Mike's Bike Blog

Let me start off by saying I DID IT! This has been a year in the making. It was last November when I first heard of the Tour das Hugel. At that time my longest ride was only 40 miles and I'd only had a road bike for a few months. For the past year it has been a lot of climbing repeats. I built up my mileage and have done 3 century rides this year. This past year I've climbed 207,664 feet in preparation, I rode most of the course hitting all the hills except for The High Road and Bullick Hollow. I did decide to ride the new bike, forgoing common sense. I knew I could get through everything in the first leg with the new bike. It was the second part that had me worried as I wasn't sure how I would be able to handle the steeper climbs without my triple that was on the old Fuji.

The start was windy and chilly, it never did warm up the entire day and the wind seemed to only get stronger. This was the windiest ride I'd ever experienced in Texas. There was more wind for the Hugel than my ride when Hurricane Ike blew through Austin.

The first leg, 38.8 miles was a blast. From the start the pack split into at least 2 segments. The first being the real hammerheads, the guys that were actually racing. I wound up into the second pack. When we hit The High Road this was a recipe for disaster. There were riders in all directions about an arms length apart. As we start the climb up High Road a rider on the right side almost goes down as he hit his wall. A few seconds later the rider right in front of me comes to a complete stop. I quickly avoid him, I think the person behind me might have hit him or he went down before he could unclip. I heard the tell tale signs of bicycles hitting the pavement. I passed a lot of riders on High Road. The High Road climb is .6 miles and the average grade is 8.6% and it maxs out at 19.1%.

When I rolled into the rest stop on Barton Springs I hear someone behind me say "I can't believe you bought that bike" I turn around and tell him "I didn't, it was given to me". At this point I notice he has the same exact Orbea Orca as me. I then proceed to tell him I won it in a contest. I fill up my bottle. He was riding with 2 others, they all had New Revolution kits on. One of the others had the blue Orca. I rode with them throughout the day.

At the end of first leg I felt great, I finished the first 38 miles (4118 ft. climbing) in 2'39:32. Back at Zilker Park I refilled my bottles, reloaded my pill capsules with Hammer Endurolytes and Anti-Fatigue pills and pushed off for the second part.

Part II

On Stratford my left calf started to have a twinge, I couldn't tell if it was a cramp or a muscle strain. It never outright hurt during the day, but it was a dull annoyance. For me the separation of if I could complete the ride was Smokey Valley. If I could get up Smokey Valley without the triple than I should be able to clear everything. As I rolled up to Smokey I was with a couple other riders, they really slowed as we got 1/2 way up so I accelerated around them, looking up there were about 3 or 4 other riders on the steepest section doing the zig zag. In fact almost every hill I saw people doing the zig zag. It really took a lot for me to get up Smokey Valley, at the top I wished I had a 26T cog (I'd later wish for a 27T). A wish I pondered at the top of Ladera Norte as well. However, with the confidence that I could tackle Hugel with the new bike a relief swept over me.

The next biggest challenge was Beauford. I hate Beauford, it's not the steepest or the longest, but the grooves and bumps just makes it downright nasty. I was with the New Revolution guys and a couple others. On Beauford it was the only time someone passed me on a climb. A fellow with a mountain bike drive train passed me with his triple. I caught up with him at the bottom of Jester waiting for the light on 2222. I chatted with him about his set up, he had a 12-28, he was regretting not putting on his mountain cassette (12-34). The next challenging hill for me was Courtyard. It took a lot out of me to get up Courtyard, in fact I had to take an impromptu 5 minute rest stop at the top.

After Courtyard I think I went numb. The rest of the hills didn't seem to hurt anymore, I just rode. Rest stop 4/5 on River Place had boiled potatoes! They had ones drenched in cheddar cheese and one with bacon! I opted to try the cheddar cheese ones. I did pull the cheese off before consuming them. Warm potatoes on a cold day really hit the spot.

In the past I've avoided Bullick Hollow because there's no shoulder and there can be a bit of traffic on it. Bullick Hollow is 1.1 miles with an average grade of 3.2%, max is 18.7%. The traffic wasn't a problem, I'll have to add it to my routes. When I got done with the Dam and heading back on 620 I half jokingly thought this was my bailout point as I was only about 10 miles away from home. I had come this far and the only thing between me and finishing was Big View and Jester.

I was not looking forward to Big View, but I knew the initial part was the worse. All I had to do was get through that and then the rest wouldn't be that bad. I was in the zone, Big View posed no threat. All that stood between me and finishing was Jester.

