Climbing

Those of you that ride with me know I don't like to climb. I can get up the hills OK, but I can't get up them fast. Slow and steady is fine for endurance racing; in fact, I end up walking most hills by the end of a 24-hour race. But for shorter races or throwing down with the locals, speed up the hills is important.

Last season, I didn't work on climbing at all. This season, I am working on it when I can. Yesterday I did Dan Jansen's Climbing Loop. It's a collection of just about all the hills in and around Cannonsburg Ski Area and Egypt Valley Stage Game Area. It takes about two hours to complete, and it is a decent workout. I rode my backup bike. Something is wrong with that machine, and I think I have figured out what that something is. The bottom bracket. It creaks like that is no tomorrow. By paying careful attention to the noise, and when and where it shows itself, I think I have eliminated every other source of this creak. Also, the chain stayed on without any problem during the ride.

Today I took the main bike out for some road climbing. Two climbs up Serenity Ridge and two climbs up Scenic Drive. Not quite as much work as Dan's loop, but it allows me to focus on power output as opposed to technique. No dropped chains, but the chain did loosen up a bit. I am going to install some washers between the axel end and the frame on the ENO hub. I have read that others with ti frames have had slipping issues, and washers can help.

Easy ride tomorrow, team ride on Tuesday, easy ride or run on Wednesday, back to the ski area for Dan's Loop on Thursday, weather permitting. Got to get the legs ready for psychocross season and Iceman.