Next Race

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This week's entry in the Low Key Hillclimb Series was a hill that I had never ridden before. The road is East Dunne Ave near the town of Morgan Hill. It is about 35 miles from home and in an area that I rarely ride in. The forecast called for rain that day, so there was a good chance that the ride would be canceled.

It was dry when I left home, but 40 minutes later when I arrived at the registration, there was a light drizzle. Normally I would have skipped the risk of riding a slick hillside, but I had already invested in a long drive to get there. Plus, the allure of a new climb was too tempting.

We had a five mile ride to the actual start location. When the time came to start, the rain had stopped and blue sky was starting to appear on the horizon. This made all the riders happy. Because the road is narrow and we had close to 100 riders, everyone was started in batches of around 2o. People self-organized with the faster riders going first. I started with the fifth (the last) group.

Because the group was dispersed by the staggered start, there was less bunching that what happened last week. Still I passed a couple riders early while a few passed me.

The grade was fairly consistent and never exceptionally steep, but I felt I was not keeping as strong a pace as I normally would. I am guessing that the cool wet weather affected me, since I tend to thrive better than most in the heat.

The promise of clearing that we saw at the start disappeared as we rose in elevation. Pretty quickly, we entered thick mist. There was intermittent rain until the end. There was a downhill stretch in the middle of the climb, but I had to limit my speed there. My brakes were wet and had lost much of their effectiveness. I had to keep a speed at which I could still come to a stop if needed.

I passed one rider and stayed ahead of her for a while, but she passed me on the downhill section and stayed ahead until the finish. A half mile from the finish, a cyclist I passed just after the start passed me again. There was one last steep climb before the finish and I passed him there. But I used all my energy and he passed me again 20 yards from the end. We both put all our remaining strength into a sprint finish. But unlike last week, I did not have enough to win the sprint.

Photo by Thomas Preisler.

My final position was similar at 84 out of 86 men, and 94 out of 98 overall. Those numbers sound weak in print, but it was a fun, challenging ride. It was a slow, wet, cold descent back to the car. The long, hot shower at home was heavenly.

Low Key Again

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It has been two years since the last time I rode in the Low-Key Hillclimb series. These are the informal races done each fall, on some of the steepest Bay Area hills. I could not attend the first two of the series this year. Since they were roads I ride often, I did not miss much. The third one was a new route for me — Portola Redwoods State Park.

The road to the park is a small, remote, dead-end road. After registration at the summit (where Vaishali dropped me), all the riders descended down to the park entrance. Having a few minutes until the start, I rode further down the road into the park and back uphill to warm up my legs.

A mass of 116 cyclists lined up in a pack at the start. Fortunately not many cars came by needing to go through, because the road was fully blocked for a few minutes. The group lurched forward slowly upon "go" since the road was moderately steep right from the beginning. A couple riders had to stop because they were in too high a gear to pedal uphill. One stopped right in front of me. It was difficult to maneuver at slow speed to get around him with other cyclists just inches away from me, but I managed to keep pedaling and get past.

The mass of riders at the starting line. You cannot see me because I am too far in the back. Photo by Bill Bushnell.

The pack soon stretched out to a more narrow queue. From the beginning, I kept a strong pace (for me). I intentionally started at the back of the pack since I knew most of the riders are much stronger than I. Still, several people behind me passed me, but I was also passing a few.

The road never flattened, but fluctuated between moderately steep, steep, and significantly steep. I wondered whether I was keeping a sustainable pace because I was pedaling faster than I normally would on a road this hilly. My final average speed of 7.7 miles per hour probably does not sound too difficult, but considering the terrain, it surprised me to go that fast.

Around the halfway point of the 5 mile course, the pack positions stopped changing much. I had been pacing myself behind another rider for the past mile, but I felt I could pass him and sustain a slightly faster speed. By now we had left road to the park and we were on West Alpine Rode, which I had ridden several times was familiar with.

I did not rest on the flatter sections in order to keep up my pace.
Photo by Judy Colwell.

At a relatively flat section, I was quickly passed by another rider. However, the road pitched up again and I was able to close the distance between us. It felt like he was keeping a pace I could sustain. At a couple points, I thought I had the energy to pass him, but I decided against that because I did not know if I would be able to remain in front of him. I decided I would stay back until closer to the finish. It is nice knowing the road because I knew roughly how far away the finish was and generally which parts are steeper and flatter before reaching them.

