Today was my first climb up Kings Mountain Road, a beautiful but ball busting 4 mile climb from Woodside rd to Skyline blvd. I was happy to have made it the whole way without stopping, even though I had to resort to the granny gear for the last mile. I made it up in 37 minutes. It was quite challenging, but so beautiful. In a couple of places the view opens up to the entire valley, where I could see Shoreline Amphitheater and Stanford. Otherwise, it was a windy road through towering redwoods. It was 95 degrees at the beginning of the climb, but thankfully cooled to 85 by the top.
The route.
One thing I noticed today is that I'm not a big fan of steep downhills. I don't feel very comfortable going any faster than 30mph on downhills, especially when there are cars trying to pass. So the down hill following the climb was a nice break in some ways, but also a little frustrating in that I wasn't pedaling at all (my legs not staying warmed up), while my hands got tired from clenching the breaks.
It was my longest ride yet. It dawned on me that in terms of physical excertion, cycling has a lot in common with back packing; arduous and plodding, yet not so intense that you can't do it for over three hours without destroying your body (I can't imagine going for a 3 hour run for instance).
The hill climb reminded me of running though. My heart rate spiked from 155 to 175 for the length of the climb; about what it is when I run. So it seemed like stopping for a 4-5 mile run in the middle of a usual long ride. Needless to say, I'm exhausted, but in kind of a good way. I feel a lot like I do when I'm on backpacking trips after a long day.
The Stats:
Distance: 48 miles
Ride time: 3:24
Speed: 14.1 mph avg, 33.5 mph max
Heart Rate: 153 bpm avg, 182 max
Calories burned: 2763
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