Mid South Report: The Race: Part 2

The view from the oasis stop

 Note: There will be no FN&V this week as I am still writing up the Mid-South experience. The FN&V will return next Friday!

Ben had promised that this oasis stop would be one of the highlights of my trip down to Mid-South,, and he was not wrong about that! The guys had a plan for roadside charcuterie and Old Fashioneds made with whiskey, bitters, and a cherry with ice! 

Ben or Justin, I cannot remember which it was, sat the whiskey bottle in plain sight and we began cheering on riders. The responses were entertaining, to say the least. 

Most would smile, nod or wave in recognition of us, and some would yelp, cheer back, or say hello. But the ones who were trying to look serious, give us no response, and all the while look as though they were jealous, were our favorites. Some folks even admitted that it looked as though we were "doing it the right way", yet they pedaled on anyway? Weird!

Ben declared that we had "won the event" by doing things in fun mode, and we were packed up and gone again within an hour, maybe more. Next stop, the Salsa Chaise lounge! I was really looking forward to getting my picture made in the Chaise Lounge. 

Justin Michaels looks on as our first partaker of whiskey fumbles a bit!

This woman brought her cat in a trailer along for the 50 miler.

During the route to the lake and the Salsa Chaise Lounge I managed to get ahead of the guys again and I was feeling pretty strong once more. The day was going great so far and the Honeman Flyer was holding up well. Only thing was that the other bottle cage came loose at one point and I had to re-tighten it as well. But besides that, and a slightly slipping seat post from the really rough terrain, I was doing great. 

The Salsa stop at Lake McMurtry.

The road leading away from the single track section at Lake McMurtry.

I saw Mike Reimer and he had a Chesire cat grin on as I rode by. I got in the couch and held the bike with one hand, smiled, and that was that. I was off. By the time I cleared the couch here came Ben and the others rolling up. They got their pictures done and we then all rolled out together to the ......singletrack? 

Now, I had no idea I would be required to ride about a mile of single track on a drop barred single speed with 42mm tires, but that's what was expected. I had no time to consider the ramifications as we were heading in and it was game on.

I ended up getting separated from the guys again when I caught an inexperienced rider sitting at the apex of a steep uphill corner and I lost my momentum. That was the only time I had to put a foot down though and otherwise I cleaned the entire section without dabbing or having a pedal strike. The last thing was tricky to avoid as I have a 76mm bottom bracket drop which puts the bottom bracket in the weeds a bit and makes the bike ripe for a strike, but nope! No such thing!

I caught up with the guys at this roadside rest stop.

The final miles roll by......

I ended up catching the guys at a corner where they were sitting alongside the road in some luscious green grass. There were now only about ten miles to go, and this ride would be over. I have to say, I wasn't doing badly, even though this was my longest ride of 2024, and I hadn't been on this bike for that long before either. 

The experience was awesome. I was stoked to have ridden Oklahoma roads now and especially the Mid-South, even though I wasn't "official", (yes, Bobby is aware I did this), and I did not receive a time or record of it in their books. But no one cares about that anyway.... 

I wasn't going to do this, but Bobby was waiting for me, so.....

In fact, all along I had planned on bailing out a block or two before the official finish and coming back around on the back streets to reconnect with the guys who had paid and earned their "Bobby Hug". But remember what Bobby said to me earlier? That he was so looking forward to giving me a finish line hug? Well, I could not take away his hope in that, so I rode on in like everyone else did. 

Of course, Bobby Wintle went nuts, as he does, and gave me a very special hug. He said into my ear, "Thank you so much for teaching us how to do this." That really meant a lot to me. I'll never forget that as long as I can remember stuff. 

Then Bobby made us wait as he hugged about ten more finishers. Then he demanded we stand next to the tall bike and get our picture made with him and the Northfield Crew. Then he sped off like a whirling dervish and was gone again. 

Erik Mathy rode this King Fabrications bike belonging to Li King on the 100 mile route.

My bike right after the ride.

Then there was a looooong hang in an alley by the finish line. People came by that were new to me, but had known Ben and crew from previous Mid-South events, and I had a chance to get to know them as well. I saw a few folks that I knew that finished. Rob Evans and Kerry Moyer to name a couple. I saw Derek Henry, a Trans Iowa vet, out on course too. It was a great day on the bike and now it was time to soak it all in at the finish. 

I got to chat again with Li King, who had a sprint finish to win the non-binary category for Mid-South this year. Li actually rode my bike and was pretty impressed with how it came out after all. 

Later we went back to the Air BnB to get showered and cleaned up. A return ride to downtown was in order and we were thinking about eating and catching the DFL rider, the last person to finish, which Mid-South makes a big deal over. 

We ended up eating out at Louie's downtown and then heading back to catch some sleep. All of us were too tuckered out to stay up for the DFL, so we went back and had a nice, long sleep until Sunday morning and our last full day in Stillwater. 

Next: The After-Party