Freewheel

The Oklahoma Freewheel has announced their 2013 route with a return to eastern Oklahoma after a couple of years further west.  This year will start in Idabel and finish in Joplin, MO after crossing some scenic and a bit hilly terrain.  Total mileage is between 458-509 miles depending on the optional routes.

Route Breakdown

Day 0, June 8: Idabel-TX Border      41 miles

Day 1, June 9: Idabel-Antlers              68 miles

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The Oklahoma Freewheel has announced the registration fees for this year’s ride which will start at $295 for an adult (from $175 last year) and $195 for riders under 24 (up from $100 for riders under 15 last year).  They list the benefits for the price increases as follows:

One of our first steps is to make FreeWheel THE premier bicycle tour in the country. The better our event and the more people we can bring to our host communities, the more everyone wins. A key way to do this is through awarding grants to our host communities to make their towns more bicycle friendly so they can continue to attract cyclists long after our ride in June is over. Based on your feedback we are also making some big improvements to FreeWheel 2013. Here are some of the changes you will see:

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The last day started off beautifully. The weather was predicted to be clear with a strong south tailwind with storms moving in for the afternoon but long after I would have gotten into South Haven. With Grace being so kind as to pack up camp, I was out on the road by 6:30 and was setting a good pace. However, it wasn’t long into the morning until it quickly became clear that the weather people had gotten their timing wrong.

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Today was Flag Day so it was only appropriate that I deck out the bicycle as much as possible. However, today was also the day of Freewheel that I had kind of been dreading all along, and like most things that we dread, it wasn’t nearly as bad as I had thought. However, the ride certainly was hilly and hard, evidenced by my lack of photos for the day. However, they were mostly rollers which really aren’t that bad once you get your rhythm setup properly.

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If I had to choose one word to describe today’s ride, it would definitely be flat. However, with a crosswind, it still wasn’t exactly an easy ride. However I still really enjoyed it and it was without any mechanical difficulties. The high point of the ride was the spontaneous creation of an 30 person paceline made up of mostly Oklahoma Bicycle Society members. I don’t ride in pacelines very often, but when I can find one I can keep up with, I will certainly join in. We kept up a good pace for about 10 miles and while it certainly took a bunch of energy out of me, I had a blast doing it.

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Today was the perfect day for everything to go wrong. Traditionally, the third day of Freewheel is Crazy Day where riders don the silliest costumes they can, if you don’t consider our normal spandex wear as silly. :) After two years of failed costume attempts, I had high hopes for this year. I was planning to cover my bike with pinwheels and go as an out of work wind farm with a cardboard sign reading, “Will generate for food.” Unfortunately, my pinwheels hadn’t survived the first two days well and I barely made it out of towns before one-by-one the heads of the pinwheels started flying off and I just didn’t think I had the time to perform the necessary repairs.

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Today was much shorter and flatter than the previous day, but for some reason it was much more tiring. Maybe it was because it was a route that had been extended from about a 28 mile direct route out to a 63 mile scenic one. For some reason my transportation mind can’t always happily accept the long route. However, it was a nice ride through some rolling hills and some pretty sights.

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Up really early to drive back to Frederick one last time before heading back out towards Elgin. It started out nice and flat with a great tailwind, but we all knew that once we got into the Wichita Mountains, things would get tougher. However, the ride in was beautiful with the prairie, wild flowers and the mountains all around.

Tonight in Tulsa, this year’s Oklahoma Freewheel route was announced and what an exciting route it looks like it will be.  The route will start in the southwest quadrant of the state, and finish in the Northeast quadrant just across the border in Kansas.  The ride will take place on June 9th through the 16th.  Mileage pretty consistent but there are some long days, plus there are two bonus rides including a century ride and a ride to the top of Mount Scott.

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After being FreeWheel Director for six years, Ellen Proctor has stepped down and Joy Hancock has been appointed as the new Director:

The Board of the annual cross-state bicycle tour, Oklahoma FreeWheel, is proud to announce that Joy Hancock has been appointed Director, starting October 2011.

Joy, 31, brings a history of event and volunteer management and is an avid cyclist, having competed in a number of triathlon and cycling events, including FreeWheel in 2008 and 2009. Her involvement in Freewheel has gone beyond just riding - she has also given talks at FreeWheel seminars on how to train for this cross-state bicycle tour.

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