2008 Corinth Cycling Club Mt. Scott Weekend Camp
It Huffed, and It Puffed and almost blew our Lodge down
by Scottie Franklin
As we have all come to know at various points of our lives few things
in life are perfect. Farmers usually don't have enough rain or their
fields are flooded, you just snagged a great deal on plane tickets to
New York for a family vacation, with a 3 hour layover in Sheboygan.
And as far as the weather was concerned for the 2nd Annual
Mt. Scott Cycling Camp, form held true.
A total of 19 attendees including official Sag Wagon Managers
Deb Franklin and Emory Brincks and camp mascot Bandit took
part in the Mt. Scott weekend. The group departed on Friday
afternoon and convened at Toscani's Italian Restaurant in
Wichita Falls on the way north to Medicine Park, Oklahoma. Due
to the media attention and public demands for his time, Big Steamer
arrived later in the evening and enjoyed a private meal along with
Roland in the restaurant's private bar area. The rest of the group
broke bread together and devoured huge portions of Italian food
as they loaded up on carbs preparing for the 100 mile ride the next day.
The 45-minute drive from Wichita Falls to the Lodge in
Medicine Park was uneventful. Upon arrival, the campers were
greeted with deep blue skies, light winds and temperatures in the
lower 70's. Weather forecasts for Saturday were calling for a high
of 70 degrees and winds from the north at 10 - 15mph. A forecast
like that in early May is what one might call "Perfect".
The Mt. Scott campers settled in, and lights were out at 10:00pm
sharp in the lodge on Friday night. At the stroke of midnight, one
of the sounds that every cyclist fears filtered through the cabin---wind.
Howling outside the lodge, shaking tree limbs, rattling the roof and
snaking through the windows and under the doors, a late spring
cold front had dropped through the Wichita Mountains . The wind
permeated through the walls, ricocheted around the corners and
swept over the sleeping cyclists inside. The campers inside tossed
and turned, worried that the forecast of perfect weather might have
been premature.
When morning came, little had changed outside except for the temperature,
which had dropped to around 45 degrees. The wind was blowing
20 - 25mph and gusting even higher as tree branches bent, straining
to hold on to their new leaves. But it was sunny and heat would not
be a factor on this day. Clearly this was going to be an epic ride.
Back inside the cabin, a breakfast of bread, bagels, and bananas
was being devoured as the cyclists swarmed around a jar of Nutella
to indulge in its magical qualities. After breakfast, the pre ride ritual
that makes us all a cyclist began. Water bottles were filled, Cliff bars
and gels were tucked away into jerseys and tires were pumped to their
appropriate PSI. Concoctions of all sorts were measured and mixed as
riders were looking for just that extra edge that might help them get to
the top of Mt. Scott.
As the time to ride drew near, the Yellow Train gathered outside
for a group photo and some last minute ride information. At about
this same time, everyone noticed that The Professor was busy
changing a flat tire. Reports are still sketchy, but eyewitness
accounts seem to point to the fact that he somehow suffered a pinch
flat in the lodge or perhaps while rolling his bike to the start line.
Either way, flats at mile 0 are always ominous. The Professor and
The Mexican Professor quickly got the flat changed and the group
photo was taken. And then it was time to ride...no wait. For some
reason Hollywood wanted to have his photo taken in his tennis shoes
so he had to run back into the Lodge and put on his pearly white
cycling shoes. And finally we were off.
The route that was to be conquered on this day has been officially
named 'Bad Mountain Rising' by the Corinth Cycling Club.
The route has been aptly named as riders are able to view the
Mt. Scott climb looming as they circle it like buzzards circling
a varmint. The route is a total of 100 miles and was planned
using every means necessary: some roads from the 2007 trip,
emails to local town officials, the Lawton Constitution,
The Oklahoma House of Representatives website, and finally,
email exchanges with the Fish and Wildlife Department.
So would all the research and planning pay off?
After getting to enjoy a 30mph tailwind for all of 45 seconds,
the Yellow Train turned east onto Hwy 49. Hwy 49 runs
east/west and splits the refuge in two. The peloton of 17 riders
crossed the first cattle guard of the day (buffalo and longhorn cattle run free in the refuge)
and couldn't help but notice the Beast that is Mt. Scott on
the horizon. The first two miles of the route are
mostly uphill and take riders directly towards Mt. Scott. The
looming mountain can make your legs feel a little weaker than
they might normally be. For now, the mountain would have
to wait as they were 88 miles left to cover first.
The pavement of Hwy 49 is perfect for cycling with a nice large shoulder.
It offers up plenty of rolling hills for about 15 miles as it twists and turns
along the ride. On either side, majestic views of mountains and rocky hills
extend as far as the eye can see. The Yellow Train was now boring into
the aforementioned howling winds. At times it was a headwind, but mainly
it was a cross wind. At some points it was necessary to lean your
bike into the wind to keep it upright. On we pedaled.
After crossing through Prairie Dog Village (yes Alex saw them this year)
we turned south onto Indiahoma road. This road was added to the route
for 2008 and what a road it is. The first five miles are almost like being
on a roller coaster as the perfect asphalt twists and turns and drops and
rises through the rocky forest. The scenery was absolutely gorgeous even
if we were flying along at 30mph. After another couple of miles the forest
and foothills gave way to the prairie and we continued south. The tailwind
had turned from foe to friend and like a newly discovered tax loophole, we
started taking advantage of it. The next 10 miles the speed rarely dropped
below 30mph. The road was flat, the pavement perfect and it felt like we
were being pulled towards the town of Indiahoma.
Meanwhile, as the Peloton was rocketing along, the Sag Wagon had missed
a turn and was having some 'route management' issues. The Sag Wagon
had turned left a few miles too soon and was in a town named Cache.
After some helpful advice from a Cache local, the Sag Wagon was back
on track speeding towards the first rendezvous point.
Not to be outdone, Slammin Sammy and Danimal were having some of their
own issues that were relegating them to a slower pace. Sam was still trying
to recover from a weightlifting injury sustained just days before that was
causing some knee pain. Dan was unable to shift into his small ring.
That meant he would be riding the entire route in his big chain ring. A well oiled
machine they were not. But as my junior high school coach used
to say "It ain't how big the dog is, it's how big the fight is in the dog".
And these dogs had plenty of fight left in them. Unfortunately, what they really
needed was a Seeing Eye dog as they missed the turn north onto Hwy 54.
The dynamic duo continued due west and ended up in a town called Snyder.
Although not a big town, Snyder has an interesting past. In 1905,
President Theodore Roosevelt visited Oklahoma for a wolf hunt that took place
only 15 miles or so from Snyder. Roosevelt came to observe one of Oklahoma 's
early legends, "Catch 'em Alive" Jack Abernathy, capture wolves with his bare hands.
Abernathy, an Oklahoma strip land rusher, carried out this feat of courage and
daring by riding down prairie wolves on horseback, leaping onto their backs at
a full gallop, bulldog style, and then wrestling them to earth barehanded.
There were no wolves to chase down on this day however, only a SAG wagon
on the loose. After touching base with SAG headquarters, Danimal
and Sammy were back on track.
As the riders made the turn north onto Hwy 54, the peloton was split
into two groups. The large group upfront contained Alex, Jack, Scottie,
Tim, Roland, Rick, Francisco, Jeff, Ted, Matt, Bill, Jimmy and Sean.
The second group on the road was made up of Dan and Sam.
Of course turning north meant one thing, a headwind.
The riders would now be riding into a sustained 20mph headwind for the
next 17miles. After three or so miles on 54, the peloton was greeted
by the official Sag Wagon. The group was just under 40 miles into the
100 mile route, but refreshments were already needed. Clothing was
shed, bottles refilled and sweet snacks gobbled down.
Something rather odd happened during this stop...something you would only
believe if you were lucky enough to have been a part of it.
