-By Brady Reed

Tulsa Tough is definitely the most fun weekend of the year. The atmosphere, the high level of racing, and the sheer number of spectators makes this race special. Tulsa consists of three races – Friday night in the Blue Dome District, Saturday in the Brady District, and Sunday in River Parks with the infamous Cry Baby Hill. Last year we had a split squad at this race with four of us racing in the Pro/1 category and 5 racing in the 1/2 category. This year we only had four riders (Omar, Shane, and Jonathan all cat 2s, and myself, a cat 1), so I decided to race the 1/2 race so that we could all race together. Tulsa was one of my main objectives of the year and I was hoping for an overall podium.

Day 1 - Blue Dome Criterium

Friday’s race in the Blue Dome District is a figure eight course with not a lot of room to move up. The course also tends to have a lot of crashes – last year in the Pro/1 they stopped and restarted our race twice. This year wasn’t much different with lots of crashes in all the categories. Nerves on the first night, a tight course, 100+ man fields, and some inexperienced riders (even in the pro race) makes for a rough combination. Friday’s race is also shorter than the others – 50-ish minutes. The tight course has a speed limit of sorts – you can only take the turns so fast without crashing so the field doesn’t have a huge advantage over the breakaway. Letting a breakaway get a gap of more than 15 seconds is risky and is really hard to bring back with strong riders in the break. Our team plan was to make it into the early break (which won the 1/2 race last year) or line up Omar for the sprint if the field was together. About 15 minutes in I was moving up in the field and a rider inside of me just decided not to turn on the first corner. He hooked handlebars with me and I tumbled down with a few riders. I jumped up, put my chain back on, and hobbled over to the pit, which was luckily only a few feet away. I was bleeding from my elbow and right knee but nothing major. I took a free lap and jumped back into the race on the next lap. Unfortunately, during the chaos, a small but very strong break had slipped away that lap (which ended up being the winning break). I attacked a few times to try to get things moving/make it to the break but was shut down quickly by other teams that had guys in the break (particularly RBM and DNA). I realized we weren’t going to catch the break with 10ish laps to go, so I tried to move Omar up. It got reaaaal sketch in the last couple of last with guys dive bombing some corners, so I chilled the last lap.

Power – 251 avg. 265 NP, Average speed – 28.6mph, time over 400w – 11 minutes

Day 2 - Tulsa Arts District Criterium

Our team was determined to improve on Friday night. The goal was again for either me to make it into a small breakaway or to set Omar up in the sprint at the end in the field was together. I went over the top of an attack over the hill and drove it until the finishing straight. I stayed away for about 10 minutes. This got my name and team name called out by the announcer multiple times but unfortunately no primes?? I was reeled in with about 7 laps to go and was pretty shot. Lots of pain for not much reward. After that I tried to help Omar as much as I could. He ended up in good position with half a lap to go but was swarmed into the last corner and ended up just outside the top 15. In hindsight I was a little too anxious and probably attacked too early and/or too hard for the situation. Oh well, lesson learned. It’s a fine line between attacking not hard enough and just dragging along the field behind you and attacking to hard and discouraging everyone to follow. The team rode much better though, with Shane getting a big prime/somehow learning how to race a crit overnight ;). Crits really are interesting in that the only way to get better is to just stick your nose into some big, high pressure crits. Sure, training helps, but learning to corner, conserve energy, figure out the positioning and timing of the race takes experience and time to learn. And it’s working! It’s super rewarding to see the improvement in our team from race to race and over the year in whole. One more chance for a result tomorrow on Cry Baby Hill.

Power – 279 avg. 311NP, Average speed – 27.1mph, Breakaway – 335w for 10 minutes

Day 3 - River Parks Criterium (Cry Baby Hill)

Cry Baby Hill is special. This race is probably the closest to Tour de France type crowds in American racing. 5,000+ spectators packed onto neighborhoods lawns having the best time that one can have in Oklahoma. If you haven’t experienced it, you need to go. Or at least look up the race on YouTube. SO FUN.

