Tulsa, Oklahoma - Bunny hopping and bad luck proved the difference when Steve Ragan pulled away from Tulsan Bryan DuVall to cinch the overall win and the last three Oklahoma Cyclocross Series races including the state championships in the Open category. Olympic hopeful Magen Long missed several races due to illness but came a close second in points to Tulsan Julie Thomas by winning every event she entered in the Women's Open in the series.

Despite Edmond resident Ragan's clear domination in the State Championship Dec. 21, DuVall thought he could make a run at him in the next to last race of the series until Ragan mastered a critical section of the course. Ragan, 31, bunny hopped each of the barriers in a three-barrier section by pulling up on the bars to lift himself off the ground and over each barrier. In mid-flight the 5-foot-11 and 165 pound rider pulled up hard on his clipped-in pedals to clear the back wheel before coming back to earth in time to do it again for the next hurdle.

This skill set requires the nerve and fitness to do it and a place on the course where riders can carry good speed and momentum into the barriers. A rider bunny hopping can fly through that section, instead of dismounting from the bike and hurdling them with bike in hand, as his competitors do.

"I think I had the fitness to overtake Ragan in that next to last race and the overall standings of the series until he mastered that section of the course," DuVall said. "When he first started bunny hopping that section on the third lap he easily pulled away. He was all the way to the corner (40 meters away) by the time we hurdled the three barriers and were back on our bikes."

"I have seen a video of a junior rider bunny hopping three barriers in the 1998 World Championships in Belgium, but I have not seen anybody do it live and I have never practiced it," Ragan said. "There was a good approach to the set of barriers I bunny hopped. I did two laps dismounting over those barriers but I had to slow so much to dismount I realized I could try it.

I just put a couple more hard pedal strokes down instead of slowing down, lifted up on my front wheel to clear my front end, and kicked the back end over. I had to pedal hard between them because I had to keep up my speed since I had two more barricades in that set to jump."

On the technical side Ragan said he had confidence in his Shimano 535 mid-range road racing wheels because he had accidentally gone off a four-foot ledge moving at half-speed and the wheels held up well.

"When I saw Ragan sprinting into it those barriers an bunny hopping them I knew that was going to be the section that determined the race," DuVall said. "I didn't want to bunny hop those barriers because I didn't want to crash or flat with the overall on the line. Ragan pulled away more over that section every time.

We just couldn't believe what we were seeing. I think it was awesome that he stepped up and started bunny-hopping barriers; I think it has brought a different level of racing to Oklahoma cyclocross. It totally changed the dynamics of the Series in one fell swoop."

As it becomes more common here it will allow Oklahoma riders to look like they know what they are doing if the opportunity presents itself at national events we race in. I am prepared to bunny hop barriers now myself if they are in a section of the course that allows me to carry a lot of speed into them."

Ragan moved ahead of DuVall by four points in the Series standings by winning that race. DuVall's loss in the next to last event was compounded by bad luck when he had a flat in the first lap of the Series final Jan. 11. The flat was so early in the lap that riding much slower on a flat tire for the remainder of that lap to the neutral pit meant the 5-foot-11 and 170 pound rider he never saw the leaders again.

DuVall, 31, has been the manager at Bicycles of Tulsa and the Tulsa Sun and Ski Sports bicycle section. He is now working at the Brookside by Day restaurant in Tulsa. Two-time Series winner Ragan is in the ROTC program at the University of Central Oklahoma. He went back to school to become an officer in the U.S. Army after working for a contractor with Southwestern Bell.

"I want to thank promoter Rance Shields and all the guys who set up the courses," Ragan said. "They did a great job of giving us so many different courses during the series and because of their great organizing my prize money was $550 for first. That's fabulous for a cyclocross race in Oklahoma."

Women's Open winner Julie Thomas, 41, works in the sports and recreation industry as a business manager for Fleet Feet Sports in Tulsa. A 15-year veteran of bicycle racing she is concentrating on improving her fitness for adventure racing. "After seeing the hard work that it takes to put on a race by helping to organize and promote the Chandler Park Cyclocross event in Tulsa it was icing on the cake to win the Series" Thomas said. "After their 10 years of support, I am proud to represent the Oklahoma Velo Sports with this Series win."

"Rance Shields did a good job with the courses, he changed it up every time to offer some good technical parts." Long said.

United States Air Force Master Sgt. Stokely Samuel, 35, a Brooklyn, NY native won the Oklahoma State Championships and the Series in the Catergory 4,5. He works on an AWACS aircraft maintenance team at Tinker and trains about 10-15 hours a week on the bike. He pulled out a 20-second gap in the State Championship.

"The folks in Tulsa really constructed some great courses." Samuel said. "The Chandler Park course was a really fast and long course with some neat barriers over logs. I enjoyed the challenge. The course in Sand Springs was over some really rough ground and it had a hairy downhill that required your full attention to survive every lap."

"The State Championship was held separate from the Series," said Rance Shields, series promoter. "We listed it on all our promotional material because as the host we wanted to remind everyone to come out and compete in the event. In the big picture the state championships are actually more important than the Series, since it gives the winner a national standing."

The Men's Open State Championship race was decided half way through when two members of the The Bicycle Store Racing Team started working together. "I looked back and saw teammate Dominick Roels there and Bryan DuVall and Chad Shanks were back a ways," said Ragan. "Dominick is on the same team, but is a 16-year old foreign exchange student from Germany. He couldn't place in the event, so we worked together. He would pull half a lap and I would he would pull half a lap."

Ragan and Roels outdistanced the competition and finished side by side to denote their cooperation. Ragan also won the State Championship in 2001.

Series organizers were able to distribute a total of $500 in extra prize money to the top three in the Men's' Open and Cat. 4,5 races at the Series final. Oil and gas attorney Bob Barnes, a former rider who is now an avid cyclocross fan donated the money.

"The $3000 dollars in prize money before Barnes's generous donation makes this Series the top in this region," Shields said. "We think the long prize list helped draw the 99 racers who competed in at least one of the eight races."

Cyclocross is sometimes described as cross-country running races that allow racers to use a specially built bicycle for portions of the courses. Many cyclists participate because they can improve their bike handling skills while maintaining their cardiovascular fitness in the fall and winter.

The 'cross Series kicked off Oct. 12 in Oklahoma City at Lake Hefner Park, east of Lake Hefner Parkway on Grand Blvd. All the Oklahoma City events were held at that park. The 2003 Series increased from six events last year to eight this year and expanded to include races in Tulsa and Sand Springs.

While competitive 'cross riders competed in the elite heats by age group, the series offered races for beginners, and mountain bike riders. There were two races each Sunday with the elite riders competing for an hour starting a 1 p.m. The second race at 2 p.m. went for 45 minutes and included separate categories for Master's men (30+, 40+, 50+), women, and Junior men. Categories 4/ 5 were grouped together.

For more information and detailed results visit the The Bicycle Store Web site at: http://www.thebicyclestore.com/cyclocross.html.