bikingshearer 

Thanks, LOS. Whether Patterson was worse than Oakville Grade is a toss-up. The wind most certainly did not help.

Oakville is the more consistent of the two - for that Mile o' Pain, it just . . . never . . . lets . . . up. The east side of Patterson is more of a Death Of A Thousand Cuts - a series of ever-steeper pitches. Each stops just about the time you think that falling over and dying is a viable option. But then you have another one to do. And another. And a few more after that. If you do not know about the false summit, cresting it and seeing the real summit (see bigbossman's photo) is enough to convince you to commit seppuku with a rusty multi-tool. It took me at least a two or three minute rest stop at the last flat (flat? hah!) before the last little piece of 19 or 20% nastiness (not a typo) to the very top before I could convince myself to finish it off.

The bad news: I felt like cr@p at the top. The good news: I recovered quickly, and felt pretty good almost all of the rest of the way. And that free ride through Old Altamont with the wind at our backs - priceless.

Next stop: the Lodi Sunrise Century next Saturday. Hey, it's run by a bunch of fellow Rotarians, and this will be my first shot at 100 miles in at least eight years, maybe ten), and it'll build up the ol' confidence for that ridiculous amount of climbing you got us into up north.