Last race of the season! I actually started doing this as a ride before I started racing. They run it with recreational and competitive divisions so this is the third year I've done this race/ride, but the first year I've ridden it in the competitive division. It's cool because it gives me a measuring stick for my yearly progress.
They call it a hillclimb TT, but its not really. It's a mass start race that gives individual times. People are so strung out by the top that there are no mass finishes. The route is 24.5 miles with 4300 feet of elevation gain.
Once again there were not enough women to have our own field. This means we had to go off with the men. I wasn't really looking forward to this, but I think in the end it may have worked to my advantage. There is a fair amount of rolling to flattish leading up to the main climb and guys can be useful. The guys I was with were doing their best to get me to the base of the mountain as fast as they could and not make me work too much. (It's been this way in years past too - as the rec riders start all together no matter how many there are of either sex.)
My main goal this year was to go under 2 hrs. I was just over at 2:04 last year. I hit the base of the main climb at 48 min so I felt I was doing pretty good, since I seem to remember getting there at just around 1 hr last year. The main climb is 10 miles to go so I was working hard at trying to keep myself at least around 10 mph to be sure to make my goal. The last 2.5 miles is the hardest part too, so I wanted a good buffer for that section. I hit the ski area (2.5 miles to go) at 1:35 so I was thinking I was in pretty good shape, but never underestimate that last bit. It gets steeper and I swear you can feel the air get thin (you hit about 5,000 ft at around that point I think). I felt like I was crawling that last mile or two. Down to about 7mph and gasping to go that fast, for a while, but I crossed the line well within my goal at 1:52! I won my age category (this is not a USCF race so no cat divisons, just age divisions) and I was third overall (for the women of course)! Great way to end the season and I can't wait until next year.
