TULSA TOUGH - SHELLEY OLDS

I think I am going to call this my breakthrough weekend in the sport of cycling. I am so excited about this win, it was a long time coming and all the waiting has really made it that much sweeter.


Tulsa Tough has been one of my favorite races of the year since we started coming in 2006. We missed the racing in 2007, but made certain we would be present from then on. This year I brought some teammates with me, Cari Higgins and Australian guest-rider Rachel Neylan. It’s a good thing I had them too, because this year would be the most challenging yet. Instead of 30-40 women in the field like the two previous times, there were 90-100 this year. Lots of good teams brought lots of solid riders and there was no lack of U.S. premiere sprinters. To name a few were Laura Van Gilder, Jen McCrae, Rebecca Larsen, and Jen Purcell. On top of sprinters, you had tt specialists and breakaway artists such as Alison Powers, Anne Samplonius, Christina Ruiter, Kat Carroll, and Meredith Miller. I knew we had our work cut out for us.

I went into the race expecting lots of crashes, but I was still surprised when they happened right in front of me on more than one occasion the first night of racing. The first crit has so many tight turns that with a field as big as 90 women, crashes are definitely going to happen. Luckily, I stayed upright, but came close to going down hard just before the final two turns of the race.



Cari and I were lined up perfectly for the sprint and she was about to light it up before the last turns, but I had to lock it up in the straight away on the descent and start from 0 to get back up to speed and back on her wheel. By the time we reached the final two turns, I was sitting in 6th wheel and just too far back to do anything in the finale. I tried squeezing through on the far right, but got pinched out and had to redirect my sprint back towards the middle. I ended up 5th and was really bummed I didn’t get a shot at the win. But, we learned a lot as a team and were determined to make up for it on Day 2.


DAY 2
The next day the crit was much more open and less technical, so I thought the crashes would be less frequent. However, I was involved in a massive pile-up just minutes into the race when a few riders went down at the front of the peloton and took nearly half of the field out behind them. The race was neutralized for 20 minutes while riders received medical attention and bikes were made functional again. My left shifter was broken and would be useless the rest of the day, so I was forced to stay in the big ring. Not a problem for this particular course, it was a big ring day anyways.

When the race started again, I got to the front and stayed there for 3 laps, just trying to keep it safe while people settled back into the race and got rid of some of the nerves associated with crashing. As the race came to an end, it was all together for a field sprint. Rob tells me on the radio that Van Gilder is second wheel and it’s 1 lap to go. So, I used half my matches to get up and on her wheel, from as far back as 30th wheel going up the last climb. Once I was there, I knew I would have a shot at the sprint this time around. Van Gilder sensed the rush coming before the turn and jumped the Type I train to head for the line. Jen McCrae and I both grabbed her wheel and I didn’t hesitate to leave her wheel and open up my own sprint to the line. My jump gave me some separation from the chasing field and I opened up a gap on Laura and Jen as I headed towards the line in disbelief. As I looked over both shoulders, I saw no one was there and turned to offer up my first NRC victory salute to the crowd.


Day 3 is always the hardest at Tulsa, not only because the course is so challenging, but it takes place in the middle of the day in the heat and you’ve got two days of racing under your belt. In preparation for the Giro only a month away, I knew that having a strong day today was important. I started the race at the front with a call-up for being 2nd overall in the omnium. Thankfully. The hill is shortly after the start and I knew there would be chaos the first time up it. Unfortunately, my only teammate was not so lucky to get a call-up and she got stuck behind an early crash which left her chasing for a couple of laps before pulling the plug.


Now I am isolated in the field which is dwindling from lap to lap. It’s gone from about 60 starters to 30 survivors. As the laps ticked off the counter, I tried to stay as close to the front as possible but always in the draft, in case I needed to go across to any dangerous moves. They came and went and nothing stuck. With 3 to go, Stacey Marple of Colavita attacks in an attempt to repeat her solo breakaway win from last year. But, this year instead of riding away from the complacent field, we were chasing and she was detonating. She came back to us with about 1 to go. Olivia Dillon of Touchstone then launches her final attack and bid for the line and I am on it straight away. She takes me as far as the top of the hill before we are reabsorbed by the remainder of the field. I was now at the front and refused to lose position before the final turn. Alison Powers took the front with Laura Van Gilder just beside her. They both attempt to hit the corner first, but as the door opened on the inside for just a second, I jumped and took the short line into the finishing straight out in front of the rest.



Unfortunately, my radio had shut off about 3 laps ago and I still thought Stacey was off the front. I never saw her get caught and so when I crossed the line well ahead of the rest of the field, I didn’t raise my arms to celebrate. I thought I had taken the field sprint for second. It was so anti-climatical. I was bummed when I found out I was the winner and had also taken the overall omnium win with that victory. I’ll have to make up for it next time. Thanks to my teammates for being on the radio and cheering for me the whole race from the sidelines. It was cool sharing that experience with them. Thanks to Rob too. He’s so good at directing. Next up, Philly.