I expected improvement over last year just because I did train for a few weeks for this ride; however, I did not expect to beat my PR (30:44 set about two months ago) on this race. For one, the weather condition was not optimal and as it turned out, there was cross wind or head wind near the top. Also, I have been having a nagging lower back pain. Last Saturday when we rode Sierra Road, I could not get any power from my back and was quite slow on  my pre-ride. I optimistically thought for sure the pain would go away within a week, but it did not. Even a visit to a chiropractor on Thursday did not make it quite go away.

My expectation turned out to be realistic, I did miss my PR (32:06), yet it improved from last year (32:15). Erik, despite the headwind, beat his PR and finished with a 30:20. Good job! (The results can be accessed from the event homepage.)

There was a much smaller turnout this year.  For example, in the Cat4/5/open men's category, the number droped from last year's 143 finishers to this year's 63.  Poor weather, Valentine's, lack of advertisement, stressed economy… Maybe all of the above?  I ran into Alison and Pat that I acquainted with through Low Key Hillclimb series and had a nice chat with them. It only take one goat to understand another.

There are some good references online for many, if not all, of these climbs. For example,

• [1] Lucas's cycling gradiometer page.
• [2] Some Southwest San Francisco Bay Area Climbs (Western Wheeler's Bicycle Club)

Alpine West

• Start: A small bridge (right above the bridge is a brown sign that reads "…. Grove")
• End: Skyline (Hwy 35)
• Distance: 6.65 miles
• Elevation: 1883' (ascent) / 180' (descent)
• My recorded best time: 45:37 (03/09/2008) -> 41:18 (08/02/2008)
• Erik's recorded best time: 44:10 (03/09/2008) -> 41:15(08/02/2008)
• My comments: A nice climb. 70% in the shade. A first timer might be fooled by a couple of false summits only to find that there is more climbing to do around the bend. On the way up, you will get to a stop sign, where you turn left. There is a short descent before the climb to the top. And there is another descent after the summit before the road ends at Skyline. On the other side of Skyline is Page Mill Road. Traffic is very light on this road. Descending on this road is pretty pumpy in the forearms because of its fast descent and many blind turns in the upper half.
• Web references: [2]

Old La Honda (OLH)

• Start: The concrete bridge shortly after you turn on to the road.
• End: Stop sign (Skyline — Hwy 35)
• Distance: 3.21 miles
• Elevation Gain: 1285' (ascent) / 15' (descent)
• My recorded best time: 25:46 (03/09/2008 after Alpine West) -> 23:24 (08/02/2008 aAW) -> 22:59 (01/11/2009 aAW)->22:14 (05/20/09)->21:50(05/27/09)
• Erik's recorded best time: 25:24 (03/09/2008 after Alpine West) -> 23:21 (08/02/2008 aAW) -> 22:51 (01/03/2009 aAW)->22:30(05/20/09)->20:58(/05/27/09)
• My comments: Almost my favorite hill climb. 94% in the shade. Not too steep but sustained. Some sections of the road are a little bumpy. Traffic is light, but because much of the road is so narrow that it gets a little annoying (to both parties) when a car needs to pass a cyclist. I heard somewhere that it's bad form to descend Old La Honda on weekends. I've never descended this road. Not sure how it is coming down.
• Web references: FelixWong's blog , [1] , [2]

Page Mill

• Start: Moon Road (I need to double check. It's the entrance to the Palo Alto Open Space.)
• End: Stop sign (Skyline – Hwy 35)
• Distance: 7.48 miles
• Elevation Gain: 2075' (ascent) / 190' (descent)
• My recorded best time: 54:01 (03/09/2008 after Alpine West and OLH)
• Erik's recorded best time: 51:15 (03/09/2008 after Alpine West and OLH)
• My comments: So far, I've always done this climb after at least two other big climbs, so it always feels hard on this road. But it does offer a couple of short descents for you to rest your legs and catch up with breadths. In my impression, this road is 30% in the shade. There are two short steep sections one around half way and one near the top, but they are so short that you are over them very fast. So far I haven't experienced heavy traffic on this road. For the most part, the road is wide enough that cars can easily pass.
• Web references: [2]

Pescadero (East side)

• Start: The turn off from Alpine
• End: The summit (the obvious point where you cannot go up any more)
• Distance: 1.64 miles
• Elevation Gain: 603' (ascent) / 8' (descent)
• My recorded best time: 14:39 (03/09/2008, but this can't be the best because this was after three big climbs, but this is the only record I could find)
• Erik's recorded best time: 13:31 (same as above)
• My comments: The road surface on this one is superior. But for the same reason, motorcyclists love this road. It's common to run into strings of motorcycles on weekends. Some of them go a bit too fast. All you can do is hope that they know what they are doing. 90% in the shade. It used to feel like a big hill until recently.
• Web references: [2]

Sierra Road

• Start: Sierra Road & Onslow Way
• End: The summit
• Distance: 3.70
• Elevation Gain: 1832' (ascent)
• My recorded best time: (32:15.50 02/16/2008 Webcor King of Mountain Ride) -> 30:44 (12/28/2008)
• Erik's recorded best time: 30:35 (12/28/2008)
• My comments: I love this climb. It's beautiful. Okay, I live in an area where there are many beautiful climbs, but I guess the openness of this one appeals to me. I found myself looking around on the brutal uphill taking in the peaceful views of the rolling hills and the bay area down below. I haven't done this one in the summer yet, but I'm guessing it will be very character-building since it's pretty much 95% in the sun. I've found it work out really well for us to park near Calaveras and Piedmont (there are a couple of churches there) and ride over (about 3 miles of flats) to the start as a warm up. And then just drop down Calaveras to make it a 15 mile loop.
• Web references: My first time, my second time, [2]

To be continued…

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• Distance:
• Elevation Gain:
• My recorded best time:
• Erik's recorded best time:
• My comments:
• Web references:

The ride is actually called The Webcor San Jose King-of-the-Mountain Ride. It starts from San Jose City Hall, but only the climb on Sierra Road is timed (using timing chips the riders wear on their left ankles).

