Nothing beats dragging in the new year with a Triple Six Goat ride. Jason and I once did a 6666 ride that did Via Santa Teresa, Harwood, Rolling Hills and Aborn, which set the benchmark for lining up tough climbs in a single day. Today I road very slowly away from the house towards Stevens Creek Reservoir listening to Dean Karnazes who again got on the Competitors Podcast. He has this habit of exaggeration combined with faux self deprecation that comes off as pretty annoying. I am impressed by what he does, but the fact he never has any pain, never suffers one bit in his adventures physically, he comes off like a asshat. I was especially irked at his ability to run a sub 4 hour marathon at a heart rate of less than 110. I cant believe that is possible, but his ability to easily string 50 marathons in a row would seem to prove it would be possible. I would like to see him do RAAM in 09. If he could pull this off, I would go out and sell his books for him. I respect him for making enough money in Endurance sports to support a career as nobody else has been able to pull it off. Will be interesting to see where he goes with this in the upcoming years. I also listened to a good podcast on the Competitors with the director of Klunkerz , a documentary about the origin of the Mountain Bike. The director managed to interview all the key players including Gary Fisher, Tom Ritchey, and Joe Breeze. Its really worth checking out as I saw it the other day and liked it a lot. I was riding pretty damn slow today up over Mt. Eden and Pierce. I managed to get a flat on Pierce and noticed I forgot my pump. Luckily lots of people were out and I immediately flagged down a rider and borrowed a pump. I was planning on hitting the new bike shop in Sarotaga to buy a pump, but it was already out of business, so I decided to ride into Los Gatos and buy a pump there and check out some new hills. I hit the Summit Cyclery shop and scored some of the best new riding food, Power Bar Cola Gel Blasts with double caffeine. They are essentially cola gummy candies that you get in the mall. They taste exactly the same. For me, who has forsworn eating crap, this indulgence is pretty damn awesome. Since gels and power food is ok for me, this is great way to get some of those mall candy cravings off my brain. If I ever start eating this during a normal day, I will know I am in deep trouble.
The first Six rated climb was Aztec Ridge . It had a few nasty ramps on it, but nothing too horrible. Clearly in the lower Six range, though as the ramps were in the 18-20% range. I dropped down a couple of miles and took on the tougher of the climbs, BlackBerry Hill. This climb had a few scary ramps that almost caused me to fall down. I felt like I was being pulled into the gutter as the 18+% section was long and stiff. Luckily the cola gummy candy was keeping me upright as I pushed up to the summit.
I worked my way rather slowly back to face my fear. Bohlman is a scary climb even though I have done it a few times. I wanted to do it the tough way starting up Norton Road and then to Kittredge and finally Quickert before it hits On Orbit. The start up Norton is a nice 8-10% and one gets a bit cocky. The hard right up Kittredge opens up to a 15% ramp that never really lets down much until it gets even worse on Quickert. I was melting pretty badly as I finally hit On Orbit. Now the pain started. Luckily their is a nice 8-10% break until the 20+% wall comes up. I was barely able to get up it today wanting to quit but somehow pushing through the pain. The 34/25 was not enough for me today as I wish I had the 34/29 on this evil section. I finally topped out and dropped to Bohlman proper. At this point the hard part is over even though you face a nice 12% wall to take you into some nice rollers to the end. I even took the dirt road out to Montevina, but stopped maybe 1/4 from the end as I was worried about getting stuck out their in the dark. The ride back from the top of Bohlman to home only took a little over an hour which surprised me, but its mainly downhill.
If I were to channel Dean K., I would say I am the only person who has done Bohlman on Orbit and Welch Creek on successive days, tackling the two hardest climbs in the bay area. I even took the hard way up Bohlman, because I am that kind of guy. But in reality, I just survived up two beatiful climbs that I luckily have access to. The pain was great, but nothing too tough. Am hoping these climbs will build a good base for a sub 16 hour Devil Mountain Double.
I can definitively say that Bohlman on Orbit via Norton is tougher than Welch Creek. No doubt about it. This climb has multiple ramps in the 15+% range that dont relent. Welch Creek has two monstrous sections, but the start is easy and their is decent rest between them.
The first Six rated climb was Aztec Ridge . It had a few nasty ramps on it, but nothing too horrible. Clearly in the lower Six range, though as the ramps were in the 18-20% range. I dropped down a couple of miles and took on the tougher of the climbs, BlackBerry Hill. This climb had a few scary ramps that almost caused me to fall down. I felt like I was being pulled into the gutter as the 18+% section was long and stiff. Luckily the cola gummy candy was keeping me upright as I pushed up to the summit.
I worked my way rather slowly back to face my fear. Bohlman is a scary climb even though I have done it a few times. I wanted to do it the tough way starting up Norton Road and then to Kittredge and finally Quickert before it hits On Orbit. The start up Norton is a nice 8-10% and one gets a bit cocky. The hard right up Kittredge opens up to a 15% ramp that never really lets down much until it gets even worse on Quickert. I was melting pretty badly as I finally hit On Orbit. Now the pain started. Luckily their is a nice 8-10% break until the 20+% wall comes up. I was barely able to get up it today wanting to quit but somehow pushing through the pain. The 34/25 was not enough for me today as I wish I had the 34/29 on this evil section. I finally topped out and dropped to Bohlman proper. At this point the hard part is over even though you face a nice 12% wall to take you into some nice rollers to the end. I even took the dirt road out to Montevina, but stopped maybe 1/4 from the end as I was worried about getting stuck out their in the dark. The ride back from the top of Bohlman to home only took a little over an hour which surprised me, but its mainly downhill.
If I were to channel Dean K., I would say I am the only person who has done Bohlman on Orbit and Welch Creek on successive days, tackling the two hardest climbs in the bay area. I even took the hard way up Bohlman, because I am that kind of guy. But in reality, I just survived up two beatiful climbs that I luckily have access to. The pain was great, but nothing too tough. Am hoping these climbs will build a good base for a sub 16 hour Devil Mountain Double.
I can definitively say that Bohlman on Orbit via Norton is tougher than Welch Creek. No doubt about it. This climb has multiple ramps in the 15+% range that dont relent. Welch Creek has two monstrous sections, but the start is easy and their is decent rest between them.
Comments
Nice ride, you're the only person on earth to hit those three hills in that order the day after hitting Welch Creek (nice job there as well!) with less than 4 days left in a calendar year.
You're one of a kind Dean... I mean Chris. haha