Today was the annual party hosted by Peggy and George with a club ride before. We usually do a ride up Henry Coe, then down in the valley, before climbing back up to their house. However due to a fire in Henry Coe that road was blocked so Gary, Joe and I decided to do some hill repeats before regular ride so we could get in the climbing we wanted. We were also joined by Ken.

I rode from home and met Gary, then we rode over to Thomas Grade to meet Joe and Ken and did five hill repeats. This is a good hill to do repeats on because it is not too long (takes about 7 minutes to climb) and there is a fast descent down Dunne Ave. so you don’t have too long of a time between repeats.

I also checked the total climb and if we start the climb from Hill road we get just 500 feet, enough to qualify to be a billygoat climb in our club. The first climb I did in my big chain ring, ouch! I checked later and found the overall grade is about 8.2%. This chart shows my heart rate dropping, as we were stopping to pickup Joe where he parked. The No. 1 and 2 on the horizontal axis are the splits for the beginning and end of the climb. I kept my heart rate down somewhat because we were doing repeats.

Thomas Grade Climb (Click graph to enlarge)

After doing the five hill repeats we biked over to Peggy and George’s house for the ride start. The ride took us down to the valley and over some more moderate climbs over Willow Springs, then up Croy Canyon. On the way back the four of us were joined by Brian. Off of Sycamore we climbed a hill that Gary knew about but no one else had climbed called Armsby. It is a real nasty hill (see the chart below). I measured the grade on the way back down from points 10 to 11 on the graph and it came out to be 15.7% overall for a half a mile.

Armbsy Climb (Click graph to enlarge)

We then headed over to do Rolling Hills, another very steep hill. This chart shows the elevation and my heart rate going up (in my double crankshaft no less). I did a split at the bottom of the steep part to the top (points 13 and 14) and the average grade is 14.9% over 0.4 miles, a bit less than Armsby. The maximum grade on rolling hills is higher, I believe. Still I felt that Armsby was by far the tougher climb because it had a higher overall grade over a longer climb and there was no spots, as on Rolling Hills, to get any breather. It is a constant UP!

Rollings Hills Climb (click to enlarge)

This chart shows the entire day. I rode 90 miles, including the mileage back home after the party. (Click graph to enlarge)

Categories: Cycling Group Rides
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It is only two more weeks before the Everest Challenge. This has been a week of lower miles and less climbing that I have been doing, but hopefully I have a good enough base. This chart shows my accumulated climbing so far this year compared with last. I don’t have good data before 2006 so I didn’t attempt to plot that. Click graph to enlarge.

I am nearing 500,000 feet of climbing this year. I should be able to climb 100 vertical miles (528,000 feet) by the end of the year.

This chart shows my accumulated cyling miles. Click graph to enlarge.

I guess I post these types of graphs to help with my confidence on the Everst Challenge.

Categories: Cycling, Training Log, Training Program
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Ouch! I mean Ouch!

The Everest Challenge is only 18 days away. Is it too late to cram for the finals? I got in a good week of biking (370 miles last week) but I have not been climbing quite as much as I hoped to with only 24,000 feet last week. I probably need to focus more on climbing now and do some hill repeats.

Their website boldly calls this event:

THE HARDEST TWO DAY U.S.C.F. RACE!!!

“North American Climbers’ Cup”

Here the profiles and descriptions for the two days:

DAY 1 (click graph to enlarge):

Day One starts outside of Bishop at Millpond Park, 4,425′. The first climb is up to Mosquito Flat. At 10,250′ it is the highest paved road in the Sierras. The run in is 11 miles long. The climb is 22 miles, average grade is 5%. Maximum grade lower half 9%, upper half 11%.

Back down to Round Valley for a short climb up Pine Creek to 7,420′ in 8 miles, average grade is 7%, max is 9%, extended sections of 8%.

Then past the start/cars and up Bishop Creek to 9,835′ in 20.4 miles, average grade 6%. While this is not the highest spot or most vertical gain, the last mile has two short sections around 15% grade and will certainly test your strength and endurance and desire to stay on the bike. Bottom half has extended sections of 8-9% grade, max grade 9%. Timing finish will be at the top after the turnoff to the boat ramp. Total climbing for Day One is 15,465′ in 120 miles.

DAY 2 (click graph to enlarge):

Day Two starts outside Big Pine with a climb up towards the Palisade Glacier. Starting elevation 3,940′ finishing elevation 7,800′. The actual climb is 9 miles with an average grade of almost 8% (max is 11%). There are extended portions of 9-10%. Then riders head back across the valley past the original start. Next we head up the Death Valley Road/Waucoba Canyon to 6,545′ in 8.5 miles, average grade 5% (max just touches 12% in the roller in the “narrows”, 11% in one corner before that).

Back down to the cars/start and then up to the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest at 10,100′ in 21 miles, average grade 6% (max in the lower half is just touches 14%, max in the upper half just touches 17%). There are dozens of 9-12% rollers in the bottom third. The last 3 miles averages 10% grade. Timing finish will be at the high point a half mile before the Visitors Center. Total climbing for Day Two is 13,570′ in 86 miles. This brings the two day total to 29,035′ (the elevation of Mount Everest) in 206 miles.

In late September when we climb to over 10,000 feet, we may well encounter snow. But down in the valley it could be warm. So I expect a wide swing in the temperatures, making this ordeal even more challenging.

I was also checking the gearing recommended: pro 39/25-27, CAT 1-2 39/27-30, CAT 3 34-39/34, CAT 4-5 30-34/34, Public 26-30/34. If you are a great climber you may get away with higher gears. If you aren’t a good climber go LOWER.

Gee they are recommending mountain bike gearing for me. That is silly, but I am wondering if I should take my older Trek bike with the triple crankshaft. I would prefer to use my new bike because it is lighter and descends and climbs better. I will have to think it over.

Categories: Everest Challenge, Ultra Cycling Events
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Yesterday I was one of the three ride leaders for the club’s UDT (Ultra Distance Traning) rides. These are geared for training to ride in Ultra Distance events. I lead the fastest paced group and was joined by Gary F. and Joe F. at the start. I have refered to the three of us as the 3 F’s. Later on the Page Mill climb we were joined by Brian C. I am not sure, but yesterday’s club ride seemed like the fastest I ever did, with that amount of climbing.

Here are the stats for the ride:

114.5 miles
8,880 feet of climbing
16.6 mph average speed
Total Time: 7:44
Rolling Time: 6:53:39
Average HR: 140 (165 maximum)

Here is the heart rate curve compared with the altitude (click graph to enlarge).

Looking at the curve, I was not in the so called “red zone” that much, but I was sure pushing hard to keep up with Gary and Joe. The average speed of 16.6 mph shows we were really moving, considering that we climbed so much over the course of the ride. I guess my legs are the limiting factor at this point.

We kind of played a game also to see if we could come in under 7 hours for the first 100 miles. We reached that mileage with a total time (including stopping) of 6:58:55, and had climbed all but 400 feet of the total for the day. We almost missed this target because of the stoplights on Foothill.

After the ride I felt that I was in good enough shape to do the Everest Challenge so I signed up. This is the USCF California/Nevada State Climbing Championship that involves climbing 29,035 feet over a two day race, on 9/22-23. I still have some time for some intense training. See my prior blog entry on an attempt to estimate my performance for the Everest Challenge.

Categories: Cycling Group Rides, Ultra Cycling Events
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