Claire Petersky wrote:

What were the grades like?

Old Creek Road is something like 6 miles long but only about 3 miles of
it is steep and that part is steep - perhaps 9 percent over the most of
it with some really steep spots for short distances here and there. I
stopped a couple of times to let my heart rate come down but I probably
didn't have to do that. The ride was about 60 miles overall and I still
felt good at the end of it though part of that was knowing that I
wouldn't be riding the next day.

In fact I was feeling good enough that I raced a little with a couple
of younger guys who had passed me on climbs earlier. Us older guys may
not be as fast when everyone is fresh but we're faster after everyone
is tired.

I'm not in such great condition, and I'm notoriously slow up hills. But it
seems like I can get up anything, given enough time.

I always say that, but really steep stuff just gets to you. I'll be
doing the Sierra Century metric this next weekend and I've my questions
about which bike to take since I recall the climb after Volcano as a
real bugger and some 6 miles long. Think I'll take the Fuji which is my
second lightest bike and has a compact crank on it along with a 13-27.

Last year I had a 24-34 but that was on my 35 lb touring bike and after
riding 160 miles up there the preceeding two days.