This past weekend seven IronTex team members had the opportunity to participate in the 18th Annual Red River Roadkill Rally in Ardmore, OK. Two things convinced me to make the short trek (about a 90-minute drive) north of the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex to ride: the name and the reputation. Anything with “roadkill” in the name has to be fun, and, no, “roadkill” doesn’t refer to any cyclists challenged by the hills on the course. As for reputation, several IronTex members (including a couple who are not big fans of the bike) have made the rally a yearly event because of Ardmore’s hospitality and charm. So I decided to see for myself.
The day began with a very organized check-in process at the historic Santa Fe Depot in downtown Ardmore, where cyclists received their first taste of local hospitality with a complimentary breakfast spread and well-stocked coolers of water and Gatorade bottles to fill up before the ride. The best part, though, was the dozens of volunteers cheerfully taking care of us and thanking us for visiting their town.
The starting chute filled with a couple hundred cyclists eager to complete one of three distances (20, 40 or 60 miles) offered by Rally. The ride began promptly at 8 a.m., which I thought should have been moved up an hour to minimize the impact of the quickly rising sun. I understand, though, the later start is designed to encourage more out-of-town cyclists to make the trip to Ardmore.
Typical of most rallies, the start was a little congested as cyclists had to make an immediate left turn out of the chute and onto Broadway to begin making our way through downtown Ardmore. This caused a little starting and stopping and a few minor collisions but everyone seemed to take it in stride and get the ride started without too much difficulty. The ride organizers may want to consider moving the starting chute onto Broadway to avoid people riding into the back of each other and give the riders an extra quarter-mile before having to make any turns.
The parade of cyclists made their way through the town’s streets safely thanks to volunteers and local police blocking traffic at each intersection. Cheerful pedestrians and motorists waved and offered their encouragement along the clean and historic streets as the route exited the town and onto the rural roads of southern Oklahoma.
The first observation I made was the quality of the roads. The course was relatively smooth asphalt and not a single inch of chip seal anywhere. The icing on this cake was the scenic and clean setting. Easing into the ride, we quickly came upon the ride’s first of five aid stations at about the 8.5-mile mark. I am not one to normally stop at aid stations, especially since we were only riding the 40-mile route, but the rest of our group was stopping, so I did, too. And I quickly understood why the Red River Roadkill Rally veterans of our group keep going back to do the ride. The aid station was set-up in the front yard of an incredibly friendly local family and was well-stocked with water, Gatorade, oranges, bananas, cookies and restroom facilities.
After topping off our water bottles, we pulled out of the aid station and unknowingly for me began riding the most challenging part of the course. The entire route is best described as rolling hills with a couple of short steep climbs interspersed along the way. Within a half-mile from the aid station, we began climbing a series of short steep hills with the most challenging being a 6% grade about 500 meters long. The reward from those series of climbs was the series of descents on smooth asphalt.
About 17 miles into the route, we entered Lake Murray State Park from the east and circled the south shore before exiting on the west end of the park. The beautiful blue water provided the perfect backdrop to gentle rolling hills through the state park and two more friendly aid stations, which I am not ashamed to admit I stopped at both, exchanging “thank yous” with the volunteers–me thanking them for volunteering and them thanking me for riding.
The ride finished back at the starting line in front of downtown’s Santa Fe Depot. Waiting for us were more volunteers pouring beer, serving pizza and pasta; bottomless coolers of water, Gatorade and sodas; and snow cones. The perfect ending to an unforgettable experience.
Anyone looking for a scenic ride on a good surface with a relatively small number of riders and awesome small-town hospitality need to consider taking a trip to Ardmore. The Red River Roadkill Rally is held annually during the first weekend of June, but because of it’s proximity to DFW, it’s worth the trip during any given weekend for a change of scenery for your next long ride. The IronTex Triathlon team will be organizing a ride their later this summer to train on the hills in preparation for Ironman Austin 70.3. Join us!!
