want to give those away? Because nobody has dm me, or?
Speaker 2:really up to be let's, let's think on that. Okay, I think if we could, we'll post, if we could shame alan publicly some more, in a way to like give away.
Speaker 3:My boyfriend Billy and I. We have a team already set for that again, because we were so close to the podium last year.
Speaker 1:Was there four teams and you guys had four.
Speaker 3:Technically there were six. Is there co-ed also, or is it just it was 70 plus age group? No, I'm kidding, it was a two-person team and he and I ended up fourth. I'm not sure if it was. Either we find out the rules of how your last lap counts or doesn't count. It was different that time At the very end because we were like, if we could get another lap in, we'll get up.
Speaker 1:In the third it was different.
Speaker 3:I will say that Yep, and so we sort of cruised knowingy's coming in before the time expires so I can go back out and cruise it for another lot and get third and billy comes in, and they went nope, you're done you got to be done by the, done by the six hour number.
Speaker 1:I will say last year this race was one of the greatest bike wrecks I've ever seen in my entire life, I was racing, racing that first lap, about eight feet, yeah.
Speaker 1:So if anybody knows it was, I was so mad I didn't have a GoPro on. Oh, that would have been awesome. So the race starts and everybody kind of like slow rolls out together and then we kind of get into the trail. So we start by the dam, on the backside of the dam, and you go if you're familiar with Draper, we went up Arcadia, arcadia you go up the dam trail um side, towards the, the water tower, towards post road, towards post road. You get up to the water tower, then you immediately turn around, you're on the road you're on the trail.
Speaker 2:You're on the trail.
Speaker 1:Everybody kind of rode up together like nobody was attacking, because they started the six hours separate from the three hours yeah, okay, so we started first. So everybody was just like talking and cruising up the hill with like some effort, but not crazy. So everybody kind of gets to the turnaround together right. So there's like I don't know, 15 people up there, maybe roughly well the it had rained or something or whatever, but they still had a rope up across where we turned around to come back down the downhill side.
Speaker 1:So the rope was up so nobody could go. So everybody like groups up and stops while somebody takes the rope down. Well, they take the rope down and just throw it on the ground. Everyone, besides one individual sitting in this room, rides past the rope free and clear as in.
Speaker 3:Like the tape did to me, the rope did to alan and it grabs like the his, like rear triangle, as he like hammers, because now everybody's attacking to go downhill I saw an opportunity cutting on the inside to like get in front of everybody, and I'm like, oh, I'm so gone here.
Speaker 1:This is awesome took off as hard as he could, and that rope I mean honestly like 10 or 15 feet long yep, and so he got.
Speaker 1:He got a little leash I was right behind him and I thought he thought he was like yeah, so he attacks. And I saw that rope and I'm like, oh whoa. And by the time I got it out, that rope pulled his bike out from underneath him because it was attached to a tree. It went like roped him, it roped his bike, because the bike instantly stopped and alan did not kept going and I laughed so hard.
Speaker 2:It was almost the end of both of your races. Oh yeah, it was almost the end for a lot of things.
Speaker 1:Oh, it was beautiful. I can't believe it didn't break his frame because it was so bad because it was like the tiniest little hook just caught on his like triangle and like it stopped the bike dead instantly.
Speaker 3:Yeah, you did not know, because I was up right at the saddle saddle because I was like I'm I'm going like I can get in front of everybody here and rail this thing he thought he was going to be funny and take off.
Speaker 1:No, it was funny, that's right so beautiful.
Speaker 3:Billy and I will be back this year.
Speaker 2:I just asked about co-ed because Aubrey and I are racing it, but I would much rather race to where I could beat you.
Speaker 1:Just don't even sign up for the co-ed, just sign up for whatever I want to do. Hey, listen.
Speaker 3:My record stands strong. Last endurance race I raced Drummond. I made him quit. A T-Bird, a t-bird.
Speaker 2:we've already been over this, oh yeah we have that's right dang it, dang it, dang it, dang it. Is it two?
Speaker 3:and four person teams time zombies, or just two person? I wouldn't think it'd be four persons.
Speaker 1:It's only six hour yeah, I think it's just two hour. Yeah, um, yeah, so it's the first december 8th or something like that.
Speaker 1:Eight yeah, I think so so I would love for people to come out for that like and again, just like the um, the flyers race, um, and the damn zombie. They're huge fundraisers for particular things damn zombies, I know fundraiser to help take care of the trails out there. So listen, we vote with our dollars. I do this a lot sometimes, like, even if I'm not sure if I'm going to make the race or not, um, you sign up and if you don't make it, you don't make it, but your money's still going. You're voting with your money and supporting a cause. Same as I feel about the OMBA yeah, we need a lot.
Speaker 2:We're brainstorming at the shop how to just raise more awareness to that. Because, I think they admitted it on the podcast, but it's like people just don't know.
Speaker 1:I had no idea.
Speaker 2:Well, chad at the shop, like he didn't know what I was talking about, he's like I've never heard of that and I probably should know about that. So, for sure, like it's, it's a pretty simple thing for each person to buy a membership.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's 50 bucks and also to show up to work days like I have definitely done my fair share through the years. I need to get back on it. I mean, I'm going to be doing a lot of work at trosper to build some things to have events there, but I mean If somebody would sign up and send us a message on Cycling Oklahoma, we'll give you a free entry to the damn place.
Speaker 3:There you go, send a screenshot of your. The first person that does it gets a free entry.
Speaker 1:I got three of them to give away. That'll be one. We got two more. We'll figure out how to do it giveaway.
Speaker 3:That'll be one, yeah, two more. We'll figure out how to do it. That's a good one, yeah, yeah. So first person that does it. And the state has a lot of good mountain bike trails. That's the thing. We're not getting better.
Speaker 2:We're not short of them here but yeah, like they touched on on the last one, I think I think new riders think these trails are state operated or they just exist and someone's out working on like no, there's no one working on those except people volunteering their own time that they're taking away from time that they probably wish they were riding their bike, and so that kind of needs to be.
Speaker 2:Everybody at some point need to give up a day of riding your bike, or half a day. I used to go to Draper. We'd mow I don't know, four or five miles with a billy goat, which is a workout, but we would take our bikes and then we would ride after. So you don't have to give up a day. You're just in for a little bit more of a workout, but a little bit goes a long ways of these trails because I think a lot of them. You've got one or two people out there taking care of us. So if you have complaints, find the right people and find the right resources to go. They've got tons of equipment. If you don't have equipment, omba's got the equipment.
Speaker 3:Yeah, they've got tons of equipment. Like, if you don't have equipment, omba's got the equipment.
