Conference noted::bicycle

well, i've decided to have yet another go at mt washington. am trying to figure
out whether to go in the "elite" group or not. they ask that men in the elite
group be able to do a 1:22 which i believe i can. (did 1:12 when i was 24, am 32
now but still pretty fit.) does anyone have any opinions as to whether it's
better to start in the elite group or in one starting later if you have a
choice? 

sounds like they're going to make an effort to have all the starting groups the
same size, possibly breaking up the bigger divisions and combining the smaller
ones. i asked her what size starting groups they were shooting for, "Are they
going to be closer to 20 riders or to 70 riders?". she replied "Closer to 70.".

it may be early to ask but...

does anyone have any room in a car on the way down?

     I'd opt for the elite group. It's smaller and usually goes first. 
    
     You don't have to hang around the bottom any longer than you have too.
     And... You finish first too. There's a lot of congestion to fight
     through (slow riders) in the other groups if you're not up front at
     the start.
    
      Go for it and good luck!
    
      Chip

    but if someone at the top offers to take your bike and put it in
    whatever place they put them, say NO.  It's first in, last out.  :-)
    
    ed

     Very true, they just stack them one on top of the other against the
    shed. Those tiers get 6-7 bikes deep at some points... 
    
     And always, always, always answer yes (when you cross the finish line)
    when asked, "Are you alright?"  :-)
    
      Chip

did mt wash twice in the early 80's and don't remember them taking your bike
from you at the top. you can elect to leave it where you want, no?

>     And always, always, always answer yes (when you cross the finish line)
>    when asked, "Are you alright?"  :-)
    
don't remember being asked if i was alright. what happens if you say no?

ended up not choosing the elite group. will try to get front line starting
position. if the riders are slower, hopefully i can keep them behind me. 

hi,

does anyone have any ideas as to good places to stay while doing mt washington?

yesterday went to ascutney vermont and rode mt ascutney three times. it's 3.8
miles (exactly half of mt washington) and averages around 11.7 or 11.4 depending
on whose summit elevation figures you believe. mt washington is 11.7 avg. did a
31"49 (7.2mph) a 34"10 and a 34"18 (6.7mph). used the 42x30 almost all the
way.

anyone else started getting ready yet?

     Someone in this NOTE always coordinates a chalet for a bunch of riders
     who want to stay together the day before/evening.
    
     I've been staying in Gorham (just a little north). They have a very
     good Italian restaurant in the center of town (carbo-heaven)...
    
     The place is called Tourist Motor Village. Unlike most places (at that
     time of year) they're willing to give a "one-nighter". The number
     is (603) 466-3312. It's in the center of Gorham and is probably a
     15 minute ride to the Auto-Road...
    
     Chip

thanks chip. i just called up and made a reservation for saturday night.

>yesterday went to ascutney vermont and rode mt ascutney three times. it's 3.8
>miles (exactly half of mt washington) and averages around 11.7 or 11.4 depending
>on whose summit elevation figures you believe. mt washington is 11.7 avg. did a
>31"49 (7.2mph) a 34"10 and a 34"18 (6.7mph). used the 42x30 almost all the
>way.

I did some calculations here. That's a distance of 6.13 km which at 11.4% gives
an ascension of almost exactly 700m. If you did that in 32 minutes that's a
climb rate of over 1300 m/hour. Wow! 


Rod

>I did some calculations here. That's a distance of 6.13 km which at 11.4% gives
>an ascension of almost exactly 700m. If you did that in 32 minutes that's a
>climb rate of over 1300 m/hour. Wow! 

thanks. and all in a humble 42x30. i don't anticipate being able to climb at
that rate for mt washington though. i would be very happy to equal the time i
did when i was riding 10K miles/year which is around 1:12 i think.

ps. still looking for a ride back down after the race.

have a ride down the mountain with a friend. we have space for 2 more riders and
one more bike if anyone is interested.

    	I called Ed Kross Saturday evening. He told me to come up
    	to the ski club and sleep if I wanted. I declined, since I
    	still had to borrow a camcorder, etc.
    
    	Got up at 4:30 AM Sunday and drove the 130 odd miles to the ski
    	club. Saw Joe and Amy Regan. Joe asked me if I was gonna ride.
    	I told him they'd need a crane to get me up the mountain. This
    	response was received with the expected laughter.
    
    	We drove to Mt Washington. The temp was in the mid 40s with a few
    	clouds and lots of sun. The conditions at the top were:
    
    		25 degrees F
    		40 MPH winds
    		100 mile visibility
    
    	Lot's of talk about canceling the race. I guess there was a lot
    	of frost/snow/ice on some of the sections. I saw Karol Zielonko
    	and we talked some. Lots of riders kinda milling around wondering
    	what the decision would be.
    
