Landrun100 2016

Last year (2015) the roads were extremely muddy and I only finished 50 miles of the event on my mountain bike.  I WANTED to finish this event badly!

In 2016 I had completed my training, and I had a new gravel bike (Jamis Renegade 2016 purchased from Spokehouse Bicycles in Tulsa, OK)

On this year's route, the half-way point was Perry, OK.  I remember sitting down after 50 miles and thinking what the hell just happened. Miles and Miles of wet crunchy peanut butter.  So thick progress was slowed down to a halt and started throwing crap into the bicycle chain.  (Time to get off and carry your bike for fear of snapping off a derailleur) I munched on a burrito and a peanut butter sandwich that I had waiting for me.  In hindsight, I probably waited a few too many minutes in a daze while I recovered from a pretty epic first 50 miles.  Next time, I will set a time limit for me to hang out.  (likely first hit the bike wash to clear the debris from the bike, change out water bottles and hammer some food and grab some food to take with me.)
Leaving Perry, we actually had some road and some epic rolling gravel.  (Who said Oklahoma is flat?)  Check out my video for a snip of the how it was really going.  Finishing the race, I was neck and neck with Big Dave from Stillwater, OK.  He had just finished some knee surgery so seeing him on the course was an inspiration. https://www.facebook.com/david.mizelle1  

At the end, getting a talk with Bobby Wintle and a famous hug, I knew I finished and was now a member of a very small selection of cyclists that have ever had an adventure like this! #bucketlist

Tips for the race:

Bring an extra bottle of water just to help clean off your bike during the mud section. I also liked the idea of taking a wood paint stirrer to clean the space between the frame and he rear wheel.

Bring chain lube to make sure that squeak doesn't turn into a derailleur failure. (There is a history of a lot of broken bike parts in the past!)

Bobby Wintle puts on an excellent race.  Make sure to follow unlearnpavement, district bicycles and stillwater gravel grinders on facebook and Instagram as well as SpokeHouse out of Tulsa.