The Official Website of Ultra Distance Cyclist Mark Metcalfe
The Hot, The Cold and the Hilly. A Report on the Texas Hill Country 600
Texas Racers Do Well Again!
The 2010 Texas Hill Country 600 proved to be quite different from last year's inaugural event. Last year's steady cool and rainy conditions gave way for this year's cool to hot to down right cold temperatures. Only in Texas can 24 hours have a fluctuation of 50 degrees! 13 solo riders, 1 solo tandem and 5 teams left Hilotes, Tx to begin a 600 kilometer race through the Texas hill country. Solos were set to leave at 7:00 a.m. and teams three hours later at 10:00 a.m. There were some new faces this year and some of last year's racers were back again to race this difficult course. Mark M. in the 50+ category lead the group into Bandera, nearing the first time station. Fellow Texans Gary and Sandy Estes, on a solo tandem, were right there also. Vickie Tyer, and another Texan Dex Tooke, followed closely behind. Sharon Stevens proved how tough Texans are by racing in the voyager division, sole supported and starting the race at 5 a.m. ! Whoo Hoo Sharon! At 10 a.m. the team racers started. Team Nuts and Honey Bees recumbent team, consisting of Texans Steve and Peggy Petty and adopted Texans John Schlitter and Sara Kay Carrell, took an early lead and never looked back.
As the racers made their way towards the second time station, the terrain started to rise as well as the temperatures. Coming into Leakey the climbs can reach grades of 20%. The Estes tandem flattened out the hills by powering up every climb to stay within minutes of the lead solo, Nick Nisbit. Mark stayed close to his 50+ competition John Caton, knowing that his strength would be in the rolling terrain ahead where he could gain precious time. Team Nuts and Honey Bees had already begun to catch solo riders. Solos Vickie Tyer and Dex Tooke had settled in to a good pace after completing the difficult climbs. Sharon Stevens rode on, alone, through all the hilly terrain and into the dark of night. The hot 80 degree temperatures of the day turned to a cool evening and then to a bitter cold night, dipping down into the 30s. It had been a day of putting clothes on, taking clothes off, and putting clothes back on, all to keep up with changes in temperature. The race started to take its toll on riders. Solo woman racer Caroline Van den Bulk, a seasoned RAAM racer, abandoned at time station 3 due to medical issues. John Caton withdrew at time station 5, Llano, due to nutrition problems and recumbent rider Chris Malloy also had a DNF.
Solo winner Nick Nisbit never looked back after time station 1 and finished the 600k in the record time of 20:35. Recumbent Team Nuts and Honey Bees came close to catching all solos even after a three hour later start time and missed turns. They came in at 20:39, only 4 minutes behind the solo leader's time. Thomas Lavallee came in second solo male with a time of 21:56. Mark was third solo and first 50+ for the second year in a row. His time was 25:10. Rounding out the Texas riders were Gary and Sandy Estes, 1st solo tandem at 27:19, Vickie Tyer, 2nd woman at 29:22, Dex Tooke, 1st solo male 60+ in 26:37, and Sharon "Lone Star" Stevens, 1st voyager at 33:07. Greg Gross who is also a fellow Dallas area recumbent rider filled in for a rider on a two person recumbent team, Spherical Cows, Dude Ranch Racing (don't know the story about the name). Greg was set to crew for the team, but one of the riders became ill and Gross had to switch from crew to racer mode in a hurry. It all worked out fine, they finished in 23:20.
Texas racers made a fine showing again and for some the racing season has just begun. Mark goes on to Race Across the West in June; Steve and Peggy Petty of Nuts and Honey Bees fame will be along as part of his crew. Pat and Charlie Jenkins, who crewed for Gary and Sandy Estes , will be racing RAW as a solo tandem with Gary and Sandy switching to be their crew members. Dex Tooke will be taking on RAAM as a solo this June. Vickie Tyer plans on doing some 1000ks and 1200ks. Sharon Stevens will be doing mega miles also, no doubt looking for another challenge.
click on the pictures below to see what's happening!
As the racers made their way towards the second time station, the terrain started to rise as well as the temperatures. Coming into Leakey the climbs can reach grades of 20%. The Estes tandem flattened out the hills by powering up every climb to stay within minutes of the lead solo, Nick Nisbit. Mark stayed close to his 50+ competition John Caton, knowing that his strength would be in the rolling terrain ahead where he could gain precious time. Team Nuts and Honey Bees had already begun to catch solo riders. Solos Vickie Tyer and Dex Tooke had settled in to a good pace after completing the difficult climbs. Sharon Stevens rode on, alone, through all the hilly terrain and into the dark of night. The hot 80 degree temperatures of the day turned to a cool evening and then to a bitter cold night, dipping down into the 30s. It had been a day of putting clothes on, taking clothes off, and putting clothes back on, all to keep up with changes in temperature. The race started to take its toll on riders. Solo woman racer Caroline Van den Bulk, a seasoned RAAM racer, abandoned at time station 3 due to medical issues. John Caton withdrew at time station 5, Llano, due to nutrition problems and recumbent rider Chris Malloy also had a DNF.
Solo winner Nick Nisbit never looked back after time station 1 and finished the 600k in the record time of 20:35. Recumbent Team Nuts and Honey Bees came close to catching all solos even after a three hour later start time and missed turns. They came in at 20:39, only 4 minutes behind the solo leader's time. Thomas Lavallee came in second solo male with a time of 21:56. Mark was third solo and first 50+ for the second year in a row. His time was 25:10. Rounding out the Texas riders were Gary and Sandy Estes, 1st solo tandem at 27:19, Vickie Tyer, 2nd woman at 29:22, Dex Tooke, 1st solo male 60+ in 26:37, and Sharon "Lone Star" Stevens, 1st voyager at 33:07. Greg Gross who is also a fellow Dallas area recumbent rider filled in for a rider on a two person recumbent team, Spherical Cows, Dude Ranch Racing (don't know the story about the name). Greg was set to crew for the team, but one of the riders became ill and Gross had to switch from crew to racer mode in a hurry. It all worked out fine, they finished in 23:20.
Texas racers made a fine showing again and for some the racing season has just begun. Mark goes on to Race Across the West in June; Steve and Peggy Petty of Nuts and Honey Bees fame will be along as part of his crew. Pat and Charlie Jenkins, who crewed for Gary and Sandy Estes , will be racing RAW as a solo tandem with Gary and Sandy switching to be their crew members. Dex Tooke will be taking on RAAM as a solo this June. Vickie Tyer plans on doing some 1000ks and 1200ks. Sharon Stevens will be doing mega miles also, no doubt looking for another challenge.
click on the pictures below to see what's happening!
Thanks to Lena Caton, Dee Stofko, and George Thomas for the photos.