What an experience this year’s Mount Washington Hill Climb Bicycle Race was! Unlike 2007, when the race was canceled due to high winds (70+ mph), sleet & temps in the low 30’s, racers were showered with hot & humid temps with clear skies. Rising around 6am, I cooked up so oatmeal using the coffee maker in the hotel room while Amy slept in. After breakfast we rolled out to for an obligatory iced coffee at Dunkin Donuts and off to the Mount Washington Auto Road we drove. On the 30 minute drive, we couldn’t believe how warm and humid it was. Not too mention there wasn’t a cloud in the sky.
We arrived at the base of the auto road and it was already popping with action. Riders were setting up on their trainers, eating, joking or riding around to get out pre-race jitters. I got kitted up and my gear ready. Before I headed out for my warm-up ride, I bided Amy and good ride up the mountain and she wished me a great race. I then pedaled across the street to the café and looked up the mountain. From where I was standing on my bike, along with many others, you could see the sunlight reflecting off car windows all the way up. This when I begin to wonder what the hell I am doing. So what if the course is 7.6 miles all uphill, gaining 4,727 feet in elevation, averaging around 12% with the final 150 feet of the race a staggering 22% grade. Oh well, no sense in giving up now.
A beast of a course...all suffering.
As I lined up at the start line, I put my iPod on & waited for my heat to start. The top notch riders start time was 8:35am, mine 8:40am. While at the start line, I was already sweating profusely. It was hot & humid at the base with the sun baking the riders assembled. The rising temperatures will be a problem for all the riders. Riding a bicycle uphill generates a lot of body heat and riding at speeds between 3 and 9 mph, you’re not going to cool down.
The countdown starts for my heat and off goes the cannon. Away I go in a large group. At this point, this is probably the fastest anyone will go all day, since it is flat for 100 yards or so until the road starts pitching up. As I pass the toll house, there was nearly a crash as riders jockeyed for position. How bad would that suck…crashing at the start of the race!
As the road tilted skyward, I settled into a nice rhythm and felt good. I was getting hot fast, but I wasn’t too worried, the shade of the trees were doing nicely at keeping the temps reasonable, even though it was rising fast. As I approached about ½ mile into the race I heard a strange sound from my bike, which I thought that was the derailleur was slightly out of adjustment. However, that wasn’t the case. Nearly a second after I thought that, my chain broke. I unclipped so I wouldn’t fall over and I couldn’t believe what happened.
I know how this feels.
I was off to the side of the road, looked down at the broken chain and let out of torrent of swears and looked down. What was I going to do? Here I am ½ mile in and my chain f@#$%&* broke! To add insult to injury, I didn’t have my tool kit with me. Riders going by shouted out everything from encouragement to “oh man that sucks” to “you put out some torque!” I walked up bike in one hand and chain over the shoulder to a “level” part. This level part was only 5% or so. Well, that’s what my cycling GPS said. One rider going by yelled out to me “what happened” as he approached. I said “chain broke.” This handed me a master link, but it didn’t work. It was a 10 speed link and my chain is a 9 speed. Yes, this made all the difference in the world. All my squeezing couldn’t get the links to lock into place.
The mountain claims another.
Another rider approached and saw my dilemma and had a chain tool! Yeah! As the rider rode away he said his name and “I’ll see ya at the top.” As I started to work on my chain, every rider was now on the road and had already gone by. As of that moment I was dead last. It took more time than I thought to fix the chain. As I was fiddling with it & very badly I might add, a race official pulled up and asked what happened. I told her, she took down my race number and asked if I was going to abandon the race. I looked at her and said “Hell no, I’ll carry the bike all the way up if I have to!” About 30 seconds after I said that, a rider rode down the road, chain in his hand. He gave up.
The race official radioed to see if the mechanic was still at the base, but he had already left. She then radioed my race number and stated that I was not abandoning the race. As I was fiddling with the chain and tool. A couple of people walking down the road stopped to help. These guys were cyclists and helped me fix the chain. God bless them for their help!
I lost nearly ½ hour due to the chain breaking With the chain fixed, off I went, dead last with the temperature rising fast. Anger and adrenaline got me about ¾ mile up the road before the heat started to get to me. Sweat was pouring off my nose like a river and I was suffering like a dog. As I climbed I started to see riders in front of me. I slowly picked off riders, who were suffering from the heat. Even though I was still in the tree line, shade was at a premium, sun bearing down and little wind. Thankfully, I brought 2 water bottles with me.
Race winner Phillip Gaimon on the 22% grade.
Around mile 4 (I think) I was out of the tree line and a breeze finally crossed my body. It was refreshing, even though I was still sweating bullets as I continued to turn the pedals, slowly passing riders here and there. The views going up are beautiful and looking around does take the mind off the pain & suffering for brief moments. Entering into the hard-packed dirt section, I could see what looked like a rider down on the side of the road. As I got closer, the rider was lying prostrate on the ground with race officials over him. This rider bonked and overheated. Thankfully the medics were on the way and the officials were tried to cool his core temperature down with water on the back of the neck and on his jersey. If I had an extra gel pack I would have given it to him, but I was out.
This guy was nuts!
As I got closer and closer to the finish, the dropping temperatures made riding more bearable, even though I was suffering. My morale boosted as I crossed the 7 mile and 6,000 feet markers, not too mention the people lining the roads cheering you on. I just kept my head down and pushed as hard as I could without blowing up.
Me, about ready to hit the 22% section before the finish.
On the 22%, praying that I don't fall over.
The truly hardest part of the race is the last 150 feet of the race. It’s a reverse “S” bend and a cruel 22% gradient. The steepness causes riders to fall over because they are so tired from the ride, they cannot generate enough speed to overcome gravity. Amy took a lot of pictures of riders nearing the finish. As I approached the final stretch all I could think about was not falling over and finishing as hard as I could. I could hear people yelling my number out, words of encouragement and telling me stay to the outside of the bends, where it is a tad less steep. While going up this last section, I felt strong, but I could also feel gravity fighting me. The front wheel wanted to come off the ground and if it did I would have gone ass over teakettle. Thankfully, it didn’t and when I rode through the last bend, I clicked down two gears and sprinted to the finish line.
Almost there...
Crossing the finish line.
Crossing the line brought great joy, especially seeing my girl Amy at the finish line cheering me on. I felt so much stronger than last year’s race. Too bad my official time was worse than last year’s, but that’s what happens when your chain breaks. At least I didn’t finish dead f@#$%# last. However, that doesn’t matter; any rider who finishes this race is someone special. This is one of the toughest (if not the toughest) bicycle hill climb race in the country. Congratulations to all who dared to step up to the line. A special thanks to Larry the tool guy, you saved my race and a very special thanks to my girlfriend Amy…you’re the best babe! Until next time…Aloha!
