Ross' Epic Hill Climb - A Hard Ride for a Good Cause

So when does the fun part start?

Well that was pretty tough. Today Blair and I (and Kris Lunning, and Dave Van Orsdel from the AC Elite team) did the Ross' Epic Hill Climb race - a benefit for Ross Dillon, a cyclist who was paralyzed in a car-bike accident back in 2002, and has been on the road to recovery ever since.

So while this particular race was very, very hard, it does give you perspective that there are many other, harder things to face, and to feel lucky that we were able to attend, and suffer accordingly.

It's a simple, low-key event put on by the Bike Monkey folks, and had a mellow, almost cyclocross event feeling to it. You can read more about it at the Ross' Epic Hill Climb event page.

The pros headed out first, and of course we didn't see them until they were returning from their race. The course is 18 miles in total, with the first 7 pretty flat, then it kicks up 2000 feet of climbing for another 6 miles or so, to Pine Flat, which is not.

Starts out flat, goes up, gets "flat" again, then WAY up....

The two miles of Pine Flat rollers lull you into a feeling that "this isn't so bad" until you arrive at the final climb section - which takes you from about 2000 feet to the summit/finish at 3,100 feet. There were sections in the last stretch that were literally too steep to ride (for me, and some other riders), or at least forced you into (and I quote Ian Tuttle here) "weaving side to side and chicken-head bobbing" as you crawl up sections of road that, according to my GPS recording, were in excess of 20%. It was definitely the steepest road I've ridden, and felt like it went on for miles, though the steep sections were probably 300-400 meters in length.

For you data geeks, here is a GPS recording of my ride.

We were fortunate to have perfect weather conditions for this one - clear and sunny, warm but not too warm, and a gentle breeze to cool you down, as you forced your way up the seemingly never-ending climb. Blair reached the top at about 1:20, within seconds of his goal, and I followed along about 8 minutes later.

Final results - Blair came in 9th of 17, and I made it in 16th of 17 (avoiding the "Maillot Noir").

At the bottom (after the 30 minute descent!), we rolled along the 7 mile flat return to the start, but Blair seemed to have enough energy to race again - he kept chasing down and catching other groups, and then pulled them along at his pace, until they popped. I tried to keep up, but figured I'd done enough damage for one day, and besides, there is Part II of the Weekend Sufferfest coming tomorrow - the Dunlap Individual Time Trial up in Davis.

It was a great day of riding, for a wonderful cause, and it makes one appreciate how fortunate we are to be able to do this, while at the same time wondering why we'd pay money to suffer so much...