[Photos Biff Stephens]

This past weekend, the City Title Cycling Team traveled to Tulsa for the #FullGas Crit and Road Race. The weekend opened with the crit, a long 2.6-mile hilly course on rough pavement next to Keystone Lake. It was a warm, sunny day with the wind blowing in off the lake.

There wasn’t any time wasted in our 75-minute race, as Johnny Purvis (DNA) attacked right away. Ben Gramling went to the front of the peloton and brought the gap down, then Brendan Housler (DNA) attacked and got away solo. Knowing he has the power to stay away for a while I decided to bridge across to him solo. At the end of the first lap, Evan Bybee (Holowesko-Citadel), and Purvis joined us, and our 4-man breakaway was formed. We worked together well for about 45 minutes, building up a lead of nearly 2 minutes over the main field. Eventually, though, the attacks started to come. Nobody was able to escape until Housler finally got away with just over 3 laps to go. I managed to get away from the other two riders in the breakaway and join Housler in the lead. This set up what was essentially an individual pursuit between Bybee and me with the two DNA riders able to use their tactical advantage to sit on our respective wheels. In the end, we built a large enough gap over the two chasers that we could afford to lose some speed as we tried to position ourselves for the sprint. I got on Housler’s wheel and forced him to lead out the sprint, but it was just a formality as Housler easily distanced me to cross the line first. I came across second and Bybee dropped Purvis to claim the final spot on the podium.

The Numbers
Distance: 33 miles
Avg. Speed: 25.5 mph
Elevation: 2162 ft
Avg. Power: 311w
Total Energy: 1420 kj

Sunday was the Tall Chief Road Race, and much colder temperatures along with it. The race started with temperatures just above 40, a cold wind out of the north, clouds that threatened to unload rain at any moment. In the end, we stayed dry for the most part, and it didn’t take long for the racing to warm us up. The course is one of my favorites, and has a little bit of everything: some exposed crosswind sections, rolling hills, sectors of awful pavement (and this year a 1/3-mile gravel sector), and a quarter-mile climb of 8% grade to the finish. The P/1/2 race featured 3 laps of the 20-mile course.

The early breakaway formed over the rolling hills, as Purvis and Ryan Dupree (Soundpony) went clear of the field. They never got much of a lead, as the Throwback Racing Team kept the gap manageable. On the climb at the end of the first lap Housler pushed the pace and a selection formed. I had been out of position coming into the climb and had to work hard in order to be the last man to get across the gap. Bybee, Cesar Serna (OBP), and Jordan Miller (Olathe Subaru) had also made the break. My teammate Kevin Solomon was there as well, but unfortunately flatted almost as soon as the break had formed. We quickly caught the two leaders and then worked throughout the second lap to stay ahead of the peloton. Some attacks cam early in the third lap, but nothing was able to stick. Once we turned north with about 10 miles to go, we were well out of sight from the main field. The group had dwindled down to just Purvis, Housler, Bybee, Serna, and me. Attack after attack went, and every one of them felt like it might be the last one that I would be able to respond to. Eventually, Purvis was the first one to be dropped, then, with about 4 miles to go, Bybee put in an attack that temporarily distanced Housler, but he was able to rejoin Bybee, Serna, and me with just under 3 miles to go. With 2 miles to go, the pace had slowed as we sized each other up in anticipation of the finish. I didn’t like my chances in a sprint (even uphill) against this group, so I attacked hoping to go solo to the line. I was able to open up a decent gap and made the turn onto the final climb with a 7-second advantage over Housler and Serna. I was hoping this was a big enough advantage, but when I saw Serna shooting up the hill behind me, I knew it would be tough to hold him off. I kept waiting for the finish line to appear around the gradual left-hand bend in the road, but once it did he was already on my wheel. For a second I thought he had run out of gas and I might still have a chance, but with a few more powerful pedal strokes he pushed past me for the win as I settled for my second runner-up placing of the weekend, and one step down on the podium from last year.

The Numbers
Distance: 59 miles
Avg. Speed: 23.9 mph
Elevation: 2687 ft
Avg. Power: 279w
Total Energy: 2113 kj

As usual, the City Title Cycling Team was riding strong all weekend. Of course, we couldn’t do it without our great sponsors at City Title & Closing, Smithfield, Shoulder Center of Arkansas, CLIF Bar, Custom Electronics, and the awesome folks at The Bike Route. Once again Tulsa Wheelmen put on a great weekend of racing that I highly recommend checking out if you haven’t done it.