shovelhd

You are going to surprise yourself. This is great news.

sarals 

Shovel, you don't know how much I appreciate your vote of confidence! Thank you.

sarals 

I'm doing this Thanksgiving morning. Ex will be there, and has promised to ride with me for a few feet. That will be encouraging! One of the good parts is that the climb starts very close to a major trauma center that I routinely fly to. That's good - they'll recognize my carcass when someone brings road kill me to the ER there after the climb.

VanceMac

Little 18 mile jaunt... piece of cake! Just hold Ex's wheel.

sarals 

Hah! If he has a flat, yes, I'll stand there and hold his wheel.

AzTallRider

You need to stick with him, Sara, and record his climbing 'mumblings'. We're all curious to know what it is he says when under physical duress.

Hermes

She may be the first one to hear anything.

AzTallRider

He certainly wasn't under any duress racing with me.

sarals 

I'll see if I can borrow Cancellara's "motor bike" so I can stick with him and make those observations.

He claims he's not a good climber. I think this is going to be a contest to see who's worse, one I'm sure I can win!

Cleave

Yeah, he's not a good climber compared to Joe Dombroski. Of course guys who are bad climbers always do the Tour of the Gila and finish in the top 10.

sarals 

I suspected as much!

I'm looking forward to meeting him and riding with him, even though it will probably be for a few fleeting moments!

sarals 

Okay.

He was NEVER under any duress. Ever.

He can accelerate away at will.

He can descend VERY fast.

His bike handling skills are impeccable.

He tells great stories!

He knows of what he speaks.

He's a wonderful person to ride with.

shovelhd

Nice shot.

sarals 

He's very photogenic, too!

shovelhd

So are you!

AzTallRider

All I can say is that it was nice of you to wait for him at the top, Sara.

sarals 

Awwwww.....

sarals 

I'm patient like that...

sarals 

I mentioned that I crashed? I did.

The Mount Hamilton climb (from the west side) has three distinct climbs. The first one is followed by a short descent through a wooded section, then the route crosses a field and the second climb starts. Ex and I rode at a fairly easy pace through a good part of that first climb (so I could warm up), then we upped the pace a bit. We got to the first descent, and we started down, Ex leading. It wasn't a scalding descent, the road traversed a wooded area, and it was damp in places, but we weren't holding back that much, either. Still, I had no qualms about the pace we were doing, I felt completely at ease. We got most of the way down that descent, and at that point we went into a semi-tight left hand turn at around 30 MPH. I was probably ten feet or so behind Ex, when the back wheel of my bike suddenly kicked out to the right. I managed to get it back, but I ran out of road. I had literally no time to decide whether to fall on the pavement or hit the embankment - I hit the embankment at over 20 MPH. I don't know how I ended up in the wad that I did, but my bike was on top of me facing the on coming direction, I was sort of tangled in it, and I was covered with mud (thank heavens for the mud). When I realized I was okay I started laughing. Ex said "well, it's a good sign you're laughing!" But, the fall did take it out of me, and it really told on me when I got to the third (toughest) climb. I was sore, adrenaline shocked, and tired. It showed.

Racer Ex 

Got to Hamilton a little late thanks to my putting the wrong coordinates into my GPS. Didn't make the reg cut off but did find a back way up Mt. Hamilton. Just as well as I wasn't going to ride for an official time anyway. Sara and I started last and warmed up a bit before picking up the pace, and I started droning on about this and that. We passed a half dozen folks before hitting the top of the first climb (Hamilton is a 3 act play).

As Sara noted we we're coming down the first descent when we came to a corner that was a bit damp and gravelly, and had some paint spilled at the entrance. I changed my line to a less aggressive one when I saw the dampness then heard a noise and out of the corner of my eye noticed a rider trying to pass me on the outside...like on the embankment.

Your gut kinda sinks at moments like that.

Sara landed well though...basically sitting on the embankment taking a mud bath. Very organic. I was really glad there was no major damage to her or the bike, though I knew she'd be sore the next day. We had just been talking tires...the Gatorskins she was on are about as flat proof as you can get, but they leave a bit to be desired on a wet surface.

We got her picked up and cleaned up and she trooped on all the way to the top a bit worse for wear but without complaint. Hamilton's a tough climb without flinging yourself on the ground part way through the ride, a lot of folks would have turned around and head home to clean up and lick their wounds.

