Sunday's Climbfest (pics & video)

[luv2climb]

After several weekends in a row of rain, we finally got a break yesterday. Since I hadn't been able to do any real climbing since March 11, I made this ride a good one! I explored several roads in and around Coloma in El Dorado County.

First up was Cold Springs Road. I read that this is a steep sufferfest climb, and it definitely lived up to its reputation. It also made me live up to my "freighttraininguphill" nickname really well.

After riding to the end of that road, I checked out Gold Hill Road and Thompson Hill Road on the way back down Cold Springs. They were nice quiet roads, but the climbs weren't especially hard.

After descending Cold Springs Road back to Coloma, I climbed and descended Lotus Road, which I've ridden before so I knew what to expect from that climb-plenty of 10% grades and a nice smooth descent on the way back.

Twenty years ago I rode my mtb up Mt. Murphy Road, which I remember being a steep, rutted dirt road. I wanted to climb it again but I was on a road bike, so I figured I would ride to the end of the pavement and turn around.

When I got to the dirt section I noticed it wasn't rutted and I wasn't having any trouble maintaining traction, so I continued on. What a sufferfest! I made it all the way to the top without stopping, but my body finally gave out and I strained a muscle at the top of the back part of my right leg. This made any climbing on the return trip pretty painful.

Luckily there weren't any major climbs after Mt. Murphy Road. The pavement resumed at the top and I continued on to Marshall Road, which is a nice fun descent. It's a little bumpy in spots, but not scary.

5,171' of climbing in 44.29 miles: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/163988726

Here's the video. It has the climbs from Cold Springs Road, Lotus Road, and Mt. Murphy Road, and the descents on Cold Springs, plus the entire descent down Marshall Road.

As with all my videos, this one is 100% natural sound. This means plenty of suffer sounds on the climbs, so be forewarned!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MFwc1Y-IHY

Some pics. Some of these are screenshots from my ContourHD helmet cam video. More pictures here.

Sign at the top of the first steep section on Cold Springs Road. Photo taken on return trip.

Cold Springs Road 13% grade sign by freighttraininguphill, on Flickr

Orange stand on Cold Springs Road

'navel ornges' by freighttraininguphill, on Flickr

Old pickup in old garage

old pickup in old garage (closer) by freighttraininguphill, on Flickr

View from Thompson Hill Road

view from Thompson Hill Road by freighttraininguphill, on Flickr

"Heavens Gate" sign on Lotus Road

'heavens gate' by freighttraininguphill, on Flickr

"Rough steep road" warning sign at bottom of Mt. Murphy Road

'rough steep road' warning sign at bottom of Mt. Murphy Road by freighttraininguphill, on Flickr

Yes, I rode my road bike up this.

Mt. Murphy Road by freighttraininguphill, on Flickr

"Pavement Ends" sign at top of Mt. Murphy Road

'Pavement Ends' sign at top of Mt. Murphy Road by freighttraininguphill, on Flickr

[Maye]

Nice pictures!

[bluebug32]

Looks like an awesome ride and I love to hear about people who like to climb. Are you doing Strava's climbing challenge?

[luv2climb]

Thanks. No, I'm not on Strava. I heard it costs $60 a year, and I'm too cheap to pay that!

Garmin Connect no longer shows your average moving speed, which sucks. After I noticed the change, I enabled auto-pause on my Garmin and set it to 0 mph, since I've been known to drop down under 2 mph momentarily on super-steep climbs. Even so, I heard it beep a few times on Mt. Murphy Road. This was most likely due to satellite interference. I've watched my speed reading drop to 0 before as I was accelerating into a switchback while riding in a forested area.

[Trekhawk]

Great snaps!

[luv2climb]

Thanks! Here's some more footage of the dirt road climb up Mt. Murphy Road (caution heavy breathing!).

http://vimeo.com/39815183

[murielalex]

Beautiful scenery!

[bluebug32]

Thanks. No, I'm not on Strava. I heard it costs $60 a year, and I'm too cheap to pay that!

Garmin Connect no longer shows your average moving speed, which sucks. After I noticed the change, I enabled auto-pause on my Garmin and set it to 0 mph, since I've been known to drop down under 2 mph momentarily on super-steep climbs. Even so, I heard it beep a few times on Mt. Murphy Road. This was most likely due to satellite interference. I've watched my speed reading drop to 0 before as I was accelerating into a switchback while riding in a forested area.

Strava is free! Check it out.

As for the Garmin, do you have a speed sensor on your bike? That should pick up a more accurate reading anyway.

[pll]

Where is your camera mounted during those videos?

[Miranda]

Nice pics, thanks for sharing.

[luv2climb]

Strava is free! Check it out.

As for the Garmin, do you have a speed sensor on your bike? That should pick up a more accurate reading anyway.

Cool! Thanks for letting me know! I was always under the impression that it was a paid service. I'll definitely check it out now.

I don't have the speed/cadence sensor because I use my Garmin on several bikes, including my Bike Friday folding bike.

Where is your camera mounted during those videos?

It's mounted on my chest with the GoPro "Chesty" chest mount strap. I've had to do a bit of trial-and-error with the adjustment of the straps. Due to the female anatomy, my videos often end up "bouncier" than those made by male cyclists. What's cool about the videos made by male cyclists is that sometimes you can hear their heart beating.

[bluebug32]

I don't have the speed/cadence sensor because I use my Garmin on several bikes, including my Bike Friday folding bike.

FWIW, you can pair multiple sensors to one Garmin unit. I have a sensor on my cross, road and mountain bike.

[luv2climb]

I think my Edge 500 only has settings for two bikes. I have five bikes that I use my Garmin on, so that could get expensive.