Let's get Vertical!

I think this is the hardest thing I've ever tried to do!

Yesterday's ride was called the Vertical Challenge, and for good reason - it incorporated the 2 toughest climbs from the Tour of California into a long, hard 110 mile ride with around 11,000 feet of climbing! However, as challenging as that ride was (read more about it below), that wasn't the hardest thing - nope, that was today's recovery ride. I started thinking about how hard it was going to be as I swung a tired, stiff, sore leg over my bike - ouch. Actually, after about 5 miles of easy spinning, the legs kind of relaxed and started feeling better. This recovery ride stuff really works! Even knowing that, it's hard to convince yourself to get on the bike when everything hurts the day after a tough ride.

The Vertical Challenge

So, yesterdays ride (you know, the one that created all the pain in my legs today) was a tough one - probably the toughest ride of the season. On the way to the ride, several of us hear a weather advisory on the radio - unseasonably HOT, with a strong recommendation to stay inside and avoid strenuous outside activity. Oops.

So, we started riding at 6:30, with a goal of summitting Mt. Hamilton (the toughest climb from the Tour of California this year) by Noon. We started with Mines Rd - a beautiful ride up a canyon heading south from Livermore. At this time of the morning, no traffic (or maybe that's just because the road doesn't actually go anywhere?), and the climbs were taken at an easy-going pace. I felt good all day. Starting easy turned out to be a great idea (thanks, coach).

The Mt. Hamilton climb was both tough and hot. The avg. grade on Mt. Hamilton is variously reported as 7.5% to 8.6%, but in any case it is much steeper than Mt. Diablo, and the climb is almost 6 miles long. The coach kept telling me to slow down and take it easy, but I really didn't have much choice - there was no way I was riding up that hill fast! Not in that heat. I was very happy to see the first observatory at the top of the climb. As we descended the other side, we started seeing a good old fashioned thunderstorm - but much bigger than I'm used to. Lots of lightning in the distance.

All that lightning had me thinking of Wayne and Garth singing along with Bohemian Rhapsody for some reason (Thunderbolts and Lightning, Very Very Frightening!) - it really is amazing what goes through your mind on these rides when you're kind of tired.


The other highlight was Sierra Road - another famous Bay Area climb. This one is not as long at just under 4 miles, but is even steeper - 10.5% grade on average! This goes up more than 1,800 feet in 3.7 miles. It's also not very subtle - you turn a corner, and there it is. Once again I felt fine the entire climb - a nice change. I kept expecting my back to protest, but it never did. During the climb, some clouds from that thunderstorm blew over and made it feel cooler - thank goodness. Still lots of lightning to the south (I found out later it started a couple of fires), but not close to us.

At the top we took a ride-group picture. Richard had decided to ride with a faster group, so I was left alone with the girls. Cooties!

At this point we still had something like 40 miles to go - no more enormous climbs, but it wasn't flat either (I don't think there are a lot of flat rides around here). I still felt really strong, and finished the day feeling as good as I ever have after such a tough ride. The training is working - and I'm starting feel good about the Death Ride itself.

Fund-raising - the end is near!

OK, Thursday the 26th is the end of the fundraising for this season. I'm still well short of my goal. This is for a great cause - please consider donating to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society via my fund-raising website.