Really enjoyed the ride and company, and Sara waiting for me at the top

Next year she rides this for real.

shovelhd

Heal up quick, Sara.

sarals 

Oh, I'm fine! A little knotted up, two or three minor boo-boos, but that's it. Thank you!

Ex, you don't drone on - you tell great stories! If I had the breath, I'd be a total chatterbox - ask Alex.

Next year FOR REAL, for sure.

Hermes

Great job racing Hamilton.

I am glad you are okay and you were very lucky. At 20 mph, it could have been a lot worse and fortunately you could reduce some speed before going down. Thank god for the mud. Unfortunately, that crash is typical in NorCal on mountain descents. The large trees keep the radiant heat off the ground and the result is the pavement remains cool and damp. Leaves and other debris are sometimes on the road. Where roads have more car traffic, the cars may cut the corner kicking gravel and leaves into road. We see a lot of broken collar bones when riders go around a turn, hit the debris and the bike kicks out from under them. I am a slow descender due to braking hard before turns on mountain descents.

Hamilton is a very tough climb due to its length. The years that MEA and I did the T-Day race, we also did 4 races in the LKHC series. We race on the Sisters and Misters of No Mercy. To train for Hamilton, we were doing 2x Mount San Bruno and we would climb Old La Honda, descend and continue climb Skyline to the top of Kings Mountain.

One year that I did the series and race, I knew that one of MEA's female friends and me were very competitive climbers. She was doing really well in the series and we were both doing Hamilton. I remember having an nightmare before the race losing to her. On race day, we started and I was ahead of her. She fancies herself as a great descender / risk taker. When I get to the second descent, she passes me right before the descent and is gone. I do my fast if I have good visibility and slow around the turns descent. The conditions are always the same on the descents at Hamilton and there was debris and some mud.

When I got to the bottom, she was out of sight. However, I still have 7 miles of 6% grade climbing. I passed her in a few minutes and put 5 minutes into her on the climb. The nightmare was not relived. If you think about it, a 6 mile hill climb at 6% grade is a tough time trial without the previous 12 miles of racing. So at Hamilton, one can use all the available energy left on the final section.

I am always in the bottom 1/3 of the men's peloton in the LKHC series. This series draws some of the best climbers and many of the better ones do not race anything else but this series. The competition is always very good.

Hermes

Not that it matters but there is an age adjusted score that is calculated for the LKHC. Dan added it this year. Sara, you put down 35+, so you were not included in that category. For your team, you can use your club's name and the category 60+ or 50++ or 45+++ or whatever you want. If you would have put the correct age, you probably would have placed better in the age adjusted category. We have tried weight adjusted but it seems that no one liked that handicapping but age adjusted seems to be okay.

sarals 

Hermes, I saw that when I looked at the results. When I entered I used my USAC category, which is Cat 4 and 35+. Next year I'll know better! Still, I do think I was the last woman up the hill. And, thank you for your kind words!

Hamilton is relentless. I've climbed steeper, but not as long. I felt good and was feeling better, warming up well, until I fell. Even then I didn't feel as if the crash would slow me down appreciably, but as the miles wore on, I started to get sore and stiff. Adrenaline!

Ex talked about the paint spilled on the road? I hit that, I'm sure. I wasn't reading as far down the road as I usually do on a descent because I was following Ex's lines, and I had no reason not to. I saw him adjust slightly as we entered the turn that felled me, but I didn't, and I payed the price. I am so thankful I didn't hit the deck, just the mud. The tarmac there was gravelly, sort of like chip seal, and at the speed I was traveling, I would have been damaged. However, we can laugh about it and use it for training!

That was the first time I've ever lost traction on a bicycle on pavement. I'm glad, really glad, that it was the rear end and not the front. I'd be writing this from a bed somewhere if it had been the front. My instincts come from motorcycling, and I resorted automatically to my training - do NOT jam on the brakes, ride it out. The only problem was that I needed more road and just didn't have it. As Ex said, he and I had been discussing tires JUST before that - he was telling me how much he liked his tubeless tires, how well they gripped, and how flat-resistant they were. That Gatorskins are a good training tire was mentioned, and I did tell him that I had GP4000S Conti's on my Bianchi. The next thing - puff!

It happens quickly!