I like to think I'm in pretty decent shape for my age and condition. I seem to have this opinion despite continually being humbled. Some of you may recall my thread
HERE about taking my TT bike through the Red Rock scenic loop, which features about 5 miles of near continuous incline averaging about 4% with a peak over 10%. In that ride, I had to dismount and walk the bike up almost a mile of the route.
It was suggested that the TT bike was really the wrong kit to be riding that route, and that I would be better off with one of my road bikes with better gearing for climbing.
So today I was once again in Vegas and took in my Roubiax with 3x9 gearing. Starting off, before I even got into the scenic loop, I'm going up the road (probably only a 2-3% grade) and get passed by a guy on a Tarmac. I felt like I was cruising along pretty good, but this guy passed me like I was having a picnic.
We both got into the scenic loop and he took off but I just wanted to keep him in sight, use him to help pace me, but he bugged out and I just couldn't hang. Once again, around 3.5 to 4 miles into the loop I was really struggling to keep going. I never did dismount and walk, but honestly, the thought did cross my mind on several occasions. By the time I finally got to the summit of the loop, I was still on the bike, but probably not going much faster than a walking pace anyway.
This is distressing because I was considering trying my hand at the Mother Load 200 sometime in the next couple years, but there is a lot more elevation change in that ride. I guess I need to just come to terms with the fact that I'll never be at that level.