Anyone else doing the KOM this year?
 

Last year I watched the KOM training ride posts on here and thought that I would try to HTFU and sign up in 2013 - Now that I am signed up I am worried that I may not be able to HTFU fast enough, ha ha. Just wondering if anyone else is doing one or all 3 of the rides this year, and hoping that training ride posts will pop up so I can gauge how my own training is going.

I am doing BA again since it is close and beautiful, best descent ever! I am training for the Triple Crown so I will be posting my rides, hoping if I get strong enough by the end of the season I can do some big doubles! Good luck with KOM, it was fun and hard.

I'm doing all 3.

It's hard, but it's not THAT hard. Last year, I did Mulholland and BA. When I made it to the finish of Mulholland, I was probably one of the most out of shape and overweight individuals ever to do so. I was 5'6" / 163 lbs and I had less than 2 months of continuous cycling training. Took me just under 12 hours and I had cursed myself more than once for signing up for that death march. I remember I was so busted that I had to walk the bike from the finish line to the parking lot, I had no will whatsoever to get back in the saddle.

Then I screwed up with BA in a number of ways. I got something like 4 hours of sleep before the event, started an hour later than I should have, and lost almost half an hour when I failed to follow the instructions and went the wrong way and then had to backtrack. And I messed up with nutrition by not bringing any food or water with me. The first food stop was at mile 26 (or in my case, at mile 30) and by then the damage was done. By the time I was approaching the second-to-last checkpoint at Angelus Oaks, I'm pretty sure that I was on the verge of bonking. I'm currently 382nd/407 on the Strava segment from the ranger station to Angelus Oaks. When I got to Angelus Oaks, it was already too late to keep going up, and I didn't feel like going up anyways.

For this year, my primary objective is to lose weight. My goal is 140. I made some decent progress performance-wise, compared to last year, but it should be less than the difference between 140 and 163.

I am going for it to commemorate my 50th trip around the sun. You have less weight than me and the advantage of having ridden the course. I have years of denial and unabashed unsubstantiated self confidence on my side which has always made me greater than my results.

I am going to try to get all three in. Its my one goal this year, but I am a bit burnt out on the bike. Hopefully a lot of rest in January will do the trick. BTW, I'm sure I can phyisically do them, but I don't have a free Saturday's so it takes some effort to make it to these things.

I rode Mulholland and B.A. last year; all good fun and not that difficult at all. I didn't ride Heartbreak since it was the same day as a local Tour de CA stage (Mount Baldy).

For 2013 I'm already signed up for B.A. (since I worked it and did the workers ride with Chuck Bramwell and friends in 2012). Mulholland for 2013 is on the same day as the Hemet Double, which I may ride with my wife, so that one's doubtful. May do Heartbreak though. I did all 3 in 2010 but haven't really bothered since.

Good luck to all of you going for KOM this year, but don't be overly concerned, it's not all that tough.

Rick / OCRR

I'm in for all three.

I finished all three last year and got my polka dot gear, but it feels like I have unfinished business. Like hamster, Mulholland really kicked my ass (10:54). I'm 6'3" and over 200lbs; I wasn't meant to be a climber. I swore at the finish line I would never do it again. But I feel compelled to do it again with a respectable time (my wife says finishing it at all is respectable). The mean and median finishing times are both right around 9:30. My goal is under ten. If I could beat the mean or median, I would be ecstatic.

Jimmy, there are some decent climbs right in your back yard. (Whittier Hills/La Habra Heights/Hacienda Heights, whaterver those big hills just north of you are called).

Here are just the ones I'm familiar with and I'm always "finding" more (RickOCRR, TrojanHorse and others please chime in), starting from the western end: Greenleaf (above Orange), Turnbull Canyon (over and back both directions a few times is a great workout), Belle River (15-17% for .4-.5mile), Cargreen, Colima, West Rd., El Terraza, Solejar (esp. West to La Fiore), Picaacho/La Fiore (from Las Palomas), Ardsheal (I do repeats on this one), Avocado Crest, East Rd., Valle Dr./Skyline Dr., Fullerton Rd., Kanola Rd. and Saleroso (from Albatross).

I did 45 miles on these roads on Saturday and my Garmin claimed 5600' feet of climbing. (It was my first ride with it, so I'm not sure if I'm using it right. My old Polar recorded a little less on similar rides.) I also ride up to Crystal Lake and do GMR every chance I get. Ride lots of hills and keep adding hilly mileage between now and April 13th, and you can do it.

I found it helpful to pre-ride the entire Mulholland course. I did it in two rides in the weeks leading up to the event. The Santa Monicas are different from any other mountains in the area. The climbs and descents are steeper. The roads are narrow and lots of bad pavement on the western end of the course.

Make sure your brakes work well. Watch your speed on Piuma. After last years event, LA County installed rumble strips under the double yellow center lines of Piuma, Stunt and others in that area (very hard to see). If you overcook a corner and hit the rumble strip you will likely crash. A cyclist was killed that way just after the rumble strips were installed (and no warning signs posted).

Mulholland was the toughest for me because the climbing never stops. The Stunt Rd. climb was at mile 95 and that little devil of a climb, Cold Canyon pops up at mile 106.

It's tough to start riding that early.

I'm tempted to sign up for BA this year but I'm waffling hard... I'm *no* climber (ask Rick@OCRR, ha ha, that man's a billy goat) but I do like biting off more than I can chew. I drove down the Onyx grade last Friday to scope it out. That's a whale of a long climb going the other way without the benefit of internal combustion. I guess I have 6 days to stop waffling... hmm... Ride around the Bear has the same descent but you have to ride up 330. I'm not sure how much fun that would be and I'm not sure what the traffic would be like in the summer either.

I used to ride around Fullerton a lot and there's not much in the way of hills (at least sustained hills) but Bastunchury has some fun short ones. Hop on Imperial just south of the 91 and ride up to the top and down Cannon. You can head up to Santiago Canyon for a nice long uphill, but it's not particularly steep.

Up in my area (actually, get Rick to share some of his strava links, he has some routes that pretty much hit every single hill worth riding in Whittier / La Habra Hgts) Colima is a good mile long hill, Turnbull Canyon, any of Brea/Nogales/Fullerton Rds, East Rd is nice and Brea Canyon Cutoff is nice and steep, but only about a mile long. Avocado Crest is apparently good but I haven't been on that one yet.

You could also do repeats on Euclid, that road is wide enough that the traffic probably wouldn't bother you.

On MC I think I pushed it too hard on the climb before Decker and on Decker as I was pretty cooked far out but I still managed to finish. I do weight more then you guys I am only 5-11 and 212lbs. I have climbing legs just not a climbing body. I did both BA and RAB last year. I perfer RAB because of the location but the climbing has very little shoulder and more traffic I feel. They are roughly the same elevation gain on the main climb, 7,100ft. I didnt realzie BA is already open, better head over and sign up. I heard it sells out fast but it hasnt in the past two years.

I've done the Bear a few times. 330 is not too bad because you are climbing it so early in the day (if you leave at 6am) so traffic is very light. It is also patrolled by the CHP and "bike event" signs are posted. Still getting passed by a semi (happened to me every time) was not fun.

Even though I am on Colima frequently, I am wary of it, Fullerton/Harbor and Nogales; even though they are wide, the cars are travelling really fast. I prefer Turnbull and the residential streets in Whittier/La Habra Hts./Hacienda Hts. The climbs aren't long, but they are steep. Here is a strava link that includes Belle River, which is west of Colima off of Camino Del Sur and Vallecito. The steep part is .4 of a mile (mile 7.6-8.0 on this guy's route): http://www.strava.com/rides/9630206

BA registration opens Monday January 14th at 8 p.m. MC registration is open; I signed up today.

Yes cdp8,
I'd say you've found all of them I've found and then a few more I haven't! Would be fun to ride Whittier Hills with you someday! We usually start from the TGI Fridays parking lot across from Brea Mall on Birch. We take that to Brea Canyon (Brea Blvd. becomes Brea Canyon), left on Pathfinder, jog left/right at Harbor to get on Old Fullerton (nice climb), then right on East, another left/right job on Hacienda which takes us to West, then Janine to LaSerna to Youngwood

. . . then left at the end to a brutal cllimb on Serranata (spelling probably off!) another jog over to Mar Vista, then right on Colima, over the top and down to Camino Del Sur (left turn - watch for traffic!) to Vallecito (right), all the way down to Turnbull Canyon (v.sharp left).

Riding up Turnbull, however, we take Avacado Terrace to Oak Canyon (right) to the Very Brutal Descending (left)! This has some 20% and its narrow and super steep. Descending tops out at Skyline (left), right on Edgeridge (I think) to Turnbull Canyon Summit (Edgeridge can also be a challenge all by itself)!

So the ascending of Descending is the only thing I can really add to your formidable list! And don't be discouraged, most riders have to walk the last bit; at least on their first attempt. It kind of reminds me of Potrero, only a tad steeper and only 1/3 as wide. Lots more shade than Potrero though.

Hope that helps!

Rick / OCRR

A general point for first-timers. (It's a good idea at all organized centuries, but it's extra important with Mulholland and BA.)

You need to come to the starting line with two FULL bottles of sports drink and a gel or an energy bar.

At Mulholland last year, the first water stop (no calories) was at mile 32, the first food stop was at mile 43. At BA, the first pit stop was at mile 26 after 2000 feet of elevation gain.