Speaker 2:Yeah, there's no shortage of equipment equipment is not the problem and you get enough people to show up to a work day, you can knock out a lot of trail maintenance quick, like it's. It's funny that I think I think people just don't know. That's a thing, like I, when I was in bentonville, like we tried to get some people to like like some of the juniors we work with like some give back stuff, yeah, and it's like it didn't. They didn't really get like why are we doing this? It's like, well, because everywhere else in the world like people have to go build trails. They don't just show up and they aren't just maintained like that's that place is, is you know, is what it is. But people just don't know that, yep, there's individuals that are not getting paid that are building trails and maintaining trails and it's a lot of work. Yeah.
Speaker 1:And I did misspeak last time. It is ride oh MBAorg, not one VAorg. So go to ride oh MBAorg, sign up, give them 50 bucks, send me a message, I'll give you a free entry. So basically, your entry pays for your entry into the damn zombie race, and everybody's happy.
Speaker 3:Are you doing damn zombies this year?
Speaker 1:Yeah, zaxby's not doing it because he will be coming back from a world travel so he will not be there, but I will be there. Are you solo or team?
Speaker 2:Solo Three hour.
Speaker 1:Six hour, six hour.
Speaker 2:You never know.
Speaker 3:What's going to be great is we'll work out a bet between me and you and billy okay, you're gonna have to give me something, but yeah yeah, you're gonna do more laps than them yeah, like we'll see what the race is for that listen billy, I'll give him credit. His bike handling skills have gotten way better than what they were last year, like he's significantly better than you.
Speaker 1:Yes, see, that's what I need to figure out so I can make up the difference when you're right yep, yeah, yeah, I.
Speaker 3:I say that and say and he and I were at arcadia, well, when we saw you guys and we were not a minute from coming out of the trail and billy was there behind me and then he wasn't, it's like, why are you taking a dirt nap, billy? That happens real quick, but he's also on a ridge and give him that Yuck. That shouldn't even exist.
Speaker 1:Well, and speaking of races, I mean we have tons of races going on right now Cold Turkey in Tulsa, mountain Bike Weekend. I don't know much about it.
Speaker 2:It's a two-day festival. I've heard it's super cool day, an xc day, yeah all kinds of stuff. I think the first year was last year and it was also same weekend as a cross race, but I don't know a lot about it. But everyone that I know that went really liked it's that turkey mountain, isn't it? Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:And then they, I saw, they just broke dirt on the new stuff. On the new stuff. That's exciting. That is exciting, yeah. So yeah, get up to tulsa this weekend. If you're not, if you're staying here, come out and do the quarry ride. If you're going, if you want to race there's, you have options in tulsa this weekend yeah all weekend.
Speaker 1:Yeah, all weekend, every day. There's no excuses. Um. We have a couple other random things on here. Um, the other one is, since we're talking about mountain biking in tulsa, um, let's just jump into that. Jordan, it's over. Oh, let's start with G3. G3 is over. G3 is over. Um, that wrapped up. I think everything was success? I don't think any. I don't think there was anything that was too crazy or anything. Um, that's went like um, uh, drama filled I don't think there was.
Speaker 3:There was seemed like there was a few more wrecks this year than I remember there were quite a few wrecks down at madison park, like I noticed that as well, and then even at the first one like yep, uh, the dimsy got taken out, yep and and that was. It was just a random thing. Yeah, I mean, it was down a b road. There were some ruts, yeah. Um, there was a good line and a bad line down that at speed and if you took the bad line you were going to pay a price.
Speaker 1:Yeah it seems like there was more wrecks this this season. Yeah, normal, but I think people are racing harder, racing faster they are and I think, harder.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it comes back to what I think we talked about on the, the last podcast we did is the skill.
Speaker 1:Bike handling skill level has fallen off over the years and whether that's folks just not, you know, there's not enough sort of well, I think people are, and plus, people are racing more aggressive, and I think this year the courses at g3 were so much faster. Oh, for sure, they were so because you, so you had bigger groups staying together gravel. It's usually like you're just, you have a couple group up front, then everybody, everybody else from there is like spaced out. Yeah, but this year it seemed like there was significantly more group riding.
Speaker 3:There was way more, especially like the Medicine Park race, Like I ended up in a group, that there was a triathlete dude at the front of it, One of the corners we came into. I mean you could have predicted it clear as day that he was going to slide out.
Speaker 1:Sure enough, Just saw, predicted it clear as day that he was going to slide out. Sure enough, just saw it coming. Yeah, yep, yeah, but I think from the series I mean the races I only did got three, um, and I was down at mezzan park and I got sick and so I left and didn't do it that day, but that means that's like my favorite place on the planet to ride.
Speaker 3:So I'd actually never ridden down there for the race, the gravel I'd never been down there and it's like so good it's. There's places back there where you feel like you're in the foothills in colorado yeah, like you're looking up at those bluffs, yeah, and they're kind of like all around you, there's some roads in there that you're kind of like like mountains kind of on both sides and like god man, this is not oklahoma, this is crazy and that gravel's fast, it's fast, it's fast.
Speaker 1:And it's great that there's no intersections down there. Yeah, there's so many like roads that just join together. Yeah, they just like turn on private land and go through and then turn again and you're just like no traffic. Yeah, it's beautiful.
Speaker 2:I had a rough day physically, but that was still a super cool course, like I just shut it down and rode around at some point and rode around at some point.
Speaker 3:But yeah, it was. Uh, the scenery was great. I was kind of go to pawhuska. So I chickened out of pawhuska because I made a weather bet that it was not going to be good and it was perfect, perfect, yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I was supposed to go to, uh well, arkansas and that race got canceled and so then I just was pouty and quit, didn't do anything. So, yeah, but, um, I mean, from the pictures I saw and the people I talked to, they said that it was amazing and they absolutely loved it. So I think, I think everything with g3 was a success this year. Yep, successful series. Tour de dirt it's over wrapped up. Um, I didn't hear any major drama from that per se outside of the normal e-bike drama and the normal like people bitching about the same normal stuff that they. You know, it's about year.
Speaker 1:For how long have you been?
Speaker 3:racing.
Speaker 2:Long time.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it's the same complaints year over year.
Speaker 1:But I think, but I think it. I went out and watched at uh skip. I think Jeremy did a great finale. I had a big turnout.
Speaker 2:I heard good things, like I didn't hear any complaints with the event itself. No, and.
Speaker 1:I really didn't hear any complaints about races themselves, like in courses and stuff. Like I mean even the little ones that and the ones that came back like elk city and stuff, people were like yeah, I mean you know so far out there I mean not as they're gonna drive out there for to ride on a tuesday but like it was fun, I enjoyed it. I'm glad I went. So I think it was for the courses. I think from everybody I heard the courses were enjoyable this year and and a success.
