Winds of 70 mph ripped via central Oklahoma March 14, downing energy traces and inflicting brush fires around the dry panorama surrounding Stillwater. It was once the kind of chaos that made racing really feel like an afterthought as just about 130 wildfires had been reported in 44 counties, together with Payne County the place the beginning for The Mid South was once to happen simply hours later.
Straight away, I went from obsessing over each and every race-day element to knowing simply how small biking is within the grand scheme. There was once a letdown for all the focal point and preparation in a gravel race – dialling in my Issue Ostro, 100 grams of carbs in line with bottle, spending an hour sparsely positioning the No. 1 race plate because the protecting champion – just for all of it to vanish. One have a look at the sky, then again, and I knew.
Racing will all the time are available 2d position to other people’s protection. This time, it wasn’t as regards to us, it was once about Stillwater citizens going through devastation and emergency crews stretched skinny protective them. The race may wait. The well-being and protection of the group may now not.
Mom Nature regulations
It is a bizarre shift in viewpoint. One minute, the whole lot revolves round a motorbike race. The following, all of it feels secondary, even trivial. It jogged my memory of an editorial concerning the discovery of a black hollow 33 billion occasions the mass of our solar. It makes such things as chain ring dimension, 12-speed as opposed to 13-speed cassette, 45 mm tyres as opposed to 50 mm, and marginal aero positive aspects all really feel much less necessary.
And in some way, that realization is liberating. Regardless of how a lot effort we installed, some issues are out of our keep an eye on. We create which means in our international, however now and again, truth shatters the appearance.
Fact hit arduous in Stillwater. Not up to 12 hours earlier than the race, flames crept via dry brush, attaining western portions of town as the placement worsened. The development, the preparation, and the anticipation had been all all of sudden inappropriate.
The instant of realization hit me like a pile of bricks. It was once the ‘a-ha’ second, the ‘oh god’ second, the ‘what are we doing right here?’ second. A speedy shift from ‘How am I going to win this race?’ to ‘How am I getting house day after today?’
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Race mode and survival mode are solely other. Race mode is ready maximizing efficiency, refining each and every element, and controlling the controllables. Then, in a single fast, you realise issues are solely from your keep an eye on. My thoughts went from obsessing over carbs in line with hour and tyre force to questioning if my Hampton Inn was once about to be engulfed in flames, survival mode engaged.
The shift from race mode wasn’t simple. While you make investments such a lot into one thing, it’s arduous to let move. It was once arduous for me to shake the concept that possibly issues might be resolved by means of morning. However the inevitable briefly was transparent because the respectable US Air High quality Index skyrocketed above 250 in particulate subject (PM), which must be nearer to twenty-five PM, and my eyes began to really feel the results of the ash within the air.
The race could be cancelled at round Middle of the night native time, and in truth, it needed to be. How may we, as people, justify driving via a the town in disaster, pretending our international hadn’t simply collided with a miles harsher truth?
Sadness is actual
Symbol 1 of five
Organisers gaze on the smoke-filled sky as wildfires rage to the west of Stillwater(Symbol credit score: The Mid South / Tom Dils of OVRLND Studio)A number of wildfires close to Stillwater, Oklahoma on March 14 and 15 contributed to deficient air high quality and threatening prerequisites(Symbol credit score: The Mid South / Tom Dils of OVRLND Studio)Top winds, gusting to storm power, contributed to unfold of wildfires on March 14 and 15 in Oklahoma(Symbol credit score: The Mid South / Tom Dils of OVRLND Studio)A charred panorama subsequent to dust roads in Oklahoma the place hundreds of riders would have handed on gravel rides(Symbol credit score: The Mid South / Tom Dils of OVRLND Studio)Race Director Bobby Wintle addresses a bunch concerning the cancellation of 2025 The Mid South(Symbol credit score: The Mid South / Tom Dils of OVRLND Studio)
Race director Bobby Wintle is understood for his infectious power and willpower to creating each and every rider really feel valued. Everybody loves Bobby. I spend all the yr having a look ahead to his mythical finish-line hug, which I’ve skilled thrice as a winner. The evening earlier than the race, as he delivered his replace, reassuring us that the whole lot would move on as deliberate and the birthday celebration would proceed, it felt like he was once doing the whole lot in his energy to ensure we by no means felt let down.
I went to sleep early the evening earlier than with 5% self belief that, someway, the whole lot would return to customary and the race would nonetheless be on. There’s all the time a possibility, however there was once additionally a 95% probability Mom Nature would result in the cancellation of The Mid South. I awoke the following day at 4:30 a.m. native time to test for an replace and was once now not stunned by means of the cancellation.
