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Out'n about... just not Climbing => Biking => Topic started by: mudworm on October 02, 2008, 03:26:31 PM

Title: 2008 Low Key Hill Climbs
Post by: mudworm on October 02, 2008, 03:26:31 PM
http://lowkeyhillclimbs.com/2008/

The first climb happens this coming Saturday on Montebello Road. I have not decided on participating yet. To explore other hill climbs than West Alpine and Old La Honda will be good for me, but I don't really feel that motivated, even though this is supposed to be very "low key".  If I see others interested, it might help motivate me. F'ueco? (And your gf?) Uber? (And Kelly?) Others? C'mon!  We can form a Mud 'N Crud team.  :D

Title: Re: 2008 Low Key Hill Climbs
Post by: F'ueco on October 02, 2008, 09:19:51 PM
I'm out this weekend. My girlfriend is going for the Furnace Creek 508, so I'm crewing (along with her brothers). That should be fun!

 I'm not about the series in general. I've been thinking of doing the winter series races put on by the San Jose Bike Club. Seems like a good way to stay motivated and fast during the off-season...
Title: Re: 2008 Low Key Hill Climbs
Post by: F'ueco on October 14, 2008, 09:24:45 PM
You guys doing Quimby this weekend? I might be interested...

Sunday I have an individual time trial of 17 miles.  :)
Title: Re: 2008 Low Key Hill Climbs
Post by: mudworm on October 14, 2008, 09:38:40 PM
I've never been there. Thinking about doing it. That's is assume Mud gets his bike fixed. 

It's only 4 miles, a perfect warm up for your 17 miler.  ;)
Title: Re: 2008 Low Key Hill Climbs
Post by: mudworm on October 17, 2008, 09:25:38 AM
F'ueco, it seems that we are skipping this one. We will be riding at Coe on Sunday, so we decide to go to the Pinns on Saturday.
Title: Re: 2008 Low Key Hill Climbs
Post by: mudworm on October 18, 2008, 07:25:45 AM
Mud needs to fix his mountain bike for tomorrow's ride, so no Pinns. We are headed to Quimby now.
Title: Re: 2008 Low Key Hill Climbs
Post by: F'ueco on October 19, 2008, 09:01:07 PM
So how did the race go?

I ended up just doing the Calaveras Loop yesterday. So 43 miles with perhaps 1300 feet of climbing. Good times...
Title: Re: 2008 Low Key Hill Climbs
Post by: mynameismud on October 19, 2008, 09:48:31 PM
Mudworm climbed the rankings up from 3rd to 2nd in the women's field.  I come up from last to just below the middle of the pack.

We need to get you and Joan to come to the races and ride for team Mudncrud in order to get us out of the basement.

Title: Re: 2008 Low Key Hill Climbs
Post by: F'ueco on October 20, 2008, 09:10:01 AM
I may do the race this weekend, since the Sunday in the SJBC series is also a hill climb (Henry Coe)...

Should be fun to race hills on consecutive days!

Joan will be out of town visiting her family, so won't be able to make this one. Perhaps Montevina the following weekend.  :)
Title: Re: 2008 Low Key Hill Climbs
Post by: F'ueco on October 20, 2008, 02:09:33 PM
(http://lh5.ggpht.com/chsjsu/SPpDp-JntPI/AAAAAAAAAhc/v2KEerlA3zA/s912/IMG_0605.JPG)

(http://photos.tow.com/photos/397014014_yUXzj-L.jpg)
Title: Re: 2008 Low Key Hill Climbs
Post by: F'ueco on October 20, 2008, 02:10:03 PM
(http://lh3.ggpht.com/chsjsu/SPpDo8L5KYI/AAAAAAAAAhM/vsGUIojuwmM/s912/IMG_0603.JPG)