Generally the 1/2 race on Cry Baby is won by a small breakaway. Our plan was to make sure we didn’t miss any serious moves but also try to conserve energy as much as we could. Going up the hill lap after lap in 95 degree heat is very wearing, and usually half the field DNFs. We wanted to keep our matches for late attacks. The plan was to either set up Omar for the sprint if the group was big enough, or for me to go in a late break. Shane and Spangle would be the glue, covering attacks and going for primes if the opportunity arose.

A few minutes into the race I got into a small breakaway of about 8 guys but there weren’t too many big names in the group so I chilled at the back not taking any pulls. No need to waste energy this early. The group was brought back pretty quickly, with more attacks going every lap. Shane, Omar, and I made sure to stay near the front to cover big/dangerous moves. One rider managed to go solo and get a decent sized gap. I had missed seeing him when he attacked, so I wasn’t sure who it was, but with RBM and DNA still having all of their riders in the field I wasn’t too worried.

But the gap kept of getting larger and larger, finally up to a minute on the field. The announcer finally announced the name of the rider to the field, John Borstlemann. NOT good. John had been in a break with me at Joe Martin Stage Race earlier in the year, and had won the omnium at Collegiate Road Nationals in May, beating up on the top collegiate racers at altitude in Colorado despite being from the flatlands of Nebraska. Despite a strong rider being out front, I told Omar and Shane to not help with the chasing. Our team is smaller and the responsibility to bring John back wasn't for us. If the break didn’t come back and we ended up racing for 2nd so be it. Gotta have faith.

With about 7-8 laps to go I could sense the field was tired. The gap to John was down to 40 seconds but people weren’t driving it as hard over the top of the hill, mostly just riding hard to the top and then coasting down. Going into 5 to go (and the gap down to 25 seconds) I told Shane to attack as hard as possible on the hill and carry it over the top to try to split the field. And it worked! I hesitated for the second to let the gap go and then shot across to the group, which 6 very strong guys including Zach Carlson (Texas Roadhouse, won Day 2), Cade Bickmore (RBM, won Day 1), Tyler Cloutier (RBM and pro cyclocross rider), Preston Glace (Super Squadra and collegiate friend), and a DNA rider. Shane shredded himself for the next lap to build up our lead. The gap to the leader went from 25 seconds to 10 in less than a lap and the race was on. Shane pulled off the next time up Cry Baby and then it was up to me. Zach and Cade are both super fast sprinters, especially on the track, so I knew I had to get away off the front in order to beat them. Right after the downhill and heading into 3 to go, Cade and Zach looked at each other on the front and soft-pedaled. I hit them as hard as I could on the right side and no one followed. By the start of the hill I had bridged to the lone leader and went over the top of him. He somehow stayed on my wheel so I decided to work with him a bit, thinking that the group behind would have a good chance to catch us if we played any games. I did most of the work for the next couple of laps, deciding to let it come down to the sprint as John had been solo for most of the race and was probably cramping. With two corners to go I let him go on the front so I could be in the draft. The last corner came and I was ready to pounce, but took the corner a little slower than the past laps and John got a gap. I came back through the finishing straight but it wasn't long enough to come around. 2nd place! I was pretty bummed right at the finish but realized after a few minutes that it was still a super result, and probably the best result I’ve ever had. Hard to mad at that! We took a post race lap up the hill, celebrating with the fans and having a great time.

After the race I changed into a clean kit and came back to watch the Pro women’s and men’s races. So fun cheering on our friends in those races, and multiple people even recognized our title sponsor, Strike USA, on our kits. Strike does lots of business in Oklahoma and it was cool to meet some people who had done business with the company. We stayed an extra night in Tulsa for the afterparty, catching up with some friends from different teams and states. Best race of the year for sure! Can’t wait to bring a full squad to the P/1 race next year!

Power – 260 average, 322NP, Average speed – 24.5 mph, 370 average power for last 6 minutes/3 laps

Omar leading the charge over Cry Baby Hill with Spangle and me tucked in close behind

Brady is a graduate student at Texas A&M University studying Mechanical Engineering. His is currently interning at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee. Brady co-manages the team and is also involved with the cycling team at Texas A&M. His favorite Taylor Swift song is “22” and likes to read and watch baseball (Go Mariners!) and football (Go Seahawks!) in his spare time.