• Climbing to a personal record

    Jeff Kerkove 3:51 PM
    The road racing season is in full swing here in Colorado, so that means my Saturday training hammerheads are out of town.  I swung over to the Oval Ride...but there was only 3 of us, so I went to plan B for the days work out.  That is, find a climb that takes about 1 hr to climb, then do 2 efforts up said climb using the ride back down as the recovery period.

    Rist Canyon climbRist Canyon fits perfectly in to the training plan. This climb averages about 6% for the 9.5 miles from top to bottom, but the are plenty of spots on the climb where it kicks to 10-15%....including the last 1/2 mile or so.  My personal record from top to bottom is 51 minutes on the road bike.  So with that in mind, I went to work.


    Rist Canyon #1: 48 min, 01 secThe first time up went well. I settled in a comfortably high rpm and spun my way up the climb.


    Climbing Rist CanyonIt wasn't until the last few switchbacks did I find myself working super hard. I ended up topping out the 2,700 ft climb in 48 minutes and 1 second....some 3 minutes faster than any other attempt.  Score!  Now I had to descend the climb...and do it again.  Before descending I took in some of the new PowerBar Gel Blasts...so it has time to get into me system on the way down.  These past few weekends have been good testing of new nutrition....at least new forms of nutrition I have been using in the past.


    Rist Canyon #2: 47 min, 23 secEffort 2 felt like it took a while to get going. The chilly descent had my legs feeling tight. After about 5 minutes of climbing I was warm again and cruising along.


    Climbing Rist CanyonThe 2nd time up felt much harder. I went about as hard as I could....and still make it to the top with out blowing up and coming to a screeching halt.  Got to say the last few switch backs hurt.....lots of mashing.  I honestly didn't think the second time up would be faster than the first trip up, but it was.  I reached the top in a time of 47 minutes and 23 seconds.  Double score!  What a pleasant surprise for the first time up Rist this calendar year.

    On the way back into town, I rode near the Old Country Buffet.  It smelled delightful.  No lying, I wanted to stop.  A block later, it was the Panda Express.  Then, the Outback Steakhouse.  Finally, it was a personal fav, Carrabba's. Dang the teasing!

    Now time for a little recovery before a 3+ hr mtb session on Sunday.