[QUOTE=buelito]How do you compare it to Mountains of Misery?QUOTE]
Very good question. Mountains of Misery is an excellent training ride for AOMM. I'm really glad I did it as I think it helped if nothing more than just time in the saddle doing hills. What really makes MOM is the last 3 miles. My goodness. The steepness of that climb after 100+ miles is hard to duplicate. Plus, with some longer climbs throughout MOM, it is harder to stay grouped up so you find yourself doing more of the ride solo.
For AOMM, there is not as much climbing the first 75 miles so you can ride with groups better but the last 25 is a grind. The last 25 is not steep but it just wears on you after a while-both physically and mentally. You're going along grades of 6%-8% and it just keeps going up and up and up. There is no relief in spinning so you're constantly pedaling for about 3 hours-except for a very brief downhill at about 92 miles. The road up to the top in the park has grades of about 9-11% and I was at least two gears easier than normal. It was frustrating not having the power to push the gear you want to push but I took satisfaction in moving forward.
My time was a little slower on MOM but part of that was I didn't have any power in the legs that day for some reason. I could never get my heartrate up to where I normally ride so from a time perspective it's hard for me to judge which one takes me longer.
Overall I'd say they are very comparable time wise but just different styles of centuries. One thing they have in common is they are both great challenges and leave you feeling pretty used up afterwards.