(http://photos.tow.com/photos/397013120_M6wLS-L.jpg)
Title: Re: 2008 Low Key Hill Climbs
Post by: mudworm on October 20, 2008, 02:24:01 PM
F'ueco, you beat me to it. Next time, I've gotta be fast in posting pictures. That way, I get to pick the pictures and hide those with our "huh" look. But I'm glad that we were not drooling in front of the camera.  :D

I like this one slightly better.
(http://photos.tow.com/photos/397014182_yQ3Rb-L.jpg)
Title: Re: 2008 Low Key Hill Climbs
Post by: Delbomber on October 21, 2008, 07:05:14 AM
Where is guy on the Uni-cylce???
Title: Re: 2008 Low Key Hill Climbs
Post by: mudworm on October 21, 2008, 08:22:01 AM
Good question. Well, this time, the uni-cyclist was not there, but a runner was. He passed me, passed Mud, and passed 50 people in total to place the 20th.

(http://photos.tow.com/photos/397001912_TEjiJ-M.jpg)
Title: Re: 2008 Low Key Hill Climbs
Post by: F'ueco on October 23, 2008, 10:23:30 AM
Are you guys doing Bear Gulch? I'm considering it, and if you are going, it will help make up my mind!  ;)
Title: Re: 2008 Low Key Hill Climbs
Post by: mudworm on October 23, 2008, 01:27:03 PM
I need something or someone to help me make up my mind too. I read on bikeforums from someone who just rode it that "Depending on how many people show up, it could be interesting at the start. There is not a lot of room at the bottom at the private gate and there are leaves and debris all over the road which is narrow. With the grade being tough at the beginning it could be a lot of jockeying for position with potential for tires to struggle for traction with riders out of the saddle." That does not sound inviting to me. I don't like it to have people ride around me. It makes me nervous. Maybe I should go volunteer instead or just go to pinnacles to make my husband happy. Hmm....
Title: Re: 2008 Low Key Hill Climbs
Post by: mynameismud on October 23, 2008, 01:38:44 PM
I think this is a good race for mudworm.  All hill at the start.

What makes it difficult for us is the Coe Fall Circus ride is on Sunday.  One of my, and I think our, favorite places  to take the mtb's.  In addition I really want to climb down at the Pins this weekend.

Mudworm and I will talk about it tonight and then post our decision. 

If we do not do the low key climb this weekend it would be nice if you and Joan can ride with us next weekend.  Well at least at the start.  You all can wait at the top.
Title: Re: 2008 Low Key Hill Climbs
Post by: mudworm on October 23, 2008, 02:05:10 PM
A fellow road diva just pointed out to me that Mud is leading the "most improved" category in this year's low key series.
pl  rider            scores    %/week
1   Mr. Mud              2     36.04%

So if he stops right here, he can guarantee this 1st place. Last year, the most improved won it with a meager 1.75%/week.

Once a sandbagger, always a sandbagger. Hahaha... :lol:
Title: Re: 2008 Low Key Hill Climbs
Post by: mynameismud on October 23, 2008, 02:11:58 PM
DIE
[Edit: Admin's annotation -- what he meant to say was, "Dude, It's Erik!"]
Title: Re: 2008 Low Key Hill Climbs
Post by: F'ueco on October 23, 2008, 02:35:25 PM
Funny, I noticed that too...

But the Mudworm isn't far behind in those standings!  ;)
Title: Re: 2008 Low Key Hill Climbs
Post by: mudworm on October 24, 2008, 09:12:41 AM
Hey, what are you saying?  ::)

Okay, I think the plan is Bear Gulch tomorrow. F'ueco, you'll sign up on Mud 'N Crud team, right?  ;D
Title: Re: 2008 Low Key Hill Climbs
Post by: F'ueco on October 24, 2008, 12:14:36 PM
I sure will...  ;)

No performance guarantees though...  :P
Title: Re: 2008 Low Key Hill Climbs
Post by: F4? on October 24, 2008, 05:20:04 PM
Climb tomorrow and give my ass a ride down.
Title: Re: 2008 Low Key Hill Climbs
Post by: mudworm on October 25, 2008, 07:34:43 PM
We haven't seen F'ueco for too long. It showed -- we stood around chatting for two hours. That was the time we needed for the burning sensation in our throats to fade and the coughs to go away. But I have come down with a bad flu or a cold. Mud always laughs at my non-existing nose, but now it feels like it's all nose and nothing else in my face right now.  I get dehydrated just from the running nose. No fun!

