Fifty Plus (50+) - My ride with a strong 50+ cyclist (video)

I joined a cycling club around the beginning of the year. A few weeks ago I lent one of my cameras to a rider so he could record his ride up one of the toughest climbs in the area, which I then made a sufferfest video of with data overlay from his Garmin using DashWare.

On July 1 we went on a 55 mile ride in the hills. He is 56. I am in my mid-40s and female, which is another disadvantage of course (damn nature!). Once again I let him use one of my cameras mounted on his handlebars. I had another one mounted on my helmet to record my climbs. Since he is a stronger climber than me, he rode his single-speed Specialized Langster on this ride with 5,000' of climbing, which gave him a better workout than the geared road bike.

He easily left me behind the minute the road tilted upwards. After reaching the top of the climbs, he doubled back and rode back up with me, getting some third-person footage of me in the process.

While I was watching the footage he recorded of his climbs, I was amazed at how easily he seemed to go up those steep grades on a single-speed bike with a 42x16 gear. The first climb in the video I made of our ride has grades up to 17%. It is always a painful one on a geared bike. I can't imagine doing it on a single-speed!

Watching him climb in the two videos I've made of his rides so far has been very inspiring to me. I hope to be that strong someday, and I certainly hope I can be strong when I reach my 50s.

Here's the video of our ride. I did data overlay from both our Garmins using DashWare. The video alternates between his footage and mine. These are the two best climbs on the ride: Chili Hill and Baxter Grade. I really enjoyed his commentary, especially during the final few hundred meters of Baxter Grade! :lol:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZsV_c0Zizto

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZsV_c0Zizto

Here's the video I made of his climb up the 5-mile Corkscrew Wall climb in June. Once again he provided excellent commentary while climbing, which is something I cannot do. I'm too busy "freight training uphill" to be able to do that! :D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-P6dg0vGs0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-P6dg0vGs0

LOL. I always enjoy your videos. I'm disappointed, though, I thought I was going to see your HR top 200. Only 199? Meh.

As for your friend, I'm about his age and I too run a 42-16 on my singlespeed. If any of those gradients are 17% I am seriously impressed. Anything above 10% for more than a few meters and I really struggle to get on top of the gear. Even zig-zagging across the road, that requires a lot of force.

My max HR is steadily dropping with age. At 25 it was 215. Last year, when I got back into serious cycling, I had a HR of 207 on the climb where I recorded my first sufferfest video. This year the highest it's reached is 202 on a MTB climb. Of course there is a video (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php/802631-First-ride-on-a-popular-local-trail-%28pics-amp-video%29?highlight=) of that too ;)

By the time my HR hit 199 in the video in my OP, I was starting to feel queasy. I enjoy pain from lactic acid burn, but I draw the line at nausea!

I have measured 17% on a part of Chili Hill. He had to traverse that part. Even parts of Baxter Grade required traversing.

nice videos!

I see 7-9% grades as a highway road crew would grade it. I doubt that you could pave a 17% grade! There is a posted 13 or 15 percent grade out of Virginia City that is much steeper than this. Cool videos!

Where is Chili Hill? Looks like over on the coast range of Cali, maybe around Santa Rosa? The Corkscrew is in the Sierra foothills somewhere, looks like around Sonora/Angels Camp/Jackson area. Who was filming the Corkscrew film? He was getting passed by guys in their forties and early fifties---and that's impressive considering how steep those grades are!

I see 7-9% grades as a highway road crew would grade it. I doubt that you could pave a 17% grade!

I can assure you that I have ridden up paved roads that are steeper than 1 in 4 - more than 20%.

I see 7-9% grades as a highway road crew would grade it. I doubt that you could pave a 17% grade! There is a posted 13 or 15 percent grade out of Virginia City that is much steeper than this. Cool videos!

Where is Chili Hill? Looks like over on the coast range of Cali, maybe around Santa Rosa? The Corkscrew is in the Sierra foothills somewhere, looks like around Sonora/Angels Camp/Jackson area. Who was filming the Corkscrew film? He was getting passed by guys in their forties and early fifties---and that's impressive considering how steep those grades are!
I have personally climbed grades in San Francisco that were paved and up to 38%. They used concrete instead of asphalt though. Here's the latest ones I climbed during last week's two day trip there. Most grades were in the high teens to mid twenties. I estimate the max grade on the final hill in the video to be about 27% or 28%.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyPXvkXo05Y

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyPXvkXo05Y

Here's the climbs I did in SF the day before Thanksgiving last year. First hill was 31.5%, last one was 38% and a fail. I finally had to admit defeat after five tries.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cbc5iG3M1q0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cbc5iG3M1q0

Chili Hill is in Placer County, CA, near Auburn. It is a very popular hill with local riders. Here's what I saw spraypainted on there last year.

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3143/5875077476_139f52eff9.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/29998767@N07/5875077476/)
fi'zi:k logo on Chili Hill Road climb (http://www.flickr.com/photos/29998767@N07/5875077476/) by kittyz202 (http://www.flickr.com/people/29998767@N07/), on Flickr

The Corkscrew Wall is near Foresthill in Placer County. It is part of the popular French Meadows loop ride.

The Corkscrew video was filmed by the same rider who I rode with in the first video in my OP. He is a member of the same cycling club I joined earlier this year. The ride he was on in the Corkscrew video is the 74-mile French Meadows loop, and the ride was for the hammerhead types. There's no way in hell I would have been able to keep up with any of them, so I avoid those rides!

I plan on climbing that grade out of Virginia City this weekend, and recording video as always. ;) I saw another cyclist's ride video that showed a nice long 22% section in Gold Hill.

I plan on climbing that grade out of Virginia City this weekend, and recording video as always. ;) I saw another cyclist's ride video that showed a nice long 22% section in Gold Hill.

Now is when I wish I didn't work weekends! I'd be at the top with a lot of Gatorade and couple of ice cold beers for you! I"m looking forward to the recording, as that climb is going to be one punishing mother. The temps here will be right at 100 degrees this weekend. Yeah, there is a very long climb up through Gold Hill that starts back at the fork in the road. The road forks and most of the tourists take the newer/better road to the right. The left fork is the old road up through Gold Hill and it really starts climbing fast. Hope that your luck holds and the V&T train doesn't stop you at the crossing right before that last, monstrous hill. Be really careful on that last climb as there is NO shoulder---just two lanes with a mountain on one side and a guardrail with a very long drop on the other.

Are you staying in Carson City? It's a pretty bike friendly place and if you're into photography I could point you to the local Mustang herd and show you where you might find the local urban Mule deer herd. Of course, if it's more punishment you're looking for you could head up Spooner and down into beautiful South Shore Lake Tahoe. It's only 26 miles one way!

Now is when I wish I didn't work weekends! I'd be at the top with a lot of Gatorade and couple of ice cold beers for you! I"m looking forward to the recording, as that climb is going to be one punishing mother. The temps here will be right at 100 degrees this weekend. Yeah, there is a very long climb up through Gold Hill that starts back at the fork in the road. The road forks and most of the tourists take the newer/better road to the right. The left fork is the old road up through Gold Hill and it really starts climbing fast. Hope that your luck holds and the V&T train doesn't stop you at the crossing right before that last, monstrous hill. Be really careful on that last climb as there is NO shoulder---just two lanes with a mountain on one side and a guardrail with a very long drop on the other.

