gearing and climbing-help

[equus123]

haha this thread reminds me of a race i did last year. it was my 3rd lifetime race (in my first year racing). so i hear about this hard 5.5 mi TT up in the NW corner of New Jersey so i figure i'll do it because "i'm gonna be a good climber" says everybody.

so i drive up there and the state park entrance is at the top of the mountain with respect to the road. i pull in, register, get my number, and ask where the start is. they tell me to go back out of the park, make a right and go to the bottom of the mountain. i'm like okaaaaay.

i drive down the other side of the mountain that i hadn't driven on the way there. ....do the whole warmup thing. i run into a few people i know and we chat a bit. they mention stuff about gearing and i'm like "yeah. we'll see how this goes with my 11-23 because the registration says a 'suggested 25'. everybody just kind of smiles (kindly) or laughs out loud that i'm gonna die.

the start line is essentially at the base of the mountain off of route 23, a double-lane highway. it gets to be my turn, i start, and let me tell you my experience on that ride....

so at the moment i am crying and ready to stop, turn around, and leave - i look down at my computer. 1:30 into the race. 1 MINUTE 30 SECONDS into the race. i figured "eh. it's only 5.5 mi. can't be TOO bad." holy crap did i swallow my words on that one. to top it all off in the parking lot before the start, i could have SWORN i heard my teammate say "once you turn into the park it's not the steepest part. you'll do fine". yeah, in hindsight my brain must have subsconsciously added that little "not" into her sentence.

as i make my way to the crest of the road, i turn into the park and make an immediate right. as i turn my head a little to look at the road, all i see is the pavement going diagonally up to my right. my eyes bug out and i look up real quick to see if it ever ends. i go "holy ****!" and hit a series of 3 rollers where you're crawling up it at 6 mph and flying down the other side at 36 mph. after the rollers come a part where you climb - hairpin turn slightly flatter - bam! it gets steeper - turn - steeper - flattens a little and then the finish line is at the top of this last hill that flattens out into a parking lot. a parking lot at the highest point in New Jersey and the tippy top of this mountain.

there have bee numerous moments throughout this race where i'm either crying and/or want to stop. i make it all the way to this ridiculous climb that gets steeper at each bend. my arms are BURNING from throwing my bike back and forth because i was in my 23 probably 30 seconds into the race. the road was getting too steep for me to ride. as i'm standing climbing, i look down and my cadence is 43 or 46. i didn't even know a bike could still be upright with a cadence (and speed) that slow. i had been averaging around 60 rpms for the race thus far. my legs are DONE, i can't breathe, by this time its hot as hell outside, my heart is going a million miles an hour. i can't do it.

i get off my bike and walk the f***ing thing up the climb. as i'm looking upwards i can see the finish line. ugh, you have no idea how pissed i was. but you know what made it worse? the road was so steep that i couldn't get back on until a slight drop in the pitch. i get back on my bike and power up the last few hundred feet to the line. i finished in 32:32 and actually ended up beating someone.

i'm slobbering, i STILL can't breathe, my heart is STILL racing, i haven't had saliva in my mouth since the start. i stop for a minute and think. oh crap! my car (and everybody else) is AT THE START. aaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh i have to ride all the way back!!!!! yes, 99.99% of this race is downhill but still. i have no bottles, no food, no nothing - just me and my bike.

as i'm turning out of the park to go back down to the start on Rt. 23 again, the road was so steep that i was braking the whole way down going 25-30 mph. my friend said he got up to 50 going back down. HELL NO.

so that was the 3rd race of my life. after that experience i learned to have the appropriate cassette for a race. i will never make THAT mistake again! lol

here's a picture of the race for reference (not me or anyone i know in the picture)

[Trekhawk]

so that was the 3rd race of my life. after that experience i learned to have the appropriate cassette for a race. i will never make THAT mistake again! lol

Love the race report. Sounds like you did pretty good even with the wrong cassette.

[equus123]

hahaha yeah. i was very proud of myself for surviving and finishing. if i had known what the course actually was - there was prob no way i would have done the race.