My buddy John gave me a call having decided to start commuting
on his bike to work. A great idea if you
ask me. And it makes even more sense for
him as he lives in San Anselmo and works at Larkspur Landing. This is a 5-6 mile commute that is almost
entirely flat … except for the fact that Jon lives at the top of one of the
highest hills in San Anselmo. Couple
that with the fact that John did not have a bike and he had not been on one in
about ten years. But John is a total
stud, runs a lot and works out like a champion.
So this was still doable. I
suggested that he should ride up the hill a few times before just dropping four-figures
on a new bike. We coordinated that he
would come to our place and borrow my mountain bike – the MTB is my only bike
with a triple, and he would certainly need the extra gears going up that hill –
ride to work on his own and then we would ride home, facing the hill together.
On our soft pedal from his office, I did my best to psyche John
up for the hill. He assured me that it
was going to be no problem, that he had run the hill dozens of times. He claimed that the hill was just under a
mile and it wasn’t too steep. Having
driven the hill in my car previously, I agreed with the mile-ish claim, but the
steepness was one to question. I told
John that I assumed the ride would take 15 minutes at a pretty reasonable pace –
four miles per hour up the one mile hill was a pretty safe bet. John scoffed at my estimation and told me that
he could run up the hill faster than that.
I didn’t doubt that claim but knew that the ride would be pretty
slow. So I offered a bet of over/under
13 minutes for his time and took the over for a round of drinks at Marinitas. Again, John sneered and eagerly took the bet
on the premise that he could get there under 13 minutes with the caveat that he
could either ride or run to the finish line.
I agreed that the finish line stood fixed and he could ride or run so long
as if he ran, he brought the bike with him.
As we approached his hill, I reset the Garmin, we rested for
a few minutes to give him his best lungs and then we took off. I dropped him within the first few hundred
yards, but that was to be expected. I
got in to granny gear and recited my pain mantra as I pedaled. Today, the song in my head was ‘Humps to the
Boulevard’ by Rodney O and Joe Cooley.
There were come crazy steep parts to the hill, several short stints
north of 20 percent grades. A few times,
my pace slowed to that uncomfortable 0% grade where I am going too slow for the
Garmin to do the math to register the grade on the computer dashboard. And I had forgotten that the last few houses
on Oak Street were located behind a locked mechanical gate. And John neglected to give me the code to the
door. So as I approached the top, I had
to dismount the bike and carry the bike (in my clipped shoes) around the gate
through a dirt path. I jumped back on the bike to gut out the final few hundred
yards.
Not knowing exactly where the Strava segment started and
stopped, I rode through the finish line that John and I agreed to just to be
sure that I got it all. I then pedaled
back to the finish line with the Garmin reading somewhere in the 11 minute
range. I was worried that I set the bar
too low and was going to lose the bet.
But I took the Garmin out of the holster and held it up so John could see
the times when he crossed. After soe time
passing, I began to hear John panting coming around the bend. And then he surfaced, on his feet, running as
hard as he could, wheeling the bike next to him. I held the Garmin out and he read the time as
he crossed, 13 minutes 23 seconds. Sweet
Magaritas!!
My Strava time turned out to be a mixed blessing. It seems that Oak Street is a popular course
for mountain bikers, and not roadies – no surprise. I took the King of the Mountain with a time
of 10.33, a full 1.13 ahead of the guy in second place. But Strava is not too well represented on Oak
Street, my being only the third person to trip the segment. But I will take it … my first KOM, number one
out of three. I guess I should hit the
hill again to see if I can best my previous time. Otherwise, I will leave 10.33 for John as
something to strive for. Reach higher
that the FatGuy, Johnny.
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