My mother, a instructor on spring destroy, were without equal give a boost to workforce all week – selecting me up all the way through route recons, grabbing burritos, and making last-minute Walmart runs for the entire random however mission-critical necessities. She was once there for the pre-riding, and pre-driving a whole route, for a race that might by no means occur. I used to be so excited. Everybody stated it could roll speedy, however the bite made that appear not going.
The primary and final 10 miles of gravel had lately been regraded, and the rocks had been large. The rolling felt a lot slower than in years previous. The notorious creek crossing felt method much less intimidating from the opposite facet. Final yr, it created an enormous bottleneck at mile 12 with a large lip on the access level. Previous within the week, I examined rolling throughout the center when no person was once gazing. I’m satisfied this was once achieved privately as a result of I tipped into the water at 4 mph, possibly extra of a dash. The ground was once thick with dust, preventing me in my tracks.
Final yr, after I noticed the bottleneck on the creek crossing, I briefly made up our minds to roll instantly via and hook onto a quick team. I didn’t devour it, and it was once superb. This yr, the creek crossing would have include 17 miles to head, leaving a bottleneck possibility very slender. And now, optimistically, the route will keep the similar for 2026. It’s as difficult as it’s stunning.
The brand new “singletrack” was once anything else however singletrack. Some beneficiant Stillwater citizens opened their non-public land, including a rugged, rocky phase that demanded consideration for surprising options. It was once a stark distinction to final yr’s clean, inexperienced, MTB-style singletrack, however a captivating function however and one thing to get a divorce the relentless Oklahoma gravel.
Placing racing into viewpoint
The Mid South 2025 did not occur as deliberate, however the occasions that opened up over the weekend put the whole lot in viewpoint.
Whilst there have been no deaths reported in Stillwater, then again, the Oklahoma Division of Emergency Control reported on March 17 that 4 fatalities within the area had been associated with the fires or top winds, in addition to 200 accidents. A state of emergency remained in impact for 12 Oklahoma counties, together with Payne County, 4 days after the primary flames.
Ted King, a up to date Gravel Corridor of Repute inductee, and Chase Wark, tenth on this yr’s BWR Arizona, spark off on their Mega Mid South FKT (quickest identified time) makes an attempt at 6 a.m. and seven a.m. native time, respectively, on March 16, an afternoon after the race would have taken position. They spark off to damage a document of twenty-two hours, 38 mins throughout 300 miles not to simply experience, however to lift price range for the fireplace aid efforts (implausible guys!), proceeds going to United Approach of Payne County and Stillwater Wildfire Aid Fund (see notice underneath from Ted at the effects).
I had already been at the highway for almost an hour, riding house to Colorado with my mother, when Ted took off. Up to I’d have liked to were a part of one thing as significant as their experience, my thoughts was once in different places, worried to succeed in a spot untouched by means of hearth.
Biking offers us a way of objective, however it is not the whole lot. Protection, for ourselves and the ones round us, is what in point of fact issues. The discontentment of a cancelled tournament is not anything in comparison to the truth of other people shedding their properties, their livelihoods – some, even their lives.
We will line up once more subsequent yr, and obsess over tyre force, vitamin and marginal positive aspects. However for now, we will step again, take a breath, and acknowledge that some issues subject excess of any motorcycle race.
One thing larger than 300-mile experience
The Mega Mid South is a 300-mile path that takes within the midway issues of classes of years previous which provides as much as 17,000 ft of mountain climbing. With the smoke-filled air transparent on Sunday, Ted King and Chase Wark began an hour aside, with King the primary off at 6 a.m. (CDT).
King did destroy the previous document of Nick Elliott (set in 2024) by means of 320 mins, a brand new highest time of 17 hours, 18 mins. Then again, that FTK was once held for roughly 40 mins, as Wark crossed the road in 16 hours, 58 mins for the easier time.
“I did the Mega Mid South FKT to see how far I could push myself physically and to challenge myself to raise funds for the Stillwater community that was affected by fires just a few days prior. Ending the ride and seeing how many folks donated made the ride even more special. We knew we accomplished something much bigger than just a 300-mile ride,” Wark posted on social media.
The pleasant festival endured to peer who may carry probably the most cash for native charities, such because the United Approach of Payne County and Stillwater Wildfire Aid Fund. The 2 had mixed to lift greater than $8,500 as of March 19, with King pledging $1 for each and every minute underneath the former FTK for $320.
King, a two-time winner in his age team within the 100-mile race, stated he hopes the group bounces again and he plans to go back subsequent yr. He’ll proceed to simply accept donations for a number of extra days on the weblog about The Mid South on his internet web page.
