Some Cyclists Have
All the Luck

June 14, 1980

By: Rob Kerby

Oglesby- On Friday the 13th, he hit a black cat with his bicycle.

Even so, David Walkley, 22, of Grand Prarie, Texas, rode 100 miles unscathed in six hours on the next-to-last day of Free Wheel '80.

The cat was not injured, said a shaken Walkley, the first of the cross-Oklahoma bicyclists to arrive in Bartlesville from Locust Grove.

Perhaps 300 riders started the 100-mile leg. Only about 125 or so finished as temperatures neared 100.

Others were gathered by Free Wheel support vehicles and taken into the tree-shaded Johnstone Park Campgrounds at Barltlesville.

"That was the toughest 'century' I've ever ridden," said Walkley who has logged 1,500 bicycling miles in the last two months.

As exhausted riders coasted or were driven into the campgrounds, they recounted tribulations reminiscent of Pilgrim's Progress:

Sunday - Torential rains, an uphill route.

Monday - More rain, heavy hills.

Tuesday - ever-switching winds and unexpected hills.

Wednesday - High temperatures, and badly maintained roads.

Thursday - Fourteen major hills on a course dotted with cattle-guards, low water bridges, and bottom-of-the-hill curves.

And Friday - 100 miles in and out of two river valleys, across wind-swept flatlands and over just-oiled county roads.

Yet, more than 100 riders are proudly bragging of having ridden every inch.

"I am very impressed," said Walkley. "This has been the most enjoyable ride I've taken. It only compares with a tour in the Texas Hill Country each year around Kerrville."

"Today took about everything out of me," said John Miller, 37, of Davenportt, Iowa, a veteran of bicycle tours across Iowa.

There are three ways to bicycle 100 miles in one day.

One, is to rise at 5 a.m., stop at every donut shop and swimming hole, then mosey on in when the evening cools.

David Willard, an associate superintendent of the Tulsa Public Schools, tried that Friday. He brags of having ridden every day.

So do Tulsa Attorney Oscar Raney, 66, and wife, Lillie. All take their time. The Raneys ride on-speeds, generally holding their own in the middle of the pack.

Another way to finish 100 miles is to ride like the wind, like Walkley or Durant attorney, Wilson Jones.

The third way is to ride the MK&O deluxe Sag Wagon … from the outset. Get off after 40 miles, then act as if you've been pedaling all morning as if you've been pedaling all morning as you join the riders in mid-route.

John Nettle, 15, of Tulsa, David Guthridge, 14, of Sand Springs, and I did that Friday. Much easier.

All three had ridden through Sunday's thunderstorm. We had been proud of pedaling every inch so far. I even rode up Norwood Mountain three times Thursday, cheering riders on.

But Friday it was our turn to mark the route. In the wee hours, Free Wheel volunteers daily put up arrows pointing the way.

We finished at 9 a.m., long after the 100-mile day was under way.

We're pondering how to soothe our pride. Probably we'll lie a lot about going back later and riding the 40 miles between Locust Grove and Adair.

Riders were welcomed Friday by Boy Scouts of Troop 97, waiting with lunch at Chelsea. There were Cub Scouts of Pack 105 giving out free lemonade at Bartlesville.

Free soft drinks were also supplied at the campgrounds by the Bartlesville Chamber of Commerce.

Each rider has tales of Oklahoma hospitality:

At Locust Grove, Jerry and Marilou Dork of Bartlesville were invited for the night into the home of the Floyd Cunninghams.

Free Wheel's communications whiz, Herald Givens, of CES Two-Way radio, stayed in the home of Mr. and Mrs. Bob Buck. They insisted the bicyclist sleep in their quest room canopy bed.

C.M. Keller, of Locust Grove was "so impressed" with the bicyclists that he joined up as a volunteer, dispensing water all day along the route and wathcing for tired riders.

Millie Levasseur of the Oglesby Grocery here, took on a day-long missionary effort of getting riders to veer from their route on to a quiet country lane - away from an unannounced re-surfacing project.

Free Wheel '80, Oklahoma's mettle-testing tour, ends Satuday with a 36-mile jaunt to South Coffeyville and the Kansas state line.

| Previous Day | Next Day | Home to 1980 Page |