Mt. Washington: Part Deux

I frequent a few different internet forums where people can chat about cycling.


On one of them, there's a thread going about Mt. Washington.


Some quotes:



"7.6 miles of uphill on a mixture of paved and dirt road with nearly a vertical mile of elevation gain. Some of the nastiest weather in the world at the summit where they once recorded a wind speed of 231 mph."

"Oh, don't exaggerate, that was just the wind gusts that day. The steady breeze wasn't over 160 mph. "

"I have a buddy who makes this his sole "A" race of the year. Got very serious about it and stripped everything off his bike, went with mountain bike cogs on the back (to a 32 sprocket I believe), the bike came down to 12 lbs, he bought those ultralight carbon Specialized shoes. He had a video of the race that he showed me. I can't believe how harsh it is. No way I'd travel 1/2 way across N. America for that sort of suffering; I could probably simulate that in my backyard by doing VO2 intervals on the trainer, midwinter in a t-shirt while someone strafed me with a fusillade from a salt gun.

Full props to anyone who does it! Madness!"


"Climbing Mt. Washington is THE hardest physical accomplishment I have ever done in my entire life. I’ve completed three marathons and several triathlons and well know the meaning of pain. Once you cross the entrance bridge you coast for about .1 miles until the hill starts.

This is when the reality of gravity just slaps you in the face.

You come upon the initial slope of about 15% where it undulates between 10-15% with micro (10ft) grades of 7%. At about 1.5 miles you are smacked down with a grade of 21% and, knowing you still have a little over 6 miles to go, you start to question you sanity. In between this and the 2.5 mile mark (17%) are grades between 10-15%. You continue on thinking you have lost you mind (and your wind) with grades mostly between 13-18%, with micro gaps of about 7%.

At the 6.25 mile mark you get hit with another 21% grade and you start thinking how far back the broom wagon is.

At this point though you are convinced you can finish by either riding, walking, or crawling. You reach the 7 mile mark knowing you have less than 1 mile to go and you start thinking you can smell the finish. At about 7.4 miles you even hit a slight (-3%) downhill, but unfortunately it only lasts about 30 ft. After that the grade goes back to 10% with kicks up to 19%. You make the final turn and hear everyone cheering you on and you go smack dab into a grade of 22% for the final .1 miles. You wonder what cruel gods could have done this to you as you inch up the final few meters. As you come to the finish the announcer calls out your name for all to hear and you know you are there. As you cross the finish line you know all your suffering, and in my case, drooling, is over. Volunteers catch you from falling as you cross the finish line and place a blanket around you... "


Good times.