Trail Conditions Are Perfect!!!

H8TR #1

and the reports just keep coming! Friday last year's womens H8TR100 champ Meghan Korol went out for a solo jaunt along the trails of H8T and this what she had to report:

I felt the hate today....

my plans for a full H8TR recon yesterday with Dave were shifted to a hilly road ride so I decided to head out on my own this afternoon. I left the shop just as the clouds came rolling in. the unfinished portion has a lot more rocks than I remembered, a bunch of small dead things and some big holes to look out for. it also has thorns and branches that will slap you and make your shins bleed. once on the gravel the trail conditions are very, very fast...hard to believe that only a few days ago it was a power sucking trail of slush and misery. this was the first time I've ridden it on something other than slicks but I imagine those would be fine for the gravel sections. As I approached the tunnel, the wind picked up, the temperatures dropped a ton and it began to rain. All of the ice is completely gone and the conditions near the tunnel are pretty sloppy. The empty bottles of Faygo along the trail led me to believe that the sounds inside the tunnel were from juggalos and not pigeons, so I did not go inside...

Scenic Wonders

3 time H8TR and good friend of ours Nils (NILS!!!) discovered the one and only business in H8TRville and it's a fine place to refresh one's self after a hard day of hating.

Fact: Dot's Tavern celebrated its 60th anniversary two years ago (yes 60 years!). H8Ting is our business and H8Ting is good!

Another Recon Report

Sketchy and Megan went for another recon ride last weekend and here's Dave's report. The last few days have probably dried things up quite a bit but this weekend has rain and SNOW in the forecast so it's anyone's guess what the course conditons will be like in April! HA!

recon sesh vol 2, 3/15..

rode out via a paoli hill loop to the driveway on sayles trail after we rode over the trail on the sun valley bridge. once on the hate we went south back to the bridge to check out some garbage dumped off the road on to the trail.. looked like an old window ac unit, or some shit like that. once we determined that the detritus was of minimal consequence, we headed to henry rd to say we went to bosco. the trail was light years beyond the condition it was in when ruck and i rode that purcell > driveway stretch less than two weeks ago. south of the driveway to henry was generally in good shape all things considered. some wet spots, kind of slow. trail tread ranged from smooth to rough with foot prints and animal paws. north of the driveway to purcell was a totally different story. snow and ice remain with almost no firm spots. wet, slow to limiting me to the small ring and the low range of my cassette. as the trail rose in elevation nearing purcell, the last 60m dried out, but the tread roughened.

any riding should be done on cx tires.. meghan and i were on 23's again and they dig in way too much..

on thursday, my next recon, i'll be mounting up some michelin mud 2's and headed to the tunnel.

Conditional

A short recon out to the Tunnel of H8T yesterday revealed that winter still has a stranglehold on the H8TR Trail despite the warmer temps and rain. The entrance to the tunnel is clear for about the first 40 yards and then there's this slight ice obstacle. Really never seen it quite as formidable as this before so the next few weeks could be crucial to course conditions. Said it before, we'll say it again "we pick the date, but not the weather."

2010 M-B-B H8TR100 Roster of H8T!!!

Here it is, the not quite complete roster for the 2010 H8TR100! Still getting a couple names trcked down which why it's not quite complete, but DAMN with a roster of talent like this you'll wonder how much more hate we can fit in!!!

