Magnolia Bike Tour - Durant Oklahoma
May 2009
Easy to find. Well marked route. Very little traffic for most of the ride. Pizza, subway sandwiches, water, Gatorade, shade trees , chair massages, and friendly volunteers made for a nice post ride free lunch. Next year I'll bring my swim suit for a dip in the sparkling city pool that is the start/ finish site.
Decent ride out of Durant this morning. Signage and traffic control was great along with the provided lunch. Rest stops have oranges and bananas and that's it for food. If you want anything else, you better bring it with you. Roads had a bit more traffic this year but that won't stop me from coming back next year!
2009 is the second year I've done this event. The one thing I like about this ride the most is the fact it is such a small event. By small, I mean there aren't that many riders (200 at the most and probably closer to 100 riders) at this even and I really like that. I like the course though the beautiful country side and the roads are pretty smooth and fast, not like Texas where I live; the world capital for chip-seal. Like the previous guy that wrote a review, I'll bring a swim suit next time for a dip in a wonderful looking pool before driving back south to Texas. If you bring a non-rider with you thinking they will be entertained at the Magnolia Festival in down, forget about it. My wife checked it out and told me it wasn't worth going to, so she went to the library in town to read the news paper and stay cool till I was done with my ride.
May 31, 2008
Durant Oklahoma is very reachable from the metroplex; an easy drive up 75 that took me about an hour or so from north Dallas. And judging by the license plates in the parking lot, they drew most of their participants from Texas, with just a few Okies mixed in. This was a small ride, with about 150 riders today. I heard a volunteer say they only anticipated 60 or so riders were going to show up, so they more than doubled their expectations. I'm surprised more people don't make the drive up from the Dallas area to do this ride, especially with their 9:00 AM start time. The scenic landscape around Durant is why I like these rides in the country so much. The terrain was varied enough to keep things interesting with a few moderate hills on the 40 mile route. Road surface was quite smooth for most of the ride. Pizza, sandwiches, and cold drinks were set out on picnic tables for a nice lunch at the finish.
I did the 40 mile route and except for the strong headwind, I enjoyed this ride and will do it again. It was a smaller ride with about 160 people, but there were more than enough well-stocked rest stops, plenty of scenic back roads with minimal traffic and volunteers at the turn arounds and intersections to make sure you didn’t miss them. The hill on Bryan Dr. at the end just about ate my lunch, but I made it! Will definitely put this one on my calendar for next year.
My how this ride has grown over the past couple of
years (or is it that it didn't conflict with Mesquite
this yr?). It seemed that they were a little
unprepared for the turnout since the preregistration
packets weren't ready at ride time and parking was at
a premium. Rest stops were very basic with oranges,
bananas, water and Gatorade and not all rest stops had
bathrooms. 95% of the roads were smooth and if it gets
any bigger, the rotary might have to look into a
different start location. Pizza and subs provided for
lunch and you had your color pick for t-shirts!
As always, the Durant ride is the most scenic tour in the area. The pizza, sandwiches, and chair massages at the end are great too. I heard a lot of complaints about the Bryan Drive section, as well as a few good solutions. Last year I knew the area had been hit by flooding just that week, but the road still isn't fixed now. A rider suggested that they bring the routes back in to Durant the same way we go out. They can adjust the turn-around points for the 24 and 40 miles routes so that they can remain the same length.
’ve done this ride both years and it is great. The ride is well organized, extremely well marked – including all potholes, cracks, etc… - and well supported. And did I mention the cheeseburgers at the end?!?! Wow! Talk about hitting the spot.
My only complaint – I believe the shirt is exactly the same for both years - except for the year.
There was no online registration, registration was by mail only. There was a separate fee for tandems. Registration gets 4 of 5.
Parking and traffic. The ride started out at the public pool in Carl Albert park (more on that later). The parking lot was FULL when the ride started, and some overflow parking on the grass was needed. The organizers should probably think about finding a bigger parking lot next year. There was only one toilet available at the start. Fortunately, the line did not get too long. Parking gets 3 of 5.
