Mt Evans Disaster

Masters 45+ Hillclimb
2:37:07hrs, ~27 miles/7000ft vert, 44th/78
The Mt Evans Hillclimb was a "F" race for me, "F" for fun. Still though, I had a target finishing time in mind. Scaling how I did against Tom Danielson a few years ago on Mt Washington, I thought I could muster a 2:15 finish, good for around 15-20th place in the Masters 45+ category.

We arrived in Denver on Friday, picked up rental road bikes for the race, and went for a short spin on the awesome Denver bike path system. It was hot out. The bikes worked well but felt a little sluggish. Our rentals were steel frame Bianchi's, probably weighed about 22 lbs, and were a tad small at 54cm. I normally ride 56.5cm. When I spun up on a descent, something didn't feel right. The crank arms were only 170mm. I normally ride 175mm. But that wasn't the worst part. The Campy equipped bikes actually rode quite nice. The worst part was tire treatment. There were these really heavy strips inside the tires to protect against punctures. The strips were just like glued type patch material but wrapped around the outer portion of the tube. If that weren't enough, the tubes were filled with Slime. I think my rear tire was almost half full. I brought spare tubes and tires along just in case the rentals had touring tires. But the tires were so hard to get off, and the strips so messy to put back in, I opted to leave the stock tires on. We had to rush after the race to get the bikes back and pick up our MTBs before they closed at 4pm. There just wouldn't be enough time to swap things back over.

We got the bikes from Paul's Cyclery. Paul warned us these were not racing bikes. He also told us he had only one flat in his rental fleet last year. I supposed if you are a tourist or on travel and looking to squeeze a ride in, not getting a flat has high value. But all that stuff in there probably increased rolling resistance at least 4x. The slime in the both tires made them feel like they were on a magnetic resistance trainer. Paul is a super nice guy, and I would do business with him again. Armouring the tires makes good business sense. Had I known this, I probably would have taken one of my wheelsets with me.

Just over 1000 people were registered for the hillclimb. Apparently there was another road race going on that stole riders. Last year there were about 1200 finishers. Tom Danielson was supposed to race Saturday but didn't show. Being a 2+hr TT, I did not warm up rigorously. I lined up a little late and ended up at the back of the pack.

Finish at 14,000ft

The race starts off fairly flat, and it is definitely pack racing. Speeds of around 20+mph were held starting I think (no computer). Drafting was everything. The lead pack held together for the first 7-8 miles of the race. But I was dying. Many guys were casually talking in the pack for the first few miles while I was just killing myself to stay in the pack. I was freaking out. It had to be the bike. 7000ft altitude does not make that big of a difference for a low lander. By the 8 mile post, I made conscious choice to let lead group of about 30 riders go and ride at my own pace. I pretty much rode the remaining 20 miles of the climb by myself other than passing dropped riders from the field 15 minutes ahead of me. But even riding at my own pace became increasingly difficult. The bike was so sluggish I began to doubt I'd even finish this climb. With 5 miles to go and the steepest part of the race, I started cramping up. With 1km to go, I was having such severe cramps that I would slow to a track stand to keep hamstrings stretched out for seconds at a time. I finished, but not until most dropped riders from my field passed me.

Switchbacks to summit

I was in a pretty foul mood finishing. There was nothing but water up top (pure water, no carbs or electrolytes), and no food. I wasn't mad because of placing poorly. I didn't expect to do well here anyway. I was mad because of the damage I did to my legs at the beginning of a week of epic riding. I had so many screwed up muscles in my legs I couldn't even walk right at the top. My time of 2:37hrs is only slightly faster than when I rode my mountain bike up Mt Evans three years ago with knobbie tires at a recreational pace. This fun race turned into a death climb. With no nutrients up top whatsoever, the descent was going to be long. It takes better part of an hour to descend. A couple places required pedaling and my legs immediately went back into spasms.

Dave finished a few minutes faster than me in the 35+ category. He was on a similarly equiped Bianchi. Another New Hamshirite, Tom Ramsey, finished in around 2:27 in the 55+ category. Tom took his race bike with him.

