Many of us cyclists pass by certain climbs everyday that are just a bit too steep for fun. But there is an organized ride that batches them all up in one day and makes a go of it....it is called the "Nifty Ten Fifty". Which means about 10,000 feet of climbing in a little over 50 miles. Ouch! And I was foolish enough to attempt it this year (April 7, 2013).
It was too steep for the gears on my road bike (50-34 in the front and 11-25 in the back), so I rode by son's mt. bike, which had a triple and lots of gears to help climb those beasts! I didn't see anyone else on a mt. bike. I was the only crazy one. Or maybe not.....at least I had the gears! I did the whole thing without any walking, but was slow enough to be the "Lanterne Rouge" up one of the climbs! (That's the French term for the last person in the peloton.....the caboose with the red lantern.) Oh well, I finished! And that's amazing for one more reason....the brakes on the mt. bike started to fail towards the end of the ride. The descents in some cases were sometimes greater than 20%, so I'd say that was just too much for the disks. By the end of the day, they were failing and my wrists were killing me from too much brake handle "squeezing". In a way, that was more scary than climbing these damn hills.
Here are some attachments with more info...my Strava stats, a story from the organizer (thanks!) and a pic at the top of the very last hill with a "forced" smile. Check that one off the bucket list!
Here are the stats for the ride:
The Results and Stories:
http://www.niftytenfifty.com/
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| Mike at the top of Vollmer Peak, the last climb of the 2013 Nifty 10-50 ride |