Packets. The tour flyer stated that all pre-registrants were guaranteed a t-shirt. Now, lord knows I don’t need any more T shirts, I have about a hundred from previous rides I’ve participated in, you wear it the day of the ride and never again. That is why I was thrilled when the GDB gave out socks instead of T-shirts at the Lancaster Country Ride. Still, if you promise a T shirt you should deliver. If you don’t have them, don’t promise them. Packets get 1 of 5 because of the phantom T-shirt.
Route, the map left something to be desired, it was mainly visual directions, without much detail and not to scale. Still, I was able to construct a GPS route using it. The routes were color coded and marked with arrows painted on the road and signs. The route for 40 miles was largely out and back, with a small loop at the end. I don’t know the routes in the area well enough to determine if a loop could have been constructed for the 40- mile route. The 60 mile route is highly recommended for beautiful scenery and is a full loop. Route gets 4 of 5.
Rest stops were minimalist, with bananas and oranges to eat and bottled water and sport drinks on ice. They were just tables set up on the side of the road for the most part, although some took advantage of the shade of the trees. They were placed a little strangely also, I would have expected rest stops to be at the turn around points. Rest stops get 3 of 5.
There was SAG on the route, but I could not determine if there was a mechanic; I did not see a mechanic truck. SAG gets 3 of 5.
Post Ride: A picnic lunch of sandwiches and pizza was served. The drinks were not cold. Now, as I mentioned before, this ride starts at a swimming pool, so the organizers should have tried to have it open for the riders, or at least mentioned on their website that a pool was available for $X.00 so people who wanted to swim after the ride could have brought their bathing suits. Also, the Magnolia Festival was taking place downtown, but nary a word of this was mentioned at the ride. I only discovered this when I went downtown to look for a gas station. A golden opportunity to bring some business to the town was lost because of this I give post ride 2 of 5.
If the organizers make a few improvements they could have a very good ride here. I will ride next year if I can.
June 1, 2007
The scenery, especially out on the 60 mile loop, is truly beautiful. Twelve-Mile Prairie has got to be the prettiest place in Oklahoma this time of year. The weather was perfect for the ride. The course between the 40-mile turn-around and Rest Stop #4 west of Milburn is a bit hilly, and this section needs some signage, just to reassure riders that they are still on course. I have to admit these are the friendliest volunteers in any ride I've ever done. The sports massage at the finish is great and I hope that continues. The goody bag is better than most, but the graphics on the T shirt are simply the best.
June 2006
Wonderful ride and a wonderful time. Once you get out
of Durant this is one of the prettiest rides around.
The people working the ride were so nice and glad we
were there. Excellent t-shirts this year and everyone
that participated in the ride got a medal. Fastest in
on the 100k got $100. Roads were excellent outside of
the city and a little hilly near the end. Lunch was
provided and included hamburgers, pizza, and Subway
sandwiches. Looking forward to going back next yr!
Without a doubt, the Durant ride has the best post-ride lunch of any ride around. This year included McDonald’s hamburgers, Subway subs, Pizza Hut pizzas, more pizza from a different vendor, cookies, and sandwich packs from another vendor. All of the volunteers are friendly and happy to see everyone there. The T-shirts this year were stunning. All the routes are well marked and all the rest stops are fully stocked. An excellent small ride through some beautiful country!
June 4, 2005
Wow! What a beautiful ride!! This was my first year doing this ride and hopefully not my last. It was a
small ride with the highest ride number I saw of 155. I heard there were other rides today which cut down on
the number of riders (Mesquite, Ardmore, etc.) I did the 40 and the roads were mostly in good shape except
for Mockingbird at the beginning but the scenery made up for it. It is a little hilly but not like Muenster
or Peach Pedal. The rest stops were basic with oranges, bananas and PowerAde. The route marking and
support were excellent with every major intersection manned. Pizza and Subway sandwiches waited for us at
the finish. The Rotary Club of Durant has their act together! Be back next yr!! A++++++
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