I'm just happy I finished. I started training for this ride, oh, four weeks beforehand. I jumped up to 150 miles per week in order to crash train, and spent weekends doing back-to-back long rides. My longest one was 70 miles, but I did several on the HHH course in order to get used to climbing. Finally after a couple weeks of abuse my knee came down with some serious tendonitis. My knee could last about 30 miles and then I couldn't turn a crank. Turns out I have been training with a 21-tooth cassette in the back. Stupid me. I rested as much as I could before the ride but decided to go out and start the ride and call the sag wagon when my leg died on me.

On race day the best I could do for gearing was a 23. I thought I had a 25 lying around somewhere but I guess I was wrong. That's not a good start. I started the ride late and took it pretty easy for as long as I could. For every climb I went straight to the easiest gear even if it wasn't necessary. I wasn't going to put my knee under any unnecessary stress. After about 25 or 30 miles I caught up to lots of riders and my competitive nature kicked in and I started pushing more, especially on uphills and downhills where I could pass people pretty easily. So, that was some short-lived restraint I guess.

I rode miles 45-65 with a guy I met, but riding with him made my knee start to hurt pretty bad. I guess I wasn't able to ride my own pace or something. I felt guilty, but I decided I should ride the rest by myself. By mile 75 my knee was feeling much better.

With my knee in pretty good shape after 75 miles I decided I didn't need to worry about it anymore and I just enjoyed the ride. I calculated that even if my knee died completely I could limp at least 20 miles, so the chances of finishing were now quite high. By this point I was very fatigued, so all of the climbs were a real struggle. That's okay though. I moved around in the saddle to engage different muscles and somehow managed to avoid walking. The hardest thing about climbing was actually keeping my hands on the handlebar. I had to pull on it so much that it was very tiring for my shoulders and arms. If I lost my concentration I would probably pop right off.

The last hill was ridiculous. I saw 16% written on the road at one point, indicating the grade. It was a fitting way to end the ride though. Overall the ride was even more of a mental challenge than a physical one.

Mean power = 145 W
Normalized power = 190 W

Not carry a ton of food in my pockets. They had really good stuff at the rest stops so I didn't need anything.

I also should not have stopped for so long at the last rest stop. I was there for about 20 minutes, and stopping made my back tighten up and not want to ride anymore. You gotta just get in and out, man.

Uhh....beer?


Suboptimal gearing.


This is a great event. The rest stops and sag wagon provide good support. The roads are all in great condition and you see some very scenic parts of Wiscansin. Even finishing at the top of Blue Mounds is kind of fun, in a masochistic sort of way, because afterward you can tell people you did it.

The only thing to watch out for is heavy traffic when you try to park. If you want to start on time you have to arrive extremely early.