Conquered Killer Ride ... PICTURES!!!

[Jiffer]

I conquered what was, for me, an incredibly difficult ride. I did this ride with DH on the tandem recently for the first time and, I dont know what I was thinking, but decided to do it on my single today. Hubby went with me and we went at my pace.

Fredwina, this of course would be the Mt. Baldy Road to Euclid ride. It was a 28 mile ride, which is my longest so far on my single. (Intended to do 30, but decided the killer hills made it enough of a workout!)

There's a hill with a 10% incline that completely wiped me out. Had to stop at least three times just to make it to the top of that section before entering the mere 9% grade section, followed by other various slightly lower grades, mixed with some 3's and 4's.

I don't plan on doing that ride on my single again until I've done some other less killer hill work and maybe do it on the tandem a few more times.

The big highlight was going downhill, of course! I got up to 42.3 mph, which blows my previous speed record away! Though we got up to 49.9 on the tandem last time.

Here are pictures of me plugging away up the hill with two of me pretty much dying in agony. I look like I'm throwing up in one, but rest assured I was not!

I'm so totally proud of myself for conquering it, even with all the stops! :)

Oh yah, and on the way home, we just happened to be riding right past the stable where my daughter's horses are boarded, so I told Hubby we were making a pit stop to give one of them a shot! Otherwise I'd be driving back over there later. It was interesting walking around the stables in our riding apparel!

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x230/JiffChick/1st%20Padua%20RIde/P1000634.jpg

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x230/JiffChick/1st%20Padua%20RIde/P1000636.jpg

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x230/JiffChick/1st%20Padua%20RIde/P1000640.jpg

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x230/JiffChick/1st%20Padua%20RIde/P1000642.jpg

[Susan126]

Congratulations Jiffer! :) But I don't see the pictures. I would love to though!

[Zen]

Hey!
You forgot something!
And it doesn't matter how many times you stop. That's my philosophy, anyway.

[Fredwina]

Your're almost as crazy as I am!:eek: :eek: :eek: Is this a good or bad thing?
You're pics aren't showing up!:mad:
I'm trying to remember- I know you have a double - is standard or compact (hint: Chainrings have thier # of teeth stamped in)
It's a lot easier the other way. Or go up mountain instead. I think it maxes at about 8%.
That would be a tough one for a new rider! going up to Neely's Corner's would be a better idea, IMHO
Congrats and WooHoo!!!:cool: :)

[Jiffer]

:( I don't get why you guys don't see the pictures. I see them on my browser. Well, anyways, I re-posted them. Do you see them now?

Fredwina ... yes, I plan to do the Lytle Creek gas station several times (and maybe further) before I tackle today's ride again. I've done it once on my own and it wasn't as horrible as I anticipated. :)

I have a standard crank set. DH used to have my very crank set, but upgraded with his new bike to compact for climbing purposes. I told him, "I'm the one who needs the easier to climb bike cause I need all the help I can get!" I have a feeling it will get upgraded eventually. For now, I'll just get really strong! I hope!

Hey Fredwina, I'll let you know when I ever get around to doing a group ride. I must meet you eventually! You do the Saturday rides, right? I won't be able to do any until August, which is just as well since I'd like to get stronger before attempting a group ride.

[Fredwina]

pics work now!:cool:
Yes, I usually do "the Grind" rides on Saturday AM. I have a problem with Sunday AM rides. I think you may have the same problem:o I work in El Monte (10 & Rosemead blvd) and don't get off until 6PM(plus I work 9 hour days), so I can't do the Tuesday Thursday ride. I soemtimes show up for Taco Thursdays.
I get every other Friday off:) PM me if you want to get together and toture the slow poke:)

[annie]

Didn't see the pics before. See them now! Looks like a killer climb, Jiffer! Congrats on making it to the top! That is great. I love your pink top. Very cute. You not only conquered the hill, but you looked good doing it. :D

Annie

[Jiffer]

I get every other Friday off:) PM me if you want to get together and toture the slow poke:)

Yay! The pictures work! :D

Okay, I'm not sure what you mean by this quote. Are you ensinuating that I'd be torturing you, the slow poke, or you'd be torturing me, the slow poke?! Or does it mean something else all together?

