Coach Hep Cancer Challenge-Bloomington, IN

Everyone predicted heavy rain for the start of the Coach Hep Challenge that started on the northside of IU's football stadium this past Saturday, May 14th, 2011. Ron and I got up bright and early and drove down for the ride anyway. As we were driving on SR 67, south of Mooresville we were first greeted by a large coyote in the median eating some venison for breakfast. Then a few mile down the road we started seeing large breaks in the clouds that eventually gave way to clear skies and temps in the 60's. Initially we had planned on doing the 100k route but changed our minds and did the 50k route because we felt that the rain gods might change their mind and provide a good soaking later in the day.


This was the first time I rode this event. I knew it was going to be hilly but I was most excited to ride on some of the old day 2 course of the Hilly Hundred going back to the 1980's. Unfortunately they made a course change and we ended up doing an out and back loop north of Bloomington thru Morgan Monroe State forest. This loop was part of the originally planned route and it included climbing Beanblossom which is still part of the day 2 HH route. Years ago, that hill used to just kill me, just like Mt. Tabor, but for the last 4 or 5 years I have "learned" how to climb it and now it's one of my all-time favorite climbs.

There was no mass start for the bike ride, so Ron and I picked up our bag of "swag" ( A new term I learned last fall at the Div III Cross Country Nationals. It stands for the goodies all the participants get at a large athletic event). It included a nice t-shirt, a couple of Cook Medical Group lanyards, and some Coach Hep red shoe strings along with a variety of coupons for local businesses. The snacks provided were great. All you can take of Clif Bars, Kashi Bars, Bananas, pastries and bagels. I love Clif Bars on my bike rides so I grabbed a few more than I really needed for the ride since they were "free".

The 30 mile ride went pretty fast considering the hills and beautiful scenary, especially around Griffey Lake. My Garmin measured about 31 miles, with approx. 1700 feet of climbing and an overall average of 13.5 mph. Ron and I stopped quite often to enjoy the scenary and/or to empty the bladder. The steepest hill was at the beginning/ending of the ride. I measure a 23% grade on a portion of that 1/2 mile climb. There were a lot of walkers on that hill but thanks to my 34/32 gear ratio, I slowly made it up without any problem.

Later in the day my hamstrings were a bit sore from all the intense climbing but honestly, after only riding in flat Hendricks County for the past 2 months, my legs needed a good wake-up call.