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.