8 November 2008

Low Key Hill Climb Week 6

The Jamison Creek climb would be the only LKHC within easy riding distance, so I had to do it. I headed up Hwy 9 and it was mildly chilly. I took it easy, saving my energy for the climb. At one point there was dead raccoon in the middle of the lane. I got to the start early and got signed up. For the next 30 minutes or so, there were only a handful of riders around. Then a number of large groups started rolling in, starting with a big Bicycle Trip group.

I started near the back of the pack. The pace was quite fast for the not so steep bottom part, and I moved up to somewhere in the middle of the pack by following wheel after wheel. By the time I got to left-hander that started the real climbing, the leaders were long gone. The first photographer was taking pictures just after that curve. The second photographer was somewhere after the 1.66 sign, but definitely before the 1.33 sign, which still had the little US flag on it. I was concentrating too much on the climb to notice any of the other usual details of the 1.33 sign. For most of the rest of the climb, I was either just ahead of or just behind a Bicycle Trip rider on a Santa Cruz. Another Bicycle Trip rider on a Litespeed went by us breathing very loudly over the course of the last mile or so. With about 80 yards to go, the Santa Cruz rider blew by me with his sprint. With about 40 yards to go, I started my weak little sprint for the finish and shouted out my number. I had no idea what my time was.

After about 15 minutes of recovery, I headed home on Empire Grade. It was warmer than in the morning and my legs felt pretty good. There was a headwind for the final descent by UCSC. According to my GPS track, my time for the climb was 23:09, a new personal best.