The 21st Annual The Dehydrator benefiting the Duncan school bands invites you to join their ride on July 30th, 2011 starting at Simmons Center located at 800 Chisholm Trail Parkway, Duncan Oklahoma.
We were lucky enough to be granted an interview with Kent Collins, Ride Coordinator of The Dehydrator Bike Ride to ask some questions about their upcoming ride
Why Join the “The Dehydrator”?
The Dehydrator offers both a race AND a fun ride. The race is extremely challenging when you couple the hilly terrain, fast corners, and the typical heat experienced in southern Oklahoma at the end of July. The fun ride offers a scenic tour that takes the longer routes near and around Waurika lake and back again.
How long has the event been around?
2011 will be the 21st year of the event.
What was the motivation behind starting the tour and who benefits from it?
The motivation was driven by our local cycling club from a desire to bring cyclists together. For around the last 10 years, the event has been sponsored by the Duncan band boosters organization. Everyone benefits, from the riders to the volunteers, to the community.
How have they been able to utilize the funds in the past?
The proceeds go to support our middle and high school band programs. The funds are used to help buy instruments, supplement travels expenses, and provide scholarships. Our Duncan band programs are among the top ranked in Oklahoma. Also, we ‘give back’ to the community by donating bicycles to our local toy shop program to be used as Christmas gifts for the less fortunate.
Logistically, can you give us an idea how many volunteers, finances, and planning it takes to put on this event?
Vols = about 150+ , finances = $10,000+, planning is year-round.
What was the most rewarding experience throughout the years hosting this event?
For me personally, setting the attendance record last year. A lot of hard work was put in throughout the year trying to make sure that we were doing things right and advertising ourselves in the right markets, and ultimately it paid off. Also, as far as rewarding, was seeing the boosters increase their bicycle gift giving to the toy shop. The proceeds were higher, so they turned around and increased their giving. I’m sure there were quite a few happy kids on Christmas day because of that.
What is the average number of participants per year?
How many riders do you assist during the average race? Average = 400, we set a record last year (2010) of 540 (a 30% increase over 2009 and a 50% increase over 2008). We might sag in 5%, maybe 20 – 30, not really for sure on that.
What was the most unforgettable experience or worst accident you had in this event?
Unforgettable ranges from good to bad. Bad is like when we found out (in the ’09 event) that an older gentleman from Dallas, in the race, had wiped out in one of the fast corners and suffered a broken hip. Also bad is being griped at for lack of medical coverage in a certain area. We have since corrected that because we want a safe event above all. Good is when things go right and you see people having fun and feeling that they’ve gotten their money’s worth and tell you that the event is one of the best around, and that they’ll be back. Good is having people on your team that you know you can count on to come through for you in a pinch. There’s several really great people who stepped up and did an awesome job of coordinating, and they know who they are. Also good is having people like Jari Askins (local girl), Oklahoma Lt. Governor at the time, take time out of their day (2010, the 20th anniversary of the event) to greet the crowd and wish them well.
What can folks do to support you and your mission?
Riders can register and ride the event! Volunteer organizations can help with their time, such as running/sponsoring a hydration station. Local businesses can increase their sponsorship monies and/or products and gifts, to either be used in the event, or given away as door prizes. Bicycle shops or blogs/websites such as yourself can help spread the word.
What is your role in this race and to the success of it?
I became the coordinator in the fall of ’08 to start planning the ’09 event. ’08 was the ‘low water mark’ of the event. From a combination of overspending and a lower attendance, it only made several thousand dollars profit that year. At that time both the boosters and the bicycle club were frustrated with the lack of return for investment and the low attendance. When you think about having a fund raiser, working all year long for several thousand dollars just doesn’t make sense. The ride had been around for a number of years, and although it is a high quality event, it just wasn’t growing. Attendance was almost always the same from year to year. The nature of the boosters, like many organizations, was to elect (or conscript….ha!) a coordinator and that person MIGHT handle it for a max of a couple of years before their child would graduate or leave the band. That person would then get out of that position and hand it to the next person, and the learning process would start all over again. So it was obvious to me that that plan just wouldn’t work over a long period of time; there was no continuity. My position now, in this my third year, is having a better overall look at what’s going on now, and what was going on in the past, combining all that data and trying to organize it better.
Do you ride and if yes, what kind of bicycle do you ride and what is your favorite route in your area? Which are your top 3 favorite MUST DO rides in Texas (besides your own)?
Yes I’ve ridden since I was a child of course, but bought a ‘real’ bike back in ’87; a Specialized Allez. I currently ride a Tommaso. I’ve only done one ride in Texas, and that is the Hotter-N-Hell. But I’ve done that ride multiple times. In fact 19 years ago, my wife and I rode in it on our honeymoon!
Additional stuff you would like the folks to know about this year’s ride?
Well, it’s going to be HOT! That goes without saying due to the current drought conditions we’ve been experiencing. Hopefully we’ll be seeing a break from the excessive temperatures about the time the event rolls around. With that being said, coincidentally, we’ve rolled back the start time by 30 minutes to 7:30 this year. That will help a little with the heat exposure. We discussed it last year and felt like we needed an earlier start. We might even try to go to a 7:00 start in 2012.
Additionally, we will have much better support this year through our medical tents. They will have trained staff and doctors and in an extreme emergency have ice water dunk tanks to cool someone down. We have a local Ham radio club, who has supported the ride for years, that gives us real time tracking of the sag vehicles and status of our hydration stations. They provide us a great service and they are pretty interesting to watch as they coordinate everything. It will be ‘business as usual’ as far as the meal goes. We put on one of the best meals around, and it is included in the entry fee. Also included in the fee, is ‘run of the house’ of the Simmons Center. The Simmons Center (location of the event) is a first-class facility offering a half-olympic sized pool, saunas, weight rooms, jogging track, raquetball courts, etc.. Through the Dehydrator entry fee, riders can enjoy any of these all day long. It costs us some money to rent the center, but it is well worth it to us because we want our event to be the best. Also, riders can experience the ‘Old West’ via the Chisholm Trail Heritage Center, which is adjacent to the Simmons Center. Riders get free admission with their bibs, and can enjoy all the museum has to offer. It’s really pretty neat AND educational.
Furthermore, we are 1 of only 2 rides in Oklahoma that are endorsed by the Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports. Due to our event date, we typically draw in a number of riders who are training for the Hotter-N-Hell, which is only 1 month after ours. Finally, we absolutely love putting on this thing, and are constantly striving to improve it. We are looking into ways to enhance the technical side through social networks and all that inter-networking offers. You can check us out at www.thedehydrator.org and we have a Facebook presence as well.
Thanks Kent Collins for this quick interview and we hope to catch everyone at the ride!
Click here to view the event details of the The Dehydrator Bike Ride 2011