Speaker 2:I don't think there's any bad courses. I think people don't know what to expect and don't go, which is a bummer, because I always like especially early days of Tour de Dirt. I kind of liked it because it's like you're going to ride a new trail.
Speaker 2:It's like, if you want to pre-ride it, we'd go Saturday and camp and ride a loop, but it's like you get to ride something new. I think there's so much hesitation with like spending the money to travel a couple hours to I don't know if I'm gonna like the trail. It's like, well, I mean, go go find out and like support the event. Like it's a bummer. Like the enid cross race didn't have a good turnout. The rain didn't. G3 being before it didn't help. I couldn't make it, unfortunately, either, so I wasn't there to support it. But I've always heard it's a good course and there's a promoter that's putting effort into it and money into it, and I don't know. I mean, people want events to be around when it's convenient for them. It's like they need to be around all the time and then when you want to do it, it's still there.
Speaker 3:Yeah, um, so here's the same question. It's not on our list. Have we hit a saturation point? Have we become so diluted? Because it used to be. There was tour de dirt and a handful of road races and cross and that was it, yeah, and you knew exactly where you were go and you had weekends where you were off. There's a lot right now. There's every single weekend.
Speaker 1:Plus, people are traveling more. It's more regional things that people are going to.
Speaker 2:You can almost race a kind of race, whatever it is Almost all year, every weekend, and I remember in those days, tour, tour de dirt started earlier and finished earlier, right so like when cross started to come in. I think maybe there would be like a weekend overlap, but then it was just like only cross.
Speaker 1:But you didn't have gravel, that was sprinkled.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you didn't have the gravel, so it's kind of that shoulder season is gravel now. I don't know I would. I would like to see mountain bike season, like cross-country season, start late February, very early March and end in early September, it should be a cool weather sport. Yeah, in.
Speaker 3:Oklahoma, for sure.
Speaker 2:It can end early December, you can still do all the races you want to do, and then that leaves most of. Did I say December or September? You said December. September is what I meant to say. And then that leaves most of. Did I say december, september? You said december december. So I'm gonna say then you have most of october, november, december for cyclocross remaining gravel or marathon mountain bike, which could all evenly be spread out so that there's it'd be nice if there was an off weekend here and there in between events, so that I think there's people that would do multi-discipline. But not when it's back-to back weekends. It's just a lot of money when you have to travel, pay entry fees, food, all of that, to like continually be traveling.
Speaker 1:Well, and I think and I think we'll get into this. Now we have another mountain bike series coming up, but the problem that I have with, like, let's say, the tour de Dirk series, not the individual races but the series itself 10 races or eight races is a lot, let's say eight races.
Speaker 1:So doesn't seem like a lot because you're like oh, it's four in the spring, four in the fall, whatever if they split it. But if you're somebody that doesn't really know the trails or hasn't really raced a lot or you always like to pre-ride, that's gonna be at minimum eight weeks, possibly 16 weeks, because you may have to go a different weekend to pre-ride because you can't go up on the day before because of kids or families or you don't want to dedicate your entire weekend to this one hour and a half ride, and so now you're looking, instead of being eight weeks, it's 16 weeks.
Speaker 1:Well, if you have kids or something, whatever obligations you have any wife you know that's. You know a third of your year is gone to ride eight races on a mountain bike in oklahoma. Like for like nothing.
Speaker 2:You know like right well, I also remember, like the early days of when I did tour de dirt. They had a spring series champion and a fall series. So if you're like man, I can't I can't do the whole year like you could really focus and like hit all the spring races and you're the spring series champion, and I don't know why they got away from that, if it was just too many awards or too much complication, but it might be time to look back at that, because there's just yeah, there, there's, there's.
Speaker 2:That's a good thing to have too many events, but it's a bad thing. It's a good thing when everyone will work together and you can make it doable for people, because you're pulling people from events that they want to be at but they're just not going to. They're not going to do it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's too hard because then you have to pick your poison Like man. I really I've been really wanting to go because I signed up for the g3 and then the arkansas race came on and I was like man, I go camping in arkansas on the van for a weekend and me and lindsey were gonna go and it's gonna be a weekend of just like fun, hanging out and music and just all stuff. I'm like I already paid for g3 but now I gotta make a choice. Yeah, so I had to make a choice and I picked that one and then they got canceled on whatever. But like I feel like it's getting like that right All the time. Like this weekend you got to make a choice. Are you going to go race cross? Are you going to go race mountain bike? Right, both, both.
Speaker 1:I'm not going to do both, but somebody should you could, yeah, but it becomes an obstacle, yeah, and obstacles make people just like don't Right, you know so. Yeah, and you know so. How do we get race directors or calendar together or promoters together to like talk, play, nice, play across the board? Because again, I think we're running into where the community is fighting itself and not raising itself up together. We're kind of it's kind of like the, like, the sec and football, right, everybody just keeps beating each other, so they're going to like implode from the inside.
Speaker 2:I mean, we used to have the BRA Okay, which I don't even think exists anymore, that's what that existed for, yeah, and it's like we need. We need to get back to that. I mean, we need someone that's kind of going to take the charge to get all the race directors, series promoters, all together and get them to at least, I mean everyone.
Speaker 1:Because there's so many more people.
Speaker 2:I think it's possible if people want the best for Oklahoma racing. But if they want the best for themselves, then no, it's not.
Speaker 3:Well, which one of those do you think is so? The shift in the current thinking is I'm I'm putting on an unsanctioned race. I'm a kind of old nobody but myself and I know if I do it on this weekend, I'm gonna make x amount of money. I'm gonna do it on this weekend and screw everybody else, right but how much money are you losing? By not yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:So it's like a simple conversation with everyone. Late December, early January. Here's our race calendar for the year and maybe, hey, maybe, you've got to move your event, your desired date, two weeks Maybe you just have to move it Like. But why do I have?
Speaker 1:to move it. Why can't they move exactly like?
Speaker 2:if we, if we can't be adults and like actually work this out which I know is probably a lot to ask, like I don't. I think some, some events people have reasons for, like I want to be this weekend. I've always been this weekend and if it's a long learning, like a 10-year event, you should, you should get that weekend, yeah, and it's like I don't know what we're talking about. Honestly, probably 10 to 15 people that need to agree on a year's worth of dates, do you think?
Speaker 1:do you think that could happen?
Speaker 2:um or I would, I would like to have I would like to have the hope that these people could do this. Um, and I'm now a race promoter like I'm putting a race on, like I would join in on this, but I would like to think so. Like, if everyone can look beyond their series and their bottom dollar and their race, like every race that you schedule on top or you fight for a date, you're you're losing riders, everybody's losing a rider. Like you're losing racers to show up because they have to make a choice. You're forcing them to make a choice. Where, if you don't force them to make the choice by working together, like maybe you have a fall tour to dirt race and you just have a spring race instead, like from what? March, april, may, even into june? How many races could you fit into that?
Speaker 1:and and a lot of the mountain bike series is done yep, I mean, what if you just made the series a spring series only?
Speaker 2:Yeah, that would be great because all the mountain bike I mean mountain bike season could be the first half of the year.
Speaker 1:Then you like sprinkle gravel across like the summer fall and then cross into that, and then everybody wins, like yeah, because isn't Arkansas like their XC series in the summertime right, which is a terrible idea?
Speaker 2:it's kind of weird over there, like they used to have like a really true marathon series that I don't think exists anymore and it so it went really late. And then the xc series started much later than it started here. Um, I mean, like what I'd love to see XC in July in.
Speaker 1:Arkansas.
Speaker 2:I've done it and it's a nightmare.
Speaker 1:Death wish.
Speaker 2:No, thanks, yeah, no. What I'd love to see is, yeah, like a heavily loaded spring, early summer mountain bike cross country that transitions into gravel, then transitions that into cross and then cross ends after Thanksgiving here.
Speaker 1:So from then, you have damn zombies. You have stuff, you've got team warm-ups, you just throw a january marathon.
Speaker 2:You have a marathon series. It keeps everyone fit, give something, gives you something to train for, so you're not just like sitting on the couch or don't know why you're training, because a lot of people need a reason and that pulls you right back into the tour de d'oeuvre spring series. I mean, to me it seems easy. I don't know like somebody has their agenda everyone has their agenda, and it's like they don't realize it that their event's suffering because of their agenda.
Speaker 1:Well, let's talk about the new series that's coming. Yeah, now that we have so many races and we talk about this, we have a whole new series coming on top of that. I know very little outside the facebook post that I've seen, which I was told to go to look at facebook posts on other pages that were beautifully entertaining, and I greatly appreciate the recommendation, uh, from this, from the doctor and, uh, you know, I think change is always great. Yeah, how it finishes may not be great, but the pressure.
Speaker 2:Someone's got to take that first step.
Speaker 1:The pressure of change is in competition.
Speaker 2:And we're not adding events. To make that fair, you're taking events away from Tour de Dirt, right? It's events that are leaving Tour de Dirt, so you're not. It's like, oh God, now we're adding more races.
Speaker 1:We're not adding more it, so you're not. It's like, oh god, now we're adding more races, we're not adding more, it's just a different series gc xc, so it's going to be green country xc. It's all like kind of tulsa area base, so there will be no more tour de dirt?
Speaker 2:no, I don't think so. Okay, and I, the people I've talked to, are like, I mean, they're not trying to make it like a tulsa thing, but they're like they feel that having it concentrated up there, the people that want to race up there and don't want to drive which is understandable, even though it's like a 90 minute drive, for for a lot of these is like they're gonna do all the races because they don't have to go as far. Uh, there's too many categories, too many awards, which I agree with. Like, I mean, if, like we talked about before, I went to clare more, I did the cat one. 19 to 39. The 19 to 49 wave had eight I could be wrong by a couple people I think it had eight people in it. It had a front row, total, total yeah from 19 to 49.
Speaker 2:That doesn't need its own set of not every like. Everyone on that start line got a trophy yeah, it's like man, why does everyone need to?
Speaker 2:you're not. I really am not going to a race to take home more shit. Like yeah, like I don't want to take a trophy home and find somewhere to put it, I just want to go race my bike, and I think that mindset a lot of people need to kind of step back and think about the fact like well, maybe if I don't get a podium picture, but I get a really great race because there's twice as many people that you're going to compete or you should be, you shouldn't be going to get a podium picture, no matter like if you're the only one on it.
Speaker 3:Right yeah. I agree, I'd much rather be racing a group of 20 to 30 people and knowing hey, I mean it's like F1, right, I know I'm going to be at the back, mid-back of the field.
Speaker 2:You just want to race somebody Right Towards the end of the season.
Speaker 3:All of a sudden I'm like holy crap, I've moved up five spots. That's progress right.
Speaker 2:You can go ride by yourself for free, right. And that's with these diluted categories, so everyone wins.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you ride by yourself and you're paying to do it, and it comes to the point where you have people not catting up or riding in categories because they don't, because they're so few in the cat ones that they're like. Those guys are so fast, they're so much farther ahead of me why bother?
Speaker 1:I don't want to move up right because like, so then you have like, then you get a backlog of like because I would would say cat I'm just taking mine. So cat two, 40 to 49 this year, like that group they were not Oklahoma cat twos, because Oklahoma cat twos, I think, are more like my level. Oklahoma it's like not national cat two, right, like it's different. But like that group, there was enough of them who stayed in that cat two that they had a great competitive series this year. There was like five of them that were like about the same speed. So they had it wasn't like one person didn't cut up and just crush the season. There was like four or five of them that were very competitive with each other. Yeah, but you have the people that are like more of like a well, now they would be like mid pack tattoos that should be competing for winning cat twos, that have zero chance because the people that should move up don't. But now there's so many of them in cat two. It's competitive in cat two, so like it goes both directions but the top suffers the most. And then what happens?
Speaker 1:I think this is where I think that the series has the potential right now to grow so much because of the kit. You watch the cat threes. Yeah, the cat three participation is big. It's huge, it always has been, yeah, but they dwindle quickly because they see, well, I don't want to go up, those guys are fast. They're so much faster than me because the cat twos are not actually cat twos and the guys don't want to move up for a variety of reasons, but mainly because it's like the race is too long. I think that's the excuse I hear more than anything. It's not even excuse, it's the truth, because our races are longer than well.
Speaker 2:I mean it's under uci races. I oh, I speak for myself, but like they've gotten evan and I were talking about this the other day. He's like man, I remember when I first started racing mountain bikes and evan hasn't. It's been a while like he. He got out of it pretty early. But like we were discussing the difference in marathon and cross country and like under three hours is cross country. So like I had done races technically no, that's what I'm saying like by the rules, under three hours is cross country. And I remember doing races when I first got into it that were cat one level or cat one distance and you were getting like two and a half to 45. And it was like it would crush you.
Speaker 2:And now I'm like my goal in every race is like I want to be under two hours and I feel like that's a great cat one You're you're racing for less than two hours, so it's really not like that long, but also, I think, some of the some of the slower cat ones maybe but that's the problem, that's the kicker.
