Great Lakes - Hilly Hundred Day 1

It was freezing cold!!!! My brother, his friend Dave and I started at 8:15 and it was 42*, windy and misting rain. However, once we got going it wasn't really that bad.

I think a lot of people opted to start later hoping for warmer temps. I rode most of the day alone. Dave and my brother we out ahead of me early on and I rode along with a few folks but kept passing people on the hills. I guess I was better prepared than I thought.

None of us stopped at any stops. ha We all decided that it was just way too cold. I knew if I stopped I'd seize up, get super cold and never be able to get going. I had a cliff bar and enough hydration to just keep going past the stops. A lot of other people were doing the same.

Today was around 4372 feet of climbing according to the stats on the website but it just didn't seem all that hard. It did quit misting rain but never really got sunny or much warmer. It was 47* when we finished. Tomorrow is supposed to be a much better weather day and my favorite day of the 2.

We spent 2 hours at the park chasing around my niece and now we are both thinking that our legs feel really tired and, oh yeah, we gotta do this again tomorrow. :)

Bought lots of swag which I normally don't but loved the tshirts and sweatshirts. They were out of small jerseys or I would have bought one of those, too.

Round 2 tomorrow!

I finished in 3:29 and Kurt and Dave had a time of 2:58. We both took wrong turns at some point and ended up riding extra. Today's course was supposed to be around 47 miles. I had 51 at the finish

I never saw scummer, by the way. Maybe Sunday.

awesome ... good luck

I think there vertical stats have always been a little suspect. It seems to me that the whole ride was only 5000 vertical a few years ago. How did you like Mt Tabor?

Frank

I think this year was the 5th time we've done the Hilly since starting back in the 90's. The event seems to have changed since when we first started attending. Not saying for better or worse but just my impressions this year:

Not as many people dressing up in costume nor decorating their bikes. It has become less an event and more of a typical organized ride.

Far fewer non-skilled riders participating, very few hybrids, mountain bikes, and fewer old roadies seen as compared to the past. 90% were on nicer higher end road bikes.

I might be wrong but the average rider seems to have finally gotten younger, again, I could be way off on this one.

Anyway, as always had a great time, despite the crappy cold weather. The organizers and volunteers did a great job and my hats off to them.

I think some of things you (robow) noticed depended on the time in which you rode. Saturday we didn't start until 11, looking for some sun and the end of the moisture. To us it appeared the opposite - mostly MTB & hybrids plus pleasure riders as well as older riders. No stops for us either and we were in the thick of people by the 1/2-way mark despite the later start. Wind was cold and beastly.

Sunday was much better - sun plus warmer. As always, the Bean Blossom climb and Forest Road section were the favorite. Picked up riders on the back in a train through the forest and had a great run there. Best finish yet - 2 hrs, 39 min.

My brother's Garmin had Saturday's elevation at around 3,300 so quite a discrepancy from the reported climbing totals. It sure didn't feel like nearly 5,000 each day. Although, it certainly felt like enough hills.

The drama really heated up for me on day 2. Honestly, my life has been interesting lately. We get to the start area (and see scummer!!! I knew I would) and determine when airing up my back tire that the valve isn't looking so good and sure enough right after we air it up it fails and my tire is flat. My brother changes the tube and has trouble getting my new tire back on...no way I could do it EVER. Incredibly hard to get back on.

Anywho, we air it up and take off ...all seems well...until right after the Stinesville Rest stop. There's about 7 miles to go having ridden 43 miles. I get up a big climb after the rest stop and swear I hear a noise like a gun being fired. I actually yelling, "someone just shot a gun" and the guy behind me said," no I think it's your back tire!" Sure enough it's flat. While I'm contemplating how I'll even ever get the tire back on once I change the tube, I start to take it off and realize I didn't just blow the tube, I blew through the sidewall of the tire!

Lucky for me it's just an easy walk back down the very steep hill I just climbed to the rest stop. NOT! It was wicked steep and I was having trouble walking down it with my bike without slipping wearing the stupid cycling shoes. Going to the side was impossible because so many riders are coming down that side. I was glad to be of some amusement to the suffering cyclists coming up. :D

The really nice mechanic at the rest stop doesn't have any tires. So I was done for the day and the SAG picked up me and and a man with a faulty hip replacement to haul us to the finish. The older gentlemen tells me he's ridden the Hilly 10 years in a row and he wasn't going to let a hip replacement stop him. He blew the hip on TAbor Town Rd. My blown tire didn't seem so major compared to him on the phone trying to reach his orthopedist. He couldn't even sit on it in the vehicle and was leaning to the other side.

So I ended up with 43 miles today. Honestly I was beat and not sad to miss the headwind coming back in. I had ridden all the major hills except Water Tower (but had done that on Saturday) so I was happy.

