Way back when (last year) there was this half mile climb -Roberts Road- I used to avoid.
With a front half of double digit grade and a second half in the 4-6% range, it was just beyond me.
Then I started doing it once a month... then once a week... now I do it pretty much every time I ride that route (a couple times a week). Just (keep) do(ing) it....

Then there was Sharp Park Road... 2 miles to the top but the second mile is pretty easy -it's even downhill part of the way- but, oh, that first half... Averaging over 9% with sections running 11 or 12% it was too scary for me to think about. I finally tackled it mid to late last year... I stopped 4 or 5 times but, 45 minutes later, I made it. OK, no style points but I can do it. So, once a month, I ride up that rode. The custom 30t cluster really helped and I got it down to just 2 stops but I found out I *can* do it with a 27t... so I bought the Giant OCR C2, a climbing machine they tell me.

Did the climb with the OCR for the first time on Saturday... took a bad approach, went in over my head. I struggled -my HR hit 175 at one point, way past my 165bpm restriction- but I did my usual two stops but I just wasn't happy about it at all. It just didn't seem right that it should be that much harder...

So, what did I do? I went up again last night. Never have I done this twice in a row, let alone in the same week. I started out in my 27t, set an easy tempo (the very, very beginning in deceptively easy. Around the first turn, things change), sat up on the rivet, kept my elbows bent, my upper body light and loose... kept my breathing deep from the belly and just kept my feet going like I was walking, lifting the rear foot off the pedal as I dropped my heel pushing the front foot over the top.

I learned how to set my HR alarm on the Garmin yesterday and, sure enough, just before my first stop it went off. 166bpm... 167bpm... Breathe deeper, keep loose, think circles (thanks BluesDawg)... it drops back to 164, 165... I get to the first stop. I feel pretty good. My legs are hurting but what's a little pain? I just... kept going. Around the next turn... and the next... it gets really steep heading to my standard second stop, my HR hits 167 again. Now, I will stop. One streetlight short of where I usually do. Catch my breath and push over the steep last section onto the longer 4-6% section and then, there I am at the top of the first mile -600'- in under 20 minutes with one stop. I can do it.

Then I turn right and push on up the last half mile to 715'.
After a quick loop around the local college campus, I now get to drop like a stone down the road I just climbed. 38mph... the Giant holds the turns like a dream, in a way that my LeMond never could.

So, maybe, I should consider doing this climb at least once a week... ???

Color me happy

Pix to follow later...

Only 38? Congratulations, I'm glad you like your new bike.

Oh, I do
I'm still in a bit of the "get acquainted" phase and April work obligations will kind of wipe out any long ride opportunities but the real thrill still remains the capacity for the human body to develop when pushed. Even at our -ahem- advanced ages.

A little reminder at 700+ feet of how sea level became 700+ feet


And then looking up, SW, from there...


The muni pier -my "starting point"- from 715 feet
I really start at 200' and drop to this before heading up.


Mt Tamapais -affectionately known as Mt Tam from 700 feet.
People ride up this thing. I never have. Maybe someday I will.
This is pretty much the same view as from my back deck only I'm 500 feet lower


Back down at the pier, looking south at Mori Pt and Pedro Pt beyond.


A look back up at 700+ feet from sea level.
The gray "ribbon" below the ridge (above the house in the foreground) is the easier part of the Sharp Park Road climb. It's at about 570 feet and only runs at about 3% or so.
All the real damage happens off the right edge of this photo.


Another look at Mt Tam, from seal level.

Too good to be a typo.

SKT, your posting pictures of Mt Tam reminded me of a handsome young couple we saw in the Bike Odessey bike shop in Sausalito last year. They had pretty thick accents, but I couldn't tell what country they were from. She kept asking how to get to Mount Tam-AL-poh-lis, with the accent on the second syllable. (Rhymes with Annapolis.) It took everyone a couple seconds to figure out what she was talking about.

Great pics from another great ride! Thanks!!

SKT,
I lived in Marin County 20 years ago and climbed Mt. Tam on a borrowed mountain bike (I only owned a road bike at the time). The place is covered with MTB trails and lots of paved roads as well. Treat yourself some afternoon and head across the GG Bridge to the Marin side for some great riding!

O.S.