Ann and I did the New Year's Day climb up San Bruno Mountain. The weather (at least at the bottom of the hill) was cool but not uncomfortable. I had neglected to bring my trainer so I took my warmup out on the streets of Brisbane, which wasn't altogether unpleasant (at least compared to the trainer).
There were two mass starts. The Women 4 were in the second start. It was a fast start and people hit the hill hard. It felt like everyone in the world was passing me, but I decided that I'd rather finish than keep up (and blow up). Ann rode with me for about 30 seconds and then went on ahead.
I still felt OK at park entrance but knew that the hardest part was still ahead of me. There was an older guy (clearly Masters 55+) who passed me right at the start of the climb from the parking lot. I caught up to him and almost passed him but then decided against it. I stayed on his wheel for five minutes or so but then let him go.
The fog got thicker with each vertical foot -- visibility was so low that I lost track of where I was, despite having done this climb about a bajillion times before. I was starting to think that it would never end, but then (finally) I got to the hairpin turn and knew that it was almost over. Around this point was when I passed a woman in a red jacket.
I didn't see the finish line until I was nearly over it. Ann was waiting with our bags of clothes (Roaring Mouse had provided bags at the bottom near registration for clothes that were then driven to the top). A quick photo op and then we headed down the hill. Of course that's the best part of the climb -- the descent! After leaving the park, I was finally able to get some decent speed....
I knew that I wasn't last because I'd passed that one woman. Turns out that I finished 15th out of 22 in Cat 4 women (total time 27:43.30). Ann finished 10th (25:02.06). Yay! The #1 Cat 4 woman finished in just over 20 minutes.
Lessons for next year -- be in better climbing shape by January 1!
Here's a photo of Ann: http://www.flickr.com/photos/24838791@N07/3158097121/in/set-72157611983201103/
Saturday, January 03, 2009
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
