Ultra CX is on the rise! Hilly Billy Roubaix and Ultra CX just made the web pages of Cyclocross Magazine, check out the article here. 
JR Petsko, you are an evil man for creating Hilly Billy Roubaix. Thanks!, I will be back for more stupidity in 2015.
You know Ultra CX and Gravel racing is *really* growing when a well known pro cyclist friend said to me… “One hour of punching* yourself doing laps in a park, versus cool gravel / extreme stuff.” I couldn’t have said it better myself. Ultra CX and Gravel racing is GROWING. Embrace it (hugs). * = cleaned up.
Here is my race video from the 2014 Hilly Billy Roubaix. Fellow lunatics from Florida included Dr Pain and David Jordan. Long time mate, Mike Baltes, also joined in the fun from Washington D.C., but he decided to make Hilly Billy Roubaix his FIRST Ultra CX / gravel grinder race. I tried to warn him, but did he listen? Also, he roped his lovely wife into making a “vacation” out of this weekend, meaning, she had to wait for his muddy arse to finish the race, while she sat around. Hopefully he spent the bucks on a romantic B & B. Wives and girlfriends, what would the man racers do without you? On the positive, Mike owns a seriously bad arsed bike, which I will feature in the near future.
As for me, I was thankful my race was uninterrupted by crashes and separated shoulders this year, which helped to knock 30+ minutes from my time, and about 16 places up the Masters 40+ ladder. I was still mediocre, but a little less. Now, I just need to figure out how to ride the quagmire that is Indian Creek Road. Tribal knowledge required, a fat bike preferably with 5″ tyres, or some kind of scanning system that can detect house bricks beneath the standing pools of water.
One thing that needs to be mentioned about Hilly Billy Roubaix. THE COURSE MARKINGS ARE THE BEST THERE IS. Like a lemming, I follow a purple course line on a Garmin 800. However, it was refreshing to know that Mr Petsko and his team of volunteers busted their arses, making sure nobody wandered off course.
Disclaimer: Ordinarily, I would have posted a tasty race report for this event a few days after it happened, but considering I started this Blog (web log) on the 1st of August, 2014, that wasn’t a possibility. However, it should be noted, I used my vacation time to bust out my unprofessional race video within three days of the event. That is service. BTW, that’s twice I’ve linked it now. Watch it over and over, in HD, naturally.