Aside: Reason it is not being held- impact on the mountain. I think the parks department made a rule that no races could be held on the road in July and August... since there is still a good chance of snow on the road in June and in September pretty much all road racing is done for the year... you get the picture.
And so, on Friday afternoon/evening at 5:15, Bill and I were heading West on HWY 34 and the start of the Mary's Peak Hill Climb 2008. Now, for the non-Corvallisians, Mary's Peak is the highest mountain in the Oregon coastal range, 4,087 ft. high, and the road from the "base" (you have to climb about a 1000 ft on HWY 34 before getting to the entrance) is 9.5 miles. It has a few dips to break up the climb, including about a 0.75 mile downhill around mile 4, and a nice 100 ft. gravel section about halfway that surprises you out of a turn. But the steepest part is the beginning and especially once you get in a rhythm, you can really enjoy the climb by checking out the periodic water falls and parts where a break in the trees reveals just how high you've climbed. On a clear day you can see the ocean to the East and the snow covered Cascades to the West (It was not clear when we climbed it, next time).
Bill and I stopped at the entrance to the park to refuel and drop off extra bottles and clothing that we wouldn't need (lighten the load and it hadn't gotten cold as fast as I thought it would at dusk). He coached me on the course with tips about the grade and certain sections. I was planning on taking it easy, but as we headed out Bill says "If you are feeling good, you might as well see how fast you can do it." Everyone feels good at the bottom of a climb, so I started my stop watch just to see how long it would take me, dropped the Dean into the lowest a gear (a 25) and took off.At first, Bill and I were climbing together, but then I started to feel like Sastre on the Alpe D' Huez. Legs pumping, I slowly pulled away from Bill, all the while singing Rihanna's "Umbrella" in my head. "You can stand under my um-brella-ella-ella-eh-eh-eh..." That eh-eh-eh part happens to be perfect for my cadence. Eh?!
About half way, I realized that I was making pretty good time and I got it into my head that I could maybe beat the women's winner's time from the 2007 hill climb which I thought at the time was 53:47. So I started really pushing it, timing my breathes with pedal strokes: breath-in-right foot-left-foot-breath-out-right-foot-left-foot. I pedaled through the downhills to keep blood in my legs for the last climbs. I came upon the two-mile-to-go-sign around 44 minutes and almost quit (I had to average more than 10 mph for the last 2 miles uphill!). But I got a surprise with the appearance of two short downhills that brought up my average speed... still it was going to be close. As I hit the final parking lot and the sign announcing the summit of Mary's Peak (a very welcome sight), my lungs and my legs were burning and I was getting a little light headed, but I managed to stop my watch at 54:14! Not bad at all. I'll take that (it was not until later when I rechecked the result that I discovered the 53:47 belonged to 3nd place last year, and the winner actually went 47:46). So, I would have been 4th place, but first in the Cat 4 :-) It's all good.
At the top, we were disappointed not to be able to see either the coast or the Cascades...darn Oregon weather! But Bill had phone service (I did not..hhhmmm, "Eh, Verizon, you have a cell phone tower on Mary's Peak and I still can't get service!") so he called Erika to meet us at Gathering Together Farms because it was getting dark (it was 8:00 after all). And we headed down the mountain.
But before we clipped in, there had to be a small measure of trash talking. Bill told me his PR for the downhill was 18 minutes. I told him he had an aerobike and about 30 pounds on me. He told me he would give me a handicap. I said I wanted three minutes.. he compromised with 1:30. I took off before he changed his mind and tried my hardest to be in the most aero position possible... think Big George Hincapie. He is built like a sail and can downhill with the best of them. Why can't I? Because I am chicken. But, I still took sweeping turns and came as close to the center line as I dared. And Bill still caught me about halfway. It was thrilling! In and out of the trees, sunlight dappling the road. Only one car passed on the downhill and he very politely waited until a straightaway and got all the way over on the left. Very decent of him.
I hit the bottom in 21:59 and was really proud of my descent. There was only one tight turn where I almost crossed the double yellow. Bill was happy, too because he hit every turn perfectly and came really close to breaking his best time. But by then, it was starting to get cold and we had hot burritos and cold sodas waiting with Erika (best sag-wagon ever and a welcome sight when we got back into town). So, we packed up our stuff and hit the mad descent down HWY 34 with almost no cars on the road at this point. That descent is super fun without cars and Bill and I played a little Tour de France again.
Wouldn't it be cool... if there could be one or two days a week where the prettiest roads in the US are closed to cars. On my list of roads:
Left-Hand Canyon, Boulder County, Colorado (Ward and Jamestown)
Alsea Highway, Oregon
Big Sur, California
Peak-to-Peak Highway, Colorado
Arches National Park, Moab Utah
LaSalle Mountain Rd. Moab, Utah
Got anymore to add?
Awesome "race report!" BTW, you may want to get the name of your bike-crash-lawyer to Kerrie....... Dealing with car insurance companies is just one of the nightmares she is about to have to face, if she isn't already.
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