Race Report by Catherine Walberg

The event offered three days of racing with three intense criterium courses that formed part of the 2008 USA CRITS Series. Tulsa Tough offered a total overall purse of $150,000 with $39,000 allotted for the women Pro/1/2 categories.

Aptly named, Tulsa Tough proved to be the weekend’s mecca for several of the nations’ top sprinters. If you haven’t attended Tulsa Tough and you race bikes, you are missing out. The promoters for the three day criterium-fest have established themselves as “promoter extraordinaire”. Everything was top notch; from the well laid out courses, the volunteers, the announcers, the ambiance of the race venues, and of course, the prize list. There were plenty of music and fans at these races. The promoters showed the team that Tulsa is definitely a nice place to come back to for a vacation.

Andrea Wilson (Team Kenda Tire) and Catherine Walberg (Team Kenda Tire) began Tulsa Tough on Day 1, Friday night, at the Blue Dome Criterium in down town Tulsa. The Blue Dome District is a happinin’ place with lots of good food, high rent and affordable hotels, shops, and music. There we were 60 hot, fast women ready to make some cash. Both Andrea and I were trying to find our sea legs amidst a pretty formidable line up. Andrea got into some traffic trouble. Catherine moved into some excellent cash with a 13th finish.

Day 2, we headed to the Brady District in Tulsa, famous for the “Sound Pony”, a bicycle/racer friendly bar that hosts the best party of the night every year after the races. It was too hot for Catherine but a better day for Andrea. Catherine filed in for a 15th and Andrea for a 17th place finish. Let me just tell you, the cash for anyone in the top 20 of these 3 crits was well paid and rewarded for the effort. Go Team Kenda Tire!!

Day 3 at River Park in Tulsa is a beautiful setting. The super technical, challenging crit takes place along a river front park. It’s about a 2 1/2 to 3 minutes lap that has a 39/27 climb and an off- camber descent. Can you say “tough”? Anyway, the day began with a furious thunderstorm that pretty much took out the race with its 90 mile per hour winds. After canceling a few races and restoring the race venue, the women’s Pro/1/2 race proceeded. (Unfortunately, Andrea had already headed back to Tennessee since it looked like Tulsa was done for the day). Although about 60 women started the race, only about 28 finished. It was a brutal race with lots of attacks and counter attacks. Catherine sprinted into a 9th place finish and again took home a much deserved loot of cash. Will Team Kenda Tire be back in Tulsa next year? Absolutely!!