Sierra Nevada

Wed 02/04/09.

One thing and one thing only today: 19 mile & 5734 feet of climbing, continuous no breaks. Monachil 2 Sierra Nevada. This is the climb they do for the Tour Of Spain and they will be doing it again this year. Weather has picked up a little so shorts and arm warmers thinking God I'm going to sweat all this climbing but its a Ski Resort at the top its going to be cold. Anyway as usual I had a good feed, bike, kit and myself ready. It was decided as A group that we would go off slowest 1st then 5 mins intervals. Record for this within this Training Camp is 1hr 38 by some Pro Rider. So I'm thinking 2:15 to 2:30. Got off to a great start as I nearly missed my starting time. Anyway off I went remembering my tips from Richard Allen and Andy(Owner) go easy at the start do not over do it(Great advice) Didn't want to go to slow as had a female in front of me and one behind who is hoping to qualify for Kona(Just missed out last year)this year I believe and is a good hill climber. So straight in to the Granny Ring and spinning, Within minutes it was hairpin after hairpin. HR 168-171, jersey undone arm warmers down. Jesus and we only just started. Was not feeling too good but kept going, after 25 minutes I had caught the rider ahead, was I going to fast? How was she feeling? Anyway this is when we hit the steepest part of this continuous ascent. 18% of pure hell for 5 minutes. Was lucky if I was hitting 4mph. I had caught another rider up which was a nice feeling. So back on with the climbing. I managed to pick off another 2 of the slower riders. For the 1st time ever on the bike I had a good rhythm going and was spinning. So half way point. 1hr 1min down. Weather turning cold now so I had to stop and do jersey up as I could not do on the move. At this point I was riding in the middle of the road and no where near the edge, was getting Vertigo. Then I started to hit the snow and Ski Resorts I'm 2500m above sea level, seen no other riders and Its getting hard. 3 miles to go and Richard Allen catches me along with 2 of the other 3 riders that had gone behind me. I was gutted that they had got me but well happy I had got this far. I was getting my normal blurred vision(Start of my Migraines) so forgot about my time and concentrated on breathing and slowing my heart rate down, It was the glare off the snow. So anyway got to the top where all the locals and tourists are skiing and snowboarding with snow as high as 6 foot and I'm cycling up it. Anyway hit the finish feeling great and with a massive sigh of relief that I had done the climb. 1st thing 1st get in to the darkest place I could put my darker shades on close my eyes and pray I did not get a Migraine. Thank god I did not bit did have headache for rest of the day. So okay for the bit you are waiting for, My Final time was.......... 2hrs 7mins. Happy days. Richard Allen hit 1hr 43. If you wanted to know, and no the pro women did not catch me but did get 2hr 6min