motochick
04-24-2008, 02:22 PM
My hubby and I are getting ready for a 3 day supported ride on memorial weekend that will include lots of climbing all 3 days. We wanted to see how we would do with our gearing and stamina so we could make adjustments beforehand. The riding I do every week always consists of about 1700 ft of climbing (I live in a valley with nowhere to go but up) so I have very little experience.
The ride we planned started from a small town in the Verde Valley called Camp Verde. Our goal was to reach the top, where the Mogollon Rim starts, 31 miles uphill. We started in town to give us enough of a warmup before the climbing began. The first 5 or 6 miles is easy rolling uphill. At about 6 miles it goes up, and keeps going up for another 10 miles. It was 3000 ft of climbing in 10 miles at a 6 to 8% grade. The first 16 miles took us 2 hours. I was doing mostly 6mph, with 4 and 5mph on the steeper sections. I actually enjoyed it. I just found a good pace and let my mind wander.
We took a potty/food break at that summit and had a section of uphill rollers for a few miles. The weather was very nice at 6500ft. Then we hit the next uphill only section and it too was fairly steep. It just kept going, eventually hitting 7117ft. In all, we climb around 4100ft in 31 miles. It took us 3 hours of riding, 4 hours with lunch/potty breaks. Coming back down was pretty fun, but there were still some small rises to go up. Thank goodness for that or my legs would have turned to rocks from all the coasting. It was a great ride and I can't wait to do it again.
This Sunday I am going to attempt to climb the mountain behind my house by myself. It will be 3600ft of climbing in 9 miles. Total ride will be 35 miles. I think I can, I think I can!
Brenda
The ride we planned started from a small town in the Verde Valley called Camp Verde. Our goal was to reach the top, where the Mogollon Rim starts, 31 miles uphill. We started in town to give us enough of a warmup before the climbing began. The first 5 or 6 miles is easy rolling uphill. At about 6 miles it goes up, and keeps going up for another 10 miles. It was 3000 ft of climbing in 10 miles at a 6 to 8% grade. The first 16 miles took us 2 hours. I was doing mostly 6mph, with 4 and 5mph on the steeper sections. I actually enjoyed it. I just found a good pace and let my mind wander.
We took a potty/food break at that summit and had a section of uphill rollers for a few miles. The weather was very nice at 6500ft. Then we hit the next uphill only section and it too was fairly steep. It just kept going, eventually hitting 7117ft. In all, we climb around 4100ft in 31 miles. It took us 3 hours of riding, 4 hours with lunch/potty breaks. Coming back down was pretty fun, but there were still some small rises to go up. Thank goodness for that or my legs would have turned to rocks from all the coasting. It was a great ride and I can't wait to do it again.
This Sunday I am going to attempt to climb the mountain behind my house by myself. It will be 3600ft of climbing in 9 miles. Total ride will be 35 miles. I think I can, I think I can!
Brenda