We share how Maverick Criterium grew from a lunch idea to a true city race weekend, with campus corners under the lights, a revamped downtown sprint, and a bigger prize purse. We break down last year’s wins and messes, the new categories, neutral support, and why community buy-in matters.

• year-one highlights and hard lessons
• permits, signatures, and city partnerships
• campus course design and OU collaboration
• downtown crowd energy and safety choices
• weather delays and real-time fixes
• Porsche pace cars and protocols
• 2026 updates: new categories, night racing
• revised downtown course for growth
• Fondo, 10-mile ride, beer mile
• host homes for teams and how to help
• volunteers, weeknight tune-up crits
• neutral support details and free-lap basics
• prize purse increase to 15,000 dollars
• why Maverick is the perfect Tulsa Tough tune-up

Come race Maverick. It’s before Tulsa. There’s gonna be people here that I know you want to beat.

https://www.mavcrit.com/

Host Home/Volunteer - https://www.mavcrit.com/volunteer

Register - https://www.bikereg.com/maverick-criterium

We sit down with Tulsa trail builder and race director Bobby Reese to map how Turkey Mountain grew to 70 miles, why Cold Turkey became a three-day fundraiser party, and how OKXC aims to unite Oklahoma racing with a rider-first spring series. From vintage 26ers to party enduro to short-lap XC, we keep it fun, fair, and community-led.

• Turkey Mountain’s trail expansion and wayfinding
• Cold Turkey Fest schedule, formats, and camping
• Enduro party timing and mini-enduro for beginners
• OKXC vision, six-race spring calendar, short laps
• Bales, Purcell, Mooser, McMurtry, Keystone, Arcadia
• One-day state championship structure and goals
• Team challenge rules and free first number plates
• Nonprofit funding, sponsors, and community impact
• Little Shredders kids racing and Saturday schedules

If you have interest in any sponsorship of the OKXC series or this podcast, please reach out and let me know

Instagram @okxcraceseries

www.okxcseries.com

We sit down with Dave Ortloff to trace a life on bikes from rigid forks and jorts to Cat 1 wins, White Rim epics, and choosing joy over endless intervals. We also launch The Dirties, a new, irreverent awards night to celebrate trail crews and the people who make our scene hum.

• sponsors, local events, and dates for Damn Zombies and OKXC
• Dave’s origin story from Lake Thunderbird to Bluff Creek
• stepping through Cat 3 to Cat 1 and what it cost
• training structure, coaching insights, and erg mode heresy
• White Rim logistics, beauty, and safety lessons
• Little Sugar strategy, sodium mistakes, and pacing
• gear talk on tires, pressures, tubeless, and side knobs
• why flow is meditation and community is the win
• announcing The Dirties awards night details and sponsors

The Dirt -EZZ will have free pizza, cash bar, and raffle at Angry Scotsman, Thursday, February 26, 6–9 pm. Pizza at 6. Awards at 7. “Please come join us. It’s really just a good time for a bunch of fools to hang out and laugh at each other.”

Dirt-EZZ Details https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1872VTJwwR/