I was also disappointed in my performance, and after reading this, more so because I was a bit behind you in 1:31. It was my first time on my road bike since, uh... the last time I visited my parents in San Jose, so August 2005, but I wouldn't have thought before the ride that I would so far (16 minutes) behind the winner. The winner could have taken a leisurely shower, changed, and eaten lunch by the time I made it up there. I guess lack of bike training (my only riding is commuting to work May-October on my mt. bike, but it's only 1.5 miles one way), extra pounds on my body (+15-20 lbs) and my old race bike (23-24 lbs), and being off-form in general since an illness a couple of years ago has caught up to me. Boy, I'm full of excuses and run-on sentences.

I've only done about one or two rides a year since 1999 because I keep my road bike at my parent's place and I live in AK, but mainly because I run/xc ski with my dog and she can't keep up if I bike. I'm probably crazy for starting to collect parts for a new bike because I won't be doing much riding, but it'll be nice to hit some hill climb bike races when I'm in better shape. I figured a 17 lb bike would have saved me about 2:20 and leapfrogged me 7 places in the results on Mt. Hamilton. But what a nice day for a bike ride! I've never seen so many cyclists going up and down a climb.

Team Used to Ride.