One day a year the Auto Road to the top
of New England's highest peak is
closed to auto traffic and opened to cyclists willing to race
up it.
The Mount Washington Auto Road Hill Bicycle Hill Climb was held
on
Aug 23rd 1997.
Don't know much about Mt Washington - "Home of the World'sWorst Weather"?
It was the 25th edition of the race, 7.6 miles of very steep climbing.
Advice from the promoters goes like this:
"Elevation gain: 4727 feet. Average grade, 12%; extended
portions, 18%;
final 50 yards, 22%. Know your capabilities and gear accordingly.
35%
of the road is very hard packed gravel and 65% is paved. No water
or
support is available to cyclists during the climb."
To allow those not terribly interested in the full account to
escape with their sanity and an idea of how things went I will
tell you now that I finished the ride in 2 hours 11 minutes and
30 seconds.... I was never in contention for first place. The
winner of the race broke the record time, improving on it by
more than a 10% margin over the old record of 57 minutes, 41 seconds.
Imagine riding your bike of the Empire State Building 5 times
in less than one hour! The winner was Tyler Hamilton who
rides for the US Postal Service bicycle team. He recently completed
the Tour de France finishing in a very respectable 69th place.
His
inspiration may have come in part from the prize offered to the
person who broke the course record by the greatest margin -
a $28,000 Audi A4. So he made about $500 for every minute
that he raced!
So what was I doing lining up to grind my way up such a huge and
unrelenting hill? It has no flat spots, no downhills, it starts
steep and gets steeper. Then at the end there is a real sting
in
the tail of 22%. A friend of mine, Michael Millner, recently
bought a Merlin titanium bicycle and thought it was a great
climbing machine. He enjoys the challenge of big hills on
his bike in general so why not go for the biggest climb
available in New England? Especially if he can coax a
friend, (yours truly), into sharing the pain, agony or
ecstasy that such a ride might offer?
So it was we signed up in June for this late August ride
and cast a pall of heavy hill climbing over our summer's
bike riding. We both had done 5,000 feet of climbing
on our bikes in the past, but we had never tried to
cram 5,000, (OK 4,700 ft) into a time limit of 2.5 or 3.0
hours... and only 7.6 miles... No, we had always spread it
over 50 or 100 miles with a lunch stop, water stops, bathroom
stops along the way...Mt Washington was to be different and
different it was.
Mount Washington is in northern New Hampshire in the Presidential
Range of the White Mountains. It is known for some of the most
severe and unpredictable weather in the world. The ride brochure
cautions the rider: "Be prepared by bringing clothing for
any
contingency. Even in August, fog, rain, sleet, snow high winds,
and wind chills well below 0 degrees are possible!"
They go on to say: "If weather conditions are severe enough,
this
race may be postponed to Sunday morning (same schedule); if it
remains
severe for 2 days, it may be canceled completely. If the race
is
already in progress when the weather deteriorates, a finish line
may be declared at any point on the Auto Road above which travel
is
deemed too dangerous. If the race must be canceled due to weather
conditions, souvenir t-shirts and bumper stickers will be distributed
and lunch will be held in the tent at the Red Parka Pub in Glen
on
Sunday. In this instance, your registration fee is graciously
accepted as a donation to Tin Mountain Conservation Center."
One day out of the three over the year the summit has winds of
hurricane velocity. Winds were measured there as high as
231 miles per hour.
You may be curious as to the amount of the fee. One hundred dollars!
How many fools could they find to commit to such a fee on such
terms?
Four hundred! And many raised more than that in pledges!
Michael trained on mountains that he could find near Boston. I
trained on a 2 mile 670 foot hill just outside the village of
Morris NY. One of my first training days I went up that hill
7 times in succession to assure myself that I could complete
the course in the time limit. 7 x 670 = 4,670 feet; pretty
close to the 4727 I would have to do to get up Mount
Washington. I was able to do it in under 3 hours including
the 5-7 minute run down the hill to start back up.... That
run down the hill cooled me off and gave me a rest so it
wasn't a really ideal test, but it gave me confidence that
I could make the real thing.
The weather on the mountain on the days before the race
gave me pause. If you would like to check out the
weather or even the view from Mount Washington you
can do it from the comfort of your desk chair. Point
your web browser to:
http://www.mountwashington.org
If you would like to see some race photos look at:
http://www.tinmtn.org
It is a considerable drive to Mount Washington from Morris, on
the order of 360 miles. We drove out Friday for the Saturday
race. The skies were an interesting mix. Thunderstorms moved
through the area Friday night. I made sure to get a good pasta
dinner at Mister Pizza in Gorham. After dinner we made contact
with Michael and Shelley and got Michael's ride ticket. Tony
Ricci drove us to the Great Glen Trails where we picked up our
registration materials and got him paperwork to let him drive
Carol and Shelley to the top to await our arrival.