Are you staying in Carson City? It's a pretty bike friendly place and if you're into photography I could point you to the local Mustang herd and show you where you might find the local urban Mule deer herd. Of course, if it's more punishment you're looking for you could head up Spooner and down into beautiful South Shore Lake Tahoe. It's only 26 miles one way!
I will be doing the same thing I did last summer. I rent a car for the weekend to keep the miles off my own vehicle. I drive it about 600 miles total because I go to Tahoe or Markleeville on the first day, drive back home, and go to Reno on the second. Last year I climbed the Lake Tahoe side of Kingsbury Grade on the first day and Geiger Grade on the second. I chose Geiger because I wanted to record video of the riders in the Geiger Grade Hill Climb.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GW0V9m97bk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GW0V9m97bk

After watching the riders suffer, you know I had to do some suffering of my own, right? :D I climbed Geiger on my Dahon Speed D7 folding bike last year.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKgpqyhsQeY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKgpqyhsQeY

Here's the Kingsbury Grade climb on the Dahon. The gearing on that bike sucks!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CN4gLzL29g

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CN4gLzL29g

It was really fun using that bike to climb the 22% Ski Run Blvd. Out of the saddle and barely moving!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TS-UJulWIec

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TS-UJulWIec

I'm still trying to decide whether I should climb Ebbetts Pass or Kingsbury Grade on Saturday. Unfortunately Saturday is the Death Ride, so I would have to wait until Ebbetts reopens to traffic at 3 PM.

Have you ever gone over Luther pass? Go up past Sorensen's resort and into Hope Vallley on Hwy. 88 (coming from Minden). Go about another mile past Sorensen's and go right on Hwy. 89, go over Luther Pass, past Shadow Lake and into Meiers at the bug station. From there, you're on Emerald Bay road so head into South Shore and the 'Y'--or take Pioneer and hope to miss some of the traffic.

Gosh, that video of Ski Run brings back memories. I tried that ----once. I lived for three years on Vanda Lee Way, a couple of streets in from Ski Run. Fun area to scoot around in on a bike. And I can certainly feel your pain going up Kingsbury! You sure are in too pain. When I get back into better shape I'm going to tackle the Tahoe run by going up Spooner. Nicer shoulders, more room and not so steep. Geiger grade is pretty, but it's nowhere near as steep as coming up through Gold Hill. I'll wish you lots of luck with that one and wait eagerly for video. Are you using a Go-Pro camera?

Have you ever gone over Luther pass? Go up past Sorensen's resort and into Hope Vallley on Hwy. 88 (coming from Minden). Go about another mile past Sorensen's and go right on Hwy. 89, go over Luther Pass, past Shadow Lake and into Meiers at the bug station. From there, you're on Emerald Bay road so head into South Shore and the 'Y'--or take Pioneer and hope to miss some of the traffic.

Gosh, that video of Ski Run brings back memories. I tried that ----once. I lived for three years on Vanda Lee Way, a couple of streets in from Ski Run. Fun area to scoot around in on a bike. And I can certainly feel your pain going up Kingsbury! You sure are in too pain. When I get back into better shape I'm going to tackle the Tahoe run by going up Spooner. Nicer shoulders, more room and not so steep. Geiger grade is pretty, but it's nowhere near as steep as coming up through Gold Hill. I'll wish you lots of luck with that one and wait eagerly for video. Are you using a Go-Pro camera?
I haven't climbed Luther yet. So far I've climbed Monitor from Highway 4, Geiger Grade, Spooner, the Incline Village and Reno sides of Mt. Rose, and the Lake Tahoe side of Kingsbury Grade. The Kingsbury Grade climb is one of my favorites because of the scenery and the steeper sections. I haven't climbed the longer desert side yet. Spooner was so easy it seemed to end way too soon. Geiger was somewhat hard due to riding the Dahon. The Reno side of Mt. Rose was pure misery, due to being 60 lbs overweight (185 lbs) and riding a 32 lb Rockhopper with 26 x 1.95 Specialized Hemispheres. I didn't have a road bike yet.

I deleted the video I uploaded of the Monitor climb on the Dahon. The speeds sucked so much that I was embarassed to have that video up. I know I suck compared to the strong climbers out there, but that climb really sucked! The Bike Friday will be a much better choice for that mountain!

