Yeah, so the temperature is hovering in the mid 90s, and Stuart and I are riding mid-afternoon, so what do we do? Ride four Dirty Dozen hills. Whee! These were all new to me (with the exception of Tesla/Flowers, which I’ve ridden down). Let’s break them down by hill, eh?
High Street/Seavey
I didn’t have much of warm-up heading into this, and I could feel it. The hill itself isn’t terrible, but I was working my upper body far too hard–my arms were more tired than my legs. But really, it wasn’t bad. The switchbacks give a bit of respite, and allow a slight break in effort.
Logan
My riding partners said this often considered the most difficult hill (Canton, of course, is steeper, but is also very short). Logan starts with a “gentle” pitch that then suddenly gets steeper. And steeper. Despite being not much more than a goat path, there was actually traffic on it, and because of it, I simply flat-out lost my concentration on the steepest bit, and had to stop. It was odd, really–it wasn’t as if I was completely knackered, but suddenly my mind veered just enough for legs to say “m’kay, we’re done here.” I assumed this didn’t bode well for the remaining two hills.
Suffolk/Burgess
I’ve driven up this particularly nasty stretch before, and I really wasn’t thrilled. The bottom bit is the steepest, and approaching Burgess, there is a brief flat section. This proved critical, as I focused my way up the bottom, then slooooowly bounced over the cobbles to the top. Things definitely clicked during the climb–I managed to keep my upper body movement to a minimum and stayed focused on the bit of tarmac in front of my wheel.
Flowers/Tesla
This hill was going well, until in my oxygen deprived state I nearly didn’t see a car coming (I was weaving across the steepest bit) and had to ride into the weeds. Ooops. I was close enough to a side street to push a few feet then remount and continue. I wouldn’t put this scalp on my mantle, but at least I didn’t have to shoulder my bike as on Logan.
My legs are tired.
Posted on 6 October 2007