Video & pics of steep climb from one of my most difficult rides ever

[amb]

You are crazy.....and bad a$$! I'm not much of a climber myself. And that Tacoma is a lovely example of a human, no?! Great job on your accomplishment!!

[Bike Writer]

luv2climb I am in awe of your climbing abilities. You must be, hands down the best climber who posts here. Makes the hills around here look like bumps in the road. Beautiful sceanery too.

[luv2climb]

You are crazy.....and bad a$$! I'm not much of a climber myself. And that Tacoma is a lovely example of a human, no?! Great job on your accomplishment!!

luv2climb I am in awe of your climbing abilities. You must be, hands down the best climber who posts here. Makes the hills around here look like bumps in the road. Beautiful sceanery too.

Aww, thanks! I don't consider myself much of a climber yet due to that last 20 pounds I'm working on getting rid of, but then again I always ride solo so I have no idea how my climbing compares to other women.

Any TE members in my area want to go for a ride? I'm sure some of you know of some nice hard climbs I haven't discovered yet, and vice versa.

[smilingcat]

I agree with Mimi and others. Do send the link to police so they can follow up with the idiot. If nothing else, it will be on record as "previous incidents".

Have you thought of entering some "fun" rides where they are into climbing?? Some are timed just like TT's.

[luv2climb]

I agree with Mimi and others. Do send the link to police so they can follow up with the idiot. If nothing else, it will be on record as "previous incidents".

Have you thought of entering some "fun" rides where they are into climbing?? Some are timed just like TT's.

The bolded part is what I would like to do. It would be much easier to send them the link than to have to drive back up there.

I'm not into the whole paying to ride a bike thing, so I don't do organized rides. I also don't like being told I can't listen to music at low volume in my right ear while riding. I was bored one night and I read the list of rules for the Death Ride, which is one of those killer climbing rides in the Sierras. They said no headphones of any type. I'm sorry, but I love listening to music while I'm climbing. If it's at low volume in the right ear only, I don't see what the problem is. I don't want to disturb others with my music, so I wouldn't want to use speakers if I rode with others.

California law states no headphones in both ears, One ear is legal.

[JuneHawk]

I live in Florida and it's flat, that climb would have killed me!

On the other hand, what a beautiful road! Roads down here (South Florida) are ugly and boring. We seriously lack in the landscape department.

[luv2climb]

I live in Florida and it's flat, that climb would have killed me!

On the other hand, what a beautiful road! Roads down here (South Florida) are ugly and boring. We seriously lack in the landscape department.

I feel for cyclists living in Florida. The lack of hills, high humidity, hurricanes, and reports from cyclists on other forums that Florida is not that cycling-friendly would drive me nuts. Florida also makes it illegal to listen to music even in one ear.

I hope for your sake that it's not as bad as what I've read on other cycling forums.

[luv2climb]

Well, I just got off the phone with a CHP sergeant from the Placerville office. He said no laws were broken, but if I had called 911 right after it happened they may have been able to patrol the area and catch him driving recklessly. Of course, when it happened I didn't have the license plate number. I didn't get that until I got home and played the video on my computer multiple times before uploading it to YouTube.

This incident has caused me to start recording all my rides, not just the climbing rides. I've only been recording two days, but since I live in a major metropolitan area I've captured interesting footage both days.

Here's a homeless man singing to me as I ride past. I see him around the neighborhood all the time. He's always very friendly, and if I happen to have any empty drink bottles or cans with me I give them to him.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0QsD8lgz4s

Here's a very paranoid pedestrian at a red light accusing me of doing something to him behind his back simply because I pushed the button to get a walk signal to cross the street (I was riding with a disabled friend who uses a wheelchair). He was armed with a stick, so I was watching his hands very closely, ready to take evasive action if necessary.

In hindsight, I think I probably shouldn't have told him he was being recorded, as it seemed to escalate the situation. Luckily me and my friend were able to escape unharmed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6zJ8hwsa4o

[Susan]

Hey luv2climb, I love steep ascents too, only I do them on my MTB most of the time. Looking at your data, I seem to have done some similar rides last week on my vacation, but don't own a camera to share. I'd love to go for a ride and find some climbs with you, but sadly I live nowhere near you Maybe if you come for a vacation someday - we sure have enough hills over here

[luv2climb]

Hey luv2climb, I love steep ascents too, only I do them on my MTB most of the time. Looking at your data, I seem to have done some similar rides last week on my vacation, but don't own a camera to share. I'd love to go for a ride and find some climbs with you, but sadly I live nowhere near you Maybe if you come for a vacation someday - we sure have enough hills over here

Hi there! Always nice to hear of others who enjoy climbing.

[luv2climb]

OK, here's my first successful attempt at using DashWare GPS overlay software. I still had the raw files from last weekend's climb, so I made a slightly shorter version of the video with speed, heart rate, altitude, and percent grade readouts. I made a simple text readout for the HR, MPH, and altitude readouts. For the percent grade readout I used the default guage since it's not too imposing. I didn't want to distract people from the scenery too much. Another reason for the simple readout is that it is much easier to read at lower resolutions and smaller screen sizes than the fancy default guages, none of which had the combination of readouts I desired anyway.

Here's the updated video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86ooHBgr90Q

[lisathew8lifter]

Wow you're my hero and I mean that! My hubby and I rented bikes in sonoma and road to napa, taking trinity road and dry creek road. This looks a lot like that. We live in mn and I was not prepared for that type of climb. I am also petrified of heights! You have to be one awesome cyclist in amazing shape to have done this I walked my bike at least 1.5 miles of the 3 mile climb)!

[jelee1311]

Hi luv2climb you are awesome! My dad lives in Auburn and I know right where this hill is. I live in Washington state but we come down to visit a lot. Have you ever done the Auburn Century?I looked at the route from this year and it looked amazing,I'm not a big climber yet but DH is. I was just thinking we might have to throw that ride into next years vacation. Any idea if any shops rent bikes around your area? Id rather not fly with my bike right now. Wow keep up the impressive climbs and thanx for posting videos.

[ShubieGA]

luv2climb - you are inspirational! I can only hope one day to do one of the GA gap rides. You provide something to aim for!

[luv2climb]

Wow you're my hero and I mean that! My hubby and I rented bikes in sonoma and road to napa, taking trinity road and dry creek road. This looks a lot like that. We live in mn and I was not prepared for that type of climb. I am also petrified of heights! You have to be one awesome cyclist in amazing shape to have done this I walked my bike at least 1.5 miles of the 3 mile climb)!

luv2climb - you are inspirational! I can only hope one day to do one of the GA gap rides. You provide something to aim for!

Thank you. We seem to have a lot of 3 mile climbs around here. The climbs I did today were 3 miles each too. The first one was super steep! Thread will be posted momentarily.

Hi luv2climb you are awesome! My dad lives in Auburn and I know right where this hill is. I live in Washington state but we come down to visit a lot. Have you ever done the Auburn Century?I looked at the route from this year and it looked amazing,I'm not a big climber yet but DH is. I was just thinking we might have to throw that ride into next years vacation. Any idea if any shops rent bikes around your area? Id rather not fly with my bike right now. Wow keep up the impressive climbs and thanx for posting videos.

I've never done an organized ride. I think the Auburn Century might be the one that has an optional time trial up Iowa Hill Road, which is the climb I did today. I may be wrong though.

I don't know if any shops here rent bikes. The one in Old Sacramento only rents heavy cruiser type bikes like Worksmans. I haven't seen any climb-ready bikes in there.

I know there are several shops in Lake Tahoe that rent bikes, as I've seen them when I've ridden my own bike down the main drag.