At the bottom of City Park Road I turned right onto 2222, obviously the wrong way. I had to turn around. 1/2 way up Jester I briefly contemplated stopping at the outhouse to pee, figured losing the 10 bottles of water I'd consumed would help with the climb. I passed on the pit stop and went right up Jester. I conquered the worst of the worst. I'd done it faster in the past, but no other times had been sweeter. Now all that was left was to get back to Zilker. Something that was easier said than done.

The last 7 miles really seemed to drag, 360 was slow and just like the entire day it was windy. My Garmin started warning me that it was low on batteries, this had me worried as I wasn't exactly sure of the way back to Zilker Park. I missed the turn on Wilderness and went all the way to Bee Caves. I pulled out the cue sheet and I had somehow printed out the initial one that had an error, it was the one that omitted Wilderness. I went down it anyway and did find my way back.

In the end it took me 8'24:11 to complete the entire 110 mile Hugel. I climbed 12,815.5 feet. One of my biggest takeaways from the ride, I hated the downhills. Towards the end when I would be coasting down the hills my legs would tighten up, the initial spinning up would hurt. I much preferred to keep my legs moving. The organizers and volunteers put on a great show. This was one of the best supported rides I've ever been on. Remarkable seeing as there is no entry fee. I surprisingly feel pretty good today, my legs are a little tight, my left calf hurts a bit walking up stairs. My goal for next year is to finish fast enough to get a medium shirt.

The Tour Das Hugel organizers have posted the route for Saturdays ride on the Hugel yahoo groups page. No big changes from the 2007 route, the order has changed for a couple hills Adorondak Trails has been taken off the route this year, but the entire length of Big View has been added. This year's route appears to be about 107 miles, 1 mile more than last years route. If anybody is planning on doing the ride but are not part of the yahoo group leave a comment and I'll email the 2 PDFs to you.

The countdown to the Tour Das Hugel has began, the ride is this Saturday. Last Saturday I did a couple laps on the Volente Loop, plus I threw in 3 climbing repeats up the Twin Creeks hill. In total it was 3700 feet of climbing, a pretty good tune up. On Sunday I was going to for an easy ride, but it turned out to be a little more energy intensive than what I had wanted to do. The ride down 620 turned out to be harder than I was expecting to ride due to the wind. None the less it was a good ride.

Everything seemed to be coming together, legs feel great, however, this morning I woke up with a head cold. As the day progressed the aches and pains started to settle in and it seemed to be turning into the flu. I was planning on taking this week somewhat easy anyway so I should be good. I can concentrate on recovering from all the training along with water loading.

If you're not familiar with water loading, it is mainly making sure that I'm not dehydrated before I even start on Saturday. An interesting "Did you know?" is that most people are dehydrated and don't even realize it. When we are in a chronic state of dehydration our bodies try to compensate. I try to drink enough during the day normally, but this week I'll make sure to drink appropriately. Just so you know you can't just drink a gallon or two the day of your race or event, like everything it will take a few days or weeks for your body to react.

Starting tomorrow I'll start the loading process with Hammer Race Day Boost. I had great success with Race Day Boost coupled with Hammer Anti Fatigue Caps when I did the Outlaw Trail 100. Race Day Boost has antioxidants and glutamine which will hopefully help in my fight with the flu. According to Steve Born at Hammer Nutrition, "One of the benefits of glutamine is that it helps support optimal immune system function, which is highly desirable during your taper, a time when many an athlete finds themselves getting sick."

On another note, I got word from Tyler that my Orbea Orca is ready and Orbea should be shipping it out tomorrow. I doubt I'll get it in time for Hugel, but even if I do I probably won't ride it. I don't want to be introducing new variables at the last minute, I know all the nuances of the old bike. Like I said I'll be surprised if it gets here in time anyway.

I gave Smokey Valley another ride today and I'm happy to report I was able to breeze up it without resorting to zig zagging at the top. Here's the evidence:

Once I got to the top of Smokey Valley I turned right on Ladera Norte and proceeded to the top of it. I then went back down and then back up. In all I climbed Smokey Valley, Ladera Norte, Far West, Cat Mountain, Mt. Bonnell, Lookout Mountain and Mesa. It came out to be 2255.5 feet in this 14.47 mile route.

::See the route::

On Monday I did the entire length of Mt. Bonnell. It was my first time on Mt. Bonnell heading toward 2222, I've gone the other way heading down Balcones and catching Mt. Bonnell near the park and going down it. This time I wanted to go up it. This is a fun route and scenic with some great views of the river and the 360 bridge.