As we neared the end, I breathed deep and readied myself for a final surge. When I saw that the finish was 20 yards away, I pedaled with all my energy. I picked up enough power that I shifted into a higher gear and zoomed past the rider that I had been following for the last mile. I actually gained enough speed that I sped past another rider further ahead of him just before crossing the finish line.

I shouted out my number with what little breath I still had so they could record my time. I was panting mightily as I continued on past the finish. Having used all my energy in my final surge, I was hit with a sudden wave of nausea. I pulled over in a shady spot by the side of the road and stood over my bicycle to catch my breath. The rider who I had been tailing rode passed and shouted "Great finish!" I only had energy to smile and weakly wave back.

After just a couple minutes I recovered enough to continue further down the road to where there were snacks and water. I did not feel like eating anything, so I just nibbled on a couple crackers and filled my water bottle. My energy came back quickly and I set off for my ride home. I went down the other side of the hill that we raced up and covered a few flat miles to home.

When the results were posted the next day, I discovered that with all my efforts, I finished 97th out of 110 men (and 100 out of 116 including the women). I would have finished two slots further back without my sprint finish. Although this sounds decidedly unimpressive, it must be noted that I am a novice among veterans here. Many of the riders are former and current amateur racers. And most of them have many more years of cycling experience than I do.

I should be able to do a few more rides in the series this year.

A New Road

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Having ridden all over the hills of the South Bay Area and Peninsula, I have been on almost all of the mountain roads. However, there are a few that are still new to me, and this weeks Low-Key Hillclimb event was one of those — Bear Gulch Road West. This road connects Skyline Blvd along the crest of the Santa Cruz Mountains to Highway 84 near the coast. BUT the middle section of this road goes through private land, and there is no public access. This is the main reason that many cyclists have not tried it — it is a dead-end that is not part of any loop route.

The registration for the ride was near the intersection with Skyline Blvd. I wanted to save some time in the morning, so I had Vaishali drop me at the intersection of Highway 84 and Skyline. I then warmed up by riding the one mile along Skyline to get to the registration. It was a chilly morning, so I was fully covered, wearing arm-warmers and leg warmers.

Photo by Christine Holmes.
I am waiting to start and chatting with my friend Richard, and proudly wearing my California Triple Crown jersey. I am prepared for cold weather, but the ride ended up being hot.

When we were ready to start the ride, the entire group rode downhill on Bear Gulch until we reached the gate where the road becomes private. Because the road is narrow (mostly one-lane with no shoulder) with blind corners, the riders started in two groups — the fast group first then the slower group a couple minutes later. I started in the second group.

Before getting under way, I needed to take off my cool weather clothing. This side of the mountains was bathed in sunlight and was fairly hot. Half of the road was under tree cover and still cool, but half was fully exposed and hot.

Getting started was rather tricky. The road at this point is fairly steep, so getting pushed off and getting the shoes clipped into the pedals takes some skill. My start got delayed because the rider in front of me could not clip properly, and had to stop a couple times. This caused me a 20 second delay and I ended up starting from the very back of the second group. This meant I passed several people at the very beginning.

The first half of the three mile road is the steepest. Many people were struggling at this point. Having not ridden regularly for the past three weeks, I was struggling more than I normally would expect to. Once the steep part was finished, I was able to recover some strength. By this time the riders were spread out and I did not see anyone until reaching the finish.

At the finish, bunches of riders were chatting about a common theme — about how surprisingly steep the first half of the road was. The normally quiet road was filled with the sounds of chatter and the constant coughing of riders who had overstressed their lungs.

I refilled my water and ate a banana and a handful of cookies. I also chatted with a couple of cyclists who had also ridden the Death Ride this year. After a little rest, I set off for the 25 mile ride back home. It was a beautiful day and the roads were full of cyclists. I wondered if any of them had ridden on a hidden gem like I had.

Measured Improvement

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This past weekend was the start of this year's Low-Key Hillclimb Series, which I participated in last year. I will not be able to attend as many events this time because of schedule conflicts, but I really wanted to attend the opener. Most of the routes are changed each year, but the opener is always Montebello Road, an old favorite of mine.

