Author: Leon Matz
After a warmup ride on Friday part way up Mt Lemmon, I decided to test my fitness and Timetrial up the first 20 miles of the climb. 5,000 feet of climbing. Nothing too steep but 5-7%mostly. I set up a goal to try and make the top 25 in my age group! Typically my goals for climbs are more aggressive and higher than top 25 but Mt Lemmon is the most climbed route in all the USA. Mike didn’t want to TT or ride early so he stayed at the hotel and road the 5 miles to the start of the ride. It was great of him to allow be to drive the van to a closer spot!
I started out just after 7:00 and warmed up with 3 miles of riding before the start of the climb. The climb starts at just under 3,000 feet. I set into a good aggressive rhythm hoping that it wasn’t too strong. Past one group of 3 local and younger riders but didn’t seem many riders at first. I was using my Garmin 520 and had stared the Mt Lemmon Official Strava segment and once I hit the start of the climb fellow Cyclopath Brent Moody name showed up as the person they were going to compare me to. Wow what a tough guy to try and keep up to. I had set a goal of 2:26 but his time was 2:43. In 2011 as part of my 100 climbs I did it in 2:49. The 2:49 did include a 5 minute stop and I went all the way to the top but can I do it 23 minutes faster.
The climb starts in the desert plain but quickly the Saguaro cacti soon take over the landscape to an elevation of 4,000 ft. They are so big and beautiful! I would have loved to include some pictures but this attempt was focused on no stops on the way up!
In about 5 miles to the ride I was only 1 minute ahead of Brent’s time . I was thinking my goal was unrealistic! Then just past the toll both I jumped ahead of Brent’s time by 5 minutes! Oh so that means Brent stopped somewhere close to here! So maybe I can get under 2:30.
Temperature was in the mid 50’s almost perfect climbing temperature! Soon the cacti disappeared and mountain shrubs took over the landscape. My climbing speed seemed to be good but can I keep it up was the big question!
Soon the massive rock towers of granite (hoodoos) take over the landscape! The formations are incredibly beautiful! Tomorrow we plan to ride up again and I plan to enjoy the terrain! Soon my time jumped ahead of Brent’s by more than 12 minutes because of another stop that he must have made!
Then come the pine forest which then continues to all the way to the top 9,100 top of the Mt Lemmon road. The hardest section of the climb for most is the 3 miles leading to Windy Pointe! I really struggled hear! Brent’s time started to catch up towards me!
The 6,500 elevation was clearly having an effect on me! My power output was clearly dropping and I was getting real tired! With about 40 minutes of riding left I wanted to grab a guy but the temperature was dropping to the low 40’s and my hands were getting real cold and my fingers couldn’t grab my zipper to get out a gu so I just kept riding. I anxiously watched my Garmin as it counted down the distance left in the segment! The last little hill I tried to sprint but it was pretty feeble!
Well I met my goal with a 2:24.
I stopped at the visitor center and warmed up and then headed down! 20 miles of downhill was more than my neck wanted but... I was grateful to run into Mike and ride some up hill with him before we turned around!
We saw over 100 cyclists going up and down the climb! It was if there was an event but it was just many cyclists getting in some training!
Thanks for sharing your story Leon. It makes me feel like I was there. And nice performance!
ReplyDelete~Les