LeMasters in London: Cross weekend in OKC

What a difference a day makes.....not in the results and racing but the weather. What was almost hot on Saturday quickly turned into Belgian on Sunday.

Saturdays Charlie's Angel's race flat and fast and after Sunday most notably dry. Not too technical with the biggest problems coming from the 30 mph winds. Raton and I were the only BOTs going but were pleasantly surprised with the number of cars in the parking lot when we pulled in.

I was pre-riding the course trying to figure out how not to crash in what could have only been described as cross racing's first ever mulch pit when everyone lined up so was straight to the back before the race even started. It was full gas straight from the start and after my first crash in the mulch pit was pretty far back. Luckily the course had a long open section and I was able to catch the front group just before the second set of barriers where I then proceeded to crash again. Not sure it was technically a crash since I wasn't actually on the bike but nonetheless. Since my chain came off too I went right back backwards and so went the rest of the race.

Raton lined up with 10 or 12 masters seemed to fare much better, at least didn't see him falling over every 10 minutes or so. He managed to win the prize of the day for the bunt cake prime lap. Free bunt cakes for a year from Nothing Bunt Cakes.

Raton with hands down the worst victory celebration ever!

If 40 minutes of torture weren't enough Raton did the 1/2 race as well. Unfortunately the turn out wasn't so good and the 3 hearty souls who toed the line pretty much had the podium figured out before the race even started.

Sunday was another story all together....after waking up to thunder and pouring rain in Tulsa we questioned the prospects of racing later in the day in OKC but the weatherman said 52 and sunny at start time. Well that was a pretty crap forecast and when we pulled into the parking lot it was 41 and cloudy. Immediately every article of clothing in the truck went on. (Except for Raton's strange collection of like 8 different pairs of gloves....seriously dude why so many gloves??). Luckily the rain didn't make the course too unpleasant there were a couple of muddy parts but for the most part was dry enough that you could put the hammer down and motor along. My race was pretty similar to Saturday in the fact that I can't turn dismount or do really anything actually cyclecross related very good, and i spent the afternoon chasig people around. It came down to 3 of us on the last lap or so and I had picked my perfect spot to attack maybe 500 yards from the finish. I had what o thought was the better line on an off camber section and could carry more speed onto the pavement before the finish. Unfortunately my plan went to crap when I tried to shirt SRAM like Shimano and ended up trying to sprint in the 28. After I got up to about 140 rpm and wasn't going anywhere unrealized the race was over. Stupid SRAM!!

Raton went for the ironman award again on Sunday and doubled up the masters and the 1/2 race. Apparently the pumpkin pancakes for breakfast weren't enough fuel and he hit a wall with 2 to go in the last race. I asked him what happened afterwards and he said "I think I blacked out.....I stopped pedaling and missed a turn and rode into a tree." Turns out the dude is human after all.

The forecast sun came out just as the races finished and we were headed back to Tulsa after a Starbucks break. It was what had to be the worlds only drive in only Starbucks so I ran next door to Dunkin Donuts to take care of business and decided that the best thing for a super bonk was donut holes so bought Raton a bag full. I apparently didn't get my hands 100% clean from the embrocation earlier and ended up getting a all together different flavor of donut holes. I guess I owe the guy in the parking lot, who I was making fun of in my head for using a rubber glove to put his on, an apology. The donut holes must have put him into glycemic shock.....that is the only way to explain what happened next.

So back in T-town we get all my crap out the truck and Raton leaves, 20 minutes later I get this text......"I never put up my tailgate at your house. This was how it was when I got out of the car."

A pretty good weekend for BOT.....2 dudes, 6 races and 6 podiums.

On a non-bike racing note there is a construction zone on the turnpike between Tulsa and OKC and in two days going through it 4 times we saw 3 wrecks. Can't imagine how many there were the entire weekend if the odds are something like 75%. Seriously doesn't take a genius to figure out then need some more orange cones or flashy lights.

Pics and videos from the weekend, (some of the video is a bit suspect.....after all bike racers not cameramen) I am always in the back because I had just crashed or fell over or dropped a chain or got him in the face by a cedar tree.