Fremont Peak Hill Climb 55+ 1/2/3

Fremont Peak Hill Climb 55+ 1/2/3s
September 12, 2010
By Jim Langley

This year was completely different than last with much smaller groups in every category and a much more low-key feel. I rode in the 55+ 1/2/3's which started in wave 3 with the 45+ 4's and the 35+ 4/5's (I think that's right). I think we had less than 30 people all combined.

The pace for the first 3 miles was actually slower than our warmup and I just sat in waiting for something to happen. After awhile, teammate Tim Sawyer (in the 45+) went to the front and took it up a notch and as the climb steepened the group started to shrink.

I came off the back about halfway up the climb. I just felt the pace was a little fast and I didn't want to die since I knew the really steep parts were still to come. I tried to hold a good, hard L4 effort like our training rides up Bonny Doon.

Two guys in my race went up the road but I decided to let them go and hoped I'd be able to reel them in with my pacing. Luckily, that's exactly what happened. As I got a couple miles from the finish I passed the first guy and then the other a little later. There was still some tough climbing to get over but I had just enough left to get over it and managed to catch up with Tim just as we got to the nice section leading into the finishline. It was a fun finish crossing the line right behind a teammate urging him on to tow me faster and faster.

I won my event and Tim got second in his. Scott Martin was 5th. Mark finished second in the 45+ 1/2/3 and Geoff got 6th. For our efforts we got the sweet pint glass shown, plus cash prizes. Nice. If you're looking for a really fun event for next year's race schedule, this is it. The only bad part is that they messed up our times significantly so we can't go by that for next year. But, in a group event you're not racing for time anyway, so it doesn't matter that much.