Northern California - Broke my PR on OLH yesterday.. sub-30 finally!

Also, hey guys! Didn't really get any outdoor riding in over the winter (too dark after work, weekends too wet). But I'm alive!

Went for a ride 2 weeks ago, was feeling great (keeping in shape at the gym).

Hit up OLH yesterday. My previous times were 30:44, then 31:30 (moving backwards!). Yesterday I laid down a 29:22!

I know, slow, but hey, it's early in the season. Finished off the portola loop afterwards.. I passed a metric crapton of folks on bikes, a couple riding groups, etc, and nobody passed me the entire 25 mile ride :thumb:

Hope to see y'all soon. Considering the 3/13 ride... but I too am on call that weekend.. 3/14 is my birthday.. and the gf is trying to find a nice weekend to take me out of town. 3/7 looks wet, and, as I said, I'm on call 3/13 and 3/14... hmm.

Welcome back, el Reid!

When were you at OLH yesterday? I made it there somewhere around 11.

Similar time. I left my GF's in Menlo around 9:30. Probably was at the top of OLH by 10:30 if not a tad earlier. Took it easy on the way down 'cause it was so wet and I was freezing cold. Turned right at the bottom, finished the loop, was back at her place around 11:30. Shower, ran home, caught the USA v Canada game :)

Fairly likely we crossed paths when I was on my way down. Same yellow/black Trek, Deschutes Twilight Ale jersey, and my GF bought me a yellow/black livestrong helmet so I'm not wearing that ancient (and probably unsafe!) 10 year old Giro half-dome helmet.

Congrats! And isn't it nice to be on teh road on a sweet day!

Twas a sweet day indeed!

Passed about 20 people going up OLH on Sunday. It was a good day. Some people were holding up traffic down 84 at like.. 20 mph. hope i didn't scare them (passed them at 30-35 mph ish...)

Whenever I go up that, theres always people to pass and I always wonder what kind of effort they are doing. I'm usually sitting at threshold between 185 and 195 bpm and breathing like a steam train when I go up it... but when i pass other people they seem to be sitting in a much lower range

Damn, I maxed out at 185. I had nothing left to give. Almost puked at the top. Though I was pushing fairly hard on my ride across town too. Highest I've ever seen on my HRM is about 191. And I'm a young guy, too.. well, okay, will be 29 in a couple weeks.

Congrats on the PR - it's always special to break a particular mark, I remember being really stoked to break 23mins on San Bruno Mtn last year. Of course, now you need to beat 29mins....


Damn, I maxed out at 185. I had nothing left to give. Almost puked at the top. Though I was pushing fairly hard on my ride across town too. Highest I've ever seen on my HRM is about 191. And I'm a young guy, too.. well, okay, will be 29 in a couple weeks.

You can't compare you HR with other peoples - it's not meaningful, but it does sound as though you were pushing pretty hard. The best way to compare HR info is to work out your lactate threshold heart rate (LTHR) and express your efforts relative to that threshold.

Congrats on the accomplishment! I'm still in awe of those that can fly up in sub-20 minutes, sometimes significantly sub-20 minutes.

On a related topic, why do people go down OLH? It's not exactly a nice downhill with tight (often blind) turns and narrow, fairly crappy roads. On nice days, there's also the usual hoard of riders going the opposite (up) direction. Why not go a little north on Skyline and bomb down 84? You'll end up in the same vicinity at the bottom.

On a related topic, why do people go down OLH? It's not exactly a nice downhill with tight (often blind) turns and narrow, fairly crappy roads. On nice days, there's also the usual hoard of riders going the opposite (up) direction. Why not go a little north on Skyline and bomb down 84? You'll end up in the same vicinity at the bottom.

Yeah 84 is much safer. But for some reason, people like to wear out their brakes down it.

My MHR is 207 btw. but im 23 and a cat 4

I really enjoy the OLH descent. Pavement is actually really good; some tar snakes in one area but it's a straightaway. Yeah, lotsa uphill traffic so you gotta take it really slow and tight on the blind corners, but the rest are a blast.

Congrats on the accomplishment! I'm still in awe of those that can fly up in sub-20 minutes, sometimes significantly sub-20 minutes.

On a related topic, why do people go down OLH? It's not exactly a nice downhill with tight (often blind) turns and narrow, fairly crappy roads. On nice days, there's also the usual hoard of riders going the opposite (up) direction. Why not go a little north on Skyline and bomb down 84? You'll end up in the same vicinity at the bottom.

If I am doing intervals and fairly short on time I will descend OLH. However I won't descend it if the road is wet because of the tar snakes.