The race starts at 7:40 so we had to get up about 5 AM. Michael
and I had no intention of starting such a hard climb with
cold legs so we decided to ride the 8 miles from the
Gorham Motor Inn where we slept to the race start. It turned out
that that 8 miles involved a 750 ft climb before the race started!
Race day dawned with party cloudy skies and mercifully light winds.
The Weather Channel reported that the summit of Mount Washington
had 41 degrees and 16 mph winds. For a while from about 7:30 AM
to
8:30 AM the summit was clear of fog. The 41 degrees and
16 mph combine to give a wind chill in the 20's, reason enough
to have the drivers haul up blankets and dry clothes for the
racers.
At the bottom of the mountain there was very little air and
temps in the high 50s and low 60s. There was considerable
humidity. The Top Notch group of contenders for the Audi included
a field of 80 eager participants as opposed to only about 25 in
1996. In 1995 and 1994 they tried to hold the race in September
and severe weather caused cancellation both years.
The Top Notch group was sent off to the startling boom of a yacht
regatta cannon not just a starter's pistol... The smartly dressed
top hatted and tuxedoed starter was so taken aback by the cannon
blast that he refused to use it for the other groups of starters
and simply lowered a flag to signal our departure... much to our
relief.
The road is flat for about 50 yards and then starts steep and
only gets steeper. It was very warm in the area of the road
below treeline. I was so excited at the start that I had
trouble settling down into a rhythm and at one point I was
on the edge of hyperventilation, with heart rates of 189 bpm
as recorded on my heart rate monitor. Before the second and
most difficult mile of the race was up I was much calmer and
steadier. I wanted to avoid bonking or 'hitting' the wall
as much as possible so I promised myself a short break at
the end of mile 2.... I said on a piece of wall for about
2 minutes and drank some of my 50% Pepsi, 50% water solution
and ate some of the 1/2 package of Fig Newtons that I had
brought along for energy. In two or three minutes I was
back on bike and pedaling again.
Below the tree line things were very still and dream like... It
was neat to ride a road just among bikes... and never even
hear a free wheel click since being on your bike meant
having to pedal.
We broke tree line about 4300 feet and got into some welcome
breezes which increased as we climbed. The cyclists looked
like pilgrims struggling to some shrine of two wheels.... Up
and up, straining ever upward along the gravel path... a steep
mountain wall on the left and a immense drop off to the right.
I took a 2nd break
at the end of the 2nd hardest mile, that being the 5th...
ate some more Fig Newtons and finished the soda solution.
By then I was feeling euphoric and even took to singing
a few verses of songs such as "When the Saints Come Marchin'
In"
and an old Donovan song - "First There Is A Mountain".
After
my initial troubles I had paced myself well keeping my heart rate
in the 140s. My gearing, a 24 tooth smallest chainwheel and
a 32 tooth largest cog gave me a low gear of about 20 inches.
With that gear I could go right up all but the steepest portions,
those I had to tack across the road to climb. If I did it again
and I well might I would get even lower gearing.
Many people with higher gearing had to walk extensive sections.
One poor guy broke his left crank and carried it to the top
running along his bike in road shoes with clips on them. I am
told that he eventually removed those awkward shoes and ran
along the bike carrying his shoes and his crank!
It was interesting being able to stop and watch the
others struggle by. Knowing that after only a few minutes
I would rejoin them.
I made a last stop at mile 7 to drink some more water and
put on another shirt. By then I was entirely sweat soaked,
right down to a soggy chamois. The extra shirt made the
wind and now fog at the top much more bearable.
The last 22% stretch was made easier by the cheering encouragement
of the drivers waiting for their riders.... Just after crossing
the finish line one race attendant wrapped you in a blanket and
another put a medal over your helmet and around your neck...
Finally it was over.... for me that meant after 2 hours 11 minutes
and 30 seconds of serious but very rewarding and beautiful exertion
on a nearly silent mountain side largely in warm sunlight...
Afterward there was a lunch of lasagna, salad and bread... great
vegetarian lasagnas and good salad, soda, and Ben and Jerry's
Ice
Creams... an interesting award ceremony where a 75 yr old was
given a medal for finishing in a time not too far from mine.
and all other sorts of race classes were honored...
It was a great ride. Michael got a massage which I later learned
was free then we rode about 2 miles away from Gorham and then
10 miles
back to Gorham to refresh our legs so that they wouldn't set up
like concrete.... We met by the Motor Inn pool for a few celebratory
beers and considered what we had just done. In awe of a huge mountain
and a very well run event.
the photo above is one view possible
from the summit
Come along next year and join us!