Hilly Billy Roubaix - The "Finished It This Year" Edition

Yesterday was the Hilly Billy Roubaix in Morgantown, WV. It's a 72 mile race on some stupidly nasty "roads" in northern West Virginia. Supposedly they're all recognized by the state as valid roads. I'm not too sure about the creek crossing, though...

I started last year, but threw in the towel at mile 40. At the time, I said there would be no way that I’d race in the 2011 event because it was just silly and I didn’t need to prove anything to myself or anyone else. But then Robbie talked about wanting to try it this year. And he wasn’t sure about how he’d get down there. Who was I to keep him from being able to race? If I could redeem myself for last year’s showing, so much the better.

Here are some things I took with me:

• Camelbak hydration pack with 72oz. bladder (filled with ice and electrolyte water)
• Handpump
• 3 C0₂ canisters
• C0₂ pump
• 2 tubes
• Tire levers
• Multi-tool
• 3 packs of Clif Shot Bloks
• 3 Hammer gels
• 1 Pro Bar
• 1 Clif Bar

Here are the things I used:

• Camelbak hydration pack with 72oz. bladder (filled with ice and electrolyte water)

For various reasons, none of the other items were necessary. From a technical standpoint, I consider myself extremely fortunate to have been able to avoid any kind of mechanical malfunctions. No flats, no broken parts, no nothing. Pretty amazing considering the number of people who flatted after the first hill of any consequence.

By "hill of any consequence", I'm referring to the first descent (of many) comprised of large, loose gravel. This was maybe three or four miles into the race. At that point, I was probably somewhere toward the back of the middle of the pack. I think I passed seven or eight people on the side of the road wrestling tires off of their wheels. I’m not sure if all of these people were running their tires too low or what. My tires (34x700c, incidentally) were at about 55 psi, but it’s probably also important to note that I weigh a little less than 125, so that may have still been more air than I really needed. Either way, I was flat-free on that hill and all of the others. Being a little guy has its advantages sometimes.

In regards to the nutrition situation, there were aid stations every twenty miles, and each one was well-stocked with water, Heed, Hammer gels, Raw bars, bananas, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, cookies, Little Debbies, pretzels and more. 1st class all the way. I never needed to dig in to my own personal stash because JR’s volunteers took such good care of all of the racers.

When I got to the second aid station at mile 40, I still felt great, unlike last year. There are at least two reasons for this:

1. The weather. Last year, temps were in the mid-80’s all day and it was really sunny. Yesterday, highs were somewhere near 70 and it was cloudy the whole time. On a few occasions, rain seemed imminent, but that never happened. It was basically perfect.
2. I’m in much better shape this year than last. I’m already about 1,500 miles above where I was at this time last year. Working from home for my last job was really nice, but I wasn’t able to get time on the bike like I have this year. 22+ miles every day for my commute makes a big difference.

I finished the whole thing in 5:41:39. I’m not sure where that put me in the standings. JR posted the top 20 and No.20 finished in 5:18. It’s conceivable that I might have finished in the top 40, but who knows. I hope that full results are posted later this week. Finishing 40th out of 120+ riders isn’t like winning or anything, but I’d still like to see how I did compared to everyone else.

Will I do it again next year? That’s a good question. Now that I’ve successfully completed it I don’t know if I’ll have as much motivation to consider it. If I thought I had any chance of actually winning (or even placing in the top ten), maybe I’d be more drawn to doing it again, but since there are very few categories (Mens <40, Mens >40, Womens, Single Speed, Clydesdale) that’s not going to happen. When the A, B and C racers are all in the same category, it’s going to take a lot of mechanicals from the top riders to give any of the lesser guys a chance. I say all of this now. I won’t be surprised if I end up doing it anyway.

Regardless of placement, I was really excited to finish and happy to have done so without feeling like I was going to pass out when I crossed the finish line. As much as I tried to convince myself last year that I wouldn’t try the HBR again, I’m glad that I went back and made it all the way through. It was nice to be around for the awards ceremony, and unlike last year, you actually had to finish to get your pint glass. I couldn’t leave without another pint glass.

Before I go, I have to give a huge thanks to JR Petsko, ABRA Racing, and all of the volunteers who helped make the event possible and run so smoothly. The whole course was well marked, volunteers were present at potentially confusing turns and held up car traffic so racers could continue without having to stop, and the aid stations were great.