We didn't think that we would make the ride -- we slept in too late in the morning and we are expecting guests in the afternoon. Oh, too bad, I guess we'll just have to relax at home then.
At noon Catherine called and said that the kids got sick, so they couldn't make it. There was no excuse for us no more; guess we'll have to do it.
I got a little nervous on our way. I have read too much online about how steep the climb (Sierra Road) is. I still remember how I tipped over once in our neigherbood last year because my bike stopped moving on the uphill road and I couldn't get my feet out.
We first drove over to the start of the climb (Sierra Road and Piedmont Rd). We were immediately greeted by a steep uphill. Oh boy, what are we getting ourselvels into. We parked our car at Piedmont Rd and Calaveras Rd so we could ride about 3 miles, for a warmup, to the climb. The climb only came too soon. I was glad that I didn't tip over this time. It was 3.70 miles of uphill (on my GPS) gaining 1823 feet. Surprisingly, it felt more manageable than I had expected. There were sections where even at the lowest gear, I had to push hard on the pedals and pull hard on the handle bars to get the bike moving forward, but they were separated by sections of lesser gradients where I was able to catch my breaths and lower my heart rate. I had 34'37" on my GPS when I reached the summit. For that I gave myself a good pat on the back.
The loop (counter clockwise). The climb starts as soon as we turn off Piedmont.
Elevation profile for the whole loop. You won't miss the Sierra Road climb in this profile.
