Hilly Hundred - Day 1

[Mr. Bloom]

Well, it's arrived. The 40th Hilly Hundred!

We're having a GREAT TIME. trekjeni and two friends from Cincinnati are staying with us in Bloomington...and it's been really fun! Where else, except through Team Estrogen, would you invite three strangers into your home as guests and feel safe?

As many of you know, this ride represents a symbolic victory for me. I aspired to it in a goal I put forth on a thread last December 30. But though I've really exceeded my riding goals and expectations, the Hilly is a symbolic milestone for me.

Day 1 Log:
It was cold at the start - 38 degrees!

As I pumped my tire...I pulled the valve out...instant flat!

Cut my finger changing the flat (my fingers were SO cold)

Bad Stuff...not boding well

But, we got it together to long enough for this TERRIBLE picture (I promise, I'm not as sour as a look!!!!!!!)



Traffic very heavy at first, skipped the first SAG...feeling strong but I can't feel my fingers...they're so cold. I stop to pull up my leg warmers (how do woman tolerate those stockings!!!)

First Big Hill: OK, I'm warm now

Next Big Hill - The Triple Sisters - OMG...but we rode steady and straight!

Lunch...stopped for cookies and koolaid. As you can see, this was trekjeni's favorite stop (posted without her permission ):


After this, there were some really rough roads and one weird moment with a cement mixer...but generally uneventful.

At Mile 30, Silver pulled away (she ran the course twice to make it a century!!!)

The last hill was a bear, but a guy in an Ironman jersey told me it was the last hill, so I pushed hard and finished very strong!

Silver finished with a 16.4 mph average, mine was 16.1 mph (really good for me!).

Right now, it's early morning on Day 2. I'm looking forward to the end of this year's season, but this is a new beginning

This afternoon, I'm joining the Bloomington "Y" and signing up for Tuesday/Thursday Spin Classes. My New Goals for the NEXT YEAR:

• Get my weight to 155 HEALTHY pounds
• Complete the Ride Across INdiana (169 miles)
• Participate in more group rides starting in the spring
• Work on core muscle groups to improve my speed - in '09, I want to participate in a RACE!

Thank You Women of Team Estrogen for your encouragement and friendship - despite my testosterone.

[Tuckervill]

Let me be the first to congratulate you!

I know goal setting is supposed to be specific and you should write them down and review them often and all that, but it doesn't work for me. I can tell you are a person for whom it does, and I admire that.

Happy riding!

Karen

[SR500]

Wow, sounds fun. We were there, but riding wasn't in the cards this year. We didn't see the Bama jerseys, maybe you saw the kids rolling down the big hill by the the ice creme side of the vendor tent. DH bought some Assos stuff, and his buddy managed some new shoes, but I came home empty handed. Still a fun time, we had a late lunch in Bloomington after walking the square. Have a great ride today, and congrats on your goals!

[rij73]

Congratulations, Mr. Silver. I can tell that you are really proud of your accomplishments as well you should be!

[Sheesh]

Congratulations! You've set some great goals for the coming year!

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

RIGHT ON MR SILVER.

[Tri Girl]

Congrats, Mr.!!!! Impressive time out there, and even more impressive that you set goals and achieved them. Next year's goals will be no problemo!

Congrats to all of you!!!

[ehirsch83]

YOU GO BOY!!!


And GO Silver for putting in the extra distance:-)

[silver]

We had an awesome time at the Hilly! I very much missed not having Mary there and do hope that she will be there next year.

Day one, I was in a hurry to get going and get through stops so I could try for the second loop. Loop one was so much easier than last year. Was it the new bike, the new wheels, or the better trained engine? I unintentionally dropped Mr. and worked with a guy who was going my speed. I never got his name. Finished the last 20 miles with him though.

I got some ice cream and went about recruiting an unsuspecting rider for a second loop. I finally twisted someone's arm into doing it, but lost some time there. So I knew that we were going to be cutting it close with sags closing.

I had to slow down a bit for him too, as he hadn't ridden much lately. We came across a young girl (15 yo) who had crashed. her dad was with her and a couple of other men, but she was pretty banged up. Probably broken collar bone(s) arm and or wrist. I stopped and played the Mom role and tried to distract her until the EMT's got there. Then moved on.

We got to the next stop just after all had closed, except the Schwan's ice cream truck We raided that and then went to the tent where it appeared that just a bit of food was left. There was a lady there and I assumed that she was a volunteer, but when I approached to beg for food, I saw that another man was talking to her and that she was the mother of the girl. He told her that her daughter had crashed and said that I had been with her, I gave her a report and told her that I thought that her daughter was good but would have broken bones and probably stay overnight in the hospital. The food that was out was the lunch that she had prepared for her husband and daughter before the sag had closed down and she was saving it for them.

She had three plates set out with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, cookies, bananas and water. She said that we could have it and went to the sag to see if they could get her back to the family. We devoured the poor family's food like vultures. It somehow seemed wrong to eat their food, but couldn't let it go to waste....right?

Anyway, the deal that I made with Mr. was that if I rode the loop twice, I had to commute back to Bloomington. In other words....if you do that, you are on your own And the loop is only 48 so after finishing the first, I only had 96. So I headed back to Bloomington. I got back to the condo at 109.27. So I rounded the block to get an even 110 miles for the day. I had 16.4 after the first loop and 14.8 after the second loop adventure.

I didn't get to ride with Jeni and friends on Saturday but made up for that on Sunday.

[Jo-n-NY]

CONGRATULATIONS MR SILVER!!!!

What a great ride report from both Mr. Silver and Silver. Although I am not surprised, that was so nice of you Silver, to give the injured girl motherly support.

Now off to read day 2

~ JoAnn