Unrace: Hilly Hundred
Location: Ellettsville, IN
Date: October 8-10
Jarrett and I rode in our first Hilly Hundred this year. We had an AMAZING time! This is event is not a race. It's two days of friends, food, riding, and HILLS. We were lucky enough to stay with our friend Carrie F who lives about 3 miles away from the start line. We drove down to Ellettsville on Friday evening after work and picked-up packets and enjoyed a wonderful pasta dinner with friends. Everyone was up early on Saturday to get started. Since it is not a race and several thousand people participate each year, there is no set start time. You can start anytime between 8-10. We started the course around 8:30. I was not sure what to expect. I'd ridden part of the course over the summer but I had not been on my bike much since Augusta. This was Jarrett's longest ride in months. I have to admit, I was very nervous at first. There are tons of people with varying abilities and the rodes are not closed to traffic. After making it to the first SAG stop, I loved it. Saturday was definitely challenging. It was a ton of climbing (5205 ft in 54.5 miles). I was only forced to walk one hill and it was only because I was cut-off in the middle of the climb by some old dude. I managed to unclip and get a foot down before falling or hitting him. I'm not strong enough to start from a dead stop in the middle of a serious climb, so I walked the rest. By the end of the day, we were all pretty exhausted. We went back and the seven of us killed some pizza's and I think we all were asleep by 9:30!
Location: Ellettsville, IN
Date: October 8-10
Jarrett and I rode in our first Hilly Hundred this year. We had an AMAZING time! This is event is not a race. It's two days of friends, food, riding, and HILLS. We were lucky enough to stay with our friend Carrie F who lives about 3 miles away from the start line. We drove down to Ellettsville on Friday evening after work and picked-up packets and enjoyed a wonderful pasta dinner with friends. Everyone was up early on Saturday to get started. Since it is not a race and several thousand people participate each year, there is no set start time. You can start anytime between 8-10. We started the course around 8:30. I was not sure what to expect. I'd ridden part of the course over the summer but I had not been on my bike much since Augusta. This was Jarrett's longest ride in months. I have to admit, I was very nervous at first. There are tons of people with varying abilities and the rodes are not closed to traffic. After making it to the first SAG stop, I loved it. Saturday was definitely challenging. It was a ton of climbing (5205 ft in 54.5 miles). I was only forced to walk one hill and it was only because I was cut-off in the middle of the climb by some old dude. I managed to unclip and get a foot down before falling or hitting him. I'm not strong enough to start from a dead stop in the middle of a serious climb, so I walked the rest. By the end of the day, we were all pretty exhausted. We went back and the seven of us killed some pizza's and I think we all were asleep by 9:30! Day 2 was a little more relaxed. The hills were not as close together and there was only 3986 ft of climbing. We climbed my favorite hill, Bean Blossom on day two and my least favorite hill, Mt. Tabor. Mt. Tabor kicked my butt. I got within a 100 ft of the top but couldn't make it. It's only 0.2 miles long but it's a 20% incline.
What made this event different was that it was NOT a race. Everyone was so nice and we had a great time hanging out with friends. Even the old dude that cut me off apologized every time he saw me at a SAG stop. The other awesome thing - Apple Cider (YUM) and Fried Chicken. The weather could not have been better for the weekend and Jarrett and I are both looking forward to riding next year.
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