"The 33"-Road Bike Racing - Sugarloaf Mtn. RR

I just did this race today, and it was by far the most brutally painful race I've ever entered. It was 53 miles with a combined Cat 3 & 4 pack, so things got interesting quickly. There were several crashes within the first 15 miles from people slamming into riders in front of them coming into a hill. Also saw a guy's face get run over at the beginning of lap 3, not sure how it happened. There was like 4500 ft of climbing, and this is FL! Sugarloaf is a 14 grade climb which is about the steepest FL has.

That being said, I wasn't ready for this type of climbing and I burned out on lap 4 of 5. The pack split up into three groups, and I was in the second and didn't place. I guess I know what I need to work on for next season.

I just got bacvk from that race
I wanted to race in it (cat 5) but I found out too late and didn't have the $ to enter. Instead my friend and Irode to it (about a 1 hour ride) and watched about half of the pro race. Insane!!! I know that they are regional guys and are nothing like the international pros, but still, they are fast, and I ride this hill a lot.
big time respect to all you who raced today, not a pleasant day to do so

they have mountains in Fla??

No.

Grades are often overblown on race organizers' course descriptions. Today's High Point NJ Hillclimb TT has advertised grades (near the top) of "22%". Um... not a friggin chance. I've been on 22% grades. If they had those kind of grades anywhere the winning time would not be a guy averaging 16mph for a 5.5 mile climb. Trust me.

More like the steepest sections were VERY short spurts of 15-18%. So take that course description of '14%' with a grain of salt. Once you're over 10%, every 1% increment in steepness goes right to the Bike Weenie Lactic Acid Vault for a deposit.

Sugarloaf Mtn is the highest point in Peninsular Florida at 312ft above sea level. It's 14%, and was listed in Bicycling Magazine's Top 100 climbs.

If it is 14% it must be a very short climb. 1km or less.

Richard

Sugarloaf Mtn is the highest point in Peninsular Florida at 312ft above sea level. It's 14%, and was listed in Bicycling Magazine's Top 100 climbs.

...Because they didn't want to piss off anyone from any state, so they listed something for Florida.

Let's face the facts... if they were being honest in that magazine, there wouldn't be anything from Michigan, Florida, or a bunch of other states.

Good job finishing. Laps on a hill like that with people hitting it hard will tear you down in a hurry.

Regarding Surgarloaf, a quick Google search found it for me:

One section is showing over 23%:
http://www.toporoute.com/cgi-bin/getSavedRoute.cgi?routeKey=VXMERYFGTSKCWPU

I took 52x13 straight up it way back when, but I was on monster form and just wanted to prove it wasn't all that.

That said, the RR course used today is non stop, up and down and Sugarloaf is 2' of intense effort to boot, so don't knock it just cause most of the state is flat.

It kicked my azz today.

If it is 14% it must be a very short climb. 1km or less.

Richard


It actually is just about one KM. And the main section of it is right around 14-15%. If you do the math however, its averages to about 9%. While Sugarloaf Mt is 312 ft above sea level, the climb doesn't start at sea level, so the climb is actually about 280 feet.

It's really just a steep, nasty little hill, but its steep enough to break up a race, and the course is a series of steep rollers and then the one actual climb, for 900 vertical feet a lap.

It's clearly not a mountain climbing race, but it's deifinitely a hard course. I've done road races in the several states in the Appalachian and Blue Ridge mountains that were easier than the Sugarloaf course.

Personally, I was happy to haul my fat ass to a mid pack finish in the 5's.

just posted results 24th Cat 5. May not seem like much, but to me its a definite triumph over the laws of physics.

Congrats! I know you fought for that one, and that is very satisfying. :beer: