Deej
Maximum Pace
- Oct 13, 2007
- 1,018
- 150
So I climbed Wada-toge from the east side today for the first time. I've attacked the hill from the west side countless times, but never from the east side. Many of you already know that the west approach is longer with an easier gradient (though still 12% in places), while the other side is shorter and steeper, with an average gradient of over 10%.
This hill is somewhat of a mecca for local cyclists looking to get in some climbing without having to ride too far into the mountains. For me, it's where I go if I don't have the time for a longer ride. You could say it's my "home" mountain.
At the base of the climb, I asked a cyclist where the "official" starting point was, as this is a famous time trial destination and it looked like he was preparing to have a go at it. He pointed to the bus stop area, so I walked my bike over and did a couple quick stretches and tried to prepare my mind for about 20 minutes of suffering. I watched as a different cyclist set his computer at zero and pedal off with a look of determination. About two minutes later, I also reset my computer and pushed off.
It started out relatively mild for the first, say, three-four hundred meters, then quickly got steep. I did a lot of climbing out of the saddle to muscle up the steeper parts and tried to keep a steady cadence on the flatter bits. I wasn't feeling 100% due to a head cold that has been plaguing my family for the past couple weeks (I've got an excuse for everything), but my legs felt strong. Still, I had difficulty establishing anything resembling a rhythm, and tried to just power my way up instead of smoothly spin. About 200 meters from the top, I spotted the guy who started before me. I tried to catch him, but he summited before I was able to dazzle and awe him with my astonishing climbing powers.
In the final 20 meters, I pressed my computer button to switch the display mode from "distance" to "time." It was under 17 minutes, but not by much. As I reached the finish line, my clock read 17:03. While I was happy to make it under 18 minutes, I was really hoping to go sub-17. So close. Dang, I was tempted to ride down and try it again, but I would certainly have been even slower.
So fellow TCCers, who is going to be the first to crack the 17-minute mark?
Deej
This hill is somewhat of a mecca for local cyclists looking to get in some climbing without having to ride too far into the mountains. For me, it's where I go if I don't have the time for a longer ride. You could say it's my "home" mountain.
At the base of the climb, I asked a cyclist where the "official" starting point was, as this is a famous time trial destination and it looked like he was preparing to have a go at it. He pointed to the bus stop area, so I walked my bike over and did a couple quick stretches and tried to prepare my mind for about 20 minutes of suffering. I watched as a different cyclist set his computer at zero and pedal off with a look of determination. About two minutes later, I also reset my computer and pushed off.
It started out relatively mild for the first, say, three-four hundred meters, then quickly got steep. I did a lot of climbing out of the saddle to muscle up the steeper parts and tried to keep a steady cadence on the flatter bits. I wasn't feeling 100% due to a head cold that has been plaguing my family for the past couple weeks (I've got an excuse for everything), but my legs felt strong. Still, I had difficulty establishing anything resembling a rhythm, and tried to just power my way up instead of smoothly spin. About 200 meters from the top, I spotted the guy who started before me. I tried to catch him, but he summited before I was able to dazzle and awe him with my astonishing climbing powers.
In the final 20 meters, I pressed my computer button to switch the display mode from "distance" to "time." It was under 17 minutes, but not by much. As I reached the finish line, my clock read 17:03. While I was happy to make it under 18 minutes, I was really hoping to go sub-17. So close. Dang, I was tempted to ride down and try it again, but I would certainly have been even slower.
So fellow TCCers, who is going to be the first to crack the 17-minute mark?
Deej