It        was        TOUGH. Just a 17.5 mile ride, with a 5,375 foot elevation gain. There really isn't much else to say about it except how it was different from last year. This year it was an official USAC sanctioned race which stiffened the competition and I think drove away some of the less competitive riders, I think there were just as many DNF's though. It was still a very rewarding ride. I think my performance was lacking since I have been skipping so many spin classes and spending more time studying and working than on my bike in the last few months. I was totally motivated after the ride especially with PumpkinMan coming up next Saturday. The climb took me over 2 hours to finish, and the ride back down, about 20 minutes.

Start of the race

Yes that is a guy on a unicycle, he does this every year. I'm not sure how far he gets but he is crazy strong.

The position of my head is a good indication of how I'm feeling right now. See that valley floor? Actually you can't but that is where we started. About a third of the way up I noticed my quads were getting a little twitchy. You have to stand up now and then to let the blood recirculate but after a while whenever I stood up my quads started to cramp worse than ever. It made for a long ride in the saddle.

Matt, staying strong the whole way.

No snow at the top this year.

Almost feels like home. It is always fun to go for a ride where the temperature is 20 degrees cooler at the finish line. Thanks for a great ride https://www.facebook.com/MountCharlestonHillClimb?fref=ts.