Cyclists choose a detour

Cyclists choose a detour
JARED JANES World Staff Writer
06/19/2004
Tulsa World (Final Home Edition), Page A2 of News

Some FreeWheelers opt for a 100-mile route

CHEROKEE -- Seventeen-year-old Shannon Sullivan took a left on Friday when the FreeWheel 2004 route said go straight.

She left behind her dad and a brother and sister but took two friends on the detour with her.

The Booker T. Washington track runner and her friends decided they wanted to join the unofficial 2004 FreeWheel Century Club -- 100 miles on a bike in one day.

Why would any person want to ride that far?

"I wanted to challenge myself," Sullivan answered.

Really? "No, it's because I'm crazy."

When the riders took a left on County Road for a 34-mile detour to stretch for 100 miles, they left behind most FreeWheelers for the solitude of country roads. A lot of empty miles lay ahead.

Some, like second-time FreeWheel Century Club member Linda Meier, were relieved when they finally reached a small country store and saw fellow Century Club riders because that meant that even if she were lost, she wasn't lost alone and wouldn't be heading off deeper into the Oklahoma Panhandle by herself.

"Since I cut off on the cut-off, I hadn't seen a rider until I got here," Meier said. "It's kinda nice to finally see someone and know you haven't made a wrong turn or missed one."

The store served as a resting spot for the cyclists at the 75-mile mark. While they hadn't officially completed the century just yet, they were almost guaranteed of doing so.

Once they hit 75 miles, there really wasn't much of an option of turning back. It was shorter to keep going along the detour than head to the normal route.

"None of us wants to chicken out," said Ted Mosteller, a FreeWheeler from Muskogee. "But when you get to here, you're committed."

A few of the people at the country store had never ridden 100 miles in a day, but most had some experience with the distance.

Joel Everett, who was riding in his first FreeWheel since 1990, said if he and his friends didn't make it the entire way, at least they were going to be entertained in the process.

"It's like a big drinking game when you're older," Everett said. "See who's going to pass out first."

Completing a century, especially after having already ridden more than 300 miles on a bike in the previous five days, is not an easy task.

"This is kind of a badge of honor for cyclists," said Norman native Tim Harrington.

"There's a big difference between 75 and 100."

But Chris Kane, an experienced rider from Minneapolis who does one state tour a year, said the difference was all psychological. One hundred miles sure sounds a lot harder, but it's not much more difficult on the body.

"If you can do 75, you can do 100, " Kane said. "You just have to tell yourself that."

FreeWheel concludes Saturday with the shortest ride of the week, a 47-mile trip from Cherokee that ends in Anthony, Kan.

"By the time the week is over, you want to keep riding," Meier said. "You're used to riding every day. All we've got to do is ride, sleep and eat, so you want to keep going."

Jared Janes 581-8320
jared.janes@tulsaworld.com