I do have video of the climb up Mt. Rose from Incline Village though. That climb was fun. Not too hard, and steady going the entire way without excessive suffering.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmgIKnW_gAg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmgIKnW_gAg

I will be using my GoPro HD Hero 960 mounted on the handlebars. The first video I posted in my OP was recorded with that camera and my ContourHD mounted on the helmet. The second video and the videos I posted of Kingsbury Grade, Geiger Grade, and Ski Run Blvd were recorded with my Kodak Playsport mounted on the bars. That camera has the best audio of all the ones I've used when mounted on the bars, due to no rattling moving parts. Unfortunately, this is what eventually happened due to the tall form factor stressing the tripod hole too much. I bought another one which I lent to the rider in the second video in my OP so he could record that Corkscrew Wall climb.

http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s66/hardmf1/KodakPlaysportbrokentripodhole.jpg
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s66/hardmf1/KodakPlaysportbrokentripodhole2.jpg
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s66/hardmf1/piecebrokenoffKodakPlaysport.jpg
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s66/hardmf1/piecebrokenoffKodakPlaysport2.jpg

Nice videos.

Here is a link to the Low Key Hill Climb series that runs each fall and culminates with a race up Mount Hamilton on Thanksgiving morning. I have done several of these and they are a lot of fun. We call them low key but most take them very seriously and the competition is amazing with some very fast climbers many of which are 50+. On 50+ climber is usually on the podium knocking out amazing time and VAM over 1400. http://lowkeyhillclimbs.com/2012/ The data base on the grades and distances are very accurate and has been developed over many years. My favorite climbs of the series are Old La Honda, Kings Mountain, Mount Diablo and Mount Hamilton.

Here is a video of my wife and I climbing Torrey Pines in San Diego. She led the climb which was at the end of a 50 mile ride. It was a cloudy day and a nice temperature for climbing. I made a metrics overlay so speed, power, cadence and gearing are available. For some reason, the grade did not register but it is a pretty constant 6%.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdhoamkne1w

I am familiar with the Low Key Hill Climbs. A BF member has a couple videos from last year's LKHC. He has a video of Sierra Road and another one of Page Mill. The Page Mill video has the same biketelemetry.com data overlay that you have on your video. What I really like about his videos is the natural sound. With original ride audio the viewer gets the full experience of the pain and effort involved in climbing. You also get to hear the gear shifting. To me that is all very important, and I always make my videos with original sound for those reasons. Also, I don't want to force my taste in music on anyone else.

Here's his Sierra Road LKHC video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jK2PgBl2uSE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jK2PgBl2uSE

Here's his Page Mill video. This one is my favorite.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPTcs8GNQ_8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPTcs8GNQ_8

Do you have any videos with natural sound? I find those very inspiring, and they always make me want to go out and hammer up a hill!

How many LKHC have you done?

None. I don't race. I like to suffer on my own terms, and I refuse to pay to ride my bike. I did do a season of MTB racing in 1993 and I did well until upgrade time. Then it became the kind of sufferfest I don't like!

I am not sure what "suffering" you want to hear but when I climb my breathing is somewhat normal although I would not want to carry on a conversation but I can talk. Once one starts to gasp for air or breathing is heavy, too labored or noisy, one is going anaerobic. Once that happens, one will have to slow down to recover. Now it is okay to go hard with 3 to 5 minutes to go but that too has to be a measured effort. When I was doing the TP climb, I felt that in my legs and had to tell them to shut up a couple of times and video will not record that. That is seen in the power produced. In the climbing stages that you will see on the upcoming days of the TdF, the pros are not going to be gasping for air when they are climbing. When a pro peloton goes by on a climb, all you hear is the sound of wind and the whir of the gears, chain and wheels.

So I like to have an overlay of music to mask the wind and road noise and add some interest.

