"Its YOUR Hilly ride, not anyone elses"

The above quote was heard Sunday while we were sitting in a side parking lot of a church somewhere out on the course, enjoying a quick pee break and a clif bar.

Hilly was different indeed this year, and there is no doubt new rules will be set into play for next years' ride. When it started looking like the usual suspects would be out for this year, i invited a few of my friends from Chicago area. Eric was a coworker for many years, super lean and fully aggressive on the MTB. His endurance would be the question, but he was up for the challenge. Jason is my neighbor, a recreational rider on occasion, but always up for fun on a boys trip, he was hoping for rain so we could just hit the sportsbar. Cal is Jason's friend from school, and without question the fittest of any of us going. The only thing i had in my pocket was i know the route, and i had him by probably 40lbs! He didn't like the fact that i could roll away from him downhill, i told him that's how i feel when he can roll away from me uphill--lol.
Eric ended up having to bag it due to a family issue at the last minute.

The 3 of us left chi town around noon on friday and actually headed down to Columbus to see Joe at the shop. Jason got his bike tuned up and picked up some new shades.
We got to the hotel - Hampton In this year, and boys, let me tell ya, as long as i can help it, we will never stay anywhere else. For those of you that haven't been there, the usual choices are super 8, days inn, etc which are usually fine if you are only paying 60 bucks a night, but the bloom-town capitalists realize hilly is in town so we usually shell out 140-170 for a rat hole dump built in 1940. For about 20 bucks more and making reservations in January, the Hampton is MILES above the afore mentioned dumps. The chocolate chip cookies alone are worth the extra cash! Ok - Friday night, head out to Scotty's brewhouse ( i still hold a grudge cause they took over Mugleys at Ball State) but probably the best choice for decent grub, and lots of flatscreens.
Dinner was good, a few beers for me and several for the boys, we closed that place down around 11ish, and started walking toward the car. Unfortunately Jason and I were forcefully sidetracked into Bluebird that had a live band, and a truckload of sorority girls fresh from a fundraiser. Jay and I grabbed a beer and enjoyed the entertainment of watching Cal work the room. Weeellllll, we closed that place too, and by 3:15 we were back at the hotel. Ouch.

Saturday - 8:30am - Denny's run for breakfast, needed more than the hot food at the hotel. Cal slept in, Jay and I enjoyed the gland slams. Drove over to the school, geared up and were rolling by 11ish roughly. The boys were feeling rough, but did ok. Cal puked in his mouth over the second hill, and the Sisters wiped out Jay, he needed to hold still for more than a quick minute and i wasn't sure he would get moving at all. He puked a bit too. The rest of the day got better, the boys finished up in good shape all things considered, and we headed back to the hotel. Showers and naps ensued, and then back to Scottys for grub and all the sports you could dream of. Beers flowed much more slowly, and i think most of us were drinking 3 waters per beer and stopped at 2 or 3 beers that day - go figure. We did get to watch Illinois trounce Indiana, and Texas wallop Mizzou. Back to the hotel and back to bed by 11pm, no late night Hilly activities on saturday this year.

Sunday - Denys again around 8ish, everyone was doing much better today. Frost on the card meant we lingered around the room a while longer before heading over and rolling out around 11am again. The boys did great on sunday, paced themselves better on the climbs and kept it rolling well. We rolled out of Elletsville around 2pm, and headed North at a dangerous rate of speed.

We had a blast, some pics to come, and some good rules for next year for sure!!!