Day 13 - Guymon, OK to Springfield, CO

Yet another HARD HARD HARD day. It started out with 60 miles of STIFF headwind again as we headed West across the Oklahoma Panhandle. We averaged about 7-9 mph for a large segment of time.

After a few stops, Carolina joined me and the both of us rode to together. We stopped SEVERAL times to take pictures! It was so much fun! We stopped by a wheat field, a wheat demonstration, and a train!

Then we arrived at the next rest stop, which was at La Mesa Restaurant in Boise City, OK. Talk about a little town with a lot of love! The restaurant fed the WHOLE TEAM burgers, fries, and drinks! It was the MOST delicious burgers and fries I had ever had! I love the Posse East burgers and fries in Austin, but this one took the cake!

Soon after, Greg marked up the competitors for the border race. It was me. Carolina. Brian. Jeff. We were numbered, triathlete style. Number on the arm and quad. Age on the back calf. It was race time!

I decided to try a new strategy...I mixed in my water bottle Pepsi & an energy gel that was donated to us by Bicycle Alley in Oklahoma City.

We waited for riders to clear out and theen we were off for the race!

We rode against the wind for a few miles and then turned onto a highway. The wind was now at our backs! We took off from 7 or 8 mph to a 25 mph roll! We rode for about a mile and pace lined...when I saw an opening. I skyrocketed out of the line and was off on my own! Flying down the highway at a constant 28 mph. As the terrain began to change, we saw rolling hills carving into the Oklahoman ground. It was a drastic change from the flat headwinds. It was now beautifully paved, rolling roads, with a tail wind! I easily upped my pace to about 30-35 mph and then when the hills came...I averaged about 40 mph for some stretches.

I kept looking back to see where the other riders were, but saw that they stayed in their pace line. Perhaps they thought I was going to get tired? Well I didn't!

We had decided to do a 20 mile race, which means....20 mile sprint! As I zoomed by the other riders, they yelled and cheered me on! I remember about 15 miles in, I looked back and saw this little black dot getting closer and closer to me. Everytime I looked back, it seemed to get closer..

At the last hill, Jeff Boes climbed right passed me. I got out of the saddle and pedaled hard to the top. As we coasted on the top of the hill and drank from our water bottles, the SAG vehicle drove by and Ben Baron was yelling at us, 4 more miles! And spraying water at us from a bottle. I yelled out, "4 MORE MILES??!?!?!"

Then I looked up ahead and saw the "Welcome to Colorful Colorado" sign and I immediately sprinted! Jeff Boes saw me, mid-drink, from his water bottle. And as the gap increased between us, he yelled out in disbelief.

The SAG drivers honestly thought there were 4 more miles, but were totally wrong.

We waited at the finish for Brian and Carolina. 1st place = me. 2nd = Jeff. 3rd = Brian. 4th = Carolina.

The rest of the team joined up with us, we took pictures and were back on the road. Sarmed joined me for the last stretch to the final rest stop. We were averaging about 30 mph the whole way with a tail wind! We eventually went to 1 mile pulls where one person would ride for a mile and the other would draft for that mile. Then we switched. We were going about .01 miles a second. Which means....we were covering a mile in about a minute and a half! ON BIKE!!!! Fast!

Then as we came into Springfield, we took pictures and played a playground before heading to the school. When we got there, we cleaned up and showered and watched the sun set.

After dinner, I stayed up to cook hamburger patties for the team! Since the next day was my day for SAG duty, I marinated and seasoned the ground beef for burgers. I stayed up cooking the patties til 1 am and passed out.

I had to be up at 4:30 to prepare breakfast and for all my SAG duties...

Something I've learned:

You don't get to sleep much during Texas 4000. It's 12:00 am, Monday, June 22nd...and I'm still awake to blog :)

Here's the video blog I made for the day:

Again, sorry for all the wind....

Day 13 - Guymon, OK to Springfield, CO from Thaison Nguyen on Vimeo.

Wheat fields:

carolina:

me:

both:

Abandoned train:

carolina:

me:

La Mesa burger and fries:

The border racers:

Team picture at the border:

Beautiful sunset: