This is the 2nd annual Mt. Hamilton Challenge and I'm sure it will be another hammerfest like last years turned out to be. But I'm ready for this one - maybe too ready - I did too hard rides on Thursday and Friday of this week. I probably should have rested more but it is too late to think of that now
The field for this year is smaller, HammerSchlagen, Thor, Fletcher, Woo and Feel Good. It may be small but anytime you get Steve and I together, it is bound to be punishing! We roll out from Milpitas around 8:15am and the weather is cool but suppose to be sunny after the overcast burns off. I've got my arm warmers on and my wind breaker in my back pocket. Let the good times roll... I'm just going to give you the highlights of the KOMs and intermediate stages but I'll focus on the ride through Calaveras since that is always the final showdown. KOM 1 @ Grant Ranch. Steve led a steady tempo all the way up the first part of the Mt. Ham climb. It wasn't too long before we dropped everyone. Fletch went first and fast, Thor hung on for a while and then popped but even after he popped he didn't go too far back and kept trying to get back on up until Woo let us slip away. Finally Steve crancked up the watts and the next thing I know he is out of the saddle and pumping hard. I let him go knowing I would blow if I didn't. I figured I'd just ride my pace and maybe I'd catch him further up the hill. Every time I started to get within 100 ft of him, he accellerate and be gone again. When we finally got to Grant Ranch I was gaining on him but he kept it up and beat me to the gate by about 5-10 seconds. Close but HammerSchlagen draws first blood. The other come in the flowing order Woo, Thor & Fletch. KOM 2 @ Lick Observatory. We take off from Grant Ranch and it isn't long before Steve and I are alone out front. Steve again starts of by attacking and tries to break me. I stay with him for a while but in the end I again let him go and fall back into my own race. This time however, I don't seem to be reeling him in and it isn't long until I realize I'm on the road by myself. No sign of HammerSchlagen. You grind your way up to the top of Mt Ham - it is a tough climb by and stretch of the imagination. I summit about 90 seconds behind Steve. He now has the first 2 KOMs under his belt and it could be he is going to sweep all of the points. About 5 minutes later comes Woo, 3 minutes after that is Thor and then Fletch. Sprint Bonus @ The Junction Going down the back side I did something I never thought I'd do... I pretty much kept HammerSchlagen in the cross hairs until the right hairpin - my back tire hit a bump in the road breaking hard and skipped out. I end up on the outside line of the the turn and here comes a green minivan with it's left tires in my lane! I'm still breaking hard, I stare at the inside of the corner and push down on the bars with my right had and just get my bike back into the inside of the corner and by the car. In doing this I lost a lot of time to Steve and he is now down the road in front of me. Just the same, I hit the bottom only 15-20 seconds behind him. What a thrill ride. We rode on over the rollers but finally stopped at about 35 miles for a regroup. I was taking pictures when Fletch went rolling by with some shit-eating grin on his face. Sure enough he was going to pull a Yeti and try to flank us. By the time we got our act together and took off after him he had a good 5 minute lead on us. Try as we might, we never reeled him in before we hit The Junction. There he was standing there waiting on us. Fletch takes the sprint bonus, Steve and I tied for 2nd. Everyone ate and drank well. I had the usual cheeseburger and fries with 3 bottles of Gatoraide. Let's hope I don't puke on Eyler Ridge 
KOM 3 - Eyler Ridge What makes this climb so hard is that you have just come off of a long break at The Junction where you got refueled. Only problem is, you need at least an hour to digest a cheeseburger and fries enough to ride and here you get only 10 minutes. As we roll out of the parking lot, you head into an immediate climb. Nothing too steep but constant and fairly long. Steve and I are marking each other and taking turns on the front. The rest of the peleton is behind us somewhere. When we hit the first summit we were side-by-side going over the top. You get a little bit of a downhill for your legs to rest and then the road tips up again and you head up for the final climb to the top of Eyler Ridge. Again, HammerSchlagen and I trade off at the front and as we finally crest the top of the final climb, it was pretty much a dead heat. We declared it a tie and kept rolling down the back side of the ridge. HammerSchlagen has 2 KOM to himself and he splits one with me. I'm have only a few shared points at this point so I figure I have to make it up on Calaveras. Stay tuned.... The back side of Eyler Ridge is a long windy drop until you get to the outskirts of Livermore. We were flying down this road hitting speeds up to 40 mph. The road was a little bumpy so your tires tended to dance over the pavement and there are some nice curves with just the right level of difficulty for the speeds we were doing. What a thrill. We regrouped under the tree across the street from where Mines Rd deadends. A well needed rest. From here we wind around through Livermore, stop at the Albertsons and refuel, head out through Sunol and then prepare for the final climax as we approach Calaveras. KOM 4 - Calaveras Reservoir As we approach the base of the climb, everyone is together and moving at a brisk pace. The preparation begins as people down their GU, drink a little accellerade and take off their jackets and tuck them away in the their back pockets. I got one tube of GU cued up for the top of the climb before we go into the windy rollers. When I was all set, I looked over at HammerSchlagen and told him how much I was dreading the next 20 minutes. I think he knew I wasn't kidding but this guy lives for this kind of challenge so he didn't seem too phased. We rounded the last bend and the road tipped up in front of me - this was it - the start of the suffering. I reached around to my back pocket, turned on my iPod and hunkered down. I moved to the front, kept the tempo fast but made sure I had a little in reserve for when the attackes came. I looked at my cyclometer - 19 mph and a HR of 180 bpm - faulk this is hard. We hit the top of the false summit and I went on the attack. HammerSchlagen was right on my back wheel the whole time - crap! I can't drop this guy. I settle back in and he moves around me and tries to pick up the pace - I stick with him - I won't let him go this time. We go back and forth along the windy road taking the corners at some pretty good speeds. Again, I launch and attack but HammerSchlagen responds. After reaching the 2nd summit, we are not heading into a slight downhill and then the rollers. I reach back and grab my last packet of GU - time to get a little more go juice into my body. At the bottom of the downhill I attack again, this time Steve hesitates and I try to break away only to bonk on the long uphill stretch I wasn't expecting. I slow and Steve catches me. I thought for sure he would counter but he doesn't and we exchange the lead around the next set of turns. As the next uphill approaches I take off again and this time Steve doesn't respond - I get a gap but pop on the uphill and have to slow down again. He catches me but no counter attack - I know he is about cooked. All along the reservoir I try to keep the pace high and keep poking at Steve just to make sure he is really cooked. I think I'm getting tim there which only makes me feel stronger... As we turn the corner and start to head away from the reservoir, I pretty confident that this stage is mine. No attacks coming from Steve and I know that I can't pull away and stay away for long so I decide to just sit in and keep the tempo up. Pretty soon I'm looking at the last left hand turn before the final rolling uphill to the summit. As we round the corner I jump on it and Steve doesn't respond. I'm off and rolling now! I hit the roller and as I near the top I feel myself starting to bonk. I look back and Steve is about 100 yds behind me. I look forward, get comfortable and try to reach down so he doesn't catch me again. I crossed the summit with the same 100 yd gap on him. I did it! I took the stage the hard way! I slow and then starting heading down The Wall towards the park. From here on out it is a great downhill ride until you get to the park. I was feeling good and happy that I could do something today. What a ride. At the park, Steve and I realized just how much damage we had done to the rest of the field. Woo was 19 minutes behind us and Thor and Fletch were 23 minutes back. We must have been flying to have gapped the peleton that much in what is only about a 15 mile stretch. From the park, it is an easy ride back into Milpitas and the car. Everyone is together and everyone did an outstanding job today. Congratulations to the CyclingBuddies. While HammerSchlagen, Fletch and I enjoyed the podium picture, I think the most improved rider award goes to Thor - he was there all day not far behind. He did a great job! Thanks also to Woo who placed 3rd overall but missed the podium because he didn't take any stages. Good job Woo! The champagne was excellent - as it usually is after a ride like this. We all got cleaned up and left - the 2nd annual Mt Ham Challenge was in the books.
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