The weekend after Redman I did the MS 150 ride from Tulsa to OKC on historic Route 66. It was really just going to be a "fun" ride since my legs were still pretty dead from the half ironman. We drove up to Tulsa the night before and stayed at my brother in laws apartment. I tried to stay awake and watch a little football but I think I was out by 9:30. I was up by 5 and headed to the start. It seems like I just dropped off my luggage, picked up my packet, met up with my friend Diana and we were off and riding.
The first few miles are always a little sketchy with all the riders close but we made it through with no problems. Diana and I tried to meet up with the group we had from work but it turned out they were behind us. We finally met up when we stopped at the second rest stop and they caught up.
We all rode off together until the lunch break. It was starting to get a little hilly at this point so the rest break was welcomed. Two other riders and myself left a little before our main group in hopes that we could take it easy and they would catch up. Turns out the hills made everyone go slow. We were hitting every rest stop to try and recover. If anyone tells you Oklahoma is flat they are flat out lying.
We finally made the halfway point, took a shower and grabbed a beer. We hung out the rest of the night as a team and had a few beers and hit the hay.
The next morning came early and it was hard to get on the bike again. The combination of the long ride the day before, hills and beers were a tough sell to keep going. But we finally packed up camp and hit the road again.
The second day was the same as the first, lots of hills and sun, but with the added fun of lots of wind. We took it really easy and hit all of the rest stops and just tried to push through without killing ourselves. We finally came towards the end at the capitol building and it seemed like we kept making turns and each turn was more headwind. I swear it was 30MPH going up the last two miles. Once we crossed the finish line it was time for some grub, shade and cold water.
It was a fun ride overall despite the tough conditions and the fact that it is all for a great cause made it all the better. I'm looking forward to next years already and hope to be in a little better hill riding shape.
