Friday-
After finding a torque wrench to properly torque the crank on, I took the bike out for a test ride to see if it worked to fix my loose crank. I put it through the ropes for 15 miles and it stayed tight. I had been hearing about this ride up the back side of Bald Peak. During the ride, I am thinking it is time to get on up this hill. I have never seen a hill I did not like or could not get up. Even after the drive up it, I was not intimidated. But it was steep...
Saturday-
It is 36 degrees when I roll out of the garage at 6:30 AM. I must be carrying 10 extra pounds of clothing to keep warm and still feel the chill coming down the hill from the house to start the ride. It is 18 miles to the base of the climb. Before starting, I pause at the Laurelwood school to get myself together and check the crank - all still good.
The sign said curves, next 1 mile. Sure - it should have said "Pain." There is no easing into the 
climb. It goes from no grade to 14% and then up to 20% for a mile. It was tough. I stopped at the top to regroup for the second half of the climb. My heart was pound at 170+ bpm. After the quick recovery, another sign, curves, next 3/4 mile. It was part two of the climb and equal to the first. In fact, my GPS stopped registering grade. Once at the top, it was still another 1.5 miles to the park and down hill. For this section, 1.5 miles with 1400 feet of climbing - that is an average of 13.3% grade. The hill got me this time - it will not be as lucky the next time we meet. All told, it was 37 miles of riding with a week's worth of pain. Next century is in two weeks for the "Reach the Beach" ride.
climb. It goes from no grade to 14% and then up to 20% for a mile. It was tough. I stopped at the top to regroup for the second half of the climb. My heart was pound at 170+ bpm. After the quick recovery, another sign, curves, next 3/4 mile. It was part two of the climb and equal to the first. In fact, my GPS stopped registering grade. Once at the top, it was still another 1.5 miles to the park and down hill. For this section, 1.5 miles with 1400 feet of climbing - that is an average of 13.3% grade. The hill got me this time - it will not be as lucky the next time we meet. All told, it was 37 miles of riding with a week's worth of pain. Next century is in two weeks for the "Reach the Beach" ride.Sunday-
Drove to Tacoma after our baseball game and hung out with my family - parents and my two brothers and their families. Matt blessed his new daughter, Cate, today and we got to stand in the circle. Awesome. Thanks to Matt and his family for their hospitality.
Time to relax.
1 comment:
sounds like a monster. The first time up is always the hardest. Now you know when to spin or jump out of that saddle. Good luck on the century. Is this an attempt on a sub 5??
Post a Comment