June 24-26 rides

[Biciclista]

disappointingly easy climb??? lol. Nice pictures.

[luv2climb]

disappointingly easy climb??? lol. Nice pictures.

Thanks! I'm always looking for hard climbs, and for some reason I thought Rattlesnake Road was supposed to be one of the hard ones. Maybe I confused it with Rattlesnake Bar Road, which was a sufferfest when I climbed it last October.

Have you been up Shirland Tract?

Veronica

Yup. I climbed it for the first time on Memorial Day. Here's a ride report with pictures and video that I posted on BikeForums: http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...o-Max-20-grade

[Veronica]

Last year I did World's Toughest Half. We swam right there at Folsom lake in your picture. Rattlesnake Rd was a nice little warm up before Shirland Tract.

Veronica

[luv2climb]

Last year I did World's Toughest Half. We swam right there at Folsom lake in your picture. Rattlesnake Rd was a nice little warm up before Shirland Tract.

Veronica

I hope it smelled better when you had to swim in it than it did yesterday. I had to take that picture and get out of there. Maybe I have a radar nose, but that nasty river smell was strong!

[loopybunny]

I rode the track for the first time on Sunday.

Hellyer was open to road bikes for a charity event and I couldn't resist signing up. I had 2 other road friends riding on the track for the first time so I wasn't alone in my fear.

The warm up laps were pretty cool, being able to go at whatever pace I wanted and starting when I wanted. However, the events I signed up for were the kilo and 2k. I had no idea the kilo was the event that many people don't like because it involves going all out the entire time.

I also made the mistake of letting myself get confused about how many laps the kilo was so I pushed really hard from the start, going just over 24 mph then pooped out about halfway through and dropped to 17 or 18 mph. It hurt! Having figured it out, I was much more relaxed for the 2k and kept a consist pace between 18-19 mph. Obviously not fast, but if felt amazing and I finished strong instead of slowing down.

During the 2k, my friends were cheering me on and in the last couple of laps one of them yelled for me to stop smiling and pedal harder. She later said that if I was smiling, then I wasn't working hard enough. I told her I was channeling my inner Chris Horner.

Scariest part was having a holder for the start. Takes a lot of trust to allow a stranger to hold your bike upright as you clip in completely. It's also quite difficult to start from a complete stop while in the big ring. For the first event, I was so nervous I thought I was going to hyperventilate.

Best part was having friends there to cheer for me. They even made me a sign!

[Veronica]

I rode the track for the first time on Sunday.



During the 2k, my friends were cheering me on and in the last couple of laps one of them yelled for me to stop smiling and pedal harder. She later said that if I was smiling, then I wasn't working hard enough. I told her I was channeling my inner Chris Horner.

!

That's very cool!

Yeah, I'd like to look like I'm smiling when I'm working hard the way he does.

Veronica

[Veronica]

I hope it smelled better when you had to swim in it than it did yesterday. I had to take that picture and get out of there. Maybe I have a radar nose, but that nasty river smell was strong!

It didn't smell badly, but it was freezing!

Veronica