Speaker 1:Yeah, because I don't think you can go off the winning time. Maybe you have to go off the median time. Yeah, because if I cat it up, I I mean it would be I would be a solid 30 minutes behind you, probably. Yeah, but for me to go out there and ride, I'm not going to be able to ride hard. I'm going to have to ride endurance pace for two and a half hours, like that's not an XC race, that's a marathon race or a half marathon race. Yeah, it's not an XC effort. So the only people that are getting the XC effort at that distance are three people in Oklahoma, not nationally, but in Oklahoma which is a Oklahoma, and is the problem there, like the level of competition?
Speaker 2:It's a hard thing because, yeah, you cat it up, you need to put in a little more work, but it's unrealistic to ask people to put in the work. That's where the space is.
Speaker 1:I think you need to and 100% my opinion, which is clearly right. You don't need to.
Speaker 2:If we argue with you, you can just edit it out. You're right, you, yeah, you, um, if we argue with you, you can just edit it out. Now you're getting it. I like it.
Speaker 1:Um, but like I think, looking at that, like I never want to cap up to a cat one ever, because I don't want to ride really hard for that long, I don't want to do it. So but even like a guy, like I'll put his name to it, Ethan, me and him have talked about it he's the same thing. He's fast enough to ride and he would finish mid-pack, I think, if Cat won. Like he's not going to win, not the next year or two, but like he can ride with you guys. But he's the same thing. He's like man I'm working, I got kids and all that stuff. He's like man, like I don't want to go out there and ride really hard for that long, Like I'm going to have to change my training to be able to do that.
Speaker 2:I would add like I a hundred percent agree, like I've ridden with Ethan just a little bit. He can go fast on a bike but he's just like missing the pieces to like put it together for two hours and one, like signing up in that race and like how long can I hang and where? Where do I need to get better? Right? That's one thing. Like like you're not going to cat up riding by yourself.
Speaker 2:You're not going to cat up and win. Well, I mean, like in the early part of the race, like where are they beating me? Is it just fitness? Is it? Is it the corners, the technical sections? But also like when you're talking about people that and this is not like everyone needs to train harder, type of thing. But all right, you're riding a $10,000. I'm not talking about Ethan, just in general. You're riding a $10,000 mountain bike. Could you pay a coach $150 a month?
Speaker 1:For sure.
Speaker 2:And you know what you don't? I don't train. I train maybe 10 hours a week, maybe right now, and I'm doing pretty good Like I could be a lot better if I really put the work into it. But if you have, you just take the amount of time you have and maximize it, and that's what a coach does. It doesn't. A coach doesn't say ride 20 hours a week. If a coach told me that, I'd be like get the hell out of here, right Cause I'm not going to do it and I couldn't do it if I wanted, at my age and having a full-time job, I couldn't do that. If I wanted to and if I could, I would do it for a week and I'd be smoked. Yeah, you'd be so done.
Speaker 2:Hire a coach. You don't have to. You don't have to make $500 a month. Hire a coach for a reasonable rate that gives you basic structure and basic training. It doesn't have to be super complex. I can do some pretty basic shit right now and get faster than I am right now, because I'm just not doing it consistently. It's someone that keeps you accountable and tells you the right things to do in the right zone. So the seven hours a week you have to ride. You're getting the most out of.
Speaker 1:So let's talk about everybody give their opinions on how long do you think?
Speaker 2:Alan doesn't give a shit because he's not coming.
Speaker 1:Or finishing.
Speaker 2:So he's only going to ride 30 minutes anyways.
Speaker 1:If you were going to ride a full race, Alan, how long do you think you should ride?
Speaker 3:If I was going to a full Tour de Dirt race. Yeah, two hours max, max, max Right.
Speaker 1:Absolute max. In what category? Any category should be two and over or not over two. I don't think an XC race should be over two hours. I don't think an XC race as over two hours.
Speaker 2:I don't think as a as a cat one, like not to interrupt, but like I don't want to race for an hour and 20 minutes, like I want to at least be an hour 40 and I'm okay with that because I, like you said, I can race really hard for that amount of time. I don't want to like be planning nutrition and pacing for a cross-country race.
Speaker 3:So, yeah, I think that sweet spot is in that hour 40 to two hours and the cat one, right. And I think you can make and this is where it needs to be a sort of a stair step approach. You can make a cat two race in that, hey, your race is an hour 20 to an hour 40, perfect, right. And your cat one race is that it's an hour, or your cat three is an hour, it's an hour.
Speaker 1:Right, because that sucks for cat threes, that you go to some of the races. They're like 30 minutes. Right, that would be if you drove two hours to race a 30 minute race and spent 50 to do it when I was cat three there was a lot of races I didn't go to because I would look it up and I'm like six miles, yeah, I'm not going to. You know, a lot in six miles is different. I'm not going to drive to like stillwater and do a six mile race, right?
Speaker 3:yeah, yeah. And I think a big piece of it is like how do you make those jumps and gaps between the categories more narrow, right? Instead of oh, yeah, you go longer and you go faster, right it's you've got to figure out. Well, yeah, get a coach, right? So you've raced cat three for a season. You're like, okay, I'm, I'm interested, what do I need? Go get a coach.
Speaker 2:Right. And I'll add if you get a good coach that is just trying to help you, that's not trying to make you do what they want you to do, and you say, look, I don't want to be on a program, I want to get faster, what are my goals? I'm coaching some kids right now and it's like you, you're on the trainer two days a week Cause I'm not going to tell them to buy a power meter but, they have a smart trainer.
Speaker 2:You're on the trainer two days a week, everything else is off the trainer and it's pretty loose and that's going to make them faster. Because it's just it's not like well, I think I'm just going to go right around today. It's like all right, and I need to like at least kind of like ride hard. So like, if you're thinking getting a coach is going to suck the life out of your cycling, like one you want to get faster. If you say you want to get faster, like a good coach will listen to you. They'll ask about your daily schedule, what are your goals? And like, all right, here's what we can do within that, those parameters.
Speaker 1:So I'm following a training plan right now and it's three days a week, so I have three days of structured training, the other three days a week or do whatever the hell I want to do one or two days off, one or two days just go ride your bike it's like it can still be fun and you can still get better.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and the reality is like, even for folks like me, that the two seasons that I had a coach, I had uh taruki, like it's like, holy crap, this does work which is one of the best of like listening, listening to what you're telling him and he won't.
Speaker 2:He won't push you too hard, but he'll push you just enough.
Speaker 1:Yep yeah, I, I agree, and so do we know how many. The one thing that I did see, which I am so pumped about because I was gonna have to try to figure out a way to pull it off, because I'm so on it is a one-day state championship.
