The hardest thing I have ever done in my life! Period.

The Horribly Hilly Hundreds is not a ride that I will soon forget. The final climb of the route is 2.9 miles at about 12% grade followed by antoher 0.6 miles at a 10% grade. (To define grade, a road that rises 1 foot in eleveation over 10 feet of linear distance, is called 10% grade). That final climb literally tested my will like no other.

Although the ride desciption states "We recommend a minimum of a 27 tooth rear cassette. Many successful completers of the HHH have used a rear MTB derailleur with a 32 or 34 tooth, or a triple crank.", I decided to ride a 25 tooth rear cassette. Let's call this REALLY POOR JUDGEMENT.

To complete many of the climbs, I had to swith-back (or zig-zag) up the hill to minimize the grade of the hill, turning a 3.5 mile hill into a much longer hill, all the while my legs, heart, and lungs were simply screaming for relief. This climb was difficult/demoralizing because of the simple fact that while you look forward, the only thing that you see is pavement reaching toward the sky. I have only summaryized the final climb, and I will let the profile (linked here) describe the rest of the course.

I travelled faster on this course than I ever have before, hitting a maximum speed of 50.8 mph. There is one thing that I noticed as I continued to pass riders throughout the course. People do not use gravity to climb hills. This may sound demented, but while descending, many people would not pedal, shift into a lower gear near the base of the hill and begin slogging up the hill in their "granny gear". Instead, while descending, I pedal my butt off in my hardest gear, so that my legs are spinning at a minimum of 90 rpm, and I shift to an easier gear one at-a-time so that my cadence (rate of leg spinning) doesn't fall below 80 rpm. This is what I consider using gravity to climb. It is just a matter of simply carrying your momentum as far a possible. While I did pass a ton of riders during most of the course, I was smoted on the ultra-steep climbs, for which I did not have appropriate gearing.

Once the final results are posted, I will link them to my blog. I am estatic that I finished the ride, and I am planning on doing it again next year. I am debating entering the Dairyland Dare. This will be a simple matter of knowing my condition at the end of July. If I have dropped about 10 pounds, and modified my bike as suggested above, I think it will be a go.

Finishing the HHH was one of the best accomplishments for me physically. I can't wait to do it again next year and do better.