Tour de Fort Sill by Claire (CS Rep)
by Claire Rutherford
Team Chafing the Dream rode in the second annual Tour de Fort Sill on Saturday, September 25 and we had a blast! This event, put on by the US Army MWR, is one of the many activities the organization offers to maintain the morale, welfare, and recreation on bases. The three route options were 27, 37, and 48 miles all entirely on base starting from the Lake Elmer Thomas Recreation Area. This lake separates the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge from base and the whole area is absolutely a hidden gem! I mostly ride on base or in the Wichita’s and I regularly see deer, elk, and bison here with the occasional tarantula! Rarely a dull ride here.
One of the teams we got to ride and chat with!
Sunrise as the ride started
Compared to my last ride, the Hotter’n Hell Hundred, this 48 miler was a walk in the park. Other than distance, the biggest difference was the temperature. Our challenge for this ride was starting during the morning chill before the sun came up and finishing midmorning with full sun and the Oklahoma heat. Now that it is officially fall and starting to cool down to 50 degrees at night here, it’s time to pull out the layering options!
Favorite Layers
My favorite layer is the Pearl Izumi ELITE Escape Convertible Jacket; a wind shell and water repellent jacket with removable sleeves to convert into a vest and easy pockets for packing down. This jacket just about does it all! I needed this for the first 20 miles or so until the sun was up and getting hot. Then I struggled to get it off and into the back pocket of my kit; the lesson I learned? I need to work on shedding layers and stowing them in my pockets while riding in a group going over 20mph.
We rode in the lead pack for the entire ride and finished right over 2 hours and 15 minutes for an average of 21.3 mph. This was a fun chance for us to practice some team tactics and put in some moves to drop the group down to only four riders by the finish. This was also the perfect chance for me to put my new Vittoria Rubino Pro tires to the test.
These tires are “designed for intensive training and equally suitable for racing events”, so right up my alley. It took four hands, two tire levers, and a few curse words to get them on - but now they’re on and working great! After four solid training rides and a few easy rides leading into the Tour de Fort Sill, I can confidently say my average speed has increased about 1.5-2 mph. I’m sold!
Even still, I never ride without my Garmin Varia Radar. It is a game changer and I highly recommend it for anyone riding on the road. It picks up vehicles coming from behind up to 153 yds away and displays it as a moving dot on my Edge 530, or any Edge computer, compatible smartphone, or Garmin wearable or display unit. Pretty much every cyclist I talk to has at least a few, if not several, stories of close calls with cars and reckless drivers. My radar has become a crucial part of my kit, just like my helmet or sunglasses.
Compared to my training for the century in August, I’ve backed off quite a bit by taking out a few rides a week and shifting from stricter workouts to ‘joy rides’ as I like to call them. After all, I ride because I love to! While exploring new roads on base, I’m constantly on the lookout for new routes and good roads for cyclists. Fort Sill, and military bases in general, offer tons of open roads with low traffic making it the perfect place for this ride.
the cycling community
The best thing about the Tour de Fort Sill was the chance to connect with more riders, besides seeing a tarantula at the finish! I often ride alone during the week and weekend group rides or races remind me how special the cycling community is; and this feeling from a good ride doesn’t stop when you get off the bike. Afterwards we got to chat with other riders and share a post-ride snack of Kate’s Real Food bars. These are the special moments that Team Chafing the Dream wants to share with riders wherever we are and anyone interested in cycling.
The tarantula that greeted us at the finish - fairly common here in SW Oklahoma!