Old Man Pass

Our last weekend before another big ride so we decided not to overdo it, but still wanted to get in a good ride with some nice climbs. So we drove to Carson.

Quick Stats Ride Distance: 70 miles   Elevation Gain: 5,112 feet   Average Moving Speed: 14.92 mph

It was a perfect day, weather-wise. A little cool at first and then in the 60s and 70s, and it doesn't get any better than that.

Didn't see any cool wildlife this day, but we attributed it to riding in the forest. Lots of animals probably saw us but we couldn't see them through all the trees.

Before the ride we had decided to push it a bit since it is only 70 miles. The ride starts with 20 miles of generally going up at an average of 1% slope. After that the first climb is a 5-mile, 1,500-foot climb to the top of Old Man Pass, and it was over before I knew it. It's always nice when it happens that way instead of the other way around.

The second climb, on the return, is a 1,750-foot climb overall with the first 3.5 miles at over 7% average slope and the first half-mile at 9% slope. It was tougher, as usual. It was warmer, but not so hot as to bake me as it has in years past. That, and I think both my fitness level and my lighter bike made it much nicer on this ride than before. I stayed below my lactate threshold AND kept Amy with 30 or 40 yards the whole way up. That hasn't ever happened on this ride.

On the final 20-mile stretch headed back down toward Carson we were going at a fairly good clip; I was hoping to bring my average speed over 15 mph. Unfortunately, there was a non-insignificant headwind, which is fairly typical for the closing stretch on this ride. If you have to have a headwind it is nice when you are going downhill. Didn't quite make the average speed goal, but got fairly close in spite of the headwind, so I'm okay with that.

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