("HPVs vs Canoes" continued from page 2)

It took a little longer to finally catch Paul Bruneau (Velokraft) who had been dropped by Paul Monkman (T-Bone) at that point. Mr. Monkman had made a heroic effort and bridged up to the faster pack, which was only visible on occasion when the hills lined up right. Paul B. and I rode together through Mio, onto River Road, through McKinley, and onto M-65. After Mio, the roads got better. When we hit the next big climb, Paul ran out of gears and had to dismount. He lost too much time, and I decided he would have to fend for himself. Sorry Paul!

Several miles of rolling hills brought me to Glennie. There are a few mild hills leading out of Glennie, then a huge downhill followed by a few miles of rollers. I passed several wedgies on the fairly steep but short uphills.

By the time I hit Block and Tackle Hill (the last big one!), there were no other bikes in sight. I expected a rest on the final stretch, but all I got was the wind howling down the roadway straight into my face. The surface was a rough chip seal, but at least didn't have very many expansion joints or patches to go over. I saw my cruising speed drop from 25 to 22, and finally I was struggling to maintain 20 mph. Somewhere out there I saw another bike ahead. It looked like a recumbent! It had a big tailbox! It was Chris Evans, on his VK2 with RazzFazz tailbox. As I passed him, he complained that his legs were dead. Bonked, he was only able to manage 16 mph or so. At least he was going to beat the next pack of DFs (diamond frames). I also passed a DF whose rider was coming out of the woods. Poor planning on his part! I quickly dumped him out of sight, too.

As my trip odometer clicked over 100 miles, I went by the last support stop. The workers were yelling, "Only 6 more miles." Six miles!!??? I knew my speedo was off a little, but 6 percent??? No way! Oh yeah, the detour. I thought I'd never make it, but somehow I held on.

After I passed the tracks, I could hear the proverbial fat lady singing. With a quick right-left jog I was on the final mile. The road went by the river and I could see a canoe rounding the final point. A gun went off. I hoped it was the lead canoe, because I was going to beat it to the finish line! I went around the final corner and tried to sprint through the timing gate. Woo hoo! I knew I was very close to my goal of 4 1/2 hours, in spite of the headwind and the higher mileage.

Paul Monkman was the only recumbent rider there. I knew Frank Geyer and Dave Johnson had finished, but no other recumbents were in sight. The group of DF riders clustered around told me I wasn't in the top 10. Hmm, I must have passed Dave Balfor and Ramjet without knowing it. Both were looking extremely strong when I saw them last, and I fully expected to see them waiting for me.

Hope springs eternal, but I don't think the canoe I saw was the first one in. After hanging out at the finish line for 15 minutes I ambled a short quarter-mile to the finish line for the canoes. I was just in time to see No. 10 come through. For each canoe, they would play the William Tell Overture, with the crowds lining the banks and clapping in time with the loudspeakers. The entire town was one big carnival for the canoes finishing.

This was a very tough race. Rough roads in the first half, hills, and headwinds for nearly the whole ride made it more exhausting than the mileage alone would have you think. (And the mileage was bad enough, all by itself.) Will I do it next year? I don't know, but I'm not ruling it out.

PAUL PANCELLA (top) of Kalamazoo and PAUL BRUNEAU of Portage were the only Michiganians competing in the first annual Warsaw (Indiana) Wringer HPV races Aug. 21-22. (Both only competed Saturday, when the course was 0.2 mile around a medical building.) In the stock class, Paul P. on his Volae finished 3rd in the 65-lap criterium and 2nd in the 3-lap individual time trial and 2nd in the 30-minute time trial. In the superstock class, Paul B. on his carbon fiber Velokraft finished 1st in the criterium and 2nd in the 3-lap individual time trial. He didn’t compete in the 30-minute time trial. (photos by Mike Eliasohn)

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