The Windy 100 bike races
Woodward
Friday-Sunday
www.windy100.org
Woodward might be home to the premiere bicycle event in Oklahoma. But for Loggan Smith, Woodward is just home.
Smith and Woodward are both set to play host to the Windy 100, a Memorial Day weekend series of bike races set with the Oklahoma wind farms as a backdrop.
Smith, who spent his summers growing up visiting his cousin in Woodward, is the race director for the event and an avid bicyclist himself.
"This is like my childhood playground," he said. "And now we get to do one of the biggest and best bike events in the state here."
Smith said he first thought up the idea for the race while he was rehabilitating a leg injury.
"I got the idea like a bolt of lightning out of the sky," he said. "It's a perfect marriage. You can feel the energy being produced off these wind farms as you ride next to them."
Debra Finch, marketing coordinator for the Windy 100, said everyone behind the races has worked hard to make the three-day-event not all about the competition.
"It's a combination of competitive races that involves prize money and tour rides that are really there just for the fun of it," Finch said. "There are a large group of bicyclists in Oklahoma that don't ride for money that ride every weekend. We are trying to cater for both."
The Windy 100 takes place Friday-Sunday. Nearby Crystal Beach Park will also play host to live music and family activities. For more information, visit www.windy100.org. "Adam Kemp
