HOH Roadtrip

Like any cycling event the trip to Fort Sill was very eventful, I think the drive took somewhere between 30 minutes and 9 hours so it wasn't too bad. After what many would call a successful preride and a great nights sleep I was ready for race day. We arrived at the venue and prepped our gear, I knew that this was my day and nobody was going to stop me. I must have just had that look about me because one guy saw that I was there and nudged his buddy and pointed my direction and the buddy threw his helmet on the ground and started to unpin his number from his jersey, I told him there is nothing wrong with second place. I wanted to check out the competition because I knew that there were some bad asses from Chillicothe there with me. First I saw Doug Long but he was putting on his running shoes, he said he wasn't going to race but instead he was going to run a 5K backwards in less than 30 minutes. Next I saw James Shiflett, when we made eye contact I could tell that his nerves were getting the better of him as he knew we would be in a battle in a very short while. Then I saw Denny Albertson, the newest of the Green Hills gang (but you wouldn't know it from his riding), he was taking a piss and leaving a small lake right at the tongue of the trailer behind the van where everyone was needing to get their gear out at. I saw several gouges in his legs from shaving mishaps and knew that he would be catching much more wind in those craters and surely that would slow him down. Then I ran into Cameron Chambers, we stared each other down and you could tell that he was not shaken with me there. He almost seemed upset that I would have the audacity to think that I might even have a chance against him. I knew that this race would come down to bike handling skills and suffering, features that represented both of us well.

Finally we were on the start line and the gun fired to start the race. The large group of riders rolled down the road and I was in the top 5 heading up the long first climb. I was able to move up to 3rd by the time we reached the top and started bombing down the first descent. When we hit the next long climb Cameron and I were able to break away and create a gap that lasted until the end of the race, we battled back and forth the entire day as each of us made risky moves and attacks trying to drop the other. Finally we were at the Kevinator and we both dropped in at high rates of speed, one mistake and we would need someone there to pick up the pieces. We both were able to just skim across and down the rocks and make a clean run, the next steep hill I was able to create a small gap but Cameron was able to bridge it on the downhill. The battle continued all the way through the single track and we were neck and neck when we hit the road. It was an all out sprint to the finish and I was able to pull ahead and beat him by half a bike length, even with the rush of adrenaline from the win my legs could hardly hold me up after the race.

At the awards I received my huge Hills of Hell rock, it was so heavy and I was so tired. As I tried to carry it I had more trouble breathing, it seemed I had less and less oxygen. All of a sudden I was in a different place, turns out I was in the hotel room and Doug was holding a pillow over my face and yelling "I told you to stop snoring!!!". He let up the pillow and I looked next to me and Tim was laying stretched out on the bed eating a York Peppermint Patty saying "Messin' with the Mitch Man". Denny was in the corner jumping up and down on a chair and in a high pitched voice was saying "Housekeeping, you want me to fluff your pillow". I was so shook up that I think I gave a big "SALUTE" right then and there!!!