Hey Gang,

I thought I would share a little of my Horrible Hilly experience yesterday.

Getting there:  It's about a 2 ½ hour drive, but there is definitely a line to get into the park, so plan on getting there at least an hour before the 7am start, otherwise you will be starting at 7:20am.  ; )

Layout:  The 200k is broken into 5 sections that are divided by 4 rest stops.

Section 1:  ½ hour into the ride, you hit the first major climb on Mounds Park Road.  This hill seriously never ends, every time you get to a turn it continues to steepen until it hits another turn.  I was amazed to see several people walking their bikes a half hour into the ride.there was no shame in this...as that hill was brutal.

Sections 2 & 3:  Nothing too crazy.  I hit rest stop # 3 feeling good (67 miles down, 57 to go).  Plenty of solid climbs, but I wasn't out to break any records and just took them in stride.  At this point, I was glad that I decided to step up and do the 200K.

Section 4:  This section is the longest at 33 miles and the 18mph winds are starting to take a toll.  One observation about this ride is that people are less chatty than most other rides. About midway through this section, I started thinking that the 100k version would have been a fun experience.

The graveyard:    This is what they call rest stop # 4.  Lots of people don't make it out of this stop and no one seems to be in a hurry to get back on their bike.  Volunteers are directing people to sag wagons and showing others how to take a more direct route back to the finish line.

Section 5:  By far the hardest and hilliest section.  On one particular climb, I noticed that one of the walkers had one of those M-dot tattoos on his calf.  The final climb, it starts out with that same major climb from section 1 and then you turn and continue to ride up to the top of the park, rumor has it that it's around 1,000 feet climb in total.  I was exhausted and alternated standing and zig-zagging back and forth across the road while seated to the top.  Thank goodness for spectators or I seriously would have considered that walking thing!

End of ride stats:  125 total miles, more hills than you can count or recall, average speed of 14.8 mph, 8 ½ hours on the bike and another hour of chilling at the rest stops.  Top speed 43.6 mph, descending is part of the experience and something I could use more work on.

Reflections:  I think the 100k would be a challenging and fun ride.  The 200k is a character builder.  My favorite moment was exiting the park and seeing other rides struggle on the final hill (I'm a little sadistic as times).  Glad Insane Terrain isn't until next month.

All the best,

Steve Dayon - NW Chapter