In Need of Some Hill Work

This was suppose to be a warm-up for my planned Colorado tour in August. A 'hilly century' to provide a glimpse of what was to come in the mountains of Colorado. However, with only five months of training to prepare for one of the toughest rides in the eastern US, it may have been an even bigger challenge.

103 miles in the mountains west of Blacksburg, Virginia on a beautiful Sunday of Memorial Day weekend. Two 'Category One' climbs, with the second being a very serious uphill finish.

	Century Climb Profile

The ride started easily enough, rolling out of Newport, Virginia along the smoothly-paved highway 42, devoid of traffic on the cool early morning. 17 miles of gentle uphill through a slightly foggy countryside to a 'screaming' descent into the village of New Castle.

Two riders misjudged the curves on the descent and ended up over the barriers and into the woods. From what I heard later in the day, one was hurt slightly (broken collar-bone), and the other climbed back to the roadway, dusted off, and continued the ride. (but apparently crashed again near the finish)

Rolling Along Highway 42

After New Castle, the ride eased through the woods over 13 miles of rollers, then into the Maggie Valley for another 15 miles of rollers, leading to the first major climb of the day. The two-mile ascent, of unrelenting grades of 6-8% was a good wake-up call for what was to come later in the day. Again, another fast descent back down to Route 42, followed by a fast ride nearly back to Newport.

Just prior to Newport, the century riders turned right for a 13 mile tour of a very pretty valley. We felt a few sprinkles of rain, but not nearly enough to cool us off as the temperatures started to climb to near record levels. Three more short, but steep climbs, and we were back on Route 42 with about 83 miles under our belts.

Now it was time to get serious about what was ahead. Heading out of Newport, this time in the opposite direction, the road took us up some short climbs, but then quickly descended down to the river. From there, it was another climb to a rest stop at mile 93. From mile 93, it was downhill again, back to the highway, and then the fun began.

At mile 99, the road started up to the finish at Mountain Lake. Passing the 'four miles to go' sign, the grade was tough, but pretty much what we had experienced so far in terms of grade. then around three miles to go, it got rough. Grades increasing to an average of 12%, with some sections around 16% really started to put some strain on the legs. Grinding up the hill, the pain was obvious, as was the 'human carnage' along the sides of the road, with riders sitting or laying in the grass and ditches. At times, even in my smallest gear, it was very, very difficult to turn the pedals, riding at 2-3 mph, which is barely a walking pace. As the road came out of the woods into the sun, it got even harder. On a couple of occasions, I had to stop to keep from completely blowing up. It took over an hour to go the last three miles.

Riders were zig-zagging up the road, in attempt to reduce the effective grade. On one occasion, both myself and another rider were not thinking very clearly, and while zig-zagging, he forced me off the pavement. That was all it took to cause me to fall. A scraped elbow and knee were not so bad as was just trying to get started again on such a steep grade. Finally, with two-thirds of a mile to go, or so, the grade eased a bit, and the welcome support of the crowd helped me get going to the finish. Still, I crossed the finish line in my smallest gear at only 3-4 mph. Dripping wet, and shaking a bit. Clearly, the toughest climb I've ever done. Even if it hadn't begun after over 8 hours in the saddle, it would probably be equally as tough.

The weather is warming up, and it is time to clean off last year's dirt from my bike, as well as do some basic maintenance and tuning.

My 16-year-old bike (1993 Trek 2300) is really showing signs of wear and tear. I've replaced just about everything over they years, as it is amazing how poor the durability of such expensive parts can be.

This year, it is the usual new tires, chain, bar tape, cables, etc., along with new brake pads, a new seat bag, and new rear blinking light.  It appears that my crankset is getting pretty worn, and probably should be replaced (with the triple that I've resisted for so long ???) sometimes soon.