Well, Tulsa tough was tough for me in every sense of the word.  Last Wednesday I was feeling ill on a simple easy training ride.  I’ve sometimes had a gagging, about to toss my cookies feeling if I get my heart rate up too much too soon, but this was happening on flat ground at a medium pace.  Otherwise I felt fine, and dismissed it.  Thursday I felt nauseous, and called in sick to work Friday.  I hadn’t upchucked, but stayed close to it.  Alexis and I left for Tulsa anyway at 5:30pm.  What was supposed to be a 4 hour trip took over 7 with traffic, and we didn’t get into bed until after 1.  
 
I still felt horrible Sat. morning and decided that there was no way I was going to do 20 miles, much less 100, so I gave up the idea of winning the jersey and rested.  We took in the sights of Tulsa and converged on the event staging area.  Tulsa Tough is 3 solid days of events and racing, with live music and a festival atmosphere.  Not as big as the Hotter N Hell, but a lot of fun nonetheless.
 
Tulsa is a phenomenal town.  It’s located in the foothills of the Ozarks and is gorgeous with Art Deco architecture and gardens, parks, and cyclists everywhere – even many locals, thanks to bike lanes everywhere and low traffic even on a weekend in downtown.  Alexis shopped for some stained glass and I watched the women’s pro crit race.  It was a good race and I saw a spectacular crash right in front of me.  My stunning good looks obviously distracted the competitors.  At least 30 were involved in the pileup, but no serious injuries.  We spent time in SoundPony, a bar devoted to cyclists, with jerseys and bikes all over the walls, and later watched the Men’s pro crit in which Floyd Landis raced.  
 
I got up on Sunday and we went off to the ride start.  I still felt ill and had barely eaten for 3 days, but I was determined to ride as fast as I could anyway.  Pulled up right to the starting line with the team that finished the hundred first the day before. As the ONLY bent other than my wife and a tandem Screamer, the racers had the usual bunch of questions, but were friendly.  We led out with a police escort until we were out of town and to the initial timing station.  At that point we were in the flats and I don’t think the group was rolling less than 26 the entire way to the next town, where we began climbing into the Ozarks with a cadre of highway patrol motorcycles riding shotgun to close off intersections.  I was retching about every 5 miles.
 
I stayed with the paceline for 35 miles, but I had to GO and pulled over.  We were about half-sized by that point, maybe 20 riders instead f the 40 who had been hanging at that pace.  We’d gone up many grades, several of which were steeper than Cherry Pie Hill and the least of which was about ¾ of a mile.  One of them I could see coming in the distance and all I had to say was “Oh shizz!”  Shortly I started reeling in loners until I had the oddest sensation – like I was riding over expansion joints.  My perceived effort had jumped up too just to maintain what should have been a comfortable pace.  I thought it was my sickness but I pulled over to check for a flat and found that my schwalbe ultremo had totally deformed and was rubbing on the frame.  I limped into the next station and sagged back at about mile 48.  I had a 21.5 average with around 210 watts average.  I would have made the sub five hour time, I’m sure.
 
So, anyway, despite the problems it was a GREAT weekend getaway, and I think this is a MUST-DO for a guy’s weekend outing next year.  The scenery was stunning, the people everywhere extremely friendly, and you can ride to the start from the downtown hotel.  I’m still sick – going to the doctor today, because this is too weird and I’ve never felt ill in this way before.  I’ll be in Santa Fe this weekend, but not riding.  I’m out of school after Friday and anyone who wants to do some fast riding during the week give me a shout.

Greg, we all hope you are feeling much better and quickly.  Sounds like quite a ride!  Thanks for the ride report, I'm really enjoying following your training this year.  
Shellene

Greg, you're always welcome to join our Thursday evening ride from downtown, especially if you're not up to riding with the racer group.

Quote from Killer Bee on Jun 3^rd, 2009, 9:29pm:

I think the main problem I had was the HEDs I'm running have a very slightly smaller rim diameter and the Ultremos are just too loose for them. I have the Ultremos mounted on my old stock rear alex rim and the Jet60 right now and was planning on moving the front to the original Alex wheel when I give the Corsa to my daughter. Will have to keep an eye on them to watch for the recall problem.
 
Greg, thanks for posting the ride report. I hope you figure out the problem and how to solve it. Sounds like you did a fabulous job in spite of it. Sick to hear the tire took you out after such a successful effort, especially given the situation.

well, mine took about 350 miles to come apart at the seams.  Keep an eye on em.

I know I would NOT feel comfortable riding the Ultremo's knowing what I know about the tires now(especially on long rando rides).

Up until they had their little problem, I was supremely happy with the speed and handling of the ultremo.  But it'll be contis for me from now on, I think.