Because I rode the same event last year and had my time recorded, I would see how much an intense year of training has improved my conditioning. Since last time, I have lost about 10 pounds, and have a Death Ride and California Triple Crown under my belt. I was curious to see how big a time improvement this would translate into. The other nice thing about the Montebello ride is that it is close to my home, unlike most of the other routes this year.

I rode to the staging area about 30 minutes before the start time. After registering, I chatted with some of the friends I made during last year's series. I talked a while with my friend Adam, whose report on the Death Ride last year was one of my primary sources of research for my attempt at it this year. (Adam wrote his own report about this ride on his journal.) Since I was wearing my Death Ride jersey, a few other people talked to me about this year's Death Ride.

As usual, I decided to start near the back of the pack. Even though I expected to be faster than last year, I am still not nearly as strong as most of the guys (and many of the women) who do this. One psychological benefit of this is that no one passed me, yet I passed several people. I kept pace with Adam and several of the other guys of the "slower group" in the steep initial section of the road. But after half a mile I increased my effort slightly and slowly pulled away from them.

By the time we reached the flat section in the middle, the groups had mostly spread out. I was close to a couple other guys in front of me. I had slowly caught up to them on the steep part, but they pulled away on the flat part. I knew that I would again gain ground once we reached the final steep part.

It had rained overnight, but it was bright and sunny in the morning when we started. The road was still wet in places, but was not difficult to ride on. However, as we neared the top, we were hit with fog and light rain. Fortunately it was not heavy enough to make the road slick.

Photo by Josh Hadley.
Panting and struggling to reach the finish line.

With less than one quarter mile left to the finish, I passed one of the guys in front of me on a particularly steep pitch. I was able to stay in front of him, but could not catch the next guy by the time we crossed the finish line. I looked at my bike computer and saw that my total time was 40:30, which was exactly the time that Adam had predicted for me before the start.

My time this year was four minutes faster than last. This may not sound like a large improvement, but on a steep road, it is difficult to make increases this large. It was actually a bigger improvement than what I expected, so I was very happy with it.

Low-Key Hillclimb: Sierra Road

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After experiencing the conditioning problems I had in my previous ride, I made sure to be in better shape this time. In the week prior to the ride, I did two training rides. I left work in the afternoon, rode for over an hour, then returned to the office and worked a little later. Earlier in the summer, I could simply do a training ride after work. But with less daylight now, that is not an option.

This week's ride was Sierra Road in San Jose. This is a challenging road because it starts steeply and remains steep for three and a half miles. It is very popular with cyclists, and is a standard part of the route of the San Jose stage of the Tour of California.

The weather was good and there was a large turnout. We started as one large group, and I took my usual place in the back of the pack. I basically established a pace that I was comfortable with and maintained that. The slope of the road is very consistent, so that is the standard strategy.

photo by Michael Gonia
Notice that just over the edge of the hill, you can look down on Silicon Valley.

I had no problems getting to the top, and I was happy with my overall time. I spent some time chatting with people at the finish. I usually continue with a longer ride after the event, but this week I had plans to meet Vaishali, Rucha, and Anuja in San Francisco, so I simply went back home after the event. Since I was not doing any more riding, I did not eat anything at the finish.

There is one final Low-Key event next week, but I will not be doing that one. It is on Thanksgiving Day, and we are going to Porterville for the holiday. So I will have no more reports on these events here, but I will continue to report on my more interesting bicycle rides.

photo by Bill Bushnell

Low-Key Hillclimb: Welch Creek

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This week's climb was a qualified success. I skipped the ride last week because of a conflict. Due to a combination of a busy schedule and reduced evening daylight at this time of year, I have not been able to do any training rides in the two weeks since the Mt. Diablo ride.

Welch Creek is a difficult road to cycle. There is a debate among cyclists as to which road is the most difficult in the Bay Area — either Welch Creek or Bohlman - On Orbit (the week 3 ride). I rode Welch Creek once before, about 3 months ago. At that time, I reached the top but needed to stop about 4 times to catch my breath. There was an extra challenge back then because I did it in the summer heat.

We did the registration in the small town of Sunol, then rode the 5 miles to the start of Welch Creek Road. It is a small, dead-end road, so there is not much traffic. This is good because it is barely wider than one lane in many places. We were able to do a mass start. It was a smaller group than usual, as several people opted to skip this difficult road (just like with Bohlman - On Orbit).

photo by Kwan Low

The road begins climbing immediately with a steep grade at the very beginning. However, the overall grade is inconsistent. There are short stretches that are level or even slightly downhill. And then there are sections that are brutally steep.

I made sure to start at the back of the pack. Most of the people who started behind me passed me early on. I knew on the first incline that I was not in my best condition. I felt significantly weaker than I normally would. I made sure to keep a slow, sustainable pace. I did not care if I finished last. I wanted to simply make it to the top without having to stop.

However, I was forced to stop because of a car coming downhill. I had little space to get by it as it came slowly around a bend, so I dismounted and walked past it. I started pedaling again as soon as I was by it.

Further up the road, there was an extended steep section. It took all my energy to get to the top of that part. I was completely drained. I was panting and became dizzy and then nauseous. If there was anything in my stomach, it would have come out. But I had eaten breakfast two hours ago. I had to unbutton the chinstrap of my helmet because the slight pressure on my throat was increasing the nausea. I ended up stopping and catching my breath for about two minutes. It was disappointing, but not unexpected considering my level of conditioning.

A short while later, I was again forced to dismount. As I rounded a curve, there was a cow in the middle of the road. She was crossing the road from left to right, and eventually walked off the road on the right side. Just as I was about to start again, a calf approached the road and stopped at the edge. It saw me and became too nervous to cross.

This was not a good situation for me. As long as the calf was still standing there, the only way for me to pass was to go between the calf and the cow. This is not a good idea. Cows can become aggressive if they feel their calf is threatened.

There was only one rider, Anne, behind me and she caught up as I was standing in the road assessing the situation. I told her about the cow and calf. Anne decided she would try to ride through. I figured I would see how well that worked so that I could do the same. But as she approached the calf, the cow stopped grazing and started walking towards Anne, and not in a casual manner. I warned Anne that the cow was coming towards her so she turned around and came back to where I was standing.

It seemed like we would be stuck here as long as the cow was on one side of the road and the calf on the other. And by this time a second calf joined the first one on the side of the road. We tried to coax the calves across the road, but as we approached, they simply moved away from us, remaining on the same edge of the road.

Anne tried two more times to ride through, only to have the agitated cow come at her again. If only a car would come by and clear out the cattle, but no such luck. This was the only time I was hoping to see a car on a mountain road.

As we stood and discussed our options, another rider came by. She had gotten a flat tire at the very start, and I did not know if she was going to abandon the ride or not. Clearly she fixed her tube and continued. We told her about the cow situation in front of us, but she said it should be no big deal and continued without stopping. As she rode by the calf, the cow only mooed at her, and she simply told it to shut up as she continued riding.

How frustrating this was for Anne and me. We guessed that perhaps the cattle were undisturbed because she never stopped and simply pedaled through without appearing to be a threat. We decided that this was our only chance so we rode back down the road and turned around.

We pedaled slowly and tried to appear nonthreatening. As we approached within 15 feet of the calves, I could hear the leaves rustling as the cow started walking towards us. I did not look at it because I was focussed on the road ahead. As we got within 5 feet of the calves, they became nervous and darted. At this point I could tell from the rustling noises that the cow was no longer walking but was running. This is NOT a comforting sound. Fortunately at this spot, the cow could not get back on the road because of a drop off.

Anne and I were pedaling as fast as we could, and soon we were out of danger. Anne remarked that the long break brought her heart rate back to normal, but the burst to get away from the cow brought it right back up.

The two of us kept a similar pace from that point. As we approached the last half mile before the finish, we started seeing the other riders returning to the bottom. As they whizzed by us, I warned them about the cattle in the road. I had to make one more brief stop before the finish. I crossed the finish line just ahead of Anne.

photo by Pat Parseghian

I was totally exhausted and dizzy. I found a large rock and leaned against it for a couple minutes. I needed to just rest and catch my breath. I usually like to eat some snacks at the finish, but I was still nauseous and could not eat. There were just a few riders remaining at the top. Most had left by this time. I remained there just a few minutes and then started the descent.

The only challenge of going downhill was the strain on my hands from continuous braking. I was descending in a group of four cyclists. About one mile down, I heard a loud POP. Unnerved and afraid that one of my inner tubes may have burst, I gently came to a stop. But I felt both tires and saw that they were both still inflated. I looked ahead and saw one of the other cyclists pick up his bicycle and carry it to the side of the road. I coasted to where he was and saw that it was not his tube, but his rear wheel. It had cracked. It was now too warped to spin through the brakes. He was lucky that he did not lose control and crash.

The rest of the ride down the hill was uneventful. I decided to ride along Calaveras road away from where I was parked so that I could have a longer ride, since Welch Creek is only four miles long, one-way. Calaveras Road is nice to bicycle on, with some small inclines and declines but nothing steep. I rode to the end and returned, although it required more energy than such a casual ride normally would. I returned home and was too tired to do much else that day.

I will be skipping the following week's ride since I will be in Chicago for Raja's wedding. Anyhow I would not have done it because it is a mountain bike ride up a dirt road, and I do not have a mountain bike. My next ride is in two weeks. Today I learned that I will NEED to do some training rides in that period to maintain my level of conditioning.

Low-Key Hillclimb: Mount Diablo

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This week's race was not as difficult as the last one. We rode to the top of Mount Diablo, which is the second-highest peak in the Bay Area — 3850 feet elevation at the summit.

The only other time I did this route was last year when I participated in an 'official' race, which was the first organized ride I had ever participated in. Back then it was a big deal for me because I was still new to this level of cycling. But this time it was just another ride for me, comparable to many of the rides I have been doing this year.

To avoid clogging the road, we started in several small groups of a dozen or so cyclists. As usual, I lined up in the last group. Everyone dispersed fairly quickly, and most of my passing and being passed happened at the beginning.

At 11 miles, this is longer than most of the other routes in the series. It is necessary to keep an appropriate pace that can be maintained over the whole distance. Although the road is never excessively steep (except at the very end), the grade is enough to be difficult for a beginning cyclist. Fortunately, I have gotten into a shape where I would not have considered this route challenging.

The road to the peak is very scenic, which is fortunate since I was on it for nearly one and a half hours. My hope was that I would post a significantly faster time than what I managed last year. It would be a good measure of how much more fit I am this year.

The finish line at the top is at the end of the only very steep section of the road. Everyone had their picture taken here, and practically all had the same pained facial expression and tight grip on the handlebars. I was no exception.

photo by Adam Tow

My final time of 1 hour 26 minutes was about 8 minutes faster than last year. This was not as much improvement as I had hoped, but still decent. I may have done better if I had gotten more sleep. I had gone to a party in San Francisco the previous night, so I went to bed at 11:30 then got up at 6:00.

I will be skipping the event for next week because Kannan is visiting us and I want to spend the time with him. Actually that route is mostly flat and I was not particularly interested in it anyhow.

Low-Key Hillclimb: Bohlman - On Orbit

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This week's ride was amazing. The route was Bohlman - On Orbit. A quick explanation of the name: Bohlman is a 4 mile dead-end road, and On Orbit is another road that branches off Bohlman then rejoins it further. The reason for taking On Orbit instead of staying on Bohlman the whole way is because On Orbit is steeper.

This is considered to be one of the hardest (if not THE hardest) steep bike rides in the Bay Area. I did this route only once, about 6 months ago. And I did it without the On Orbit option. At that time I needed to stop two or three times to catch my breath.

The crowd was smaller as some people skipped this route because it is horribly steep. Knowing that primarily the strong cyclists would be there, and the distinct likelihood that I would need to take some breaks, there was a strong possibility that I would finish last this week.

Another complication was that I knew there would be several slick wet spots on the road. It rained much of the day yesterday. Although today was bright and sunny, the hill soaks up the rainfall like a sponge and it oozes out water for a few days.

photo by Clark Foy

Because the number of people was smaller, we did a single mass start. Naturally I kept to the back of the pack so that many people would not have to pass me. The road is steep from the beginning. Because of this, the group dispersed into several smaller groups keeping similar speeds (different levels of slow).

I was initially in a group with two other cyclists, both women. I could have gone a little faster than the speed I kept, but I intentionally wanted to preserve strength. Even though this part was steeper than most other roads, the worst part was yet to come.

Having been on most of the route before, I knew when to expect the turns and the short, steep sections. At these points, I made sure to pedal steadily and evenly. These places were usually wet, so sudden strong pedal strokes could cause the wheel to slip. Overall, the road wetness was not causing a problem for me or others.

Just before On Orbit branched off, our subgroup had dwindled to two people as one person fell back. But as we climbed On Orbit, we merged with two others who had been ahead of us.

On Orbit was amazingly steep. It has stretches that sustain a grade over 20%. When it is this steep, it is not possible to ride in a normal biking position -- the front wheel would lift off the ground and you would risk falling over backwards. To prevent this, I needed to lean as far forward as I could. My chin was about one foot from the handlebars. I also slid as far forward on the seat as I could.

It takes a tremendous amount of strength to pedal up a grade this steep, and it did not help that we needed to use so much energy just to get to this part of the route. To mitigate the steepness, all four of us in the subgroup began taking a serpentine route up the road. By zigzagging from the left side of the road to the right, we covered a little more distance, but reduced the effective grade that we were climbing.

We were all traveling about 3.5 miles per hour at this point. This is the slowest speed one can pedal on a bicycle and still keep it upright and stable. It felt like it took a long time. I almost felt like I would run out of energy before I reached the crest of the steep section. I was panting heavily and was becoming dizzy. But I kept pushing and we reached the top. There was a short, steep descent as On Orbit rejoined Bohlman where I could just coast and catch my breath and rebuild some energy.

The road then became a steep uphill that normally would have felt challenging, but which after On Orbit did not feel difficult at all. At this point our four-person subgroup started to spread out, and I was in front. After that section, the difficult climbing was done. The next one third mile was fairly flat. I had recovered enough energy at this point that I felt I could pedal hard and ride fast. I passed a couple more cyclists here.

photo by Clark Foy

The rest of the road had some short, steep sections, but nothing too difficult because they were not sustained grades. I kept pedaling hard to the finish. I was fully exhausted, but I was thrilled when I realized that I did the entire route without needing to stop. Clearly I am a stronger cyclist than I was when I tried the road for the first time earlier this year.

I chatted with a couple of people at the finish. I recognized Toby, the guy I chatted with while we were riding on Montebello Road in week one. Somehow I was not as hungry as I usually am after the race, so I only ate a handful of peanut butter filled pretzels.

I was very careful on the ride back down the road. The slick wet spots are more dangerous on the descents. But no one seemed to have any problems with the road conditions.

After reaching the bottom, I called Vaishali. We had planned to meet and do some cycling together. I had to bike uphill again to reach our designated meeting point. During the steepest part of this route, I was suddenly hit by an overwhelming hunger. But I had enough energy to get to the place where Vaishali was waiting. I ate an energy bar (I always keep one with my bicycle just for situations like this) and recovered. We finished our ride, including Vaishali's first attempt to ride up a small hill.

Low-Key Hillclimb: Kings Mountain Road

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This week's ride was up Kings Mountain Road in Woodside. It is one of the easier rides (relatively) on this year's schedule. I have ridden it a couple times, but I have never tried to go up fast.

I decided to take the train to get there, so I had to leave a little earlier than I normally would (because on the weekend, the trains run only once an hour). I rode the train from Sunnyvale to Palo Alto. I brought a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with me to eat on the train. (I wanted to eat something at home before I left, but had NO appetite.) I then rode 6 miles from the station to the staging area in Portola Valley.

I arrived pretty early, so they were still in the process of setting up the registration. But there were a few others there already. I got registered pretty quickly, so I had 45 minutes to spend before we started. I chatted with a few different people and rode my bicycle around the strip mall where we were doing the registration.

photo by John Gale

Unlike last week where we did a single mass start for everyone, this week we sent out small groups (about a dozen) of riders at a time. They wanted the faster riders to go in the earlier groups, so I waited for the last group.

We left the registration area but had to pedal about three miles to get to the start line. We all did it at a moderate pace. When we reached the start line, we formed a single-file line on a side street. One of the volunteers started the clock and told us to go.

Because it was a small group, all the people dispersed quickly. A couple people passed me, and I passed a couple. At no point did I have a chance to pedal along with anyone.

I think I previously pedaled around 6 miles per hour up this route. Today I tried to maintain 7.5 to 8. Even though this seems negligible, it really wore me out. Because it was all uphill, this small increase in speed required a much larger energy output.

By the time I reached the top (only 4 miles), I was exhausted. I walked around for a minute or two to catch my breath. There was food there, but unfortunately no bananas. I ate a handful of small cookies, a handful of tortilla chips, and a handful of peanut butter filled mini-pretzels. Then I had a half bagel with cream cheese, and really enjoyed that.

