The Tulsa Forum by TulsaNow

Where else can you see some of the best bicycle racing the country has to offer, and you get to watch it for free! Three days of shoulder to shoulder sprints, high speed chases, and the sublime chaos of Cry Baby Hill await you.

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This was in Sand Springs a couple of weeks ago:

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As popular as this event is getting. Is there enough room for all the people to show up at Cry Baby Hill? and what time is the best time to get there? I'm really thinking about checking this thing out.

Cry Baby Hill is crowded. Last year, volunteer gendarmes and centurions controlled the street by using long poles to form a corridor for the racers. The system worked well. If you go, remember that it's probably not a good place to take the children.

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Nice rack.




Bike rack that is.

I get to drive the pace car for the 8am Men’s masters and the race just following at 8:35 the Cat 5 35+ men’s race in Riverview Sunday.  I also get to ride shotgun for one race in the Brady on Saturday at 10am and drive the car for the 12:10 race.  I don’t think I’d care to drive it later in the day on Sunday with the crowds.

Friday in the Blue Dome would be fun, hopefully I’ll get a shot at it next year.

Hey, it’s the only chance I’ve got to lead a crit race at my age ;)

If that's true, by the time you get to my age you will be in a wheel chair.  You are just a young guy.   ;D

 ;D

Hey, I even get to drive a Kraut car!

I thought he drove an old 60s Ford pickup...wait, nevermind...

Can you be a bit more specific?  There are a bunch of interesting cars from Deutschland.

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Should be a great weekend.

Well this pretty much covers all my questions.

http://www.tulsaworld.com/homepage3/five-things-to-bring-to-cry-baby-hill-and-five/article_fba4e965-01db-56ec-9f5b-c25cd159b5f8.html

I posted some of my photos over on G+, including some of the madness on the hill. I left at about 1PM as it was getting very crowded.

https://plus.google.com/photos/114874700548780474647/albums/6022703589360625585 (https://plus.google.com/photos/114874700548780474647/albums/6022703589360625585)

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Nice shot of the Giff.  Too bad we missed you.  I think we came back about 1/2 hour after you left.  As always a raucous party.  And yes Guido, cyclists rode in the middle of the street!  We unfortunately saw many things which cannot be unseen.

I drove by the corner of highways 20 and 11 today and saw some tables with bike support 'stuff'.  Turning right (north), I drove about 1/2 mile before going by the first of about 60 or 70 bikes I passed between there and Avant.  Very cool seeing a bunch of bikes out riding that road.  Even if it was raining....  SWMBO commented that looked miserable - I said, "not so much..."

Every Tulsan needs to attend this.

Seriously awesome. The race today was epic at the end when the rain started with like 3 laps to go.

The final corner is sketchy even when it's dry. The approach is a fast downhill into a sharp right onto the finishing straight. Riders are probably doing 40+.

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It sounds like fun for the cyclists. I'm no cyclist and don't enjoy cycling. I do like running and plan to do the RiverSide 5000 5K race  next Saturday. I never could get into the sport of cycling, I see cyclists all the time going up & down the Riverside trails as I jog, I have a old 10 speed bike full of cobwebs and two flat tires shows ya how much I bike ride. Not sure if I even still know how to ride a bike it's been that long. :o

What do cyclists do when they race and get a flat tire? By the time they fix it they lost a lot of time that can't be made up, from the posts above it looked like people had a ton of fun at Tulsa Tuff, I don't understand the fancy  expensive  bikes and all that cycling gear I don't know much about cycling at all. I guess that's why I stick to the sport of running.  :o

If it’s a criterium (circuit race) you change out the wheel in the designated “wheel pit” and you get your lap back.  If it’s a road race, they have wheel trucks that follow with racers spare wheels.  If you flat in a road race though, you are pretty much out of contention for the win.

OK that's what I figured.  Thanks.

You forgot to tell him about the pit crew: five bikini-clad women who do the wheel change. Actually, only two are assigned to the wheel while the other three pat (not rub) the rider with cold towels in an effort to keep his heart rate up. They're really talented mechanics.

It's a rough sport, I'm telling you.

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Sunday afternoon they had some bike race from Denver Colorado on TV, I watched part of it. They said some 43 year old cyclist did his last race there, at age 43 your over the hill in cycling so he gave it up, it's a sport for the young. I guess it can be hard on your legs and exausting- I perfer the sport of running over cycling- I never could get into bike riding. It was intresting to watch as they wheeled around downtown Denver, Colorado.

As for the Tulsa Tuff or other bike races it seems that a bike race is just for the big dogs and not for  the everyday run of the mill regular guy cyclist. You gotta have a $1,000.00 bike and fancy garb and be well trained to take part. Why not do a cycling event that regular bike riders can take part in without having a $1,000.00 bike. The sport of Running welcomes everyone be you a top dog fast runner or just a regular guy who jogs daily, anyone can sign up to do a 5K race or a half marathon race. Can anyone sign up to enter a biking event or do you have to meet certain qulifications?

Uh, there are also noncompetitive events during Tulsa Tough for those who don’t race and/or don’t own a $1000 bike.

The criteriums during Tulsa Tough and races like Tour de France, Tour of California or The Joe Martin Stage Race are a different category of races. Somebody else will have to comment on how eligibility for those work.

But for big road rides like those that happen during Tulsa Tough or last weekends Hotter N' Hell 100 in Texas anybody can enter much like The Tulsa Run. I can personally attest to having been passed by several people riding $200 mt. bikes while riding my $1000 road bike on such rides. Most big road rides have multiple lengths as well. 100 miles usually being the top (which I suppose is roughly equivalent to a marathon?) , down to 25 or sometimes less miles with lots of options in between (sort of like the 5ks and fun runs). See http://www.tulsatough.com/site/sections/16 for the distances and courses for Tulsa Tough.

I agree, riding has a higher barrier to entrance then running because of the gear...mainly a bike and helmet. But past the bike a lot of the gear is semi optional or optional depending on preference and desired comfort.

Overall I have found biking to be a welcoming group in my on and off recreational riding career. The vast majority of people riding in big recreational road rides probably match up with the people running in equivalent road races in terms of training, motivation, and level of seriousness.

You just buy a USAC annual license and you can start crit racing.  Heck you don’t even have to do that, you can buy a one day license the day of the event even if you have never raced before.  Joe Martin stage race is no different for Cat 5 racers (beginners class).  Then you accumulate points based on your finishes and you move up through the categories as your skills and finishes improve.  It goes up through Cat 1, then Pro.

One of the reasons I quit crit racing was the lack of any sort of requirement for bike handling skills.  As you know, there’s some pretty sketchy riders on the road.  Just imagine them hurtling into a corner at high speeds in the middle of a pack of other bikes.

As far as the big tour events like US Pro Challenge, TDF, Tour of California, etc. those are restricted to pro riders only, they are invitationals by team, and the pecking order on the teams is pretty much determined by the teams.