Had a great time. The organization of this ride is really great. I saw all kinds of people and bikes out there. Bean Blossom is my favorite climb but the ride wouldn't be complete without that 20% on Tabor Town Rd.

I'll be back again next year. Oh, bought even more swag today....don't know what got into me...I just loved their stuff. Lots of great vendors there too and good end of the season deals. Good times with my brother too.

It was a great ride with some nice kickers just like I remembered two years ago. Only this time it felt easier to climb them. Training makes a world of difference :)
I arrived at the HH campground at midnight on Friday, pitched my tent and hit the sack. Quite a few guys not too far away from my tent were erasing whole rain forests but in the end I did find my sleep.

Set my alarm to 6:15 and woke up to one hell of a cold and wet morning. 3 layers of long sleeve gear later and some warm pants I was sufficiently warm. I even put my balaclava on.
I write a text to the dudes from the South Chicago Wheelmen that I made arrangements with and they just got up as well, but are not going to be ready until 10-10:30ish. Cool by me, the later the start the warmer it will be. Ventured over to the vendor tent just to drool over the TI frames, zipp wheels, powertaps and Assos clothing. Must control urge to whip out credit card.
In the end I bought 2 Michelin Pro 3 for 37$/piece. Not too bad of a price.
So 10:30 comes around and the dudes are showing up, we start our ride quickly without much chatting. Too darn cold to just stand around idle.
We hit the first climb of the day and the back wheel keeps slipping on the wet leaves, great and that wasn't even the steepest climb. Not much further down the road and the street is completely blocked :eek: Ambulance, cops, firetrucks and god knows what else on the scene. We were asked to dismount and walk by. I take a quick glance and I thought I noticed a bike with a broken steerer. Not sure tho. We don't really know what happened so we ride on since there were already 100 other people just standing around and looking. We just wanted to ride to get warm.
So it turned into an uneventful rest of the ride. No flats, no blowouts, no crashes. All good. I can even remove my balaclava around noon since it had warmed up a bit.
We finished the ride in 2:55 and my wife and kids picked me up to hit some trails in the Brown County State Park where we choose a 2 mile trail to walk along with 160 stairs to climb in the end. I could feel my guads right there and then. Ouch.

After a nice walk we go to Nashville, IN and I load up on Pizza. Carb loading FTW :D
Back at the tent site around 8:30 and I hit the sack straight from the car. I was finished, done, toasted and roasted. I slept till 7:45 the next day for some great recovery.
The 2nd day we started even later. I think it was 11:20 when the guys would finally stop by :D so again I hit the vendor tent before they showed up (where on my way to the tent I met SmokinMiles her brother and a friend of them :D ) and couldn't stand it any longer. I walked out with some Assos bibs and had to try them out the same day. The weather was much better that day and it was sufficiently warm to wear the bibs without getting cold legs. I have to say, sitting on Assos is like having a cloud under your butt. Good stuff and much more comfy then my PI shorts. But they are darn expensive, that's for sure.

It is now shortly before noon and my riding partners are here so we hit the road.
We only stop by at the lunch stop, but that time we stay longer since the wind and temperature is acceptable for a nice long stop. Some veggies and ice cream later we continue an uneventful ride. This time no ambulances or cops blocking the street. We finished the 2nd day in 2:58.

It was a great weekend of riding with some nice steep hills, but from a difficulty rating quite easier than the Dairyland Dare. The rest stops are awesome with live music, ice cream, apple cider and other goodies and the leaves have turned in a nice fire of yellow, red and a little bit of leftover green. Beautiful scenery.
I'm ready for next year.

I wasn't able to ride on Saturday (transportation problems), probably better off due to weather. Sunday was great! I captured some pics. (official start, small hill early on, open fields and tree colors, morgan monroe state forest, over 40 mph on a downhill, chruch on a hill)

My brother changes the tube and has trouble getting my new tire back on...no way I could do it EVER. Incredibly hard to get back on.
Anywho, we air it up and take off ...all seems well...until right after the Stinesville Rest stop. There's about 7 miles to go having ridden 43 miles. I get up a big climb after the rest stop and swear I hear a noise like a gun being fired. I actually yelling, "someone just shot a gun" and the guy behind me said," no I think it's your back tire!" Sure enough it's flat. While I'm contemplating how I'll even ever get the tire back on once I change the tube, I start to take it off and realize I didn't just blow the tube, I blew through the sidewall of the tire!

Had a great time. .

those tires wouldn't happen to have been conti gp 4000's because that scenario sounds hauntingly familiar!

Sorry about the blow out but it sounds like all's well that ends well. I would have loved that shopping...but NOT the cold wet weather!