Posting on the Tour de Blast, Bob asked if any of us were doing the Climb of Death up Cougar Mountain in Issaquah, WA, a climb locals refer to as “Zoo Hill”. Like an idiot, I registered, and have set about preparing for the event by doing very little training and blocking the event from my consciousness. My long-term strategy was to forget about it and then call foul later when I “realized” I had missed the event. Were it not for the fastidious planning by race organizer Joel Blatt, my plan might have worked, too. Instead, his regular email communications and updates ensured that I was perfectly aware of the fact that the event takes place August 7th, and he even convinced me to lobby for my start position.
I’ve ridden the climb in training on many occasions, and it has never approximated anything resembling “enjoyable”. It starts off steep and stays steep for the first 1.5 kilometers. About halfway up, it switches into straight sections of road that, while less steep, are painful reminders of how far you’ve got left to go. Reflecting on the number of months between me and peaking does little to reassure me that I’m ready for the climb. I haven’t even managed to reconnoiter the route and establish a race plan. Thinking about it, though, I realize it’s probably for the best, as recon will likely only result in the realization that having a plan will just make things worse.
I am, however, considering taking my Velomihottie’s climbing wheels and pumping her 19mm tires to 180psi in the hopes of reducing the amount of friction induced my my too-fat-to-climb ass. I’ve already removed one bottle cage, and I think I might remove the second; it’s not like I’m going to be taking any fluids on board. Quite the contrary: I’m hoping I don’t expunge a morning’s worth of food during the effort.
I suspect Bob might be an asshole.
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@frank
I hope you were minuting the guy behind you... top score for the pain face
Who got the shot glass?
@frankFrank, that is an awesome picture! Rule #5 has been observed. classic. I;ve never done a time trial, let alone a climbing time trial, but it looks like a blast. Wish we had something like this down here.
@frankAh! I just noticed the cycling specific eyewear tucked into the helmet...I'm assuming that was for aesthetics and that they were never worn?
Right on. What were the starting gaps? Looks like you have 1:15 into that guy to your rear, though the use of a long lens might be misleading and you could have closer to 1:30.
That is a great photo mate, all style.
Nice riding, youngster. Jayzus: I climb well for my age...
Just arrived in Boston after 24 hours on planes, trains, and automobiles. Head's woozy, but I might go looking for a bike and some hills tomorrow.
Looks like Jarvis gets the shot glass and one bonus VSP point with a tip of 13:30. I'm not sure what this will do for Frank and Jarvis' relaysh but Jarvis gets a modicum of more cred in the standings. Note that it has been stated that a sub-13 time will be posted next year. I wonder what I'm doing next August....?
Fucking great picture Frank. I've seen that face before. Most notably shredding the gnar in Chamonix. Damn you look good son. Did you change your bar tape? And nice to see you riding in the Pacific NorthWet without arm and knee warmers finally.
All you motherfuckers are awesome and true velominati.
@Marko
Actually, I think Nathan took the honors with a prediction of 13:44, unless I don't understand the game, which may be the case.
@all
Thanks to all you assholes for being so kind to me. It would be better if I had my Rule 5 Face on and actually did a fast time. Instead, it's just proof of how fat I am. The winner of the comp was the guy with the least faith in me, and even that proved too generous.
Next year, I suggest that as many of you fuckers as possible come out and do this climb. Combine it into other trips if you can. This is a great area to vacation in.
The climb is truly hard. Short, but very steep and the grade fluctuates; despite being less steep than L'Alpe, it is in some ways harder in that it has very steep ramps and elevation loss throughout.
I think the guy behind me was my 30-second man. I think I made him my 40-second man, though. He had some gas in the tank still, he hung with me when I passed him halfway up the climb. It was fun chatting with him after.
I'm still waiting for pictures of the steep hairpin. It was awful. The dude who started 30 seconds behind me came up alongside me at that turn. It was a shocker. We rode up the hairpin shoulder-to-shoulder ala Schleck/Bertie, out of the saddle, through the mist. He blew on the steepest ramp and ended up a ways down, losing something like a minute to me after that.
It was fun as shit. He and I talked for a while after, too. I forgot how fun the camaraderie is in these citizen races. There's competition, but everyone is very good-natured. My 30-second man congratulated me as I passed him, before holding on to me all the way to the top.
Sub 13 next year. By Merckx, I swear it.
Hey Frank, been out of the comp for awhile and that was a blast on the hairpin- I used to do the old brasstown bald hill tt back east and this one Kills it...Congrats on the time! Looking fwd to next year and sub 13 hell yes!
@frankI'd love to come up for it...will see where things are around that time, but it would be great to have a well-trained velominati "team" placing high in the standings...