Since yesterday was scheduled to be a longer ride, and I’m running out of days to meet the Strava climbing challenge, I decided to try for 1000 m of climbing in a day. Mountain runners call this a “vertical K”. I chose the biggest climb in our area, up to Henry Coe state Park, about 16 miles of climbing out East Dunne Ave. The last time I did this on a recumbent was probably over 30 years ago. I had no electric assist for that one, and climbing the last steep stretch known as “the wall” required pulling up on my clipped-in shoes on the pedals. I made it, but ended up with a bad shin overuse injury that took a couple of years to go away. I was hoping to avoid that this time: No clipped-in shoes but electric assist would. I made it just about to “the wall” but was running low on battery. I had to leave enough in reserve to kept home because there was still some climbing on the way back.
So I came up short of Henry Coe, but threw in some hills on the West Morgan Hill side to get enough climbing. Here is the ride summary from Strava. It’s the 1008 m climbing that I needed.
This is the start of the climbing, E. Dunne Ave in Morgan Hill. From here the hill up ahead looks challenging, but it’s just a little blip compared to the hills going up to Coe.Over the top of the East Dunne climb out of Morgan Hill. You can see the real target now in the distance, at about 800 m.Crossing the old bridge over Coyote Creek (which feeds Anderson reservoir)Very little water left in the reservoir. It has been drained because the Dam needs to be replaced for seismic reasonsThe climbing begins in earnest. There are endless switchbacks like this oneThis is the home stretch, approximately where I had to turn backLots of killer views during the descentThis is the last of the climb on the back side of East Dunne ave. This house is the signal the climbing is almost overMore nice views descending E. DunneThe video recorded that I said “Oh, I made it!” when I rounded this corner. Enough battery to get me home and done climbing!
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Published by BionicOldGuy
I am a Mechanical Engineer born in 1953, Ph. D, Stanford, 1980. I have been active in the mechanical CAE field for decades. I also have a lifelong interest in outdoor activities and fitness. I have had both hips replaced and a heart valve replacement due to a genetic condition. This blog chronicles my adventures in staying active despite these bumps in the road.
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