Pete and Betty roll up the last grueling 1.5 mile, 12% slog to the finish line. 7 PM. There was much revelry to follow, as both bikers were experiencing the post-ride endorphin high from making the cut. The last 26 miles was a conglomeration of encouraging words, bad jokes (the Captain's Log), badly botched singing by El Guapo, movie one-liners (Oh, Behave...at the top of the descents) and team work. Betty, my hat is off to you! What's next? Oh, I remember, we're doing the Triple again in 3 weeks....12o miles, one day, three mountain passes....NO PROBLEMO!

El Guapo

HHH 4th and so forth

Here's a happy face, and we're not even done yet. This is our final sag stop at mile 102. We've still got 26 miles to go for a grand total of 128. Talk about representing the Xtreme/Velo colors proudly. I believe Betty was rejecting my idea to squirt her water bottle over her head again. How can you be smiling this deep into a sufferfest! I asked, she said: Pain is temporary, glory lasts forever!

Betty and I both believe you can't wear the HHH jersey until after you earn it. We both proudly wear it now. It goes right up there next to the Triple Bypass 2006 jersey. Not quite as bad as the freezing, sleeting miserable 06 Triple ride, but a close second.

HHH Take 3!

Ok, guys, be honest. Is there anything cooler than a biker chick dominating the men on a steep incline, let alone standing on the pedals out of the saddle? Here is Betty Bopper dancing on the pedals up a super steep climb. Click on the photo to enlarge. You'll notice Betty pretending to be suffering at my request. She started together at the bottom with those dudes trailing and caught the one and only loser, err rider, on a recumbent. I was amazed by her strength and tenacity, and I'm not easy to impress. We need to slam her on a bike in Women's Cat 4 and turn loose the terror!

HHH Part Deux!

(continued)

After Bill stops at 70 miles, it's down to Betty and Pete riding the rest of the way together. Here's a pic of the noble steeds taking a break. Kind of a sexy pic, eh? Betty's sinfully light custom Serotta titanium bike weighs in at a paltry 16 lbs. It's nestled up to Pete's Pinarello F3:13 carbon climbing monster. This bike is a billy goat, now if I could just muster some legs to do it justice.

Horribly Hilly Hundreds

Velo Velocistas Pete (El Guapo) and Betty "Crash" Cook conquered the endurance ride last Saturday called the Horribly Hilly Hundreds. It's billed as the toughest one day ride in the Midwest.

The ride is up in SW Wisconsin, about 30 miles west of Madison at Blue Mounds State Park. This stinking ride sold out in a record 14 minutes this year. That for 1000 slots. They saved 300 slots for a random drawing later, so the ride had 1300 total.

Betty, Bill (the Mad Downhill Bomber) Medcalf and El Guapo started the beastly ride around 630 AM. Right off the bat there was an ascent of 1.5 miles up Blue Mounds State Park road, which is a steady 12%. The weather was outstanding, if a little hot. The ride claims 45 hills to climb, most of which range between 10-15%. There was plenty of suffering taking place.

Bill rode hard and completed the 100K plus another 7 miles for a total of 70. He and Betty took turns firing past me in their full tuck position on the downhills, as I waited down at the bottom of many hills. Somehow, I was elected team photographer. Betty was easy to spot in her Tony-the-Tiger Velo gear, but Bill opted for the ubiquitous red and black UNMC gear, which was hard to pick out.

Above is a great photo of Betty's hiney with Bill drafting closely behind the behind (pardon the bun):

Here is El Guapo's artistic shot of the day, catching Bill and Betty cresting a beastly hill at the end of Stage 2. Pinarello's deserve some camera time, as we all know that Campy Rules! (Right Betty?)

Yutan TT: revisited

Hey gang,

Here are some fine photos that my brother took near the turnaround point, plus a couple more from my camera, courtesy one-winged Jackie. Here's our Jackie with Harvey pitching in early. In the background, volunteers Andy Keffer and Dave Randleman get the junior bikes ready for rollout.

Here's a photo of the human locomotive Fred Galata churns his way to yet another state crown, his gadzillionith. Congratulations again, Fred, on an outstanding victory in 55+ Men's and a blazing time. Talk about scorched earth policy, Fred wrote it!

Pete (El Guapo) has a rabbit in his sights as he makes a tight corner at the turnaround point. Pete ekes out a state title for 45+ men as he squeaks by the highly talented John Vondracek and Greg Shimonek for the win.

The four horsemen, err, Velo Veloce juniors look fit and fast in their stripes. Left to right are Conor Randleman, Jack Perry, Zach Lau and Simone Duryea. Conor wins the Junior Men's gold, followed by Zach for silver and Jack for Bronze. Simone zips to the Junior women's gold, even with a mechanical slowing her down. They form the nucleus for a solid Velo Veloce racing team for years to come. Congratulations juniors!!

Yutan, Ne State TT photos

Just a few photos to share of the TT today...enjoy!

State Time Trial Results

Here's the press release for today's TT:

Jarod Berger of Ciclismo powered his way to an impressive victory in the State Time Trial Championships on the 23.25 mile course in Yutan Saturday. Berger's exceptional time of 49:57 (27.92 mph) bested his closest rival in the Mens 1/2/3, Cody McCullough of Powerade/IF by a minute and 45 seconds. Third place went to Justin Maresh of Team Kaos, with a time just 10 seconds slower than McCullough. Morgan Chaffin won the women's 1/2/3 in a time of 58:23, with Jana Vavra finishing second in 1:04:43. In the Men's Category 4, a tight race saw Lucas Marshall win with a time of 54:22, with Ashton Lambie of Kaos 19 seconds behind him, and Pete Duryea of host club Velo Veloce 26 seconds in arrears of Marshall. Brady Murphy of Midwest Cycling Community won the Men's Category 5 by 6 minutes in a time of 55:24, while Kim Carveth of Ciao Baby won the Women's Category 4 by almost 5 minutes in 1:04:18.

The conditions were excellent for the race, with temperatures at the start in the low 60s. A moderate north wind started kicking up a bit on the north-south out-and-back course, but with the excellent times, it did not seem to bother the riders very much.

Nebraska State Champions were crowned, including: Men Cat1/2/3: Berger; Women 1/2/3 Vavra; Men 4: Marshall; Men 5 Murphy; Women 4: Carveth; Men 45+: Duryea; Men 55+ Fred Galata (Velo Veloce); Junior Women: Simone Duryea (Velo Veloce); Junior Men: Conor Randleman (Velo Veloce).