Horribly Hilly Hundreds!

Today I was signed up for the Horribly Hilly Hundreds. It is a 124 mile ride that goes up and down all the largest hills in southwest Wisconsin for a total elevation gain of around 11,000 feet. Compile that with 86-88 degree temps and 20mph winds and I was in for quite a treat. My goal? To finish!

Last night after I got my new super-pro haircut Garett and I went to pick up our packets. We also feasted on spaghetti. I opted for the second helping and everyone was amazed by the amount of food I could put away...Everyone but me of course! :) After I got home I wasn't feeling too good though, full, still kind of sick and also sore from the Aquathon.

I got roughly 6 hours of wake every 45 minutes to piss because I was so hydrated sleep and then got up. Brozek was supposed to pick me up at 5:20ish but was kind of late. I guess he had some early morning blogging to do! :) Certainly he wasn't late because he had to coax 2 girls to awake and tote us around at dawn, the day after Missy's birthday! Happy Birthday Missy! We get to Blue Mounds about 20 after 6 and get our timing chip. Mine barely fit around my ankle. Anyways in what is normal for any event I line up right in front. at 7:07am we were off.

Team Schwinn dominated. J.Bro finally realized that leading events can be fun, even if you know you won't finish at the front. We single-handedly rolled the field 7 miles down to the first big climb of the day. That was the last time I would see the front. The first climb is tough (Mounds Trail.) Anyways, I got in with some fast riders and we got to the first rest stop averaging right around 20mph. I forgo the rest stop though to keep my flow and get in with an even faster group! It helped alot as we were riding well together but half way through stage 2 (they call each time between the rest stop a stage) we split in about 3 groups, me being in the back of the 3 but still pretty far up the road. We got to the second rest stop right when I ran out of liquid, good timing! I had a banana with peanut butter (at almost every stop) and grabbed some gels and water and Heed and get going pretty much by myself. I am rolling along minding my own business when a pack comes at me. They told me to turn around as we missed a sign so we back tracked about a 1/2 mile (1 mile round trip) and got back on course. We had a 15 person pack now and we worked well together on the relatively easy stage 3. There were a couple scorchers at the end of the stage though that split us up. We get to rest area 3 and there is Garett. How did he get ahead of me? He said they must've missed a turn and his computer had 10 less miles than mine. Bummer. Early in stage 4 though I was feeling really good and pushing the pace. We split in two groups and this time I was in the front one. It was the last time I saw Garett too. Stage 4 was rough though and pretty soon I was riding with one other guy and then after about 10 miles of working together he said he couldn't take it anymore and quit the event. By now we were at mile 80 and although I still felt good it was getting boring. It wasn't boring for long as I was riding and all of a sudden out of a ditch a rottweiler lunged at me. He smacked right into my chain stay moving my bike maybe 6 inches. He scared me and himself and the owner yelled. The whole thing took like 2 seconds and I was just happy to keep the bike upright. Shortly after that I again see a pack coming towards me. Wrong way, some idiot misdirected the signs. Guh! We ended up picking up about 20 people in this 2 mile round trip regroup. We then had a huge pack which was nice and it carried me almost to the end of stage 4. I get to the last rest stop and load up more food and drinks. Many people half-assed this rest stop and I got caught without a group. For the rest of the ride I was without group with the exception of about 1 mile on Lake Farm road. Anyways I think 4 or 5 of the toughest climbs come in the final stage. Pinnacle almost killed me, my right hammy was cramping and I kept rotating between in and out of the saddle just to be easy on it. Lake farm was long and just kept getting steeper. Guh! By the top I was dying. Then the climb into Barneveld was long, steep and had no shade. Then coming out of Barneveld I thought I was on the Time Trial course for the race back, but then a random left turn added a couple miles and some rollers. On the plus side a car honked at me and it was Jess! :) She snapped some photos (which I'll try to post later) and really motivated me those last 8 miles. Then we get to the bottom of Blue Mounds trail. This was it. I put it in my 39X23 and cranked. My speed varied from 4.3-6.1 the whole way up and I passed a few people. I then got into the park and I unleashed my secret weapon. I did the whole race until that point without shifting into my 26T in the rear. I saved it for that last climb and it sure did feel nice. I got up gracefully and cleanly! 7:53 something for 127 (124 + 3 random other) miles. My stats:

Distance: 127.14 miles
Total time: 7:53:something
Ride time: 7:37:17
Climbing: 10,400 feet
Calories burned: 8470
Avg Heart Rate: 157BPM
Max Heart Rate: 188BPM
Avg Speed (riding): 16.7mph
Max speed: 51.7MPH

Notable events: Brozek and I leading...it suited him well. A rumor going around that Greg LeMond was there and me remembering passing a guy on a carbon LeMond prototype bike. The Rottweiler. Getting called a fag by someone who I presume to be a hick. Bananas with Peanut Butter...mmmm. Free Culvers custard at the finish line. Seeing M.Bro and prodigy taking photos. Seeing Jess when I was feeling down and tired. Brent and Nagle were to do the 100K event, no word on how they did... Update: Greg LeMond was there!

I didn't see Brozek after the race so I assumed he finished. Although Garett cut 10 miles off the course, he then added 6 round trip when he missed a turn (that was probably missing a sign) and ended up in the town of Arena so he hit 120.

Overall it was an awesome and I hope once in a lifetime experience! Two roads were missing signs (rumors that locals stole them because they hate the event) and one that was directed the wrong way caused 3 extra miles and two glances to the map. I think it could be better marshalled and the corners could be swept somewhat. The course seemed alot easier than I thought until the last stage which was much more difficult that I thought. I figured my legs would tire out between miles 75-80 but I remember distinctly my legs crapping out at mile 98. Century took 5:33 (ride time) meaning the last 27 miles took me 2:04 (ride time.)

Update again: Wow I did really good! 26th place overall in 7:52:27. 15.8mph with stops. Not too shabby!

Product reviews-
Coppertone Sunblock Spray-on Sport SPF 30, A+ One coat lasted all day with minimal burning or annoyingness.

Hammer Products- D I had three of their products today. Their Heed drink sucks. It tastes awful and I am not sure it helped much. Hammer Gel does work but again it tastes terrible. I've never had a hammer gel flavor I've enjoyed, Chocolate and raspberry are decent, Orange and Vanilla are terrible! The little caps were kind of fun but I still cramped somewhat.