Suffering on Sierra - Stage 3 photos

by Ron... on Feb 21, 2008 3:43 AM EST

An exciting day on top of Sierra, the Cat 1 climb following the Mt Hamilton Cat HC climb. I rode from Sunol along Calaveras road (2007 route to Sierra) around to Sierra (~23 miles) and climbed the hard way. It's a long ass hill, w/ 2000 ft of climbing and kicks up to 15% almost immediately with only a few breaks below 10%. I remember a sign near the bottom that said 5km to KOM but that was above the base. I kept my head down and suffered. It poured earlier in the day, and we were all freaked out about having to ride in the rain. Luckily, the roads dried and the rain didn't come out. The conditions at the top were great. Slightly cool but the sun peaked out from the clouds and kept us mostly warm. I brought a change of clothes so I wouldn't get the chills standing around in my sweat ladended underlayers and top. I probably biked up with an extra 10 lbs of clothes, food, water, tools. Don't do this next year! We waited for about 1/2 hour before the riders came through. You could tell they were getting close 1st by the 4 helicopters and then by the lead convey. The first 30 or so riders came up in pairs and it was strung out. Finally, the grupetto came through with only a few stragglers after that. We rode down the same course as the race and turned back on to Calaveras road. Luckily mostly downhill. What an awesome day.

Pictures:
http://www.wooljersey.com/gallery/v/rdpark201/2008_TOC_Stage3_Sierra/

Update [2008-2-21 11:38:16 by Ron]:
MotionBased record from my Garmin. (HR incaccurate for the first few miles)
http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/5015134

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Those are great!

Well done, looks like you had an amazing day weather-wise and shooting wise. Kudos

Doesn't it always freak you a little bit with how fast these guys come past on a climb? You think you'll have all day to shoot and, zip!, there they go.

"Only those who are in top condition can say that the Ronde is not hard. For everyone else, it's the Way of the Cross." -Andrea Tafi

by Drew on Feb 21, 2008 8:00 AM EST reply actions

Exactly

This will likely be the slowest they go on the whole tour and it was still fast. Luckily there were some time gaps, for the 1st 30 riders and this gave you a chance to savor more.

One thing that really gets in the way is the picture taking, you can easily forget to watch. I found out that my cell phone takes decent pictures at close range without having to concentrate. So, what you see is just my thumb instictively clicking off pictures while I am actually watching and cheering on the riders.

by Ron... on Feb 21, 2008 11:32 AM EST up reply actions