Torture

We all have our personal bete noirs when it comes to rides. Mine is Black Mountain or Mont Noir if you will. It's an hour or so's riding from Santa Margarita so you're plenty warmed up by the time you get there. It's 7 long miles from turn off to top. Every time I've been up it has been memorable. I've failed to summit as often as I've made it. It's epic. It starts with a few miles of gentle rise. You have to cross a couple sandy dry washes which sets the poor surface tone. You then have a couple more miles of steady climbing which can mostly be done seated. The road is narrow and always has sand and gravel. At the first ridge it gets nasty. There's a section with 20-25% grades that has really bad surface as well so you're grunting and juking your way trying to keep the rear wheel from slipping out from under you as you suffer. There's several more short steep ascents on the ridge before the final ramps. This last section around the summit mountain is pure hell. It's very steep and the wind can be quarrelsome. If it's a hot day you're in trouble by this point as the exertion overwhelms your capacity to cool. One summer morning I had to get off the bike and sit in the shade of a bush until I stopped seeing spots. This one is only climbed for the satisfaction of the top as the ride back down has to be done slowly and cautiously unless you've got a death wish.
I did this yesterday, and it was one of the days I reached the top. Both my left knee and my shoulders were complaining loudly, but I ignored them. Even though I was very sore afterwards and still am weary today it is immensely satisfying to slay this beast of a climb.

Paris Roubaix vs. SLO Roubaix

A comparison of sorts though truly Tom Boonen's performance in the 2012 PR was incomparable as has been his racing all spring. One race is in France and is the "Queen of the Classics" the other is in San Luis Obispo an is a fun club ride/race. One takes 6 hours of suffering to complete the other about 4 hours. The French version has roughly 20 sections of atrocious pave, the central coast version has a gravel climb and descent of about 3.5 miles each time and a gravel road section a few miles long. Total length of the Paris Roubaix well over 200K, while the length of SLO Roubaix is barely 100K. Still we had as much fun as possible. Here's how my SLO Roubaix went. I dropped my chain at the start of the climb early in the ride, and hence had to chase the group up the hill. I managed to catch and pass 3 or 4 of the sixteen riders with much effort. Then some pretty hard pace-lining on the flats to the Las Pilitas climb. This section sucked for me. I was on my touring bike with cyclo-cross tires. Everyone else was on road tires. I felt like I'd brought a knife to a gunfight as they say. I was dead last and dead by the top of this climb. Then a downhill to the gravel road. I entered the gravel first and really put the hammer down. Here my bike choice seemed genius and I ended up in the front group of four. I finished this section 2nd but could have easily won it if I'd know where the gravel ended. Lost my front wheel twice in the same corner, but somehow managed to keep it upright. From Pozo we climbed back up - I wasn't last here -somewhere in the middle. Then ferocious pace on the rolling flats back to Santa Margarita. That was hard and I eventually snapped despite repeated pushes from Tyler. Then back down the grade where I finally finished the section first. Once again I entered the dirt road first and really bombed it. I was solo till the bottom flatter section where Tyler caught me. I kept pace with him and came around at the last moment to hit the pavement first. A good day totally spent by the end.

Club riding

I now have enough basic fitness to show up for the faster club training rides, which are races by any other name. The fact that that they are "open category" means that I'm riding against a motley bunch mostly younger, stronger and faster. Yesterday, I went to my first Tuesday night ride. About 20 folks showed up. In some ways it is harder to do these rides than races. In a race once you're dropped from the front group you gradually dial back your effort and settle into your own pace. So you are only going at full tilt for as long as you can hold the pace. With a club ride the group stops at designated points and you are then forced pack up to the group pace. Last night was a perfect example. I was the first one shed once the group started attacking on the rollers on Orcutt. I did, however keep my head down and the pressure on the pedals so that I managed to catch and pass three riders before the regroup. The second section I felt better and actually pegged back a couple groups who went off the front. The climb felt OK until the top when the pace went up. I finished about 10-20 seconds back. The pace line back into town against the headwind was very ragged and the constant surging finally snapped my string. I rode in easy for the last 20 minutes or so. If I do very many of these I will be getting stronger for sure.

bicycling in LA

It has been several years since I've cycled in LA, and even then I launched from upper Topanga into the Santa Monica Mountains, which is hardly typical metro LA. Last week I did a "real" LA ride starting in Marina Del Ray near the Venice border and making my way north on PCH to the upper reaches of Malibu. I am a very experienced road rider, and consider myself reasonably courageous when it comes to my cycling, but LA is one tough mama. The surface roads are not well equipped for bicycles unless they're actual designated bike routes, and the drivers are aggressive in the extreme. You only have to ride a bike in LA to truly understand the meaning of car culture. The density and speed of the traffic is another mitigating factor as well. By the time I'd finished my three hour ride the muscles in my upper back and shoulders were sore from the tension not the exertion. It's not something I'd want to deal with day in and day out. It's a mark of how dedicated I'm feeling this year that I even did this ride.