Short version: A perfect October weekend with some of the most beatiful riding in the midwest. I
walked three or four of the worst hills on saturday, and lots more on sunday, but I was far from
alone. Downhills on my Tour Easy I was passed only once, while riding my brakes waiting a safe
opportuninty to pass a group filling the lane on a blind curve. 54 miles on Saturday, 47 on Sunday,
both beating out my longest rides to date (33 miles on my 3-week-old-first bent Tour Easy or 42
miles five year's back on the old Shcwinn Varsity) and my fastest speed to date,47.3 mph on the
downhill run to the Lake Lemon south shore leg.
Two men age 74 comlpleted Saturday's 54 Hilly miles. Two ladys age 72 as well. Award for longest
(bike) ride to attend was shared by two men who rode in from Syracuse, NY.
Who else was there? I saw several Tour Easy's, a few TE clones, a Bachetta, a low trike, and a
handful of other assorted bents over the weekend, and wondered if any of those riders hung
here as well.
Long Version Below
Last weekend's perfect weather forecast was the final element in my decision to attend the Hilly
Hundred in Elletsville Indiana (formerly out of Bloomington). Although I was a little concerned that
with only three weeks riding my Tour Easy (180 miles or so) on mostly flat terrain would prove too
little conditioning, I had a fantastic time & have no riding soreness.
I arrived & registered Friday evening around 6:30, enjoying music by Sharlee Davis & Will Devitt and
set up my tent. I was pleased to find the TE would fit comfortably inside the tent leaving over half
the space for me. No dew on the TE this time ;-) .
Saturday morning came in the upper 30's. I arose about 6:10 to a gorgeous sunrise. A front line to
the east left a clear blue sky on the horizon, but most of the sky had small fluffy clouds all in
brilliant reds and blues, with a foggy mist appearance, although the air at ground level was very
clear. Within minutes the angles changed and one of the most beatiful sunrises I've witnessed gave
way to the day's event.
I took my time getting water bottles filled and milling around to let temperatures get into the
fortiesbefore heading out at 8:40. I really hadn't looked over the map much and was amazed how
quickly we crossed Indiana State Road 37 and the first rest stop came along (9.8 miles). My first
encounter with the legendary Hilly muffins, yum!
A mile past the first rest stop we saw a sign, 'This Is The Hilly Hundred' at the bottom of the
first monster hill.As I shifted into the low range my chain locked up, stopping me dead. It was easy
to undo, but did happen again if I wasn't very careful shifting. The cable had stretched & the
derailller was pul;ling too far to the left, barely making it to the high range, but having lots of
extra room beyond the low end. The back nine were working beautifully & I resolved to adjust the
front after getting home.
After that hill dealt with us we entered the Hoosier National Forest. This was some of the most
enjoyable riding I've ever experienced. By now temperatures were in the fifties and the day was
about as perfect as it gets. The downhill swoop towards Lake Lemon I reached my day's maximum speed
of 47.3 mph shooting out onto the North Shore drive with the lake on both sides. Yow!
The Tour Easy is great on flat runs and rolling hills. With me as the motor my TE is very, very slow
uphill unless it's in the rollers. On *some* uphills I did manage to pass *some* DF riders, but you
can be assured these were not the conditioned riders. Even on the flats many good riders passed me
at a good clip.
Downhill the faired TE seemed to be in a class by itself. 'Like a rock' sound familiar? Once I
dropped over the top of any decent hill my TE flew! Mostly I had to ride the brakes waiting for safe
opportunities to pass, but on the hills I was lucky enough to catch in an uncrowded stretch I blew
by every bike I saw.
I learned that this year the direction of travel around Lake Lemon was reversed from previous
Hilly's. The North Shore Hill was a real monster, people were saying it may be worse than Tabor. I
can't say as I wound up walking much of both.
With three weeks of light riding my only bent eperience my legs aren't there yet. I found that many
times if a hill seemed to be beating me that if I stopped to rest off the road for a minute or so
then started again the hill didn't seem nearly so hard, and I could proceed (slowly) to the top. If
I found myself needing to stop and rest repeatedly I gave in & walked to the peak. This stratgy let
me get through the weekend with no riding related soreness.
That doesn't mean I got away with no sreness, however. Showers were available in the middle school
building, behind the vendor's tent. These appeared to be designed with the shower's adjoining room
to be the 'toweling' area, open doorways on each end with a step down leading to the locker area.
With s many people lined up the toweling area was filled with the line, and we would carry our
towels back into the locker area to dry off.
That locker area has some pretty slick cement, with standing water it was really slick. Without my
glasses I must have forgot the step down, and I went flying! Thought I landed flat on my back, but
the soreness of my left hip tells me the landing wasn't flat. Thought I'd broke the index finger on
my left hand, but an hour later I could still bend it, so I'm banking that it's a bruise or sprain.
Sunday mornig the hand was somewhat swollen & some dicoloration had become apparrent in the knst
joint of thuckles & fire first two fingers. Starting out Sunday's ride I found the hand too weak to
shift. I couldn't get into low gear to fight the hills, and I couldn't get into high gear to work up
any momentum on the downhills. Three or four miles into the ride I decided to hop a sag truck & stop
fighting it when another rider assked 'Have you tried taping it up?' D'oh! A couple of wraps with
waterproof white first aid tape & I was back in business! Shifting wasn't effecient, but now
possible. At the first rest stop I had the front deraller adjusted to further improve my chances.
With the trouble I was having shifting (plus my legs being just a little stiff from the day before)
I decided to not push myself to try to fight the hills too hard. Agian I would stop, rest very
briefly, and continue on moderate hills if they felt hard. The Obvious monsters I would go as far as
I could without downshifting too far & the walk up the rest of the hill.
Hey, I'll never be any kind of racer. I bought my bike for comfort, but one group I met while
camping left 40 minutes earlier than I and returned 15 minutes to an hour after I did on Saterday.
Sunday I left before this group got up, they were packed & gone before I made it back.
I find myself wanting to add more and more detals, about the food, about the variety show, about
the overall perfection of the weekend, but this has gone on long enough. If anyone's read this
far, thanks.
Mike Rice