Drew Hill 3rd Overall at Grueling Hammerfest in Fort Davis, TX

Drew did a great job riding solo for Toyota / GCCA last weekend. Read below for his accounts of how the events unfolded.

Arrival
Friday morning 6:30am. I roll over taking a long spiteful glance at the bleeping and buzzing phone alarm next to me and resign myself to the fact that I have to get up and on the road for the very long day of driving ahead of me. Bikes; check. Food; check. Gear; check. Driving tunes; check. Fort Davis... ok.... here we go.

The drive out to Fort Davis is for some, a race and challenge in its own right. A few lonely country highways leading out to the endless drag of asphalt that is Interstate 10. The only saving grace once on this grand creation is it’s bendable 80mph speed limit that if utilized liberally can easily turn an 8hr trek into less than 7. I made it in under 6...

After calming down from the death metal and red bull once arriving in Fort Davis, I made my way to my housing at the Davis Mountains Education Center just on the outskirts of town. After unloading and organizing all of my gear, I kitted up for an hour or so spin up to the Prude Ranch for packet pick up and a chance to loosen up the legs after far too long in the car.

Upon arriving back at camp, I was informed by my fellow housing mates from Wooly Mammoth Cycling that we were indeed going to be graced by the presence of a true Native American mystic Shaman! (this had previously been discussed but neither confirmed nor denied) After a hearty dinner of well balanced veggies (courtesy of Wooly Mammoth Dinner Tyme) and some self provided meats I was very ready for some seriously awesome ancient magic. And oh how magic it was.....

I am not at liberty to discuss the inner workings of our truly epic ceremony other than to say that we were visited by multiple Eagle and Dragon spirits, given invisible healing treatments and for the finale were group hugged by a bunch of angels.... oh yes. There was much, much, more discussed and many more secrets divulged to us, but if I go on the government might try to sue or kill me..... according to our mystic shaman.

After my 2 or so hours of time spent in the spirit realm (and outside, in the cold, in shorts) myself as well as my legs were very ready for bed.

The Hill Climb
The first stage of the three in Fort Davis is a 16 mile hill climb with about 1.5k of 17-18% gradient up to the finish line at the top of the McDonald observatory. This is consistently one of the hardest things I have ever done on a bike, domestic or abroad.

After a chilly start of about 48 degrees or so things quickly started to warm up after we began to make our way up the slowly rising canyon to the true climbs. An early break of 3-4 went away early on containing 2 Cat 2 riders one of which I didn’t know. Having ridden this climb before I sat patiently knowing that the steeper longer grades would, in all likely-hood, bring the break back.

As the false flats and the lesser hills passed, nervous tension began to build approaching the first real hill. As some of the larger teams started setting a solid pace at the front I slowly worked my way forward, knowing that just after this climb there would be a perfect opportunity to move all the way to the front on a very short speedy down hill curve just before the second and longest climb. Just as we crested the climb I made my move forward and put myself into the top three with ease. Perfect. Now stay here....

Progressing up the climb of about 12-13% I was able to comfortably hold my position and cover small surges up to the next relatively flat portion. By this point, the breakaway had appeared to be shattered and we were the front group.

Approaching the final grade is a small false flat rise past a parking lot and then the final kick of around 18% for the last 1k or so. On this false flat is where I started to feel less than good. Maintaining my spot in the group was proving to be slightly tougher than 2min ago. As we hit the final slope I felt my legs leave and slowly slid off the pace of the top 6 riders. However, knowing the break was behind along with all of the other Cat 2 riders I continued to suffer up the grade to the finish. Yes. Got it.

No. Didn’t get it. A single remaining Cat 2 rider from the break had stayed away to the finish for 2nd overall in the climb and first in the Cat 2’s. 2nd place. That’s ok. Time Trial this afternoon.... and I’ll destroy it.

Time Trial
The time trial course is a simple 16mile out and back with a deceptively difficult constant rising false flat, out with a headwind or crosswind and an insanely fast return on the same slope with the wind.

There isn’t really a lot to say about time trials. Put on goofy wheels, goofy clothes, and a really goofy helmet. Warm up. Ride hard. Really hard. So hard that you want to puke. Then you’re done.

