4 of the 6 of us headed to France this July, braved Horribly Hilly 200K: Painman, Baker, Rusty, and myself. After doing the longest ride of our lives last Sunday, we furthered the mark just one week later.
It started out with running into Loecken and Olson at breakfast. They suggested riding to the start, rather than driving. I talked our group into it, so we rode the 4 miles to the start. I'd regret it later in the day.
A very diverse crowd of cyclists with lots of triathletes and aerobars. We tried to find the Ritz brothers, with no luck (they slept in). I took one last look around, only to miss the 7AM start. I had to work my way through all the riders to get back up to my group. It didn't take long, and once I caught them, I just kept going. I wanted to get in front of as many riders as possible so going up the first climb wasn't crowded. This worked out perfect, and our first climb was unhampered.
The first leg had some tough climbs, before the first rest stop at about 30 miles. The climbs were very similar to pitch and length of last weekend. We all learned our lesson last week about eating and hydrating as much as possible. We didn't make that mistake today. If anything, we overdid it.
The second leg had a tough climb at the start, and then mostly rollers. Then we returned to the same rest stop for a second time after about 50 miles, and it was slim pickings. We continued onto the third section, knowing it was relatively easy compared to the 4th and 5th sections. We rode it pretty hard and arrived at the 3rd rest stop in Black Earth at about 75 miles. This rest stop had tons of good stuff to eat, and we took advantage.
The 4th leg was tough as expected, with more long steep climbs. Painman and I hit 56.5mph on one of the downhills. We started hitting the intermediate water stops to keep hydrated. By the time we got to the last rest stop, we were at 110 miles. We knew that construction forced a course change, which added 6 miles, making the total course distance approx 130 miles. We figured the final 20 miles would be tough, but no problem.
Well, it was more like 28 miles, with a couple killer climbs, and the gruelling final 910ft climb to the finish. Painman and I did the final climb together, and a 27-tooth cog was not even close to enough gear. We battled our bikes all the way to the top. Rusty and Baker followed close behind.
The food at the finish was great. A very well run event. However, this is where I would come to regret the decision to ride from the hotel. The guys were desperate for a clean change of clothes. Fortunately, the ride back to the hotel served as an excellent cool down, to loosen our legs up for the long drive home.
Sunday is Father's Day, and I am looking forward to spending it with my family. Happy Dad's day to you all.
2 comments:
Awesome work fellas. I regret I missed it b/c I didn't register in time but on second thought, I'm not sure I could have made it.
You think that is tough? Try RAAM!
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