Today’s inaugural Low-Key Hillclimb ride took us up Montebello Road. I had ridden the climb three days prior with my former co-worker, Jorge. There were a little over 50 riders, and the vast majority of them looked really good. I was a late-comer to the world of cycling, having picked up my road bike just as the Low-Key Hillclimbs were going into a multi-year hiberation.
Light, fit, fast, and young 8 years ago, the Adam of old probably could have hung with some of the mid-riders. Now that I’m fat, old, and slow, I was near the back from the get-go. See everyone pass me by was somewhat demoralizing, but I hung in there and rode my own race. I got to the parking lot at Stevens Canyon Road right before they closed registration, so I didn’t have any time to warm up! My heart rate went from sub-100 to 180 in the span of three minutes, which is not a good way to start a 1900+ foot ascent over 5 miles!
As a result, I got into a bit of a problem at the very beginning with my hard start. By the time I reached Montebello Elementary School at mile 2, I was cooked. Normally, you have to hammer hard between miles 2 and 3, since it’s the easiest part of the climb. Then, you hunker down and go as fast as you can for the remaining two miles. Nevertheless, I made it up to the top in 48:54, one minute and thirty six seconds faster than on Wednesday with Jorge! It’s still a far cry from my fastest time up at 39:30, but hey that was several years and pounds ago! The fastest time was posted once again by Tracy Colwell at 26:42! That meant by the time I passed Montebello, Tracy and company were sipping on juice boxes and eating cookies!
Next week, we ascend up Old La Honda, another benchmark climb in the Bay Area. I’m planning on mounting my digital camera (the small one, not the 1D Mark II!) onto my bike and videotaping the ascent. My fastest time up there was 21:30 or so back in 1998 or 1999. I’m thinking I’ll be able to do about a 26 minute climb this time. Watch out riders, Adam from Team Blubber Busters is hot on your tail!
Update: Week One results and photos have been posted. I came in fourth to last place! Lanterne Rouge here I come!
pl # rider team category time score 1 51 Tracy Colwell Colwell 2 26:42 131.02 2 43 Scott Frake WAV-ARA Bald 27:47 125.91 3 19 Menso de Jong Santa Cruz Syndicate Junior 28:57 120.84 4 1 Dan Connelly TNT 3 29:07 120.15 5 39 Clark Foy San Jose Bicycle Club 40 + 29:22 119.13 6 48 David Kelly Webcor/Alto Velo 4 29:31 118.52 7 37 Bill Lloyd Le Matin 1 29:33 118.39 8 17 Brian Edwards 25 - 30 29:34 118.32 9 20 James Porter Western Wheelers Out of Shape Dads 30:23 115.14 10 36 Bill Davis Webcor/Alto Velo 4 30:25 115.01 11 45 Rupert Brauch WAV-ARA 3 30:29 114.76 12 42 Rob McNeill WAV-ARA 2 30:45 113.77 13 16 Peter Mehlitze 45 + 32:13 108.59 14 18 Jeff Loufit 45 - 50 33:00 106.01 15 4 Fred E. Stamm Penn Velo 50 + 33:00 106.01 16 40 Geo Kitta Pen Velo/Kondra 50 + 33:26 104.64 17 35 Ron Brunner Commuter Commuter 34:07 102.54 18 6 Greg Dougald AV: Old Guys Finish 40 + 34:53 100.29 19 14 Chris Barnes Stanford Almuni 30 - 40 35:05 99.71 20 21 Pete Heller AV: Old Guys Finish 50 + 35:14 99.29 21 44 Brian Peterson WAV-ARA 2 36:13 96.59 22 11 Peter Merril 50 + 36:39 95.45 23 12 Craig Baker TSJBCDoNPBSJ 40 + 37:04 94.38 24 47 Gavin McRaley Alto Velo 4 37:37 93.00 25 50 Francis Cebedo RoadBikerReview 5 37:54 92.30 26 46 Ken Chern Pen Velo 4 38:16 91.42 27 9 Ken Straub Team Bikeaholics Older Than You 38:28 90.94 28 22 Tom Lawrence Team Bikeaholics 35 - 41 38:33 90.75 29 34 Stephen Fong San Jose Bicycle Club 5 39:21 88.90 30 33 Brian Birkeland ACTC 40 + 43:16 80.86 31 15 Rich Brunner Cruzie 39ish 43:55 79.66 32 10 Dick Robinson TNT 59 - 60 46:03 75.97 33 49 Adam Tow Blubber Busters Infinity 48:54 71.54 34 8 Craig Swarthout Old 51 52:14 66.98 35 38 Neil Bliss Platypus Racing Heavyweight 53:04 65.92 36 52 Stephen Morris Zero 0 66:01 52.99
Women
pl # rider team category time score 1 5 Ingrid Erkman Out of Shape Old Ladies OOSOL 38:47 102.99 2 7 Cheryl Hennessy Velo Bella 35 - 40 41:06 97.18
tow.com 
HAHAHAH! “Blubber Busters”?
Way to go Adam…I have another friend who rode and noticed some pictures too.
http://picasaweb.google.com/lowkeyhillclimbs06/2006LowKeyHillClimb1Montebello/photo#4986249639045300242
Keep pedaling!
Yeah, that’s me suffering at the very end!
[…] in 2006, I completed Montebello Road in 48:54. In 2007, fresh off of completing the Death Ride, I reached the top in 42:45. My time regressed in […]