otg 

I did my first real climb today at 57. My son and I drove out to North Adams and rode up Mt. Greylock. I have to say, he beat me by a good hour, but I made it. We descended and took a nice slower paced ride around the area, about 40 miles total. I just got in and took a show, pretty tired but also proud of myself at doing this. I've taken off close to 90 lbs over the past two years, and two years ago I could not ride 5 miles on flat ground without getting winded. The town of North adams with my pickup truck somewhere in there is in the background.

KevinF

Congrats! That is a tough climb for sure from the North Adams side.

How are the road conditions on Greylock these days? I haven't been out that way in years... Back then the road was atrocious -- filled with potholes and moss and weeds, etc. I heard they repaved it though?

slynkie

Nice work otg, that's a great climb!

As of ~7 months ago at least, conditions were fantastic. They repaved 2 years ago, I think.

otg 

The road is in great shape. They have put in some kind of speed control-trenches before the hiking trail crossings that you need to be aware of when descending. If you spot it ahead of time you have plenty of time to avoid them. I ran one over, not a real pleasant experience!

mprelaw

Way to go.

berner

Oh sure. With a bike light enough to hold over your head anyone could do it. Just kidding otg. Well done!

otg 

Thanks, kind of feeling it a bit today, wife is looking for me to go kayaking with her, I think I'm going to pass.

brianogilvie 

Nice work! I'm hoping to do Greylock some time soon. The question is whether to do it from home or drive part of the way, and if I ride from home, whether to make it an overnight.

Congratulations too on the weight loss--that's impressive.

cdale56

Congrats. Greylock is a great climb esp for those of us who are older or-like me- could be referred to as clydesdales.

I am hoping to go up sometime soon after I recover from this latest knee surgery, though just the thought of it makes me tired. I did it once in 2004 before it was paved and it was quite the feat but a great feeling. Must be nicer with new pavement.

Salmosebago

Well done! It's one that had been on my to do list for a while and I'm glad I made the effort to get over there. I rode it for the first time late last year and did it when the road was closed to vehicles. It was snowing a bit on the top but the ride down, knowing there were no cars coming up, was an absolute BLAST! Worthy of a "do over" in my book

JettCarve

Sweet. I am planning on doing this hill climb. Of course, I will be on my mountin bike . I know, silly me. But, I have already done Mt. Wachusset a bunch of times. We are going the Bike MS ride out there again this year too.

rumrunn6

there's an organized ride 9/14/13 if you want some company ...

Some info here:
https://www.nohobikeclub.org/nccwp/