When I have watched hill climb races as a spectator, I have noticed that some riders are as quiet as the TdF riders you mention, while others are so loud you can hear them 200 feet away. You can hear that for yourself in the Geiger Grade Hill Climb video I embedded in post #9 (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php/830845-My-ride-with-a-strong-50-cyclist-%28video%29?p=14460699&viewfull=1#post14460699) of this thread.

On the video of the 50+ rider climbing the Corkscrew Wall that I embedded in my OP, you can hear his breathing very well, and you can tell when the climb is getting harder for him by the intensity. Before I lent him the camera to make that video, he told me that he often experiences heart rates in the 180s on that climb, but he doesn't go so hard that he can't finish the ride. The climb in that video was part of this ride: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/192334770 (this is his actual data uploaded to my Garmin account). It was a 74 mile ride with 8,534' of climbing, so he knew he couldn't go too hard on the Corkscrew Wall climb. Even so, you can plainly hear how much he is suffering on that climb.

My videos are the same way. Every single video I have posted in this thread so far has audible suffering, yet I was able to finish my rides strong, sometimes even stronger than when I started. This is most noticeable while climbing mountain passes. On Mt. Rose, I felt stronger as I approached the summit at 8,900'. Same thing on Monitor Pass, although I need to make a video of that ;)

The conclusion I came to is that every rider is different. Non-pro cyclists may or may not have audible breathing on climbs. Pro cyclists are so highly trained that yes, you never seem to hear them. I know I've never heard them. Based on what you wrote, you are probably one of the quiet ones. :thumb:

In my MTB days in the early 90s, I used to watch the Grundig World Cup on ESPN. I often heard Juli Furtado breathing loudly on climbs, yet she won many races and dominated the MTB racing scene.

I see 7-9% grades as a highway road crew would grade it. I doubt that you could pave a 17% grade! There is a posted 13 or 15 percent grade out of Virginia City that is much steeper than this. Cool videos!

Where is Chili Hill? Looks like over on the coast range of Cali, maybe around Santa Rosa? The Corkscrew is in the Sierra foothills somewhere, looks like around Sonora/Angels Camp/Jackson area. Who was filming the Corkscrew film? He was getting passed by guys in their forties and early fifties---and that's impressive considering how steep those grades are!

Sonora pass has a posted grade sign of 26% and it's paved. I agree most of the grades I see listed on this forum, I don't actually believe...but I saw the Sonora sign myself last week, and then drove up the road...drove...not rode

I agree most of the grades I see listed on this forum, I don't actually believe.
That's why I like to include photos that show the grade of the road, percent grade signs, or data overlays on ride videos that show percent grade. I don't want the reputation of being a liar.

Here is a video of my wife and I climbing Torrey Pines in San Diego. She led the climb which was at the end of a 50 mile ride. It was a cloudy day and a nice temperature for climbing. I made a metrics overlay so speed, power, cadence and gearing are available. For some reason, the grade did not register but it is a pretty constant 6%.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdhoamkne1w
Thanks for the video Hermes. I definitely know that climb, it's so crowded on Saturdays with all the riders going up and down the coast. Glad you got to ride after they fixed all the roots! There was one you could get air with! I remember in 2008 when the US Open was at Torrey Pines, there were cones all the way up the climb and of course signs inside the cones for us to dodge with barely enough room to ride side by side.

Here's my second ride with this cyclist. This was a ride from Roseville to Folsom with hill repeats in Folsom. Notice how easily he rides away from me on a steep climb while I'm suffering badly. This was my first time on this road and that hill caught me by surprise.

