This report is long, but this race was just so epic it needs a long report.
Hilly Billy Roubaix, put on by JR Petsko of ABRA Cycling, is one of the hardest races there is. It is a 70 mile race over gravel, rivers, streams, mud, roads. The elevation profile looks similar to a race consisting of 12 Ilchesters. What I mean to say is that it is Perfect :)
The competition in order of who I thought was going to win:
- Cole Oberman - Represents USA at the highest level of mountain biking. Races World Cup races in Europe and ProXCT races all over the states. He is a pro, 24? yrs old, paid to ride his bike fast. He is fast. He has more watts than me and we weigh the same. I was sure Cole would win the race.
- Nick Waite - Former pro, about my age, who raced Tour of California. Also an excellent climber and great at tactics/strategy. I figured Nick is faster than me but that I had a chance of taking him.
- Mike Danish - 2nd at Sugar Hill, NUE Fools Gold 2013 winner. Winner at age group marathon mountain bike nationals this year. I think Mike and I are about the same speed.
- Mike Mihalik - Currently tied for the Hilly Billy course record.
- This race had over 300 people.. there were guys from TN, OH, IL, etc. I thought there was a good chance that someone would show up who I didn't know that would be big problem, not faster than Cole, but probably faster than me.
The Race...
The forecast for the day was 100% chance of 'severe thunderstorms' from 9am-2pm. The race started at 10am and it took 4 hours :)
Drove to the race with Tres Riley (fellow Adventures For the Cure team member) and Andrew Dunlap (check out his race report). It was a great drive! Thanks for driving Tres!!
Arrived at 9 am. It was poring buckets and I was shivering on the start line. I HATE being cold, I hate shivering. 95 degrees and humid are my ideal racing conditions... this was no good.
I was wearing my plastic rain jacket shell at the start. That helped to keep me warm. When the gun went off and we blasted down the road I realized immediately that the jacket that had kept me warm was a HUGE mistake. Now it was flapping in the wind acting as a parachute, catching every ounce of wind and holding me back. I was not cold anymore. I didn't want to take my hands off the bars because 300+ people were jockeying for position around me. Eventually I managed to take it off without issue and toss off the side of the road. I kept thinking "Lance would be so mad at me if I crashed out in the first 2 miles because I was taking my jacket off" haha!
There were a few attacks off the front of the group in the first few miles.. I ignored all of them. As long as I was with Cole (primarily) and Nick (secondarily) I didn't have anything to worry about... One of them was going to win this race.
Cole attacked on a hill in the beginning. I went with him. It hurt because I was not warmed up yet. We got a little gap but he let up and the group reformed. I think our lead group was about 20? big at this point.
After we created the lead group it was pretty chill. Cole and Nick were marking each other and I was marking them. None of us wanted to burn any matches. Some others, who were pretty strong, attacked off the front in those first 20-30 miles. I just thought to myself "haha silly fools! haha Don't they know that they can't survive this race off the front when Oberman and Waite are back here just chilling, waiting to strike?" In reality those guys didn't know who they were, they made some courageous attacks but they were always caught and then shot out the back of our group as we barreled down the road.
I was very careful to never take a longer pull at the front than Nick and Cole. Some guys started to dangle from our group and stopped taking pulls. I was fine with that. That meant they were probably not going to be around much longer and were not a threat. But if Cole or Nick tried to skip a pull I would just stop pedaling until they took their turn. I would rather get off my bike and wait for the next group on the side of the road than to have them use me to do their work. No way that was happening.
There was a significant climb sometime before Aid Station 2. It is called HBR #4 on Strava. I didn't attack on this climb but I did want to make sure the pace was honest and to test out my competition. I went to the front and stuck it in a medium zone 5 heart rate. Something I knew I could keep for a VERY long time and that would slowly wear people down. When I got to the top I looked back to see the damage. Cole was on my wheel, but he didn't look like he was having an easy time (so happy about that), everyone else was gapped... even Nick Waite, Mike Danish, and all of the others! YES!