Here is the Grade & Elevation chart of this climb:

Always scared of speed on flats and downhill, uphill has become my favorite type of riding. However, I hadn't heard of any organized ride/race just for climbing until this kOM ride. It was hard to pass up. So after I did my first ride up Sierra Road last week to make sure I could handle it, I signed up.

Couldn't fall asleep last night though because I was anxious about the ride. First of all, I had a PR (34:47) to beat. Second of all, I'd never ridden with a bunch of other riders around me – what if I crash and fall?

Beep, beep… it's the alarm clock. The day has begun.

The ride only accepts 300 participants. So a rolling closure of the road is enforced by the motorcade. That is awesome — running red lights! We leave the City Hall at 10 and arrive at the base of Sierra Road shortly before 10:30. After a short delay, the ride starts. As I mentioned last time, the ride on Sierra Road enters a steep climb right away. According to the instruction, there is supposed to be a sensor mat for the timing chips. So, I ride slowly and conservatively not wanting to waste any energy until I get to the start. However, after a few turns, I still cannot see a mat. "Have we crossed the mat yet?" I throw the question into the air. "Oh, yeah, way back," some answer comes back. Dangit, I've missed it! I start my own stop watch nontheless.

People around me seem to be moving at a pretty good speed. I keep my head down (my typical posture on my bike) and just keep on spinning. "I like your slogan — Inch by inch, I will get there." says a voice behind me. Oh yeah, I've had it pinned to my back. That's what it takes, isn't it?

From time to time, a rider passes me. Hearing the rythmic peddling, I envy them for being able to get out of saddle and hammer at a higher gear. But I manage to pass some people from time to time too grinding my granny gear. Push on the peddle, pull on the handle bar, spin, breathe… Then comes the short flat (slightly downhill) section where I passed Mud last time. Again, I shift up a few gears and start spinning fast. This section allows me to catch my breaths and in the mean time, I manage to pass a couple of, maybe a few, people too. Here comes another uphill section. I think I hear Mud. Oh, I'm close to the summit. Push harder, and pull harder… Now I hear some guy breathing hard in front of me. Only seeing the 3 foot patch of ground in front of me, I cannot tell what he is like. But he now is next to me. I hear him breathe harder — he does not want to let me pass. Push harder and pull harder. Suddenly I sense a little wabble and hear "F@#$!" Now his breathing sound is behind me. Looking up, I see people a hundred feet in front of me. There is the summit! I'm there! I've done it!

I keep my head down

Delbomber grins.

Inch by inch, I will get there.

32:15.50 — my new PR

Top male finisher – Ted Huang from Webcor (21:13.74)

Top Female finisher – Katheryn Mattis from Webcor (23:24.71)

You call this a mat? No wonder I missed it at the start. I entered the racing mode three minutes too late.

Appendix:

• For more pictures, go to the gallery.
• The results have been posted online. Click here.

We didn't think that we would make the ride — we slept in too late in the morning and we are expecting guests in the afternoon. Oh, too bad, I guess we'll just have to relax at home then.

At noon Catherine called and said that the kids got sick, so they couldn't make it. There was no excuse for us no more; guess we'll have to do it.

I got a little nervous on our way. I have read too much online about how steep the climb (Sierra Road) is. I still remember how I tipped over once in our neigherbood last year because my bike stopped moving on the uphill road and I couldn't get my feet out.

We first drove over to the start of the climb (Sierra Road and Piedmont Rd). We were immediately greeted by a steep uphill. Oh boy, what are we getting ourselvels into. We parked our car at Piedmont Rd and Calaveras Rd so we could ride about 3 miles, for a warmup, to the climb. The climb only came too soon. I was glad that I didn't tip over this time. It was 3.70 miles of uphill (on my GPS) gaining 1823 feet. Surprisingly, it felt more manageable than I had expected. There were sections where even at the lowest gear, I had to push hard on the pedals and pull hard on the handle bars to get the bike moving forward, but they were separated by sections of lesser gradients where I was able to catch my breaths and lower my heart rate. I had 34'37" on my GPS when I reached the summit. For that I gave myself a good pat on the back.

The loop (counter clockwise). The climb starts as soon as we turn off Piedmont.

Elevation profile for the whole loop. You won't miss the Sierra Road climb in this profile.

References:

• Felix Wong's Blog on his Sierra Road Encounters
• Chain Reaction's account of 2006 Race on Sierra Road
• A TOC PEZ story on King of the Mountain (KOM) event
• Another Race Report for Sierra Road Climb
• 2008 WEBCOR SAN JOSE KING-OF-THE-MOUNTAIN RIDE