The crowd had thinned out by the time I finished. I had seen several people returning down the road during the second half of my ride up. By the time I finished eating, there were not too many people left. I started cooling down, so I decided I should continue my ride before I lost too much body heat.

My plan was to ride back home all the way. The full route (picture below), including the ride from the train station, the race, and the ride home would be almost 60 miles. Specifically, I wanted to go downhill on the OTHER side of the mountain range and then come back up on Alpine Road. I have ridden down this road a couple times before, but have never ridden it up.

the full route (click for interactive map)

Although I had recovered my energy by the time I reached the next uphill ride, I started dragging about halfway up. But it never got so bad that I needed to stop. I did stop at one point to eat a snack bar. I wanted to go home without eating again, but I started feeling particularly hungry.

I reached the top, crossed over Skyline Blvd and then continued down the other side of the mountain range on Page Mill Road back home. On the way down, I recognized Bay Area bicycling legend Jobst Brandt riding uphill.

I had left home at 8:00am to catch the train, and I returned home just after 3:00pm. Of course, not all of that time was spent riding the bicycle. But it had been a while since I had ridden a route this long, so I really enjoyed it.

Low-Key Hillclimb: Montebello Road

[official results] [route map] [series description]

After some internal debate, I decided to participate in the Low-Key Hillclimb Series. At least I felt I should try the first event, Montebello Road, and decide based on the results whether I would continue with the rest.

photo by John Gale

I rode from home to the staging area to register. This was a good time/distance (30 minutes / 7 miles) to warm up. I was there by 9:30 so I had plenty of time before the official start at 10:10. There were quite a few others waiting around too. Some had driven to the start, so they pedaled around on the road to warm up. I chatted with several of the guys who were waiting.

Last year less than 40 people participated in the event. This year there were just under 100. Of course, most were experienced, strong cyclists and even amateur racers. Clearly my goals were to basically enjoy the challenge, and hopefully not finish so slowly that people would have to wait for me.

We started as one big group riding slowly from the staging area to the start which was about one quarter mile away. I made sure to ride at the back of the group because I knew most people would be finishing ahead of me. Some people started out very strong, but I decided to keep a slow initial pace. The first two miles of the five mile route are the steepest, and I needed be sure my adrenaline did not mask sensibility.

Pacing myself was very easy with the group. Pretty quickly, the faster and slower riders dispersed and I could tell who all would be keeping the same pace as me. I basically kept the same speed as those around me. Not many people passed me because I had already started at the back. I passed a few people in the first mile and a half.

The middle one mile is a relatively flat section. I usually ride this part slowly to recover my strength. But today I actually kept pedaling hard. I wanted to at least try to attempt a record time for myself.

Towards the end of the flat section, I caught up to and kept the same pace as another cyclist. We kept the same speed and chatted for about a mile. In the final mile, I increased my pace and was riding by myself. I had kept a much faster pace than I usually do and I was feeling it now.

I was almost panting by now, whereas I usually keep a pace where do not have to breathe too heavily. Knowing that the finish was coming soon, I kept the fast (for me) pace. I even increased it for a final burst. You can see me panting heavily in the second picture.

photo by John Gale

There was a big group of riders at the finish. I had seen a few descending while I was ascending, but the majority were still there at the time I finished. I stood around for a short while to catch my breath. They had some refreshments there, so I ate a banana and several small cookies.

I felt pretty good except my left hamstring started to tighten. Although I had stretched before I started, my legs probably were not used to the sustained peak output that I had just done. It start hurting more, but then it got better quickly. By the time I finished snacking, it seemed like all the cyclist had arrived at the finish. People were slowly leaving, so I also left.

My original plan was to do more riding after the event, including some more steep climbs. But that did not seem practical with my hamstring problem. It was not too bad at this point, but I could tell it was not normal and I did not want to risk injury. Not wanting to go straight back home, I decided to ride some more but not anything steep. I continued on Stevens Canyon Road until it dead-ended in the park, then turned around and went home.

I did not do any biking the next day in order to allow my hamstring to fully heal, not that I was having any serious problems with it. By Monday, it was 100% normal.

Overall, I felt the event was a great success for me. When the results were posted the next day, I found that my time was 44:18, which is about 4 minutes faster than my best time. This is an amazing improvement. Plus I had a great time and did not feel I was in anyone's way by being too slow. I think I will do the whole series for this season.