Cole (on a full sus) was not trying to escaped yet and neither was I so we worked together but not at escape velocity. Soon we were caught by: Nick Waite (on a full sus), Mike Danish (on a MTB with a fork), Dan Wolf (on a full sus), Mike Mihalik (on a cross bike), Tim Proctor (racing 40+, on a cross bike). There might have been someone else with us.. not sure... but that was about it.
Next climb was HBR #5. Our group was pretty small now. We went pretty easy up this hill. At this point Tim Proctor was curious about his competition and he asked "do you guys all train on road together". At first I was confused why he asked that since we were all on MTBs but then I thought that he asked it because we had been forcing the group to do a strict paceline, we kinda had to tell him to get in line and do it right. That must have been why he thought we were roadies. I told him "haha no we don't but you see that guy there (pointing to Cole).. well he is a pro and just came back from racing in Germany and Czech Republic against the best in the world. And you see that guy over there (Nick) he is a former pro who raced Tour of California... haha so year we are in trouble"
HBR #6!! This is where 'S' got real. It was a real long climb! Oh yea! I went to the front again and stuck it in mid zone 5. I kept that going. Towards the top I don't remember much... not enough oxygen in the system for good memory. I am not sure if I pulled the whole thing or if Cole helped but the end result was that we had a pretty nice gap on everyone at the top.
This time Cole wanted to stay away. He didn't want to see Nick again. (sounds good to me!!). He got on the front on the downhill after HBR #6 and went full into full TT mode. Oh man... I was in low/mid zone 5 HR in his draft. After a few minutes of that I realized that there was no way I would be taking a pull anymore. This was the Cole show now.
We approached Aid #3 at mile 56 and Cole was kind enough to tell me that he didn't want to stop. I told him "that sounds like a great plan!" I just wanted to stay on this train for as long as possible.
I told him "hey Cole! you know there is NO WAY anyone is catching us now.. None of those guys are going this fast..." as I can hardly see due to the watts he was putting down. I was hoping he might slow up a bit so that I could survive with him longer... my time was running out... he responded "Nick is coming.. we have to go now!"... "OKAY!! In that case go faster :)"
As the lactic acid started building up in my legs after Aid 3 I (almost pleading with him) I said: "Cole I am sorry I can't take a pull... we are going too fast"... I don't remember what he said but it was something like "aw.. that is okay lil weakling Pat.. I will be breaking your soul very soon by just riding away from you off the front.. no hard feelings... you are doing your best" (he said something much nicer but that is how it sounded in my head)
HBR #12 at mile 60 is where Cole ended me. It was a road climb for the first half and now I was deep in the red zone... then there was a 180 degree turn onto a slick dirt ATV trail. My back tire slipped and I was too tired/weak to handle the bike. I had to run and Cole motored away. Now I needed to regroup, and TT it for the last 10 miles. Nick is coming... I know he is... I can't let him beat me!!!
Don't look back, that won't do any good, you are going as fast as you can and if you look back you will only be freaked out if you see Nick. Just go as fast as you can for 10 miles... its only 10 miles... that is like nothing. The pain will all be over soon. What is my HR? Zone 4 high.. Zone 5 low... good... can't go faster than that. If Nick catches you now he is just faster than you are.. this is all you can do. Keep going.
Cole put a full 4 minutes into me in those 10 miles! Wow! I held Nick off and beat him by 3 minutes. Taking 2nd in what is definitely the fastest field that Hilly Billy has ever seen was a HUGE accomplishment for me.
Post Race Analysis...
Here are the full results: http://www.
Here are the full results: http://www.
Power meter training, a great coach, and power meter post-ride analysis of my fitness/form have surprisingly gotten me just 1 level higher this season. I am so happy about that! I am telling you... training on the Kickr has been a game changer.
Other Stuff...
A great recap video including interviews with the race promoter, volunteers, top finishers, etc from In The Cross Hairs
Check out this great race video from Gravel Cyclist
Other Stuff...
A great recap video including interviews with the race promoter, volunteers, top finishers, etc from In The Cross Hairs
Check out this great race video from Gravel Cyclist
Check out this video from cxhairs for Jeremy Burkhardt tearing it up!!
