Some races are not planned they just happen! We do not train for them, peak for them, rest for them or even give them a second thought until their over.

After finding out that Mitch and Candace were riding their tandem in the Son of Godzulla Challenge and the weather forecast was 70 and sunny I turned in my registration form. My intention was just to ride behind a tandem all day and suck wheel. Especially after the Halloween mountain bike ride at East Fork the previous evening that did not end until 1130pm.

0530 came real fast the next morning. By 0730 I was not feeling much like ridding let alone racing. But the SOG Challenge started anyway. 76 miles of Ohio river valley bliss. The first 30 miles pancake flat while the next 46 miles were filled with 6000 feet of climbing. (6000 feet is advertised on the cue sheet, one of the riders computer read 3600 feet at the end of the race, I don't know the actual). I do know that it was very difficult to walk the next morning due to some serious leg fatigue.

The first thirty miles was at a blistering pace set by a couple of pros and a couple on a tandem. Guess who they were? I felt like crap the whole time, my stomach hurt, my legs were cramping and I had to pee. I just wanted to hang on until this whole silly thing slowed down.

Well it did, at the first turn it slowed to about 8 mph up the first climb, with a 12% average grade and a 28% kicker at the top. All the way up I said to myself, (which will become my plan for the day) " Just maintain contact over the top". And I did. Now, since I was able to stay with the lead group on the first climb I guess I was officially, "In the race". And for some reason started feeling better.

There were 8 of us in this group and we were comprised of some strong riders. I only knew about half of the group then there were some young kids that I did not know, but they looked lean and mean. One of the youngsters took off on the next climb, never looked back and we never saw him again. Our group was 11 strong by the next climb. Ralph Hodge and 2 others caught us, apparently they were attacked while peeing. This climb although not as steep as the first was more of a challenge for me. Maybe it was because of the attack by the youngster that turned up the pace, but I kept with my plan of the day, "J M C O T T". And I did. I was the last one over the top but I did maintain contact.

There were a couple of more smaller climbs on the way to the big one so I tried to ride smart, draft, save energy and be one of the first at the base of the hill so as to be in contact with the group at the top.

So far so good.

Then at about the 55 mile point we turned onto a freshly paved little road that looked to be out of a movie such as "Deliverence". Cars parked just off the side of the road with these rickety little swinging foot bridges that crossed a river and emptied out in front of some interesting houses. There was also a buzz of uneasyness in the pack. Something big was about to happen and I guessed what it was. WEIL ROAD HILL!!

This is no ordinary hill, probably only a quarter of a mile in length but it wields a 20% average grade. The bottom half looks like a wall, then the top half gets really steep. Some have been known to get off their bikes and walk. This thought of walking crossed my mind at the half way mark on the road. I was behind Gary Gorrell, and everyone else, watching him weave back and forth on his way up the steep slope. I thought, This is impossible, I should just walk to the top and then ride peacefully home.

But that is not the way it actually turned out.

At the halfway mark I started to breath very deep and controlled. Then something snapped inside, deep in my soul, something came alive. And I started passing everybody. I thought this was so humorous that when I passed  the leader, Adam Fuson, I found enough extra breath to say, "Oh!, Maybe I should have used my small chain ring?" He was sort of astonished, he even looked down to see which ring I was really using.

Adam did not let me have the lead for long, he passed me before the top but only by a couple of bike lengths. This set me up very nicely. I looked back and saw the rest of the pack still struggling up the steep grade. And it hit me! The race is on!

Adam was wearing a UC jersey and another youngster (Bryan) wearing a UC jersey was just up the road. I can't recall when Bryan got ahead of us but I think that it was before the Weil Rd climb. Three of us, two team mates and myself in a break? This could be good. So I put the hammer down, first catching Adam tempting him into a chase. Within a couple of miles we caught Bryan. Both of these gentlemen were very strong riders. I was thinking. One guy up the rode, he will win. If I can hang with these boys for the next few miles before they drop me maybe we will have put enough distance on the pack that I can hold them off to the end. That puts me across the finish line in fourth. I'll take it!!!

Well every dog has his day! Sometimes you don't have enough information to predict the future. Who would have thought I could have beat at least one of the youngsters. Or that one of them plus the guy up the road had not registered. Therefore would not receive an official finish time.

So I proceeded with the info that I had. Trying to keep these two motivated offering them food and drink to keep them energized. Putting on little attacks when they slowed down. Trying to set a fast tempo. They responded well, they did not seem to care as much as I did to hold off the pack but we kept the pace high and I never saw the pack once.

After a flat ten miles we still had three more climbs to go so I went back into my survival mode. I road ahead of the duo on the approach to the next climb so as to be with them at the top. But at the top, they were still two hundred yards back. Oh no, have they bonked? I thought. There are probably ten miles to  go and I need these guys. I was scared. What to do?

Luckily on the next flat they picked up the pace, caught me and we sped off to the next climb. I'll find out later that Adam was spent, Bryan was just hanging back with him. The next climb up Wagner Road proved it. Bryan was ahead of me by fifty yards and Adam was nowhere in sight.

Still not knowing where the pack was or how far we had to go to the finish, Bryan and I kept a high tempo. I could almost feel the pack breathing down my neck but I never saw them only sensed their presence.

A wonderful sense of relief came upon me when we turned onto Nine Mile Rd at the end of the descent from Wagner Rd. I new that we were nearing the end with only one more heinous climb to the finish line. The pack, still no where in sight. Wow, third place.. I'll take it!

Shortly we turned the corner, facing the climb up to Woodland Mound Park, Bryan said, "Go ahead, I am just going to ride slowly up this last one". (I did not think that he considered this a race.)

Well he did ride a nice tempo up the last climb, but after my initial burst at the bottom to try and put some distance on him I popped. It was loud, did anyone hear it? He rode slowly past me and there was not anything that I could do to stay with him. But there were no riders behind me either. Third, I'll take it!

Well at the top while every one was congratulating each other on a good ride and I was basking in a third place finish someone said, "Those two never registered that makes him the winner". And they were pointing at me! Holy ----!!! First (Officially), I'll take it.