Super Dave forgets the pain of Mt. Hamilton RR-and is reminded

Mt. Hamilton Road Race - Masters 55+123

Placing unknown – results not posted yet
No teammates in 55+
Ken Spencer raced in the Cat 4

Part One.

I decide to do a road race that I swore I would never do again – Mt. Hamilton. We line up and I notice most of my competitors look under-nourished. My right leg thigh is larger than most of their waists – I am a flatlander in a sea of climbers. There are 2 options for riding the first 20 miles up to the observatory: Option A.: Ride with the leaders as they push a hard tempo pace trying to weed out the field or Option B: ride at your own pace and treat it like a time trial. Option A is tough since a race pace will take 1hr and 20 mins and that would mean most of my ride would be above FTP or AT and that isn’t possible. I would pop before the top and would then face another 50 miles of road while trying to recover. I choose Option B – given that I can break 1hr and 30mins and would not have me going over FTP. I expect to collect up with others who back off the pace. As expected the leaders push a hard tempo and riders start backing off early. I decide to go at my own pace and back off. I keep others in sight. There are 3 sections to the climb up Mt. Hamilton. I do a good time up the first 2 sections but start to loose concentration on the final stage, which is 7 miles. I get to the top and I don’t see any of the 55+ groups – this is a problem. My time is off….

Part Two

I descend a very technical section down the backside for 6 miles never seeing any riders. I get to the bottom at the bridge at Isabel creek. It’s hot and the headwinds are starting to kick up. No riders just me and a hawk flying above. I get off my bike take off my undershirt, rearrange my back pockets, take a nature break, and count the number of gu-chomps I have left. I'm having a mini picnic. This is now an endurance ride. I get back on my bike. This is a 20 mile section with 2 climbs – one 3 miles and another about 1 mile. I make good time on the flats but when I get to the climbs I have no motivation to hammer these at any pace. I saw a video clip of Mark Cavendish at this year’s Giro climbing a very steep stage of the tour – very slowly. That was about my pace. Then the broom wagon shows up and the guy asks me how I am doing. I tell him I’m fine. There is no way I’m getting into the car. I’m worried that he might cut off my numbers since I’m out of the placing time period. I am now racing against a DNP…

Part Three.

I get to the top of the final climb. This is the final 20-mile section of the race and the elevation goes from 2800 feet to 820 feet at the finish. I am way off in terms of time so I decide to get to the finish line in less than an hour. My wife is waiting and I told Ken Spenser I would give him a ride back to his car at the start. I start this section with a 25mph headwind – my bike meter indicated gusts up to 45mph. This section consists of descents, rolling terrain, and false flats. I get into a big gear and just crank keeping an average at about 25mph. I have seen no riders since the top of Mt. Hamilton except one 55+ who had turned around after Isabel Creek. My legs hurt going against the 25mph headwind. I finally come up on a rider and see that he is from the 45+ 123 group – he has no interest in riding with me. I finally get to the 5K sign and I’m on a really fast descent. 1K then 200 meters and I’m done. I finish 20 miles in 53 minutes – the best workout of the day.

63 miles
6,475 feet of climbing
TSS 305

I will never do this again. Onward to CCCX on Sunday

DP