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A great weekend of Coker Climbing
We decided that it's time to get serious training for the 'Alps Tour' (http://aut.unitours.org/) since it's only 2 1/2 weeks away. No more long distance easy rides, just steep hard climbs. So last Saturday we drove over to Mt Diablo which has a nice paved road that climbs 3300' in about 11 miles. To up the ante, after climbing to the top, we rode back down to the halfway point, then up to the summit again, then down. That was at least 5000' in 32 miles. I guess the challenging part was the second time up the last 1000' of distance to the summit which averages 17% grade. Beau and I were on 152mm, Bronson used 160/180 up and 140 down, and Geoff used 175 (without a brake). On the summit I heard one of those all-time great sayings. This is verbatim: smaller Harley rider to large Harley rider, -Man, is your accelerator hand sore?- Or maybe the challenging part was getting up early the next day and doing it again. Sunday we headed up a challenging road nearby which rolls along for 10 miles, then climbs an 2200' in 3.86 miles (10.8% average grade) with a section that's 0.4 miles long at 19% grade. We took a side road (rough dirt) to the summit of Bald Mountain which has a great view over the whole South Bay - you can see all the high points around SF Bay: Mt Tam, Mt Diablo, Mt Hamilton, Loma Prieta Peak and Mt Umunhum. Unfortunately the paved road is closed to the public above 2870' - someday when this part gets added to the preserve we'll have a killer climb available. Beau, Bronson and I were on the same cranks, Rob was on 158mm without a brake and Scot was the superman, leading most of the way on 140mm cranks - it was pretty unbelievable watching him crank smoothly up the 19% climb on those cranks. He is in great shape and should do well in the Alps. The rest of us did ok too - Beau and I weren't sore after 2 days of this leg muscle abuse. Bronson and I both bought new cameras for the Alps and tried them out on these rides. Photos with the Nikon Coolpix 7900: 'mine' (http://community.webshots.com/album/391991786WDFpDv) 'Bronson's.' (http://community.webshots.com/album/392723505ItovQG) Here are the GPS tracks I recorded: 'Saturday' (http://tinyurl.com/78tgw) 'Sunday' (http://tinyurl.com/aqky3) These tend to overestimate our total climbs. We did not do and 7880' Saturday and 5550' Sunday! But the heartrate plots and maps are interesting. Beau and I did a couple of short training rides before this big weekend and he was pretty letdown when the big 19% grade came on Sunday saying it wasn't nearly as steep as what we had climbed 2 days before. We did a climb up a deadend paved street near our house that is over 20%. The first night we did it on 125mm cranks (3 dismounts), then switched to 152mm and were able to get up it non-stop. Long cranks are really nice for steep climbs! ---Nathan +----------------------------------------------------------------+ | Attachment filename: dscn0130small.jpg | |Download attachment: http://www.unicyclist.com/attachment/337649| +----------------------------------------------------------------+ -- nathan - BIG rides: Muni & Coker ------------------------------------------------------------------------ nathan's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/251 View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/41850 |
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#2
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A great weekend of Coker Climbing
That is some awesome, and inspirational, training. I was sore from 30 miles of flat on Saturday. Tomorrow after work I'm going after some Vert! All hail the Cal-animals... TB PS: Here is where I fail to resist the temptation to ask you to ask Geoff when we'll see the Telford 36 frame. -- tomblackwood - Registered Nurtz Tailgate at your own risk..... "By George! The man's a genius!" Murde Mental ------------------------------------------------------------------------ tomblackwood's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/3762 View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/41850 |
#3
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A great weekend of Coker Climbing
Sounds really excellent, Nathan! You guys getting new cameras is nothing but good news for those of us who go through each of these rides pic-by-pic! I love seeing the manzanita of the California hills again and terrain-following roads on the topographic map. Thanks for posting. -- U-Turn - Cool water for the flame Weep in the dojo... laugh on the battlefield. 'LiveWire Unicycles' (http://www.livewireunicycles.com) 'Strongest Coker Wheel in the World' (http://www.unicyclist.com/gallery/albup39) '29er Tire Study' (http://u-turn.unicyclist.com/29erTireStudy/) 'New York Unicycle Club' (http://www.newyorkunicycle.com) -- Dave Stockton ------------------------------------------------------------------------ U-Turn's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/691 View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/41850 |
#4
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A great weekend of Coker Climbing
Wow! What beautiful views from the top! That picture of the view south is breathtaking. -- HistoricalGoof - Cruisin' in B&W! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ HistoricalGoof's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/9997 View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/41850 |
#5
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A great weekend of Coker Climbing
Being kind of little, I imagined coker climbing to be entirely different. I prefer your version. Cathy -- cathwood - Lunicyclist A thought is just a thought. http://www.chuckingandtwirling.co.uk ------------------------------------------------------------------------ cathwood's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/9425 View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/41850 |
#6
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A great weekend of Coker Climbing
nathan wrote: *Here are the GPS tracks I recorded: 'Saturday' (http://tinyurl.com/78tgw) 'Sunday' (http://tinyurl.com/aqky3)* This is the kewlest gizmo I've seen in awhile. I installed the map viewer, and watched your progress ... -- DigitalDave - Ðîgï†å||¥ ËñhÂÑ€èÐ 'nf7-s ~ xp2400mobile' (http://www.anandtech.com/mysystemrig.html?rigid=21988) '20,124 3dm01' (http://service.futuremark.com/compare?2k1=8399731) my will to live was stronger than my will to die. - iggy pop that which does not kill me, makes me stronger. - friedrich nietzsche 1899 if it's popular, then what's it got to do with us? - mens room wall ------------------------------------------------------------------------ DigitalDave's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/8003 View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/41850 |
#7
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A great weekend of Coker Climbing
What an awesome weekend of ups and downs! You guys look like a bunch of studzes in the picture posted to this thread. You guys should bring your Cokers this Sunday for our Downieville ride. It should be some great downhill training, plus remember there is a bit of climbing in there! -- johnfoss - More Moab Fun John Foss, the Uni-Cyclone "jfoss" at "unicycling.com" -- www.unicycling.com "Read the rules!" -- 'IUF Rulebook' (http://www.unicycling.org/iuf/rulebook/) -- 'USA Rulebook' (http://www.unicycling.org/usa/competition/) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ johnfoss's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/832 View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/41850 |
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