Highway To Heaven (Ilchester Time Trial)

Strava Race Data

I do this race every year.  I race up this hill every single Wednesday evening from early March until mid-August as part of the Westside Worlds (WsW) weekly ride.  During that ride this hill is a 'KOM' point so we really really go all out.  That being said... there is something special about the Highway To Heaven (HtH) race.  During WsW we hit the hill after 18 miles of nearly all out effort.  At the HtH we are attacking the hill with a perfect morning warmup, fresh legs, and probably a couple days of prep/rest.  HtH only comes once per year and then you have to live with your time until the next year... so you better be ready!!  Oh man does it hurt.  It hurt so bad.  I am not lying but as I type this I am more tired from racing up that one little .9 mile hill than I was after my last 100mi mountain bike race.  Well... instead of eating 6 Probars I only needed 2 after this race, but still... I ate a ton of food even after a few little 4minute efforts!

There is just something soul crushing about going as hard as you possibly can for 4minutes.  Maybe my body was just not geared to go all out over such a short distance, or maybe everyone else hurts as badly as I do right now... Regardless... I can't wait until next year!!

Trying to save my energy on the tandem.  It was the 1st race of the day

(Tandem race with Padam vs Lannie)

On the tandem bike Adam and I won against our good friends Lance and Annie Byrd.  The Byrds were incredibly fast!  My wife and I ride tandem bikes but we could never match what I saw them do on that bike today.  I was so impressed.

I tied my Personal Record (PR) from last year in the Cat 3 (geared) division with a time of 3:40.  That was good enough for 1st place in that division but there were 4 other guys who had faster times than me on the day: my teammate Adam Driscoll: 3:37, Brian Sacawa 3:34, Jameson Ribbens 3:33, and Nic Bax 3:26!

On my fixed geared bike I was able to squeak in just under 4:00 with a time of 3:58.  Good enough for 2nd place to Dave Weaver.