Onward

Sports

Related Photos

Glenn Fretz, a Desert Storm veteran from Oklahoma City, is the first hand-cyclist to participate in The Dehydrator. Photo Submitted
Kristian, front, and George Flores ride down Chisholm Trail Pkwy. during the Dehydrator. Matt Tillson

August 1, 2010

Dehydrator rides for 20th year in Duncan

Matt Tillson The Duncan Banner The Duncan Banner Sun Aug 01, 2010, 12:10 AM CDT

DUNCAN — Appropriately named The Dehydrator, a large group of cyclists gathered at the Simmons Center Saturday morning to endure late July heat and a challenging race course for the 20th annual event.

More than 500 cyclists participated in the race and bike tour and event organizer Kent Collins said that he was pleased with the turnout this year.

“We are seeing a lot more people out of the Tulsa and northern Oklahoma region this year,” Collins said. “We are running almost over 100 more people that what we had last year.”

Collins noted that with the repeated growth in the event he thinks that future Dehydrators could host thousands of participants.

“I want this event to grow and to reach the thousands,” Collins said. “I believe that maybe in the next three years we may reach that.

“I believe that with the size of our town and the response that we get this could be one of the biggest events in the state.”

Even though the temperatures have been high lately, Collins didn’t believe that the heat hindered a lot riders this year.

“The people that do rides like this know what their getting themselves into,” Collins said. “We did have one rider who went into shock, but they were tended to.”

Glenn Fretz was one of the cyclists that was never bothered by the heat during his ride.

Fretz, a Desert Storm veteran, came into the ride Saturday as the first hand-cyclist to participate in The Dehydrator. He rode in the 25 mile tour and finished in 2:30.25.

“I had some trouble at the 10-mile marker because of a steep hill that I had to drop down to about three miles an hour on that,” Fretz said. “I had a lot of fun, though. The course was laid out well and it was not too hot out yet.”

This was Fretz’s first year of doing The Dehydrator, but he has been hand-cycling for three years.

“I have been cycling for three years and have gone to the National Wwheelchair Veterans Games twice,” Fretz said. “I started for aerobic activity and now go about 52 miles a week.

“I have two children and I wanted to be there for them and I want to watch them grow up.”

For some of the riders, like George Flores, The Dehydrator is a chance for family bonding.

Flores has been participating in The Dehydrator for over 12 years and brought out his son, Kristian, for his first race.

“I pulled him along last year in the chariot, but this is his first time to actually race in the event,” Flores said. “It is such a fun race and I love it. The only thing I have to complain about is coming across some of the farm dogs that run out to us riding by.”

Both Kristian and George rode in the 10 mile tour. Kristian said that he enjoyed his first experience.

“It was really cool and a fun thing to do,” Kristian said.

Collins said that he appreciated the support from the Simmons Center and the Duncan community for this year’s event.

“The support was better this year and was an excellent event for everyone to be a part of,” Collins said.

Check Monday’s edition of The Banner for full results from The Dehydrator.

— Matt Tillson is a reporter for the Duncan Banner. He can be reached at 580-255-5354 Ext. 143 or via e-mail at matt.tillson@duncanbanner.com.

Text Only

Sports

SLIDESHOW: Madonna hypes Super Bowl halftime show Madonna answers questions from the media during a news conference to hype the halftime show for Super Bowl XLVI.
February 3, 2012
DHS headed to MacArthur for rematch
Right now it’s good to be a Duncan Lady Demon.
Since dropping their finale of the East Central Tournament on Jan. 7, the No. 14 Lady Demons (14-6) have reeled off seven straight victories. Tonight they will look to make it eight as they travel to face the No. 16 Lawton MacArthur Lady Highlanders (9-7) at 6:30 p.m.

February 2, 2012 1 Photo
Area 2A, 3A squads coming home for playoffs
Each of the area Class 2A and 3A teams will get to make a stop at home this postseason.
On Thursday afternoon, the Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association announced postseason sites for Classes 2A-4A, granting Class 2A Empire and Class 3A Comanche home district games, while giving 3A Marlow a home region game.

February 2, 2012
Velma sweeps Ringling
The Velma-Alma Comets are just one victory shy of a perfect regular season after picking up a road win on Thursday night.
The Comets took control early and never looked back as they cruised to an 83-47 victory over Ringling.

February 2, 2012
NFL Play 60 Kids Day gets them moving
It was kids, kids and more kids Wednesday at the Indiana Convention Center, as 38 classrooms of fifth- and sixth-graders enjoyed a morning at the NFL Experience, courtesy of the NFL’s Play 60 Challenge.

February 2, 2012 4 Photos
Super security goes into place for Super Bowl
Law enforcement officials charged with Super Bowl security are taking extraordinary measures to prevent a terrorist attack, but they’re also working to keep the event from being a field day for common criminals.

February 1, 2012 2 Photos
One final dress rehearsal
During the course of a season in any sport, a team can receive both good news and bad news, sometimes at the same moment.
Today is that moment for the Duncan High swim team.
DHS will travel to Lawton for the Southwest Swim Championship with events starting at 4 p.m., at the same location it tasted success back in the beginning of December, that’s the good news.

February 1, 2012 1 Photo
Comets remain perfect
The Velma-Alma boys are just two wins shy of a perfect regular season.
The Comets, ranked fourth in Class A, improved to 21-0 on Tuesday night with a road victory over Waurika.

February 1, 2012
Demons rally to beat Cache
This was supposed to be the easy win for Duncan.
Coming off a string of top-10 opponents, the Demons traveled to Cache on Tuesday for a game that on paper, should have been significantly easier.
It wasn’t.

January 31, 2012
Sterling rolls Lady Bronchos
In their first meeting earlier this season, the Central High Lady Bronchos and the Sterling Lady Tigers played a tightly contested game in Sterling. CHHS was hoping it could gain a measure of revenge Tuesday night as these two teams met up at Broncho Gymnasium.

January 31, 2012 1 Photo
More Sports Headlines

Sports

Search Results

Related Photos

Onward

Dehydrator rides for 20th year in Duncan

With the big game set to match up the New York Giants against the New England Patriots, who will win Super Bowl XLVI?

Site Map

Contact Us