Other than the racing being a catastrophe, the day was perfect. A little warm at the bottom, maybe 50's up top, and very little wind. It was clear and you could see a hundred miles in all directions. After the descent, it was warm. It nearly hit 100F in Denver nearby. We got the bikes back in time and grabbed our MTB's. Our next destination was Salida, CO for an Epic 54 mile trail ride at 12,000ft. I'll have to save how that ride went (fantastic) and today's ride in Taos, NM (fantastic but brutal) for another day.

Anticipating Colorado

All the planning is now in place for my biggest Colorado cycling trip yet. Dave Penney and I will spend eight days there. Cities we'll ride near are Idaho Springs, Salida, Taos, Durango, Aztec, Fruita, and Boulder. Quite the tour. Just hope the legs hold up. We aren't the shuttling types. We earn our vertical.

First up, less than 24hrs after we arrive, is the Mt Evans hillclimb race on Saturday. There has been debate whether Mt Evans is "harder" than Mt Washington. Many say because Mt Evans is not steep at all, it is easier. Others point to starting at 7000ft and going to 14,000ft makes it much more difficult. Personally, I don't think either of these climbs are that hard. I have leisurely biked Evans once on a mountain bike. I think Mt Ascutney in Vermont is harder than either of these, because it is at the magic duration that places you deeply in the anaerobic realm for a long time. This maximizes suffer-factor. Washington is climbed right at threshold for the strongest riders, and Evans is more of an endurance ride at 2+ hours. Steepness has nothing to do with it, assuming you adequately gear your bike. Not being acclimated to altitude may actually reduce the suffering in a wacky way, such that we'll get dizzy if we push anywhere near what our legs are capable of. This will preserve the legs for planned 54 mile trail epic then next day.

The trip is about riding in the mountains, and the race is more of a curiosity filler to kick things off. Dave has never been to the summit. We got snowed out on our trip two years ago. Mountain bikes have been shipped out. We're renting older, steel Bianchi road bikes with triple cranks. They'll weigh at least 5 lbs more than my carbon hillclimb bike. It is all that is available in the greater Denver area, and I called a lot of places. This will be a net 3 minute hit on finishing time. I suspect not being from Colorado will be a 5-8 minute hit for me. All of the top finishers in my category were from CO last year. Shipping two bikes out, one hillclimb, one MTB, just isn't worth the 3 minute difference when we'll be at a 5-8 minute handicap to begin with.

Philosophies on acclimating to altitude are all over the place, but many opinions are based on here say. It is generally supported that arriving 2-3 days before an event at altitude is worst case. Many things go downhill as soon as you arrive at altitude. You either need to do your event right away, or wait several days to a week. After a week, your blood (things like pH, etc) settles back into equilibrium, altitude headaches go away and normal sleep patterns resume. But this doesn't mean you are fully acclimated. That takes months. Increasing your blood's oxygen carrying capacity is a slow process. Since I don't want to race Evans on legs put through the grinder, it's best to do it right away on fresh legs before effects of altitude sink all the way in.

I'll be travelling with laptop and hope to get reports up each night. The first few days entail a lot of driving though. If it comes down to getting a good night's sleep for riding the next day versus blogging, well, riding is going to win over writing about riding. I just hope Dave doesn't ride me into the ground with his rigid Niner like he did two years ago.

Nine hour weekend

I'm getting a lot out of these non-racing weekends - riding and more riding. Friday my wife and I spent a good part of the day in southern coastal Maine. We figured out how to fit the tandem in the Matrix and be able to close the hatch so we don't get carbon monoxided to death. We rode nice bits of the coast in Kennebunkport area and waded in the frigid Atlantic. Yesterday was a mountains epic (prior post). Today I was looking for something tamer to do, but the riding turned out to be anything but tame.

