Quote Originally Posted by indysteel View Post
Great job, Mojogrrl! A seven mile climb doesn't sound all that easy to me--and probably to many of us! From past threads about this ride, I'm gathered that successfully climbing Spooner is a big accomplishment. It's not just the climb itself, but where it falls along the ride, and my understanding is that it's near the end.
I'll admit that when I climbed it it was the first climb on my ride, not the last:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/50666558

It just didn't feel as hard as the other climbs I've done. There are many climbs that feel very hard even when they're done first like Spooner was.

Here's video from the ride I'm talking about that a friend took of me climbing Spooner and the Tahoe side of Kingsbury Grade. Don't worry, there's no heavy breathing as it was recorded "third person", not the typical first-person effort like most of my videos.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaR70lTtIl0

Again, I'm not trying to be a braggart like many of the roadies on other forums. I'm just being honest about what my experience was like.