21 riders from Iowa, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin met in DeWitt, IA on Saturday, June 2 to participate in the fifth Balltown Classic 200 mile bike race.

The field had to wait an hour to allow the deluge that passed through at 5 a.m. to wind down to a drizzle before starting. The route is quite hilly with no terribly long climbs, but one short steep grade after another wear the riders down, especially in the second half of the event.

It was a pretty wet ride for the first 100 miles, with a mix of drizzle and mist for most of the first half of the event. A lead group of five – Larry Ide, Joe Mann, Tom Waterman, Bill Ford and Matt Aro sprinted over very hilly terrain (10,000 feet of climbing for the 200 miles) to Balltown. Balltown is a small Iowa town, located a bit north of Dubuque on a spectacular bluff above the Mississippi. At Balltown the skies cleared and the sun made an appearance – brightening everyone's day in more ways than one.

As the day heated up and the climbs began to take their toll, the lead group spread out. At the end it was Bill Ford pushing to retain his lead over Matt (a double Ironman finisher) who had fallen back when he flatted near Baldwin . The leader and men's winner was Ford, who was able to remain in the lead despite a determined Aro's hammering the last 15 miles of the course. Bill Ford finished the 200 miles in 10 hr 45 min with Aro following at 10:46. It's not often that 200 mile races finish times are that close.

Merry Vander Linden once again won the women's class improving on her own personal best for the event. She is still the only woman to complete the Balltown Classic.

And then there was Dennis Grelk. In that yellow banana HPV Barracuda, Grelk did 214 miles in 10 hours and 14 minutes. He went off course for twenty miles and also beat the personnel to the 150-mile checkpoint. He finished the last 50 without water and still came in a half hour before the rest. Impressive, especially considering that long and steep uphill climbs are not really the terrain where HPVs excel. Fact is, Grelk had to walk more than one of the hills.

Total course distance: 195.3 miles

10,080 feet of climbing. 5230 on way up, 4850 on way back.

Steepest grade: 18% on climb 10 miles from Balltown on way back. That hill averaged 15% for 1 km!

All four climbs in first 10 miles averaged over 10%.

More information at: Ultra Midwest

Results

Category/Name	City	Time
HPV
Dennis Grelk	Donnellson, IA	10:14
Men
Bill Ford	Muscatine, IA	10:45
Matt Aro	Superior, WI	10:46
Larry Ide	Monmouth, IL	10:59
Joe Mann	Muscatine, IA	11:25
James Yost	Mahomet, IL	11:53
John Harrington	Bettendorf, IA	12:03
Bryce Walsh	Chicago, IL	12:08
Thomas Waterman	Pleasant Valley, IA	12:08
David Meridith	Downers Grove, IL	12:50
William Pitney	DeKalb, IL	12:56
David Thompson	Quad Cities	13:04
William Nauseef	Iowa City, IA	13:12
Thomas Berube	Chicago, IL	13:12
John Thier	Park View, IA	13:15
Terry Crompton	Iowa City, IA	13:15
Greg Zaborac	Canton, IL	13:17
Angel Mitevski	Rochester Hills, MI	13:54
Stephen Geering	Blue Grass, IA	DNF
Scott Swanson	Silvis, IL	DNF
Women
Merry Vander Linden	Bloomfield Hills, MI	13:28