On a recommendation from Tom’s uncle and a near obsessive interest from Andrew, we found ourselves participating in this year’s Hillier Than Thou Century in Northwest New Jersey.  We met at the shop at 5:30 am and packed the five of us (Andrew, Edie, Jared, Tom and Brett) into the NYC Velo-mobile.   The destination was Camp Bernie, which greeted us with a slew of other racers ready for the epic day that lay ahead.

Participants could choose between 3 routes, the longest of which was 100 miles.  The 100 mile course could also be ridden as the “Hillier Hustle”, which turned it into an Open Road Race / Time Trial.  With all of us as active bike racers, we clearly had no other choice than to race.  We unpacked our bikes, visisted the facilities, registered for the race, donned our kits, applied our chamois cream and filled our pockets with gels and bars.  Once we started riding, it quickly became clear where the race got its name… OUCH!  - the 100 miles boasted over 11,000 feet of climbing!

Almost immediately, Jared, Andrew, Tom and Brett began to assert themselves.  Jared hit the first major climb with fervor and found himself setting the pace. This would be the first split of the day, which was foiled by a wrong turn and a loop back.  The wrong turn brought the group back to 50 or more heading into the first rest area.  One should note that all ‘racers’ had a number that was to be signed at each rest stop (4 stops in total).

Following the first rest stop was another major climb.  Jared was lucky enough to get his number signed before a bottleneck formed, putting him back on the road first with a handful of others.  Tom, Andrew and Brett, however, chased this lead group, catching them after cresting the climb.  A greatly reduced group reformed after this climb, but the numbers up front were certainly dwindling.  Basically, if you weren’t up front at this point, you weren’t going to be for the rest of the day.

We proceeded to hit climb after climb, each time we would lose a few folks that would either chase back on during a descent or arrive at a rest stop just as we were leaving.  The rest stops were quick – just enough time to fill one’s bottles and grab some nutrition.  Things were looking good and a group of 10 of us were rolling along (many reluctant to rotate, without strong coercion from us).  Just about the same time that we got settled into a nice groove, Tom flatted.  We were over 60 miles in at this point.  Andrew volunteered to help/wait for Tom, while Jared and I went ahead with the 5 riders that remained to ensure it stayed together.

Once we hit a serious climb, a solo move came.  David (one of the stronger riders in the group, who had been in every selection with us thus far) decided to put in a dig.  Jared responded and covered his wheel.  Brett waited until they had a gap and then decided to go across.  He was joined by another rider from the group, but no others.  The 4 of us reformed a few miles later and made it through the hardest climb of the day, Iron Bridge, together.  The top of the climb was also home of the final rest stop.  We confirmed that we were the first riders on the road, filled our bottles and as we were just about to roll away we heard a familiar voice.  Tom had managed to ride through everyone and up to us.

With 20 miles remaining, Jared, Tom and Brett were ready to finish strong.  Now it was 4 riders going into the final miles, 3 of whom were riding for the same goal. While on the final climb, Brett covered David closely as Tom sat waiting for his opportunity.  It played out well, David jumped first and Tom responded taking it straight to the line, with David in 2nd and Brett 3rd.  Jared lost a bit of time on the last climb and ended up 4th.  Andrew landed 7th with a super solid ride.

Many thanks to the promoters and volunteers at this years Hillier Than Thou!