My 1st Hilly Hundred experience

Day 1
The first day dawned a overcast with the temp in around 48.  Was a great day to go hill climbing.  I started my quest to conquer the Hills around 9:30am.   It didn't appear to take them long to throw the first hill at us.  It came around 2 1/2 miles in.  It was an unmarked hill that was a nice warm-up for what was to come.  We then started into a series of rollers on a down hill trek till about 9 1/2 miles where we were greeted by another easy climb (still warming up).  Hit the 1st rest stop around 11 miles.   Sun had come out and I was getting warm, so I took off the long sleeve shirt.  That was a temporary mistake.  The clouds came back and we turned into a windy wooded part of the road.  It got cool quick.  So, I stopped and put the long sleeves back on.  If I had known what was around the next corner, I would have left it off.  At about 12 1/2 miles, there was this sign that said Heartbreak Hill.  This hill was .8 mile long with a max grade of 11.7%.  This was the first classified hill of the day.  At this point, we have accumulated almost 700 ft of climbing.  1/3 of it on Heartbreak Hill.  The long sleeves came back off at the top.  We then started a downhill run thru some rollers over the next 4 1/2 miles, dropping some 300 ft in elevation.  Then in 2 1/2 miles we added 700 more ft. to our total as we came upon The Three Sisters hill followed by Niece #1 and Niece #2.  Three Sisters Hill was comprised of the "Twisted Sister", "Ugly Sister", and "Step Sister".  It totaled 1.3 miles with a max grade of 16%.  Them sisters were evil.  The 2 nieces weren't much better.  N1 was .2 at 11% and N2 was .2 at 18%.  After that we had a few more unclassified hills as  we made our way to the lunch stop.  I was holding up really well and was maintaining an overall pace better than I expected.

Lunch was delicious.  They fed us fried chicken, different bean salads (if you wanted them, I didn't), various veggies (carrots, cauliflower, other green things), rolls, chips, and pretzels.  The best part was the Schwan's ice cream truck with all the ice cream treats you could eat.  I had 2.  They also had plenty of water to refill bottles and other drinks as well.  We had done about half of our climbing at this point.

After lunch it was back on the road.  It only took about 2 miles to the next hill, Neill Hill.  It was a simple .6 mile hill with a max grade of 14%.   The next hill was un-named, but was classifed as .3 mile with a max grade of 17.2%.  Short but brutal.  The next big hill was New Hope Hill.  It was 1.2 mile with a max grade of 6.6%.  Not bad compared to the rest, expect they put the rest stop right in the middle.  So, when you got back on the bike, you had to climb immediately.  At the top of New Hope Hill, we still had about 15 miles to go and 1000 ft. of climbing to do.  The 2 final hills of classification accounted for almost 400ft of that remaining distance.  Cemetery Hill was the next classified hill and was .6 mile with a max grade of 14%.  The last big hill was Water Tower Hill.  Was informed that we would see this last hill again on day 2 (as the last hill again).  It was .8 mile with a max grade of 17%.  If you made the first half of this hill, the last half was a piece of cake.  As you started up this hill all you could see was that it was steep and turned slightly to the right as you started.  But, once you got to the water tower, it lessoned in severity.  Then it was a mild ride back to the starting point.  I ended day one with 47.87 miles logged on my computer with 13.8 mph avg.  Seat time was 3:26:10.   Total climb for day 1 was 3321 ft.  We had 10 classified climbs and several unclassified climbs.

Was tired after day 1 but was looking forward to day 2.  Took the wife out to Olive Garden for dinner.  Pasta suppose to be good for carb build up, so I was going to hold to the tradition of them Tour 'd France racers.  It was good I might add.

