Earlier this week, I posted to this Fifty-Plus thread,
“The reward is just ahead !,” about my last mountainous ride, four years ago in Pennsylvania
Originally Posted by
Bmach
Nice I like straight downhills.
Rode around and up Mt Greylock [in Massachusetts] Friday got the work but not the reward of the downhill. North side steep areas and some switchbacks,
don’t think I got above 38, lots of breaking.
Great ride though.
Originally Posted by
Jim from Boston
Originally Posted by
Jim from Boston
…Compared to the hills of Metro Boston, I consider that I rode over two
mountains, shorter perhaps, but with grades as challenging as I had encountered in Colorado (but that was 35 years ago).
There were also some steep backroad hills, and I occasionally got stuck in too high a gear, saying to BD, “I gotta learn to respect these hills.”
The other terrains were pleasant wooded back roads, and a long stretch of unshaded farm lands looking very much like the rolling Midwest, but with mountains far in the distance on either side….
I don’t use GPS, and I’m not familiar with grades, so he would indicate how steep (%) were various grades. This was the first time I had ever looked at an elevation profile of a ride I have done, and since elevations were a key feature of the ride, I could re-visit every segment of the 61 miles...
We held together pretty well nearly the entire length of the Ride. At the top of the first mountain he said "I’ll see you at the bottom." Being heavier, I said, “No, because physics will determine arrival.” Well, actually fear determined arrival, because after about 30 mph, I started riding the brakes as they chattered. 34.5 mph is the highest maximum speed I have recorded.
I drove back to Boston on Sunday, feeling myself a much better rider than when I arrived, for conquering the mountains …
In my earlier days of cycling I was mostly a tourist with my wife, including Rockies, Appalachian, White and Green Mtns, and I would try to keep her in sight since I was always ahead of her. Now mainly a commuter.