Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Great climb
Saturday was a good day for climbing. I drove out to Sisters with 3 of the guys with whom I am going to France, and we rode up McKenzie Pass (to within a mile of the observatory), then back down to Sisters, and up 3 Creeks. McKenzie is still closed to traffic, which made it quite nice. There was still a lot of snow at the top, which made it quite cold in a few spots even though it was about 70 degrees out. Playing with my new toy, I figured that we climbed about 1800 ft on that climb, which was about 13 miles from where we parked. Most of the climb was in the 5-6% range.
Three Creeks is one of my favorite climbs around. The unfortunate thing is that the road to the climb really sucks. The cracks are every 20 ft for the first 5-8 miles, which really are a pain in the ass (literally). After the first long flat, there is a steep start to the climb which kicks up to about 8-9% for a few hundred feet. Then it flattens out to 3% for a couple of miles - with more of those damn cracks! But then the fun begins. The real climb begins and from then on it just keeps on coming. I don't think there is a section of more than a few feet that drops below 5%, but there is a lot of the climb that is over 7%, and then it just keeps on getting harder, with sections of 10, 11, and even 12% for some sections.
I was about halfway up and my bike was starting to shift very poorly. I had just adjusted it that morning, so thought is was sort of strange. I also heard a lot of "thunks" which I assumed was the headset (which was also puzzling). I couldn't use my 25 or 23, and even my 21t cog was giving me issues. I finally stopped - on one of the steepest sections of the climb of course - and started to feel around the bike to see what the issue was. After a minute or two, I finally figured out that the "thunk" and the shifting were related. My S&S coupler on my downtube had come loose and I could see a few threads. I tightened it as much as I could with my hand, and then got going again. It was a lot more pleasant using the 23 and 25t. The climb topped out around 6200 ft. We flew back to the car before the rain started. We ended up with close to 5000ft of climbing in 55miles of riding. A good day. I got home and was quite tired. If I had Coke in the fridge, I would have broken down and drank it (I've been off Coke for almost 6 months). I even went next door and asked MeanTodd if he had any Coke - but he was out too. Whew! I might have to break down once i get over to France.
Three Creeks is one of my favorite climbs around. The unfortunate thing is that the road to the climb really sucks. The cracks are every 20 ft for the first 5-8 miles, which really are a pain in the ass (literally). After the first long flat, there is a steep start to the climb which kicks up to about 8-9% for a few hundred feet. Then it flattens out to 3% for a couple of miles - with more of those damn cracks! But then the fun begins. The real climb begins and from then on it just keeps on coming. I don't think there is a section of more than a few feet that drops below 5%, but there is a lot of the climb that is over 7%, and then it just keeps on getting harder, with sections of 10, 11, and even 12% for some sections.
I was about halfway up and my bike was starting to shift very poorly. I had just adjusted it that morning, so thought is was sort of strange. I also heard a lot of "thunks" which I assumed was the headset (which was also puzzling). I couldn't use my 25 or 23, and even my 21t cog was giving me issues. I finally stopped - on one of the steepest sections of the climb of course - and started to feel around the bike to see what the issue was. After a minute or two, I finally figured out that the "thunk" and the shifting were related. My S&S coupler on my downtube had come loose and I could see a few threads. I tightened it as much as I could with my hand, and then got going again. It was a lot more pleasant using the 23 and 25t. The climb topped out around 6200 ft. We flew back to the car before the rain started. We ended up with close to 5000ft of climbing in 55miles of riding. A good day. I got home and was quite tired. If I had Coke in the fridge, I would have broken down and drank it (I've been off Coke for almost 6 months). I even went next door and asked MeanTodd if he had any Coke - but he was out too. Whew! I might have to break down once i get over to France.