Luckily the hill repeats weren't as painful. Folsom Lake Crossing is only a 5% grade.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oiqK3E5n5tQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oiqK3E5n5tQ

Now is when I wish I didn't work weekends! I'd be at the top with a lot of Gatorade and couple of ice cold beers for you! I"m looking forward to the recording, as that climb is going to be one punishing mother. The temps here will be right at 100 degrees this weekend. Yeah, there is a very long climb up through Gold Hill that starts back at the fork in the road. The road forks and most of the tourists take the newer/better road to the right. The left fork is the old road up through Gold Hill and it really starts climbing fast. Hope that your luck holds and the V&T train doesn't stop you at the crossing right before that last, monstrous hill. Be really careful on that last climb as there is NO shoulder---just two lanes with a mountain on one side and a guardrail with a very long drop on the other.
Here ya go! That was one fun climb! Yes I said "fun". Sick, ain't I? :D

After watching and recording the riders in the Geiger Grade Hill Climb TT, which climbs the Reno side, I drove to the bottom of the mountain near Highway 50 and rode to the summit. Just looking at the desert landscape made me thirsty, so I made sure I had plenty of water at all times! On the way back down the mountain I stopped at an outdoor burger stand and got an Angus beef cheeseburger and refilled my bottles, then I continued my descent. That was one fun descent! On the last clip in my video, you can see me keeping up with a group of Harleys until the speed limit increases from 25 to 35 mph.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/199989805

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hU7JWUlbpK0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hU7JWUlbpK0

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7265/7585248664_39c1fe1540_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/29998767@N07/7585248664/)
Bike Friday Pocket Companion at Geiger Grade summit 7-15-12 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/29998767@N07/7585248664/) by kittyz202 (http://www.flickr.com/people/29998767@N07/), on Flickr

Here's the Geiger Grade TT.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IjfwtLR2New

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IjfwtLR2New

On Saturday, while other riders were suffering through the Death Ride, I did a beautiful climb up Barker Pass Road near Tahoe City. From a webpage (http://adventuresportsjournal.com/biking/tahoe-road-rides) that I found when I Googled this road: "Barker Pass Road, which heads up Blackwood Canyon on Tahoe’s northwest shore, feels like a mountainous Tour de France stage without the screaming fans. Steep and narrow, it dishes out some kick- ass vistas across Blackwood Canyon to Twin Peaks.

The journey begins with an easy two-mile spin to a pastoral crossing of Blackwood Creek. Then the climbing begins, with a 1400-foot ascent in five miles to the end of pavement at the Ellis Peak trail (another half mile on dirt takes you to the PCT). It’s a steady low-gear grunt, followed by the long and winding ride back down."

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/199274781

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ala-QKZ0Uxw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ala-QKZ0Uxw

Great videos ft, I always like watching your climbing and suffering.

Fun videos.... I'm going to look into DashWare. That looks interesting.

Thanks for posting.

Freight Train! Beautiful video from out of north Tahoe--I've got to go find that road now. Did you make the run up through Gold Hill to Virginia City as well?

I keep going back to the pic of the tiny, folding bike sitting under the Geiger Grade sign. If that's what you were on humping it up that grade, you are one tough, tough man! :thumb:

Did you make the run up through Gold Hill to Virginia City as well?
I sure did. The video was posted in the same post (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php/830845-My-ride-with-a-strong-50-cyclist-(video)?p=14488712&viewfull=1#post14488712) with the picture of the Bike Friday under the summit sign. It's right above that picture. ;)

Garmin data is in that post also.


I keep going back to the pic of the tiny, folding bike sitting under the Geiger Grade sign. If that's what you were on humping it up that grade, you are one tough, tough man! :thumb:
I'm actually a woman. I mentioned that in my OP. ;)

you have great videos! I need to find more time to catch up with them!

You've got to get a cam too! I bet you could make a great sufferfest video with some of the rides you do! ;)

If you ever posted a sufferfest video, that thumb would go up so quick it would make your head spin! :D

You've got to get a cam too! I bet you could make a great sufferfest video with some of the rides you do! ;)

If you ever posted a sufferfest video, that thumb would go up so quick it would make your head spin! :D
Ok, ok.. let me sneak one into the budget!

Ok, ok.. let me sneak one into the budget!
I'm looking forward to it. ;) If you have any questions about cameras, fire away!