I'll keep Friday nights in mind and let you know if and when it seems like a good time to do that. My schedule is a little hectic right now because of a musical I'm rehearsing for at church, among other things. I have a rehearsal tonight and Friday night and Saturday day and .... hey! Not Sunday! (Which is not the norm.) Anyways, this is why I can't do Saturday rides with the group until some time in August.

[jobob]

And you know what they say, it's better to look good than to feel good. :cool:


Congrats, Jiffer. Before you know it, the climb will feel good too. Or at least feel less bad.

[Jiffer]

I love your pink top. Very cute. You not only conquered the hill, but you looked good doing it. :D

YES! :D Thank you for noticing my cuteness! I'm pretty excited about it myself. :) The jersey was a birthday present from Mom (with a major hint from me!). It's only the 2nd time I've worn it. It goes SO well with my beautiful bike. I'm a little frustrated that it's unzipped as much as it is in the pics! I unzipped it going up that climb to be as cool as possible and didn't think about it when Dh was taking pics. It's not a big deal, though, and there will be more cute pictures to be had of me riding that I can frame and hang!!! :D

Thanks for your post.

[Darby361]

Congrats! You can tell from you photos that is a killer hill! Well done!
Trish

[teigyr]

:D

I've ridden that hill and it IS difficult! It's hot too...the pictures kind of show that but there is absolutely no shade anywhere. I'm trying to think if I ever rode it on my road bike and I'm not sure, on my mountain bike it was difficult enough.

Great job!

[Susan126]

I see the pictures now! I can tell climb was a steep hard one by your pictures! Especially the two with you standing and your head on your handlebar! Love the pink bar tape and water bottle! Again congratulations! :D

[Tri Girl]

Wow- you're a stud in my book! I'm such a hill wuss- I might have stopped a hundred times! ;)
Congrats on making it up all on your own power. Next time you'll kick it's tail a little harder (and pretty soon you'll be flying up AND down that hill).

And- of couse I noticed your outfit and bike before I looked at the hill. :p You look so cute (aside from the obvious exhaustion on your face- but that makes the pics all that much better).

[RoadRaven]

Those pix really show it was a steady climb... congrats!

How long/what distance was the actual climb in photo?

Stopping is fine... I made a pact with myself not long after I started riding that I would not walk up hills anymore. I would stop if I needed to, and then, as soon as I was able, i would hop back on and ride a bit more.

For me it was a HUGE psychological advantage because i had not walked one centimetre... I had ridden the entire way.

Awesome Jiffer!

[Starfish]

Kudos! And, I agree about stopping. On one of my longer climbs, I use it as a gauge of improvement. Where do I stop, how long until my HR recovers enough to move on, etc. Thanks for the pics!

[luvs2ride]

Hey Fredwina and Jiffer-
You must live near me cause I just did Jiffer's climb last night . . not with the Cycle Connection crew but with some others I have met through my century training with Team In Training. It is a very difficult climb .. especially when it's this HOT outside !! Congratulations Jiffer! GOOD JOB !!! My DH and I did the cycle connection 3 club ride about 2 saturdays ago which left from "The Grind." Seems like a nice group of people . . maybe I'll see the two of you out and about in sunny Rancho Cucamonga !!

Blessings!
Susan

[Zen]

Whoa,that's one helluva climb.

I know I would have had to stop but I would also have to walk, at least until I found a leveling off area to get started again :p

[Fredwina]

Hey Fredwina and Jiffer-
You must live near me cause I just did Jiffer's climb last night . . not with the Cycle Connection crew but with some others I have met through my century training with Team In Training. It is a very difficult climb .. especially when it's this HOT outside !! Congratulations Jiffer! GOOD JOB !!! My DH and I did the cycle connection 3 club ride about 2 saturdays ago which left from "The Grind." Seems like a nice group of people . . maybe I'll see the two of you out and about in sunny Rancho Cucamonga !!

Blessings!
Susan
I'd like to think we're nice folks. And I led the "short" ride 2 weeks ago;) should have said hello.
Jiffer, you're doing better than me as far as avg speed. Go look at my journal on bikejournal.com

[Mr. Bloom]

Great Job!

[Suzi-Sue]

Well done on the ride :)
That's certainly quite a height you climbed to judging by the photo's!

You have a v.nice bike, i love the way you're all matching pink! :cool:

Congrats again!

[SalsaMTB]

Nice job! The pics make me jealous of your riding. I wish I had climbs like that to kill myself on. Keep doing the climb, you'll be surprised how much easier it will get!

[GLC1968]

Nice job! The pics make me jealous of your riding. I wish I had climbs like that to kill myself on. Keep doing the climb, you'll be surprised how much easier it will get!

Ditto! I can drive to get to a few climbs like that, but leaving from my house, it's mostly rollers. I'd love to live out west where the climbing was more challenging!

Great job!! (and I love your jersey, too!)

[alpinerabbit]

Hey - I look like that when climbing a killer mountain. And I get loud. I throw myself up in the saddle with a great big groan if need be.

[mimitabby]

hey JIFFER!! WAY COOL! good for you. I like your riding position. I will have to try that on my next mountain assault!

yeah, i want to see the elevation profile too. Funny Teigyr talks about shade. When i did hurricane ridge shade was far from my mind (it wasn't hot)

[rij73]

Wow, I'm impressed. You've only had that bike a little while, and you are smokin'! Yeah, you look great too! Good work :D

[Jo-n-NY]

Great Job Jiffer!!! Plus, you, your jersey and bike look wonderful together. Personnally, I also have to have a jersey with a zipper just for the reason to unzip it when I begin to get heated.

~ JoAnn

[smilingcat]

Mt. Baldy road. That's a hard climb!!! congratulation!!

it's always so fun to come down a long grade, a well earned treat after the climb. And nothing wrong with stopping on the way up.

Smilingcat

[mimitabby]

it's always so fun to come down a long grade,
Smilingcat

not always! :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

[Fredwina]

hey JIFFER!! WAY COOL! good for you. I like your riding position. I will have to try that on my next mountain assault!

yeah, i want to see the elevation profile too. Funny Teigyr talks about shade. When i did hurricane ridge shade was far from my mind (it wasn't hot)

http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Euclid-ave-upland

[cosc]

Jiffer, congrats on riding the big, bad hill. There is times on hills where I want a break but I'm with Zencentury, in that I can't get started if there is much incline and I find it hard to unclip and get off the saddle without tipping over. Loved your pics of the do or die determined cycler. :) :D

[mimitabby]

Thanks Fredwina. Argh, eeek, ak! why do we do this?? SOMEONE TELL ME??

[Fredwina]

Thanks Fredwina. Argh, eeek, ak! why do we do this?? SOMEONE TELL ME??

Beacuase it's fun:eek:

[Jiffer]

Thanks for all your replies. I've been frustrated that I haven't had time to sit and read them until now. :)

To answer some of your questions, the ride was a total of 1400 feet of climbing. When we turned onto Mills road, we went for about mile at about a 2% grade, another mile at about 3% to 4% and then it quickly became a 10% grade for maybe a quarter of a mile, eased to a 5% or so than back to 9% for another quarter of a mile, and then eased up and down between 4% and maybe 7% for another mile or so. I'm pretty much guessing at the distances. (Fredwina could tell you better.) And I could tell you EXACTLY if I knew how to properly use my great new Garmin bike computer! I just asked Dh and he said, "Read the manual." (He's working and doesn't have time to stop and deal with my new obsession of sitting at the computer in the middle of the day posting about bike riding!)

Not counting all the stopping (including giving the pony a shot!) ... our average pace was 13.8. I'm thinkin' that's not bad at all for that ride. Of course the 42 mph downhill helped a lot with that!

And, YES ... it was hot and NO, there is no shade! We should have left earlier, but didn't leave until about 9:00 a.m. It was probably in the 80's.

