Sequoia Century

I woke up this morning thinking I could definitely do 100 km, and maybe 100 miles, but only if someone talked me into it. And so my story goes.

The parking lots were crowded at the VA hospital and the good weather brought out a lot of cyclists. Waiting in line at the registration, the Wheely Cool jerseys made it easy to meet up with Paige and Janine. Paige is shown here looking way too cheery for 7:30am.

The course started out flat along Foothill Expressway, so here Janine and Paige are talking about the Death Ride (Janine rode it last year). It would turn out to be a popular topic throughout the course of the day, mostly due to faint similarities in difficulty of these two rides. (lots of hillclimbing)

The first climb was Steven's Canyon Rd. Slight hillclimb, nothing major.

Then we turned onto Redwood Gulch Rd. This was a very nasty, steep, straight shot up a hill. People were stopping to walk their bikes. It got my heart rate up to max, and even though it was less than 2 miles of climbing, it was difficult because there were no switchbacks, just a steep grade. In my lowest gear I was still straining just to keep moving. No pictures of the hill, too busy holding on.

Once at the top, everyone waits for their friends to recollect. Here, Janine is either really happy to be done with that hill, or she's checking out the Fremont Freewheeler (FFBC) guy's tattoos.

At the first rest stop at Saratoga Gap, we were only 17 miles into the ride, so I felt fresh, but I knew I should eat to have energy for the longer haul, if I were to go that route. I still had a 10 more miles to decide. They were serving Peet's coffee, and people were actually taking it! Whatever works for you, I guess.



At the decision point, I still felt good (only 27 miles into it) - so went with the 100mile. Paige and Janine decided the 100 mile would be "fine" with them (as opposed to the 200km) so it was nice that we could stick together. The road a got a little more interesting, as the course wound it's way towards summit road and crossed over highway 17.



This was the fun part of the ride, on a small mountain road with no cars, slightly rolling hills, and several christmas tree farms.

And as someone once said, all good things must come to an end. And for me it happened right here. We turned some corner and found ourselves in a residential neighborhood. This picture doesn't justify the grade, it was straight up, like an Evil Kineival jump. Once again, people were walking their bikes. I barely had enough time to snap this photo before I had to put the camera away and start pulling on the cranks.

The cruelty of the course designers didn't stop there. We snaked up three or four of those motorcyle jump ramps winding through the posh neighborhood. After already maxxing my hear rate once, I was somehow unable (or unwilling) to push as hard anymore, so my going was slow. It actually seemed more difficult to go slow up a hill and just push all of my leg force into each stroke. After the last "wall" I felt like my legs had no more power (ATP perhaps?) so I took a Clif shot (energy gel) so I wouldn't fatigue later on. And when we thought it was over, the arrows pointed us onto a paved hiking path through a dense forest.



Strewn with pine needles and loose dirt, the dark, narrow pathway was not only scary, but difficult to ride on. Where the grade was steep on the path, A woman in front of me fell over from losing traction while climbing out of the saddle. Since the lunch stop was nearby, I kept making comments to myself about there being "no free lunch in this world".

But there was a light at the end of the tunnel, and the path opened to the side of the mountain, and we came across a viewing bench, so it was fitting to stop and take a tourist photo.

The lunch stop was in Henry Cowell State park. Here we're just leaving.

We passed through the little town of Felton, and it was mostly flat, which was definitely a good way to work off lunch. For little would I have imagined the ordeal waiting ahead. Evidenced by lack of photos from here on out, the major portion of climbing happened here. Approximately 4000 feet of up some, up some more. The fun was way over for me.

Paige was handling the hills fine, and was riding very strong, passing people. She would wander ahead, and frequently circle back for us. We hit grade after grade, some steeper than others, but always up, with little rest. I had already reached my fatigue limit and was getting pretty grouchy with each turn. Some of the really steep sections had me pedaling so slow, I felt like I was encased in clear jello. Not allowed to move freely. Pedaling slow with lots of force to get up a hill really put a strain on my joints, and I could feel my knee complaining. My toes were scrunched, I was hurting.

Even pulling up on the handlebars was becoming a chore, as I had forgotten my gloves at home. So every pull was bringing my hands closer to blistering. I had read somewhere that blisters are caused by heat, pressure, friction, and moisture. So I kept varying my grip and letting go of the bars to cool my hands off. Eventually, I realized I could use my arm warmers to cover my hands and

Here's the one picture I took from the hillclimb. The true grade is not as apparent in the photo, but it is by far the steepest switchback I've ever ridden. I felt really stupid for not having a triple crankset (with a granny gear) as I struggled up each incline. More people walking their bikes here and there. Gravity was being quite the enemy. I took a second Clif shot around mile 75, and it did seem to help reduce my general fatigue, but I was still suffering in slow motion. Those things taste terrible.

We somehow made it to the top, and then rode down to the bottom, but it's all a blur to me now.

Finally, at the finish, almost 8 hours later. We were content to sit on the concrete and not be climbing hills.