The south central NH NEMBA gang was heading down to Harold Parker State Forest for an early morning ride. This is less than 40 minutes from my house. It looked like about 20 riders showed up. I thought about bringing my singlespeed, but my shredded legs said otherwise. Dave Penney brought his, and he still smoked me on my dualie. We rode all of the "hero" section from the Wicked Ride of the East. If you are a mountain biker, you know what this is. We hit bits I've never seen before. I think an hour into the ride, my average speed was about 6 mph. It was that techy. My dualie does not have tubeless tires, and despite bumping the pressure up, I flatted twice. When I hit HP solo, I like to hit a lot of the flowy fast stuff with my singlespeed. I would have been utterly doomed had I brought it today, tired or fresh legs. Maybe with a 22t cog on back I would have half survived. The only up side was I was one of the few riders that didn't crash. With a Colorado trip coming up, injury was not an option. I ride with these guys and gals a couple times a year, and many of them are far more skilled than I. During the ride I commented that the only thing I don't suck at is going up hill. That is a pretty limited skill set for a cyclist.

DeLorme vs Garmin (green) Elevation. Below sea level and 100ft instantaneous elevation changes are not likely in Andover.

My Garmin Edge 705 isn't the only GPS that under reads distance. Our ride went about 12.5 miles by most folks wired computers. But GPS's gave 0.5 to 1.0mi less than that. Additionally, when using raw satellite elevation data, wild vertical gain numbers are seen. In this case, an Edge 205 unit gave 8006ft of climbing. No way, considering min to max in the park is about 120ft. I downloaded the track into DeLorme Topo, it gave 1017ft of climbing. That sounds reasonable. I bet a barometric altimeter would have given much less, but those tend to under measure vertical.

Anyway, another great weekend with 9+hrs riding and 12,000-13,000ft of climbing. I'm looking forward to putting time on rollerskis though. I think after Mt Washington I will start. I want to take ski racing a little more seriously this winter. I already bought a season pass for Waterville Valley, motivated in part by the stellar 07/08 winter we had. When perusing other skier blogs out there, it is no wonder I come in near DFL in 50k's. There's more to skiing than just the engine.

Dubious Training Ride #7

White Mountains "East" Loop
114.6mi, 10,000ft vert, 6:15hrs
The Four Seasonal Gaps Route
Glen Fraser, Dave Penney and myself hit the the White Mountains today, a perfect day for riding in the north country. The route is one I've done two prior times and includes a bit of everything, from heinously steep grinds to a wild card gravel notch.

Glen finishing the 2mi of 15% on Hurricane Mtn Rd

The route basically goes like this. Start in Conway, head up to North Conway on on bike-laned West Side Rd. Hammer over 15% grade Hurricane Mountain Rd into Maine. Follow Rt 113 without getting shot over Evans Notch to Rt 2, but instead of taking it towards Gorham, go right for a bit, cross the Androscoggin River, then west on North Rd. Much less traffic with occasional bears in the road. Rt 2 is then taken up some demoralizing grades at this point in the ride, but the best (most punishing) is yet to come. This is Jefferson Notch Rd. It is essentially a one-lane gravel road up and over, something like 9 miles worth. The other side drops out right at the top of Crawford Notch, which does not count as a climb in this ride. Jefferson is so much higher that Crawford is just a continuation of the descent. In Bartlett, the last climb of the ride is taken, Bear Notch. The Kanc (Kancamagus Hwy, aka Rt 112) is taken part way back to Conway, but crossing over the Albany Covered Bride and taking Passaconaway Rd the rest of the way back is much quieter. More on the route, including profile, here.

Must be the Maine side of the state line

What is interesting about this ride is that all four major climbs are seasonal roads. They are gated in the winter months. These tend to make for low traffic cycling roads in the summer months and can be very steep. We climb Hurricane Mtn Rd from the west, which is "only" 15% grade for two miles. The east side is 17%. It occurred to me today while descending Hurricane Mtn that this is the easiest road to die on. There's perpetual temptation to let 'er rip. But huge dips and curves can hide big New Jersey SUVs, whose drivers have no idea folks ride bikes in the mountains. The road is barely a lane wide. Plus you get the errant pieces of heavy equipment hiding in a dip struggling to climb the grade like the back-hole on today's ride. It is very easy to get big air on this descent, a scary proposition on 600 gram wheels, no suspension, no disk brakes, at 40mph. We all survived to play Russian Roulette on this road again next year.