One of the reasons I wanted to do this ride was because my girlfriend, who's husband and she ride tandem with my husband and I, are going to ride our singles on Monday together for the first time. She's definitely stronger than me. When we were discussing courses, she suggested that very ride. I said, "Are you KIDDING me?!" I had just done it on the tandem for the first time. But then I thought about it some more and thought, "Hmm. Maybe I can do it better than I think I can." Sometimes I surprise myself. When Dh said he'd ride with me yesterday and I told him I wanted to do 30 miles, he ALSO suggested that ride. I decided to take him up on it so I could see how I'd do before going with my friend. She's never done that ride on her single either, so who knows how she'd do ... but I'm sure much better than I!

However, after yesterdays experience, I saw her last night and said, "How about a ride to the beach!" So, I think we're doing that. No climbing! But longer distance than I've ever done on the single. (45 to 50-ish) I'm not worried about distance though, as long as there's no climbing! :eek:

[Jiffer]

Hey Fredwina and Jiffer-
You must live near me cause I just did Jiffer's climb last night . . not with the Cycle Connection crew but with some others I have met through my century training with Team In Training. It is a very difficult climb .. especially when it's this HOT outside !! Congratulations Jiffer! GOOD JOB !!! My DH and I did the cycle connection 3 club ride about 2 saturdays ago which left from "The Grind." Seems like a nice group of people . . maybe I'll see the two of you out and about in sunny Rancho Cucamonga !!

I've only done one Cycling Connectons ride to Neely's Corner on the tandem. It was about a month ago. I plan to do more on my single when I get stronger. Maybe Dh and I will do more tandem rides with them as well. (He does more than I do.) As I've told Fredwina, I can't do any Saturday rides until August. But you'll know I'm there if you see all the pink! Make sure you introduce yourself to me if you spot me. :)

I almost can't wait to do Neely's Corner on my own again (I've done it once). After Mt. Baldy road it will "hopefullY" seem like a piece of cake!

Blessings to you, too. God IS good! :)

Jiffer

[Jiffer]

Jiffer, congrats on riding the big, bad hill. There is times on hills where I want a break but I'm with Zencentury, in that I can't get started if there is much incline and I find it hard to unclip and get off the saddle without tipping over. Loved your pics of the do or die determined cycler. :) :D

Dh was actually impressed with my ability to get started again after I stopped. I wasn't sure how that was going to go myself the first time I stopped. So, at least I have that going for me! Whenever I started again, I'd head at an angle across the road to get started. Less incline. And then later I decided, "Hey! Why not just go back and forth across the road continuously to get less incline?!" So, I did that near the end of one of the steeper climbs. Hey, whatever gets you there, right?! Luckily, there weren't many cars!

[Fredwina]

Finally had a chance to look closer at the picture (memo to self: find job that doesn't invlove 12 hour days and twice daily panic attack from my co-workers)
I lied:o :o
http://www.socalvelo.com/sub/mount_baldy_road.htm
if you see the first red tick on the profile - that's the climb Jiffer did.
I've been up to Icehouse Canyon - it's even more fun.
Jiffer - weaving is common tatic when you run out of gearing. I think you're ok doing that on a weekday there during summer. and starting to take an panting break, works
Luvs2Bike- I live near the border of Upland and Rancho, and I think that is God is , too :)

[weathergal]

Well, this flatlander bows down in awe of your accomplishment. Congratulations!

[teigyr]

I've been up to Icehouse Canyon - it's even more fun.



:eek:

You're talking up where the switchbacks are?? I've driven it and I am content with that being the extent of my relationship with that mountain.

[Fredwina]

:eek:

You're talking up where the switchbacks are?? I've driven it and I am content with that being the extent of my relationship with that mountain.
Icehouse is parking right below where the switchbacks start. I'm not a big fan of 20% grades and inadvertent wheelies.;)

[mimitabby]

i studied that climb (thanks for link Fredwina) and it is really punishing, because it keeps getting worse! you think you're almost done, you have 5 miles to go and it GETS WORSE! wow.

[luvs2ride]

Hey Fredwina-
Are you near the new Chicks/Starbucks/Jamba Juice off of Campus?? We are probably passing each other on the road and don't even know it . . boy the world is small !!

I do hope to run into you and Jiffer soon! Maybe on Baldy Road !!

Blessings!
Susan