Speaker 2:Yeah finally, I finally, chris's dream come true this ruffles every feather on the world and I am so pumped about I wish we could dig up the facebook post where I suggested this once or twice 15 years ago. I'm so excited I still stand by the fact that, if you went toward it, you're not a state champion, you're a series champion. Do you remember?
Speaker 3:the year I, I ended up winning a season just by showing up.
Speaker 2:Most people do just by showing up. Go, look at like there's not many people. There's some that went like every race, but most of them it's like he raced the most Like I. I just couldn't be at every race because I would travel or do whatever and like someone that's getting fifth or sixth, is the champion? It's like and and I don't like. You were the most consistent and you earned that title, but you were not the best in the state.
Speaker 3:I was not the fastest I was never in the top three. I was fifth or sixth every race and accumulated points that's what makes national championships.
Speaker 2:I don't know how many people have been to like a national championship event, but when you're there, like there's something about it that like every race, it's like got a different feeling. You just stand by the start line, the call-ups, the finish and like you can kind of feel the energy because everyone there wants to win and and they work their ass off for that one day and like the person that does it, it's huge for them but almost. And then it's like like here for a state championship, we do that well. In the past we've done it. Road crit, cycle across time trial, mountain bike is the only category we've never done it. Yep, and I love the idea of like everyone showing up that one day to race for everybody else, every other.
Speaker 1:Like, level of cycling does that, yep, but like, even like you I mean you all the other sports do. Every other individual sport does that. Yeah, like tennis, you have a player of the year, but you also have a wimbledon champ like two different things. Yeah, like golf, you have a master's champ, but you also have a fedex series winner.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that gets two different things. Yep and listen, I'm. This may be controversial, I'm bringing it on perfect yeah I'm a big believer. Ditch the age groups, man ditch the age groups.
Speaker 2:Let's well I think to an extent like I think I think, 19 to 49 is fair. Yes, that's sorry that Bigger age groups Well when you get over, like when you're as old as Alan. I mean you got to break it up a little Well he's the only one there at that age.
Speaker 3:As crazy as a sign. Some of the best races I've had are racing against younger folks, meaning the most enjoyable right. It's a lot of fun and it's holy shit.
Speaker 1:This you know 19 year old kids beating the shit out of me here like this is awesome and it's better because you have bigger fields to compete with right so when you have a let me race against 25 people, not four, right because some age groups organically will always be large, yep, and some will always be small, and especially if you go to different categories, right. So yeah, I mean, I think that's great. Yeah, I mean, maybe, like in the cat three, where you have so much participation, you keep smaller age groups.
Speaker 2:Yeah, well it makes sense when you have massive numbers. When you don't have massive numbers, put them together, forget it like I agree I remember going to and I don't know what timber is like down in Texas, but I used to do that series because I was seeking out competition and numbers and like 600, 700 racers at a timber race. When you have 100 racers at a race, you don't need 10 year age group.
Speaker 3:No.
Speaker 2:It doesn't make any sense. Yep, no, unless, everyone wants a trophy and it's just. It's just crazy to me, like, like you said, I would rather race, have a really good race for eighth place than just ride around and get second.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:Because it's age group.
Speaker 3:Yeah, agree, yeah, totally agree. If I'm going to ride out there by myself, I'm going to do it for free. I'm going to go ride the trail by myself, yeah.
Speaker 1:Cause you're yeah, that's the way it is now. Yeah, but that's I skip because I'm like I didn't really want to race for a variety of reasons. But then I looked at the start list and I'm like, well, those four guys are going to be like so far off the front, like the second it starts, like I'm never going to see them again, yep, and then there's only three others.
Speaker 2:Yeah, like if we all showed up and the real question is how many other people looked at that and it's the same thing.
Speaker 1:Yeah, if I'm doing that and admitting it, pay for it yeah, and it's not even far you know drive yeah, you have no excuse not to go, you're just like.
Speaker 2:I just don't want to pay to ride when I went out and watched. That's exactly what happened the?
Speaker 1:top three guys all rode together the entire time the next two guys, I think, because I was the one I didn't show up, so there's only two others and they were like riding by themselves for an hour and a half, like and it and it's not like we're not making.
Speaker 2:We're not making decisions that have to last forever, Like the series. Could just try it for a year.
Speaker 3:If it doesn't work, it works.
Speaker 2:It works.
Speaker 1:If it doesn't, it doesn't or a race director could be like this race I'm doing. It's like at least like that day's pot is like that.
Speaker 1:But like points could split differently if you want, I don't even think that works, because then you're like well, I'm this in my group, I'm just gonna wait, like you know what I mean. You know where you're at still, and so you still don't have to race. It's nice having. It's nice having people racing with you. Yeah, gravel and mountain biking are, so you're usually by your. You get strung out yep quickly. So it's nice having more people in your group to get be around at a similar level.
Speaker 1:Yes, right, at a similar level. I agree, because I had it on here random ideas for races, so that's a great one. What do you guys think about doing call-ups in these series?
Speaker 2:I don't man I don't know. It gets hard when, when stuff's not sanctioned Cause you have nothing to base points off of, but you have points in your series and in cross they do, they do uh, not the amount. Like it's pretty loose with that. It's like, man, I don't you kind of have to like be be waiting there and you just rush to the front, yeah, which I don't think is cool.
Speaker 2:Um across. I think they did rock. The mohawk was the first race. They did it by reg because I was. I read today, like two days before, and I was in the back again that's fair for first. So and, but it's like you know what you're getting like.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I know I'm in the back but the second race, you have a racist points, yeah, and they do call-ups, yeah. Yeah, I don't think, I think I don't know if the gcx he's gonna do that, but tour de dirt could do that and if you're not, if you're not there, then you just miss your call-up.
Speaker 2:But it's like it's it's kind of a fair way to do it, where it's not just like some dude happened to be sitting there.
Speaker 3:That's not gonna not gonna be competing for the win, but he's in front of all the guys that are, and so then it's like it's kind of chaotic and almost to an extent dangerous on a fast start and I think it's kind of fun.
Speaker 1:It kind of adds a little prestige to the people that have been doing good. People like to brag, people like to like have people, people look at them and act like they're fast and cool.
Speaker 2:It's fun Well if you just jump in a series too, you're going to pay the price. Just start in the back.
Speaker 1:It gives encouragement to do more races. You could even do it at G3, actually, now that I'm thinking about it, After the first race they could call up the front row.
Speaker 2:You could each like top three, yeah, yeah, and all the categories get to come up, which would be cool. It would be super cool and it's fun.
Speaker 1:I mean you can't call like in a race like that, you wouldn't want to call everybody up, no just your top three in each category gets to come up and line up, even if they're like well, I'm just going to go over the back here real quick, but it's cool, you get your moment. Yeah, you know, that's kind of fun. Yep, people like to brag, what? What other random ideas for races do you have?
