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Hillacious Hilly Ride, Kind of, Sort of.

7/9/2011

8 Comments

 
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Good turnout for Dave Miller's Hillacious Hilly ride from Canal Winchester.  I was delighted to see a couple of the Yankees show up, Marty and Dave C, to give Craig and Steve some competition. 

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Thanks to Steve O for sending me this image of Kenda Janet, giving herself an asphalt massage prior to the ride.

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Part of the Kenda Express, Dave, Stepfano and Janet.  Also there were Paul and Todd Lee.

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Dave barks out the instructions prior to the start.  Never heard a ride leader state he had to give up marking the route because it was so tough, he could not finish it but that's what he said.  Actually, the route was marked pretty well and all turns appeared to be marked so he may have been telling a story  about having to quit but the statement had its effect on me, my legs began quivering with fear, not excitement.  As we departed the parking lot, I eventually slotted in with the Kendaites and SuperDave although the route was not conducive to keeping a group together.

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We climbed Slough, Pickerington, the Rainbow hills and Stringtown prior to dropping into Lancaster.  Here, I witnessed something alarming that I will post here as a warning to the dads and moms out there who one day have a son or daughter who get into cycling.  As is normal, the Kendas gathered around a map and began the usual practice of calculating a modification to the route. "How much will this cut off", "How much will that cut off", "What if we short cut there.", "What if we just turn around", etc...  Younger Phenom Nick and dad Gary were standing in this circle too and it alarmed me to have a young, impressionable mind like Nick's influenced by this defeatist discussion.  Won't surprise me to read Nick is DQ'd from a future race for short cutting....Gary, what waz you thinking?!?!?  Look at the impact it has had on me hanging around this gang!  

We left and proceeded to grind our way up Stump Hollow and soon after crossing #33, got onto Duffy and I could not believe how steep was this climb.  I've never gone in this direction on Duffy and am quite sure I will never be there again.  I got ahead of the group a little and after turning off Duffy, got caught in with Nick, Gary and Ricky G.  Later, I learned the Kendas had stopped at the top of the Duffy climb for another short cut meeting and I never saw them again. We crossed #33 and headed toward the climb on Tarkiln.  I warned Nick and Ricky to stay away from the right side at the top of the Tarkiln climb as there is a dip there and the grade coming out of that dip is 30%.  There is an urban legend that one cyclist made the mistake of entering the dip, as the bike rose on the steep grade the front tire lifted off the ground, the bike spun around and the cyclist found himself riding back down the hill. I think last year a chip and seal effort filled it in a little but most people still ride left of center.  Anyway, I intimidated Ricky so much he got off his bike and walked it up the hill. We coasted down Blue Valley and proceeded on to Sugar Grove, passing some good climbs on Beck and Pump Station roads, an outcome that made me happy.

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By the way, the store in Sugar Grove is under new ownership and they are happy to allow us to use their rest room. Meantime, up ahead, Marty, Steve, Dave and Craig had whittled their group down, eventually dropping a stranger who supposedly tried out for the Olympics, stopped cycling for 20 years and started back up again this year. Steve, carrying a few extra pounds also dropped out but they regrouped in Sugar Grove. After romping through Savage/Carpenter/Chickencoop, it was again down to Craig, Marty and Dave and eventually, just Marty and Craig rode side-by-side the rest of the way in with an 18.8 average and 4400' of climbing.  A few miles back, the schleps were working their way slowly through the route but eventually I found myself alone and the heat forced me into a rash decision, go for 100 miles.  Yes, that's right, without one of my cycling buddies there to talk sense into me I got onto Lake and kept going north, north of Pleasantville, north of Baltimore yet stayed well south of the Artic Circle.  Eventually I got west of Baltimore, dropped down to Carroll, did the climbs off Kaufman and Slough and dragged into the parking lot with 94 miles and 5200' of climbing.

8 Comments
Jeremy
7/10/2011 10:00:45 am

I beleive his name was Tim Miller '92 Olympic qualifer? All I know is at the beginning of Tarklin I heard a few expletives from him describing what was ahead that it nearly scared me into getting off and walking up. Cool guy and strong rider. He was with the leaders past Lancaster. I jumped on his wheel as did Stefano somewhere soon after the Ewing Rd turn? Picked up Oxley at the store on Lake and finished the ride with him.

I am sorry to the group that contained Mark V, Tuna, John S, Gary and Dave. I did not realize when I left you guys it would be another 100 miles to Sugar Grove that is what happens when you only look at one side of the que sheet. I only took the oppurtuniy to jump with the pros as I felt strong enough "at the time" to do so.

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GP
7/10/2011 10:01:29 am

GP was out of the state!

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DaBoss
7/10/2011 11:52:58 am

Good fun ride.

Marty and Dave are good riding companions. Steve, although he's accused of carrying a few extra pounds, he did just fine. The writer should not throw stones in his house of glass...

I rode to and from the start and had 94 total, then ran at Slate Run for a few trail miles.

As noted, without hitting the big climbs in Hocking Hills, we could have added a few hills that we passed and it could have been a very hard ride.

Good enough for me as it was.



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He Who Lives in Glass House
7/10/2011 12:13:49 pm

Da Boss-Lite,

I am not accusing Steve of wearing an extra stone or two around his tummy. This information was given to me by a trusted confidant of Steve's and so I had to make this info public as it explains Steve's drop in cycling prowess.

Reply
Caboose
7/10/2011 11:15:41 pm

Scott and I finished the Thornport-Caldwell permanent in about 11 hours. It was hilly so we skipped the hillacious hill ride and did an easy ride to Hebron. Yes, it was hot, and this is #10 for me to complete the R 12!

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Brad
7/10/2011 11:49:59 pm

Our group, consisting of myself, Evie A. and Chef Chuck did a modified version. We decided that the Savage/Carpenter/Chicken Coop combo was best done early, so we did that before Sugar Grove. Then on to Tarkiln and a side trip up Ross to avoid a dog that may or may not be on the route. No, that was not enough, so after a trip down Blue Valley, we climbed back up McGrery, which we all agreed was the worst climb of the day.

Down Christmas Rock, to Delmont etc. for a total of 83 miles and 5303 ft of climbing.

The short cutters having long gone home, only Leader Dave and Blogging Mark yet to roll in to the parking lot.

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Da Boss - no lite
7/11/2011 10:21:31 am

Probably the same mythical confidant that was talking how I was ducking the Tuesday ride because of the Yankees were coming, or the the one that was ghost writing my response to such talk?? Hmmm. Your sources are sketchy at best, especially when they are a figment of your imagination. Suggest drugs to rid those inner voices....

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Boss Critic
7/11/2011 01:05:00 pm

Well, two comments from the legendary Da Employee. Remember back when we had mutual respect and admiration for each other but then you went rogue solely for the purpose of achieving cheap laughs towards a senior citizen. Very sad.

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    Mark is a long-time cyclist, hiker, golfer and plays some table tennis...ok, it's ping pong.

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