    	Finally, it's a go, although about one hour later than expected.
    	The drivers and cars head up. When we got to the top, it was sunny
    	and blowing hard. The weather deteriorated the longer we were
    	there. Clounds occasionally made it hard to see much of anything.
    
    	The first rider crossed the line at 1.02.40. I got Ed, Kurt, Mark,
    	Scott, and Amy Regan on film. There was one recumbent, also on
    	film, and a couple riding a tandem.
    
    	The last little section was BRUTAL. Scott and a couple of other
    	riders simply fell over because of the combination of grade
    	and slippery conditions. You'd here riders yelling, "Don't
    	stand up!"
    
    	Someone said the wind chill factor is -15 degrees F, although it
    	doesn't seem that cold. Of course, you knew it was gonna be windy.
    	I mean, the one building by the finish line was chained to the
    	ground with these huge chains.
    
    	I took Scott and Sharon down. The trip was uneventful. We passed
    	a couple of riders who were way back and really struggling.
    	It's a tough ride.
    
    	When we got to the bottom, the weather was beautiful.
    
    	This was my first time to Mt Washington. I was more apprehensive
    	about the drive up and down than I should have been. My '84
    	Saab with 185K miles didn't miss a beat.
    
    	One interesting note from my perspective is that they asked
    	us drivers what kind of cars we drove. The fella said they
    	wouldn't allow certain kinds of cars up (for some reason,
    	probably gained through long experience).
    
    	Scott

    	Since I'd never been to such a hill climb, I was amazed at
    	how various riders setup their drivetrains.
    
    	Ed had a 26-tooth on the front and a 12-18 on the rear. He
    	also had a 24-inch front tire up front, so his bike looked
    	a lot stranger than normal. It appeared that a lot of folks
    	had a similar gearing setup.
    
    	Scott

	This year's Hill Climb was a bit more of a challenge than last 
years.  Strong winds and low temperatures added to the challenge of the Hill.
The start was delayed for about an hour while we waited for ICE to melt
up the mountain.  Guess that should have been a sign.  The guy shouting
out instructions said that at last report there were 40 mph winds up top
with a wind chill of -25 degrees.  Luckily I have no brains so that was not 
a problem for me!  I had on shorts and a short sleeve jersey!

	I started in the front group hoping for a top ten finish.  Needless
to say I was a bit nervous!  At the start, the leaders were in the big
ring and sprinting for position.  I just tried to stay as close as 
possible, and wait for the mountain to sort things out.  That it did.
A group (if you could call it that) of about 20ish formed to the front for
about the first mile.  Then one guy took off and about 2 others chased.
This splintered the group and strung out the (now defunct) pack.  I tried 
to count riders to see where I was at this point.  Did you ever try and count
when you can't breath and are seeing spots???  I'd get to about ten and
loose track of where I was.  Anyhow, I was close to where I wanted to be, 
and now I just had to survive.  The first 3 or so miles are "easy".  Hell,
at least they're paved!!!!  Then, once you go above the tree line, the
dirt/mud starts!  Oh, and did I mention the wind?  It was windy!  Of course,
by now I had lost track of where I was.  I had passed a couple of riders,
and one or two had passed me.  The "mud" wasn't too bad as the cars going 
up had pretty much packed in down.  Somewhere around the 4 mile mark I
looked down at my computer and saw 32:xx.  I was pretty happy with that
and thought I was on track.  

	The second half of the climb is the worst!  I don't care what
anyone says, I hate it!!  It's dirt, and it's steep, and it's windy, 
and it's cold!  What else can you ask for?  Well, the last 100 yds or 
so of the climb is at about a 22% grade.  This year, just for fun, it had
some nice ICEY sections on it.  I slipped several times and managed to 
keep my bike upright.  Quite a challenge!!  A trackstand after 7 miles
of climbing that damn hill is not what I had in mind!  Finally the finish
is in sight, and I finished in 1:09:20.  40 seconds slower than last year.
That put me in 14th place overall (5th in the Vets).  Hey, I'll take it!
Do I have a choice?

	My biggest gear for the climb was a 39x28.  I spent most of the 
first 3 or so miles in a 39x24.  I was saving the 28 for the "real" 
steep dirt still to come.  Next year for the top ten....  To be continued...

Stew

RE: <<< Note 2604.14 by BARTAB::CAMPBELL >>>

Very fine job, Stew. Very fine!
						-- Tom

>I finished in 1:09:20.

woah, most mountain goat like. congratulations stew. i wish i went that fast.

re: 24 inch wheels.

i'd never thought of that. i bet it's a good way to keep more weight on the
front wheel to combat the wheelie factor. is this why they did it? as a side
benefit they're lighter. i found that removing the set screws in the dropouts
and pulling the wheel all the way back also helps in this regard.

i started in the 2nd group (men 18-34). i staked out a good spot at the front
with the goal of minimizing time spent weaving through slower riders. within the
first eighth of a mile i was passed quite quickly by a guy standing on a pretty
high gear. i thought he either didn't know what he was in for and would blow up
or he did know what he was in for and was strong enough to do it. kept him in
sight for the first 1 & 1/2 miles but then let him go since i knew i couldn't
maintain that pace. never saw him again!

soon after he dropped me i looked back and saw no-one left from our group so i
was in second place in the second pack. i started passing elite riders about
this time. i was already hurting from trying to keep up with that guy so i
decided to keep it in the low gear (39x30) and pace myself.

hardest part mentally was that ~mile long stretch of unpaved road starting at
around 4.5 miles. it's the part that starts with this long straight stretch
where the mountain rises sharply on the right side of the road and falls sharply
on the left. you've just come above the tree line at this point. stew, i'm
guessing this was what you were saying was the hardest part. i agree. it's
steady and steep and it's far from the finish.

at some point after that stretch i passed the guy on the recumbant. he was going
surprisingly well.

i survived (that's about it) to the end with a 1:12:34. good for 25th place
overall. i'd hoped i could better my best time (put in when i was 24) of 1:11:50
but i didn't. so close. well now i've got an excuse to come back next year.

the predicted mud up to an inch deep didn't materialize and, for me, the road
conditions seemed quite good. also the wind only took me one time - on the final
22% left switchback it pushed me a couple of inches to the outside. not too bad.

at the top i sat down on a bench and who was sitting next to me speaking
spanish to some elated friends but the guy who'd dropped me. he didn't speak
english as he he'd just come from columbia. his friend said that he'd done a
1:07. he also said that he'd raced with alvaro mejia a couple of years back.
(don't know if that meant on the same team as mejia or what.) guess i was doing
good to hold on to him for as long as i did.

equipment:

 - removed
   - front D and shifter
   - 2nd bottle cage.
   - spare tire/pump

 - gearing/drive train
   - 53x39 campy record 177.5s (brand new - love 'em)
   - old cobbled together six speed freewheel. don't even know how many teeth
   are on lower 3 cogs. upper three are 23,27,30. i spent 80% of the ride in the
   39x30.
   -  regular sachs new success racing derailleur. (supposedly can only take 28
   teeth but worked fine with 30 teeth). shifters in friction mode.
   
 - tires/wheels
   - front: vittoria CG pave. rear: vittoria wet weather. both just a tad
   underinflated by normal road racing standards. tires slightly soft to the
   touch but not squishy.
   - this setup worked well. i had not a single rear wheel traction problem
   while standing. stood all the way up the 22% part.
   - regular tubular wheels. front: 32 hole, 2x, campy victory crono rim, campy
   hub. rear: 32 hole, mavic, gl330, 3x, mavic hub.
   - dropout set screws removed and wheel pulled all the way rearward.


they have a crew of people from a radio club marshalling the course. all the way
up you're never out of sight of at least one. this is a great safety feature
considering the course.

damn i love this ride. i just wish there was some way to get to ride it more
than one day a year. i'd do it again today if i could.

next stop mt greylock.

    Congrats to all the mountain goats, these are most impressive results.
    
    I do have one question, after all that hard work going up, how
    did everyone get back down ?   I don't imagine you rode, though
    those times would have been equally interesting.
    
    ...Tom  (who always prefers a descent to an ascent)
    

    	Tom,
    
    	No cyclist cycles down the mountain. Each rider gets a ticket
    	or piece of paper which s/he gives to a driver. When a driver
    	has at least two tickets, s/he can drive to the top, with the
    	understanding that s/he will bring two riders and two bikes
    	down to the bottom.
    
    	Scott

    I was another one of the "mountain goats"!  This is my third year doing
    this climb and even though I love hills (sick but true), this is still
    the most challenging thing I do every year.  I had just returned from
    biking in Italy, where everything! is a 12 percent climb (its even
    posted!) and I thought the auto road would just seem like one more
    climb to an Italian vista.  Wrong!
    
    Anyways, I was hoping to better my time last year of 1:37 (Women's
    Vets, 2nd place).  Wrong again.  Between having a cold, the wind, and
    just a general sense of not wanting to be there!, I came in 14 minutes
    slower!!  Only slightly better than my time the first year out!
    
    I felt strong the entire time but, like a lot of people, went down at
    the very top.  It's always such chaos there anyways but this year was
    worse.  People were yelling at us to get to the outside (right)
    shoulder where it was less icy.  I didn't know what all the fuss was
    about until it was too late.  It still felt good just to finish; always
    such an incredible feeling with this race.
    
    Every year, I ask my friends to give me a lobotomy if I mention doing
    this again.  But I'm sure I'll be back.  I at least have to make or
    beat 1:37 again or I won't be able to live with myself!
    
    Martha Phinney