This started out as a lovely ride as you can see below. Zero traffic once we turned left onto this quiet road along the creek. There was even some water in the creek at times. We kept wondering why nobody else was cycling out here on a sunny Sunday?
We would soon find out!
Heather had noted a bit in one description of this ride that claimed there was a 17% grade but we discounted that and cruised along, chatting away....until we hit "the wall" as they call it. We should have looked HERE before!
We DID see one cyclist coming down who warned us just as we reached the first steep section. 10% was pretty common, then we started to see (and feel!) 15% before a section just after the above photo at 19%! Our legs said there was more but the GPS unit only measures these things as long as you keep up a minimum speed - which we weren't.
Thank gawd it was only about two miles of this to the top! Since we have pretty much zero fitness this time of year, we proved that "gearing and attitude" are pretty much all it takes to climb like this...but it's DECEMBER and we really didn't need to be doing anything this crazy.
Most simply ride back down from the top, but we donned our vests and headed down the other side towards Highway 46. This part was again very pleasant, but perhaps not worth the boring return on 46? We either slogged along up 5-6% grades with traffic whizzing past or sat on our bikes coasting down at 40+ kph, with traffic again whizzing past at only a slightly smaller speed difference.
Eventually we reached the coast and Highway 1 back to Cambria where the BBQ was again fired up, this time with a pair of meaty pork chops following some spicy pasta.
I think we'll need an easier day tomorrow!
No comments:
Post a Comment