It started innocently enough as the Professor announced rather loudly
and quite forcefully that he had lost his helmet. "Did someone take
my helmet?" he grumbled. At first, the other riders scanned the
ground around the SAG vehicle hoping to provide immediate
gratification to Alex with a quick find of his helmet. As this was
taking place, many of those same riders began to notice that Alex
was already holding a helmet in his hands. "Actually this is a nice
helmet though," he continued. "Maybe I should keep this one anyway".
It was about this time that many others remembered some of the exploits of the
Professor last year in Mt. Scott from missing the prairie dogs, forgetting
his cycling shoes, burning student papers...well, you get the idea.
Almost immediately, the stunned crowd already knew, Alex was
holding his helmet. The very helmet he was searching for.
Cue the Twilight Zone theme music. After the roar of laughter had
died down, it was time to press on.
The peloton was back on the road and the "March of the Penguins" so aptly
described by Ted, continued. The pot of gold at the end of Hwy 54 was a
ghost town named Cooperton and a turn east out of the headwind.
Halfway to Cooperton and a few attempts at a rotating paceline were
failing...miserably. There were a number of reasons for this, but fatigue
was certainly a contributing factor. At about the same time, Francisco
decided to up the pace and took several riders with him.
There were now three groups on the road.
The newly formed second group on the road contained Jimmy, Scottie,
Jeff and Matt. It was still eight or so miles to Cooperton and the
wind was beginning to take its toll. It was about this moment that
Jeff uttered the words you never want to hear if you are 49 miles
into a 100 mile long ride out in the middle of quite literally 'nowhere'.
He simply said "I'm done" and began to drift slowly off the back
of the pack like a man overboard at sea. The Boss quickly went
into crisis management mode. He asked Matt
(who was on the front at the time) to slow the pace down a notch.
Next, he organized a paceline with the person in front taking pulls
of 30 seconds to one minute and then dropping quickly to
the back. That might not sound like much, but in a group of four
that is everything. Slowly but surely Jeff got his mojo back and
before long, was even taking turns on the front. The group rolled
proudly through Cooperton and made the easterly turn onto Hwy 19.
In keeping with the nothing's ever perfect theme, after the turn
the headwind was now a distant memory but a new problem had
surfaced - chip seal. As far a chip seal goes, we have all ridden
on much worse, but it didn't give the legs much of a break.
The
chip seal continued for the next 10 miles. It
turns out that
would be the only chip seal
on the entire 100 mile route - a mere
10% of our total ride. Hotter n Hell officials would kill for our
road to chip seal ratio.
With the chipseal in the rear view mirror, the miles between
62 and 72 were mostly uneventful. The road was nice with some
rolling hills and one long sustained climb just after
Hwy 19 and 58 merged. Over the top of the incline,
the groups descended down to the Hwy 58 junction. Hwy 58
between the town of Boone and Lake Lawtonka
is the type of road that most cyclists dream about. It slowly drops
back down towards the lake and the pavement is perfect asphalt.
The shoulder is wide and smoother than a baby's behind. The tailwind
just added to the delight and speeds were 28 - 32 mph all
the way back to the Mt. Scott foothills.
The riders were 82 miles into the route now as they turned
off Hwy 58 and on to Meer's Porter Road . The road runs directly
west towards the town of Meers. As you ride, you can look
off to your left and see Mt. Scott looming, taunting, and daunting.
Attention quickly returned to Meers Porter road though as it offered
up one hill after the other. At the end of the road and on top of the hill
sits the world famous Meers Store and Restaurant. There were probably
30 or 40 people standing in line to get a burger when the
Yellow Train chugged by.
After passing through Meers, the group turned south onto 115
and headed back into the Wildlife Refuge towards Mt. Scott. Word has
it that the Big Steamer whipped out his hurtin' card here and made
a purchase. He was long gone and wasn't seen again until the
top of Mt. Scott. As it turned out, of the 16 cyclists who started
the trip, 11 were able to ride 90 miles and then make it to the top of Mt. Scott .
We had three non attempts; two of those were Sam and Dan who both had
mitigating circumstances that would not allow such an attempt.