Day 2
The second day dawned a bright sunny but chilly morning.  Temp was in the mid 30's.  Tried to wait for it to warm up before starting, but was only 38 when I started.   They didn't waste any time throwing the first classified climb at us.  At 3.8 miles we hit Photo Hill.  .3 mile with max grade of 14.5%.  Then we had a couple of short steep rollers and a long windy and blind downhill.  Unfortunately, there was a crash on the downhill right before I got there.  Other riders were up warning everyone to slowdown because of a rider down.  It did not look good when I went buy.  Did later hear ambulance on the way in behind us as we made our next turn.   The next hill was un-named but was classifed at .4 mile with max grade of 13.3%.  1st rest stop came at about the 10 mile mark.  Was told that at the 4 lane highway we had to cross, with the help of policemen stopping traffic, that a rider had been hit by a car who failed to stop.  The next 5 miles were a series of small rollers that didn't pose any real difficulty.  But, the longest hill of the weekend looming just ahead.  Bean Blossom Hill is 2 miles long and has a max grade of 17.2%.  This hill was as tough as it was long, but was not the toughest of the weekend.  That one was still to come.  We were not up in State Forest and had a long rolling down hill ride that was about 7 miles long.  On the final downhill run, I topped out at 42 mph.  Probably could have gone a little faster, but had a rider in front of me and was waiting for clear view before pulling out to pass.   We had to once again cross the 4 lane highway with the aid of police again.  Immediately on the other side, was the start of Turkey Track Hill.  A .6 mile hill with a max grade of 11%.  A little tough to get started up as there was no room to get up any momentum before we hit the hill.  After that we were downhill and thru some rollers to the lunch stop.

Lunch again was delicious.  They fed us fried chicken, different bean salads (if you wanted them, I didn't), various veggies (carrots, cauliflower, other green things), rolls, chips, and pretzels (same as day 1).  The best part again was the Schwan's ice cream truck with all the ice cream treats you could eat.  I had only 1 this time.  Less than half of day 2 climbing was done at this point.

Shortly after getting back on the road was the next hill.  Again, tough on a full stomach.  Salem Church Hill was .5 mile with a max grade of 11%.  After a about 200 feet of climbing, it was a nice 8 mile stretch of downhill rolling as we made our way to the monster hill of the weekend.  The sign had been nocked down, so I did not get to stop at the bottom and get a picture looking up as I had planned.  Mount Tabor loomed large in front of me.  As I came around a slight bend, my suspicion was correct, I was on Mount Tabor Hill.  It was only .2 mile in length, but was a grade of 20.2% most of the way up.  Riders were stopping all over the place as this hill got the best of them.  Some were even falling over as they got to slow and lost balance before they could get un-clipped from their pedals.  I was in low gear and was up out of the saddle pedaling for all I was worth.  I just wanted to keep moving and achieve my goal to conquer this hill.  Then about 2/3 the way up, I saw my wife on the side taking pictures.  Now I couldn't quit.  It would not be easy to deny if there was a picture of me walking, so on I trudged.  I made it to the top and parked my bike for a well deserved break and watched others try to conquer this hill.  There were a few riders who went back down to try again.  I was definitely feeling it in the legs after that hill.  To this point, I had had gone 38 miles today and climbed over 1700 ft. with a 2 day tally to this point of 85.87 miles and 5021 ft. of climbing.  Still had 13 miles to ride and over 1400 ft. of climbing still to go.  There were only 2 classified climbs left.  The first came immediately after the 2nd rest stop.  Mt. Carmel Road was .7 miles with a max grade of 13%.  It was slow going as I was stilling feeling the effects of Mount Tabor.   The next 8 miles were a series of small hills which just continued to were on the legs as we headed for Water Tower Hill for the final climb of this years Hilly Hundred.  Water Tower Hill loomed larger than it did on day one.  There wasn't much energy left in the legs.  But, I had set out on a quest with a goal to ride every hill and not walk any.  With this goal in site and less than a mile away, I set my gears and grinded away to the top of this last hill.  I completed this last hill and set off for the finish line.  I finished day 2 with 51.34 miles logged on my computer with 13.7 mph avg.  Seat time was 3:43:25.   Total climb for day 2 was 3157 ft.  We had 8 classified climbs and several unclassified climbs.

The combined distance for the weekend was 99.21 miles with 6478 ft. of climbing.  My total seat time was 7:09:35.  I averaged around 13.75mph for the entire weekend.  Not bad for me on this terrain. 

I met several great people over the course of the weekend from all over the world.  Some were doing there first Hilly as I was and others were repeat riders.  Met one man who was on his 20th Hilly Hundred.  The oldest recognized rider there was 84 years old.  The rider who rode their bike into the ride the farthest spent the 7 days prior to the Hilly riding 504 miles to get there.  He had a ride home after the Hilly Hundred.  I am planning on riding again next year and hope to have a few others that I ride with go with me.  It was truly a memorable ride.  Please see my pictures in the photo section.  Will add more once we get my wifes pictures back.