I started my time trail slightly slower than I would have normally to try and give my legs a little more time to warm up properly and get into a faster tempo. After that I really just settled into the pain and kept closing on the rider 30sec ahead of me. At the turnaround I knew I had to really shatter myself after saving some on the way up so I clicked my gears down to 55x11 (front ring x rear gear) and told myself that there was no other gear. Stay here.

In the last 3-4k I gave everything left I had, caught my 30sec man, and though I was going to die. Probably a good TT.

It was good enough for 2nd. 1st place was about :40 faster. That’s a lot. At this point I was now 2nd GC (general classification) by only 9 seconds. The guy that had won the hill climb was in third behind me by about 30 seconds. This was shaping up to be a tight race.

Road Race
Sunday’s road race is a 74 mile loop that begins on mostly flats and rolling hills for the first 30-40 miles, then is broken up into roughly 3 longer, harder climbs, and then finishes with a long descent down the previous hill climb course onto a flat run out to the finish line at the top of a short steep-ish hill.

Beginning the road race on Sunday I was only nervous about two things. One: the prospect of getting tagged by a stray lightning bolt in the middle of a desert rain storm. And two: The guy behind me in GC getting into a break and taking the 30seconds or so he needed to pass me in the classification..... I didn’t get hit by lightning.

The day started slightly wet but not raining and thankfully not too cold, only cool. As we made our way out through town and past the end of the neutral start things got under way with various break away attempts going off here and there. As nothing seemed to be sticking the pace slowed slightly which ultimately gave way to a small group of about 3-4 getting away up the road, none of whom were any real GC threat for either the Cat1’s or 2’s. However, the three riders that bridged up to the breakaway at some point that I missed were. Heath Blackgrove 1st GC Cat 1’s, Chad Haga 2nd GC Cat 1’s, and Fortunato Furraro..... 3rd place GC..... Cat 2’s. That one guy.

Not panicking, I made my way to the front and waited for the first real climb to see where the break would sit at that point. A consorted chase effort was being made by Metro VW who had missed the break and were trying in vain to move their top ranked GC rider (Christian Helmig) up the road to the move that looked to be sticking. At the approach of the first climb (Bear Mountain) the selection began and the pack quickly evaporated from roughly 50 or so riders to a front group of about 13-16 riders. The break was still up the road and was drifting in and out of sight. This was bad.

After the summit I began to work with the remaining Metro VW riders to bring back my one rival up the road but after a couple of evaluations of the group and who was present quickly realized that my work efforts would only end up tiring myself. Team Hotel San Jose had the majority of riders in the group who were all working for their man up the road and would do nothing but cover attacks and sit on while others chased. Also in our group was the Cat 2 GC leader Scott Simmons who, to his credit, did a very good job of hiding at the back, and it wasn’t even until the end of the race that I, and others, even knew that he was there.

Our group was set. We dropped a few riders over one or two of the climbs but overall maintained a steady pace that allowed for the three riders up the road to hold their gap until the end.

The finish of my race led me to believe that I had maintained 2nd GC and the Italian up the road had surely won from the large time splits that we had been receiving from the motor bike referees. This was not the case....

The Italian rider off the front had been dropped on the last descent and had finished just in front of our group..... and had bumped me from 2nd place GC..... by 4 seconds. Scott Simmons (also in our group) had as it turned out, held his lead by also.... 4seconds. Ouch. Radios would have been nice. 9 seconds to first and 5 seconds to second.

The Davis Mountains had never previously been “beautiful” or “enchanting” in my eyes, but this year they managed to catch my attention and really make my time on the bike there enjoyable. Pretty much one solid attack could have given me the win or taken me out of the race. All in all I tried to race smart and conservative and paid the price. A lesson learned for another race and another day. That’s what this is all about anyways right? Live and learn.

Big thank you’s to family, friends, team mates, and sponsors for everything from hugs and handshakes to bikes and bills. None of what we do would be possible without your help and support. And we like what we do!!!!! So thanks!!!

Until next podium, cheers.

Drew Hill