freighttraininguphill

I rented a car for the weekend for two trips to the mountains to do some climbing. Since it is a PITA to put a full-size bike in a typical sedan, I took my Dahon Speed D7 folding bike, which only has a 7-speed drivetrain.

The first climb was the Lake Tahoe side of Kingsbury Grade, which is about 3.5 miles long with a max grade of 12%. The steeper parts were a sufferfest and I had to ride out of the saddle on the first steep part. I got passed like I was standing still by a female triathlete (judging by the type of bike she was riding) who said "Good job". I barely heard her, so unfortunately the camera didn't pick it up. Female cyclists are so encouraging!

After I reached the top at Daggett Summit I climbed to the real summit at the top of Bigler Circle. After that I checked out another nice steep climb. It showed grades up to 17%, yet somehow I was able to ride the whole thing in the saddle.

Next was Ski Run Blvd, which has a 21% section on the last block. I had to ride that section out of the saddle, barely turning the cranks. Good suffering!

Top of Kingsbury Grade:


Dahon Speed D7 at Daggett Summit by kittyz202, on Flickr

View from Daggett Summit:


view from top of Kingsbury Grade by kittyz202, on Flickr

I saw a couple of these signs:


'please share the road text later' sign by kittyz202, on Flickr

Some nice mtb art:


mtb art in Lake Tahoe by kittyz202, on Flickr

I saw several of these in different colors:


Dahon Speed D7 next to bike sculpture in Lake Tahoe by kittyz202, on Flickr

View from the top of one of the climbs above Kingsbury Grade:


snow-capped mountains around Lake Tahoe 7-9-11 by kittyz202, on Flickr

Top of Ski Run Blvd:


top of Ski Run Blvd climb by kittyz202, on Flickr

Rumpled

That's pretty impressive on a 7 speed folder.

freighttraininguphill

Thanks! It was very tiring. Great strength training, but probably not good for the knees. Guess I'll have to get a Bike Friday with a triple eventually.

firenbones

Wow. WOW!

I have a question for you: how were the descents? I have a 6-speed Dahon Mariner (a couple of cuts below a Speed D7), and I'm reluctant to go down much more than a 3% grade with it. The lack of a top tube is a bit scary - it feels like more of my weight or center of gravity is over the handlepost, kind of an unnerving feeling.

freighttraininguphill

The descent on this ride was a bit squirrelly, but on the next mountain descent I did on Sunday the 10th (Geiger Grade in Reno), I lowered the handlebars as far as they would go. Of course, after doing that I had to use a pump strap to keep the front brake cable from rubbing on the tire, but the bike is definitely more stable now. I think it climbs better with the bars lower too.