F'ueco, thanks for joining the team. Big performance booster! BTW, the results (http://lowkeyhillclimbs.com/2008/week4/results.html) are up. See you next time!
Title: Re: 2008 Low Key Hill Climbs
Post by: F'ueco on October 25, 2008, 09:16:57 PM
Well, I think I could have done a lot better if I had started slower. I tried to keep up with Marty Hyland for too long and just faded away... Next time!  :)
Title: Re: 2008 Low Key Hill Climbs
Post by: F'ueco on October 26, 2008, 06:32:42 PM
I did much better today... I'll be sure to post the results when they are posted. I think my time was somewhere around 44 minutes for the 6.6 mile climb to Henry Coe (the start was at the big parking area a bit past the bridge over Anderson Lake).
Title: Re: 2008 Low Key Hill Climbs
Post by: mudworm on October 26, 2008, 08:08:03 PM
Quote from: F'ueco
I tried to keep up with Marty Hyland for too long and just faded away...
I had to look him up in the result page. Hyland, 50+, 16:31. I'll make sure to never try to keep up with this guy.
Title: Re: 2008 Low Key Hill Climbs
Post by: F'ueco on October 26, 2008, 08:34:17 PM
Yeah, he's pretty solid. I've been riding with him (and a few other guys (and Joan!) after the SJBC races. He did the Henry Coe climb in under 39 minutes today, where I was somewhere around 44!
Title: Re: 2008 Low Key Hill Climbs
Post by: mudworm on October 30, 2008, 03:00:11 PM
Rain might cancel the ride. Dan the organizer says the chance is 70%. So, I went ahead and took a 9am slot for an orthodontist appointment on Saturday.

F'ueco, if the weather holds (I hope so as many people still look forward to the ride), will you and Joan still maybe ride Montivena? BTW, I signed last week's 3rd place, Krishna, on our team too. His time on OLH is <18min. If you haven't met him, this is him on Bear Gulch:
(http://www.mudncrud.com/gallery/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=19307&g2_serialNumber=2) (http://www.mudncrud.com/gallery/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=19305) (photo by Eric Willis)
Title: Re: 2008 Low Key Hill Climbs
Post by: mudworm on November 08, 2008, 09:33:34 PM
We missed you today on Jamison Creek (http://lowkeyhillclimbs.com/2008/week6/results.html), F'ueco. I think Krishna was racing MTB at Tamarancho today. Mud 'n Crud team was represented by only Mud and Mudworm today. I placed 4th behind three fast Sisters of No Mercy, but there were only 5 women in the ride. Over all, it was a smaller turnout.  Perfect weather for riding though. We had to go to an appointment; otherwise, we would have kept riding.

(http://www.mudncrud.com/gallery/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=19312&g2_serialNumber=2) (Photo by J. Handley)

(http://www.mudncrud.com/gallery/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=19323&g2_serialNumber=2) (Photo by Garrett Lau)
Title: Re: 2008 Low Key Hill Climbs
Post by: F'ueco on November 09, 2008, 07:12:27 PM
Yeah, sorry about that!

I thought about, but just couldn't get the energy up to drive to Boulder Creek for this one...

Metcalf is somewhat possible; and Hamilton is about a 75% chance at the moment.  :D
Title: Re: 2008 Low Key Hill Climbs
Post by: mudworm on November 11, 2008, 02:53:47 PM
Metcalf this Saturday.

