GCCMail: 2006 Horrible Hundred - gccmail@simplelists.com

The 830 am start was early at 825. Air temp was ~50 F, wind across Lake Minneola was steady at 10 mph...brrrr. I was a couple hundred yards away, rolling to the start when they came over a small hill at me. Got turned around and was off. A lead group split off running at 23-25 mph. A 2nd tier group formed at 21-23 mph and I hung with them to the 15 mile rest stop. Lots of open sun kept things warmer. A new group formed and continued on...but now the hills start with Citrus as the big one in the early going. The 2nd tier group splintered again at the 30 mile stop. I rode on alone but slowed down to wait for 3 fast riders. We grouped up and swept on, picking up riders, dropping some and keeping some, 6 of us rolled in to the 45 mile stop. By that time the sun felt great and the rest stop food was excellent. While we ate, riders suddenly came pouring in. I pulled out with about 20 riders...lead by some young guys who seemed to have no clue of how to ride a paceline...surges to 26 mph, then slowing to 18, then surge again. I sat up and fell off the back and picked up a single rider...turns out I knew this guy from the HFH last year...and again we took turns pulling in 2-3 minute intervals steady at 20-23 mph through the Grassy Lake area on to the 75 mile stop. We swept up riders that fell off the back of the surge group forming our own nice group of 10 riders...we were catching the surge group as we approached that rest stop. BTW: that stop also had great food...lots of choices and lots of it. Leaving that stop you know that Sugar Loaf is just a few miles away. Thank goodness, the merciless wind was behind us climbing the wall. As usual the wall was claiming its victims...people with leg cramps, falling over, walking. But, I followed the group I had hooked up with...they tried to sprint on up the hill...I hung steady, then caught them as we all crested together. Then we formed a new group of 20-30 riders and blistered on. Sadly, they nearly all decided to pull at the 88 mile stop. So I rode on...but sat up and waited for a group of three fast riders. We ran hard for the next 3-5 miles. Then things splintered as our group fell apart 'cause the course organizers put 5-6 huge hills, including Hospital, in the last 8-10 miles...you'd finish one hill, descend, then here comes the next one. Ouch. I just tried to finish with tempo...there was no point trying to draft on hills going at 6-8 mph. 2 years ago I finished averaging 17.8 mph...last year, I cramped on Sugar Loaf and abandoned...this year, 18.9 mph average despite the wind and chill and extra hills. BTW: After reading a Road Bike Rider report about old guys, like me, using an iron supplement to boost hematocrit...I tried 12 mg/day for the last two weeks. Within 3-4 days, I noticed a recovery effect when doing hard anaerobic intervals...it sure seemed to work on this century...on demand power to the last mile. (I never rode more than 75 miles in a single ride nor over 130/week to train for this...quality over quantity.) Summary, this year's HH was truly horrible...cold, windy, hilly...but it sure was a lot of fun. If you made it this far...thanks for reading...see you on the road...spin the hills...Bob Howland