Jeff wisely did not attempt the climb, as his previous long ride was only
50 miles. Sean gave it a go, but made it only about halfway before
the Beast rejected him. Jack had a meeting scheduled with Kenny Chesney
and was somewhere between Lawton and Lake Kiowa. However,
you dear readers will be most happy to know that both Jeff and Sean
slew the Beast the very next morning as they made the climb to the top.
Next year Sammy and Dan will have their revenge. By 2:30pm the
entire crew had returned safely to the Lodge and the wind
of course, was now light and variable.
After post ride interviews and a photo shoot, the campers got
cleaned up and headed for the aforementioned Meers Store
and Restaurant looking for some grub. The wait to
get a table for 17 was only 20 minutes or so. The Meers Restaurant
was constructed around 1922 and it shows every bit of its age.
In fact, the building would probably be condemned
if it were located in a town with any sort of fire code. None of that matters
though if you have been eating gel shots and Clif bars for six hours.
It was cheese burgers, fries, onion rings, fried okra eating time.
Several people had what is called a Seismic Meersburger,
which is a full one-pound burger topped with jalapeno
peppers, bacon, cheese, sweet relish, mustard, dill pickles, tomatoes,
purple onions, and leaf lettuce. The Meers Store even sells its own
Gold Beer, which is served in a 22-ounce bottle.
Some might even say that Meers Gold Beer
is a "refreshing lager". No, no one (Alex) would ever say something
like that, but it is a really good beer. About an hour later we
waddled out and headed back to camp headquarters.
Upon arrival back at the lodge, some folks decided to watch the
cycling movie Breaking Away. Others made their way out back
and started a campfire. Scottie and Francisco were able to get a
small fire started, but Matt was able to transform the little sparkler
into the bonfire we all knew it could be. The group hung around
the fire for several hours trading stories, laughs and even more
refreshing lagers. We even learned some important lessons on the
night such as The Professor has hands that 'freak' his students out,
toothpaste is not a good moisturizer for the face
and the Corinth Cycling Club might possibly be disbanded next year
when Scottie's Community Service requirement is fulfilled.
There is also a good possibility that the 2009 Mt. Scott camp will
have a live band. The Big Steamers and The Refreshing Lagers
are the two band names currently being mulled over.
Sunday morning arrived quickly, and the lodge was again bustling
with activity as campers prepped for the recovery ride to
Prairie Dog Village. The riders took off in waves, with some climbing
Mt. Scott and others just looking to soothe sore legs. It was a
beautiful morning to ride, and we encountered several buffalo just
standing a few feet off the road. The group made the 14-mile trek to
the Prairie Dog Village for the ceremonial releasing of the hound.
Camp mascot Bandit was released in the middle of the village and
all heck broke loose. As he sprinted into their territory, the Prairie Dogs
all began making their warning call that sounds like a cross between
a bird chirping and a small dog barking. If you can imagine
500 or so of these Prairie Dogs making this noise at the same
time, you have a good idea of how the hound release went over.
Alas, Bandit was retrieved and all the Prairie Dogs were safe to
continue on with their day. The peloton returned to headquarters
packed up and headed back to civilization. We shall return..........
2008 Mt. Scott Cycling Camp Photo Album
The 2008 Corinth Cycling Mt. Scott Camp Team
Recovery ride in paradise
Meers Store - The outside is actually nicer than the inside
Stewie pointing out that the ceiling might collapse at any moment
Emory driving the official CCC Sag Wagon
The reward for climbing Mt. Scott - a spectacular view
Mr. Buffalo and Tim striking the perfect pose
Danimal enjoys a cold one after a long day in the saddle
Sam & Tim at Lost Lake
The Boss is always the butt of the joke
How many Professors does it take to fix a flat?
Scottie & Jack discuss matching outfits
Roland, Bill and Francisco Climb Mt. Scott
Is Sean smiling or grimacing up Mt. Scott?
Alex making it look easy
The steep road to the top of Mt. Scott
Tim is going to make it to the top one way or another
Scottie using the "eyes wide shut" climbing technique
20 minutes of pain for a lifetime of memories
Ted survives the climb
The Bianchi thinks it is back in Italy
How many Prairie Dogs can you find in this photo?
All good things must come to and end.
