North East USA riders: Steveyo's challenge for Mt. Greylock climb

[rolandisimo]

Just don't let your daughter pass you on her 2 wheels!

Originally Posted by steveyo

Mine's 9:29. I'll be trying to catch up!

[AnimalCage]

SPOILER ALERT: Roland won. Steve was close behind.

I, however, achieved my first DNF! Coincidentally, its also my first race I knew I wasn't even close to being prepared for this.

The first two miles are steep. 14 - 17% grade in parts. A few flats, but mostly uphill, and very steep. I walked the steepest parts. By the time I made it to Notch Rd, my legs were blown. I kept going for a bit, but started to UPD every 100 ft or so. This was at about 2.5 miles. There was no going the next 6 miles. So I thought it would be fun to try to ride down the same 2.5 miles. That was fun! Again, I had to walk the steeper parts.

Let's get the excuses out of the way. 24" tire, ok. 127mm cranks, not so great for steep inclines. And I haven't complained about this in a while, but the 200mm seat post is way too short for me, and I lost a lot of strength having to stand on the steeps. I've only been riding for 7 months. Anything else?

The bigger reason I didn't make it is lack of preparation. This ride hasn't been near the top of my priority list, and I didn't put in the time and effort necessary to achieve success.

Overall, I had a great time! Seeing Steve and Roland is always great. The ride itself was every bit the challenge and more than I thought it would be. The workout blasted my legs to oblivion. And simply participating in a race was a great experience. The bike riders were all encouraging, nothing but positive comments from everyone. And the weather was perfect, to boot.

I'm not going to beat myself up over a poor performance. It is what it is. I'm looking forward to the next race, whatever that will be. In the mean time, I will ride my Club in my usual fashion, with hope that the budget allows for better equipment in the not-too distant future.

[cliffhirsch]

Great effort. Sounds seriously steep. Wish I could have accompanied your walking, but my dnf started before the race even began. Out of commission with shin splints.

[rolandisimo]

It was a beautiful sunny day on beautiful Mt Greylock. This is a well organized race with 250 bikers, swag and cash for the winners, and free beer for everyone at the bottom - nice!

I did win the (3man) unicycle division, with Steveyo pretty close behind. However, I did not break the record of 1:07:22 that Eric set last year - damn that was fast! I was about a minute behind. Allen picked a tough one for his first-ever race (and practically his first climb up a hill) and now has a solid goal for next year (I hope). Steveyo raced pretty fast, and was only about 2min behind me on his 29er guni.

I rode my 26er guni with 150 cranks. The guni was certainly great for the few flatter sections where I was able to shift up, and me failing to break the record even with this advantage shows just how fast Eric went last year.

I rode 150 cranks with some small toe clips. I put these on a week ago. I'm not sure they really made a difference. They do push my foot back a bit from my normal riding position so Ill probably get rid of them. I also think this race would have been better with shorter cranks on my 126.

This is a time-trial style race with starts every 30sec, meaning none of us unicycles saw each other, and we all had to set the pace ourselves. I've had some muscle cramping problems lately so took it a little easy on some of the harder climbs, too easy it seems. By the end I still had plenty in the tank but had lost too much time on Eric's record, and couldn't make up the time difference.

here's my GPS track from the race

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/113456886

ro

[steveyo]

This race took place on an unbelievably beautiful mountain on an unbelievably beautiful day.

As usual, I have a lengthy write-up for this race. You don't have to read it all - I won't be hurt.