Old La Honda Time Trial

Could tell my form is coming in pretty good based on resting heart rate hitting new lows for me this morning of 38. What better way to see how things are going then to take on the 20 minute barrier on Old la Honda. I took it really easy on the way to the climb and made sure I had a large bottle of sugar free Red Bull drank along the way. Caffeine is my drug and I needed to insure that I had enough in me for this painful test. I was resigned to my fate as I approached hell and serene at the start. Taking off form the bridge, I was holding 14+ mph for about 30 seconds until I settled into 10-11 MPH and did not drop below 10 MPH until after 3 minutes. Was moving well and hit the 12% ramp at 9 1/2 minutes in or so. I was not able to hold 10 MPH until I hit the dark redwood section and was able to push hard until Upenuf which is near a tough little ramp that slows you down. I had to push hard until the 3 mile mark which I hit it 18:14. It was weird knowing that I had .3 miles to go and I had 1:46 to do it. This was new territory for me and sensing this I pushed hard up to 12 MPH. I think in retrospect, if I knew how close I was I might have went into death mode and pushed it at 13-14 because I could tell at the last turn to the end I was just going to miss it. I always imagine when on a tough time trial having an insane monster chasing me and pushing to the point that I would rather give in and get eaten by this monster than keep pushing any more. I relented to the beast and stopped at 20:15. Close, but not quite there. Will have to try later on this season after a bit more work. More OLH Results

Also found a new road off of Portola Road. Hang a turn onto Hayfields Road if you want 400+ feet of 15% climbing. Wayside which is the next road over looks like an even longer one.

Update:  Did Old La Honda in 19:12 according to Strava.   Pretty happy to finally put this one to bed.

Comments

mthead said…
Nice. I just posted my first benchmark on Friday. 28 minutes. I've got a ways to go clearly

I remember muy 10K PR, 40:12. I was just close enough to the line to see the clock switch from 39:59 to 40. AAAGH. keep trying
mthead said…
one more question. What gears and cadence are you turning on that climb?
Chris O'Keefe said…
Damn... Were in a similar boat on our goals.. I had to give up on my 40 minute 10k goal before. I hope that does not happen on this one ;)

As for gears, I rolled with a 34/29 but as mainly in the 34/25-27. I don't have a cadence sensor, so I cant really guess. But, I can tell you its pretty high as I dont mash up it, but try and spin up it. I would guess its in the 80-90 range, but its just a guess. We should head out there and do some hill repeats on it some time. One way to take time off it is to break it up into 3-4 pieces.
mthead said…
sounds good.
Mike Deitchman said…
Still a damn good time even if you didn't reach your goal. You just reminded me that I need to go for my PR on OLH some time soon as well. Perhaps a bit later in the season... My time is only 22:35, but I think I can get than down into the 21s at least. =)
Chris O'Keefe said…
I cant believe how much I had to suffer to do this. I literally wanted to croak at the top. To nail this, I know I need to hit the 3 mile mark in 18 minutes flat. I need a 15 minute, 10 minute and 5 minute beacon to insure I know exactly how hard to push. I think thats the only way to beat this one unless you can somehow jump to a new level of training which is hard to do.
jmilliron said…
Hah! I did a google search for Old la Honda times and this was one of the first results.

Did my first attempt this morning (not on fresh legs). Ended up with 22:50. Also set a 20 min power PR (271 avg watts).

Was running 39x27 on my big fat 18.5 lb bicycle
jmilliron said…
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/40092931