WNR

Wednesday Night Ride

It is a tradition that I do not know the origin, I have however been a part of the spectacle that is the WNR.  You cannot ride a bike in Tulsa and not know about, or much less ride the mid-week ride.  Calling it a ride is not doing the event justice, it is everything to everyone.  It is the Wednesday night Worlds, it is a chill ride with friends, it is a punishment for a new rider.  The Ride is a right of passage.

Everyone who rides a bike in Tulsa meets at an undisclosed location (Jackson Park on the West side of the River) and roll between 5 and five-thirty on a course that has loops that all start and end together.  Don't like the speed of the group you are in?  Wait for the next group.

The best part of WNR is the people.  The ride is stellar, but being with like-minded people no mater their cycling background is priceless.  Teams grill, bring coolers of beverages, and if you roll with Crude...Kegs.  Hotdogs, burgers, I even saw a full-on smoker tonight

The bicycle is not only a vehicle for transportation.  The bicycle is a social vehicle that blends and breaks barriers.  We can share the road and then share a dog and a beer, because at the end of the ride we are all cyclists.  MR, MRS, DR, Judge, Officer, it does not matter, the common bond is a child's toy.  It is more than a toy, and it really isn't about the bike, it is about where the bike takes you.  It is not a place on a map.  It is an ear to ear grin, it is sweat in the eyes, it is the sound of a freewheel, it is the pain of a sprint, it is a destination reached.  I've been there and so have you, so the next time we share a ride and a beer we have already shared much more than  that.