Evans Notch

Evans Notch is a gentler, kinder climb. It's over just about when you are ready to dig deeper. En route on Rt 113, you weave across the NH/ME state line a couple times. Gotta watch out for the farm dogs, like the little pip-squeak that almost went through the spokes of a rider coming from the other way. I thought New Hampshire was the "Live Free or Die" state, but the folks in Maine have no need for police protection. Check out the second photo.

You never know what you're going to get when you throw a dirt climb into a road ride. Jefferson Notch was next. This is a biggie. I think it gains something like 2500ft from Gorham. About 1700ft of this is on gravel. The north side, the side we climb, looked like it was graded recently. This made it bumpy, but at least it was mostly packed down again. It made for some good climbing. Unfortunately, my earlier hammer sessions caught up to me on this climb. I started to bonk. Glen, the energizer bunny on this ride, just rode away from Dave and I. I don't bonk very often, but when I do, it is always ugly. It was one of those hallucinatory bonks. I thought I was seeing bears. At least I was ahead of Dave. You only have to be faster than the slowest guy in bear country. The summit wasn't freezing like it was last year. The air was definitely cooler here at 3000ft and felt refreshing. The descent was unpleasant however. The gravel was loose as marbles in spots. Rocky too. This pretty much meant butt off saddle with death grip on both brakes all the way down. Not a nice way to treat an aching body. To sit on saddle bombing this crud would result in certain pinch flat. I was quite surprised none of us flatted. Chalk it up to skill riding gravel gaps all summer.

Jefferson Notch pops out at the AMC center at Crawford Notch. This means the descent continues, initially on the 12% grade heading to Bartlett. But a feisty head wind was brewing up, somewhat of an anomaly while riding east through Crawford Notch. Instead of speeds well over 50mph, we were lucky to even hit 40. This descent has about 10 miles of "run-out" to it, that is you cruise gradually downhill forever.

After refueling a second and final time in Bartlett, Bear Notch is next. This was pure survival mode for all of us, although Glen continued to set the highest pace here. This one gains about 1200ft in 5 miles or so at a perfectly consistent grade. The sign at the bottom said "No Gas Next 29 Miles." After eating junk carbs for the last five hours, we broke the no-gas ordinance many times.

Crawford Notch

A few regular readers may wonder what happened to Dubious Training Ride #6. Well, that was the Kingdom Trails ride last weekend. Any ride that degenerates into survival mode can be disruptive to weekly training plans. You simply aren't going to get value out of doing intervals over the next 2-3 days. Long rides are great for endurance. Plus we tend to hit the climbs at or above threshold and take it easier in between the climbs. This is great training for hillclimbs, time-trials, or another other endurance activities you might pursue. Crits or track racing, forget about it. Hilly road races, maybe.

Kearsarge Hump and a Half

56.5 miles, 6490ft vert, 3.2 hours
What are the ingredients that make a perfect road ride? Cooperative weather, big climbs, nice roads, and a little dirt. I scored all of these today on a solo, exploratory ride. The temp did reach into the upper 80's, and my legs were in a serious funk from yesterday's hike, but the riding was good.

I've been eating ibuprofen like M&Ms today. Don't know what the hike did to me, but if feels like both calf muscles are shredded as well as lower hamstrings. I know I have back side flexibility issues, but this is nuts. My wife, in her 50's, rode hard on Friday too but didn't have trouble with Saturday's hike. She also runs, I don't. I really need to start addressing this more aggressively, as this ain't getting better with age. Getting old sucks.

Kearsarge from Rollins side near top

After getting a report from Paul H. that the Kearsarge had been repaved, I was motivated to check it out. Last year it was slated to be resurfaced this year, then it was axed from the plan due to budget cuts. But it still happened. The resurfacing was a minimalist job. In many places, old frost heaves broach the surface of new asphalt, which was laid only about 2" thick. The road had at least 6" of unevenness to it. The good thing is all the divots are filled, and there is nothing that will taco a wheel now. The descent surface is one of the best in New England. Don't expect it to last more than a couple winters though. In a way, the descent is now much more dangerous. Without non-stop frost heaves to check your speed, you can go silly fast. Beware. The curves are just as sharp, and the new asphalt is barely a lane wide. There really isn't enough room for you to bomb 30mph with a car coming up.