(http://mw2.google.com/mw-panoramio/photos/medium/5779736.jpg) (http://www.panoramio.com/photo/5779736)
(click on the link to load the page where you can click to get to the original size)
Title: Re: 2008 Low Key Hill Climbs
Post by: F'ueco on November 11, 2008, 09:35:17 PM
Metcalf is a no-go for me. We're opting for the easier option, a social ride (with the tri club) from Lexington Resevoir to Capitola and back...
Title: Re: 2008 Low Key Hill Climbs
Post by: mudworm on November 11, 2008, 09:59:34 PM
 :( We will miss you, especially Joan. It's only 1.8 miles with only one mile of real climbing. I didn't think it could get any easier than that. To make up for the short distance, we might look into extending the ride a little bit, although we do have an appointment back in San Mateo at 3pm.  I'll be in China next weekend, so this will be my last hillclimb before the Turkey Day ride (Hamilton). 
Title: Re: 2008 Low Key Hill Climbs
Post by: F'ueco on November 16, 2008, 06:52:20 PM
mudworm, I see that you still did fairly well even without Erik to chase down!

My only question is, how did Brian Baccus end up so far down in the standings? That dude is freaking strong! He's up among the leaders in the Category 1s for the SJBC race series...

60  583 Brian Baccus           San Jose Bike Club            50+                       17:39     6.12 3345  78.66

(http://lh6.ggpht.com/_GqvGlgG6Css/SR9LgQipcAI/AAAAAAAAAOg/TIvZ6ooylcE/s640/_MG_1366.JPG)
Title: Re: 2008 Low Key Hill Climbs
Post by: F'ueco on November 16, 2008, 06:56:29 PM
(http://lh4.ggpht.com/_ULyesyfEERA/SSBw9VRid6I/AAAAAAAAAQ0/8bmv7GHwyyE/s640/DSC_0060.JPG)
Title: Re: 2008 Low Key Hill Climbs
Post by: mudworm on November 16, 2008, 09:21:20 PM
I didn't think I regressed, but the event kept attracting strong female riders, so my placement kept slipping.  >:(

After getting down back to my car from the ride, I decided to go for a loop myself, which required climbing Metcalf again. That's okay, I thought to myself, "I'll just climb it for Mud."  It was a beautiful day out for a ride, wasn't it?

Maybe Brian was saving his legs for the next day?
Title: Re: 2008 Low Key Hill Climbs
Post by: mudworm on November 27, 2008, 10:47:07 PM
Neither of us wanted to get out of bed in the morning.  It was warm under the blanket and it’s the first day of our Thanksgiving long weekend.  But F'ueco said he and Joan might be there, so it would be bad form if we flaked. Finally, I exclaimed, “we might as well go and get this over with!” At that prompt, we jumped out of the bed. Once out, it was not too bad.

Actually I’d been looking forward to his ride for a while. For one, I’d never been on this side of the observatory; and it would be a long ride (18+ miles of climbing), which I liked.  It rained the day before, but in the morning, the live condition report from the observatory looked promising.

On our way to the start, I felt drowsy, still a bit jet lagged after I returned from China less that two days ago. So, we stopped to get coffee. I brought my stainless steel mug with me. Big mistake. The coffee stayed too hot to drink all the way to the start.  With the long wait in the registration line, our warmup time gradually slipped away. But one nice thing is F'ueco and Joan showed up.  This is our first time meeting Joan, but I had seen her website on her great finish at Furnace Creek 508.  F'ueco joined our Mud ‘n Crud team again and signed up for the ride.  Up we went.

It was a big group at the bottom, but it thinned out fast. For a long time, I could only see one or two riders in front of me and none behind me. I guessed most had gone ahead. I felt good on the ride, keeping my heart rate low as usual. Along the way, I made sure to turn my head to check out the view. At the bottom, we were under the clouds; gradually, we were in the clouds; and near the top we were in the sun. I was able to see the beautiful hill side and the valley below most of the way up, which made the ride even more worthwhile.