Speaker 3:Oh man, how do we get more alcohol involved? Can I get minutes off for each shot I do in a cross race? Now we're talking.
Speaker 2:You can't drink your way out of even lining up.
Speaker 3:Dang it, dang it, dang it, dang it.
Speaker 1:Maybe we could do some sort of race like that. What if we get we?
Speaker 3:need some pop-up races. Maybe we could do some sort of race like that.
Speaker 2:Ooh, what if we get? We need some pop-up races. There used to be some. We did a cool one in Tulsa, like there was a snow pop-up, so like when it snowed, oh snow races.
Speaker 3:It was in the forecast.
Speaker 2:They're like we're racing tomorrow and everyone showed up to this course and we did a cross race in the snow, so, but it's like you didn't know it was coming until it snowed and someone put up like I think it was Joel Cantor, maybe he put up some money for, like the winners of each category because he wanted to see it. That's awesome.
Speaker 1:But yeah, I was like we could do that here. It was a weather. Do you think anybody would show up if we did that here?
Speaker 2:Uh yeah, I think so.
Speaker 1:But like more than like three, I'm saying that cause I believe, believe in this community, so show up if we do. It was good, chris, I felt sincere. He's coming off the election cycle. Yeah, yeah, yep, um, but yeah, I think it would be. I, that would be something I wish I would we saw more of as fun free pop-up races.
Speaker 2:Yep, yeah this would be awesome, yeah, but again, pop-up races are because people have busy lives, so to like, oh, tomorrow I'm going to go race my bike.
Speaker 1:just doesn't happen for a lot of people, but you know that 20 people are going to show up, but could you get 20?
Speaker 2:people and that's about all that showed up to that cross. It wasn't a lot of people, but it's fun.
Speaker 3:So think about this how many people do we have show up at the Bluff Creek Dirt Crits? 50 to 60. That was fun.
Speaker 1:Yeah, a lot like it got to the point where we were legit nervous of yeah, oh crap, we had to design the course to accommodate.
Speaker 3:Uh-huh, yeah, for sure you just had strings. You guys had a really good thing running there. Yeah, I don't know what happened, like doing it. Yeah, I moved, you did move, you left me asshole, stay tuned 2025 I like it. I like, but yeah that got to a point where we had 50, 60 people out of that thing.
Speaker 2:And I like went out and threw some cones down. The course didn't have to be taped because people.
Speaker 3:But Party Lapse has a good group. I haven't been out to that Party Lapse they probably have 30, 40 people.
Speaker 1:Yeah, they probably have 30 or 40 people every week. At least they have more than they have. Skip least, yeah, yeah, they have a decent, they have more than they have, uh, skip. And or whenever they had a thunderbird race or crit race, yeah, party laps, all I think it's just location. Yeah, I think location has a massive piece of play in that?
Speaker 2:yep, yeah, and I was surprised when we moved it from draper to bluff, mainly because I moved where I was working, so I had to be somewhere I could set it up. But I mean, like robert and all those guys from norman, like a lot of people came up for that. That's a long drive it is but it was like like everybody there, like we did the race to do the race, but we're really just trying to get to the parking lot afterwards it was the best part like yeah, everyone just hung out, had a great time.
Speaker 2:Like I mean, I raced hard because I was using it as a workout most people did, but it was like no one cared what place you got. Like there needs to be more of that. Like I don't like, if I'm a weeknight practice race, shouldn't there shouldn't be prestige on what place you get. You're going for a workout yeah that's all it is.
Speaker 2:It's an organized workout. Yeah, um, a lot of that in arkansas like I hated that. It was like treated like every weeknight race was treated as like a real race. Yeah and it wasn't fun.
Speaker 1:It was just like a real race I feel like skip is is very loose like that. It's pretty loose. It's loose like that.
Speaker 2:There's just not like, there's just not enough people to show up to do it and it's not I mean they, they purposely advertise it as not, yeah, like a race. So I don't know. I almost like when I go to it almost feel like I shouldn't go hard.
Speaker 1:But I think in a weird way, but if you had more people show up, you would. They just don't have the people to show up for I don't know why. Because it's a central place, it's a great time.
Speaker 2:It doesn't make sense why it's no I mean, unless it's just need to push it out there, maybe.
Speaker 1:But I think people should go to that because the little the course is perfect for a short course kind of situation pretty good do you want to stop you?
Speaker 1:stop afterwards they drink beer, they order pizza from dominoes delivered parking lot, which is amazing yeah, they actually have a timer most of the time, but you do whatever you want to do, like it's a legit, like it was like the last race or the next, the last one, like I went. I went way too hard, I blew up, I felt like hell and so I just like pulled out for a lap because I've gotten popped off the back and waited for the fast guys to come through and then just jump on, yeah, and that's what you should be able to do it was great that's why I like wheeler too.
Speaker 2:It's like if you're not fit enough to hang, just blow off the back and then like I'll just wait till they come around and jump in.
Speaker 1:I don't get in the way or interfere, but I'm there for the workout and the effort, yeah and there's days that I feel good and I know, like the two or three guys, I'm about their same level. So those are the guys I'm racing. We're attacking each other and like doing race tactics yep, having fun, which is where you, you practice yeah, that's where you learn practice race, yeah you practice tactics like I've never done this.
Speaker 2:Will this work like?
Speaker 1:how does this feel? And because I tried some of those things like trying to figure out my strategy that works for my body type yeah, yeah, I figured it out I can't attack or respond to any of them. So if you're listening to this and we're raising, just attack, I can't respond.
Speaker 2:How long were your socks that night, Were they?
Speaker 1:there were clearly too long. Yeah, you could see them. That was a problem. Yeah, that was the problem. I had them on. That was, that was the main problem. Um, all right, you fools have anything else that we should talk about or anybody we should make fun of besides Billy or Perkins?
Speaker 1:Oh, let's talk about the video Speaking of Perkins and making fun of him. So, cycling Oklahoma. We dropped our first video, which was Brantley crushed the edit. It was good, so good, really good, yeah. And thanks so much to Ethan. We spoke about him earlier. He stepped good, really good, yeah. And thanks so much to Ethan. We spoke about him earlier. He stepped up and sponsored it. Awesome, and that was a huge shout out to Ethan. Um and Thrivent is the name of his business financials and so, um, yeah, super happy that he was able to help us out with that and cover some of the costs. And Brantley crushed. So um, for people that don't know, we did a really cool video about Lockridge, which is where a lot of gravel routes in Oklahoma City go out of it's northwest Oklahoma.
Speaker 3:City.
