22 March 2012

"...simply ridiculous."

Three hills this week.

That, in and of itself, is simply ridiculous.

This morning I met up with one of my all-time favorite running partners, @sarahlouwou. Neither of us have run much since the last time we met (I'd link it but it's been so long I can't find the post), and both of us were itching to work fairly hard. The topic of walking up insane hills was raised, and that's what we decided to do.

We picked one midway between us and proximally located to where we each needed to be after the climb...

Marin Avenue in Berkeley...

Though this photo is a tad grainy, you can make out the hill behind the fountain...and the car stopped at the intersection. The perspective gives you a decent idea of the steepness in the first block we walked.

And here is the view looking down from the top of the steepest part...and almost the top of the hill.




The following is excerpted from a cycling blog or site or I'm not sure how to categorize it:



Of course, it's not the peak. Crossing Spruce gives you a little break (remember to take advantage of CVC 57492.1: "the right-of-way must be yielded to people in extreme pain"), and then the next couple blocks again aren't quite so bad. Then the block before Euclid is pretty nasty, pushing 20% grade, but really it's just letting you know that you're about to begin the hard part.
Past Euclid is where the road gets really absurd. The average grade from Euclid to Grizzly Peak is 22%, but that includes the flat intersections. Actual riding is closer to 25%, and that first block is probably near 30%. I don't care how low your gears are, or how light your bike is; either you have the leg strength and aerobic capacity to ride up this hill, or you don't. Good friggin' luck."

The author calls it The Deathride. I'm feeling pretty Thursday Thankful that we were just walking it. Gotta get ready for this race thing anyway I can!

11 comments:

  1. Holy Hill! These hills will serve as a blessing come race day though. Some people don't have ANY hills to train on at all. As much as I curse the hills in my neighborhood (when I run outside), I know they will help me. But they are nothing compared to the hills where you live. :)

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  2. One of my favorite marathons was the hilly SF Marathon...once you get all those parts in your bod feeling great, you're going to be so ready for anything you're given in a race. Maybe the SF Marathon! :)

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  3. I am so sorry. Wishing you flatness for infinity and beyond!

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  4. How are you feeling after climbing all these hills??? Is it painful at all going down them? I tend to have more problems with pain going down then going up...just curious......

    Nonetheless, they are big, and daunting...but so darn pretty! What a beautiful ares you live in and so lucky to have these to train on ;)

    good Luck with the race!!!

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  5. You are gonna be so strong with all those hills!! It is flat here, which I appreciate, but I do miss having some hills to train on.

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  6. serious hills there...and I think I have hills here...ha ha!! well no.
    :)

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  7. I'm so jealous! That's what I need! I live in the prairies. My hills are basically roads with speed bumps on them.

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  8. Ha! Oh my goodness...that sounds crazy!! Yes, good thing you were walking. And at which point are you going to be running those hills? Crazy!

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  9. We have stuff like that in Laguna Beach. Gnar.

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  10. wow those hills are nuts, seeing the sign saying "steep grade use low gear" is never good, haha Only hills I can think of that might be worse are some in SF like Gough or Hayes!

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