2006-03-08 Afternoon bike

Nice afternoon bike ride with Gerrit. We started off the normal bike route, but at the half-way point we kept going straight on Miller's Gap road, all the way to the top of the mountain. I did this climb once last fall, and guess what? The road is still as steep as it was then. I nearly died. HR was pegged the entire climb, and I still had to resort to mini-switchbacks. Luckily for my pride, Gerrit also did the switchback trick. I gotta get some lower gearing. Gerrit was seeing 17% grade on his cyclecomputer. SEVENTEEN percent! The total elevation of the climb was 700 feet, in ~1.2 miles, which makes it an 11% average grade. I swear, the 3000 foot climbs on the Skyline Drive/Blue Ride Parkway were often easier. Lower gearing and 8% maximum grades are workable. Climbs like Miller's Gap are just nutso.

We missed our turn on the way back, so we turned the ride into an out-back instead of a loop.

Fun ride. Took a bit longer than planned, but who cares? Work can be done after dark, a sweet bike ride can not.

Check out the profile map for the ride on Gerrit's Motionbased.com page.