Hilljunkie (aka Doug from Northeast Cycling) has been posting about his training trip down to Virginia. A couple days ago he mentioned a hill called “Brent Gap.” I am very honored to have this hill named after me, so I’d like to take this opportunity to thank the Virginia Geological Survey, or whoever is responsible. I’ll do my best to make it down there and try it out.
…that when I go out and ride hills with Radu – who has been racing for the whole collegiate season, and is a pretty damn good climber to begin with (see my post about Pack Monadnock) – I will get my ass handed to me. 1st hill: Cullen Road – New guy Isaac sets a tough pace from the bottom and I have some difficulty holding his pace, though he already has a 50 meter or so gap. I decide I’m going to have to gun it to catch him, which I do. But at about the same time Radu slides out of my slipstream and powers his way to the top. I finish in second place. The two stragglers on that hill missed that we went straight, turned left and went down River Road. I caught them at the bottom, so I got to go back up River. Fun. Then came Wilbur. I set the pace from the bottom, with Radu and Isaac keeping up pretty well. I increased the tempo a bit over the top of the first steep section, which dropped Isaac. No such luck with Radu, who rode away as soon as the second section started. Second again. Capron was a non-starter. I actually might have had a chance on that one. Isaac set the pace again, and just as I sensed him fading (and I was going to attack) he got a flat tire. So while I might have won that one, Radu still probably would have come out of nowhere to beat me. Mountaindale. I really hammered from the bottom and got a good gap on the first steep section. But then it flattens out for a good 200-300 meters and I couldn’t hold off a charging Radu. My only hope was that he was tired from the chase. When the road turned up again I gave it everything I had. Turned out not to be much. I went maybe 50-60 meters before letting out an expletive and letting Radu beat me over the top. Last hill was Whipple. Do I really need to tell you what happened? I thought maybe if I could just hold Radu’s wheel…but no, as soon as the last steeper part started, Radu increased his speed a bit and I was left gasping for air. Once these damn oral prelims are done, It will be time to really start the hill training. In the mean time, I’ll just have to accept that Radu will beat me on all the local hills.
I had done this one before, but yesterday on a ride with Radu, Graham, and Joey we ended up at the northern end of the Blackstone Bikeway. Not knowing where to go from there, I suggested that there was a “mountain” up ahead in Woonsocket. They were a little skeptical as to whether they wanted to climb a mountain, but I assured them, this is a “Rhode Island Mountain,” meaning not really. It was a little more difficult than I had remembered it. We turned left on to Mount St. Charles Road from Manville Road. If you come from the north on Manville, however, it extends the climb a bit. The first section if fairly gradual and not too steep. Once you take a right onto Logee Street, however, it really kicks up. The last section is probably 12 percent. I’m not posting a gradient map, because it’s all screwy, and shows spikes of 22 and 25 percent, which is definitely not right. Here’s the veloroutes map.
Cyclingnews just posted their hill guide for this year’s Tour of Flanders. It has me nostalgic for the 2 years I spent in Belgium, and for the 2000 edition of the race (won by Tchmil). I took my bike on a train down to Oudenaarde, watched the peleton ride through Melden, rode over the koppenberg (which had not yet been re-added to the route) en route to another cobbled climb (not sure which one – might have been the Molenberg) in time to see them go by again. Then I cut off part of the route and saw them go by again on another climb. Then, I was near Ronse, and was hoping to either get to Geraardsbergen or the finish, but they were just going too damn fast. So I headed for the train station in Ronse and watched the finish from a bar across the street. All in all, a very fun day. Gewilli had just posted the list a couple days ago along with a request that I design a “Ronde van Providence” ride that would also include 17 hills. This what I came up with. Unfortunately I’m in no shape to ride 80 miles (not to mention 80 miles with a ton of steep hills), and it doesn’t really make sense to do a Ronde van Providence ride later in the summer when I will be in shape for 80 miles. A Ronde tribute ride should be done, ideally, in knicker weather. In any case, the 17 hills are:
1. Cobble Hill Road (sadly no actual cobbles)
2. Cullen Hill Road
3. Wilbur
4. Capron
5. Burlingame
6. Farnum
7. Douglas Hook
8. 101 #1
9. 101 #2
10. 101 #3 (RI High Point)
11. Bear Hill
12. Central Pike
13. 102
14. Walter Carey
15. Whipple
16. Southcourt
17. Bowen (taking a left on Pratt and finishing up on Jenckes)
I’m thinking the we could organize some sort of big group ride to tackle this route, and finish up with a Belgian Beer and Moules-Frites party. Sound like fun anyone?
Rumor has it that the high point of Rhode Island is actually found in the Johnston Landfill. While this isn’t exactly true, it isn’t far off either. Today, I managed to find a route up it and it is a doosie. Here’s the route. (View in satellite or hybrid mode to get a better idea.) It starts out rather innocuously, but about the time you hit the base of the actual landfill, you get your first switchback and have to contend with 7% or greater the rest of the way up. The last 1/4 mile is by far the hardest, giving you a sustained 30%. To make matters worse, at this point you’re riding over garbage (broken tv’s, glass…today the wind was swirling pretty bad so I got a lot of MacDonalds wrappers stuck my jersey) and you have to dodge dump-trucks speeding down past you. All in all, a wonderful experience. Bring nose plugs.
