Crit season has come and gone. I know there are still a lot of crits to be raced, but for me it ends with Tulsa Tough weekend. I really enjoy racing crits, although I never make big plans around them as I never know how motivated I’ll be to actually jump in and race. I didn’t decide to race the OKC Pro-Am until the last minute, and had zero intentions of racing Tulsa Tough. What a mistake that would’ve been!
PRO-AM
I went to OKC with no real expectations. Top 5 or something would’ve been good, obviously a win is always nice, but I didn’t really know where I would fit in given it was my second crit of the year and there were a lot of new faces. I used my knowledge of these courses and where the moves had to happen to put myself in the right spot both days I raced (Fri./Sun.) Friday I came in the last turn third wheel, perfect setup, but the guy in front of me clipped his pedal causing me to hesitate just enough to lose my momentum. I still had an ok sprint and ended up 4th. Sunday was a better course for me, the more technical the better. I played this one smart, and other than one guy sneaking away with 2 to go, it setup as perfect as it could for me. My teammate Cailean kept it strung out to fend off attacks leaving me third wheel going into the last lap. I made my move where I had planned to and took the field sprint for second. 
TULSA TOUGH
My racing in OKC got me thinking I wanted to now race TT. I was riding well so didn’t wanna waste my fitness, but then again TT is another animal with the massive fields. You can be super strong and make a couple tactical errors and you’re out the back, there’s just too much power in a 130 rider field. My teammate Colt reached out to offer his entry for Sunday, (this race sells out in January for the 1/2 race and is really difficult to get into last minute) and I secured a Friday night spot as well from a racer in Arkansas that couldn’t make it. Having never raced the Friday night course, I reached out to teammate Bryan Duvall for tips on it (Bryan has won the race before so knows how it plays out). His words were super helpful and although I missed the winning break, I was really happy with 3rd in the field sprint to get 7th. I’ve never been close to a top 10 at TT so a solid start for the weekend. Once again Cailean put in some big efforts to help keep the field from swarming late in the race. I skipped Saturday as it was an hour earlier than normal making it impossible to get there on time after work. It was pretty hot though so I wasn’t that bummed 😜.
CRY BABY HILL
This is one of the biggest crits in the US, and it’s weird to me that it’s a 15min bike ride down Riverparks from my house. I’ve always raced this race to “stay in” or finish. After Friday night, that wasn’t the goal. I text the fellas on Sunday morning and told them we were racing to win and there was no reason we couldn’t. I started in the very back, so I went pretty hard the first 3 laps and moved into the top 15. The hill is hard no matter where you’re sitting but other parts of the course are more taxing the farther back you are. The hill was insane as always, but the added barriers made it much more consistent and safer feeling. The crowd is super motivating every time through, there’s just so much energy. Add to that the cheers all around the rest of the course for the Soundpony riders, and it kept us wanting to fight regardless of the pain. Guess who absolutely buried himself at the end to put me in place to finish off the race? Yep, Cailean again! When I passed him and saw he was done, I knew I had better finish it off to make his effort worth it. We come through and get 1 to go. There’s 3 guys up the road I believe. Someone jumps to chase through Start/Finish and I go with him. Full gas up the hill, the crowd is deafening, we catch the 3 at the top. I had one choice here as they slowed and looked at each other, GO! If I slowed the field would swarm and it would be over. I attacked over the top, tried to breathe for a second, then rounded the corner to Galveston and stood up and attacked with all I had again. I hit the decent down to Riverside in first. I carried a little too much speed through the turn, nearly had to bank off the curb, which caused the very slightest delay in my jump to sprint. I gave all I had but after that full lap effort I didn’t have enough to finish it off. A bike throw at the line secured third. A great result that I’m super proud of, but it always stings being oh so close! 
Ryan Currie took the win, which is still pretty cool to have 2 Oklahoma racers on the podium with this type of national competition. The payoff is definitely the victory lap up CBH after the race. It’s bananas up there and when you’re done racing you can really take it all in. Thanks Tulsa for the support, what a wild experience! Too soon to know if I’ll race crits next year or not 😂😂, but for now it’s Cyclocross season.
Thanks James Gann for the finish sequence 📸
Chris drummond 