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.
Sep 29, 2008 at 6:38 AM Kind of a mini Tour Das Hugel? Have you ridden that one before?
Sep 29, 2008 at 11:48 AM Who knew? Real climbing can be had in Central Texas. Nice ride.
Oct 2, 2008 at 5:37 AM @Dan: Yeah, Central Texas and particularly outside of Austin is considered the Hill Country so we have some short but deadly hills. In the Austin area the hills are relatively short .5 to 1 mile in length but the grade for these doosies go from 12% to 25%! The Tour Das Hugel, which should be next month is a compilation of Austin's most notorious hills, it comes in at a bit over 100 miles and 10,000 feet of climbing. Most if not all the hills I did on this ride are on the Tour das Hugel route.
@331miles: The plan is to attempt the Tour Das Hugel when they run it next month. They haven't "officially" announced a date yet, but I have my ear to the ground. This ride was a tune up or a gut check if you will to see the amount of suffering I can endure. You coming up to Austin for the Tour Das Hugel?
Tour Das Hugel information: http://www.tourdashugel.com/Home.html
Oct 2, 2008 at 7:51 AM I *might* be in Austin for it, but I don't think I have the legs for the whole ride. I can't do any real climbing training in McAllen, and I think I'll bonk. I'll need to decide if I'm comfortable with only doing part of it...