The entire route is only 9.55 miles, which is good for a lunch time ride, it gives me time to get a shower in before getting back to work. The climb isn't overly difficult at all either, the total route is only 862.7 feet of climbing. There is a steep section with a 17% grade at mile 4.6. At mile 7.4 there is another steep section with a 15.4% grade. As you can see there are 2 distinct sections to Mt. Bonnell, the first one is down by the water treatment plant is only .4 miles in length with an average grade of 10.3%. The second section is on the other side of 2222. It is .7 miles from 2222 to Mountain Villa Drive with an average grade of 3.8%. The climbing isn't done once you turn onto Mountain Villa, there's another .6 miles with an average grade of 3.8% with a max of 10.7%.

At this point if you need another climb turn right and head down Mesa and come back up. Like I said this is a nice little ride, next time I'll go in reverse, I think going counterclockwise will add more climbing.

View Route

Today I did battle with Smokey Valley, one on one, man versus hill. I've ridden most if not all the monster hills Austin has to offer (Jester, Beauford, Bluegrass, Lost Creek, Courtyard, City Park, Toro Canyon, the 3 Sisters). Not at any point up any of those hills did I once think I might have to bail out. Today that thought crossed my mind.

Smokey Valley is not long by any stretch, it's only .3 miles in length, but the grade is what will get you. The average grade is 13.2% and swoops up to 19.6% at the top. Other hills seem to have roughly about the same grade, but no other hill have I had to resort to the Zig Zag technique to get to the top. If you are not familiar with the zig zag, it is when you go up the hill at an angle not straight on.

One thing that might have contributed to the difficulty is the fact that I'm still having shifting problems when I go into my lowest gear on the rear cassette, I can't shift back up. So I haven't been shifting down. I'll have to give Smokey Valley another go next week and see if I find it as butt kicking as I did today.

See the image below as my Garmin recorded my ride, note the zig zagging at the top of Smokey Valley:

If you've been following along you know one of my goals is to ride up the hill on Limecreek (the 3 Sisters) in 3 minutes and 30 seconds. On Saturday I rode up it in 3 minutes and 35 seconds. Today I rode out Limecreek for a couple of climbs up the Sisters.

My first go up it I clocked a time of 3 minutes and 30.38 seconds! Thus by rounding down, which I'm told is the norm, I've met the goal! I'm pretty stoked, now it's time to get it even lower. I'm thinking 3 minutes flat.

Even though there was a burn ban in effect I was on fire going up the Sisters!

For anybody going down Mesa there's 2 hazards to watch out for near the bottom of the hill. The first is a missing cover on a water valve hole, it is one of the smaller covers about 6" in diameter. I almost hit this at 45 MPH this afternoon on my lunch ride. This is near the bottom I'd say 3/4 of the way down the hill, just past where the bike lane ends and Mesa becomes 4 lanes.

Then next one is a little further down more inline with the office building on the right, another one of the small covers is cockeyed and not laying flush with the pavement.

I made 4 trips up Mesa for my lunch time ride.

The Tour das Hugel date has been announced for November 15 with a 7 am start time. For those not familiar with this ride it is 100 miles of the most notorious hills Austin has to offer with 10,000 feet of climbing! The ride is free of charge, but if you complete the ride then you have the opportunity to purchase a t-shirt. This will be my first attempt at this event and hopefully all the climbing I've done this past year will pay off. Who's with me?

Looking at the Tour das Hugel main page it has not been updated with the new date, however, the information page has.

What a Sunday ride, I headed into Austin to climb a few hills. Here's the hills and the order I did them in:

• Mesa
• Ladera Norte
• Far West
• Adirondack Trail
• Mountain Ridge
• Arboretum
• Bluegrass
• Beauford
• Jester
• Twin Creeks

In all the total mileage was only 54.18 miles and it took me 4 hours of active time and 4:33 of total time. I took a little breather on top of Bluegrass and then refilled my bottles at the Subway at the base of Jester. Whenever I go up Beauford I always think it's a tougher climb than Jester but that is always erased once I start up Jester.

There is some construction on Jester, it didn't really get in the way, but if you are going to attack Jester be forewarned as I'm not sure what the construction plans are and I'd hate for anybody to have to turn around due to construction. I must admit Jester really had my number today, I crawled up it at 3 to 4 miles per hour (avg speed of 4.2mph). I need to adjust my rear derailleur as when I shift into my lowest gear it wont shift out. The shifter snaps and acts like it's going to shift but the rear derailleur doesn't engage. It takes some finessing the shifters to get it unstuck. Needless to say for this ride my workaround was just not to shift into my lowest gear.

I averaged 13.5 mph for the entire ride and burned 2351 kJ. Not bad for a 50 mile ride with 5000 feet of climbing. For this ride I started off with a 2 hour bottle of Hammer Perpetuem (4 scoops) and had my second bottle prefilled with another 2 hour bottle. I also brought along my hydration pack filled with good old water. I felt great the entire ride with energy, I definitely had more in the tank to keep going. Post ride I feel fine as well, no muscle soreness.