If there are any takers, I plan on leaving Newbury Harbor at about 10-10:15 to head out 103, climb Kearsarge Valley road as far as I can make it, turn around and come back. All told 45 miles. If its hot, jump in the lake and have an ice cream.

If you want a longer ride meet at Newbury on your bikes. If someone has done this climb post so I know what to expect ( do you have to pay at the toll booth? )

PJ

PJ,

I have done this ride on a number of occasions. Tina and I used to live about 4 miles from toll booth. Most often I have not been required to pay the toll ... but every so often I have. I have some times in the archives of my training logs if you are interested. I know that some of the best times I have heard of (not mine) hover at just over 20 minutes.

The first third of the climb is the hardest. Then it is a very nice ascent with an alpine feel. One of the reasons I have not ridden up it more is that the decent is always tough because of how much braking is required.

I am racing in Providence, RI on Sunday ... so I will not be able to join you.

Chris

I'm interested in that. Are you driving to Newbury Harbor or riding there? Does anyone know how much the toll is incase we need money?

Ryan

Where is that climb timed from start and finish? Good luck in the city of "no laws". Providence and Springfield, Mass in my college days, had no laws, I swear.

PJ

I am driving over to Newbury Harbor and pedaling from there. Would love company.

I am bringing 10 bucks, but it is probably free or much less, or I will turn around and come home.

It is amazing how quick and often plans change, ask Ryan. Looks like I will be riding with you tomorrow morning. I will probably drive over in my van since I will be in a bit of a hurry when we get back.

See you at Newbury Harbor at ~10 tomorrow morning.

-- Ken
 
"If you brake, you don't win." Racer Mario Cipollini

Well that was an interesting ride. PJ, Mark, Ken, and myself, left Newbury Harbor and smoked down 103 to Warner averaging over 25 mph to the base of Kearsarge Mountain Rd in under 30 minutes. The climb was a different story, although I think all did well for a first ascent me being the caboose in 29+ minutes and everyone else considerably faster than that.

500+ vertical from Warner to the Tollbooth then 3.5 miles with 1510 vertical to the top, starting with the first mile over 11% grade and finishing the last 2.5 miles with just over 6% grade for a total of 8% grade for the whole 3.5 miles.

I added the Kearsarge Climb to Local Loops at: [url]http://www.team-pinnacle.org/local-loops/loop.php?loopID=249®ion=9&sport=1[/url]

Ken also posted pictures on the Gallery at: [url]http://www.team-pinnacle.org/gallery/view_album.php?set_albumName=kearsarge07[/url]

PJ any idea what my exact time was on the climb, I'd like to add that to LL.

Ryan

The ride out was great, we hammered. I guess that Mark and PJ had a nice ride while Ryan and I pulled much longer than we should have.

The climb started good, but I was a little discouraged when I looked at PJ's cadence and he was spinning a few revs faster than me, but going the same speed. His 27 is a little easier than my 25, but ohh well. So then PJ was off leaving me in the dust. I just kept pushing through all the pain looking down at my bike computer waiting for it to get closer to 3.5 miles. After a little while longer Mark caught up with me and passed. Our conversation consisted of me saying "This climb is almost hard enough to make me wonder if its worth it." His reply was "Its worth it" and then he motored on. There were a couple scenic pulloffs that gave me a false sense of a finish. I came on the first, got all excited that I made it, and then realized there was more climbing. I got to the second and almost decided that it looked like a good summit to me. Then I told my brain to shut up and my legs to keep going. I finally made it in just over 27 minutes. After that, everything went downhill for me. I had a flat at the base on the way back, then I had another flat a ways after I89, then I had another flat about 2 minutes later and decided to just walk it till someone could get back to pick me up.

All in all, the day was alright. The ride out was fun, the climb was painful yet satisfying and everything else sucked, for me atleast.

-- Ken
 
"If you brake, you don't win." Racer Mario Cipollini

Ken's comments about the paceline on the way over to Warner and the climb up Kearsarge provide good opportunities for a few thoughts about paceline riding and gear selection. These are not necessarily a direct reaction to Ken's comments ... but rather some things I have been thinking about recently while riding with some of you.

Warming Up - Be selfish about warming up! Don't let anyone else goad you into riding faster than your aerobic system is ready for early in any ride. If you know the ride is likely to go hard from the get-go ... then either sit at the back for a while or try to warm-up before hand. I find that it takes me 30 minutes or so to warm up these days.

Paceline Riding - On more than one occasion on a local ride, I have been amazed to hear someone say *nice pull* to someone after that person has done a monster pull of 4-5 minutes. I tend to want to ask that person *what are you thinking*. It is easy to fall into a mode where you think that by taking the longer pulls you are helping the group more. In fact, it is more likely that the pace will be more consistent and satisfying for everyone involved if people take shorter pulls. With 4 or more riders in the paceline, I cannot think of any circumstance where I would want to take a pull of longer than 1 minute. When people take longer pulls, the ride becomes more of an interval workout (say ... 2 minute effort and a 6 minute rest) and people get to the front of the line fresh and ready to flex their muscles. It is easy to get stuck in the mindset that the paceline is a competition ... but it should be much more of a cooperative effort. One way I think of it is that I want to be sure that I could respond to an attack at the end of one of my pulls. If that requires me to take a shorter pull than everyone else ... that is what I do. Another gauge I use is my heartrate ... I prefer that my heartrate not drop more than 10 bpm while I am in the draft. If it does, than I try to encourage people to take shorter pulls at a slightly faster speed. Another thing is that the leader of the paceline should pull off (preferrably on the traffic side of the paceline) instead of waiting for the next person to pass them.

Gear Selection - You get to choose what gears you are going to run on your bike. For me, I run an 11-23 almost exclusively. Many guys on my team run an 11-21 ... trading the 23 for an 18 ... but I find that for riding around here the 23 comes in handy on many rides. If I was to go on Ryan's Sir Climbs Alot ride or go up Ascutney or Kearsarge, I would put on my 12-27 ... sacrificing the 11 for the 27 and trading the 23 for the 24. This lowers the top end a little, but makes sustained 10%+ climbs much more pleasant. Choose wisely and then figure out how to best use the gears you have ... instead of lamenting the ones you don't.

Chris

That is great information Chris. Sounds like you have been doing this for a few years. :D

I think we should make an "Ask Chris" forum. :wink:

-- Ken
 
"If you brake, you don't win." Racer Mario Cipollini

I think the ask Chris section is a great idea. You might not think so at times Chris, but we all really appreciate your experience and thoughts on this stuff. I can definitively say this for myself & Ken, both being relative infants in cycling, it is very helpful. Don't get discouraged if you don't see immediate change in the Team Pinnacle style thou, some of us, namely myself, don't always learn the easy way. None the less it is very helpful to hear it from you and to know what the right way is, even if we choose not to follow it from time to time.

It was not so long ago, I had a hard time just holding onto a Team Pinnacle pace line on fun group rides (and yes this still happens) but it is good for my mental state to be able to get out in front and pull long and fast for a change, makes me realize I must be doing something right overall even if I'm not at the moment, which is frequently evident as soon as I try and get back on the end on the line.

It is also very interesting to start fully understanding the differences physiology makes, what zones one operates most efficiently in, and surprising yourself as to what you really can do.

Ryan

p.s. keep the comments coming Chris.