Jerome spins up the mountain; fresh at the finish.
Attacking at mile ten; finish.
A 10.8 mile time trial to the summit of Mt. Diablo, this year’s Challenge hosted a thousand cyclists, most of whom have a secret love for warm, cuddly pain. Not pain from the climb, since Diablo itself is pretty docile – but pain from setting a faster-than-recreational tempo. (Wanna go at some real pain? Try this.)
The event was nicely organized, and the mountain, with its sun-dappled, freshly paved roads, was a treat.
Jerome and I were in the third wave of cyclists, several hundred of us clogging up a very narrow starting lane. There was at least one crash within the first couple-hundred feet, as two handlebars became entangled. However, the tight starting bunches thinned out quickly, and by mile one riders were establishing pace and settling in for the climb ahead.
The winner was Robert Anderson, a Masters racer out of Mill Valley. He finished :47:28 and averaged nearly 14mph. Jerome crossed the finish line at 1:24, and I stopped the clock at 1:04.
Here’s Jerome’s MotionBased log.
The Chain Letter 