Letter from the Editor

 

 

 

EMPIRE CITY — The old, white-haired dog outside a farmhouse here tried his best to look mean and protective Saturday. It was mid-morning and the sun was already roasting the cyclists participating in the 20th Duncan Dehydrator bicycle ride and race.

 

He gave it up and returned to the patch of shade. The heat had sapped his strength like it did that of the riders. It just wasn’t worth mustering up the energy to give chase or even bark at us. Besides, we had him outnumbered about 500 to one.

The Dehydrator lived up to its name Saturday. It was 97 degrees when we returned to the Simmons Center early Saturday afternoon. One person reportedly went into shock, but the rest of us breezed through the 50 and 60-mile courses that went out to Waurika Lake and back.

Lots of water, Gatorade, bananas and a few pickles and cookies were consumed. The grand prize was cold, local watermelon slices ready at most rest stops.

Norman native Joe Irwin, now the pastor at the Catholic church in Duncan, greeted us in the Simmons Center parking lot. My riding partner, Ted Smith, thought nothing of calling the priest on his cell phone at 6:45 a.m. Father Joe said rarely do calls that early come with good news.

Jari Askins, the Democratic nominee for governor, and a Duncan native, welcomed the riders early Saturday. She said the annual event is something of a “mini-stimulus package” for the city as hotels, restaurants and stores get a boost from the riders.

We learned that Duncan is relatively flat and the few hills that are there are relatively gradual and forgiving. It’s unlike the Norman Conquest bicycle tour that was held a few weeks earlier. Cyclists that did the long leg of that ride know that eastern Cleveland County is far from flat.

Both rides are really just tuneups for the big one, the Hotter than Hell 100 mile ride Aug. 28 in Wichita Falls, Tx. Cyclists know what they’re in for. Last year, more than 14,000 riders took part.

Although I finished the ride’s 100-mile leg last year, I have to go back. The top temperature was only 88 degrees and we had a northern breeze pushing us back into Wichita Falls, two factors that rarely happen at the ride.

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