Posted by Paul on Sunday, October 05, 2003 at 11:05 PM
Mount Diablo Challenge, October 5, 2003
Description:
You know the course - 11 miles of uphil with about 3500 feet of elevation gain. You start at the Athenian and ride up the south side all the way to the top. I've been climbing pretty well, and was thinking I could do somewhere in the low 50's - 53, maybe 52 something. But, when I did a practice run last week, I did 58 flat and just felt awful the whole way. So I wasn't sure what to expect . . .
How it went down:
The key I found out is to be near the front. There were roughly 1000 people for this mass start event so you don't want to get caught behind the squirrelies. But the road is really narrow and some people even put their wind trainers at the start line to warm up. You'll see a lot of people carrying their bikes over their heads and just walking as far as possible to the front. So, my neighbor who I went there with, Craig Heuerman, clued me in. We would warm up until about 8ish (the ride starts promptly at 8:30) and then head over to get a good spot. We got a spot about 1 row back from the start line at 8:05. It ended up being a lot of waiting, but, it was worth it!
The race got underway, and I had trouble getting clipped in and I quickly lost a few places. After that, there was much pinching and tickling going on. After swerving around a few riders, I found Metcalfe's wheel - and it was good! I was on the right side, and there was a crash left - don't look, just move over and keep the rubber side down.
We got over the first hump onto the downhill section before the gate - this is the worst part. A gnarly, twisty downhill, with dappled shade and massive potholes. The good news was that they patched them up before the race. Still, I was cautious.
We got to the rumble strip in about 3 minutes flat - :30 faster than any of my test runs. I was with a good group, in the front, but I think there were 1 or 2 guys ahead of us. I was feeling good, the HR was up in the 170's where it should have been and I was content to sit on wheels.
We got to the pay gate at about 11:40 or so (timing from the rumble strip) so I felt good about that. We were on track to break 24 minutes - which I've only done once before. So somewhere in here Tim Granshaw and Steve Archer pull through on their tandem. I'll all over that like white on rice. They set a good tempo - I think I could have gone harder, but I was afraid I'd pay for it later. They pulled us up through Curry Point all the way up to the helipad. Some people started accelerating, so I said thanks and came around them.
My split at the junction was 22:36 - my best by about 1:30. We were smokin'! I was with a group of about 6 as we turned right up towards the summit. After another 1K I started to tire some and backed off. A group of about 4 had opened up a gap and I was with Charles (?) and some junior.
When we got to the first steep section (before Juniper) Charles and the junior had opened up a gap, but only about 10 seconds. I was with some other guy just sitting on his wheel. He towed me all the way up to Juniper. Charles and company still had a little gap - but I thought I could close it.
I came around and took my turn at the front. I felt completely recovered and just started riding a comfortable tempo. I dropped my temporary companion and set my sights on Charles up the road. He was maybe 20-30 seconds up on me, and I didn't see too many behind me. I just kept on turning it.
I wasn't making up much ground on Charles, but it looked like there were people behind catching up to me. Damn. I soldiered on. As we were a few hundred meters from Devil's elbow - I looked back and saw Archer and Granshaw on the tandem. Shit! Fucking amazing, if you'll excuse my french. They caught me at Devil's elbow ("It's about fuckin' time!" I told them) and quickly jumped on their wheel.
Perfect timing!!! A nice big juicy draft to sit in until the last part when I jump past them. They rode a nice tempo up to the steep part. I thought about taking a courtesy pull - but only for a second! When we got to the steep part, I came around them, and gave it all I had. I could see Charles just ahead, but I knew I wouldn't catch him. I just wanted to hold Archer and Granshaw off.
I came across in 49:55 which was good enough for 7th! Hot damn! Archer and Granshaw were 3 seconds behind me - so they also broke 50 minutes. I have to say I surprised even myself. I thought I had a low 50's time in me, but had my doubts after my practice ride last week. Wow, not bad for October!
Avg HR: 173