I found some footage from the GoPro of the climbing portion of my 7/14 Blackwood Canyon Barker Pass Road ride that wasn't ruined by excessive rattling noise. I have no idea what caused the noise in the first place. It sounded like something was hitting the camera. I hope there wasn't some damage done when the camera hit the pavement on 7/12 :( You can see the smudge from the scratch in the lens that happened when the camera fell.

There was excessive rattling noise on all the descent footage, so I only included a short clip of a smoother section of road with good scenery.

The heads-up view from the handlebar mount shows the scenery directly in front of me better than my helmet mount footage. I looked down way too much, plus the helmet mount was facing too far down.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hwkRk_o4AU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hwkRk_o4AU

I sure did. The video was posted in the same post (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php/830845-My-ride-with-a-strong-50-cyclist-(video)?p=14488712&viewfull=1#post14488712) with the picture of the Bike Friday under the summit sign. It's right above that picture. ;)

Garmin data is in that post also.


I'm actually a woman. I mentioned that in my OP. ;)

Oh boy, I've really screwed up now! :o I should have noticed that you are a woman!

That climb up the Gold Hill grade was impressive. It'll be at least a year before I'm in shape to attempt anything like that! And on that tiny, folding bike no less....wow! :cheers:

Oh boy, I've really screwed up now! :o I should have noticed that you are a woman!

That climb up the Gold Hill grade was impressive. It'll be at least a year before I'm in shape to attempt anything like that! And on that tiny, folding bike no less....wow! :cheers:
It's all good. :) I've missed stuff that was right in front of me too. It happens to all of us. Kind of like looking everywhere for something and finding out that you had it in your hand or your pocket the whole time. :o

I'm really impressed with how well the Bike Friday climbs. It is sold as a touring bike, but I have absolutely zero interest in touring. I bought it solely for climbing, since it has a triple. I've never noticed any flex in the frame while climbing.

I just received the replacement lens kit for the GoPro housing. I installed it a few minutes ago, so it's all ready for some mountain biking this weekend somewhere near Tahoe. I've just got to figure out where. ;)

Don't know about mountain biking, but my son and I took the MPU from Sugar Pine Point up to Tahoe City on Thursday. You won't be suffering (except for one hill), but it sure is a beautiful ride!

Don't know about mountain biking, but my son and I took the MPU from Sugar Pine Point up to Tahoe City on Thursday. You won't be suffering (except for one hill), but it sure is a beautiful ride!
Not my kind of weekend ride then. Suffering is mandatory for me. After all, that's part of the fun, especially if I've got to burn a bunch of gas to get there! :D

Found out where I'm going to go mountain biking (http://trails.mtbr.com/cat/united-states-trails/california-trails/california-all-other-areas/trail/hole-in-the-ground/prd_165094_4518crx.aspx). Plenty of suffering there! Video to follow, of course! ;)

I went over to the Bike Friday website and took a look, and have some questions about these bikes:

Doesn't that bike have a top heavy feel with the seat and handlebars up so much higher than the top tube? How well does the bike corner on multiple, tight twisty turns?

I see so many riders walking away from you on the hills. Isn't that less about your ability, and more about the small wheels on that bike? Those small wheels seem like a real drawback to any sort of speed, whether its running down the road or climbing hills.

I ask as I'm intrigued by these bikes. I've discovered that I need a bike with a very short top tube and it looks like I'll have to have some sort of custom build to get that. It looks like these folks at Bike Friday could build whatever I need---if I could get used to the bike!

Not my kind of weekend ride then. Suffering is mandatory for me. After all, that's part of the fun, especially if I've got to burn a bunch of gas to get there! :D

Found out where I'm going to go mountain biking (http://trails.mtbr.com/cat/united-states-trails/california-trails/california-all-other-areas/trail/hole-in-the-ground/prd_165094_4518crx.aspx). Plenty of suffering there! Video to follow, of course! ;)

Never seen that trail before! Then again, I don't know that end of the lake very well. I'll have to check that trail out sometime when I'm in better shape.