Thanks for all the input - it helps to know that others are going in with some of the same issues. I've been riding a little more regular the last 12 months, but not the kind of miles or vertical that I will need to get through all three. So the training is ramping up... I rode GMR on New Years Day last year (1/1/12) and followed Rick for approx 1/4 mile before he disappeared out of sight and was never seen again, by me anyway. ha ha So, I know that "easy" for him is no reason for me to not worry about the hills. My first BA experience was last year and it went a lot like Hamster - I hit the third pass about 10 mins late, and was happy to be forced to turn around and head down. I drove to Onyx recently and got to see what I missed last year - yikes. cdp8 and Rick, appreciate the tips on local routes - hope to see you out on the roads.

I find a good rule of thumb for climbing is get at least 1,000ft for every 10 miels of riding. I ended my training with 3 rides of 90 miles and 9,000ft.

The billy goat,er, buddy of mine that talked me into KOM last year did 5,000 miles w/ over 500,000 feet of climbing last year. He did KOM, L'etape, death ride and everest challenge. His mid-week easy training rides are his house to the ski lifts. No, he doesn't live in Baldy Village. I felt like such a slacker at 3k miles w/ 228,000 feet.

Rick, thanks for the ideas. Those alt. routes up Turnbull are just what I'm looking for. How often do you ride from Friday's and what time do you start?

Hi cdp8,

Yes, Descending is the most difficult route I've found to the summit of Turnbull. Excellent for "steepness" training but you also need long climbs, what I call "infinte" climbs (because they seem that way at the time). For sure, well for me anyway, the last 8 miles to Onyx on BA are infinite. In "real time" it takes a little over an hour for me, but it seems infinite while I'm out there on the bike, looking up the climb . . .

There is a real "mental" aspect to these infinite climbs too and the cyclist can be their own worst enemy if they let the climb discourage them.

Regarding our Whittier Hills rides, we do them every so often and the start times vary but approx. 7:00AM on a hot summer day, 8:00AM on a nice weather day and sometimes as late as 9:00AM on a cold day (well, cold for SoCal).

I'll try to remember to post it here the next time we schedule one!

Rick / OCRR

I know what you mean about the mental aspects. That's why I rode up to Crystal Lake and Dawson Saddle so many times last year. Last Winter was very mild and it was possible to do those rides almost all winter long. This Winter, that doesn't seem to be an option, so I've been looking for more challenges closer to home.

I just pm'ed you my email address, so let me know next time you head to Whittier Hills.

If you want a real infinite climb head over to Hawaii. Haleakala on Maui is 36 miles and 10,023 feet. It's not super steep but it is relentless without a single flat spot or downhill. I rode it last fall and it is an amazing climb. Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea on the big island are even taller (though they have dirt sections).

Anyone have a significant loss in weight - say 20 to 30+ lbs - and can comment on how huge a difference it makes on climbing? I'm hoping to be 20 lbs lighter this year on BA. And does anyone do any specific off bike training that seems to help with cycling (core work, crossfit, running etc) - for those days when you can't get on the bike?

I still can't believe I've never ridden up Turnbull Canyon and it's literally a mile or two from my house. Anyway, I drove that back route that Rick was talking about (except I turned on edgeridge in stead of E Oak for some reason... still plenty steep). I get the willies riding on those tiny roads because I think somebody who drives like me is going to come around the corner.

I'll have to go tackle it at lunch time tomorrow or something.

Hi TrojanHorse,

No need for willies on those roads since cars are very few and far between, plus going very slowly when they do pass. So no worries.

Yes, Edgeridge is plenty steep. It's for riders who want something more challenging than the normal Turnbull road, but not as brutally stupid as Descending.

A friend of mine, Rosanne, who is plenty strong, calls Edgeridge "Deathridge" because she thinks its so tough. And Rosanne makes it up Descending now, though she did have to walk the last bit on her first try.

So yes, get in there on your bike and have a wonderful time!

Rick / OCRR

Everyones body is different but what I fund out was I did loose weight but all the climbing I did also gained it uscle back in my legs. I only lost abot 12-15 lbs but my legs got rock solid. You will get a skinny waist but you cant wear skinny jeans becase of your legs.

Hi Rick, I also ride the Turnbull, Hacienda Heights and La Habra Heights area as well. I would like to suggest another AWESOME climb that you could throw in the mix. I recently just started doing a climb up in Rose Hills that i called "Rose Hills Switchbacks". One you enter the guard gate take the first left that comes up and keep making lefts as you climb up the hill. Its switchbacks all the way up. Its a pretty tough climb. I usually loop that in with my Turnbull Route and it ends up being a good day of climbing. Try it out. =)

Alright Rick - I rode Turnbull from Whittier to HH yesterday, and then today I took Turnbull from HH back to Whittier, just to try it out. And I had to drop off my wife's car / pick it up in Los Nietos so there was that.

I was a little pressed for time so I skipped the "deathridge" option and frankly, it sounds like I may want to wait until I go back to a compact crank to tackle that one, or descending. :D

Honestly, I can't come up with any reasonable explanation for why I haven't ridden those roads before, that's a great place to cycle and it's literally 3.5 miles from my house to the base of Vallecito. Shame on me.