At the top, the sun went in and out of the clouds. It was very calm; however the temperature was still a little low. We got a bit chilled standing around and chatting with F'ueco and Joan. With the exertion behind him, Mud hacked away violently, which did not seem going to ever stop. We couldn't talk over his deafening coughs, so we watched him hack bending over the handle bar. F'ueco went from "please live" sympathetically to "will you live?" staring at Mud's Specialized bike. He has been battling a stubborn cold for almost two weeks. Poor guy.

I went through different climates descending the 18+ miles I just climbed going from bone chill at the top to comfortably warm near the bottom. The smooth surface and the friendly curves in the road at the lower half made descending surprisingly fun. Back at the car, both Mud and I agreed that we were happy that we got out of the bed this morning.
Title: Re: 2008 Low Key Hill Climbs
Post by: mynameismud on November 27, 2008, 11:09:44 PM
It was a good ride.  I seem to start slow.  I have not managed to figure out how those people start so fast.  Part way up the first hill I could feel my thighs burning.  I did not want to completly blow up so I backed off.  The main pack pushed on by, mudworm with them.  After that not many people passed me. 

I managed to real in mudworm then went back and forth with a few folks until the last climb.  On the last climb to the summit I felt really good and passed quite a few people.  I thought perhaps I might actually break the median point.  But after I got up there I really doubt that I did.  There were a lot of people already at the summit.

In addition a look at last years results make it look like I will be in the back half again.  Oh well.  Glad we did the ride.  I felt like I made real good time on the last climb.  Just need to figure out how to start stronger.

Was good to see Fueco and Joan.  They look good together and what a burly couple. 
Title: Re: 2008 Low Key Hill Climbs (The End)
Post by: mudworm on November 28, 2008, 09:27:23 PM
It’s over. I’m having mixed emotions about it. I’m glad it’s over because we won’t have our next Saturday tied up to a distant 3-mile ride any more, or at least until next year, but we won’t know what to do with our Saturdays now (okay, I’m joking).  Mud and I both did well. In the oveall standings (http://www.lowkeyhillclimbs.com/2008/overall/), he placed 31th out of 240 men and I stood 4th out of 39 women (note: many riders had the disadvantage of not having all three rides for the final scores). However, a few things probably contributed to our not having gotten faster times. For example:


I’d like to do better next year, but I won’t be too stressed about it. After all, we have other hobbies, such as mountain biking and climbing, that seem to take higher priorities most of the time. But a year is a long time. We will see what happens. That is, until next October.
Title: Re: 2008 Low Key Hill Climbs
Post by: F4? on November 29, 2008, 07:23:01 AM
Now that it's over, does that mean more climbing?
Title: Re: 2008 Low Key Hill Climbs
Post by: mudworm on November 29, 2008, 04:12:55 PM
That's a possibility. Mud went to Pinns today.

Following are photos taken by Josh Hadley on Mt Hamilton. I'm putting the thumbnail images here. For full sizes, click on any image to access the album.

(http://www.mudncrud.com/gallery/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=21744&g2_serialNumber=2) (http://www.mudncrud.com/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=19207&g2_page=2) (http://www.mudncrud.com/gallery/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=21739&g2_serialNumber=2) (http://www.mudncrud.com/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=19207&g2_page=2) (http://www.mudncrud.com/gallery/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=21749&g2_serialNumber=2) (http://www.mudncrud.com/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=19207&g2_page=2) (http://www.mudncrud.com/gallery/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=21754&g2_serialNumber=2) (http://www.mudncrud.com/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=19207&g2_page=2) (http://www.mudncrud.com/gallery/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=21758&g2_serialNumber=2) (http://www.mudncrud.com/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=19207&g2_page=2)
Title: Re: 2008 Low Key Hill Climbs
Post by: F4? on November 29, 2008, 10:13:35 PM
Quote
Insert Quote
That's a possibility. Mud went to Pinns today.

Chump! Diddn't want to go friday.