Rain didn't put a damper on the Tour of the Wichitas Saturday morning.
Instead, the cool weather that moved through during the early morning hours created perfect conditions for more than 450 bicyclists who rode through the Wichita Mountains and the Wildlife Refuge.
There was a 30-minute rain delay at the start as the final showers passed through, but then bikers were able to begin their journey under cool, overcast skies.
"It's just amazing the smiling faces. They love this ride," Tour of the Wichitas vice president Helena John said as she was out taking pictures in the Wildlife Refuge along the route. "At one of our rest stops, the longhorn came out (lived up to the name of the route). It was neat for riders to see that."
The longhorn and other wildlife were out in full force along each of the four routes riders could select as their race. There was a 15-mile, 30-mile, 52-mile and 65-mile route. The 52-mile ride, called the Longhorn route, lived up to its name.
"This is one of the prettiest rides I've done," James Black, a bicylcist from Stephenville, Texas said. "Everything north of town here it's just beautiful. We even saw the big longhorns out there at one part. I felt like I was in the foothills of Colorado."
Many avid cyclists leaned toward the longest and most challenging route, the 65-mile race, nicknamed the Buffalo route.
John LaSorsa won the men's longest race, earning the 65-mile King of the Mountain title. Tammy Fate of Oklahoma City was Queen of the Mountain in the 65-miler.
Jenn Smith was Queen of the Mountain in the 30-mile race while Joakuin Garcia of Oklahoma City was King of the Mountain in the middle distance.
John LaSorsa smiles with his King of the Mountain sign after winning the 65-mile race.
As Fate would have it
Tammy Fate is wrapping up her training for the Triple Bypass in Colorado, which takes place in two weeks. The Triple Bypass is a challenging 120 mile race with more than 10,000 feet of climbing throughout the ride. To make sure she's ready to conquer one of the toughest bike tours out there, Fate has been training in the mountains consistently.
Saturday morning wasn't her first trip through the Wichita Mountains.
Instead, she's been here on numerous occasions in the past month.
"I've been doing hill repeats a lot on the weekend on Mount Scott," Fate said. "It was a good workout. Last weekend, I did 10 hill repeats. It was a little crazy."
Tammy Fate smiles after winning the 65-mile race on the women's side, earning her title Queen of the Mountain. Fate is riding in the Triple Bypass in Colorado in July.
Call her crazy, but Fate is now ready as it showed Saturday morning. She breezed to a victory on Tour of the Wichitas' longest course with relative ease.
"It's my first time to do that distance at that elevation," Fate said. "I would say I'm nervous for sure, but I have amazing teammates that stick together and with me through it all. I bug them to go train hills pretty much every week."
Training in the Wichitas and riding in the Tour de Meers last month made Fate's first Tour of the Wichitas a special one.
"It helps to have great teammates and to come out here, enjoy the Wichita Mountains and ride through the Wildlife Refuge," Fate said. "It's so scenic and just a winding and beautiful course with all it has to offer."
Fate and her teammates camped at Doris Campground in the Wildlife Refuge near Little Baldy overnight before the race and originally planned on biking to the start line before the weather struck.
"It's just so beautiful, quiet and peaceful in the area," Fate said. "We built a campfire last night and a group of us hung out. It was nice."
Despite severe weather with booming cracks of thunder and bright flashes of lightning in the middle of the night, Fate slept soundly.
"She had her game, face on while sleeping," one of Fate's teammates said.
Pedal to the metal
On the men's side of the 65-mile race, Black took home third place. Black, a Texan who enjoys the scenery while simultaneously pushing it to the limit, relished the opportunity of a tight race toward the finish of the 65-miler.
"We (the front pack) were actually able to turn it on pretty hard for this one," Black said. "The leader (Lasorsa) got away from me, but then me and a guy from Tulsa were racing. I dropped a chain with about three miles left, and he got around me and I never caught him."
Black, who often rides mountain bikes in the area, said he has been wanting to do this road tour for a long time. For his first year biking the Tour of the Wichitas, he was glad the summer heat stayed away.
"It was great -- a beautiful ride and the weather was amazing," Black said. "If we would've had yesterday (Friday's) hot weather, it probably would've slowed me down about 30 minutes and would've required a few extra water stops. The wind on the way home was nice.
Just like Fate, Black is gearing up for an upcoming mountain bike race. Saturday was a good tune-up for such riders. Black is heading out to New Mexico next weekend to do some long training rides on trails to prep for his mountain bike race while also training for the Hotter'N Hell Hundred bike race in Wichita Falls in August that many local and regional bikers ride in.
From cardio cycling to new hobby
Garcia, who claimed the title in the 30-mile race, just recently picked up cycling as an additional hobby. At first, it served only as conditioning and cardio work for his love of boxing. Once he realized the adrenaline of biking, his fondness for the sport grew exponentially.
"Then I just craved the speed you could get," Garcia said. "You could go as fast as you want and push yourself."
Joakuin Garcia smiles after winning the 30-mile race in the Tour of the Wichitas. Garcia, from Oklahoma City, was named King of the Mountain for one of the middle distance races -- an impressive feat after just recently taking up cycling as a hobby. Garcia initially began biking only to serve as conditioning for his love of boxing.
Garcia's siblings, Daniel and Lorena were waiting for him near the finish line while cheering him on. Garcia's brother, Daniel, hopes to ride tours with Joakuin in the near future.
"I started cycling too just because of him," Daniel Garcia said. "I'm not nearly as good as him, but next year I'll join him and start competing.
Family is everything. Supporting family — I wouldn't miss it for the world. We are just encouraging him in his new hobby."
Despite just recently taking up cycling, Joakuin felt more than comfortable out on the course. A lot of that had to do with the stunning views he took in along the way, though.
"Everybody had given the ride really good reviews on the scenery. It really lived up to the expectations," Garcia said. "Going up the hills on the high climb then coming back down, it's just a real nice ride. Bike tours are a lot of fun. Just cruising is comfortable. You get to take in a lot more when you're going slower and not driving in a car."
Lively atmosphere, great weather highlight bike tour
It was quite the lively atmosphere for bikers once they rolled back into town.
After enjoying the peace and quiet of the Wildlife Refuge for many miles, bicyclists were greeted by supporters and fans down the home stretch.
The Cache cheer team was also out in full force applauding bikers as they pulled into the parking lot at the finish line while also dancing to music played by deejay Stuart Staut.
Throughout the course, riders were greeted and pampered at rest stops for food and drinks to stay fueled on their long journeys. "Our sponsors just went above and beyond," John said. "The rest stops were great. That means a lot to the riders."
While the rain may have kept some riders away, John was still pleased with an excellent turnout and pristine weather conditions for the race. Most important was rider safety. Despite heavy rain, the roads were dry enough by the start to limit slick conditions.
A perfect day for riding gave riders from all over the country a unique perspective of the Wichita Mountains.
"Once it cleared up, it was great out," John said. "We had people from as far away as Georgia and Colorado here and as far south as Houston and San Antonio. It's awesome to see so many people come here to ride."