I was able to hit the climb quite hard, surprisingly, as my legs were so messed up. But the hike didn't trash the cycling bits. I had only mild discomfort. The state now collects $4 per person entering state parks. This is true whether you are on foot, bike, or in a Hummer. My philosophy is such that NH public lands should encourage non-motorized use by charging less for bikes or more for cars. Most other state and federal parks are set up this way. When I arrived at the gate, I asked if she was going to charge a NH rider to just go up and back. She exclaimed "would you believe it!" She was pretty cool. She said after about 5 or 6 visits, she gives riders training there a no-charge sympathy admission. Sounds like quite a few of us go there. I have 4-5 visits to go.

After the descent, I picked up a couple more water bottles from my car parked at the park and ride lot of exit 9 of I-89. I took Rt 103 towards Sunapee, then Roby Rd towards Sutton. Roby was nice, climbing gradually along a stream with minimal traffic. Crossing back under I-89, Shaker was taken to Rt 11. From Rt 11, Old Windslow Rd is taken up the north side of Mt Kearsarge. What a shock. This is over 12% right from the highway. Eventually it tapers off but turns to gravel. After about 0.7 miles of gravel, climbing resumes on Kearsarge Mtn Rd. This too is steep at times. The gals at the toll booth were nice and just waved me through. It is only a few tenths of a mile to the end, gaining another 100ft or so. They usually don't charge cyclists here if you are just going in to loop around and back down. I've climbed to this park once before, but I stayed on pavement last time. The Old Winslow route climbs at a much steeper, monotonic pitch, gaining over 1100ft in about 2.6mi.

Kearsarge from Winslow SP

I was running out of water after the Winslow climb, and I eyed a beverage machine behind the golf cart rental building at a golf course in the middle of nowhere. A $2 Powerade did the trick.

That's three for three this weekend - a big mountain and a blog post three days in a row. Nearly 16,000ft of climbing isn't bad either. With no races that interest me next weekend, the summer epic ride series may continue. Not sure yet what's on deck. White Mountains East? Catskills? If anybody is interested in a 6-7hr, 100+ mile, 10,000+ ft vert ride, let me know. Be forewarned, rides like these have dubious training value.

Mousilauke by Pictures

7.2 miles, 3140ft gain, 3.4hrs moving time
It was another fine day in northern New England for outdoor activities. While most local cyclists are focused on Fitchburg this weekend, I opted for a little R&R from stress of work. Day two of this three day holiday weekend had five of us heading up to the White Mountains for a hike. This was Beth, Dave, their super cool dog Lucy, and myself and Cathy. We went around to the north side of Mt Moosilauke to hike the Benton Trail, a less traveled route to the summit. There were only about four cars in the lot when we arrived.

Dave, Lucy, Beth and Cathy in foreground

I do only one or two significant hikes per year. I would consider dropping down into the Grand Canyon 2000+ feet earlier this year one of them. That is atypical of most hikes, as the descent occurs first, destroying feeble cycling knees in the process. Moosilauke, on the other hand, gains over 3000ft at a fairly persistent steep grade of around 17%. The trail surface is non-stop rocks and roots. It wasn't the hike up I worried about, it was the stomp back down. I have trouble with two things. One is a nasty habit of rolling ankles. I've had trouble with this since childhood and have to be so careful planting feet on descents. The other is my knees are conditioned only for cycling type forces and motion. Stepping down a steep incline wreaks havoc on the connective tissues in the front of my knee.

The four of us plus Lucy hiked well together. We all ride (or tag along on rides), although the age span of the group varied nearly 2:1. The climb took about 1:50hrs per my Garmin 705. I was disappointed again to see how short the 705 came up on distance. It measured 3.13 miles going up, when all sources say it is 3.6 miles. There were less than a dozen people up top, surprising seeing how nice a day it was and the fact the Appalachian trail crosses over this summit. The view is 100% 360 up top, well above tree line at 4800ft. It is one of the better views in the Whites. I have never hiked this one and was thoroughly satisfied.

