Horribly Hilly Hundreds
I did the Horribly Hilly Hundred ride (the 200k of course, why drive all the way there just to do 100k?). This was undoubtedly the toughest day ever in the saddle for me, (except for the time i was thrown by a horse, bitten and stomped on, thus my one fear is of horses) or, ( the time i found myself saddling up on the circus fat lady, LOL). there is almost 11,000 vertical feet of climbing on this ride. There were no flat sections and doing it this way is much tougher in my experience than doing all the climbing in 2-4 big climbs, cause you can't get in a rhythm as its just up and down all day. There were some very tough grades, up to 14-15% at times, and the last two climbs were brutal. I saw many a strong rider reduced to walking. My lowest gear was a 39x25, i wished i had a 27, or a even better, a compact crank.
I was so tired after finishing this ride that even the free beer was unappealing, and i'm usually the first guy in line. When one is doing a tough event one often questions their sanity, wonders what they were thinking, or is begging for it to be over, but once done you are done you often say i'm glad i did that, or i'll be back next year. Not this time. I'm not sure i want to this ride again, thats how tough it was, but we will see.
With all the ups and downs it was virtually impossible to ride with a group on this ride as everyone tends to find their own pace on the uphills and their own level of guts and daring on the downhills, so drafting was nonexistent, making it even tougher. The only benefit of company was having someone to share the pain with, or having someone to pass on the hills. I did enjoy passing all the strong fit women i saw, and sympathized with all the carnage on the last few hills as many riders gave up and dismounted. Like KIrk Douglas in the movie, The Vikings, who died a true Viking Death (with sword in hand) I was able to die on my bike and not walk it. The saying of this ride was Biking Like a Viking, but the saying should be Odin gets his revenge.
Brian Leverenz
I was so tired after finishing this ride that even the free beer was unappealing, and i'm usually the first guy in line. When one is doing a tough event one often questions their sanity, wonders what they were thinking, or is begging for it to be over, but once done you are done you often say i'm glad i did that, or i'll be back next year. Not this time. I'm not sure i want to this ride again, thats how tough it was, but we will see.
With all the ups and downs it was virtually impossible to ride with a group on this ride as everyone tends to find their own pace on the uphills and their own level of guts and daring on the downhills, so drafting was nonexistent, making it even tougher. The only benefit of company was having someone to share the pain with, or having someone to pass on the hills. I did enjoy passing all the strong fit women i saw, and sympathized with all the carnage on the last few hills as many riders gave up and dismounted. Like KIrk Douglas in the movie, The Vikings, who died a true Viking Death (with sword in hand) I was able to die on my bike and not walk it. The saying of this ride was Biking Like a Viking, but the saying should be Odin gets his revenge.
Brian Leverenz
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