Madison-Basco-Madison H8TR100 2010 Roster of H8T

Carlos H.- H8TR vet
Joseph Spencer- one ½ of the Spencer tag team and OG M-B-M H8TR
James Ira Spencer- the second half and also an OG H8TR
Trevor K.- MBM vet
Marcin Nowak- part of another two brother team and Polska mainstay- h8tr vet
Maciej Nowak- the other brother in the Nowak Polska pain train- two year h8tr vet
Scott V.- unknown to the h8tr but not unknown to dirt and suffering
Ben F.- h8tr vet, master printer of h8tr shirts and posters
Andrea W.- year #2’s DFL but only just!
Katy Steudel- consistent top three finisher in the last two h8trs- be afraid
Leah - master metal bender, rack wacker and h8tr vet
Ahren R.- you can’t play his banjos but you can play on them- h8tr vet
Jack B- sidelined last year by doctor’s orders- this year it’s on!
Cory G.- winner of the 1st h8tr, top 3 2nd year, rode the farthest last year
Russel J.- Shedmaster or shred master- you decide. 2 year h8tr vet
Ron K.- RONCO!!! 3 rd year of h8t he’s an OG h8tr!
Matt G.- He took 2nd last year, this year 2nd best ain’t good enough!
Claire C.- Claire took 2nd last year and she HATED it!
Travis B.- 100k is a mild warm up for this long distance warrior! H8tr vet
Jason H. - another distance specialist and h8tr vet
Luke BC- the man they call LBC! LBC! LBC!
Nate J.- returning h8tr and winner of last year’s “flower vase”
Cale W.- winged horse master and 2 year h8tr vet
Ryan S- he returns to h8t again and again and again!
Jesse Lalonde- 3rd the first year, 1st place last year, designer of h8tr shirts and posters, brother #1 of 3
Lylez H.- ½ of the Cognition team that keeps out h8tr heads warm and 3rd place last year, 2 year vet
Megan K.- 1st place h8tr in 09. 2010 repeat?
Geoff B.- rookie, but he knows Matt B. so anything could happen
Marko Lalonde- yikes it’s bro #2 in his first h8tr. darkness at the end of the tunnel
James Lalonde- young blood is brother #3. Unfair advantage? Aww hell yeah!
BJ B.- returning for his 3rd h8tr. Never have enough h8t can you?
Kristin R.- another returning h8tr from last year.
Jason B.- as sure as the spring, Jason just keeps coming back each year
Tim B.- 3 year h8tr vet. Hates rhymes with Bates, what more do you want?
Rob H.- they call him Sugs and he’s back for more h8t
Candy- Candy goes with Sugs and who were we to argue? H8t!
Rick W.- this one h8tful cupcake! Are those metal filings in the frosting?
Devin C.- Devin was first on our doorstep ringing the doorbell saying LET ME IN! h8tr vet x2
Sketchy Dave- having a h8tr without Sketch Brah is almost unthinkable!
Ruckus- having a h8tr without Ruckus IS unthinkable!
Corey S- single speed? Maybe. H8tr? To be sure!
Jon K. another h8tr regular, builder of frames and sporter of snazzy fenders
Ben C.- we calls him Bin, he comes from Oklahoma, he knows about h8t
Ted B.- wisco cx regular, 1st time h8tr
Nils G.- NILS!!!! 1st h8tr bike from the dumpster, last year a custom built. Call him Silky.
Ben P.- cross monster takes to the h8tr like a duck to water. And mud. And snow. And ice
Tim S.- Tim is sponsored by a brewery. We are jealous.
David Z.- David had 3 flats on last years h8tr and HE STILL FINISHED! That’s some full on H8T!!
Sam K.- Sam returns for more h8t. Will there be enough h8t to go around?
Craig J. - returns for the third time
Jeff F.- the Revolution will be pressurized!
Christian B.- Christian returns for a second helping of h8t
Sebastian C.- Sebastian wasn’t happy with just one h8tr, well neither were we. Welcome back Seb!
Ian S.- feels he hasn’t hit rock bottom yet. We can fix that.
Neil S.- cx regular and part of a husband an wife entry
Cathy S.- Cathy being the wife part of that team. The family that h8ts together….
Bob C.- 1st year h8tr
Dan E.- Dan says he’s handsome. 1st year h8tr
Dave P- Dave puts on a gravel road race in Illinois. What’s not to like about that?
Robert Zach T.- Robert is from Chicago. Boy there are a lot h8trs from IL
Josh A.- has a blue single speed. That’s sounds good to us.
Matt W.- another Chicago Pegasus member- not enough hate in IL? We got plenty!
Eric L.- Eric is a 1st time h8tr
Colin E.- oh my this man is ginger bearded super nova of h8t!
Mark B.- Mark returns for his 3rd h8tr and he’d do more if there were more!
Andy H.- Andy will also be returning the h8t…..with interest!
Brandon S.- more h8t from team Pegasus. The h8t that made Milwaukee famous!
Mike Curtes- Mike broke his fibula 2 weeks ago playing hockey. Mike is still doing the h8tr. Are you afraid yet?

RECON!!!

Sketchy D. and Ruckus make the first foray out to H8TR country and Dave files this report on trail conditions.

"Rode with Ruckus to the H8TR down Seminole. Snowed/Iced over everyplace we saw. At the Purcell intersection decided to ride (on 23's) the icy snowmobile ruts. It was like riding if frozen deep mud.. the ruts would throw you all over the place. We did find a nice track tread and followed it's washboard for a while, but any where the sun is the trail the snow was just wet and heavy. Fortunately neither of us put a foot down and we just kept on truckin'. I think CX tires would have been just slightly better, the trail is still a far way from being ready. We pulled off the H8TR at the driveway on Sayles and were pretty proud and worked from the iced, rutted, crumbly road tire ride."

As our good friend Colin stated, "The trail doesn't get ready, you get ready for the trail. or you die. " True dat.

The weather sounds like it will be "nice" this weekend, get out there and do some of yer own recon and tell us what's what.