Looking northerly from Mt Moosilauke summit

After taking in the view for a while and eating a sandwich, we began the descent. I think most of us slid out on our butt at least once going down. It was mostly dry, but there were a few slimy spots. My knees took a pounding. They ached almost immediately on the descent. I really should do more weight bearing work. It would probably help me with the Nordic skiing too. An attempt at running last winter proved too much though. Perhaps if I did regular hikes, I wouldn't have this problem. Cycling poses no recurring problems for my knees whatsoever. I am fortunate in this regard.

Doug and Cathy

The descent took surprisingly long, not much faster than the ascent. I suppose when you are a conditioned cyclist, bounding up big rocks just comes naturally. Stepping down involves impact and propensity to roll ankles. Plus you get all kinds of funky lateral forces acting on all your joints, something completely lacking in cycling.

A was relieved to reach the bottom without rolling an ankle. I measured even less distance coming down, 2.95mi in 1:37hrs. We rode up in Beth's four-door truck with spacious room for back seat occupants. That includes Lucy. Wouldn't you know it, Lucy found some nice juicy, smelly, black muck to charge through just before hopping into the truck for the ride home. Good thing I'm fond of dogs. She was so tuckered out that she stayed zonked out on my lap for the whole ride home.

That's two major mountains in two days. Wonder what's up for Sunday. Thought about heading over to Kearsarge to check out the new asphalt. Maybe a MTB loop over Crotched Mtn. Leominster State Forest with a climb over Wachusett also sounds tempting. Not sure what my legs will have though. Quads are cooked from Burke on Friday, knees are cranky from Moosilauke today.

Looking southwest from Moosilauke summit

Looking south

180deg westerly pan. View at 100%, scroll around.

Northeast Kingdom Deathmarch

40.6mi, 6300ft vert, 5:20hrs
Hit the northeast kingdom of Vermont this Independence Day. Buckets of rain fell locally overnight, while northern Vermont got moderate amount. It was enough to juicify most of the trails. I had a 50 mile loop staked out, but plans quickly fell by the wayside when our average pace plummeted with any attempt to climb trails on the Burke Mtn system.

Dave and I had planned to ride up Red Trail, cut across on Kirby, then down J-bar. But the signage was weak in this area and we ended up climbing J-bar. Looks like Colin might have done this too. This is a double black diamond downhill MTB trail that was impossibly steep to climb while covered in early morning brownie mix. Somehow we missed the fork to the left. We got back on track after turning around and climbed Black Forest next. This was also quite steep, following an alpine ski run for the most part. I wanted to hit this initial climbing pretty hard to get some threshold training value out of it. After more climbing on Camptown singletrack, we popped out on the Burke Mtn toll road just before the steep stuff starts.

Even though the grade approaches 20% in places on the toll road, this was going to be easy compared to the snotty singletrack we were climbing. This was good for another 20+ minutes of above threshold effort to reach the summit. It wasn't that hot out, but the moisture content sure was high. We were only about 9 miles into the ride at this point, yet we already logged about 90 minutes on the clock. My legs were already throbbing.

We hit all the Moose stuff on the way down. Since the mountain acts sort of like a rain collector, these trails were also greasy. In fact, I bet if the KT office had know how wet things were out here, they would have closed these trails for a day or two. The weekend traffic was taking a heavy toll on the trails. Riders were creating deeper puddles, ruts, and braiding the trail around mud holes.

After taking the long way back to town, we refueled and went out to the Darling Hill trail system. This is where the mother load of trails are. Since we had time constraints, we had to cherry pick the stuff we wanted to hit. The morning loop took much longer than expected. On the list were Tap and Die, Tody's Tour, and Sidewinder. Of course, each time you bomb down one of the rollercoaster wonder trails, you have to climb back up to the ridgeline to do the next one. You develop full appreciation of the vertical you earn. You can't pass through here without doing Old Web's either, with it's berms and raucous jumps on the way down.

Time was getting really short by now, so we had to pare down further what we planned to hit. Knob and Rim trails would have to wait for another day. Plus our legs were getting pitifully slow. We climbed Ridge and worked our way to top of Kitchel. I have ended every ride at KT bombing down Kitchel back to the village. It is just the right way to end an epic ride. Dipping in the stream after wrapping the ride up was priceless.

Perhaps another ride of dubious training value, but man, there's something addictive about long rides, especially when you don't have to look over your shoulder for cars.