Doesn't that bike have a top heavy feel with the seat and handlebars up so much higher than the top tube? How well does the bike corner on multiple, tight twisty turns?
Not really. I don't think it handles descents as well as my road bike, but then again neither does my flat-bar Specialized Sirrus or my mtb.

I see so many riders walking away from you on the hills. Isn't that less about your ability, and more about the small wheels on that bike? Those small wheels seem like a real drawback to any sort of speed, whether its running down the road or climbing hills.
Where do you see these "many riders" you speak of? On the Dahon videos there are quite a few riders who are simply much stronger than me and they fly past, especially on the Geiger Grade Dahon climb video I posted earlier in this thread. Those same riders would have passed me easily even if I had been riding my road bike.

On the Bike Friday videos, you only see a rider riding away from me once in the Twin Peaks video. We started the climb together, but he is a stronger rider.

On the video I posted in my OP, I was riding my road bike. The 50+ cyclist in that video is a stronger rider. I could be riding a $10,000 carbon wonderbike and he would still ride away from me on climbs. It's all about the engine. ;)

The small wheels don't affect speed at all. The gearing is sufficiently high enough to compensate for the smaller wheels. Have a look at the Folding Bikes (http://www.bikeforums.net/forumdisplay.php/221-Folding-Bikes) subforum here on BikeForums. Plenty of people have no problem climbing hills or going fast on flat ground on folding bikes.

If you want to see a folding bike climb video where I'm actually able to pass a few riders, have a look at this one. Once again I get passed a lot, but these are stronger riders who would have passed me no matter what.

This is the ride that motivated me to join the cycling club. The 50+ cyclist from my OP is visible starting at 8:52. When he passed he said "Good job". That stuck with me, because I appreciated his encouragement. There were others who said similar encouraging things as they passed me, including a singlespeed mountain biker.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WjAVfsj6q8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WjAVfsj6q8

Never seen that trail before! Then again, I don't know that end of the lake very well. I'll have to check that trail out sometime when I'm in better shape.
That was the hardest mtb ride I've ever done! All the gory details, with video and pictures, are here (http://forums.mtbr.com/passion/my-first-ride-tahoe-area-hole-ground-trail-pics-video-803025.html).

Last weekend was my third ride with this cyclist, and the hardest ride I've ever done in my life: 66 miles with 6,837' of climbing (http://connect.garmin.com/activity/215668257) (forgot to start the timer on the Garmin right away, so the data shows 65.88 miles). That's nothing to the male roadies who did this ride, but to my 30 lbs overweight self, it was a sufferfest!

This was a ride from Auburn to Foresthill and back via the steep Iowa Hill Road climb, which is 1.8 miles long with a 12.5% average grade. After that climb there is about 15 more miles of climbing before Foresthill Road, then it's mostly downhill to Auburn, with a few short rollers thrown in there to keep things interesting.

This video looks like a solo ride, because it pretty much was for the most part :o The Iowa Hill Road climb is the one recorded with my new GoPro HD Hero2 on the chest strap mount. The rest of the video was recorded with my ContourHD on the helmet mount.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pgl_3uAoHTM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pgl_3uAoHTM

His ContourGPS camera malfunctioned and wouldn't record, so I loaned him my ContourHD to use on his handlebars for his climb up Iowa Hill Road. Unfortunately I forgot about how much road rattle you get when the Contour cameras are mounted to the bars, so his entire climb was full of rattling noise. Even so, I was still able to decipher most of his commentary and even hear some shifting and breathing, especially near the end when he was pushing really hard. I added captions to make his commentary easier to understand.

http://contour.com/stories/hammerin-wheels-rider-climbing-iowa-hill-road-8-26-12

Same thing with his third-person footage of the last part of my climb up Iowa Hill Road.

http://contour.com/stories/third-person-footage-of-my-iowa-hill-road-climb-8-26-12