Speaker 1:What's the?
Speaker 3:like, what am I saying? Sorghum Mill and Rockwell.
Speaker 1:Okay, and so there's a St Patrick's Cemetery, that's there, and church. So we did the history of that cemetery and Lockridge as it used to actually be a town. So we tell the history of that cemetery and lockridge as a as it used to actually be a town.
Speaker 3:Yep, um, so we tell the history of that, and those folks have been nothing but welcoming to us and the gravel dog narrates along with rose.
Speaker 1:We learn the history of the area yep, and we get some amazing footage, um, from the drone and from the camera, and so that is when you listen to this that will be out. You can find on instagram and on youtube. So, cycling oklahoma on both.
Speaker 3:Yeah, um, yeah, it was awesome so we're right there shooting the uh the film man, did we crush you guys with some dirt? Uh-huh in that pickup truck.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it was like holy crap, I can't see shit right now you came by, you feel bad because you got to get the shot coming by hanging out the back of the truck.
Speaker 3:You're just like sorry about that. Yeah, it's so dusty yeah, and of course, uh, john perkins has never seen a camera he doesn't fall in love with, and uh, you said it yeah well, and then he had my gopro on his oh that's right too, so yeah, but whenever we would pull up in the truck I'd go by perkins Perkins to the front.
Speaker 1:Uh-huh, getting his. I wouldn't say 15 minutes of fame like seconds of fame, yeah, but he looked very official when we came by. I don't know what happened between those times.
Speaker 3:Waddell and Billy hurt him. Oh, like legit hurt Because he would attack, and Jason's like okay.
Speaker 1:That's not what I saw in the footage.
Speaker 3:That's because it's edited footage. You can make the footage look like anything.
Speaker 1:Bestie edited it.
Speaker 3:Uh-huh.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Brilliant.
Speaker 2:And they planned this out Brilliant.
Speaker 1:Uh-huh. So where do we need? I have some ideas for the next one. I have ideas for a bunch of videos. Oh, really, some mountain bikes, some gravel. So if you have an idea of a place that you're like, but no cyclocross well, how are we going to tell history about an area on a? We're telling history of cyclocross three minute we need to educate people on a sport is there history? Yeah, yeah there's.
Speaker 2:I mean, I won't claim to know at all, but it's. It's pretty interesting how it got started okay, maybe we I think, I think originally and I, if I'm wrong, I'm wrong, but originally that maybe the french military road bikes and that's where it came from in fields in the winter and then it turned into road cyclists started doing it for just off-season training, for fun, interesting.
Speaker 1:Then it evolved into what it is well, sounds like we can make one for the Capital Cross Race. We could do our footage there and tell the story that was my agenda.
Speaker 2:That's the only reason I'm here tonight.
Speaker 1:Your agenda has been complete. We can do that Because I bought a camera and I need to learn how to use it so might as well go play with it there, that's awesome.
Speaker 3:I do think we need to do a mountain bike one. I'm a mountain bike one, I I you know it's. I'm a mountain biker at heart and I feel like it's dropped off in this state substantially maybe you know, a good one would be roman nose. Oh, that was just because that's one of the best trails in the state I would sure there's a lot of that om, yeah yeah, it is.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I don't know that. I don't know the status. I feel like before I moved or at some point when I was in tulsa, like that place had shut down last time I went out it was all grown over.
Speaker 3:Yeah it had stopped being like maintained, it got overgrown and it was, I'm not sure. The status now yeah, I don't know now, but I used to be love that I wrote it one time and I was like it was right when I first bought my first entry-level mountain bike.
Speaker 1:I was not the right bike for that course.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And I didn't know where I was going. I think Malat even may have went out.
Speaker 2:It can be confusing if you don't know where you're going Because it's not well marked. You have to know the trail and it gets on it connects by the main road. So, like when we did the race there, you would rip up that road and you like cross the down around that corner and sometimes cars were coming, it could get loose, but they're like a race. I would love to come back and I say I would like someone else to do it, because I just think it happened, but the romano's 50 oh yeah seven laps.
Speaker 2:It's 50 mile race. Okay, super fun race. I think I only did it like twice. I don't know how long it went on, for that was when I was pretty early into it. But man, if we could throw that in a marathon series.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that course used to be. You wanted to make sure you were towards the front, climbing up the bluff to that inspiration point. Oh, that first climb, because if you were like, the snakes would start to come out and the rattlesnakes sun themselves up there and they would just launch themselves at riders coming by.
Speaker 1:I passed some big rattlesnakes on that course in the summer, yeah you're not selling me on this well, that's why it's going to be in the marathon series in the winter yeah, okay, that would be a good one to do that, because I have an idea about some mountain bike trail videos, so that would be a great. I mean the, the shots. Would be a good one to do that, cause I have an idea about some mountain bike trail videos, so that would be a great.
Speaker 2:I mean the, the the shots would be great.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I don't know the history of it, but yeah there's gotta be some great history with Romanos and the whole just as a state park yeah.
Speaker 2:Okay, I'm on it, we'll we'll put yeah well, he's got a mountain bike now and he did win. Well, I mean, I did teach him everything he knows. I'm not his coach, evan bybee's his coach, but we went out and did some one-on-ones and he won.
Speaker 1:Right after that it's facebook official.
Speaker 3:So yeah, he gave you all the glory.
Speaker 2:Even a blind squirrel gets a nut he should have gave evan some of it. He did not give.
Speaker 1:Evan any glory.
Speaker 3:Did he crash? Nope, not once. Domination.
Speaker 2:When you're taught from the beginning the right way to ride and you're set up properly on your bike. It's just nothing but success.
Speaker 1:It's like just hit the button and go.
Speaker 3:He keeps begging me to go back out to Thunderbird. I need to go out there with him because he wrecked so much out there.
Speaker 2:Everything's going to die off soon we'll be heading yeah, thunderbird needs a good freeze. Yeah, a lot of critters. I haven't been since.
Speaker 1:I've moved back for that reason yeah, I'm it's bugs are bad tickville's is not calling me anytime soon. I need a freeze before this winter, hopefully some miles in. Hopefully my rosebush bloomed.
Speaker 1:Yesterday's homemade yeah um 70 freaking degrees, yeah, so enjoy it while you can. Yeah, I hope everybody has a great holiday, great thanksgiving. Um, we have a lot of races going on right now in oklahoma, clearly, so go do some of them. Um, come do. If you live in oklahoma city area, come do the cross races. If you live in tulsa, go to the cross races this weekend and ruts and guts at the end of the month, um, and the cold turkey, I think so, um, yeah, anything else, gentlemen?
Speaker 3:I don't think so mr drummond peace out that's it all right, thank you.